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DEA Warning--Buying drugs online may be illegal and dangerous!

From talking with Latino parents and parents in two low-income Anglo neighborhoods, we have gained insights about why they feel disenfranchised from school settings. In order to include such parents in the educational conversation, we need to understand the barriers to their involvement from their vantage point, as that of outsiders. When asked, these parents had many suggestions that may help educators re-envision family involvement in the schools.

What most people don't understand about the Hispanic community is that you come home and you take care of your husband and your family first. Then if there's time you can go out to your meetings.

Diverse linguistic and cultural practices. Parents who don't speak fluent English often feel inadequate in school contexts. One parent explains that “an extreme language barrier” prevented her own mother from ever going to anything at the school. Cultural mismatches can occur as often as linguistic conflicts. One Latino educator explained that asking young children to translate for their parents during conferences grates against a cultural norm. Placing children in a position of equal status with adults creates dysfunction within the family hierarchy.

These local phone and cable companies fear that they will have to compete with governmentsubsidized broadband systems, paid for largely with stimulus dollars. If the taxpayer-funded networks siphon off customers by offering lower prices, private companies might be less likely to upgrade their lines, endangering jobs and undermining the stimulus plan's goals, they warn.

The Wired for Wireless? Summary Report1 uses the term “Digital Inclusion” to denote the ability of everyone to have access to broadband and the related information technology.  Specifically it states:  “Digital Inclusion means that everyone — regardless of who they are or where they live — can participate in and take advantage of the economic, educational, health, and civic opportunities afforded by broadband and related information technology

The federal government has taken the position that broadband Internet is the job of the private sector

The Economist also says Net Neutrality is a means to preserve openness, though the piece fairly outlines its many cons.  Without Net Neutrality, proponents of government regulation argue Internet service providers will create a closed Internet by blocking content or permitting some websites to ride on a “fast-lane” above others.  However, this, too, should be decided by consumer choice in the free market, not by prescriptive rules from the FCC that mandate extremely “open” business models.  Consumer preferences in the free-market alone have long ensured that ISPs do not block websites.  Additionally, prioritizing traffic helps prevent congestion, and the model of offering paid fast lanes is utlized by mostly “open” companies like Google to ensure their service is fast enough for consumers in places far from their servers.  Finally, paid prioritization would provide a new revenue source for ISPs to lower prices and invest in broadband expansion, speed, and other services – something that can be very good for consumers.  Net Neutrality and the FCC's lingering attempt at broadband reclassification could take all these potential benefits away.

The Great White North is "fast gaining a reputation as a haven where technologically sophisticated international piracy organizations can operate with virtual impunity." The country is "virtually alone" in flouting "minimum world standards" for copyright and its rules are "hopelessly outdated." Finally, "no other country is farther behind the curve in combating copyright infringement in cyberspace."

The ability to circumvent DRM in order to make legal uses of the content?

“I have had letters and calls from many, many readers whose opinions back up this report and reveal a lack of interest and even a huge distrust of the web, and there are probably millions of people who are determined never to consider even trying to operate a computer.”

So why aren’t older people using the web? According to Professor Bill Dutton, who directs OxIS, trust in the Internet is based largely on experience with this technology. As he said: “Getting elders to experience the Internet, when they distrust it, is the central challenge.”

The reason for this post was to get some feedback from our readers, and to find out what social media services you use that work well for you. This can be on a personal level or business level.

The popularity of social media marketing and tips for social networks is growing now faster than any year before, and 2011 is set to only increase with businesses and brands embracing these social services more than before

Do not reveal personal information inadvertently. You may be "shedding" personal details, including e-mail addresses and other contact information, without even knowing it unless you properly configure your Web browser. In your browser's "Setup", "Options" or "Preferences" menus, you may wish to use a pseudonym instead of your real name, and not enter an e-mail address, nor provide other personally identifiable information that you don't wish to share. When visiting a site you trust you can choose to give them your info, in forms on their site; there is no need for your browser to potentially make this information available to all comers. Also be on the lookout for system-wide "Internet defaults" programs on your computer (some examples include Window's Internet Control Panel, and MacOS's Configuration Manager, and the third-party Mac utility named Internet Config). While they are useful for various things, like keeping multiple Web browers and other Internet tools consistent in how the treat downloaded files and such, they should probably also be anonymized just like your browser itself, if they contain any fields for personal information. Households with children may have an additional "security problem" - have you set clear rules for your kids, so that they know not to reveal personal information unless you OK it on a site-by-site basis?

The next day I received an email from the man telling me his secretary had made a mistake and had written the check for $4500 instead of $450. This is when the alarm bells started going off in my head. When the man told me he wanted me to cash the check and send him the balance via Western Union, I knew something was up. I had recalled all those scam emails I'd received in the past with similar scenarios involving Western Union and money transfers and got quite suspicious.