Symantec Corp (Nasdaq: SYMC), makers of
Norton security software, today released the first volume of the Norton
Online Living Report (NOLR) revealing that, more than ever, adults and
children around the world are getting emotionally and socially connected
online – including dating, friendship and playing – as well as for
information and communication. The NOLR, undertaken by Harris
Interactive, revealed some startling statistics about how Internet-Age
technologies have affected families across the world.

Up to half of online adults worldwide and up to 40 per cent of online
children worldwide have made friends on line, with 72 per cent of
responding UK adults having translated at least one online friend to an
offline friend. In the UK, 43 per cent of online adults and 26 per cent
of children enjoy their online relationships as much or more than their
offline friendships. This indicates a major shift in how people relate
to one other and provides potential clues for the future of human
interaction.

Another common theme worldwide reveals that parents’ perception of what
their children are doing online does not reflect the reality of what
their children say they are doing. For example, one in five responding
children admit to conducting activities online that they know their
parents would not approve of with 24 per cent of UK online children
spending tenfold or more time online than their parents think they do.
The survey revealed that 72 per cent of responding parents in the UK are
concerned about their children’s activities online, with 25 per cent
having no idea about what their children are doing on the internet.

This can have shocking consequences: Five times as many children online
in the UK have been approached by a stranger online than their parents
believe. In UK, adults believe that four per cent of children have been
approached online by a stranger. The actual per cent reported by UK
online children is 20.

Online parents are recognising the social and informative benefits of
the Internet both for themselves and their children yet few are setting
parameters and implementing controls to ensure children remain safe on
line. Worldwide, half or less of online parents, or 37 per cent in the
UK, have set parental controls on their family computers. Around seven
in 10 UK online parents are concerned about their children being
approached with inappropriate content or solicitations but only four in
10 have spoken to their child on safe Internet practices, despite the UK
having the highest number of children (87 per cent) claiming to be
comfortable talking to their parents about their on line experiences.

Commenting on the research, Chris Kelly, Chief Privacy Officer from
Facebook said: “Facebook recognizes the importance of helping parents to
understand the online world that our children are growing up in and to
provide practical advice on how people can replicate their offline
controls, online. Our technology has been designed to replicate
real-world connections online, with the ability to select personal
privacy settings and provide complete user control.”

Caroline Cockerill, Norton Online Safety Advocate for Symantec, said:
“The Norton Online Living Report highlights how the boundaries have
blurred between the online and offline worlds and the effect this is
having on our families and as individuals.”

“As parents, we need to balance our concerns about child safety online
while allowing children the freedom to explore without fear of what they
may find. In order to make our children’s time online as safe as
possible, there are a number of recommendations to follow. Installing
and constantly updating Internet security software is a key factor in
helping to shield our families from a variety of unwanted materials, but
the protection does not stop there. Now more than ever it is important
that parents fully understand the rich online world that children have
access to, and are aware of the social as well as technological measures
that need to be undertaken to ensure that they are protected. This
begins with an awareness of the Web sites that our children now use on a
daily basis, and an open and frank discussion about the online risks
which children may face.”

The Norton Online Living Report is the world’s most comprehensive report
on the digital lifestyle habits of adults and children, cataloguing the
astonishing migration of offline activities to the online world. The
report examines data from eight countries including UK, Australia,
Brazil, China, France, Germany, Japan and the U.S., to reveal surprising
cross-cultural differences, and similarities, when it comes to
interacting with technology. Symantec commissioned Harris Interactive
to conduct the survey to better comprehend how consumers interact with
technology on a daily basis in order to understand the mindset of
consumers worldwide. This detailed data will allow Symantec to hone its
products, deliver targeted and streamlined services and to anticipate
online threats and trends.

For more information on the Norton Online Lifestyle Report please visit
www.norton.com/onlineliving, or for further information on Symantec’s
online safety education initiatives log on to
www.norton.com/uk/familyresource.

Key Findings

Communicating:
* Email has usurped the telephone as the major source of
communication
* Online users in the UK and China are most likely to use their
phone to send text messages
* Most online adults (except in the U.S. and Japan) spend at least
one hour per month sending text messages from their mobile phones with
65 per cent in the UK spending between one and four hours engaged this
way
* Brazil and China, are way ahead of the global pack when it comes
to Instant Messaging (IM) with 93 per cent (Brazil) and 97 per cent
(China) sending IMs at least sometimes, compared to 61 per cent of UK
adults
* 40 per cent of UK children have created an online avatar versus
just 21 per cent of adults. China has far and away the biggest take up
of avatars – 72 per cent of adults and a massive 88 per cent of China’s
children have created an online avatar at some point
* Nearly one in five adults in the world spend time on their
personal blog
* In China, nearly 87 per cent of users have a personal blog
versus only 19 per cent of UK users

Socialising:
* Half of adults globally have made friends online. Of those
users, approximately 60-80 per cent have translated some of these online
friendship to their offline world
* 40-60 per cent of online adults globally prefer their online
friendships the same amount or more than their offline friendships
* The UK’s adults feel more comfortable than their European
counterparts socialising online. Twenty eight per cent say they feel
confident in doing so compared to 21 per cent in Germany and just 16 per
cent in France. Globally, China leads the pack with 44 per cent of
adults claiming to feel confident socialising online
* 30-40 per cent of online children have made friends online

Living:
* UK adults spend an average of 40 hours per month online, almost
double that of their children who spend 24 hours online. The average
Chinese adult spends a reported 100 hours online
* Online gaming has become enormously popular, with 97 per cent of
online children and 65 per cent of online adults in the UK playing games
online
* Over half (55 per cent) of Britain’s adult online community owns
a digital music player and 58 per cent download music from the Internet.
Marginally more (65 per cent) of its online children download music from
the Internet
* People in the UK are by far the largest users of online travel
sites, with 81 per cent booking their travel online. Australia is second
to the UK with 67 per cent

Informing:
* The Internet exceeds the offline world as a source of key
information about the world we live in
* The vast majority of online children in the world use the
Internet to help with schoolwork with the exception of Japan (77 per
cent). The UK is third highest with 95 per cent of responding children
using the Internet for schoolwork
* Most online adults spend at least one hour per month both
reading news from online sites/blogs and from a print outlet
* Online beauty and fashion advice has become popular globally
with nearly 3 to 4 in 10 online users seeking advice

Buying:
* The UK is ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to
shopping online, with 96 per cent of adults responding that they shop
online at least sometimes. Germany is second to the UK, with 93 per
cent. China (86 per cent) and Brazil (80 per cent) had the lowest
positive responses
* Half of all global online users feel confident shopping online
* The UK is way ahead in terms of confidence when using the
Internet to shop. Seventy eight per cent of UK adults feel confident
shopping online. The US is second to the UK, with 63 per cent
* Compared to their parents, the UK’s children have significantly
less confidence in shopping online with just 32 per cent feeling
confident or very confident shopping online. China’s children are the
most confident online shoppers – 69 per cent offering positive responses

Banking:
* Banking is a popular Internet pastime for adults worldwide.
China (87 per cent) and the UK (85 per cent) lead the way
* 54 per cent of Brits manage financial investments online

Exploring:
* Although the majority of online adults and children have
received some level of violation (from minor spam emails to major hack
attempts) and express concern about online safety, most users do not
take enough steps to protect themselves online
* 12 per cent of UK online adults and 15 per cent of UK online
children say they feel confident surfing the Web without any security
software
* The majority of adult users worldwide have installed security
software but few go beyond basic steps such as changing passwords
frequently, using multiple email addresses and surfing only on trusted
sites
* Just half of UK adults use complex passwords to protect their
Internet security
* One in ten UK online adults have had someone use their credit
card online without approval – the highest in the world
* Thirteen per cent of UK adults have experienced someone trying
to break into their computer remotely compared to 43 per cent in China
and 23 per cent in Australia

Protecting:
* While the majority of parents recognise online threats to their
children, most underestimate the prevalence of these threats and far
fewer are taking actionable steps such as setting parental controls
* 72 per cent of British parents say they worry about their child
being approached with inappropriate content or solicitations online.
China and France were the highest scoring nations in the survey with
over 90 per cent of parents concerned
* Just 37 per cent of UK online parents have set parental controls
on their family computer
* Almost a quarter (20 per cent) of British parents have ’spied’
on their child’s online usage and only eight per cent have caught their
child doing something they don’t approve of
* There is a disconnect between the number of British adults who
think their child has received requests for personal information online
(just four per cent) and the number of children who say they have been
approached with such a request (25 per cent). Almost one in ten (eight
per cent) UK children have received inappropriate materials via the
Internet that made them feel uncomfortable
* Nineteen per cent of UK children say they do things online that
they know their parents would disapprove of. That figure is even higher
in China with 55 per cent responding in the positive

About the Survey
The survey was conducted online by third-party research firm, Harris
Interactive, and returned a total of 4,687 adult and 2,717 child
responses. All respondents spend at least one hour per month online and
were surveyed in their native language across eight countries (U.S.,
U.K., Australia, Germany, France, Brazil, China and Japan). The adult
(18 and over) and child (8 to 17) samples were both weighted to be
representative of the population of online adults and children for each
individual country.

The overall study entailed 15-minute interviews among adults and
5-minute interviews among children. Questions asked were identical
across all countries, with some overlap between the adult and children
surveys.

T’was the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.

Why the Politically Correct Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas – no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a “Holiday”.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe’s the word Christmas – was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny’s and Sears
You won’t hear the word Christmas; it won’t touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Klinton!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate “Winter Break” under your “Dream Tree”
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday!

So today’s the day. The last day we’ll hear all the campaign ads. The last day we’ll get a barrage of phone calls telling us to vote for this guy or that girl. The last day we have to weed out which sign among the hundred at the corner of the street is the one you’ll need to pay attention to on voting day. Today is the last day we hear the Dems say they’ll take back the House and the last day we’ll hear the GOP say they’ll keep the majority. Today’s it…for at least a year until the Presidential election.

So, for fun, how would your Mac vote, today? Would it be influenced by all the political blogs you have visited over the last month? Would it’s built-in voicemail software nudge it to one party over the other due to all the recorded campaign messages? Would it think different and vote against your conscience? Would Steve’s sphere pull it to the left? So for fun, how would your Mac vote today and tell us why it would vote the way it does in the comments.

My Mac? It’s a MacBook Pro. Republican, of course. It’s a Pro.

(PS: Don’t vote, don’t complain.)

Good evening. Three days ago, in large numbers, Iraqis went to the polls to choose their own leaders a landmark day in the history of liberty. In coming weeks, the ballots will be counted, a new government formed and a people who suffered in tyranny for so long will become full members of the free world.

Since context is everything, you may wish to read his entire speech. It’s packed with some great points and some responsibility. Overall, a very good speech that answers Bush’s critics as well as containing that anti-PC word, Christmas. Gasp!

We took Katelyn to a book store, which I’ll not name but obviously from this picture you can tell they’re not too noble, and Liz and I were saddened to see these signs. I’ve heard the silly argument of how stores wish not to offend its customers; however, how does this not offend Christians? I mean the store proudly displays signs for a Jewish holiday and a crazy fictitious holiday for a minority group? You’ve got to be kidding!

I think these displays expose this countries distaste of anything Christian. I won’t brush the entire country with such a wide stroke using this store as proof, but I think all one has to do is go out into their malls and see this is taking place everywhere. It’s not uncommon to find “happy holidays” splattered all over the place along with reminders of the week the Jews celebrate the miracle of their burning lamp or some day brought into existence because of some activist thought it would unite gang bangers and the common folk of their neighborhoods. It’s sad and mind boggling how this is acceptable! But you know, when liberals talk about tolerance, this is what is meant by that. Ignore Christians but accept everyone else. That’s tolerance to them.

Last night we had dinner out Outback and the waitress encouraged us to have “happy holidays” on our bill. I signed the Visa slip and put on the bottom of it, “Merry Christmas. A Savior is born!” That’s what it’s about and I’m not PC enough to shun from that message!

Thanx, Evers!

Earlier Monday, in his hometown of Johnstown, Pa., Murtha defended his call for a pullout, suggesting he was only following shifting American sentiment as reflected in polls and phone calls and e-mails to his office.

Wow, one of the most respected person in Congress with such a great military background changed his mind on Iraq not for reasons of strategy or of military input, but because of public pressure! No wonder Scott McCullin was “baffled” when he announced the White House’s response last week. I would be, too. How anyone with such military background could make such a statement didn’t makes sense. Now that we know it’s because his untrained constituents are the reason for his call to pull out, it does make sense. Kind of. I mean, it still doesn’t make sense how a guy of his caliber would sink to the public pressure level but at least now we know why made this announcement.

You know, this silly little exercise in vote-reward reminds me of a once great civilization that was a truly democratic society. The people ruled the direction of their nation and now it is no longer great. In fact, it’s just is no longer. Forget the Alamo, remember Greece!

The retired the soldier that served in Iraq continued his conversation with her by telling of his heartbreak about the anti-war people. He called the demonstrations an “embarrassment” and couldn’t understand how those people say that they “support us” when they do that. He further grieved about what Congress, mainly the Democrats, have been doing in the past year and a half with their anti-Bush and anti-war musings. It’s them that make the soldiers in Iraq a “laughing stalk” is what he told my mother. Not Bush folks, the Democrats.

This soldiers major problem with the war was not why we went and not the insurgents blowing them up, it was those back at home not supporting them but saying that they were. That’s what he told my mother is the major problem. He told her he’s not the only one that feels this way as most serving their nation in honor in the hot desert of Iraq agree with what he was telling her. Only the renegades will talk to the media but more honorable — true military personnel — keep their mouth shut while in uniform. He was saddened that this was just another Vietnam but worse since this time the people keep saying that they support the troops but their actions really show the don’t. That’s called a hypocrite.

This account isn’t my opinion but that of a soldier that had two tours in Iraq. One that saw battle and one that saw what CNN displayed. Basically all I’ve been blogging in the last 18 months about this display of anti-war is hurting our soldiers. Now you’ve heard, but I’m sure you’ll continue to ignore and excuse your sad behavior and negate this mans duty in some sheepish argument.

Al-Harbi was convicted of questioning and ridiculing Islam, discussing the Bible and defending Jews, judicial officials said Thursday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. [Source]

I guess all these people who say “tax the rich, feed the poor” don’t get economics and that’s a common left mistake. More and more large corporations are just going to pack up and leave and go to cheaper less taxing states as the state of California continues it’s ludicrous taxing. Double that with the desire not to make any cuts in our budget (or cap it) and we’ll be bankrupt soon enough. And since we won’t have any guns on us, due to the laws to protect us, we won’t be able to defend our last pieces of bread from the gangs that DO have guns. Trust me, I really don’t be to be the one that says, “I told you so,” ’cause I’ll most likely be still living here and I’ll be just as screwed as the one I’m telling.

California, please wake up before it’s too late. Let’s work to stop taxing the mega-corp’s so badly that they’re leaving faster then Lewis and Clark yelling, “Run! Democrats Indians!” If this all continues, California will be hurting much worse then it currently is. But of course, the state’s majority of liberals will just blame Schwarzenegger, as they currently are, instead of rightly pointing blame on their Democrat majority in the State Capitol.