If you have kids that use the internet at home, and fear that they may stumble upon some less-than-desirable websites, you might want to check out ScrubIT. ScrubIT allows you to make a small change on a PC, and in turn that PC should be blocked from alot of objectionable content. Here’s a snippet of info:
ScrubIT was developed on the premise that everyone should have access to all the good the web has to offer without having to worry about stumbling across those things that many people find objectionable. While the web has been become the number one outside resource for almost everyone in the world, it has also become the marketing method of choice for pornographers and pedophiles. By “scrubbing” the internet squeaky-clean with ScrubIT, you’ll never again have to worry about your family and / or employees ever being confronted with this type of material.
Here’s how it works. ScrubIT has DNS (domain name system) servers that filter out the bad stuff, and you use their DNS server settings on your PC. What’s DNS? Following is an explanation from ScrubIT’s FAQ page:
DNS (Domain Name System) is a process that translates easy to remember addresses (like www.scrubit.com) to a numerical IP address used by computers (67.138.54.99) Everyone uses DNS.
Give it a whirl and see what you think. I plan on using ScrubIT’s DNS servers at home and will report back later in the month with results.
[tags]scrubit, dns, porn, shawnw[/tags]
If you want to see some wicked good Christian artwork, check out 12stoneart.com. Be sure and browse the gallery as there are some fantastic pieces there.
Here’s a little bit about them:
12 Stone Art is an online art gallery specializing in museum-quality fine art prints of Christian artwork. The majority of our artwork has been commissioned exclusively for the gallery which means that you will find it nowhere else. We pride ourselves on our quality printing process and believe that we have the best giclées in the industry.
What’s a giclee?
A giclee (pronounced zhee-clay) refers to both a category of collectible fine art similar to lithographs and serigraphs, as well as a type of digitally created fine art print. However, not all digital prints are giclees- only prints that adhere to strict printmaking standards can be called a giclee.
There, consider yourself learned for the day.
[tags]12stoneart, lithographs, christian, art, giclee, shawnw[/tags]
It’s late and I’m tired, and I really want to go to bed, but I also really want to get this post out of me and onto my blog. So here goes.
Technology sucks. The end.
But really. I’m doing some work for a company in a very rural town (population of 662 in the 2000 census) and I saw some things today that made me realize that IM, email, cell phones, pagers, and the like, can suck. Not all the time, but some of the time.
The operations manager of this business I’m doing work for took me out to lunch today at the little rinky dink diner down on the corner by the highway. I think it used to be an old house that they converted into a roadside diner, but anyway. While we were eating, at least half a dozen people came up to talk her (her being the operations manager). She just chatted with them, smiled, and was genuinely interested in what they had to say. Did she know any of them? Not very well. And yet, even the half a dozen people, who didn’t really know her (in reality, they only know her because they deal with her company) still asked how she was, what she thought of the weather, and made small talk.
That’s what the world needs. It needs more small talk.
“Hey Lucy, how are you?”
“Good Jeb, how are you doing today?”
“Pretty good. All this rain’s got my fields in a bind, but I’ll manage. How’s your boy?”
“Doing well, he’s trying out for track this year.”
“He a runner, or a jumper, or what?”
“Both. He’s so excited.”
“I remember when I was young… ran all the time.”
“Yeah, I don’t see how he does it.”
“Well, good seein’ ya…”
“You too, Jeb. Bye!”
She had about six of those over the course of our one hour lunch. Me, huddled over my crock-pot cooked roast beef sandwich, munching on fries while she makes connections. Sure, I’m not going to be in town that often, so why try and talk to these people? Oh wait… excuses, excuses, excuses… I’m loaded with them.
Then again, perhaps IM and text messages and e-mail supplant small talk. But not in a real way. It’s not real small talk. It’s cold small talk. Impersonal. There’s something about meeting the gaze of a person, listening to their inflection when they say, “how are you today?”
Somehow, I don’t think God had IM in mind when he made us. He made us as societal creatures, things that need contact with other things like us. Not contact via the Intarweb-tubes-thingy we all take for granted.
Here’s your challenge. Talk to someone this week that you don’t know, even if it’s a “hey, how are you?” I’m going to do it, too. Then, let’s talk about how it turns out. Will we change lives?
… don’t count it out.
[tags]small talk, chatting, IM, instant messaging, email, text messages, sms, shawnw[/tags]
What cities? We’re not sure of the full list yet (the public list includes San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Dallas), but Indianapolis is one of them, so you can bet your booties I’ll be checking it out the next time I plan on being in Indy on a Friday or Saturday night. Green is good, orange/yellow is not so good, gray is “all’s right with the world.”
Give it a whirl, maybe your city has traffic stats.
[tags]google maps, google, traffic, indianapolis, indiana, shawnw[/tags]
You have to check out the trailer for a new movie called Sunshine by the same guys behind 28 Days Later (if you’ve never seen it, you owe it to yourself to stick it in your Netflix queue or grab it at Blockbuster… great zombie flick!) that seems to have a sci-fi slant to it. Either way, this trailer is almost a short movie unto itself, and fills me with all kinds of awe and wonder.
What moves are you looking forward to this year?
[tags]movies, sunshine, 28 days later, netflix, shawnw[/tags]
