The church has too often ignored this threat to the family, and marriages and children are suffering because of it.

Do not ignore the problem.

Ignoring the problem does not make it go away.  Instead, discuss the problem and together come up with a gameplan that honors God and honors each other.  Internet filtering with FamilyConnect is a great start.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Enroll in the free accountability program that emails a selected accountability partner the daily reports of sites.  Then ensure the accountability partner reviews these emails.  This is important.  The knowledge of getting “discovered” is often all it takes to remind us of the consequences.

Pray

Pray for that person daily.  Ask that God give him or her strength, and always treat him or her with love — the way God loves him or her.

Don’t forget to daily thank God for his blessings in our lives including our spouse and Godly relationships.  Pornography can create an attraction when we fail to remember how blessed we are with the marital relationship God has given us.

For singles, this is an opportunity to pray for the person (known or unknown) who will someday become their spouse.  When tempted, simply remember that God is preserving you for your spouse and him/her for you.

Get Help

Filtering is not an end-all.  If your loved one is finding other ways to access pornography (magazines, for instance), kindly suggest that you visit a counselor or pastor.  Addressing the issue together with love will demonstrate that you want God’s best for that person.

With this advance in technology the Internet can lead to a loss in productivity. According to a 2001 study by the Online Publishers Association (OPA), the total at-work Internet audience reached 52.8 million people in the US , and approximately 40 percent of the total admitted to performing non-work- related activities during their usage. In fact, Harris Interactive reported that the average employee spends more than 8.3 hours per week on non-work-related activities. That’s a full day per week! Such abuse cost US corporations $63 Billion in lost productivity in 2001. With the number of employees using the Internet expected to reach almost a billion users by 2005, this problem is expected to increase dramatically.

It is therefore critical that working adults have filtering not only on their home PCs but at the office as well.  Your FilterPak software can be freely installed on up to 3 computers at no additional charge, giving you the peace of mind you need at home, at work, and on the go.

The CIPA legislation HR4577 passed overwhelmingly with full bi-partisan support and was signed into law and has been defended at the United States Supreme Court level and is in full effect.

Each year the government is investing three billion dollars to purchase computers, Internet and Internet related educational materials through a program called E-rate. CIPA requires educational facilities using Federal funds for Internet use or connections to have filtering systems or risk losing Federal aid.

A recent survey from the Digital Media Forum indicated 92% of Americans believe pornography should be blocked on educational computers and 79% say hate speech should be filtered.

To review the CIPA Legislation please click here.

Did You Know? Fun facts about Facebook

Many parents have called and asked us what they should do about Facebook?  Block it?  Let their kids sign up?  Should THEY even sign up?

These are difficult questions, because every family is different, and every parent will deal with this differently.  At FamilyConnect we love how the Internet brings families and friends together to build them up, as well as educate and inform.    Facebook CAN do these things.

We also abhor the filth that is on the Internet.  And unfortunately Facebook CAN be a doorway to these things as well.

Therefore, any wise parent will set about establishing ground rules for Facebook, just like for the Internet in general.  Here are some suggestions:

1.  No children on Facebook under 13. Not only is this Facebook’s policy, but it should be your policy too.  Unfortunately, many parents allow their children to lie about their age to gain access to this site because (all their friends are on it).   But the Children’s Internet Protection Act prohibits collecting personal information from children under 13 for a reason.  There are simply too many people on Facebook who are not who they appear to be.  Which brings us to…

2.  Not everyone on Facebook is who they say they are. Just like in chat rooms and online communities, people CAN pretend to be someone they are not.

3.  Not every post on Facebook is from the person it says it is from. If you wouldn’t expect your grandma to “like” a picture of a girl in a bikini, then it is very likely that grandma’s account has been compromised.  Do not click the link to to see what she “liked”.  Instead, email her to recommend she change her password.

4.  There is no such thing as a free lunch. Just because a post says you will get something free, or find out something that no one in the world knows, doesn’t mean you will.  The better it sounds, the more likely it is that it is a scam.

5.  Just because you get a friend request doesn’t mean you need to accept it. If your third cousin on your mother’s side is annoying in real life, trust me, they will be even more annoying on Facebook.  Simply ignore the request.  It will be much better on your sanity than dealing with their rants and comments every day until you summon the courage to “unfriend” them.

This is just a partial list.  And all of the above are true of not only Facebook, but emails, and the Internet in general.  It’s a jungle out there.  Don’t be scared.  But don’t go unaware either.

Have fun!  Oh, and click here to “Like Us” on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/FamilyConnect/194612123895457

• update account information
• update billing information
• change reporting preference

Account Information
The administrator can view all the current contact information. To change any information presented on that page click the link labeled Click here to update your account information.

Online Payments
The administrator can edit credit card number or choose the billing cycle.

Edit Credit Card will display the current credit card information.

1. To edit the information, click Click here to update your credit card information.
2. Once the administrator is done click the button labeled ‘Submit Changes’.

Click Billing Cycle to change the billing frequency. Once the administrator is done click the button labeled Update.

Reports Feature
This section allows the administrator to start reports for their FilterPak. This section also allows you to see more information about the reports.

• New profile settings are not taking effect.
• Websites are being blocked that are not supposed to be blocked.

SOLUTION
Clear the browser’s cache.

1. Open the Control Panel by clicking on the Start Menu, then click Settings, then Control Panel.
2. Double click on Internet Options.
3. Click the Delete Files button located in the Temprary Internet files section.
4. Click the OK button in the Delete Files dialog box.
5. Click the OK button.
6. Restart Internet Explorer if it is open.

SOLUTION

1. Open the Control Panel by clicking on the Start Menu, then click Settings, then Control Panel.
2. Double click on Internet Options.
3. Click the Delete Cookies button.
4. Click the Delete Files button.
5. Tick the Delete all offline content checkbox, and then click the OK button.
6. Click the Security tab.
7. Click the Default Level button and make sure the Security level is set to Medium.
8. Click the Privacy tab.
9. Click the Advanced button.
10. Tick the Override automatic cookie handling checkbox.
11. In both the First party Coockies and Third party Cookies columns select the Accept radio buttons.
12. Tick the Always allow session cookies checkbox.
13. Click the OK button.
14. If you are not a broadband user (i.e. cable, DSL), then skip to step 18. If you are a broadband user, click on the Connections tab.
15. Click the LAN Settings button.
16. Untick the Automatically detect settings checkbox. (should have no check)
17. Click the OK button in the Local Area Network (LAN) Settings dialog box.
18. Click the OK button.
19. Restart Internet Explorer if it is open.

SOLUTION
Uninstall and re-install Filtepak

See Forum topic Reinstalling FilterPak

Call Technical Support if this does not fix the problem.

Administrator Password
The Administrative password will be needed when:

1. A user tries to enter the Administration section of the Filtering Preferences in the FilterPak
2. A user tries to install the FilterPak
3. A user tries to Reinstall the FilterPak
4. A user tries to uninstall the FilterPak
5. A user tries to override a blocked website

———————————————————————————-
User Password
The user profile password will be needed when:

1. A user tries to access the Internet without first logging on.
2. A user has entered the User section of the Filtering Preferences

If the password problem is with a user profile, do the following:

1. Make sure that the user is not trying to enter the administrator password or the password for another user profile.
2. Make sure that CAPSLOCK is turned off.
3. The Administer may change the user’s password as desired in the Administration section of the Filtering Preferences. Entering the same password the change will still take effect.
4. If this problem persists, restart the computer.
5. If after restarting the problem is still occurring, please call or write technical support.

SOLUTION

• Log in to FilterPak as Administrator
• Right click the FilterPak icon by the clock in the Taskbar and click Preferences.
• Click Administration in the left panel.
• Enter password to log in.
• Under Administration, click Maintenance in the left panel.
• Click Refresh.
• Try logging into the effected profile. If the changes are still not reflected, close the Filtering Preferences window and reopen it.
• If problem persists, restart the computer.
• If problem still persists, contact technical support.