Author name: Jenny Nicole

Cell Phone Tracking, Child Monitoring

The eParent’s Guide to Avoiding Online Scams

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You know those advertisement pages in newspapers that quite literally scream ‘place your ad here’. That’s the internet. But exactly like that page filled with people selling stuff, some ads are going to be the real thing; others are going to be scams. But’s here’s the reality: scams on the internet cause more damage, especially because it is your kids that are at the other end of the fraud. Simply speaking, children have a higher propensity to be scammed. The Many Faces of a Scam Online scams will come to you in lots of different forms. Usually, they come up as popup ads, a message on a Facebook chat, or through emails. But 90% of the time, they take one of these faces: A high paying work from home job The old ‘you just won $1 million, click here to collect’ ad The ‘meet singles in your area’ dating ad The sympathy bait, ‘I desperately need help’ message or email Phishing scams This is not to say that fraudulent ads won’t present themselves in any other way. But these are the most common tricks that people on the internet fall for. (https://mundonow.com) Can Scams Harm You? Of course they can! Think of scams as con artists, except they don’t have a name or a face so they are far more dangerous. They can harm you by Financial theft (they can intercept your credit card information, or convince you to send money) Identity theft (they might ask you to give away social security numbers, ID, and the like) Malware that spreads by clicking on the ad Scams are, by nature designed to exploit. And if adults can fall for these, imagine how easy it would be to fool a kids. (https://texasdls.com) How Can I Identify an Online Scam? You, the experienced adult could probably differentiate the pretenders from the contenders but your kids can’t. And let’s be honest, most adults can do it, either. In any case, let me give you a few tips on what rules you need to teach your kids. The Click-and-Drag Test You know how when you’re downloading a file from a webpage that happens to have 20 ‘download’ buttons and you can never tell which the real one is? Here’s what you do. Click and drag each download button. If the ‘ghost image’ drags, the button is fake. If you can’t drag it, it’s the right one. Source: How to Geek Fake download buttons are the easiest click bait. Source: How to Geek The ‘Too Good to be True’ Test If the offer in the ad seems fleeting, that’s because it is. Why on earth would anyone want to hand a random person an entire $1 million? Sweepstakes on the internet are mostly scams. Source: Softpedia Avoid clicking on ads like these. Source: Softpedia The Plain Text Trick Here’s the best way to avoid phishing scams in your inbox: read all your emails in plain text. Most of the time scams that are pretending to be legitimate will be clickable images. Source: Webappers Here’s what a plain text email should look like. Source: Webappers The Credit Card Rule Always use well-known websites or apps to make transactions. Otherwise, don’t ever fill any form that requires you to enter your credit card information. Try using the incognito mode on your browser when making a transaction. Legitimate social media platforms, banks or online marketplaces wouldn’t need to confirm your information over and over. Source: Silicon Republic A phishing scam pretending to be Tesco. Source: Silicon Republic Use Ad Block Honestly, getting a simple ad block for your browser is going to solve most of scam-related problems. These extensions are generally free, but so, so useful. Source: OS China Get rid of all the ads altogether. Source: OS China Educate Your Children Be the responsible digital parent and talk to your kids about scams, how to identify and avoid them. Be sure they never share personal information with anyone online. A good Parental monitoring app will help you keep on top of things. At the same time, tell them never to fill online forms that require that you give away your house address or credit card number. Online safety first!

Child Monitoring, Employee Monitoring

A Tale of Smartphone Usage and Workplace Productivity

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Employees have always found a way to procrastinate at work, long before smartphones were even invented. There were those that took an awfully long lunch break, the desk daydreamers and that one who just loved the sound of their voice. So why are smartphones in particular being blamed when essentially, it’s always been the same? How Are Workplaces Different Now? HR policies are changing. We’re a post-industrial society now, so we’re not exactly required to work like machines. Offices talk about work-life balance so they give you days off and vacations when they feel like you’re edging burnout. They talk of employee engagement so they give you work that you’d want to do. Many offices insist that you spent 15% of your work-hours on me-time. You’d think with all of this happening, the chances of procrastination should automatically go down, right? But we’re the smartphone generation. We couldn’t have predicted 10 years ago that everyone at the workplace would have their own handheld devices. Which, I might add, give them access to social media when they want to talk, or games apps when they’re bored. And it would all be just a finger tap under their desk away. No one has to know what they’re doing and they’d look busy while doing so. This chart by I Acquire pretty much sums up what they probably do on their phones at work: What can make these matters worse? If your workplace has a ‘bring your own device’ policy, because then you’re enabling the opening of the can of worms. So, Do Smartphones Lessen Productivity? That seems to be the accepted rule of thumb. But think about it this way: would you want to work in an office that has a strictly no-phone policy? I know I wouldn’t. Because reasonable rules are fine, but when they seem condescending, it may as well turn you against the workplace altogether. Some offices block social media, which only builds on the idea that employees are school children that must be disciplined. So in a way, yes. Being able to use their phones at work leads to more job satisfaction. This is why many companies just give them their own device, for work and job satisfaction. Killing two birds with one stone. Can the Device Usage be Controlled? That’s the idea. It’s okay if they’re spending a little time dwindling their thumbs on their phones to catch a breather. It’s a problem when that’s the only thing they’re doing. But micromanagement isn’t exactly the solution either. If they have a company provided phone, a better idea would be to use an employee monitoring app. It allows them to self-regulate, but at the same time, it gives you a better idea of how much time they spend working and how much time they spend procrastinating. You could also limit the downloadable data per head for personal use. What we’ve learnt is yes, procrastination at work is an age old problem. But now it has taken a digital format, so we find it easier to blame the smartphone rather than the employee or employer. If you’ve got a bad seed or bad policies, you’re going to lose productivity, smartphone or otherwise.

Cell Phone Tracking, Child Monitoring

The Big Fat Digital Parenting Debate: Monitoring or Privacy?

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When it comes to parenting, monitoring vs. privacy is an age-old argument. Still, the reason we bring it up again is that it has escalated drastically in the recent 5-10 years. Obviously, this change occurred when we gave up the communal ‘computer room’ that every family had and replaced them with personal, handheld devices for each. That’s where the problem lies. Because for a parent, estimating when monitoring becomes invasion of privacy has become more confusing than before. So, in today’s blog, we’ll get to the bottom of this and come up with an applicable solution. The Age Meter Digital parenting rule number one: use your best judgment. Children need different doses of privacy at different stages of growing up. At age 5, they’d start to attain bodily autonomy, so they might want to shower on their own for example. By the age of 10, they’d start looking for ‘hiding places’ because they’d want to be on their own for an hour or two. As they get into their preteen years, that’s when the need for privacy takes its full form. They might keep their bedroom door shut, or even demand locks. The parent’s duty is to then judge where they kids are on the age meter and strike the monitoring-privacy balance accordingly. For example, if your child is 11, you should insist that they keep their bedroom door open at all time. If your child is 16, allow them to close their doors for a certain period of time. Establish a trusting relationship where they are aware that what they do truly is your business as the parent. The Internet Control Meter Moving onto internet monitoring. Choosing what you should worry about and what you need to go easy on seems to be the main problem for most digital parents. Try using this checklist to help you out. Checking their Facebook. Be meticulous with this one. Look at their friend’s list, read their wall posts. See who they talk to and what they talk about. A good parental monitoring app would let you go through their messages as well. Check their internet history. Nothing else will tell you of their browsing habits like this one. Make a random or remote check, otherwise, they might clear up stuff they don’t want you to see. Check their social media bio and look for things that might be too personal. Make sure they don’t have details like phone numbers, email addresses, or home address up. These are the things that might make them accessible to cyberstalkers—and real stalkers, too. Check their WhatsApp messages if you can. Again, a monitoring app can help you with this. Check what pictures they put up on Instagram and if they are appropriate. This checklist consists of things that you should rigorously check. The rest you can go easier on. Monitoring or Privacy? Both. In parenting, monitoring and privacy are not mutually exclusive. Which is why when he choose one, we assume that it exists in isolation to the other. But you can simply not hand a child a smartphone without strings of mediation attached. You need to control how they use their technology so they can use it in their best interest. Leaving them alone with their personal handheld devices could be catastrophic. So here’s what we’re deciding. When dealing with smartphones and adolescents, give preference to monitoring over privacy.

Cell Phone Tracking, Employee Monitoring

The Great Mystery of Missing Office Supplies

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I can’t believe I’m going to write about something as inconsequential as this. But so it is because we’ve found that office supply theft contributes to profit loss like a sneaky little parasite. At this point, you’re probably going to laugh off the loss of a $5 pack of pens. But get this: corporate America loses $50 million EVERY YEAR as a result of office theft. Now compare that with your small business and you’ll rethink the assumption that a stack of printing paper won’t make a dent on your profits. Why are Missing Office Supplies a Concern Think about all the office supplies that have been stolen in a year and get an estimated cost. That, my friend, is the loss in inventory. The problem is, if your company was a multibillion dollar corporation, you could have led these things go by. But right now, yours is still a small business. You’ve got to pay off rent, payroll, utilities, taxes, and office supplies out of your own pocket. Check out this infographic by Maverick Label: Via Maverick Label Suppose you fall short on revenue from sales in a given quarter. You’re existing expenses then become engorged if office supple theft remains persistent. In your business, every penny counts. And loss by theft of mere pens and markers? That’s infuriating. What Needs to be Done In practice, fussing over a missing pen would make you seem like a boss gone off the rails. Which is why you’re going to need more subtle techniques. The Office Honor Code Develop an organizational culture embedded in morality and integrity. Communicate to your employees that above all else, you value their honesty, and they you trust them to uphold their own honor. Seems like a militant approach to the problem. (https://www.genusinnovation.com) But what you’re doing is triggering their conscious without pinpointing anyone. Addressing the Theft Picking out one person to confront over a lost paper clip is a terrible idea. A laid back address to the situation made to employees as a whole during a meeting? Probably better. Bring up the office theft as a side-note. In this way, you’re making it clear that you are indeed aware of the loss and that a persistence of the action will not be appreciated. Help from Hands-On Security If the problem continues despite your attempts at dropping hints, invest in surveillance. A constant reminder that they’re being watched is probably what they need. This problem becomes a monster when your employees progress from thieving on ordinary supplies onto more valuable things—like your brand strategies, your embargoed financial data. In those situations, you’re going to need a more robust surveillance means like an employee monitoring software. Appreciate Your Employees It might help you to know that it is the disengaged employee that is most likely to steal office supplies. So before you begin using these tactics, try amplifying your employee appreciation and engagement policies.  Because they’re going to increase your profits more than theft prevention.

Cell Phone Tracking

3 Ways to Ensure Your Kids Avoid Halloween Horrors

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It’s Halloween! This is honestly my favorite holiday of the year. If you must know, I’m going as Jesse Pinkman. I’ve got my hoodie and beanie and the prop blue sky ready, and I’ve even found someone to be my Heisenberg. Pretty sure your kids have plans way crazier than mine. They were probably waiting to binge on a bucket load of candy all year. And they’re probably going to go to all the houses they can. So there’s a fair chance that they could get themselves in trouble. Kids in fancy dress walking around unattended? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Unless you take the necessary precautions. Like a mobile phone tracker to make sure your kids are safe throughout their spooky night. Let me tell you how. Trick-or-Treating in Safe Areas You mobile tracker does a lot more than simple GPS tracking. It lets you define safe and unsafe areas. So before your child goes out on Halloween night with friends, put on the map the areas you think are safe to trick-or-treat and those you think are unsafe. You wouldn’t want them to stray to a bad part of the neighborhood and knock on their doors, would you? Your tracker will alert you if they enter the unsafe areas so you can get to them in time. Making Sure They Don’t Get Lost Here’s another thing you should discuss with your kids before they head out in their costumes. Give them a walkthrough of the route you think they should take in their quest for candy and other sugary snacks. And then track their GPS location to make sure they follow it. If you see them straying away, that’s when you know you need to intervene.   Listening their Surroundings Another great feature of your mobile tracker is that it bugs their phone, so you are able to record their surroundings. So when you’re sitting at home, wondering if your child is okay, you can simply listen to what they’re doing in that moment. If anything, you can just reassure yourself that everything is in fact okay. Things often have a tendency of going wrong on Halloween. Maybe it’s because predators can hide in plain sight. Maybe it’s because people let their inhibitions down, adults get drunk and become careless. But in any case, it is so important that you look after your kids closely today. Let them have their fun trick-or-treating, but make sure they have a safe night and avoid Halloween horrors. Happy Halloween! Read More:  Parental Control App – Cell Phone Parental Control Software

Child Monitoring

3 Cyber Dangers You Need to Look Out for as an e-Parent

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Remember how I told you that I’ll help you keep up to speed with all the aspects of smartphones and the internet? I’m going to do just that, but then I thought before we begin, I should give you the ‘big picture’ view of things that you have to expect in the coming blogs. Consider this post to be an introductory course to e-Parenting. I have lumped together cyber dangers that you should know of as parents into 3 different categories. 1.      Cyberbullying Let’s be honest, everyone living in the 2014 age of the internet knows what cyberbullying is. So I’m going to spare you fleeting definitions. But what I aim to do in the coming blogs is help you discover and realize the scope of the phenomenon and the damage it can do. Cyberbullying is grave enough to now be a White House concern. Through these blogs, I want parents to know cyberbullying is just as harmful as playground bullying. It has the same psychological and emotional harm that physical bullying does. Look at this infographic by by Anti Bullying Blog. Our aim then is to teach parents how to correctly identify, block and report a cyberbully, how to take the right precautions and protect children from further damage. 2.      Online Predators Cyberbullying involves kids picking on other kids. Then you have the online predators. These are definitely not children, and this issue is perhaps more sinister than you think. Because in the most convoluted manner, these online predators have crept into your house through the screen of your child’s smartphone. Which means that while you can protect your kids from the criminals in the real world, the cyberverse has people who prey on kids on social media and chat rooms seeking financial or sexual exploitation. They have been known to get personal information on children, and on many instances, convinced them to meet offline. The worst part? Until their predatory behavior takes a physical form, they are nameless and faceless, merely words or pictures on a phone screen. Internet Marketing Ninjas tells you how to spot an online predator. So in the coming blogs, I’ll give you all the information you need about digital predators so you can help your kids surf more safely. Recommended For You:  Employee Monitoring Software – Spy Employees Remotely  Parental Control App – Cell Phone Parental Control Software 3.      Inappropriate Content The internet is a bit like Pandora’s Box; once you open it, you don’t know what’s going to come out. There a 404 rule of the internet which says that if you can think it, it most likely exists. This means your kids can access a variety of inappropriate content. Recent studies discovered that some children start sexting as young as 12 years old. Other times, they can be exposed to pornographic pop up ads, or worst case scenario, they could be seeking it out themselves. That’s why you need a way to filter out the inappropriate content from your children’s internet experience. Gifts We Use  has laid down some stats. Educate Yourselves Ever since the great smartphone splurge of the decade, we’ve seen a new batch of social issues pile up. But as long as you know what they are and how to deal with them, you don’t have to worry. Because we have taken it upon ourselves to keep you updated on any harmful internet fad, trends or concerns that already exist or may come up. I want you to know that these 3 cyber dangers are by no means the only ones out there. So, we’d be going through every aspect a child’s cyber-social life as we go on.

Child Monitoring

Why Do Startups Fail?

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The decision to quit your job and start a business is simultaneously the bravest and the most reckless thing you’ll ever do. Because why would you want to rid yourself of job security, and the consistent monthly paycheck that comes with it and chose to be in a dome of uncertainty instead? Here’s why. You have an amazing idea for a business You want to be your own boss You want to use your full potential The thing with starting a new business is that 90% of them fail within the first year of their existence. So before you go on and set take the initiative, it might do you some good to know why startups fail in the first place. The Idea is Not Tangible Enough The entrepreneur might have a great concept, but it’s of no use if it doesn’t translate into a sellable product or service. For example, ‘a place where teenagers can throw paint each other’ may not be the best pitch to an investor. You’ve got to think of your business in sizeable terms and make the pitch accordingly. No Built-in Audience An entrepreneur, by definition, is someone who recognizes a gap in the market and seizes the opportunity to reap the maximum benefits from the minimum investment. Recognizing an existing need is what builds your audience. And this is what a lot of entrepreneurs forget when developing a product. Who are your users going to be? Why would they even use your product? Premature Scaling Startup Genome thinks that many startups fail because their runners incorrectly scales one of the five essential dimensions for growth. Take a closer look… No Foreseeable Growth Investors will never be interested in a business that has no potential for growth in the future. Business with niche markets with the most unique of products would want to think ‘what next?’, ‘what more can be done?’ If your idea is instantaneous but stagnant, your business might be the one that fails within the year. No Team Here’s another thing when you’re starting a business—you think you can do it all. Building an enterprise on your own blindsides you to some obvious, fatal flaws that you can’t see because you’re too embedded in the preparation. You need to build a team that would provide an outsiders insight, widen your pool of ideas and chime in with corrections when needed. Above all, think of starting a new business through Heisenberg’s window. You simple don’t have absolute control because of the Uncertainly Principle. There will always be a position x or a momentum p that you will never be able to fully arrogate through empirical means. Still, the more you can get things under your control, the more likely your startup is to succeed.

Child Monitoring

The Digital Parent’s Guide to Setting a Cyber-Curfew

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Internet addiction. This is something you and I can relate to in this day and age, right? Because it really isn’t just a teenager issue. It is an everyone-with-a-computer issue. Because who am I to blame teenagers when I’m just as guilty of the crime. This week, I might have spent around 40 hours on my desktop computer at work, 10 hours binge-watching Breaking Bad and maybe 10 hours more on casual social media scrolling. Your children, however, don’t need to live this 9-to-5er life where they are just as enslaved by the internet as they are by the system. Draw the line where their internet usage starts to take over healthier activities and starts detraining their wellbeing.  You’ll know it has occurred when your child Spends more than 8 hours on the internet daily Would rather spend time inside than out Become reclusive Compromises school/grades for time spent on the computer. Drawing the line, in this case means setting a cyber-curfew. Let me tell you how. Calculate their Average Internet Time Play detective and figure out how much time your kids are spending on the internet for both constructive and casual purposes. Notice how much time they spend on the internet for Homework Informative reading Social networking Watching videos/TV shows/movies Creative purposes—writing, graphic designing, blogging etc. Gaming Take a look at this infographic by to see how people usually spend time on the internet. Once you know of their internet using patterns, you can prioritize and redistribute their time. A little more time spend on informative reading and creative purposes, and a little less social networking. Save around 4 hours a day wasted on pointless scrolling and allocated it for an offline activity—like sports, or chores or volunteering. Setting No Internet Zones You need to set certain rooms/areas in your house as the no-tech zones. I would suggest that this be your dining table and living room. Encourage your children to eat at the table with the family and without their devices. Play the stacking game where everyone must stack their phones in the middle of the table at dinner. The first to touch their phone has to do the dishes. The living room, too, should be a place where the family comes together to have meaningful conversations. Keep this place internet free as well. The 3-Hour Break Rule Did you know that a teenager in Taiwan died by gaming for 40 consecutive hours? This is perhaps the most unfortunate example of how innate internet addiction can be. To make sure your kid doesn’t fall into the same pitfall, develop a system. If you notice that they’ve been on the internet for more than 3 hours, enforce that they take a break to something offline—take a walk, do some exercise, read a book. Once they’ve completed the offline task, they can resume with their digital dispositions. Make these Practices the Norm These rules shouldn’t merely be nuances that are to be hung up once the goal is achieved. These should be seen as habits, norms that should be part of your routine. So it’s probably more important that you enforce this cyber-curfew as rigorously as you can. Remember, cyber-curfews wouldn’t work if the time saved isn’t being exchanged on healthier activities. As long as you’re subbing internet hours for something productive, you’re doing digital parenting just right.

Employee Monitoring

How to Become a Better Manager in 5 Easy Steps

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Here’s the problem with talking about management. Most of our focus seems to be on how managers need to fix bad employees. Which automatically lays the premise that most employees are problematic and need to be fixed. What we don’t talk about is how a manager can be better. This dogmatic affirmation that employees need to be broken down to be rebuilt comes from old-fashioned pragmatisms of organizational hierarchies. Which are just that… old fashioned. Even the most robust followers of a pyramidal theory—like Japan—are shedding this practice. So how can you be a better manager in the reformist, 2014 sense? You can begin by following these 5 steps. Step 1: Setting Standards Management is not about setting goals from behind an iron curtain. It is about setting high, yet achievable standards. Think about management not in terms of being strict or friendly. Think about it in terms of ‘how can I get the best out of my human resource’. Accepting mediocrity does not bring out their best. Step 2: Recognize the Strong Players The most disengaged employee will be the one that is an overqualified high performer for the job that they’d been given. A good manager recognizes the high performers and offers them the chance to progress. Letting employees work in their respective areas of interest is rewarding for the company as a whole. What you’re doing is giving the employees a chance at personal and career growth. Step 3: Keep an Open Door Create a workplace atmosphere where employees don’t hesitate to come to you with new ideas, issues with coworkers, or simply to discuss their future prospects. The more the centralized workplace is, the more disengaged the employees will be. Step 4: Address Conflict Straight-On Conflict does not go away the longer you avoid it, it simple snowballs until it affects the company’s performance. If you address a conflict right away, you will not only be avoiding future complications, you’re sending out the message that you are a hands-on manager. Step 5: Give Feedback Once a task is complete and the desired end result has been acquired, there is one more thing left for you to do. Provide feedback to the people involved. Think of it like after sales service. Point out the things you were happy with and give credit. Underline things you want to happen differently next time. This is Your Playing Field In all honestly, there is going to be a point in your time as the manager where you’ll be creating your own rules. Don’t be afraid of that. Management guides can only take you so far. As long as you’re self-aware that you cannot possibly do everything yourself, you’ll start putting your employees to good use.

Announcements

New Chick on the Block – We’re Live, Better than the Rest!

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They say, there is always room for one more but then we all know only the fittest survives. So here we are; proudly presenting the most advanced cell phone and tablet spy software- XNSPY that is here to stay! After putting in all our resources and spending countless sleepless nights, we are now live! Yeah the excitement is almost touchable and the spirits are high as sky. We welcome you to the XNSPY official blog ; a platform where you’ll get to hear from us, get to know the latest from the company, catch the latest discounts and promotions and learn loads of interesting stuff including parenting tips and employee management insights. Stay tuned as there is so much more to come your way. Who We Are? We are XNSPY – the team behind the most advanced cell phone spy software to hit the market yet. We’ve see them all and we understand your needs. We have put in the brains of 50+ developers and technical experts along with parenting and employee management gurus to bring you the most practical, user-friendly and extremely effective monitoring software that would let your track, monitor and protect your loved ones and employees even when you’re not physically with them! What Defines Us? We at XNSPY are downright committed to our work and our biggest asset is you – our readers and customers. Together, we aspire to forge a bond that is not only mutually beneficial but is also fun! After all, XNSPY is all about you and helping you to manage, monitor and take care of those who are your responsibility – your loved ones and employees! What We Do? We make cell phone tracking a breeze for you! Not only you can keep tabs on your family and staff, you can know exactly when and where they need your help! With the cutting-edge cell phone tracking technology, XNSPY lets you monitor their smartphones and tablets, all content saved in their devices and their location stats – all from the convenience of your own laptop or tablet! It’s Good to Talk! We made this blog as a way to communicate with you. We are going to talk about the problems you face as parents and employers and explain how XNSPY can be used in those situations. We’d love to hear from you and know what you’d like to see on this blog. And we can’t wait to get started! So stay tuned because we have great things planned for the coming weeks!  

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