Posted: Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 2:31 pm. Permalink
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Notes: 9.

Our Library is Weird

As I said, I’m at the library, researching whether I could use ssh tunnels to subvert their filtering software (called WatchGuard), which blocks, among other things, Twitter:

Answer: no, because they also have managed to terminate SSH/SCP connections (I believe they also block VPN). FTP is allowed.

They had previously blocked BoingBoing but it is now available.

They are not blocking Tumblr, or Brizzly, or (and I am not making this up):

https://twitter.com/

which means that I can’t access http://twitter.com/ but I can access https://twitter.com/.

They also block YouTube and Google video. (http://vimeo.com/ is available.)

And Google Image search. Presumably because of the boobs.

Flickr is also blocked.

And http://del.icio.us/

And http://stumbleupon.com/

http://www.reddit.com/ is available, but

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&num=100&newwindow=1&ei=qFIdS6v0MYya8AbNt6XTAw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CAYQBSgA&q=reddit&spell=1

is denied because “Banned combination phrase found.”

Facebook is available.

By far the strangest decision, to me, is that there is one, and only one, room which is completely closed off from the rest of the library, meaning that it could be the quietest room in the library. Except that there is a TV on. With the volume turned up just barely loud enough to be audible:

(click to embiggen)

the sign says:

Attention Patrons

Do not adjust or turn off television

The TV is tuned to CNN headline news (I believe that the last time I was here it was set to MSNBC).

My question is why. Why put a TV in the library? Why force it on people who don’t want it?

Anyway, that’s the result of my research.