Monday, June 9, 2008

Glubble: Kid-Safe Internet (Don't miss this one!!)



I know it's Monday. I just can't wait, I can't. I will post this for Works for Me Wednesday, though.

Our family uses the internet for video games. (Boys have to "earn" game time) I refuse to buy a gaming system...yet, and when I've purchased games to use on the computer they've been...well, conquered. The internet has billions of fun and educational games for the kids.

Problem? It's the internet, people, and many of us live in fear of the day that our child (or we) click on the wrong link and get an eye-full that destroys innocence in an instant. So I'm very pleased to announce that my tech savvy husband discovered Glubble tonight.

Glubble is a kids only safe (he checked it out really well) internet program. We use Firefox as a web browser, and Glubble is through Firefox, but I think if you're using Internet Explorer or whatever, it's worth the change. "Everyone should be using Firefox anyway." says the expert husband. :) I don't know why it's better, but I think he could give you a few hundred reasons. Hey, he does this stuff for a living- I don't argue.

So back to Firefox. From there, you can create a profile for your kiddos & install Glubble. Then, when they sit down to play they can ONLY access the sites you've permitted. Better yet, they have a very large selection you can choose from , Clifford the Big Red Dog, National Geo, Playhouse Disney, Lego...and on. Even better, go through and choose the sites you want them to visit and disable any you don't need or don't want them to see, (Barbie? Not in this house of boys) and add any sites that you want to. It's ingenious. You can even create multiple profiles for all your kids and have different games available.

Kids have no access (parents have to sign in to change settings) to settings, aren't even able to click on any advertisements on the webpages. Excellent!

Can you tell I'm thrilled?

If you're interested in setting this up, my husband knows just how to get 'r done. Let me know.

6 comments:

Cathy said...

Way to go Ralphy! What a peace of mind. I'll definitely be looking into this! Thanks for the great tips.

The Daileys said...

I am so on this! I'm heading off now to get hooked up! Glubble sounds wonderful! We do have a gameboy and an original playstation, but they are ear ned too and the games are earned from a small resale shop for a couple of bucks a piece and can be traded in for another when they master those. We are always looking for more things to earn around here though! Thanks!

runninggal said...

I am interested! I think we'll never have an X-box around here - free games online is good enough. Too much grass to be trampled on as we chase soccer balls, but for the occasional treat, it's fun to drive a race car online...if we can't figure it out, we'll call Ralph the computer man.

Audra Krell said...

Thanks for the great tip. I have never heard of this and it's so important with our having three boys that are very computer savvy!

Jenn said...

Thanks so much for the tip. We are on IE now but I will have my husband (he is my computer person)check into Firefox. Glubble sounds wonderful for my boys!

Anonymous said...

Amanda - The kind words about Glubble are much appreciated. There have been over 100,000 downloads of Glubble to-date, thanks in part to the attention it has received on blogs such as yours.

There are new enhancements and features coming this fall, and I'd invite you to join Glubble's Facebook Page to get the latest news and information.