Rebecca Herold, a Des Moines-based privacy expert, better known as The Privacy Professor explains with the rapid growth of technology, people should be more cautious about what they share.

“Too many folks adopt new technology without fully understanding how it may be capturing or distributing their personal, private information,” she said in a press release. “Whether it’s a smartphone tracking their location or social media sites repurposing their personal photos, often people are simply unaware of what’s being collected and how or with whom it’s being shared. People should continue to be concerned with ‘old-fashioned’ threats like phone scams and crooks digging through trash to find personal information on discarded paper documents and digital storage devices.”

Here are some of Rebecca Herold’s smart tips to help keep your information safe and private:

• Read the privacy policy of websites you visit the most. Search for the word “share” and see if the website is open about how it distributes your personal information to others.
• Double check privacy settings on social media sites such as Facebook. Read about its new changes and ensure it only shares what you want it to. Read about past Facebook privacy issues here.
• Review people connected to you. Ensure you only provide access to your personal profile to people you trust and know well.
• Don’t post anything online that you wouldn’t want the whole world to see. Information may be private between you and your friends but friends can repost statuses and other information with/without your consent.
• Secure your personal wireless connections.
• Invest in a shredder to shred financial or other documents before tossing them.

You can follow Rebecca Herold on Twitter and visit her website.

Most  important, talk to your teens about what they are sharing online.  The fact that most college admissions and employees are using the Internet to screen their potential applicants can determine your child’s future.  Teen’s need to understand what goes online today, WILL be there tomorrow.  It may be funny today, and not so funny two years from now.

There are more people losing jobs and homes.  There are more food banks crying out for donations and homeless shelters in need of beds.  Not to mention clothing for men, women and children.

Domestic violence is an ugly and sensitive topic that women struggle with, especially once they get the strength to escape the destructive relationship.

Bras are the most needed yet least donated item of clothing for women.  Soma Intimates is committed to change this one bra at a time.

“A bra is one of the least donated, but most in-demand items for women in need.  When we learned that there are thousands of women going without an item that most of us consider part of our daily routine, we knew we had to do something,” states Laurie Van Brunt, Soma Intimates’ Brand President.  “At Soma, we believe that no woman should have to make the decision between putting food on the table and buying a bra.  The simple act of donating a bra helps these women to focus on rebuilding and recovering from the hardships of domestic violence.  Over 4 million women need the assistance of a shelter annually and many come with only the clothes on their backs.”

January 12th – February 26th, 2012 simply bring in your new or gently used bras to any Soma Intimate Boutique.  There are many locations in South Florida as well as in the entire state.

To read more about this cause, please read the recent press release by Soma Intimate and The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV).

Talk to your teenager daughters about getting involved.  Giving back is actually more empowering to the person that is giving than receiving.  Teens today need to feel good about themselves, it helps them to make better choices in their future.

Be a part of changing the world, even if it is one bra at a time.

Second semester.  Some teens have had enough. They don’t want to go to school anymore.  They believe they know it all.  It is easier to get a GED, after all, some of their so-called friend are doing it!

As much as you are trying to ignore or just say it is a phase, you notice your teen is withdrawing from the family, failing in school, smell alcohol, maybe even marijuana, cigarettes, and overall have become a child you no longer recognize with a personality that is defiant and totally disrespectful the the family boundaries – what do you do?

Most parents try local therapy – which is a great first step, but when happens when therapy doesn’t work?  You can’t be afraid to take that next step!  A parent in a denial only harms your teenager.  Don’t be held hostage in your home by your teen’s behavior.

Sending a child to a residential program/school is a major decision. It is not one to be taken lightly or to be decided on overnight.

Usually a teen’s behavior has been slowly escalating and a parent knows that deep down things are not getting better.  As much as you hope and pray that things will change, this is only typical teen behavior, sometimes it just isn’t.

With drug use and substance abuse rising – more dangerous and deadly ingredients being used, such as spice and inhalants, parents have reason to be concerned.  It isn’t your marijuana of generations prior – it is so much worse and in many cases – addictive and deadly.

If you have reached your wit’s end and now surfing the Internet for help, remember, anyone can build a website.  Anyone can put up nice pictures and create great content.  You need to do your due diligence.

Years ago I struggled with my own teenager.  I was at my wit’s end.  I didn’t realize what a big business this “teen help industry” was.  Yes, my child needed help, but what we received was anything but that.  My story is a cautionary tale – not one to scare you into not using a program, however on the contrary, you have to get your child help, but you have to do your research in getting them the right help.

You can do it without spending thousands!

Here are some quick tips:

• Your child is not for sale, try to avoid those marketing arms selling you a list of programs that are not in the best interest of your child’s individual needs.
• Always speak with an owner or director – Someone that has a vested in your teen’s recovery.  Their reputation is on the line.
• Wilderness and other short term programs are usually nothing more than a band-aid that will fall off as quickly as the program lasted.  They are expensive camping trips and in most cases the Wilderness program will tell you at about 4 weeks that your teen will need to continue on to a longer term program.  What? Yes, now you go back to the research board and worse than that, your teen will be deflated when he finds out he/she isn’t coming home in 6-9 weeks as they were lead to believe – and they will be starting all over again with a new therapist – new schedule – and new setting.  Don’t get caught up in this “shuffle.”  Start and finish with the same school/program.
• The average stay should be about 6-9-12 months, depending on your teen.  Anything less is probably non-effective.  Anything more, you may be creating abandonment issues in my opinion.
• Do you really need an Educational Consultant?  Absolutely not.  You are the parent and no one knows your teen better than you do – with a few tips, you will be able to make some sound choices.

For more helpful hint and tips, please contact www.HelpYourTeens.com for a free consultation. After the ordeal I went through, I created this advocacy organization to help educate parents on finding safe and quality programs.

Join me on Facebook  and follow me on Twitter for more information and educational articles on parenting today’s teenagers.

For those that don’t know my story, it starts in 2000 and ended in 2006 with a landmark victory for Internet Defamation and invasion of privacy.  My stories were written and published by Health Communications Inc (HCI – home of Chicken Soup for the Soup book series) and over the past decade, my mistakes and my knowledge has helped thousands of people and families to make better decisions for their teens and their virtual lives.

Whether you are considering residential therapy or thinking about creating a Facebook page, you will learn from the mistake I made.  After spending years in litigation – with two major victories – and almost being silenced to tell my story, I am here to not only share my story, but to be sure what happened to my daughter and myself doesn’t happen to others, but to let you know that what you post online today – can and will haunt you tomorrow!

Check out part of my segment on Anderson Cooper – click here.

My books: Wit’s End and Google Bomb are both available on Amazon!

My story has been told and validated on many news networks.

Mention my name to any “sales rep” of Red River Academy or affiliate of their programs (see the listings here) and you will find out fast that I am not their favorite person.  They will send you to some very ugly websites about me, but will neglect to tell you I not only defeated them in a jury trial and in the appellate court, I also won an $11.3M jury verdict for damages of Internet defamation of all those ugly sites they are sending you to.  The funny thing about the Internet, it is the world’s largest tattoo machine, and like a tattoo – some things are hard to get removed – and trust me, I have tried.  However I have been legally vindicated.  And God knows they have tried to bury me – virtually and literally – but here we are going into 2012 – and my story is still going strong.  Read on….

As a victim of the WWASPS organization – I am often called or receive many emails about our (my daughter and I) experiences with them.  Obviously not pleasant.  Though I am happy to say the program she was at, Carolina Springs Academy, which attempted to go through a name change to Magnolia Christian Academy (or School) depending on the day you Googled it, is finally closed – it has been rumored some of the staff is now at their affiliate program – Red River Academy and/or Horizon Academy.

Let me be clear for legal purposes – these are rumors – but if I were placing my child in program, I personally wouldn’t take any chances – and furthermore, Red River Academy is clearly named in the current lawsuit which is extremely disturbing with allegations of fraud, abuse, neglect and much more – (click here) that is current.

So when the “sales rep” tells you that “Sue Scheff” is a disgruntled parent – I say – YES, I was – you put my daughter in a box for 17 hours, she was mentally and emotionally abused – food and sleep deprived – I was complete defrauded – and she also missed out on 6 months of education.  None of which I had signed up for.  Grant it, this was 10 years ago – a lot has changed – but those original owners haven’t – so in my humble opinion – I wouldn’t trust any of their programs with my pets….. BTW: I am the only parent to have defeated WWASPS in a jury trial.  Most of the other (many) lawsuits have settled out of court with silence agreements.  I don’t have one, which is why I can still share my story – which is why I get slimed online – which is why their sales reps have all sorts of stories about me – including “the jury made a mistake” – neglecting to tell you I won the appellate court too.  No one condones child abuse – period.

I have been called a crusader (and not in a flattering way) though I take it that way.  I have made it my mission to find the better programs and schools, since I do know what it is like to be at your wit’s end.  I know what parents need help. I am not against residential therapy, which brings us to many  of my stalkers that were formally abused in programs that believe all programs should be closed down.  That is being extreme – they are not a parent trying to save their child’s life and future.

I will share with you that there are more safe and quality programs than there are bad ones – it is just about doing your homework and research.  Today you are more fortunate than I was – you have more access to information and you can learn from my mistakes and  my knowledge.

Please – take 10 minutes to read my story and see the list of programs that are and were once affiliated with Carolina Springs Academy – and from there, you make your own choices for your child.

I had one parent that almost went to Red River Academy that actually said the sales rep said they could have their teen “extracted” within a few hours?  Extracted?  Really – is your child a tooth?  Please don’t get rushed into a quick decision – this is a major emotional and financial decision.

My organization is Parents’ Universal Resource Experts – and no matter what those “sales reps” or the Internet fiction – I don’t own, operate or manage any schools or programs!  We are about educating parents when they are looking for help for their at risk teen…. Don’t get scammed when you are at your wit’s end.

Oh – and when these “sales reps” send out these defamatory links about me – another FACT they neglect to tell you is I won the landmark case for Internet Defamation that awarded me $11.3M in damages for what was said about me online!  Lies and twisted facts!  Here is my recent appearance on Anderson Cooper.

This is strictly my opinion from my own experiences and you are free to make your own decisions…..

However with the rise of credit card scams, identity theft, and other ways criminals are stealing your confidential information, your private life can slowly (or quickly) be ruined and take years to be recovered.

Most people live in blissful ignorance of what kind of information is available to anyone who wants to run a background check on them. It’s absolutely amazing and little bit scary how much data has been compiled on each individual that can be accessed by anyone for any reason. Information that seems fairly insignificant when it’s about someone else gains new importance when it becomes personal.

Even if you have no particular reason to do so, here are 10 reasons you should run a background check on yourself.

1. Peace of mind – Once you start to think about it you begin to wonder just what information is out there and how accurate it is. Just to satisfy your curiosity and for your own peace of mind, you should run a background check on yourself. Don’t wait until you find out from another source.
2. Check for accuracy – Common human error can result in any number of inaccuracies in your public record. Running your own background check gives you an opportunity to find out if there’s any misinformation out there and correct the record.
3. Clear up mistakes – Once you discover mistakes on your own, you have an opportunity to resolve any discrepancies before they become a problem. It’s much easier to set the record straight when you aren’t pressed for time or upset. Trying to convince a police officer that an outstanding parking ticket is just a mistake isn’t going to go well.
4. Be proactive – You’ll never know when something on your record will come back to haunt you, so have a proactive approach to your public information. Know what others see so that you have an opportunity to explain any anomalies if they ever come up. You don’t want to be the last person to know what others can easily find out about you.
5. Future employment – Potential employers are likely to run background checks on any job applicants, so you definitely want to know what they’re looking at and that it’s accurate. Problems on your public record can cost you the job even if you’re the most qualified person for the position.
6. Credit history – If you’re applying for a loan, you want to know ahead of time if there’s a problem with your credit history. Run a background check so you can clear up any mistakes and be able to explain any information that looks dicey.
7. Identity theft – People can be totally unaware that they’ve been a victim of identity theft until they run a background check on themselves. Even if your credit cards haven’t been compromised, someone else could be using your social security number for employment without your knowledge.
8. Power of information – Knowledge is a very powerful tool to have at your disposal. Anyone who has run their own background check has the upper hand in any situation. Once you know how to check your own record and what kind of information is available, you can find out anything you want to know about anyone else as well.
9. Potential renter – Landlords are likely to run background checks on any potential renters before they sign a lease. You don’t want problems from your past to prevent you from renting an apartment or home.
10. Running for office – Anyone who is even considering a run for public office, whether it’s city council or congress, needs to run a preemptive background check for themselves. If not, you know quite well that any opponent will do it for you. Make sure your candidacy isn’t sabotaged by leaks to the press of easily explained problems from your past.

Anything you’ve ever purchased, any license you’ve had, previous employment, you’re address, neighbors and friends is all documented on a vast database and available to pretty much anyone who wants to know. All this information has even been used to develop technology that uses your past history to predict your future activity. All this is pretty scary stuff to the average person who is just minding their own business. Take the time to run your own background check so you have the power of your own information. A proactive approach can save you many headaches down the road.

Source:  Nanny Background Check

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

Given modern American society’s twin love affairs with motor vehicles and mobile phones, this recommendation could have massive ramifications for individuals, employers and government organizations. But the laws the NTSB is calling for are difficult and expensive to enforce, as these studies show:

• A 2010 IIHS study found that state texting bans don’t work to reduce driver cell phone use and may even *increase* crashes
• Pilot programs testing specialized, highly visibile enforcement demonstrate why effective enforcement requires more time, money and manpower than most police departments can afford
• NHTSA’s landmark survey on distracted driving attitudes revealed that plenty (25%) of drivers don’t even believe texting negatively affects their own driving performance

Laws alone don’t work to change driver behavior. This is where technology becomes part of the solution – not just part of the problem.

The NTSB itself has recognized the need for innovative enforcement solutions, including safe driving technology like FleetSafer Vision and FleetSafer Mobile.

These software services offer employers a simple and affordable way to promote safe and legal use of cell phones by employee drivers.

Take advantage of a free demo today to see for yourself how FleetSafer™ solutions work to prevent distracted driving.

Source:  Zoom Safer

Especially young drivers today, teens that are so attached to their cell phones and texting, need to learn the importance of unplugging, turning off and detaching while driving.  Texting, talking and driving can kill.  Never forget it.

Join me on Facebook  and follow me on Twitter for more information and educational articles on parenting today’s teenagers.

Order today!

A new HEIGHT of cybercrimes, stalking, stolen identities, cyber-corruption and criminal predators with a keypad

Do you believe your online image, reputation and character are protected? Firewalls broken – hackers hacking – and you are now virtually invaded! Learn from Sue Scheff’s $11M defamation verdict that changed Internet Culture.

Google Bomb (n) or “link bomb”: Internet slang for a certain kind of attempt to raise the ranking of a given page in results from a Google search. (Wikipedia)

Sue Scheff was a regular person who found out in the most evil way what slander awaited her in cyberspace. Scheff’s business, reputation, and identity were stolen, livelihood ruined, her mental health threatened after viral defamatory statements emerged. Scheff was hit with a Google bomb.

Like an epidemic, Google bombs are the latest lethal legal weapon to destroy character and reputations. Our First Lady was hit. No one is immune.  We must be proactive in maintaining our virtual profile.

Still standing and thriving after all she endured both personally and professionally, Scheff now helps others understand the depths of the Internet and what happens when revenge turns to e-venge.

IN THE NEWS: Over 400 newspapers have featured this landmark case. Including a 4-Part LA Times Series, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, AARP, and many more.  Here are snippets of Scheff’s advice on how to protect your image:

• Wall Street Journal “Until you go through a vengeful attack on your good name, service or business, you have no idea what a Google bomb can do to you.”
• AARP- “Limit the amount of information you provide on the Internet,” she now advises others. “The Internet is not only an educational tool, it can be a lethal weapon,”
• Washington Post –“if you don’t own your own name, someone else will.”
• Family Circle – “Use extreme caution…Whatever you say in the kitchen goes into your kid’s ears and can come out on the computer screen – and go viral!”
• LA Times – “We need very real repercussions for violating a reporter’s privacy in a motel room with a peep camera for mass voyeuristic consumption.”

 LA Times – “The malicious stroke of a key has become the equivalent of a cyberbullet.” – Sue Scheff

Order Google Bomb today!

Will this save parents money?

Teenagers prefer smartphones to cars, according to research firm Gartner, highlighting the impact of technology on kids and the auto industry’s future challenges.

The study found 46 percent of young adults aged 18 to 24 prefer access to the Internet over access to their own car, and that teens drive less overall today than they did in past generations. Comparatively, only 15 percent of baby boomers said they would choose a mobile device over an automobile.

The advent of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter is likely responsible, as they create an interactive, fun world that’s accessible anytime, from almost anywhere. For teenagers who want to stay connected to their friends, social networks provides an ideal platform for communication.

Public transportation and hitching rides from parents also give teenagers more time to stay connected to their social world via their smartphones, making driving seem an unnecessary hassle that interrupts their social life.

In honor of this special month, I was offered the opportunity to interview the National Adoption Month “One Day” Project spokesperson, Willie Garson. Garson currently stars as Mozzie in the new USA Network original series White Collar. He is most well-known for his work on “Sex and the City,” where he played Carrie’s best friend, Stanford. Garson adopted his now 10-year-old son, Nathen, from Los Angeles County foster care in 2010 and was excited to share his experiences with us.

I was in a relationship for a long time, and she didn’t want to have kids, which is fine, that’s people’s choice. After that relationship ended I realized, ‘What am I waiting for? I don’t care if I ever get married, but I know I want a kid.’

The Alliance for Children’s Rights, a kids’ advocacy group in L.A. and member of the National Adoption Day Coalition, is one of my charities. So, when I decided to adopt I worked with the Alliance for Children’s Rights and the Westside Children’s Center, who guided me through the adoption process.

For more information on this wonderful event and to find out how to get involved, please visit www.nationaladoptionday.org.