Pervert wanks in front of child while on Internet

So why not…
If librarians are going to be forced to monitor internet access in some way, shape, or form then there needs to be some better way of doing it. Our library has state mandated filtering, but there’s easy ways around filters whether you use proxies or a more simpler method of going outside the country for your porn. Filters have a real knack for missing any porn site not rendered in a standard ASCII “ABCD” alphabet. So Israeli, Japanese, or Korean sites, for instance, usually make it through.

So in the end, even with filters, we get complaints about people viewing porn. And with over 50 some odd computers, it’s hard to staff enough people to keep an eye on things without being too intrusive or obvious.

The question is, is there a programme out there that does for computers what base stations do for security cameras? In other words, is there something out there I could use to view multiple computers at the same time on the same monitor like a security guard does when he/she monitors several cameras at the same time on the same monitor? It’d be kind of nifty because, if you’re viewing twelve or so monitors at the same time, you’re really not going to be able to read what patrons are viewing.That way, you maintain some privacy for them.

But when you’ve got three rows of four monitors on your screen and you see Hotmail, text, Gmail, YouTube, word processor, big tits, flash game, MySpace — wait a sec…

There’s a reason they do that with secguards, so they can have one guy or gal easily watching several things at once. So why have two or more library staff wandering around checking out the monitors to make sure everybody complies with the TOS when you could have a single person behind a desk and totally out of the way do the same thing?

So is there software that does this?

Re:Cold hard fact (Was: Re:So why not…)
There is no such thing as a computer program that can make subjective judgments about the data it processes.

Exactly. So the reality is that the only way a library can truly cover its ass is to have some kind of living, breathing person looking in on what the patrons are doing online.

Since most of us, including me, are into the whole “patron privacy” thing; if we monitored through a programme displaying multiple patron monitors on a single monitor, we could pretty easily see if they’re breaking the rules without getting too intrusive. I don’t care if patron John D. is writing a letter to his mistress, all I need to see is that he’s using Gmail and that’s okay. Patron Buffel O. is watching something on YouTube. Fine, they don’t really have tonnes of porn on that particular site.

Oh but look, I’m not sure exactly what patron Alan G. is looking at, but apparently it involves nudity and acrobatics. Now that might be a problem.

If I could code worth a damn, I’d programme something like this and sell it to libraries for some cheap-ass price. Even libraries who don’t filter would probably be interested in something like that.