Interesting Links for 24-2-2011

[andrewducker]

• The best argument I've read so far against double summer time.
  (tags: uk time)
• Everything you could possibly want to know about baked beans. Including the fact that they, well, aren't.
  (tags: food beans)
• 97% of parents lock down the internet. 12% of their kids then work around it. 62% of adults surf for porn.
  (tags: porn internet)
• How cheap labour has lifted millions out of poverty and malnourishment
  (tags: economics krugman globalization labor development)
• An A-Z of rubbish arguments from No2AV
  (tags: voting av uk)
• Totally Inappropriate President's Day Watercolor
  (tags: art usa president lgbt)
• Saudi King ups "Please don't have a revolution" payments to his subjects.
  (tags: saudiarabia middle_east ThisOughtToBeInteresting)
• Polar bear Mercedes's health 'failing'. - I remember seeing her on a few occasions at Edinburgh zoo. Amazing beast.
  (tags: bears edinburgh zoo)

Comments

[bracknellexile.livejournal.com]

That BitDefender piece on online pr0n is a quite spectacular awful piece of PR spin! 97% use parental controls, 12% of kids work around it yet apparently 95% of kids find porn online.

“One of the most interesting findings from this study is related to parental control -- even if the parents understood the necessity of such a piece of software and the need to monitor their teenagers’ activity on social networks and on the Internet, in general, children will always find a way to access adult content,” said Sabina Datcu, BitDefender E-Threats Analysis and Communication Specialist and author of the study. “BitDefender believes this sends a clear message to parents – it’s more important than ever to take steps to protect children from exposure to sexually explicit materials found on the Internet.”

So let me get this straight: BitDefender, who make parental control software. go to great lengths to point out that all parental control software is basically useless. Oh and by the way, please buy our product cos, please, won't someone think of the children!!

Way to go, there, guys! Muppets!

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Not wishing to dispute BitDefender's stats, but a quick survey of our office reveals that 0% of parents have software to lock down the internet, most preferring the "the computer is in the living room" approach.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I don't know a single parent who uses software to lock down the internet either.

And my albeit small amount of knowledge about little boys and pornography suggests that the swapping of DVDs of downloaded porno in the playground is practically an every day occurrence.

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Crikey things have changed. All we used to swap at school was tapes containing Spectrum games, marbles (or football trading cards, but I was never into that).

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I do use parental controls, but only to (a) limit admin access to the computers, and (b) set timing limits on the laptop so that M can't use it to surf the net after bedtime. I don't use net nanny software (which is all crap), just the stuff built into the OS.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Did I miss you posting this or have you not seen it yet?
http://markcrispinmiller.com/2011/02/eight-big-problems-with-the-case-against-assange-must-read-by-naomi-wolf/

[eatsoylentgreen.livejournal.com]

there was another program a few years ago that provided wages and jobs and nourishment for disadvantaged residents of Africa, the slave trade

[bracknellexile.livejournal.com]

And on the back of BitDefender's PR, this survey into the real uses of porn has just been flagged in a story on the Register.

http://www.pornresearch.org/

I'll be very interested to a) see the results and b) see how fast they get ignored/derided by those who have their fingers in their ears and are going, "Lalalalalathinkofthechildrenlalalalala."

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

I've heard speculation that baked beans are related to cholent, but this sounds like convergent evolution.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I think that stat is '62% of parents will admit to a researcher that they have searched for porn on the internet'.