M is for...MovieStarPlanet, Moshi Monsters, Malware and Megabyte

Malware: A portmanteau of malicious (or malevolent) software, malware is simply software that is intended to damage or disable computers or computer systems. Malware is constantly under development and it changes as technology does. Viruses are the best-known category; there are also 'worms', 'Trojan horses' and others. Malware is the reason we have firewalls and antivirus security software (but they won't stop everything).

Megabyte: The megabyte (MB) is around a million bytes – but it has three different values depending on the context of its use. You can fit about six seconds of uncompressed CD audio, or a typical English book volume in plain text format, into one megabyte's worth of data.

Meme: The dictionary definition of a meme is a cultural behaviour passed from one generation to another. However, the term is also widely used in electronic communication terms to describe a video, image or piece of text for example, which is spread rapidly and widely via the Internet.

Moshi Monsters: This is an online world of adoptable pet monsters, of course! It's aimed at children aged 6 to 14, and (bizarrely) there are more than 80 million registered users worldwide. Kids choose from six virtual pet monsters, then raise them, look after them, and take challenges with them. They can also interact with their friends online. Thanks to their online success, the Moshi Monsters have escaped offline; they can even be found in McDonald's Happy Meals.

MovieStarPlanet: An online game aimed at children. The game is set in a social universe with a movie star theme, and is described by the site itself as 'a safe, creative, social online playground for children'.

Written by Safeguarding Essentials on March 22, 2018 14:37


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