Links
Archives
- 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004
- 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004
- 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
- 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
- 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004
- 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
- 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
- 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004
- 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
- 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
- 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
- 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
- 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
- 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005
- 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
This is an archive of the "Internet Safari" column that appears in print in various newspapers. The column is written by Tom DiFrancesca III.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Breaking News Story:
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Small town computer geek becomes prolific worldwide author in five short months.
"Extravagant Grace" – a Christian audio book has just been released by Café Press, a California based publishing and production company. The audio book contains the works of freelance newspaper columnist and author Tom DiFrancesca III. Mr. DiFrancesca narrated his own work and created the soundtracks for each of the twenty pieces contained on the CD. Anyone who visits GraceClouds.com will be pleasantly presented with a sixty-second sample of every track on the newly completed project.
Tom is a Spirit filled born-again believer who re-dedicated his life to the Lord in 1995. In 1996, while living in Clovis, New Mexico, he began writing Christian poetry. He quickly developed a loyal following of readers who subscribed to his weekly e-mail mailing list. Tom soon discovered that he had readers spread out all over the world. Eventually, his work began appearing on ministry Web sites and in church bulletins around the globe. In 2001, Tom began writing a weekly newspaper column about the Internet; and it too began to grow quickly in popularity.
After being prompted by several of his dedicated readers and members of his own family, Tom began to pursue the idea writing a book. In mid-2004, he decided to get passionate about that pursuit. In fact, in the past five months, Tom has had four books published; and has now followed them up with his very first audio CD. "God has richly blessed me throughout my life and now I want to help Him bless others. I’ve got several other projects in the works right now and hopefully they will reach the market by the end of 2005." Tom reports.
Tom’s very first book "Mastering Internet Explorer: Tips, Tricks, & Timesavers", published by Maryland based America House Book Publishers, is currently selling worldwide at most of the major online bookseller Web sites. The book was a "Top Seller" at Amazon.com in January of this year. His other books include two collections of his most popular "Internet Safari" newspaper columns; and a collection of Christian theme poetry and short stories entitled "The Shepherd’s Ink", Lulu Press of North Carolina is the publisher of those three books.
Tom and his wife Susan are now residents of Valparaiso, Florida and attend The River of Life Family Church in Niceville.
Web site: www.GraceClouds.com
E-mail: tomdifran@gmail.com
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Small town computer geek becomes prolific worldwide author in five short months.
"Extravagant Grace" – a Christian audio book has just been released by Café Press, a California based publishing and production company. The audio book contains the works of freelance newspaper columnist and author Tom DiFrancesca III. Mr. DiFrancesca narrated his own work and created the soundtracks for each of the twenty pieces contained on the CD. Anyone who visits GraceClouds.com will be pleasantly presented with a sixty-second sample of every track on the newly completed project.
Tom is a Spirit filled born-again believer who re-dedicated his life to the Lord in 1995. In 1996, while living in Clovis, New Mexico, he began writing Christian poetry. He quickly developed a loyal following of readers who subscribed to his weekly e-mail mailing list. Tom soon discovered that he had readers spread out all over the world. Eventually, his work began appearing on ministry Web sites and in church bulletins around the globe. In 2001, Tom began writing a weekly newspaper column about the Internet; and it too began to grow quickly in popularity.
After being prompted by several of his dedicated readers and members of his own family, Tom began to pursue the idea writing a book. In mid-2004, he decided to get passionate about that pursuit. In fact, in the past five months, Tom has had four books published; and has now followed them up with his very first audio CD. "God has richly blessed me throughout my life and now I want to help Him bless others. I’ve got several other projects in the works right now and hopefully they will reach the market by the end of 2005." Tom reports.
Tom’s very first book "Mastering Internet Explorer: Tips, Tricks, & Timesavers", published by Maryland based America House Book Publishers, is currently selling worldwide at most of the major online bookseller Web sites. The book was a "Top Seller" at Amazon.com in January of this year. His other books include two collections of his most popular "Internet Safari" newspaper columns; and a collection of Christian theme poetry and short stories entitled "The Shepherd’s Ink", Lulu Press of North Carolina is the publisher of those three books.
Tom and his wife Susan are now residents of Valparaiso, Florida and attend The River of Life Family Church in Niceville.
Web site: www.GraceClouds.com
E-mail: tomdifran@gmail.com
Column for February 2005:
Have you run "Windows Update" lately?
If not, you need to. Just in the past few weeks Microsoft has released several new patches and updates for its Windows operating system. Folks who are of the opinion that performing preventative maintenance on their PC is just a waste of time, eventually change their minds or – give up computing. Running "Disk Clean-up" and "Disk Defragmenter" are not options either, if you really want your computer to run optimally and efficiently.
I run into people weekly who always tell me how bad their computer is running, how it’s slower than sludge, how there are so many pop-up windows on their desktop at times, that they can’t hardly get to the Web page that they originally tried to visit.
Then I’ve got others who call me and ask me what to do about getting rid of a virus that has infected their computer – the very same folks who called me six months earlier asking the very same question. When I ask them if they have an anti-virus program installed on their computer the usual answer is "no"; or better yet, the classic "yes, but I let my subscription expire". When I ask about a firewall – the typical response is to look at me like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.
You know, back in 1994, when I first encountered the Internet, it was a strange and fascinating new dimension that one could safely explore. A fella’ could go just about anywhere, chat with just about anyone, open up any e-mail, and never really worry about it. People like me didn’t worry about anti-virus programs and firewalls – ah, those were the days. It didn’t matter if someone who was dumber than a rock got on the Internet and just started clicking on links. Folks didn’t have to learn a whole lot all at once, if they didn’t want to - when it came to using the Internet.
Those days are now over, kaput, history - just a faded memory.
The learning curve is much steeper now if one wants to access the Internet and stay safe. It may require some folks to get off of the Internet for a while and to take a basic computer class or two. It may cost someone a considerable amount of money to go and purchase some books about the Internet. No longer can anyone take a nonchalant approach to using the Internet – we just can’t. Folks have to begin to take responsibility for their own Internet wellbeing.
I’ve seen it happen a thousand times, a person doesn’t apply themselves to learning about the pitfalls of the World Wide Web, and they constantly depend on someone else to take care of their "issues". Inevitably, the person being counted on eventually starts to feel used and abused, and – taken for granted. At some point they begin to shy away from that other person – or persons. It’s an uncomfortable scenario for all parties involved.
Since I’m on the subject of responsibility, I might as well delve into the subject of Internet security for children. Now, that is a touchy subject. I’m constantly asked questions like "how much time should I allow my 10 year old on the Internet?" or "what chat rooms are OK for my children to be in?" I’ll have to be honest with you – I’m totally uncomfortable with kids in general spending anytime on the Internet unless their parents are sitting right next to them. I think it’s ironic that the very same folks who would not allow their children to talk to strangers on the telephone, will allow them to chat with someone that they do not know in an Internet chat room.
If you’ve got teenagers and really care about their wellbeing and the influence that exists in their lives, don’t put a computer in their bedrooms and allow them to access the Internet anytime they want to, totally unsupervised. You are allowing them to play with fire and they will eventually get burned. Now, if you are willing to pay for the absolute best Internet filtering service; if you are willing to go through their computer weekly and to check their Internet browser "History" files; if they know that at any time you could walk into their bedroom unexpectedly and examine what they are doing on the Internet – well, then you might be able to allow unsupervised access.
Problem is though, very few parents are actually willing to do the right thing when it comes to their children and the Internet. I make that statement based on personal observations that I have made over the past 10 years.
Be careful out there.
Have you run "Windows Update" lately?
If not, you need to. Just in the past few weeks Microsoft has released several new patches and updates for its Windows operating system. Folks who are of the opinion that performing preventative maintenance on their PC is just a waste of time, eventually change their minds or – give up computing. Running "Disk Clean-up" and "Disk Defragmenter" are not options either, if you really want your computer to run optimally and efficiently.
I run into people weekly who always tell me how bad their computer is running, how it’s slower than sludge, how there are so many pop-up windows on their desktop at times, that they can’t hardly get to the Web page that they originally tried to visit.
Then I’ve got others who call me and ask me what to do about getting rid of a virus that has infected their computer – the very same folks who called me six months earlier asking the very same question. When I ask them if they have an anti-virus program installed on their computer the usual answer is "no"; or better yet, the classic "yes, but I let my subscription expire". When I ask about a firewall – the typical response is to look at me like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.
You know, back in 1994, when I first encountered the Internet, it was a strange and fascinating new dimension that one could safely explore. A fella’ could go just about anywhere, chat with just about anyone, open up any e-mail, and never really worry about it. People like me didn’t worry about anti-virus programs and firewalls – ah, those were the days. It didn’t matter if someone who was dumber than a rock got on the Internet and just started clicking on links. Folks didn’t have to learn a whole lot all at once, if they didn’t want to - when it came to using the Internet.
Those days are now over, kaput, history - just a faded memory.
The learning curve is much steeper now if one wants to access the Internet and stay safe. It may require some folks to get off of the Internet for a while and to take a basic computer class or two. It may cost someone a considerable amount of money to go and purchase some books about the Internet. No longer can anyone take a nonchalant approach to using the Internet – we just can’t. Folks have to begin to take responsibility for their own Internet wellbeing.
I’ve seen it happen a thousand times, a person doesn’t apply themselves to learning about the pitfalls of the World Wide Web, and they constantly depend on someone else to take care of their "issues". Inevitably, the person being counted on eventually starts to feel used and abused, and – taken for granted. At some point they begin to shy away from that other person – or persons. It’s an uncomfortable scenario for all parties involved.
Since I’m on the subject of responsibility, I might as well delve into the subject of Internet security for children. Now, that is a touchy subject. I’m constantly asked questions like "how much time should I allow my 10 year old on the Internet?" or "what chat rooms are OK for my children to be in?" I’ll have to be honest with you – I’m totally uncomfortable with kids in general spending anytime on the Internet unless their parents are sitting right next to them. I think it’s ironic that the very same folks who would not allow their children to talk to strangers on the telephone, will allow them to chat with someone that they do not know in an Internet chat room.
If you’ve got teenagers and really care about their wellbeing and the influence that exists in their lives, don’t put a computer in their bedrooms and allow them to access the Internet anytime they want to, totally unsupervised. You are allowing them to play with fire and they will eventually get burned. Now, if you are willing to pay for the absolute best Internet filtering service; if you are willing to go through their computer weekly and to check their Internet browser "History" files; if they know that at any time you could walk into their bedroom unexpectedly and examine what they are doing on the Internet – well, then you might be able to allow unsupervised access.
Problem is though, very few parents are actually willing to do the right thing when it comes to their children and the Internet. I make that statement based on personal observations that I have made over the past 10 years.
Be careful out there.
