A substitute teacher was in a classroom that had a few networked pc’s. All of a sudden, pornographic popups started to show on the screen, and she panicked. After about a minute the computers were unplugged and the images vanished from the screens. However in this case, word of mouth from students to parents to board members, brought charges against this teacher and imperiled not only her freedom, but her career for life.

When I saw the articles associated with this event, nowhere did I see any expert witnesses called to testify on behalf of the defense, nor the prosecution. And right there I thought, “this is wrong”.

Now, for a lesson in computers, my friends.

The Internet is like the world. Except in this world, you may walk wherever you wish, without being in physical peril. Around one corner, you may see a delightful play, or hear a beautiful song, or see a video of a prisoner being beheaded in the Middle East. You may see your most perfect dream, or the most horrific nightmare. And sometimes, people on the internet send you things without your permission.

People really need to understand this before they naively decide to connect. Even though only 1 percent of the population of the world may be corrupt in some way, mathematics makes it possible for that 1 percent of the population to send their trash to the entire Internet population! Unfortunately for us, we must become savvy in order to understand.

A good rule of thumb in surfing the Internet, is to stick with “known good” sites. Ebay, Yahoo, Google, CNN, these are a few of my “known good” sites. Once you start seeing links to sites like ( ex.> w|ww.snoududoo.gargle.com/index.htm) you may be treading on dark territory. (I typed in random letters to create this link, please do not click on it )

You can actually get a virus that will take over your pc by visiting a website. Viruses, or “malware” have the capability of changing your homepage, sending information from your computer to theirs, disabling or slowing down your pc, or even erasing your hard drive. But sticking to the main subject of my article, they also have the capability of opening up your Internet Explorer, and navigating to the website of their choice. Whether it is pornography, or an advertisement for Viagra.

Understand this and do not rush to accuse people of a crime of ignorance.

Now I’ll venture into ways of combatting this nonsense.

The Internet is also full of so-called “antivirus” and “antispyware” programs. Do not be fooled. There are only a handful of legitimate programs available, that will help you get rid of these pesky bugs.

When you first get your computer, you NEED to have an antivirus program installed. I recommend for free, AVG, a product of GRISOFT. Norton Antivirus and McAfee are also good antivirus programs, but they are not free. And please, make sure you keep your programs updated weekly. Norton and McAffee are not free, and you have to pay to keep your subscriptions up-to-date. Do It. Or get AVG.

A few good Anti-Spyware and anti-malware programs are: Microsoft Defender (available at Microsoft website), AdAware (Lavasoft), and Spybot S&D. These also need to be updated weekly. Do It.

Good luck, good people, and remember that the Internet is a good place, when treated with respect and awareness. Cleaning and recovery services are expensive.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Scott Durflinger is a resident of New Vienna.