Author name: Jenny Nicole

High School Soccer Team
Child Monitoring

4 Must Know Parenting Hacks for Taking Care of Teens

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Taking care of teens on the internet is exhausting, and no one understands that better than we do. This is why we’ve thought up four new parenting hacks to help make your life easier. Traditional parenting ways not working for you anymore? Try one of these approaches instead. Helping Them Choose Safe Passwords You know how identity theft can be a major internet privacy issue. You never know just who can hack into your teen’s account. What’s worse is that you don’t know what they might do with it either. This is why it is very important that you help your teen choose a safe password. You’d be surprised to know how many people simply choose “123456” or “abcdef” as their password. So here are a few tips you can give them Make sure your login isn’t the same as your password Make sure your password isn’t your first name, last name, or birthday Make sure your password isn’t anything obvious such as your likes—if everyone knows you’re a Star Wars fan, it wouldn’t be wise to have “StarWarsFan” as your password Make sure your password doesn’t contain obvious keyboard layouts such as “123” or “asdfg” or “zxcv” Asking THEM to Teach YOU Another approach that can help you have a real learning conversation with your child is if you let THEM be the teacher. Instead of giving them answers, ask them questions. Pretend like you truly don’t understand and you’re asking your child to teach you all about it. Ask questions like “What are privacy settings anyway?” or “What happens if I just make my photo public?” or “I don’t understand what these Public/Private buttons are for?” In this way, your children and you can have an exploratory conversation in which the two of you get to learn together. Your child won’t feel attacked and will be more open to talk. Parents tend to get rather condescending during discussions like these, and such an approach reduces that. Casually Share a News Story On this blog, we share lots of shocking news stories with you about teen behavior and parental negligence gone wrong so that you can learn a lesson and protect your child better. It’ll be worthwhile for you to share such stories with your child as well. Teach them that reckless behavior will have consequences. Give them instances of when a young girl was catfished by an older man pretending to be a teenager.  Or when oversharing photos led to a bizarre Instagram identity theft. Also give them the lessons to take away from anything you hear on the news. Keep on Monitoring Keep a check on them from afar. It is the best way to get to know if their behavior on the internet is appropriate of if you need to intervene. Use parental control to see what websites they’re browsing and who they are talking to. Step in whenever you see something wrong occurring that might affect them in the long run.

Bosses
Employee Monitoring

4 Different Decision Making Style Bosses Display

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Here’s a dilemma that I’m pretty sure most bosses reading this would have gone through: Should they choose to be more autocratic or more democratic? What happens when they choose to be one way over the other? Are they missing out if they choose to be a certain way with their employees? If I’m being honest, these days, bosses are expected to be a lot of things. They’re meant to have intelligence, decision making skills, keep their employees motivated in the right manner, and be either democratic or autocratic. But the truth is, between democracy and authority lies a while spectrum of boss behavior.  Previously, I talked about the different leadership styles employers tend to adopt. Today, we’ll be talking about the kinds of behaviors bosses usually display in the way that they lead. 1.     Boss Makes the Decision Independently One type of behavior typical of purely autocratic leaders is the tendency to make decisions on their own. When faced with a problem, they consider all situations, evaluate solutions, then ask their employees to implement it. (crej.com) In this case, the employees never get a chance to voice their opinions. In fact, the work culture may be such that they would never have freedom of expression enough to give an opinion anyway. The decision is announced and expected to be implemented, no questions asked. 2.     Boss Sells the Decision to Employees This style of decision making is not much different to the first one. Here, too the boss identifies the problem, evaluates the possible ways in which it may be solved, then arrives at a decision and announces it to the staff. The only difference is that while announcing it, they do try to persuade their employees. This means that they realize that their decision may be met with some resistance. This is tackled by the selling approach where the boss explains what the employees can gain from his decision. Recommended For You: Employee Monitoring Software – Spy Employees Remotely 3.      Boss Keeps the Decision Open to Change In this style of decision making, the boss has identified the problem and contemplated different solutions. At the end of it, they do arrive at a decision, but it is open to change. They then meet up with their employees and ask them for suggestions, loopholes, and improvements that can be made. At the end of the day, the boss still has the final say. However, unlike the first two decision making styles, this one lends some power to the subordinates. What they say is considered by the boss. 4.     Boss Set Rules, Employees Make Decision This style of decision making is unique in that the employees have a lot of power. Here, the boss identifies the problem and decided to set the parameters between which a decision is to be arrived at. But who makes the decision? The employees as a unit. This tactic is commonly used by managers in issues that do not directly concern business. This may include day to day floor issues (problems with the coffee machine, lunch hours, parking lots and the like). What kind of decision maker are you? Do you tend to make the decisions independently or do you like to get your employees involved?

Kids Alone time
Child Monitoring

Should You Be Worried About Your Kid’s Alone Time?

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As your children get older, they tend to get more reclusive. Especially when they’re in their tweens or when they’re graduating middle school. They’re not to blame. They’re going through plenty of changes that can be overwhelming and emotionally challenging. Pressures from school could be to be involved in social situations, perform well in their educational career and be a responsible member of the family. So when they close that door for some along time, a lot of parents get wary. Question is, are you right to be concerned? Space is Important! The truth is, as nerve-wracking as it may be for you to imagine what your child is doing behind closed doors, your child needs that space. And they can do a lot of good with that alone time as well. For a lot of tweens and teens, their bedroom is their little private space, a refuge from pressures, social anxieties and expectations. They can unwind here and prepare themselves to face responsibilities for the next day. A Time to Dream Being alone in their rooms also gives your child the perfect opportunity to dream. Their imagination can run wild and they might use this time to regain their confidence. When they dream, they might think of a better future for themselves. This way, they’ll know that no matter what they’re going through at school—with their teachers, bad grades, not being picked for the baseball team, not having enough friends—they can overcome it because they’ve got bigger dreams. (https://www.invisibly.com) It is constructive visualization that can only be explored when they have alone time. A Safe Haven For other kids, their alone time could be a safe haven they use to get away from stressors. A lot of kids in the US face bullies at school. This makes attending school a stressful experience, and something they have to face up to on a daily basis. So being by themselves in their rooms, even if for a few minutes, makes them feel safer. It gives them the time to do the things they like to do… read their favorite books, watch a film or television show on their tablets, browse their favorite websites. These things help them de-stress and feel better about their day. You Can Use This Time, Too! While your teen has put themselves in solitary, you can use this time constructively. Your parental control app can be very telling. First of all, you can use it to find out what your kid is doing in their alone time. Are they in there because they are being bullied at school? Or are they simply using that time to relax? It also helps you find out if the alone time is good for them or if they should be around their family and friends more often. As a safe bet, however, an hour or so of alone time is usually the right way to go, not only for your child, but for you as well!

Employee Monitoring App
Employee Monitoring

Understanding Conversational Rituals is Essential to Employer-Employee Relationship

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We all know that people have different things to say about the same subject. But have you even thought about how people have different ways to say the same thing as well? Communication in the workplace isn’t all about the stuff you say to each other. It is also about how you are choosing to say them. The linguistic styles you choose, your tone, your inflictions and more importantly, your conversational rituals are unique to you. They are your signature speaking patterns. So the problem here is that when you say something a certain way, it might get lost in translation. You might mean something else in the way you talk, but it could be misinterpreted by your employees. Conversely, it may be that your employees meant to convey something to you, but you decode their conversation style differently to what they intended. Which is why we’re going to help you understand three conversational rituals to bridge any gaps in communication you may be facing because of speaking styles. Here they are: Style of Feedback The way people give feedback can be vastly diverse. One way to give feedback is to be direct. In this style, the person cuts to the chase, mentioning what they think are the weak areas and offering what needs to be done to improve them. The downside of this style is that it could be interpreted as too aggressive. It might discourage an employee and make an employer feel like they are being contradicted. Another way to give feedback is to offer a buffer. Start with positives, and then get to the negatives. This style uses a more passive approach. The downside of this style is that the actual purpose (presenting problematic areas needed for correction) may get lost in the buffer and other filler conversation. Giving Compliments Sometimes, compliments are not offered as a way of encouragement or commendation. Sometimes compliments are simply a part of someone’s conversational ritual. Consider an employee that offers “Hello! You look nice” as a way of greeting. They may not actually believe the other person looks nice but say it in the same way someone says “Hello, how are you” without actually wanting to really know how the other person is. They are just ritual compliments. Other times, people offer compliments because they are expecting one in return. If you cannot recognize this conversational ritual, you may not realize that the other person wants a compliment and may take it as an opportunity to give “constructive criticism” or an “honest opinion”. This may cause unwanted conflict. Apologizing Similar to giving compliments, some people give ritual apologies in their daily conversation. When they say “I’m sorry” they may not mean that they are actually sorry for something they did or did not do. They might just be saying that because it is an essential element of their speaking style. This conversational ritual may cause a few problems. A person who apologizes by way of habit may appear weak and not one to be trusted with responsibility or decision making. So if an employer has this conversational ritual, they may not be as respected by their subordinates. These were three common linguistic rituals that are open to misinterpretation. The job of a good manager then is to be flexible and understand when something is being said by habit versus when something is being said with meaning.

Business Monitoring App
Business

4 Things That Would Make You Manage Your Business Better

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Sometimes, running a business toward success doesn’t always come down to numbers. Sure, big numbers look good from time to time, but you’ve got to find an outstanding way to sustain them, too. Sometimes, you’ve got to dig a little deeper and find out other inspiring ways to make sure you’re doing the right things. So, how does one drive their company to bigger and better things? By making sure they’re doing the following things… Having the Perfect Dose of Self-Awareness A good business owner always has the right amount of self-awareness. This means that they not only know what their weaknesses are, they know how other people perceive them as well. They know exactly what their employees think of them. This ability could simultaneously be a blessing and a curse. Knowing what others think of you may not always be pretty. However, it provides great insight about what you need to do to improve yourself, or to find ways that better align with your employees. They’re the resources that will help you achieve your business goals, anyway. Knowing Intrinsic Motivators from the Intrinsic Ones Another great characteristic of good business runners? They know how to chase the bigger things. Of course external motivators are shiny and attractive. Of course you’d like to have a fatter disposable income, a bigger company name, an upgrade in ranks, fame and recognition and what not. But you should also have instrinsic, longer goals that really matter. Good business runners focus on questions like “Am I attaining personal growth in my company?” or “Is my company adding something worthwhile to the society?” or “Am I helping my employees grow?” Extrinsic motivators can only take you so far. Learn to dream bigger. Having the Right Support Group Around You Even the best CEO in the world cannot run their business without someone to advise them. Successful business runners became so because they had a reliable support group around them. And it is important that you build your support team, too. This could consist of your mentors who will provide guidance—be your corporate Yoda if you will—and help you with your decisions. This could be friends that you’ve known for a long time and with whom you can share your personal thoughts. It could also consist of people you can have an insightful, intellectual conversation that you meet in formal settings. Having a group of advisors is of the utmost importance. Inspiring Leadership in Your Employees The best leaders of all inspire leadership amongst their employees. Now, we’ve talked about this in great length before as well, but good bosses always empower their employees. When you do this, you make sure everyone in your company works at their best. That is what will drive your business, and that is what will ultimately translate into your books. Remind yourself to keep your employees at the heart of your business, and monitor their progress. It’s the only way to make sure you’re moving toward betterment. Recommended for you: Employee Monitoring Software – Spy Employees Remotely

View Location History Remotely
Child Monitoring, Tips

The Easiest Parenting Hack to View Location History Remotely

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How many times have you, as a parent, wondered if your child really is where they say they are? Because if you have, you are not alone. Every parent who has kids entering adolescence has experienced this at one point or the other. At their age, your kids have made themselves believe that they’re old enough to do anything, go anywhere, and not be questioned by parents about it. They’ve got secret lives at this age. This is almost expected behavior; but it doesn’t stop you from worrying either. But parents are increasingly digitalizing their lives, just as their kids are. There are monitoring tools for kids available that empower parents, and make them want to be more proactive in their children’s upbringing. Parents are now able to block unwanted websites, know where their kids are going, and even view location history through trackers. Parental controls, especially those that come in the form of mobile apps have become the newest parenting hack. How do Parental Controls Work? Modern parental controls, such as XNSPY, are installed on children’s devices. From then on, a parent has maximum surveillance privileges. Which means they can pretty much see anything that’s going on in their phones or tablets. These controls also come with trackers, so a parent always knows where the child is via their GPS location. Parents that deal with kids that sneak out and lie to them… an app like this seems like the perfect antidote to their problems. Are Trackers Effective? To a degree, trackers are pretty effective. But it depends on how the parent chooses to use them. XNSPY, for example tracks a child throughout the day. Now, a parent can log on and peek into their current location if they please. But, if they want to find out where their child has been throughout the day, they’ll also be able to see their location history. Imagine that—a parent will have, with precise coordinates and times where their child has been. Does it Work on Teenagers? Not in the way that you’d think. A parental control is a preventative measure. It works only if there is a form of active parenting involved. If you’re using this to find out if your child is lying to you about where they’ve been, the most the app is going to do is confirm or deny their claim. How you choose to parent your child with that information is entirely up to you… that is what ultimately determines if this should work on teenagers. But at the same time, having the ability to remotely view location history seems to have a certain utility, doesn’t it? Because what if you find that your kid is in trouble, but you have no idea where they are? Or a less morbid situation, their devices don’t come cheap, and kids lose things. An app like that could easily locate their devices back to them. A monitoring app is a parenting hack, yes. But it doesn’t work unless is it rightly implemented. It is a vehicle that reassures you of their safety, and informs you of their activities. What you choose to do with that information is what will matter.

Mobile Tracker Helped
Cell Phone Tracking, Social Media, Tips

How a Mobile Tracker Helped Me Saved My Son’s Life—A Mother’s Tale

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An XNSPY mother wrote to us with her striking story about her son who had to deal with the worst kind of bullies at school. Here is her story in her own words… I’ve been through the most traumatizing experience recently and I thought I should share my story so that I could help other parents in my situation. About a month ago, my son, Sean was kidnapped and beaten by none other than his own classmates. And I wouldn’t have been able to get him back if I didn’t have XNSPY installed on his phone. Because it let me find out his current location right away and so I was able to find out where the bullies (felons, really) had left him. If you’ve got a child who you are afraid is being bullied, threatened, stalked, and you’re looking for a preventive measure, keep on reading. A Bit about My Son My son has a cognitive disability and that causes severe social anxiety. Because of that, he hasn’t been able to make a lot of friends. He gets made fun of at school because of his disability, but ever since he started high school, the bullying took a more vicious form. It began with pushing and shoving in the hallway. Then he started coming home with bruises or a black eye. This is the point when I decided I need to get a monitoring app for his phone so I can know what happens to him. I bought XNSPY and started to monitor his GPS location more closely. How XNSPY Helped About 2 weeks after I’d installed the monitoring app on Sean’s phone, he didn’t come home from school. This was strange because it is very unlike him to go somewhere else and not tell me. I waited for a couple of hours but when my anxiety got the best of me, I logged onto the XNSPY control panel and checked his location history. I saw all the places he went after school and at what time, I saw the route he took. Most importantly, I saw his current location. Call it a mother’s instinct but I realized immediately that something was horribly wrong. So I got the authorities involved and we set out to find Sean. What the Bullies Had Done We found him near some warehouses, in an area that was literally the middle of nowhere. We found him lying in the dark, bleeding because he’d been beaten. They had stolen all his belongings, including his phone. And that was their undoing because I simply had to track them with XNSPY to find out where they went. Thankfully, my son recovered in a week, and those bullies kicked out of school and now have to serve some time in community service. I would never have known how to find Sean if I hadn’t already installed a tracking app on his phone, and who knows what would’ve happened then. Parents concerned for their children’s safety: get XNSPY now. Don’t wait around for something bad to happen to put you in action. Do you have a story to share with us? Write to us or leave a comment below!

Tech

Smartphone Cameras are Trendier than Traditional Cameras

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No one brings cameras to parties anymore. Okay, so maybe that’s going too far. Perhaps 2 of your friends bring their DSLRs along so you can have a nice picture taken for your Facebook. Still, you cannot simply look past this trend. People now have fewer things to carry because everything they would need is in their phones. Including cameras. And this has certainly given way to pseudo-photography. Forget Andy Warhol and his contributions to digitalizing modern visual art. With Instagram, everyone’s a photographer. Take a look at the stats from Kissmetrics: So how exactly are smartphones taking over the use of handheld cameras? Let’s have a look. Smartphones Are a Necessity; Cameras Are Not These days, before you want to own a good camera, you want to own an iPhone. While your camera would only serve one purpose, and are considered more of an indulgence, your smartphone caters to your everyday needs, which includes staying connected. You can’t make phone calls on your camera. But you can take pictures with your phone. It is much easier taking a selfie with a smartphone anyway. Smartphone Image Quality is Improving Handheld cameras, no doubt have the better quality (they have one job, they might as well do it properly). Still, if you’re the casual social media photographer, you know phones these days are coming up with even better cameras. I mean let’s talk about the iPhone 6s camera for a bit. Not only does it have a higher megapixel count to previous generation iPhones, it also has autofocus, noise reduction and tone-mapping. So while the average picture-taker has the option of photos with an acceptable quality to make memories, it will probably be a while before they think about getting a camera. In fact, contemporary smartphone camera quality supersedes run of the mill camera quality any day. Instagram makes it Easy The Instagram craze has made smartphone photography more fun as well. The app, which is available for most Android phones and iOS versions, has taken online vanity to a new level. In the beginning, people used it to take pictures of themselves and their food. Now, with the increase in popularity, everyone’s a photographer because of Instagram. Once you’ve taken a picture on your iPhone or Android device, Instagram gives you the option to add filters. This makes the pictures look so pretty, you might as well start a photography blog. You don’t have to be professional when the Hudson or Mayfair filters to make you look good. Smartphone Cameras Have Accessories the pocket spotlight takes better pictures While the iPhone camera is what it is, there are many ways you can one up their game. iPhone cameras now come with accessories such as the Pocket Spotlight which helps provide a better light than the built-in flash. Others include the Olloclip Lens which allows the user to have a wide angle,fisheye view and a 15x macro. This makes the smartphone picture snapping experience one step ahead. There Are Apps as Well Smartphone users tend to download apps that can make their photos even better. For example, Camera Genius gives them the option to crop their photos and add more filters than Instagram has to offer. Similarly, Mattebox helps the user with focus, exposure, white balance and the like.  While these exist to make picture quality better, the casual snapper will remain happy. Cameras are not going anywhere, that much is true. But while real photographers may scoff at smartphone cameras, the average user is more than happy to keep on using them. It’s the selfie era, anyway.

iOS9
Announcements

iOS 9 Adoption is the Fastest of Any Operating System Ever

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Did you guys hear about Apple dropping its brand new OS last week? iOS 9 was the much awaited update Apple users were looking for after the iPhone 6 releases last September. The update was available for a big range of Apple devices, including all iPhones 4S and above, all iPads 2 and above and including all iPad Airs. Heck, it is even available on the 5th generation iPod touch if you’ve got one. And now Apple has announced that from this entire range, iOS 9 has already been updated on nearly half these devices. This means that from the announcement last Monday to now, 50 percent of the Apple devices all over are already sporting the iOS 9. This makes it the fastest adoption of any operating system for a smartphone or tablet ever. Like any other iOS upgrade, this too hasn’t been as smooth as the developers would have liked. There was a bit of a run in with trouble in the initial stages when some users were experiencing error messages when trying to get the upgrade. Regardless, Philip Schiller, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Apple is certain that the iOS 9 will make all iPhones “the most advanced ever”. They’ve also acknowledged this quick adoption, placing it down in Apple’s history. Amongst the many updates that come with this new OS is a better voice assistant in Siri, and a new and improved version of the infamous Apple maps.  What’s more, they have even expanded Apple Pay, an effort that was announced nearly 11 months ago in the US. The service will now be making its way to the UK. Plans to expand to Canada and China are well on their way as well. Interestingly, what caught people off guard was the new font that seemed to come with the upgrade. iOS 9 uses the font San Francisco, the one used on the Apple Watch. Just like the change in the Google logo, this particular modification isn’t being too well received. It seems that while people like their functions to improve, they like the consistency and familiarity that comes with the outlook.  But let’s be honest here. Once everyone has upgraded and a few weeks have passed, people aren’t even going to remember what the font in the iOS 8 looked like. Have you upgraded to iOS 9 yet? What improvements or changes would you like to see in Apple’s next operating system?

Employee Monitoring

5 Different Leadership Styles and When to Use Them

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You’re not always the same leader. In your company, there are going to be some instances that call for you to be autocratic, others situations will need a more democratic approach. However, it is important for you to understand the kind of leader you are most of the time. Only then will you be able to improvise and see what you need to improve upon and what you need to borrow from other leadership styles. Before we begin, let’s take a look at how some of the world’s most successful leaders got to where they are: This infographic from Click 4 Compliance is proof that one leadership style is not superior to the other. It is all about choosing the right one for your personality and the moment. Here are 5 styles of leadership people usually adopt. See if you can spot yourself: The Authoritative Trendsetter An authoritative trendsetter is one that leads by being a model of competence, and one who expects the subordinates to follow. This style of leadership sets the pace for the entire company to follow. Their self-confidence and competence leaves no room for error. This style of leadership is pretty useful in times when the team they are in charge of is like minded and talented enough to follow the leader without being given specific direction. This style of leadership is perhaps not suitable if the team is made of free minds that like to do things in more creative ways, different from their bosses. The Empathizing Affiliate An empathizing affiliate is one that tries to relate to their subordinates. They understand the situation they’re in and guide them by narrating stories of when they were in a similar situation with their bosses. They remind the team that they are on their side and want to attain shared goals. This style of leadership works in times when the team or the company has been through a setback or when the morale is low. It does not work if the team wants specific direction from a commanding leader. Or if the employees do not wish to relate personally to their bosses but rather look to them as an authority figure. The Charismatic Role Model A charismatic role model is one that inspires leadership amongst their employees. Their personality is effervescent and subordinates aspire to be like them. They charge their team when they need to and coach them to their strengths. This style of leaderships works best with a team that is self-driven. Employees that want to move up the ladder in the company would want to look up to their bosses in the hopes of following in their footsteps. However, employees who are unwilling to improve or change may not be as moved by this style of leadership. It will also fail when the leader is not sufficiently charismatic or does not have a strong enough impact with their personality as they were hoping to achieve. The Iron Fist The iron fist leader is one that wants to take charge and expect results, no questions asked. They expect immediate and perfect compliance and can sometimes be controlling in nature. This style of leadership is most affective in times of crisis and emergencies when immediate action needs to be taken. It is in these circumstances that people are most willing to follow the lead because they all want to safely get out of the unwanted situation in a systematic manner. This style of leadership would be most ineffective with a team that craves autonomy and creativity. In this case, an autocratic, iron fist leadership will come in the way of innovation. The Democratic Delegator The democratic delegator is one that leads through consensus. They expect participation from the whole team and don’t make important decisions until all team members have weighed in. They are also good delegators, distributing responsibilities amongst everyone rather than taking all important tasks on themselves. This style of leadership words best when wanting to get the team to have a high level of involvement in a particular project. It also works best if the leader encounters a problem not from their area of expertise. This style of leadership would be least effective in crisis or times of emergencies that do not have time for democracy. What kind of leader are you?

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