Is any *censorship* worth protecting children, especially when children can be protected in another form, that does not require censorship?
Yes. It is worth it. Dan's Guardian blocks the site, which keeps my kid from hitting it by accident. If he needs it for legitimate research or entertainment, he can ask me to view it without the block, and I can decide whether it is something he should see. Obviously, it was blocked for a reason. If it was blocked for some merely technical reason, like references to "female organs" in terms that it's okay for him to see, then I can add it to an exception list.
As far as the "separate area of the library" idea... folks have already mentioned why they don't like a "red-light district" area of a library!
For those who make blanket statements like "nothing should ever be censored, EVER!", I usually respond, "Good, then it won't bother you if I just go ahead and post your credit card numbers and the video clip of you and your wife in private situations up on the internet for the whole world to see!
That is not the argument. Filtering software will inevitably and provably filter non-pornographic material by accident.
And if this happens to an adult at the library, and it's not something seedy, the library ought to be able to do an override on a case-by-case basis...
dochood
... who also happens to be somewhat of a Libertarian!
I'm not interested in enlisting the aid of the U.S. or any other Government in "protecting your soul" from pornography. I'm interested in protecting my soul and the souls of my children from it, as is my responsibility as a parent. I would also like to see the children of America's church youth groups protected from it.
If you're an adult, and you want to look at the stuff on your time, with your resources and your money, FINE! I might have a debate with you as to why it's bad for your soul to look at it, and why it's bad for society in general, but I won't have the Government Morality Police with me when I do it.
Having said that, I don't think it's anyone's right to demand tax-payer subsidies so he can exercise his perversion in full view of children at the tax-funded public libraries! If a person purchased "Hustler" and gave a copy to my minor child, he'd end up in prison in 10 seconds flat! Why is it, then, when someone put the same material on the web, it all of a sudden becomes free speech that should be protected for everyone, including children? I'm not saying you are making that argument, but when libraries fight filtering software, what else are they saying but that they are not bound by the law to keep pornography from children, and that all citizens have a right to view it, no matter who is watching, at tax payer expense?
I use "Dan's Guardian" http://www.dansguardian.org on a locked-down proxy server to help shield my kids from pornography. Therefore, I am exercising my right and responsibility as a parent.
On my buddy's AT&T install, they told him that he had to have a virus checker, a firewall, and a WINDOWS 98 CERTIFICATE before they would install his cable modem! They had to come back because he couldn't locate a Windows 98 certificate!
That's about the most ridiculous requirement I've ever heard, to require a Windows 98 certificate! I think I would have been so mad, I would have moved across the Missouri river to the St Louis side, where we have Charter!
Fortunately, Charter took over the whole STL metro area, so I think he's got Charter now...
When the Charter Cable guys came over to install the new cable modem (they gave me a self-install kit when I changed from PCI-Card Cable Modem [win98 only] to external), the pulled out a laptop with Windows 2000 Pro on it to log in and run a quick test. When they were done, they asked me to boot up my Windows machine and I just smiled, shook my head and said, "Nope. Debian." They responded, "Cool! Do you know what you're doing?" When I responded in the affirmative, they moved out of the way, and ooohed and aaaahed over my shoulder when I had it set up in 2 minutes flat and explained to them all of the cool stuff (MIME defanging, spam-filtering, etc) that I was doing on it.
They told me I could run any service I wanted on my box (upstream is throttled to 128k anyway), as long as I wasn't competing with Charter and running an ISP out of my basement!
My buddy, who lives 20 miles away, on the other hand has to suffer with AT&T. They installed 50 MB of who-knows-what on his system, and made him sign an agreement that basically said he's not allowed to run anything "cool" on his system: he can browse, ftp, and e-mail, and that's about it!
Earthlink, who handles support for my Charter account, even has some limited Linux support, though I've yet to find them terribly helpful, or even very necessary.
Other people I know who have ISPs that do portscans looking for services merely block the portscanner with their firewall, and they run what they want.
... you've been using a computer operating system that crashes all of the time, destroys your data, gets infected with virii, acts as a Graphical User In-Your-Face, getting in your way and making you stumble and thrash around, then finding out there is a better way that works for you!
I think using Windows is like running with cement blocks on my feet! It gets in my way and slows me down. After purchasing and using a Mac for a few weeks, I've really started to notice how badly Windows is slowing me down in my daily tasks. In particular, the multi-tasking on Windows seems extremely sluggish now, whereas I very rarely even see the "Beach Ball" on Jaguar.
Someone above mentioned that it isn't just Mac fans who can get fanatical, but also Linux, Be/OS, Amiga, OS/2, etc. And that is because they see so many folks who think that computers are supposed to be big, bulky albatrosses tied around our necks instead of productivity tools. I hate to see people who think they are stupid just because Windows crashes or gives them trouble, and they don't understand why! I always want to try and help those people see that there are better O/S's out there that they could use.
However, to be labeled a fanatic nowadays, all you have to do is try to explain to someone stuck in the herd that there might be a different, better way.
dochood
Computer Games Got Me Started Programming
on
The Aging Gamer
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I started playing computer games at age 14 in 1980, on a TRS-80, then an Apple II. I started playing a fair bit (growing up in a town of 350 folks there isn't a lot to do, anyway), when my science teacher noticed something in me. He said, "You know, I'm not going to let you play on that thing anymore unless you learn to program it!" I asked, how am I going to do that? He responded by throwing the programming manual in my lap and said, "Here. Ask if you have any questions."
That got me started down the path to my current career! I played a lot of games in HS, but I also wrote my own text based adventure game on an Apple II, and I even wrote a little "Star Wars" game on a Vic 20 that I borrowed from a neighbor kid over Christmas Break!
I'm now a Software Engineer for a Government Contractor firm, working in some cool technologies. I still play games today (having moved up from Apple Panic and Castle Wolfenstein 1 to Serious Sam II), but I don't play as much as I used to, having a wife and two kids. I do let my kids play a little more than I probably should, but I'm hoping that the love of computers might get them interested in programming, too! Since we homeschool, I personally think they'd have a GREAT computer programming teacher!
P.S. Thanks, Mr. B! (science teacher) Without you, I might still be a gamer, but I probably never would have become a programmer!
We used to get calls from "Out of Area" where you would pick up, you could hear the heavy breathing (and the telemarketers in the background), and then they'd hang up. This would happen 3-4 times a day, besides the other telemarketing calls.
However, my in-laws in Korea got really ticked with the thing, because it took them forever to figure out how to record their names, and when they did, it always added another 4-5 minutes to their call! I tried to explain how to use the direct dial code, but that didn't work too well, either (it's 10 digits!... mess it up, and you got to do it all over again)
So, when AG Jay Nixon of MO got a law passed that requires telemarketers to sign up for no-call lists, I tried it out. Recently, I turned off the screening service, and I still get one telemarketing call per week or so. Perhaps my number just automatically left the lists because the service was on so long, or maybe folks really are obeying the law. (Miss Cleo got socked with several thousand dollars in fines recently for disobeying this law.... too bad she didn't see it coming!)
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Is any *censorship* worth protecting children, especially when children can be protected in another form, that does not require censorship? Yes. It is worth it. Dan's Guardian blocks the site, which keeps my kid from hitting it by accident. If he needs it for legitimate research or entertainment, he can ask me to view it without the block, and I can decide whether it is something he should see. Obviously, it was blocked for a reason. If it was blocked for some merely technical reason, like references to "female organs" in terms that it's okay for him to see, then I can add it to an exception list. As far as the "separate area of the library" idea... folks have already mentioned why they don't like a "red-light district" area of a library! For those who make blanket statements like "nothing should ever be censored, EVER!", I usually respond, "Good, then it won't bother you if I just go ahead and post your credit card numbers and the video clip of you and your wife in private situations up on the internet for the whole world to see! That is not the argument. Filtering software will inevitably and provably filter non-pornographic material by accident. And if this happens to an adult at the library, and it's not something seedy, the library ought to be able to do an override on a case-by-case basis... dochood
... who also happens to be somewhat of a Libertarian!
I'm not interested in enlisting the aid of the U.S. or any other Government in "protecting your soul" from pornography. I'm interested in protecting my soul and the souls of my children from it, as is my responsibility as a parent. I would also like to see the children of America's church youth groups protected from it.
If you're an adult, and you want to look at the stuff on your time, with your resources and your money, FINE! I might have a debate with you as to why it's bad for your soul to look at it, and why it's bad for society in general, but I won't have the Government Morality Police with me when I do it.
Having said that, I don't think it's anyone's right to demand tax-payer subsidies so he can exercise his perversion in full view of children at the tax-funded public libraries! If a person purchased "Hustler" and gave a copy to my minor child, he'd end up in prison in 10 seconds flat! Why is it, then, when someone put the same material on the web, it all of a sudden becomes free speech that should be protected for everyone, including children? I'm not saying you are making that argument, but when libraries fight filtering software, what else are they saying but that they are not bound by the law to keep pornography from children, and that all citizens have a right to view it, no matter who is watching, at tax payer expense?
I use "Dan's Guardian" http://www.dansguardian.org on a locked-down proxy server to help shield my kids from pornography. Therefore, I am exercising my right and responsibility as a parent.
dochood
On my buddy's AT&T install, they told him that he had to have a virus checker, a firewall, and a WINDOWS 98 CERTIFICATE before they would install his cable modem! They had to come back because he couldn't locate a Windows 98 certificate!
That's about the most ridiculous requirement I've ever heard, to require a Windows 98 certificate! I think I would have been so mad, I would have moved across the Missouri river to the St Louis side, where we have Charter!
Fortunately, Charter took over the whole STL metro area, so I think he's got Charter now...
dochood
When the Charter Cable guys came over to install the new cable modem (they gave me a self-install kit when I changed from PCI-Card Cable Modem [win98 only] to external), the pulled out a laptop with Windows 2000 Pro on it to log in and run a quick test. When they were done, they asked me to boot up my Windows machine and I just smiled, shook my head and said, "Nope. Debian." They responded, "Cool! Do you know what you're doing?" When I responded in the affirmative, they moved out of the way, and ooohed and aaaahed over my shoulder when I had it set up in 2 minutes flat and explained to them all of the cool stuff (MIME defanging, spam-filtering, etc) that I was doing on it.
They told me I could run any service I wanted on my box (upstream is throttled to 128k anyway), as long as I wasn't competing with Charter and running an ISP out of my basement!
My buddy, who lives 20 miles away, on the other hand has to suffer with AT&T. They installed 50 MB of who-knows-what on his system, and made him sign an agreement that basically said he's not allowed to run anything "cool" on his system: he can browse, ftp, and e-mail, and that's about it!
Earthlink, who handles support for my Charter account, even has some limited Linux support, though I've yet to find them terribly helpful, or even very necessary.
Other people I know who have ISPs that do portscans looking for services merely block the portscanner with their firewall, and they run what they want.
dochood
... you've been using a computer operating system that crashes all of the time, destroys your data, gets infected with virii, acts as a Graphical User In-Your-Face, getting in your way and making you stumble and thrash around, then finding out there is a better way that works for you!
I think using Windows is like running with cement blocks on my feet! It gets in my way and slows me down. After purchasing and using a Mac for a few weeks, I've really started to notice how badly Windows is slowing me down in my daily tasks. In particular, the multi-tasking on Windows seems extremely sluggish now, whereas I very rarely even see the "Beach Ball" on Jaguar.
Someone above mentioned that it isn't just Mac fans who can get fanatical, but also Linux, Be/OS, Amiga, OS/2, etc. And that is because they see so many folks who think that computers are supposed to be big, bulky albatrosses tied around our necks instead of productivity tools. I hate to see people who think they are stupid just because Windows crashes or gives them trouble, and they don't understand why! I always want to try and help those people see that there are better O/S's out there that they could use.
However, to be labeled a fanatic nowadays, all you have to do is try to explain to someone stuck in the herd that there might be a different, better way.
dochood
I started playing computer games at age 14 in 1980, on a TRS-80, then an Apple II. I started playing a fair bit (growing up in a town of 350 folks there isn't a lot to do, anyway), when my science teacher noticed something in me. He said, "You know, I'm not going to let you play on that thing anymore unless you learn to program it!" I asked, how am I going to do that? He responded by throwing the programming manual in my lap and said, "Here. Ask if you have any questions."
That got me started down the path to my current career! I played a lot of games in HS, but I also wrote my own text based adventure game on an Apple II, and I even wrote a little "Star Wars" game on a Vic 20 that I borrowed from a neighbor kid over Christmas Break!
I'm now a Software Engineer for a Government Contractor firm, working in some cool technologies. I still play games today (having moved up from Apple Panic and Castle Wolfenstein 1 to Serious Sam II), but I don't play as much as I used to, having a wife and two kids. I do let my kids play a little more than I probably should, but I'm hoping that the love of computers might get them interested in programming, too! Since we homeschool, I personally think they'd have a GREAT computer programming teacher!
P.S. Thanks, Mr. B! (science teacher) Without you, I might still be a gamer, but I probably never would have become a programmer!
Whatever you do, NEVER tell a Telemarketer to put you on the DNC list!!! Always say "Do Not Call" list!
Otherwise, in no time at all, the Democratic National Committee will be calling you, hitting you up for donations every night during supper!
I've used this service, too, and it works great!
We used to get calls from "Out of Area" where you would pick up, you could hear the heavy breathing (and the telemarketers in the background), and then they'd hang up. This would happen 3-4 times a day, besides the other telemarketing calls.
However, my in-laws in Korea got really ticked with the thing, because it took them forever to figure out how to record their names, and when they did, it always added another 4-5 minutes to their call! I tried to explain how to use the direct dial code, but that didn't work too well, either (it's 10 digits!... mess it up, and you got to do it all over again)
So, when AG Jay Nixon of MO got a law passed that requires telemarketers to sign up for no-call lists, I tried it out. Recently, I turned off the screening service, and I still get one telemarketing call per week or so. Perhaps my number just automatically left the lists because the service was on so long, or maybe folks really are obeying the law. (Miss Cleo got socked with several thousand dollars in fines recently for disobeying this law.... too bad she didn't see it coming!)