Parents often call Clark looking for advice on software they can run on the family computer to prevent their children from accessing objectionable websites.

But now the penny-pincher wants to share a tactic that can help adult children who are worried about their elderly parents getting ripped-off online. Elders are prone to give up their credit card numbers on the web and get taken by marketers pushing all kinds of products they don't need.

In fact, Clark recalls doing a TV story about a senior who filled every nook and cranny of her home with things she bought on the web -- and she was virtually broke in her golden years. Can you imaging how disturbing it must be to adult children if you think your parents are set and then they become destitute?

The San Francisco Chronicle reports there is a way to protect your aging parents in cyberspace. Safe Eyes -- a software program designed to protect children on the web -- also works well for seniors. You can set it up so that your parents will be prohibited from any checkout screen. The program sells for anywhere from $35 on up.

In related news, The Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that the cell phone increases the strength of the family unit. For example, Clark's teen daughter texted him twice while he was on air talking about Safe Eyes. It turns out she's bored in math class!

Thanks to the cell phone, the concept of long distance is almost becoming a thing of the past. When Clark was in college back in the Stone Age, a long distance call was a minimum of $3.55 so you never picked up the phone unless someone died. Not so today.

There is, however, a real danger to cell phones when people become so engrossed in their conversations that they ignore what's going on around them. Clark recently saw a real estate agent who walked across an intersection while talking and right in front of a car that nearly hit her. She never noticed the near-collision. So be careful out there.