[K12OSN] Stopping web messenger

[Todd O'Bryan]

On May 14, 2006, at 9:58 AM, Rob Owens wrote:

> 1)  You don't need a static IP -- you can get a
> dynamic dns from dyndns.org and run a program on your
> home computer such as ddclient that keeps the name
> resolved to whatever your current IP address is.
>
> 2)  I think it's actually pretty cool that some of the
> kids are figuring this stuff out.  You should get
> those kids into more computer classes, if you ask me.
> Try to get them to use their skills for good instead
> of evil, so to speak.
>

In a way, that's the most annoying thing. They're not using their  
skills for evil. They're using them to get to their email account, or  
to access a web forum on programming (the district blocks all forums  
and wikis as a matter of policy). Heck, I even found one guy using  
his home proxy to access wxpython.sourceforge.net so he could read  
documentation about a GUI program he was writing. (They had blocked  
sourceforge as a "File Sharing" site.) I explained that we could  
request they unblock the site and told him to let me know when sites  
he needed were blocked instead of taking matters into his own hands,  
but I can understand their frustration.

The problem comes in when they stop by MySpace or some other  
inappropriate spot on the way to something educational.

Todd