Katie: Welcome back to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. Esther and I are excited for another great Chapter 3 of a very fun show today.

Esther: This has been a blast.

Katie: It has been. So I guess we're gonna take down the uberfun just a little down a notch and we're gonna talk about something that we find is really impacting everybody as people, as business owners, as family members, really everybody and that something is Internet safety -and I sound like I'm a public service message or something. [Laughter]

Esther: No. I think it's so critical right now. I mean as we've been looking at this topic, I have seen some stories that I couldn't even dream up. You know, they're the things that "Law & Order" takes and makes into shows.

Katie: Yeah and they don't even have to embellish on that much.

Esther: Exactly.

Katie: I mean -

Esther: It scares the bejesus outta me.

Katie: Seriously stories that I mean, as like especially as a parent. You see these children with the cyberstalking. You see people assuming different identities online and then other people completely being way too trusting.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: Meeting 'em in their life, terrible things happen.

Esther: How 'bout this?

Katie: Scary.

Esther: I read a story today that a teenage boy was dressing up as a girl, lying to his classmates and asking them to send him nude pictures of themselves and then he was using those nude pictures to blackmail his classmates into having sexual relations with him. Yeah.

Katie: And then if they didn't he would send out -

Esther: He was gonna show the pictures to everybody. So these -

Katie: I mean come on!

Esther: - these non-gay boys were forced to do this with this - their classmate because he had this nude picture of them that he was holding over their heads. Did this to several boys and he was just sentenced -

Katie: I think 15 years.

Esther: Something - yeah, like 15 years.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: So, just a crazy - I mean you couldn't - how do you dream these things up?

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: That should never happen.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: Never.

Katie: So I think the most important thing to remember though if, like us, you're really freaked out by these things is that, I mean, weird and bad stuff happens no matter what medium you're working into. You know I tell people frequently that just because there's crazy, crazy weird magazines and books and movies out there doesn't mean that books, magazines and movies are bad.

Esther: Right.

Katie: It doesn't mean you stop using them. It doesn't mean you shun them and you burn them all but with the Internet there's so much more interaction, obviously. I mean, we're there to learn, to communicate, to connect.

Esther: Right.

Katie: And that does open the door for some danger. So why don't we talk a little bit about - from the business perspective and just from a downright people perspective - what is some advice that we could share with people that are maybe dabbling on the Internet concerned about these stories, that could really make a difference.

Esther: One of the things that I think is critical is never post anywhere online that you're going out of town. Never tell anyone where you're going. If you wanna post pictures after you're back or say, "Just came back from a wonderful trip," that's fine but try to avoid talking about being gone. Never post pictures of your house.

Katie: Never. Or your neighborhood.

Esther: or your street, or neighborhood or your license plate.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: You know, if you buy a new car. You never want to stand next to the back of your car with your license plate showing, going, "Here I am with my new car. GV3" -

Katie: "Woo hoo! In front of my house. Here's my address!"

Esther: In front of my - yeah, 40- whatever, you know. My address. I mean you're just asking for danger and I think that's one way you can really protect yourself is just to not post your entire life. Don't post pictures of your safe place.

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: You know.

Katie: And I mean and this does definitely clash with a lot of online services that are out there. TripIt, I know is very popular where it's actually frequent business travelers will post their itineraries in hopes of connecting with, you know, friends, with colleagues, with family and you can match up and say, you know, "Yay, you're gonna be in North Dakota. Like I'm going for that conference, too, let's have dinner." The idea that is awesome but just the i- also the idea of saying -

Esther: There's a danger.

Katie: - yeah, "Hey, my family or my house will be completely empty and alone, woo!"

Esther: Or, "My family will be there but I won't."

Katie: Exactly. Yeah.

Esther: You know?

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: That's scary, too.

Katie: So I mean just - you can't - it really comes down to common sense to me. Like you can't just assume that just because it's you sitting behind your computer screen that there are not other people that are looking at what you do, listening to what you say and potentially acting on it. You never know.

Esther: And ask your children what they're doing. I mean, they'll tell you.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: I mean someti- I mean, watch the browser history. Check to see what they're doing. If you're concerned, maybe set up some kind of privacy blocking system that blocks some of these scary websites that you don't want your children going to because - especially young children don't know.

Katie: No.

Esther: I mean they wander into a chat room, they think it's about unicorns and candy and rainbows and it's really a bunch of old men trolling for children. I mean that's just -

Katie: It's a possibility. Yeah.

Esther: It's a likelihood. I mean, unfortunately, that does go on and the good news is there are a lot of safe communities online for children.

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: Like Club Penguin and some of these other things geared towards young people that are protected. There's a lot more protection there. They're monitored.

Katie: Lot's of tight controls. They're restricted in what they can do and it's - yeah. I mean that is an online safe place. So keep on and offline safe places safe. [Laughter]

Esther: Yeah. Exactly.

Katie: And I think a lot of it has to do with, I mean educating yourselves about, you know, what are your employees doing on the web? What are your children doing on the web? And I mean when it comes to your kids, chances are they're gonna know a whole lot more than you do because that's their world. That is their culture. That's how they stay in touch with friends.

Esther: Right.

Katie: That's how they know what to talk about in the hallway. But by showing some interest and just kind of brushing up on the basics. Maybe you're reading a, I don't know, a MySpace for Dummies book or maybe you get a little training but having a little bit of Internet savvy is gonna go a long way. So at least you have an idea of what in the world is going on.

Esther: And you know, also I think that there are things that you train your children for everyday life. I remember growing up doing the stranger danger training -

Katie: Yep, totally.

Esther: - where if somebody grabs you and tries to run off with you, you just yell "Stranger! Stranger!"

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: And instead of screaming and crying because then someone just thinks you're throwing a temper tantrum instead of being kidnapped.

Katie: Right.

Esther: Things like that where you can teach your children ahead of time before the danger comes are going to go so far in the long run.

Katie: 'Cause they're gonna know the warning signs. I mean they're a lot different. It's not as obvious as some guy trying to haul you off in the grocery store.

Esther: Exactly.

Katie: It's, you know, what happens when you're approached? What should you look out for? What, you know, safety measures do you take, you know, like not - I know that I heard - I don't know, I don't remember if it was on the radio or someone was just walking me through, like how easy it is by just a few chat conversations of you know, like, "I play basketball. This is my number. This is my town." I mean, it's very easy to physically get to somebody that's just maybe being childlike in their innocence whether they're a kid or not.

Esther: And you see - have you ever seen "To Catch A Predator"?

Katie: No.

Esther: Oh my goodness. I mean there is an entertainment factor there but it's really a phenomenal thing that they do. I mean they have this organization that does the trolling and finds the people, the predators -

Katie: Oh, that are posing as -

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: Like -

Esther: They - it's a set up.

Katie: - children. Oh, my gosh, yes.

Esther: And then the police are there. They swarm. Swarm! Swarm! It's very crazy to see this - the fear in their eyes as Chris Hanson is sitting there, staring them in the face going, "So, what were you - what are you doing here with margaritas? She's 14 years old. What were you planning on doing?"

Comedian: Here's what I learned that was important to know about your local pedophile. All pedophiles apparently, according to this show, love cookies. They love snacks. They're way into 'em. Cookies, tea, some kind of sweet treat. 'Cause that's what keeps 'em in the house for them to get 'em. They're always nervous. "Well, are you a cop? I - are - I don't - maybe I sh-" and the girl's always like, "Have some cookies." They're like, "Hell yeah, I'll have some cookies. Hey, these are great." They're having a blast until the host comes out. And he's never cool. The host walks out, makes him an offer. He's like, "Hey, you enjoy those cookies?" "Yes." Then they tell him how old the girl was and they try to lie, which is funny, 'cause we all know. That's the funny part, like, "That girl was 14 years old." They're always like, "What?! Are you sure?" "Yeah, she's 14." Like [heavy sigh] I didn't know that. Thanks. I'm gonna take off."

Esther: You know the guy is caught and you know he's in so much trouble, but -

Katie: And of course it's always the first time that they've ever done this.

Esther: I've never done this before.

Katie: Right. Well, whatever.

Esther: It's like, "Well thank God we caught you."

Katie: Yeah. [Laughter] Eliminate that one.

Esther: Yeah. Maybe you won't do it again.

Katie: So Esther and I are involved in, and actually a very new organization called "Aware Of Us". The URL is aware - A-W-A-R-E-O-F.us. So awareof.us that is actually gonna grow into a really phenomenal resource for anybody that's interested in learning more about a variety of privacy, safety topics and what's interesting to me about this group is that it's not just on, you know, how to keep Facebook privacy settings and it's not just cyberstalking. You know it's really gonna branch out into a variety of areas that - I mean I feel like one day will impact personal stuff with, you know, family focused, child-centric information to, you know, how do you train your employees, you know, to use Facebook correctly, to not share private information? I mean it's really gonna cover a lot of ground. So definitely something that, you know, as someone that's really trying to get their feet under them in this sometimes crazy, crazy world of the Internet -

Esther: And always changing is the thing.

Katie: Always.

Esther: I mean there's always a new site popping up and no matter what, like you said, people are going to find bad and good ways to use every technological advance that happens.

Katie: We're human. Yeah, I mean we - we're creative little creatures.

Esther: Yin and yang.

Katie: Yeah, totally.

Esther: There's just - there's always a bad side to every good side.

Katie: Exactly. So consider this, you know, one resource that's really gonna keep you up to date on you know, the new legislation, on new trends, on new technologies and I think one of our big primary objectives is to actually reach out to a lot of these large social networks on the Internet and encourage them to take these topics seriously or at least provide training or, you know, really just make it easier for people to act responsibly and safely online.

Esther: Yep, yep. I think it's gonna be a really informative site and I hope you'll check it out. Like Katie said - awareof.us and of course you can follow up with us, The BusinessMakers Overtime gals, at theBusinessMakers.com/overtime. That's our website.

Katie: Woo hoo.

Esther: You can catch us on Facebook, faceboo.com/theBusinessMakers and Twitter, twitter.com/overtimeshow.

Katie: Yay! Come see us.

Esther: Come see us. We'd love to talk.

Katie: Come talk to us.

Esther: If you have any ideas. If you wanna share some of your insights about the show, we would love to hear them. Just leave us a message wherever. We are fanatical checkers of information, so we will see it.

Katie: [Laughter] We will.

Esther: You've been listening to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld -

Katie: And I'm Katie Laird.

Esther: - see ya next week.

Katie: See ya later.