Author name: Jenny Nicole

3 Internet Horror Stories
Social Media, Tech

3 Internet Horror Stories That Have Been Fixed With Parental Control App

/

Tablet and smartphone owners sure do keep getting younger as the years go by. Kids have their own phones well before they’re in middle school. They’ve been groomed to use them since they are toddlers. This is all great for technological progress and all that jazz. But the problem is, a lot of these kids are left alone with their devices completely unmonitored. Which makes way for horrible disasters, most of which could’ve otherwise been easily prevented with a parental control app. Here are a few horror stories that just go to show the extremes to which kids can take their smartphone use. The Stalker in the Attic This cyberbullying case is perhaps still one of the biggest cyber-mysteries of 2014. Because the stalker in the attic is believed to be a 12-year-old girl, who is apparently stalking her classmates. The stalker—codename Danielle—threatens and blackmails two fellow 12-year-old girls on Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter… whichever social media platform they’re on. But the thing is, she denies doing it, too, and the parents still haven’t found out who the stalker truly is. If there’s anything learnt from this case, it is that if you’re going to give your young children a smartphone, you better closely monitor them. Both Danielle’s and the victim’s parents could have prevented this if only they knew what their kids were talking about online. The Wisconsin Stabber A couple of 12-year-old girls stab their friend to impress a fictious internet legend. This is incident made headlines and started an entire conversation about parental activism in children’s digital lives. Because when two young girls are inclined to attempt murder all to impress a character on the internet—granted they thought it was real—it just shows how a lack of parental supervision can snowball into something this unfortunate. Read More: Here’s What Mobile Spy Features to Look for in a Parental Control The Maryville Suicide Attempt 14-year-year Daisy Coleman is driven to suicide as the cyberbullying following her sexual assault goes overboard. Attacks and victim-blaming from friends and strangers alike on her Facebook and WhatsApp prove to be too much and she tries to kill herself. Yet another case which shows the full scope of cyberbullying, and shows why parents need to be better informed. Time for Parental Monitoring to Go One Step Further There are probably thousands of kids out there that are cyberbullied every day and we don’t get to hear about them. But the point is, as long as parents aren’t monitoring their children’s smartphone and internet use, incidents like these will continue to happen. Because let’s not forget, a lot of cyberbullying cases remain unreported. And regular parental controls that just block a few websites or censor a few words aren’t enough at this point. We need a more dynamic monitoring device. Which is why we’ve got XNSPY. A monitoring software that lets parents remotely go through their children’s phones. This includes going through their call logs, text messages, GPS location, IM chats, internet browsing, and anything else they use their phones for. Just imagine having the power to see what your kids are doing on their phone, and online without even having to touch their phones. Because with XNSPY, a parent just needs to log onto a web control panel to do the monitoring. Which makes their lives easier because they could be anywhere in the world, and they’ll still be informed on what their kids are up to. XNSPY, the Parent’s Digital Deputy An app like XNSPY is what parents of today need heading into 2015. Because children will continue to use the internet and their smartphones in whichever way they see fit. But an advanced parental control app like this will help the parent mediate them better. Prevent their children from being bullied, and taking part in bullying other kids, too.  

More Ways to Express Yourself
Announcements, Social Media, Tech

Facebook Has Just Launched More Ways to Express Yourself

/

Tired of the sole “Like” button? Afraid that it doesn’t truly capture what you feel about that post? We’ve all been there. Just last week, a colleague of mine posted about the death of his beloved cat of five years. That’s a rather unfortunate and sensitive post to hit “Like” to, isn’t it? Yet so many people do, resulting several cringe worthy experiences. But fear not, patrons of Facebook, your makers have announced New Reactions, available globally. This is what you can expect to see from now on: Much like the animated movie Inside Out, your emotions on Facebook will have a control room of sorts with 6 dominant emotions. You’ve got Anger and Sadness, Laughter and… “Wow”. And more importantly, if you’ve got feelings about a post that the Like button just does not express well enough, you’ve now got the Love button! The layout hasn’t changed much. You will still see your beloved Like button at the bottom of every post. However if you tap and hold, you will see the dock for the rest of the emotions. You can then drag and choose the emotion you want. Kind of like this: https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/facebook-reactions-how-to.gif?w=680&h=356 This means that the page will not look cluttered, which I feared it might when I first heard about it. You won’t be seeing all 6 buttons out there every time. Instead of listing down the number of likes, you will be able to see the number of reactions. This made me wonder a bit about my social media crazed friends. After *someone I know* has made a post, they keep on refreshing their page until they see the post get to the number of likes they want. If the post does not reach a certain number of likes, they delete it and repost at a time when they feel more of their friends are online. Seems rather stressful if you ask me, and now, they’ll have one more thing to worry about—whether their post has received the desirable reaction. Then again, if you’re social media crazed, any reaction at all should be good enough, right? Moreover, Facebook hopes that through a wider range of emotions, people can have a more wholesome and “real” interaction on Facebook. Just like it was with my friend and his cat, it just doesn’t feel appropriate to hit the like button, or right an overly formal “condolences” comment. Yet, you feel like you’ve got to acknowledge their tradegy in some way to show support. The FB newsroom believes that including the sadness emotion can help avoid those awkward situations and show empathy at the same time. Facebook also wants to use the information on how one reactions to different posts to personalize each person’s newsfeed so that they see more stories that they want to see. Obviously, how they are going to use this data to accurately ascertain whether a user wants to see stories that make them go Wow or stories that make them Angry can only be revealed with time. See Also: How to Spy Facebook Messenger?

Cut Costs From This Weird
Child Monitoring

Your Firm Can Cut Costs From This Weird, Unexpected Place

/

Now here’s something so inconsequential I can’t believe I’m writing a blog post about it. But as it goes, office supply theft will result in a definite loss of profit. I know you’re thinking a $5 box of pens won’t dent your earnings. But a recent survey has shown that corporate America loses around $50 million each year from office theft. So imagine how much your small business is losing from that one stack of printing paper. Believe it or not, this is a weird but effective way to cut costs for your firm. Why Should I Worry About Office Supplies? The thing is, the office supply theft that culminates in a year results in a loss of inventory, doesn’t it? You’re paying for it out of your pocket. Sure, if your company were a corporation, you could afford to let these things slide. But you are a small business. Weigh out your expenses. You’ve got to pay the rent, the utilities, the payroll, the taxes, the inventories, and yes, the office supplies. (Diazepam) Suppose you don’t make as much revenue from sales as you’d like this quarter. So your expenses, clearly increased by office theft have been engorged to outweigh your expenses. In a business where every penny counts, this would be infuriating. What Can I Do? You’re going to come off as the stingiest boss alive if you rummage through every employee’s pockets for a pen. So trying doing one of these few things. Establish an Honor Code Your organizational culture should be based on integrity and morality. Let your employees know that you value their honesty above all else. That they should uphold and protect their own honor. Almost a military approach, isn’t it? But in doing so, you’re keeping them morally aware without pointing fingers. Address the Situation Confronting one employee over a lost paperclip is probably not wise. To take a more laid back approach and address the situation to all your employees as a whole. Bring up the supply theft as a side note in your next meeting. This would make them know that you are noticing the steady loss in stationary and that they could get in trouble. Use Better Security Means If the office supply theft problem persists, invest in security cameras. Knowing they are being watching just might keep your employees honest. What will be more problematic is when they’re not just stealing common supplies but more important things like financial data, or strategic plans. That’s when you’ll have to look for a better security means like an employee monitoring app. Monitor Smart! Before you start using these tactics, here’s another thing you should know. Office supply theft is highest when employees are disengaged and dissatisfied. So it might do you some good to invest in employee engagement and appreciation, too. It might just increase your profits more than preventing theft would.  

Decide When to Monitor
Mobile Phone Spy, Tech

How to Decide When to Monitor and When to Cut Loose

/

To be honest, the monitoring vs. privacy debate is as old as parenting itself. But it somehow has been escalated in the past 10-15 years since we let go of the communal family ‘computer room’ and gave everyone their own, personal handheld devices. So how exactly do we gauge when monitoring turns into invasion of privacy? (https://www.stellardental.my/) Let’s try and sort this out today, shall we? The Age Scale Kids need different levels or privacy at different stages. By the age of 5, they might want to shower by themselves without your help. That’s because they this is the time they start to require a degree of bodily autonomy. By age 10, they might start seeking out their ‘hiding places’, somewhere they can spend some time by themselves. And then by the time they are preteens, the privacy game truly begins. They start locking their bedroom doors. The thing is, you can give them their designated me-time and be aware of everything they do at the same time. What you have to keep in mind is that you are the parent. Being in the know of all the things they do is your duty. The Internet Monitoring Scale Now let’s talk about the internet monitoring gauge. What should you worry about? What should you go easy on? No matter how rigorously or how lightly you monitor your child’s internet activity, you are going to be met with protests. Nevertheless, here are a few things you should do… Go through their Facebook meticulously. Look at their friend list and see if there is someone who is not supposed to be there. Read their wall posts and see what they talk about with their friends. Some parental monitoring apps will let you read their inbox, too. Go through their internet history. This is a sure-fire way to know of their browsing habits. However, if they are aware you’re going to be checking up on it, they might just clear up the nasty so you won’t catch it. Your monitoring should be silent. If you spot something inappropriate on their Facebook wall and jump right in. Observe quietly and have a conversation about the things you found were wrong. Go through their social media bios and make sure they are not giving too much away. Putting things like phone numbers or email addresses would make them accessible to the less than desired people of the internet. Yes I’m talking cyberstalkers… and real stalkers. Monitoring or Privacy? Both is Good Here’s the thing we learn with most debates: there is no right or wrong. When you choose monitoring over privacy (or vice versa) you’re assuming that each exists in isolation to the other. And that’s where you go wrong. But I am going to say this though—if your kids have smartphones, going that extra mile to monitor them is necessary. As long as you’re allowing them breathing space, you’ll be fine.  

Parental Control App
Child Monitoring, Tips

3 Benefits of Using the Android Parental Control App

/

Does your child use their phone all the time? Are you worried about being in the dark when it comes to their online activities? Don’t worry, most parents are. The truth is that 7 in 10 teens hide their online activities from their parents. But did you know that you have the ability of finding out exactly what it is that they do on their smartphones and tablets? That’s right, you—the parent—can be just as technologically savvy as your kid. And let’s get real… you probably already are. It’s just that it never occurred to you that you can have technology on your side when it comes to parenting. Without further ado, here are 3 awesome benefits that you can get when you finally decide to use that Android parental control app. 1.     You Get a Direct Line to Your Kids The first thing that XNSPY does right away is give you a direct connection with your kids. You don’t have to call them over and over to check where they are. You don’t even have to stand over their shoulders while they tap away on their tablets. And you most certainly don’t have to sneak a peek on their smartphones as they are texting their friends. All you’ve got to do is install the parental control in their devices, and you’ll get live updates on all their activities. You’ll be connected to them through the web portal and most importantly, you’ll always be informed. 2.     You Have “Remote Control” Over Their Device Another great benefit? You can control their devices remotely. You heard that right. With your online control panel, you get a “remote control”. This means you can wirelessly send commands to their phone. Because the app syncs the online account with the device, the commands will always work. You can record a phone call as it is happening. You can even record their live surroundings. You can completely wipe their phone’s memory with the click of a button. And there’s one more thing, you can do which is… 3.     You Can Lock Their Device You can actually lock their device whenever you want and they won’t be able to unlock it because only you have the “key”. You know those times when your kid just won’t follow their curfew and sneak in their phones during bedtime? Or the time they are supposed to be studying for the big test in the morning but they’re too busy Snapchatting? Those are the times where you can just easily lock their phones remotely. It’s a diabolical plan, sure, but sometimes, parents have to lay down the rules and enforce them strictly. A strong hand helps in disciplining and educating them. You’ve got plenty to look forward to if you start using the parental control app. Give our list of features a look  and you’ll be able to find plenty more that you can do. It really is a great time to be a parent. Read More: XNSPY Helps Makes Profits for My Plumbing Company, Too! Why Does XNSPY Have To Exist? XNSPY: A Better Option for a Cell Phone Tracking App

Beware of the Catfish
Announcements, Events & Deals, Social Media, Tech, Tips

Beware of the Catfish this Valentine’s Day!

/

It is almost that time of the year when people are celebrating being in love. And those who aren’t are hopping onto the internet to hopefully meet someone they can have a great time with. (Provigil) That all seems well and harmless, doesn’t it? But you know me… instead of playing baby cupid, I’m going to play the devil’s advocate and let you in on a little something, something. February is also the biggest catfish season. Which means that perfect mate that you met online? They’re probably not all that they seem. Catfishing at a Glance If you don’t remember what catfishing means, let me get you up to speed. A catfish is a person who goes on the internet with a false identity to attract a romantic interest. The “catfish” can be Using a fake photo Using a fake name Using an imagined name/identity Using a stolen name/identity The person being lied to is then said to have been “catfished”. The Bizarre Ruth Palmer Case Now you probably think this isn’t that big of a deal. Anonymity is a great part of the internet. But a catfish isn’t usually anonymous. A catfish is lying about who they are. They assume a personality to make themselves more appealing to their online romantic interest. They make up stories about an exciting life they do not lead. We haven’t forgotten the really bizarre Ruth Palmer case. At the receiving end of this fraud was a man called Justin who found himself falling in love with someone called Leah Palmer. Trouble was, the “Leah Palmer” in pictures was not her at all. (solidstonefabrics.com) “Leah Palmer” had stolen the pictures (and thus the identity) of a woman called Ruth Palmer to talk to and get closer to Justin. It’s a heartbreaking story once you get over the utter absurdity of it all. Avoiding Catfish on V-Day Here’s what you can do to make sure you are not being catfished this Valentine’s Day. Try and speak with them once over the phone or on Skype. Skype is preferred for obvious reasons. Do not give away credit card information to them. If you do decide to meet, do so in a public place. People who travel a lot, have modeling as their careers, or live highly exciting lives in general are probably catfishes Do not click on weird links you get from them. Most of all, try and get on a reliable dating app or website if you actually want to end up with a person and not a bot. Unless you’re into that, in which case, we don’t judge.

Best Valentine’s Day Cupids
Announcements, Social Media, Tech, Tips

Your Cell Phone and XNSPY, the Best Valentine’s Day Cupids

/

Did you know how essential it is to keep your smartphone protected from any potential theft? Your smartphone is more precious than your wallet, your keys and in some cases it is even precious than your laptop; the reason being it holds all your personal and highly confidential data. Unfortunately majority of us don’t do enough to protect our precious devices beyond perhaps having a four digit pass code or an unlock pattern. With street crimes on the rise every year, it has become a necessity to keep our smartphones protected in all possible ways. If we talk about the streets of London, around 314 mobiles are stolen each day, as per recent surveys. According to The Washington Post, an overwhelming 2.1 million Americans had their smartphones stolen in 2015. Owing to this awful scenario, one needs to take proper measures to make sure that the priceless data doesn’t fall into the hands of criminals, who may misuse it afterwards in any further illegal activities. How can XNSPY be Just the Right Valentine for my Smartphone? Just like many other smartphone lovers out there, you also love your phone dearly don’t you? How XNSPY can be just the right valentine for your smartphone, is what you are curious to know. (https://aaronkirman.com/) There’s no reason to stop leveraging your phone for convenience and productivity, but just be sure to apply a few street smarts first. At first, you’ll need installing the app on your smartphone that would take less than 10 minutes. Whereas in case of iOS No-Jailbreak device, you won’t even need installing the software on your device, as only your iOS credentials would get you complete control of your device remotely. Below are a few prominent features of XNSPY that would help you protect your smartphone’s data as soon as it gets lost or stolen. Remotely Lock the Phone: With this feature, you can lock your phone remotely even if it wasn’t locked when it got lost or snatched from your hands. This would disallow the unauthorized person to get access to all the private data on your phone and would let you manage your phone in the meantime. Wipe all the Data off Phone: XNSPY won’t limit you to remotely locking the phone as it gets lost or stolen, as the modern-day snatchers are more tech savvy and knowledgeable than ever. You can also completely wipe the data off phone using your personal computer, laptop or even another smartphone. Track GPS Location: Tracking your phone’s location is the first thing you’ll do after making your data secure. By remotely logging into your XNSPY account, you will be able to know current location of your device as well as get complete location history of your device in order to track the snatcher/thief. Record Phone’s Surroundings: One of the most powerful features of XNSPY that guarantee your phone’s security is to record phone’s surroundings without making a call. Know what the snatcher/thief is talking about, what he/she plans do to next and where they are taking your phone to. You may also listen to all phone calls made or answered on your smartphone. Get Live Screenshots: Getting live screenshots of your smartphone enables you to know what the criminal is up to. This lets you know in-depth about how your phone is being treated by a stranger. Concisely, XNSPY and your smartphone are the best Valentine’s Day cupids as nothing can care for and protect your smartphone better than this state of the art cell phone tracking app.

Big Day Out for Online Scammers
Announcements, Tech, Tips

Valentine’s Day is a Big Day Out for Online Scammers

/

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, which means there will probably be lots of lonely hearts on the internet. Sadly, there are lots of people that would want to bank in on that fact. Valentine’s Day is actually the biggest day out for online scammers. They would either want to woo you by offering attention when you’re lonely. Or they would pretend to be your significant other and want to exploit you. We’ve done a post on online scams before, but in light of Valentine’s Day, let’s go over it again so we don’t fall prey to malicious users. Scams Have Many Different Faces The thing is, an online scam can come to you in many different forms. It could be a popup ad, or an email or a Facebook message. But almost every time, they’d be about one of these things: A work-at-home job A ‘you just won $1 mil, click here to claim your prize’ scam A dating, ‘meet singles in your area’ ad A ‘I’m in desperate need of help’ message A phishing scam Of course fraudulent ads will come to you in other forms as well, but these are the most common ones. Are Scams Harmful? Of course they are! They are digital con artists out to exploit you. And they will harm you through Financial theft (when you give away credit card information, send money online) Identity theft (when you give away personal information like social security numbers) Malware when you click on their ads Scams are designed for exploitation, and lonely hearts on V-Day are the easiest prey. How to Identify Online Scams You need to be smart and vigilant enough to recognize the difference between fakers and real deals. You just need to know these few simple rules. The Click-and-Drag rule Notice when you are downloading a file off the internet that there are a million buttons that say ‘download’ and you can never get to the right one? Click and drag a download button. If you can drag the image, it is an ad. If it is not drag-able, it’s the real button. This works with most ads. The ‘Too Good to be True’ rule If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Why would anyone want to give a random stranger on the internet $1 million? If there is a sweepstake involved, it is definitely a scam. (https://thebiem.com/) Avoid clicking on ads like these. Source: Softpedia The Plain Text rule To avoid phishing scams, read your emails in plain text. Scams that try to look legitimate are mostly clickable images. Here’s what a plain text email should look like. Source: Webappers The Credit Card rule Only use well-known platforms to buy/sell stuff or date online. Otherwise, don’t give away your credit card information to anyone, anywhere. Your proper bank/social media/online marketplace accounts will hardly ever need to confirm your credit card information.   The Ad block rule Just get a simple ad block on your browser. You are going to reduce your chances of being scammed by… a lot. You can get these extensions on your browsers for free.   Be Prepared! Just know never to give away personal information to anyone you talk to online or when filling out online forms no matter how ‘serious business’ they sound. You can end up in all sorts of trouble if you give away this stuff. Online safety first!  

3 Digital Villains
Tech, Tips

3 Digital Villains We Need to Get Rid of in 2016

/

We talk about them all the time. We educate you on how to avoid them. But you know what? It is 2016 and I think it is high time that these fellas just pack their bags and leave. They have ruined a lot of lives and we’ve had it with them. These are the three biggest digital villains that we need to get rid of right away. 1.     Cyberbullying To be honest, if you’re a parent in 2016, you know what cyberbullying is by now. So we’re not going to dumb it down and define what it is for you. In the coming blogs, we will however talk about the scope of it all and the damage it has done. Because cyberbullying is an issue so grave, it has become a White House concern. What we plan to make parents understand is that they should take cyberbullying just as seriously as they would playground bullying. Because it causes emotional and psychological harm. Look at this picture by Anti Bullying Blogto get an idea. So, in the later posts, we will teach you how to identify a cyberbully, how to take the correct precautions and how to protect your children. 2.     Online Predators When the kids are not picking on each other, you have to worry about the predators. I’ve always found this be a sinister issue. Because in a convoluted sense, the predators have found a way into your home through your kid’s phone screen. And because they are in the cyberverse, they are faceless and nameless. Characters like these talk to your kids on chat rooms or social media. The look for sexual and financial exploitation, coerce personal information out of children. Sometimes, they even convince these kids to meet them offline. Internet Marketing Ninjas show you how to look for red flags. We’ll talk more about these issues and soon, you’ll know exactly how to protect your kids. Recommended For You:  Parental Control App – Cell Phone Parental Control Software 3.     Inappropriate Content The internet is open for literally anything on the planet. If you can imagine it, it probably exists. And there’s a good chance your kids are being exposed to it. Studies have found that kids start sexting as early as in the sixth or seventh grade. Kids can also be exposed to pop up pornography ads, or they could be seeking it out, too. So you’ll need a way to filter all the inappropriate content out of your kids lives. Here are some stats by Gifts We Use… Educate Yourselves The smartphone generation has brought with it a new pile of social issues, hasn’t it? We have taken it upon ourselves to create as much awareness about them as we can. I realize that these 3 villains we talked about are NOT the only ones. There are lots more out there and we’ve addressed them on this blog before. However, the first step in fighting these villains and eliminating them from our lives is getting ourselves educated about them. You’ve got to know how they operate and how they enter your child or loved one’s lives. You’ve got to pull the plug at the source. It seems like a small contribution, but if everyone does their part, who knows? Maybe we’ll get rid of them once and for all.

Misplaced Your Phone
Cell Phone Tracking, Tech, Tips

What to Do When You’ve Lost or Misplaced Your Phone

/

We’ve all been there. One moment you swear you had your phone right in your pocket; the next moment it is gone. You furiously tap all your pockets—or if you’re like me—upturn your entire purse. The debris and purse sand comes out, but your phone is nowhere to be found. If you’re a forgetful mind, you’ve probably been in situations like these quite a few times. Here are some stats on lost phones presented by Lookout: Here’s what they tell you: The dollar value for lost phones is $7 million Phones are most often lost at grocery stores, pizza places and gas stations People from Philadelphia are most like to lose their phones. The Problem With Lost Devices Sure we put a dollar value on the actual, physical device that you lose. But stop to think about everything else that you have stored on that device. It was your key to your online world. This means you probably had a lot of important data on their as well. Such as: Saved credit card numbers ID, license and social security details Email access Saved social media passwords Personal photos And this is just the tip of the iceberg. These days, people tend to have their entire lives on their phones. Loss of all that data is dangerous—it means identity theft, cyberstalking, even real stalking if the device falls into the wrong hands. You may argue that your phones are password protected. And we’ll remind you that these passwords are very easily crackable… and you don’t even need sophisticated code or algorithms for it. Just simple, primitive techniques. So, what to do when you’re confronting the worst case scenario and have lost your phone? XNSPY to the Rescue With any luck, you’ve been reading this blog and already had XNSPY installed onto your phone. XNSPY doesn’t just work as a monitoring tool for another target phone. You can use it for your own device’s personal security. Might we remind you that we’ve got a handy dandy remote control as one of our features? This is what is going to come in use here. Here’s how. The Lock Phone Option With the remote control, you can log onto the control panel and simply send a command through the web that would lock your phone. This means that in the event that your phone gets lost or stolen, you will be able to remotely lock it so that no one can access its contents. This locks can only be undone through the app. So in the time you’re tracing back your steps and searching for your missing phone, you can lock it and secure all your data from potential intruders. The Wipe Data Option If you think your phone is gone for good and there is nothing you can do to get it back, you can at least salvage your data through the wipe data option. This will clear the phone’s memory completely so that if someone is to find/steal your device, it would contain none of your personal virtual belongings. They would only get the physical device out of this situation. The Always Trusty GPS Tracker Something that will help you in your search for your lost or misplaced phone? The GPS tracker. If you’ve been smart and downloaded XNSPY on your phone on a precautionary basis, the tracker will help you locate it. This way, you can find out if you left it in that coffee shop, or at work, or at the gas station. Or if it is simply hiding under the depths of your couch. In that case, at least you’ll know your phone is home.

Scroll to Top