Computer and internet briefs 2

Feb 19, 2012, 3:06 GMT

Review your kids' favourite websites

Berlin (dpa) - In order to better understand their children's surfing habits parents should ask them to show them their favourite websites. Adults should not react badly to their child's interests if they don't like what they see. The better way would be to recommend new sites or blogs to spark their interest in other things.

Parents should talk to their children about the meaning of private information and go through the security settings with them, especially on social networks. In order to have a good idea of your child's surfing behaviour it's not appropriate to have a computer in their own room. Better would be to have a spot in the living room or another shared room.

Rules also should be made beforehand regarding downloads and ordering items over the internet. It's suggested that parents and children agree that they ask their parents before downloading something or taking part in a prize giveaway. In addition, children should not have access to credit card numbers, warns the Schau hin (Watch out) initiative.

Search machines with anonymity and comfort functions

Berlin (dpa) - If two users enter the same phrase into search engines, the probability is large that they will not receive the same results. The reason is that many providers try to create a user profile and adjust the results to the interests. Searches in Duckduckgo don't use this method while also providing for more privacy. Just like www.ixquick.com, the search engine does not collect data. And data that is not collected cannot be passed onto others.

Searching can be done at www.duckduckgo.com or www.ddg.gg. Results are presented in a list, as with other search engines. In addition, the so-called zero click box presents information that comes from the Wikipedia entries. Duckduckgo's so-called bang function allows for a direct search function of certain websites. The catalogue of these sites can be expanded by the user.

Browser add-on makes every picture into a puzzle

Berlin (dpa) - There may be enough games on the internet but the Firefox browser Add-on Puzzle allows surfers to construct their own picture puzzle. Making the puzzle is easy. Just install Puzzle and then right-click on the picture in the browser and select Puzzle - Picture Size. A new tab will open in which the picture is taken apart with the pieces mixed up. Now users can move around the pieces until the original picture is back together.