May 18, 2017
Please be aware that the parental control features in the Mac OS do not allow the use (or access) of websites with URLs beginning with “https://”. Apparently, all SSL encrypted websites are blocked by the parental controls. This limitation is particularly troublesome when setting up a whitelist (list of acceptable websites) for children to use. For example, using the Google Mail (Gmail) website is impossible with the parental controls whitelist enabled as it blocks the https protocol used to access the Gmail website.
However, we still recommend the use of Mac OS parental controls to limit how much time (and when) users are allowed access on the computer, as well as what applications they are allowed to use.
This article has some good information on how to access and setup parental controls in Mac OS X. If you are using Mac OS parental controls with your family, please email us and let us know how the controls are working for your family. We are interested in any additional information (tips, recommendations) that can be used to better protect our families using Mac OS X systems.
Sep 19, 2016
If you’ve subscribed to AT&T’s U-verse service, be aware that the router supplied by AT&T cannot be configured with the OpenDNS DNS server addresses. If you still wish to use OpenDNS to filter your home network, purchase a third-party router which will be connected “behind” the AT&T U-verse router. The third-party router is then configured to route all network/Wi-Fi traffic through the U-verse router. Wireless devices need to be configured to connect to the third-party router (not the U-verse router). You should then disable (i.e. turn off) the Wi-Fi services of the U-verse router to eliminate the possibility of anyone accessing an unfiltered internet connection.
More information can be found here.
Depending on the U-verse router being used, this link details the process summarized above.
Mar 12, 2016
Social media has in the past few years revolutionized our world in how we communicate. Our vocabulary is changing overnight, and suddenly we are tweeting, tagging and liking things that we hardly know. It is now possible to have friends that we have never met in person. We very seldom use complete sentences or words. A yahoo is no longer a crazy person in the dictionary and tweeting is not a bird making noises. Twitter has over a million users and You Tube shows more than two billion videos a day.
What does this all mean for our families today? The separation we were able to have from the world in years gone by is not something that is easily obtainable today. The world we all live in has shrunk overnight in size and what happens in our lives this minute can be known across the world in seconds. Social media has encouraged many friendships from all walks of life. The concern is we may know what ten of our friends are having for supper, and yet may not know of any of their inner struggles or difficulties they are working through that day. These type of relationships may give the appearance of knowing everyone, where in reality no one is known and it may harm our relationships. We may have many bits of information from multiple sources and yet know nothing of any substance to help our family and friends.
Instead of spending real time with developing deeper friendships that can help and understand the issues we all face, many times we spend our time in processing volumes of information that offer very little value. Our families require private time to train Biblical values in our children, without getting interrupted with the many social media posts. All of the posts in themselves may be very innocent and informational, however it takes away from valuable time spent with our loved ones, especially in the training of our next generation.
Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Feb 4, 2016
We have found that certain anti-virus programs (such as Avast anti-virus or others) may interfere with Qustodio. The anti-virus program will stop the Qustodio service from running, randomly turning off filter protection and monitoring. Qustodio may work for a while after a restart of the computer but then will stop working after a certain time period. We recommend you test Qustodio (try a site that you have blocked) and check reports daily until you are satisfied it is stable and working. There may be little indication that Qustodio is not working other than children can access sites normally blocked, and reports will look a little empty on certain days that it is not running). If you have problems, uninstalling your anti-virus software and Qustodio, then reinstalling Qustodio may fix the problem. At this point we have not confirmed an anti-virus program that we can recommend for use with Qustodio.
