Vodafone and content controls

July 06, 2004 | Comments

From "Content Filtering AKA Clumsy Censorship", on Mobitopia:

"As I understand it from MoCoNews, the blocking of sites was a problem with the implementation of content controls, not with its configuration (i.e. teething troubles which should be fixed). And content controls should allow differentiation between different kinds of adult content.

Given that Vodafone effectively controls all of its customers access to the net, I don't see why they shouldn't be able to effectively whitelist access to sites. Isn't this exactly what's done at lots of schools?

It runs counter to what I'd expect from an ISP, but maybe this serves to highlight the difference between the comfy consumer-friendly "we'll bill your children" brands of MNOs and the tech-heavy "we are pipes" approach that the fixed-line internet has gone down.

FWIW I don't buy the "you shouldn't block porn because you'll kill the industry" defence. Whatever your personal view on the subject, it's an emotive one for much of the population, and one that needs to be addressed in some way."

TopLap

July 06, 2004 | Comments

Together We're Heavy

July 06, 2004 | Comments

It's been a very musical year so far... and the trend continued last night with a visit to the Polyphonic Spree at Shepherds Bush Empire.

They were ace. I saw them at Glastonbury a couple of years back, and on-stage you just can't beat 30 odd smocked up loons leaping about and being worringly gospel. My concerns that they'd be unable to repeat the overblown positivity of their first album in their new stuff were unfounded: the new tracks were great too.

And they know how to work an audience, teasing us all with the first note of Soldier Girl in the encore and correcting the crowd who'd started singing along to another track a couple of bars to early. They also managed to *just* get away with erecting a huge banner with the word "HOPE" projected onto it at the beginning of the performance. The whole thing reminded me of the show Andy Kaufman runs (as recounted in Man in The Moon), that strives to be as ludicrously over-the-top and positive as possible (culminating in Kaufman taking the entire audience out for milk and cookies...).

Any band that starts their act with a town cryer gets bonus points too :)

They're tasty tasty very very tasty...

July 06, 2004 | Comments

We're doing a taster session for Aikido tomorrow evening at Evolution Arts, if anyone's interested in wandering along...

SurfacePatterns

July 06, 2004 | Comments