Well, I expect you'd notice the page because the advert is the first web page you see after install. And if you're dealing with more than one lab, you'd catch on pretty quick.
I have a Belkin for my home. Upon setting up the equipment, the advert page was the first one I saw. I skipped it, but encountered it again about a (?) week later. That time I actually read it and realized I had to jump through a hoop to never see the page again. I can't imagine managing a computer lab and taking more than a day to notice the advert.
Yes, I was annoyed, but no more than from mandatory product registrations or e-mails I receive from e-tailers from whom I've bought something. In the grand scheme of things, I'm used to the abuse. Today's standard practice is to let the customer opt-out after the first annoying sales pitch.
I honestly was surprised to see this issue posted on/. as a discussion topic. I accept it as the way companies act today, nothing unusual.
If my ISP (the only broadband solution in my neighborhood) got blocked, I'd call to complain to my ISP every day for #1 not resolving the blacklist problem and #2 not allowing me to use a remotely hosted SMTP server. If my ISP was a complete asshat and never resolved the issues, I would revert to dial-up and launch a PR campaign against the broadband ISP. But all that seems so unlikely. ISPs resolve blacklist issues in a prompt fashion because they don't want to hear daily from pissed off customers.
Better a million spammers go free, annoying billions of people, rather than temporarily inconvenience a handful of innocent domains? I'll take that inconvenience as acceptable risk for living in a world populated by asshats.
> using an OSS product where you can see and > edit all the lists, creating them yourself > if desired.
Goodness no! My children will be dead and buried before I finish adding URLs to a filter list. The number of new adult URLs surely grows faster than I'd be able to add them.
That's why I'd buy a filter product and accept the loose reality that some good URLs get snagged and some bad URLs get through. Millions of people already accept this reality with their spam filters. Plus, the chance that one of the snagged good URLs is one I'd actually visit in my lifetime is so small I find it hard to care.
I just don't buy media anymore. The artist organizations disgust me and individual money-grubbing artists sicken me. There's a difference between making a handsome profit off an exquisite piece of art, and sucking the life out of it by pimping it for every dollar possible.
OK, and your solution to this situation is what? If I publish filtering software my trade secret is the block list. I have everything invested in the URLs and filtering criteria. The criteria alone does not sell my product.
You're missing the point. The problem isn't the filtering software. Any filtering software created will have people balking on both sides of the aisle. The problem is the law.
Separate but equal is an issue for public schools. They're not even equal because tax dollars per district are applied to school funding. So it's pure fantasy.
But regardless, when did people gain the right to a library, not just that, but one with Internet access, one with unfiltered Internet access?
No. If I choose to buy Symantec's product and configure it to my tastes, I make those choices. I'm in charge. If I don't like it, I change products or don't use a product or don't use the Internet. At every step of the process I'm in control. The only point at which my child rearing might be jeopardized is when other people try to tell me what filting software I can install and what web sites I am or am not allowed to block from my home computer. As long as I have freedom over my own computer, am I free to raise my kids the way I intend.
You know what, that's part of raising a child. I raise my kid with my beliefs and I filter what I want to filter. You don't equal time. You do not get to enter my home and tell me what my kids should be exposed to.
Who is being denied this knowledge? No one. People who buy this software and activate the weapons filter don't want to see NRA propaganda. It's that simple. You're blowing smoke.
I'll take knife violence over gun violence any day.
I support mandatory knife ownership. Once every American has a knife in their kitchen, burglaries and violence in the home will stop because knife ownership will be a deterrent to criminals.
Sure, add an abortion filter. That's the point of filter software. Cover a range of potentially offensive topics and let the user decide what to filter.
In terms of libraries, the government will quickly learn the idea of filtering libraries is too thorny because it has to take an official position of every controversial issue. The evil there is the law, not filtering software.
I'm beginning to wonder if people don't understand why a censorship filter exists. It exists because people don't want to see certain content. The weapons category filters NRA sites. If you do not like that, uncheck the box, or don't buy the software, or buy a competitor's filter package.
Some people don't want to see NRA propaganda and Symantec is opening its product to that audience. If you're not part of that audience, buy a different filtering package, or don't filter at all.
How do anti-gun sites promote violence? They don't. Violence and guns go hand-in-hand is most peoples' minds, and that's why the filter is there. Don't troll me with insults.
I'm confident that people wanting to block NRA sites don't own guns and won't need gun education, except to know how to defend themselves against gun violence. I trust the filter doesn't censor information about 9-1-1, Neighborhood Watch programs and self-defense training.
You're joking, right? If I don't want my kid exposed to pro-gun influences, I check the "weapons" box to filter it out.
A jury would laugh the case out of court. The consumer knowingly chooses to install censorship software on their computer. Boo hoo if the censored sites are unhappy about it. That's America. We can choose to not visit your web site and install software to stop our kids from visiting it too.
Now that the conservatives control all three houses of government and mandate filtering software in libraries, they're going to cry foul when they see the fruit of their labor. How funny. The use of a library is not a constitutional right. If you don't like the information contained therein, or not contained therein, don't send your kids there. Establish little republican libraries for your republican kids to learn their republican values. It's a free country.
There's nothing chilling about this matter. The NRA sites, as stated, are in the weapons category. What the heck do you expect to get censored in that area? If you want your child to visit NRA sites, uncheck the weapons box. Don't blow smoke.
A hostile takeover is not necessary. Once a company goes public, appeasing stock owners becomes job #1. If people don't think they're evil now, just wait. The majority of shareholders will not be/. geeks. They will be people expecting higher profits each and every quarter, even if that means firing its staff, moving its operation, and hiring overseas pigeons.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I expect you'd notice the page because the advert is the first web page you see after install. And if you're dealing with more than one lab, you'd catch on pretty quick.
I have a Belkin for my home. Upon setting up the equipment, the advert page was the first one I saw. I skipped it, but encountered it again about a (?) week later. That time I actually read it and realized I had to jump through a hoop to never see the page again. I can't imagine managing a computer lab and taking more than a day to notice the advert.
/. as a discussion topic. I accept it as the way companies act today, nothing unusual.
Yes, I was annoyed, but no more than from mandatory product registrations or e-mails I receive from e-tailers from whom I've bought something. In the grand scheme of things, I'm used to the abuse. Today's standard practice is to let the customer opt-out after the first annoying sales pitch.
I honestly was surprised to see this issue posted on
If my ISP (the only broadband solution in my neighborhood) got blocked, I'd call to complain to my ISP every day for #1 not resolving the blacklist problem and #2 not allowing me to use a remotely hosted SMTP server. If my ISP was a complete asshat and never resolved the issues, I would revert to dial-up and launch a PR campaign against the broadband ISP. But all that seems so unlikely. ISPs resolve blacklist issues in a prompt fashion because they don't want to hear daily from pissed off customers.
Better a million spammers go free, annoying billions of people, rather than temporarily inconvenience a handful of innocent domains? I'll take that inconvenience as acceptable risk for living in a world populated by asshats.
Mr. Spock had it right.
> using an OSS product where you can see and
> edit all the lists, creating them yourself
> if desired.
Goodness no! My children will be dead and buried before I finish adding URLs to a filter list. The number of new adult URLs surely grows faster than I'd be able to add them.
That's why I'd buy a filter product and accept the loose reality that some good URLs get snagged and some bad URLs get through. Millions of people already accept this reality with their spam filters. Plus, the chance that one of the snagged good URLs is one I'd actually visit in my lifetime is so small I find it hard to care.
> Have people forgotten how George Lucas works?
I just don't buy media anymore. The artist organizations disgust me and individual money-grubbing artists sicken me. There's a difference between making a handsome profit off an exquisite piece of art, and sucking the life out of it by pimping it for every dollar possible.
OK, and your solution to this situation is what? If I publish filtering software my trade secret is the block list. I have everything invested in the URLs and filtering criteria. The criteria alone does not sell my product.
You're missing the point. The problem isn't the filtering software. Any filtering software created will have people balking on both sides of the aisle. The problem is the law.
Separate but equal is an issue for public schools. They're not even equal because tax dollars per district are applied to school funding. So it's pure fantasy.
But regardless, when did people gain the right to a library, not just that, but one with Internet access, one with unfiltered Internet access?
> But Symantec, Inc. does?
No. If I choose to buy Symantec's product and configure it to my tastes, I make those choices. I'm in charge. If I don't like it, I change products or don't use a product or don't use the Internet. At every step of the process I'm in control. The only point at which my child rearing might be jeopardized is when other people try to tell me what filting software I can install and what web sites I am or am not allowed to block from my home computer. As long as I have freedom over my own computer, am I free to raise my kids the way I intend.
You know what, that's part of raising a child. I raise my kid with my beliefs and I filter what I want to filter. You don't equal time. You do not get to enter my home and tell me what my kids should be exposed to.
Who is being denied this knowledge? No one. People who buy this software and activate the weapons filter don't want to see NRA propaganda. It's that simple. You're blowing smoke.
That's nice.
I'll take knife violence over gun violence any day.
I support mandatory knife ownership. Once every American has a knife in their kitchen, burglaries and violence in the home will stop because knife ownership will be a deterrent to criminals.
Then it sounds like you don't want to buy this product. OK. Buy a different product.
Sure, add an abortion filter. That's the point of filter software. Cover a range of potentially offensive topics and let the user decide what to filter.
In terms of libraries, the government will quickly learn the idea of filtering libraries is too thorny because it has to take an official position of every controversial issue. The evil there is the law, not filtering software.
I'm beginning to wonder if people don't understand why a censorship filter exists. It exists because people don't want to see certain content. The weapons category filters NRA sites. If you do not like that, uncheck the box, or don't buy the software, or buy a competitor's filter package.
Some people don't want to see NRA propaganda and Symantec is opening its product to that audience. If you're not part of that audience, buy a different filtering package, or don't filter at all.
How do anti-gun sites promote violence? They don't. Violence and guns go hand-in-hand is most peoples' minds, and that's why the filter is there. Don't troll me with insults.
> don't have this "shoot them before
> they shoot you" attitude
So true. Gun-love is Americana. We don't need Dubya. Gun violence is enough for Europeans to look across the see and wonder what we're smoking.
I'm confident that people wanting to block NRA sites don't own guns and won't need gun education, except to know how to defend themselves against gun violence. I trust the filter doesn't censor information about 9-1-1, Neighborhood Watch programs and self-defense training.
When my kid needs to do a report on gun control issues, I'll uncheck the "weapons" box.
You're joking, right? If I don't want my kid exposed to pro-gun influences, I check the "weapons" box to filter it out.
A jury would laugh the case out of court. The consumer knowingly chooses to install censorship software on their computer. Boo hoo if the censored sites are unhappy about it. That's America. We can choose to not visit your web site and install software to stop our kids from visiting it too.
Now that the conservatives control all three houses of government and mandate filtering software in libraries, they're going to cry foul when they see the fruit of their labor. How funny. The use of a library is not a constitutional right. If you don't like the information contained therein, or not contained therein, don't send your kids there. Establish little republican libraries for your republican kids to learn their republican values. It's a free country.
There's nothing chilling about this matter. The NRA sites, as stated, are in the weapons category. What the heck do you expect to get censored in that area? If you want your child to visit NRA sites, uncheck the weapons box. Don't blow smoke.
A hostile takeover is not necessary. Once a company goes public, appeasing stock owners becomes job #1. If people don't think they're evil now, just wait. The majority of shareholders will not be /. geeks. They will be people expecting higher profits each and every quarter, even if that means firing its staff, moving its operation, and hiring overseas pigeons.
Don't kid yourself. Weapons are invented for only one reason and this country, of all countries, knows that because we use them the most.