2008 will bring some substantial changes to the Guide.

(2/1/08) The biggest change is one of focus. The original Guide was designed to serve as an extension of TTC for school mobile devices – and to also serve as a home filter. Further, the original version included a rudimentary social networking web site, but it was not fully utilized.

To improve both our TTC mobile filter – and the power of the home Guide – we have decided to split the development of the Guide into two components.

For schools simply wanting to support laptops, tablets, and the like – we have created in TTC v7.0 a simpler way to manage mobile filtering. When Guides are managed through the local TTC server – they will filter and report web traffic for PC laptops and tablets, Mac powerbooks, Citrix clients, NComputing terminals, and similar platforms – but not confuse end users with all the social networking elements built into the Guide designed for individual use. It is simple, easy and powerful!

TTC v7.0 will be available for download on February 6, 2008. See this week's Tips & Tricks for details.

For home use, we are retaining the Guide's original look and feel. For both PCs and Macs, the Guide will continue to provide age-appropriate content filtering for multiple users of a home machine. However, it is our intention to expand the Guide's capabilities so that it can do much, much more.

In a nutshell, it is our goal to extend the Guide's functionality so that it becomes a truly collaborative, safe, and smart web content search tool. This will require substantial work on the Guide's web site over the coming months. You should start seeing incremental improvements soon.

Now for the bad news. To implement this change, we will need you to uninstall the old Lightspeed Guide 1.0 and install the new 2.0 Guide. Fortunately, you should not have to do this again – as future improvements will be implemented automatically. Here is the 2.0 install link.

When you install the Guide 2.0, you will notice a few immediate improvements:

Better-detailed installation screens
Improved process for logging in and out of the Guide interface
Password protected software uninstall – An additional security option to require a password to uninstall the Guide from a computer (located on the Password For Uninstall tab of the Settings page)
Option to force SafeSearch in Google and Yahoo! so your search results will not include sites that contain explicit sexual content (located on the Protection Level tab of the Settings page)
Option to block all Internet access if the Guide has a connection failure (located on the Protection Level tab of the Settings page)
Better-organized Settings page for easier user management

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,

Joel Heinrichs
661.716.7600

PS: We are a bit behind, but should have the Mac home version available soon.

Lightspeed Guide Update: Improved Sign Up and Reporting

(9/25/07) An updated Guide was released on Friday. Here are the highlights.

Improved Reports
In some circumstances, details in reports would not display properly. Now, reports should display both rapidly and completely. Please let us know ASAP if any problems occur.

Improved Sign Up/Registration
Some users were confused during sign up/registration for multiple users. The new interface is much clearer as to how to set up an administrative account and tiered policies for various users. Please take a look and let us know what you think.

We have additional improvements planned for this fall. These improvements will include easier integration with a local TTC server for support of school 1:1 computing initiatives, easier log-off processes for multi-user environments, and increased password protection to inhibit tampering by non-administrators.

Thank you for your assistance and feedback.

The Lightspeed Guide Development Team

Lightspeed Guide Update: Email reports, troubleshooting, more

(8/2/07) Thank you for your assistance as we roll out this new product, the Lightspeed Guide Internet filter and reporting. Keep those emails and feedback forms coming!

This week's update to the Guide resolves several outstanding issues:

The "Settings" option to automatically receive daily web activity reports via email has been enabled. If you have that setting checked, you should begin receiving these reports. If you do not receive the reports as expected, please let us know.
"Filtering Exceptions" have been enabled on the "Settings" page. This feature allows you to allow or block individual sites – regardless of the overall protection level you have selected. For example, the Lightspeed Default protection level blocks forums, but you can make an exception for a class blog. Just enter the website URL, such as knowit.wordpress.com, select Allowed as the Status, and click Add Exception. You can block individual sites in a similar fashion.
We have clarified our instructions regarding the "master account." Our original instructions encouraged parents to set up the master account for themselves – then set more restrictive child accounts. However, since we added transparent authentication to the Guide, users who do not log in receive "master account" privileges instead of child account privileges. Needless to say, this led to concern that child account filtering policies were not being applied – since child account users are not prompted to log in.

We now recommend that the master account be set at the most restrictive desired level – and individual accounts be created for all users with greater privileges. This approach preserves the advantages of transparent authentication for quick access – but forces the use of log in credentials when accessing more mature content.
We have also added a "troubleshooting" section to our support page. Specifically, there are times that the Guide may appear not to be functioning properly – when in fact the root cause is a desktop issue. To assist users in evaluating these situations, we have added instructions on accessing and interpreting our log files. As we gain experience with the Guide, and its interaction with other products, we will add to this section as necessary.

We are building up the FAQ and related resources in response to your comments and questions. Let us know if we have missed anything!

Thank you!

The Lightspeed Guide Development Team

Lightspeed Guide 1.0 now available

(6/20/07) Lightspeed Guide 1.0, desktop Internet filtering and reporting software, is now available. The new Guide has several advantages over the Beta version released earlier this year.

Advancements include:

Auto-updates
Once the new Guide is installed, you will automatically receive all software updates.
Integration with Total Traffic Control v6.03 (released 6/19/07)
If you point your Guides at a TTC v6.03 server on your network, you can now get familiar web traffic reports for these mobile devices. To install this feature with this release, please contact Tech Support at:
support@lightspeedsystems.com
800-444-9267
661-326-8324

NOTE: By default, Lightspeed Guides point to Lightspeed Systems' network operating center. In that scenario, only individual user reports are generated and no action is required.
Content filtering for PCs and Citrix tablets
Lightspeed Guide 1.0 blocks inappropriate content and displays the block screen on any modern Windows platform as well as Citrix tablets with Windows embedded. The on-screen Guide interface, however, is currently functional only with Windows PCs using Internet Explorer 6.0 or greater. Guide 2.0 will add this functionality for Firefox as well as Macs running Safari.

Plus, the website, http://www.lightspeedguide.com, now includes links to several Internet safety resources, email support, and more.

Please continue to put the Guide through its paces – and send your feedback at http://www.lightspeedguide.com/feedback.aspx.

There are a few remaining known issues that will be addressed in auto updates and the August 2.0 release.

Email web activity report
Email reports are in design phase and will be added as an auto-update. We'll let you know when it is functional. In the meantime, reports are available to view at http://www.lightspeedguide.com.
Secure, password-protected uninstall
With 2.0, attempts to uninstall the software will require your admin account username and password.
Profile image
Soon you will be able to upload an image or avatar for your personal profile page. This image will display with your comments on sites.
Easy reports integration with Total Traffic Control

Thank you for your support. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any comments or questions.