Parental Content Filtering Solution

SCCutler

SCCutler

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Spike Cutler
Well, along with the privilege of being able to use a 3-year-old Mac, Tommy's new Mac also does not run the Parental Controls software I have been using to control what Tomster looks at on the Weird World Web. Came home today, there's YouTube video on the screen with key words, "Nude Girls.' Nice.

So, I guess I need a hardware content filtering solution or something of that kind.

If there's something in software for Mac, I guess it's worth hearing about, but since I know less than nothing about how to work a Mac, I figure he'd be gaming me on it in a heartbeat.
 
It is claimed that DansGuardian will run on a Mac. I have never actually tried installing it on a Mac, however. It's also not a good choice for those who hate the command line.

It's an interesting piece of software. It filters every page based on options selected by root (the admin user on 'nix systems). Like all filtering software, it has its annoyances, bugs, and quirks, however; so I won't suggest it so much as let you know it's out there for you to consider.

Rich
 
SCCutler said:
So, I guess I need a hardware content filtering solution or something of that kind.
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Spike, check this out:

http://www.iphantom.com/residentialFilteringProducts.html

I've heard good things from others, but not used it myself. If someone tries to disconnect it and connect directly to the internet, it notifies (server-side, that's what the small monthly fee includes) you that it's been bypassed.

One person I know locked this box inside a small toolbox (cables run in and out); kid can't get into the padlocked box to disconnect it. I guess it depends on how paranoid you are.

Of course, seeing what you saw in the search bar.... ;-) Oh, count your blessings! At least it said Nude GIRLS. he he he!

(You think he was messing with you???!)
 
poor Tommy. when I was a kid my parents had no idea what an internet filter was. I guess i turned out OK.

j/k counselor. IMO you are super Dad
 
Tommy seems like such a good little guy, I bet if you told him "No" he would behave accordingly.

However, thinking about it now... my parents thought I was such a good boy too!
 
Dave, I actually think you're probably right, but I still feel a certain degree of responsibility to do something (besides, Celia told me to!).

You shoulda seen him holding Sarah and crying today... heart-rending. That kitty will get better.
 
well if Celia said so then you better do it Spike!
 
KennyFlys said:
Gosh, at least they are staying away from this lawyer. He will not do well as a prison house lawyer!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296330,00.html :eek:
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Ugh!
The girls [...] were ages 5 to 10 at the time of the alleged attacks
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Another possibility is to use a router that has web content filtering available. An example (not a recommendation, as I have no experience with it) would be http://www.watchguard.com/products/sohowebblock.asp. Of course, if he has wireless and there's someone around with an unsecured network, he could just connect to that to get around it.
 
Maybe he's destined to work in radio, Spike... :hairraise: j/k

Sorry, no Mac here....
 
Look on the bright side Spike at least the banner didn't say "Nude Boys":frog:

In all seriousness We don't have a parental control filter but perhaps I should look into one. The main thing we do Spike is insist that she only use the Computer in teh Kitchen for accessing the internet. That way Rachel is always in a " public space" when she is on line. We also tell her we have the right at any moment to look at what she is accessing and read her IMs and we DO!
 
tonycondon said:
poor Tommy. when I was a kid my parents had no idea what an internet filter was.
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Kids! When I was a kid there was no internet (well perhaps ARPANET was coming along when I was in high school - late 1960s). My dream in high school and college was to have a teletype with a modem at home so I could dial into the mainframe at WSU. How times have changed. :yes:
 
well i guess when i was tommys age i was internet-less too. I dont think we got the web until i was 14 or 15. but yes i know that I am young and you are old. everyone seems to think they have to remind me of that all the time :rolleyes:
 
LOL spike this isn't a case of "Like father, like son" is it?

Tell him to watch the discovery channel more often. Heck I was ironically sick both days of my school years for the "birds and the bees" presentations, hahaha.

I feel for you Spike, its gotta be tough being a parent in those situations.
 
Ghery said:
Kids! When I was a kid there was no internet (well perhaps ARPANET was coming along when I was in high school - late 1960s). My dream in high school and college was to have a teletype with a modem at home so I could dial into the mainframe at WSU. How times have changed. :yes:
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Ha! ASCII-PORN. ;-)

Here's a great site with ASCII art, this is the AIRPLANES page: http://www.chris.com/ASCII/
 
Tristar said:
LOL spike this isn't a case of "Like father, like son" is it?
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T, one of my local pilot friends told me that, for such as us, Trade-a-Plane is "Pilot Porn." He is, of course, correct.

As for traditional porn, while I'd admit to having looked at my share of nekkid wimmen pics over the years, I can also tell you that it just ain't that interesting. Same thing for titty bars (or, as they are known around my wife's office, "The Naked House").

Tristar said:
Tell him to watch the discovery channel more often.
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Well, how 'bout Military Channel, 24/7? It seem sthat way. It's his only choice for quality TV watching.

Tristar said:
Heck I was ironically sick both days of my school years for the "birds and the bees" presentations, hahaha.
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And you shoulda seen Tommy's face when, having been told by his school that the mandatory sex-ed units were being delivered and that they expected us parents to talk to him about it, we tried to raise the subject with him. It was agonizing, and funny.

Come to think of it, when I recall my mom trying to talk with us about sex, I still cringe. It was not A Good Thing.

Tristar said:
I feel for you Spike, its gotta be tough being a parent in those situations.
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...but it sure does have its rewards, too!
 
AdamZ said:
The main thing we do Spike is insist that she only use the Computer in teh Kitchen for accessing the internet. That way Rachel is always in a " public space" when she is on line. We also tell her we have the right at any moment to look at what she is accessing and read her IMs and we DO!
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That, sir, is the very best protection that there is.

Rich
 
USR has some sort of subscription "net nanny" service available in it's routers. I've never used it so I can't vouch for anything besides the fact that it's there.
 
smoore said:
USR has some sort of subscription "net nanny" service available in it's routers. I've never used it so I can't vouch for anything besides the fact that it's there.
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Friggin' Net Nanny. They can blow it out thier ***.

I stayed in the Renaissance Hotel in Amsterdam last week. The computer in the Concierge Lounge had a net nanny installed - one of the blocked sites was the web mail site for my office. No one could do anything to remove it. I was stuck paying the 20 euros (about $26) per night to access the office email.
 
Heh, that sucks. I don't think USR uses the NetNanny(tm) brand, I just couldn't remember the name of it so I said, "Kleenex" or "Q-tip".

Sorry for the confusion.
 
Ghery said:
That brings back some memories. :D
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Troy, those are pretty cool.

Ghery, were you into RTTY?

As a teenager active in ham radio, I knew another ham who was a Ozark pilot. He was big into RTTY and his "porn" was rolls and rolls of RTTY tape of so many different images. I used to have one of Mickey Mouse he had run off for me. I wish I still had it!
 
Don't block it, don't promote it, and surprise them with a quick look at their computer.

That is my view on this subject. Of course my view is probably crap. I do think that it's very unrealistic to not expect a teenager to try to find adult pictures of one form or another. I don't think it's a bad thing either. I will say that I did my fair share of "nude girls" searches when I was his age.

The problem with internet porn is that it's very easy to access. This ease of access can cause the select few to develop addictions. An addiction to porn is a very bad thing and carries numerous social consequences. Do you really want to try to block a teenager from seeing it? I don't think so.

Don't block it: I think it's a bad idea to attempt to block it. First off--when does this block end?? Are you going to keep blocking it until the day the child moves out? If this is the case--what will happen that day? They will go look at porn. It's been this unforbidden their entire life. Hopefully they will discover that porn isn't really that interesting and won't develop any sort of addiction. Do you want to raise a young adult that must be "blocked" from things?

What if they do get addicted to it? They are an adult now. There is no controlling it. They finally have access to this unforbidden thing. It's a bad deal.

If you don't block the porn. If you make it clear that you don't want them to look at it. They will look at it. BUT they will be scared of doing it. They'll constantly be scared of getting caught. Basically--they won't do it much. They'll get over the phase and they'll move on with life. If they do develop an addiction to it--they'll get caught--over and over. Now you can punish the hell out of them and fix this addiction while it can still be fixed.

I'm probably rambling on here like an idiot. All I'm saying is you don't want them to ever have porn become a problem in their life. At the same time--everyone has looked at it. Most people find that porn isn't really that interesting. Don't you think you should let a teen realize "porn isn't really all that interesting" instead of them waiting for the day that they are "unblocked".

And on top of all of this--there isn't a block out there that a determined teen isn't going to find a way around. Don't waste your money.
 
As much as it pains me... :eek:

I sort of agree with Jesse.

While reading his post, I'm thinking about how you would monitor in Ronald Reagan fashion... "Trust but verify."

Allow open access but state the limits. Spend a little money, probably twice what any monitoring software might cost. Get an external hard drive that backs up not only his data for safe keeping in the event of a crash but also his IE favorites and... his IE history.

One can go in and change the history files on the the computer. But, you can't change the folder contents on an external drive without disturbing the "Modified" date and times. I'm referring to a system that creates a new dataset for each backup period; preferably daily. Now, he may well remove items from history on the computer but he won't be that meticulous every time, all the time. It's so dang easy for a site to show up that is just not right and be missed.

If he never accesses the stuff, great. But, if he does then it's time to talk. There are a lot of similarities between porn, money and a few other things. When you don't have it, you tend to want it the most. When you desire it but you know it's not going to solve the problem, look for alternatives... healthy ones.

It may not work. But, it's an idea. Sometimes, you just have to teach choices among the "broad path" and alternatives down a "narrow path" with focus and healthier outcomes. The whole idea is to have a kid adopt healthy choices early on and go out of their way to find them. Forcing healthy choices may work while they are young but it won't help them set a personal standard that becomes a part of their character.

And, what's "character"? As JC Watts quoted his grandfather... "Character is doing what's right when nobody is looking."

[/Agreement with Jesse] :D
 
Actually, you make a lot of sense. I am more worried about unrestricted and unmonitored email and IM than porn and the like.
 
SCCutler said:
Actually, you make a lot of sense. I am more worried about unrestricted and unmonitored email and IM than porn and the like.
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That's going to show up in its various forms. The main control to that is be very selective on what site he uses his email.

I have a primary email address I use for everything I trust. I have another for those I want to get items from but don't care to be on a potential spam list. Then, there's another again just for the purpose of making inquiries on services, products, etc. and don't have a clue how that company is going to use my information. Should they pass that address on, it's the least used box that gets played with; not the one where I want to receive serious items.

With AIM, you're pretty much at the mercy of who you give that name to. You can block them only after the fact unless you set up a list of who's acceptable. Most folks will do that; basically setting it up like Yahoo.

I prefer Yahoo messenger because it is more controlling and no one can slide through. Set the Yahoo page so it does not show you online. I get a spam about once every couple weeks. I just click on the "Spam" button and that's it. Of course, I tend to be somewhat suspicious that any unknown person suddenly IM'g me and saying, "Hey Sexy!" :frog:
 
Well, from my Comcast days, I can tell you that Websense was the bane of my existence the whole time I worked there. I don't know the price, but it is VERY good at blocking unwanted sites.

http://www.websense.com/global/en/
 
SCCutler said:
Actually, you make a lot of sense. I am more worried about unrestricted and unmonitored email and IM than porn and the like.
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Well, then you may as well teach him how to deal with it rather than block it. Knowledge is the most powerful protection. The understanding of human nature in all its deviations will leave him much better prepared for the varagies in life than shielding him from their existance. If he understands how to recognize and deal with hazards on the internet, he will be better equipped to recognize and deal with them in the real world.
As to the porn, meh.... I've never known anyone who didn't have some porn, besides, the internet isn't the only outlet for porn, if he wants it, he'll get it. Monitoring the type of porn I feel has a greater value. Is it mysoginistic porn... or is it "good times all around" porn. The greatest issue is his developed attitude towards women, and really in that regards, the best thing you can do to mold that attitude is provide him a good example at home, you're the greatest influence in his life in those regards that there is.
 
jesse said:
Don't block it, don't promote it, and surprise them with a quick look at their computer.
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That was my solution as well. What we DIDN'T do was allow my daughter to have her own computer in her own room. I think that's where a lot of her friends got into trouble. Her computer was in a common area (downstairs office), and anyone could come by at any time - which we did. We also never let her have a myspace site like most of her friends, and discussed what could happen when some of her friends pictures get out into cyberspace.

She's in college now, and hopefully she is making the right decisions.
 
nddons said:
That was my solution as well. What we DIDN'T do was allow my daughter to have her own computer in her own room. I think that's where a lot of her friends got into trouble. Her computer was in a common area (downstairs office), and anyone could come by at any time - which we did. We also never let her have a myspace site like most of her friends, and discussed what could happen when some of her friends pictures get out into cyberspace.

She's in college now, and hopefully she is making the right decisions.
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Exactly what we have done. We have also made it clear that we have the authority and the responsibility to monitor their email, IM, myspace, and facebook activity at any time. We insist on having their passwords for email and facebook. We often stop by when one of the kids is on the computer and take over, pulling up every open window and reviewing messages. We set the browsing history to 30 days and made it known that finding less history than that is grounds for losing computer privileges. When they were younger I also told them we had some pretty cool snooping tools installed on the computer which was a total lie, but they didn't know that. We've found a few things we weren't happy with, but nothing we ever considered dangerous.

I'm sure there are kids who would be just fine having a computer in their room with no supervision, but not mine.
 
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