Bebo

Stabshauptmann

Seems like bebos days in UCDD are numbered. Apparently there have been a number of complaints and bebo is to become inaccessable from college machines.

irlrobins

hurrah is all I can say! I find a large amount of people in labs are just endlessly surfing on bebo when other people clearly need to do coursework.

I'm all for freedom of access of sites etc before anyone starts the "now Bebo, next hotmail" rant. But the use of Bebo is almost epidemic at this stage. And it can hardly be considered as furthering the education of the student.

A good idea.

irlrobins

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

Seems like bebos days in UCDD are numbered.

Oh by the way, where did u hear this from?

Stabshauptmann

there have actually been calls to ban personal email.
but yeah, so many ppl would be better off academically if it were banned. But at the same time its a great social thing and college should be about fun as much as anything else. How would ppl feel if boards' ip were blocked.

Ive a laptop so im actually grand.

Heres something for whoever gets electe to ents, provide a recreational computer area for those interested in non academic web usage.

Stabshauptmann

just general word of mouth. I did see a number of complaints in that little library book tough that said computer services were looking into it

irlrobins

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

Heres something for whoever gets electe to ents, provide a recreational computer area for those interested in non academic web usage.

Never going to happen. They (UCD SU) would have to provide their own access to internet (i.e. not use UCD's network in anyway). And it will leave them open to being responsible for anything libelous or defamatory that is posted/transmitted.

And Bebo is prob the first site to be banned by UCD. They don't actively filter porn sites afaik.

irlrobins

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

computer services were looking into it

I'll hold my breath!

Stabshauptmann

irlrobins wrote:

They don't actively filter porn sites afaik.

FFS!

Dave!

That's great, I've been gettin invites for the past 4 or 5 MONTHS, and then when I finally register, it gets banned. That's just perfect! :mad:

Ahh well, once they don't ban boards, I'm hunky dory...

Or Gmail.

Or hawtdudes.co--oooh sh!t, nearly let that one slip! :eek:

arbeitsscheuer

Walkin in to the Library today (I know, I know... the end must be nigh) and as I was walking past those complaints things I noticed that whats-his-name that answers them had pointed out that BEBO was going to be banned/blocked from the Library computers. Nice one!!!

However, what about Daedalus and the LGs?

Those places were a nightmare to get a PC at before this whole BEBO epidemic spread throughout the student body. Now it's bordering on the impossible, and surely frenzied Computer Rage and chaotic violence are only seconds away...

Without resorting to hyperbole, would you say it is time for our PC-users to crack open eachother's heads and feast on the gooey contents inside?

Dave!

I think so, Kent.



I think w/ regards Daedalus, it doesn't help that they've closed the biggest room in the place! Anyone know why they've emptied the room?

drdre

thats a good idea as bebo is a waste of time.:D

Vainglory

I remember back in the day when MSN even worked on college computers (yes, the proper MSN, not ****ty web MSN).

Red Alert

AFAIK no site is blocked by UCD. i can't see why Bebo would be any different, and i also suspect that blocking any particular site would be difficult to implement and justify. they would also have to officially inform everyone that such a ban was taking effect.

the library can probably do as they wish with computers in their control/ownership.

europerson

I wish Trinity would follow UCD's example and ban Bebo too.

Red Alert

Vainglory I think MSN might even have been installed as standard on the Win 98 image.

You can install and use MSN if you've a laptop. Can your SU office computer run MSN or is it locked down?

arbeitsscheuer

Red Alert wrote:

AFAIK no site is blocked by UCD. i can't see why Bebo would be any different, and i also suspect that blocking any particular site would be difficult to implement and justify. they would also have to officially inform everyone that such a ban was taking effect..

Nah they wouldn't.

Like Vainglory said, they deleted MSN and prevented the ability to download and install it, apropos of nothing, without telling anyone or justifying it in any way.

Me in 1st yr: MSN working on college PCs
2nd yr: Inexplicably taken away

Now, I didn't particularly mind, cos college PCs are there for work purposes etc etc, but if that was the principle behind banning MSN, then there really is nothing preventing the college from doing the same with BEBO.

rainbow kirby

The thing about MSN is that there's always webmessenger to use, or if you use GoogleTalk then there's the Google Chat client as part of Gmail now. Bebo just gets on my nerves... thankfully I have my own laptop so I don't have to wait for a computer anywhere.

irlrobins

Red Alert wrote:

i also suspect that blocking any particular site would be difficult to implement

Nope, would take 10 secs probably.

Red Alert wrote:

they would also have to officially inform everyone that such a ban was taking effect.

No requirement for them to inform anyone of that ban. But if they wanted to, they could simply have a page that says "We have restricted access to this site" everytime someone tries to use bebo.com

Red Alert wrote:

the library can probably do as they wish with computers in their control/ownership.

The PCs in the library fall under the control of computer services. With possibly the exception of the ones used for access book lists etc.

rainbow kirby

If Bebo is banned, it would be so funny to go down to the LGs in arts and see the reactions of all the D4heads when they realise their main timewasting diversion is gone from campus

arbeitsscheuer

rainbow kirby wrote:

If Bebo is banned, it would be so funny to go down to the LGs in arts and see the reactions of all the D4heads when they realise their main timewasting diversion is gone from campus

Please, for the love of all that is holy, if anybody happens to be there when this happens TAKE A PICTURE AND UPLOAD IT HERE!

It will provide hours of hilarity.

Vainglory

Red Alert wrote:

Vainglory I think MSN might even have been installed as standard on the Win 98 image.

You can install and use MSN if you've a laptop. Can your SU office computer run MSN or is it locked down?

My office computer can run MSN, shockingly considering it's the biggest pile of crap ever to claim "computer" status. Not to mention my printer, which spews out mostly blank sheets with some random designs of what looks like that odd Wingdings font over it at random intervals. Sigh.

irlrobins

Vainglory wrote:

Not to mention my printer, which spews out mostly blank sheets with some random designs of what looks like that odd Wingdings font over it at random intervals. Sigh.

You don't have to correct drivers installed, that's what causes that.

PhantomBeaker

Heh, if netsoc ever got its proxy back up, you'd still be able to get access to bebo.

But yeah, to be honest, I'll not be sorry to see it go. Science labs at peak time show so many farking people using it, when others are actually waiting around for a chance to write actual papers, for actual academic uses.

I've no objection to people using this stuff for frivolous use outside of peak hours, but when someone's trying to get some work done, show some frickin' respect! Checking mail for 5 seconds is cool, but sitting like some samurai sloth in front of the machine playing that stupid little clicky helicopter game for an hour or trying to chat someone up via bebo is useless and wasteful! If I ever need to get work done at that point, I'd have no qualms about asking them to get up and let people who are doing real work actually WORK.

The rest, you do after 5 or 6 o'clock.

Æ - gamer, old stylee... and slightly ranty tonight. And I'm one who occasionally indulges in going over to a broken computer, sitting down, doing things that make it work, and leaving it again, just as broken as before (unless I can fix it - which is rare these days)

Pythia

Vainglory wrote:

My office computer can run MSN, shockingly considering it's the biggest pile of crap ever to claim "computer" status. Not to mention my printer, which spews out mostly blank sheets with some random designs of what looks like that odd Wingdings font over it at random intervals. Sigh.

Sounds like the computers in the societies room.

Syth

PhantomBeaker wrote:

Heh, if netsoc ever got its proxy back up, you'd still be able to get access to bebo.

Hmmm sounds like someone on the NetSoc Ops committee could sort that out.... I wonder who! (Get on the job AE! Freaking 3rd years.... So less work than us final years....)

irlrobins wrote:

Never going to happen. They (UCD SU) would have to provide their own access to internet (i.e. not use UCD's network in anyway). And it will leave them open to being responsible for anything libelous or defamatory that is posted/transmitted.

NetSoc basically do this.

Though we do use UCD Computer Services's power, bndwidth and room to host out machines, so we are not totally independent. And we are not responsible for what people look up on the internet through our proxy. We are nothing more than an automated proxy, a common carrier. We don't filter in anyway. It's like if someone slandered you over the phone line, you couldn't sue Eircom. Or if you recieved porn in the post, you couldn't sue An Post. Same with NetSoc.

Actually if Computing Services do block a certain site (bebo.com), they are clearly able (and willing) to block sites. So if you come across anything dodgy on the internet over UCD computers, you can blame computer services for not blocking it.

And if you think people are wasting time and blocking computers, I only have one piece of advice. Get a spine and tell them to stop. Don't be a dick about that, and don't be a dick about using the computers.

irlrobins wrote:

They don't actively filter porn sites afaik.

The memories... I remember that.... *shudder* How did he get back in college?! How?!

irlrobins

Syth wrote:

Get a spine and tell them to stop.

Don't worry, I do!

Syth wrote:

The memories... I remember that.... *shudder* How did he get back in college?! How?!

The fuck you on about?

rainbow kirby

He's on about a certain person who got caught spanking the monkey in G15 about 2 years ago.

irlrobins

rainbow kirby wrote:

He's on about a certain person who got caught spanking the monkey in G15 about 2 years ago.

FFS! That will make you think before you touch a mouse in one of the labs again....

beanyb

Ah I'll be so happy if they block it, and I'll make sure I do all my essays in college where I cant be distracted. I always go to the computers with the intention of working, but I have no willpower whatsoever!

Blush_01

A timed firewall might not be a bad idea (I was talking to someone the other tday, apparently such things exist, I was surprised, shows how technologically literate I am!).

People who live on campus and rely on Bebo to validate their lives could use it after 5 pm or whatever, but between 9 and 5 it'd be blocked. All academic departmental offices I've ever dealt with have been closed by 5, so people in desperate need would've been serviced (ooh, what a choice of words). Therefore it's not a blanket ban, but still allows those in need of academic access to computers to have it. A sort of middle ground, n'est pas?

I'm open to being told I'm stupid.

(Also, deleted my Bebo account on Friday of last week. It was the most rewarding thing I ever did online.)

singingstranger

rainbow kirby wrote:

He's on about a certain person who got caught spanking the monkey in G15 about 2 years ago.

Hang on - you mean G15 as in one of the places in Ag or as in one of the offices on the SU corridor?!?!

Red Alert

yes blush, timed firewalls do exist! in fact they're already part of the proxy servers just waiting to be used. i used one last year at home to lockout my net access during study time except ucd sites!

arbeitsscheuer

rainbow kirby wrote:

He's on about a certain person who got caught spanking the monkey in G15 about 2 years ago.

I remember that too - God I feel so old!!!

He was wearing a hoodie.

Cos nothing can foil that impenetrable shield of disguise... (Knob-end):rolleyes:

Still, twas humorous enuff.

rainbow kirby

singingstranger wrote:

Hang on - you mean G15 as in one of the places in Ag or as in one of the offices on the SU corridor?!?!

G15 computer room in science.

Red Alert

aka the nerd cave i presume?

Syth

irlrobins wrote:

FFS! That will make you think before you touch a mouse in one of the labs again....

They've changed the machines in there since then.


And that charming individual is back in college again....

irlrobins

Syth wrote:

And that charming individual is back in college again....

What happened, was he expelled? Who caught him?

ball ox

thing is, people are always gonna find a way of wasting time on college computers. If Bebo is banned it's only a matter of time before something else comes along. Even before Bebo took off, if you took a look around the labs at any given time most people were watching crap videos of people jumping off roofs etc. on ebaums world or whatever....... If someone has an hour to kill between classes and there is no Bebo I'm sure some other form of mind numming crap will suffice, you cant win really

Stepherunie

irlrobins wrote:

They don't actively filter porn sites afaik.

The only reason porn sites aren't actively filtered in UCD and many other colleges is that most filters that are around are based on skin tones and such like, this would filter out a lot of other sites that are needed by meds, radiographers, physios and nurses for coursework and stuff.

Although admittedly it's really ridiculous that people look up porn in the daedalus at peak times when there's a load of people waiting.

Syth

irlrobins wrote:

What happened, was he expelled? Who caught him?

Who caught him??! He did it in a packed lab! TWICE!

Stepherunie wrote:

most filters that are around are based on skin tones and such like

That's just for images, you could block based in URLs, on the subject content etc. Though it's very hit and miss. Why should they block porn in particular anyway? This is a college not a primary school.

People should not try to find technical solutions to societal ills. It never works.

Riamfada

Seriously Porn in the Daedalus? He really must'nt have been able to wait.

He shoulda invested in a laptop

boneless

Grimes wrote:

Seriously Porn in the Daedalus? He really must'nt have been able to wait.

He shoulda invested in a laptop

Porn makes the Baby Jesus cry......

Mutant_Fruit

Blocking a site is easy.

All traffic through UCD goes through a proxy. Therefore you just need one rule in the proxy: "redirect www.bebo.com -> 127.0.0.1". Or even just ignore the traffic. Its what proxies are used for...

Riamfada

again if they block bebo people are just going to start using somthing else or doing somthing else online. Like look at boneless porn

Waltons

Grimes wrote:

again if they block bebo people are just going to start using somthing else or doing somthing else online. Like look at boneless porn

:eek: :eek: :eek:
*shudder*

Dave!

marshmellow in a trocaire box.

What?

ew.

Red Alert

the question is why single bebo out. i'd be against filtering any sites except obviously for child pornography which I think should be banned and noted.

irlrobins

Red Alert wrote:

the question is why single bebo out.

Cos it is so obviously singuarly responsible for people wasting computer resources than any other site.

arbeitsscheuer

irlrobins wrote:

Cos it is so obviously singuarly responsible for people wasting computer resources than any other site.

Bingo.

Library has received more complaints about BEBO in its "Feedback" thingies than it has had about anything else bar the heating, which is always a constant source of disagreement.