blocked to the max!!!!!! bebo

rick_fantastic

IRELAND'S college authorities have banned the website Bebo.com after they
discovered that more than half their computer resources were being used by
time-wasting students accessing the social networking site, rather than for
legitimate study.

With just six weeks to go before the start of crucial summer exams, anxious
students preparing for tests complained bitterly that they could not get near a
computer terminal on campus to complete revision or work on their theses.

The reason was that more than one out of every two campus terminals was being
used by students addicted to using Bebo - sometimes for hours at a time.

One college conducted an informal survey of their public access rooms where
students can log on to the internet at will, and found that out of nearly 70
computers, more than 40 were being used by students keeping contact with new
friends on Bebo.com.

NUI Galway and University College Cork have both put an outright block on the
website from all college computer terminals.

And the Sunday Independent has learned that the authorities at the country's
largest third-level institution, University College Dublin, are also
considering banning 22,000 students from accessing Bebo.com at Belfield and at
their other campuses.

From a standing start, Bebo has made astonishing inroads in Ireland - now being
used by 500,000 young people in the Republic.

Irish youngsters are part of a worldwide phenomenon of millions of young people
who have made it the fastest growing website in the world. Bebo is a free
online community with each member having their own personal page, but it's
largely a cyberspace meeting point for young people.

While its impact on young teenagers in Ireland has been clear for some time,
Bebo's popularity among third-level students in their early 20s was unknown
until college computer experts found that their facilities had become
extraordinarily busy.

Officially launched in July 2005 - just seven months ago - the social network
has more than 22 million registered members viewing over 850 million pages each
month.

Computer resources at many third-level colleges are stretched at this time of
year as students begin studying for exams. At NUI Galway access to Bebo was
restricted from university computers from March 10. A college spokesman
admitted the move was a direct response to request from students frustrated at
being unable to properly study for their exams because computer terminals were
busy.

"Since we took the action we have received positive feedback from students,"
said Director of Computer Services, Dr Kieran Loftus.

Dr Loftus said that the substance of the complaints from students was that they
were unable to access computer services to complete academic work.

Last week Bebo's chief executive Michael Birch told the Sunday Independent that
the site's success was all down to word of mouth. "We are waiting for the
official figures, but our own internal studies show Bebo can boast more page
uses a day than any other site, including the Google search engine," he said.

"We had predicted its popularity, but could never have imagined it would become
as big as it has."

mountainyman

What the **** is bebo? I saw one of mary ann lenaghan's kilers bebo but I don't ubnderstand how it wrks.

MM

Rb

Brilliant. Hopefully every college in the country will have it banned soon.

Sposs

http://anonymouse.org/anonwww.html should help

projectmayhem

good news. in DIT myself and the situation is bleak there. i was a member and left fairly promptly. it's just a way for people to send you spam.. over and over again. my own gf gets the shakes if she's not near it every few hours

arac

it aint blocked in ucc, am on it at the moment..its defo calmed down though, the fad that is:rolleyes:

danger mouse

Tis a load of crap. there is some amount of tools on it.

kellxor.1337

I wish they'd just close the bloddy thing, That and myspace, Every1 can keep in contact with email, Why the hell do we need a personal page, It's only used to spam, Those stupid "Were shuttin down bebo if you dont send this to a gazillian ppl,"

Idiots



Kellz

thelordofcheese

Thank sweet christ, best news i've heard all day.

arbeitsscheuer

thelordofcheese wrote:

Thank sweet christ, best news i've heard all day.

Seconded...

Wit finals around the corner, this sh*t was really beginning to p*ss me off when tryin to grab a computer in UCD.

Marvellous.

Binomate

zuma

One college that is VERY unlikely to ban bebo.com would be UL.

Certain departments have an abundance of computers(ECE) and others(humanities/business) have far too few.

If it is blocked here, then only certain departments/areas will impliment it...like the library and other public access areas!!!

ccd

Ho can it possible make onwy I have never seen one ad on it

Dave!

shnazzy

Hobbes

ccd wrote:

Ho can it possible make onwy I have never seen one ad on it

easy. Pure demographic marketing information freely given by the beboites.

kaimera

zuma wrote:

One college that is VERY unlikely to ban bebo.com would be UL.

Certain departments have an abundance of computers(ECE) and others(humanities/business) have far too few.

If it is blocked here, then only certain departments/areas will impliment it...like the library and other public access areas!!!

Not strictly true.
Word atm is that it is looking likely that bebo will be banned but no word on a total ban or just in places.

IrishMike

hate that website more than i hate pat kenny and that is a lot
hope they ban it in ul soon too will stop the endless emails i get from people
telling me to join!

Fajitas!

That's all well and good, but how the fook can I block the 20 emails I get a day telling me to join...

Grrr...

pork99

Blocked and quite right too. That bandwidth is for porn goddamnit!

blu_sonic

Carlow IT banned it too

phantom_lord

zuma wrote:

One college that is VERY unlikely to ban bebo.com would be UL.

Certain departments have an abundance of computers(ECE) and others(humanities/business) have far too few.

If it is blocked here, then only certain departments/areas will impliment it...like the library and other public access areas!!!

I doubt DCU will ban it either.

Kingp35

phantom_lord wrote:

I doubt DCU will ban it either.

They certainly wont!

Tiesto

Whats the future for bebo?
I mean are they gonna start charging for it or what?
Its must cost a good bit to keep it running..
huge bandwidth and storage required, and there exists very few advertisements on the web site.

Funkstard

Bebo must be making money off ads, the partnership with Skype etc. It's a goldmine for advertisers.

I'm going to fail my Leaving Cert and Bebo is the reason why

Scruff

only heard about bebo last week. more myspace sh1te. next!

Rockdolphin

Amazing just how many people want something they don't like or cannot understand to be BANNED !

Sarky

kellxor.1337 wrote:

I wish they'd just close the bloddy thing, That and myspace,

And leave them nowhere to go but bulletin boards like this one? Are you mad?

zuma

Rockdolphin wrote:

Amazing just how many people want something they don't like or cannot understand to be BANNED !

They are not banning it in the colleges....just blocking people connecting to it.

Why?

Because as I said above...it takes valuable computer resources away from students who need them to complete projects/labs/...etc
My department...ECE in UL have LOADS of computers as the course numbers have plummeted in the last couple of years while other courses have increased greatly in student numbers....but as their courses dont strictly require computer labs....they have to fight it out every day for computers in the library/venus labs/Fishtank(...still makes me laugh!).

Sam Vimes

http://207.7.149.50 ftw


edit: i in no way condone bebo. its a pointless waste of time populated by retards

Rockdolphin

zuma wrote:

They are not banning it in the colleges....just blocking people connecting to it.

Sounds like a statement from the Chinese Information Ministry

Cake Fiend

Rockdolphin wrote:

Amazing just how many people want something they don't like or cannot understand to be BANNED !

Or something that is wasting bandwidth and computer time needed by people with actual work or study to do. Funny that, a university wanting the computers and networks it pays for to be available by legitimate students. :rolleyes:

rymus

Ahh if only there were a blanket ban across all education institutes. That'd learn the little time wasting crapforks! Keep your farting about on the internet for home (and after you've done your maths homework).

Rockdolphin

Sico wrote:

Or something that is wasting bandwidth and computer time needed by people with actual work or study to do. Funny that, a university wanting the computers and networks it pays for to be available by legitimate students. :rolleyes:

So our universities are full of illegitimate students identifiable by their use of Bebo.

Sam Vimes

Rockdolphin wrote:

So our universities are full of illegitimate students identifiable by their use of Bebo.

don't be pedantic. obviously he means that a legitimate student is one who wants to use the computers to study. someone using it for bebo isn't an "illegitmate student". since they're not studying they're not students at all

colleges don't buy thousands of computers so people can use them to catch up with their friends at the expense of students (people who study)

cooperguy

zuma wrote:

One college that is VERY unlikely to ban bebo.com would be UL.

Certain departments have an abundance of computers(ECE) and others(humanities/business) have far too few.

If it is blocked here, then only certain departments/areas will impliment it...like the library and other public access areas!!!

It was in the latest college paper in UL that it definatly wont be banned and that info was gotten directly from the I.T. department so its pretty accurate!!! They said if they start banning websites then where do they stop and it was a bad policy to get into (which I reckon is a good point)

Rockdolphin

Commander Vimes wrote:

don't be pedantic. obviously he means that a legitimate student is one who wants to use the computers to study. someone using it for bebo isn't an "illegitmate student". since they're not studying they're not students at all

colleges don't buy thousands of computers so people can use them to catch up with their friends at the expense of students (people who study)

Aye Aye Commander, students who don't use university computers strictly for studying are not students at all.

Blush_01

Once again with the pedanticism! In UCD, where I attempt to study, I cannot get access to a computer when I have research to do, essays, handouts and presentations to compile for classes etc. I've suggested to the Vice-Principle for Students that a timed firewall banning access to Bebo during academic working hours - i.e. 9 to 5 when offices are open and work can be handed in for assessment to said offices, or tutorials that you need presentations and handouts typed for etc. actively require time on the computers - should be implimented. This was after I addressed the problem by talking to Computer Services. They, however, were about as helpful as gonorrhea. There is a policy in place in UCD in association with the Registrar that means frivolous use of the computers, on a continued basis, especially if it negatively effects other students (as Bebo does) can result in serious fines, removal of computer privileges and also denial of permission to take part in end-of-year examinations if said fines are not paid in full. Ok, so that's dramatic. But I think that it should be enforced in relation to Bebo.

Why just Bebo? Because:
1) In the 3 years I've been in UCD, there has never been as much of an issue with access to computers as there currently is. This has occurred since the advent of Bebo.

2) No other single site can be said to have the same impact on computer access and internet access within UCD. (I'm speaking from experience, but I assume the same applies in all other academic institutions in Ireland at the moment.)The use of Bebo has reached epidemic preportions with two in every three computers being used for Bebo access. Bebo is no longer a site, it's a parasite.

3)Bebo contains NO element of academic merit what so ever. If you want to use it in your own time, feel free, but don't use it on mine. Please do not use facilities provided so I and my fellow quasi-dedicated students can actually get our degrees to service your addiction. There are plenty of internet cafés around Ireland that will more than willingly take your money and let you play "who has more 'friends'" with your fellow Bebo-ers.

4) Bebo is addictive. I've seen people go from computer illiterate to Bebo addicts in a matter of weeks. It eats valuable time that could alternatively be used for studying - if not by you, by someone else.

5) What is more, it wastes not only time and resources, but also damages your health - think of all those wrist strains (no jokes please!) and eye strains simply from excessive time spent on Bebo. It's unhealthy to spend too much time in front of a computer without a break - in work if you deal with computers you are expected to take regular breaks and sit in appropriately supportive chairs - the appropriate equipment to prevent future problems (wrist rests, back supports etc.) are not supplied in Computer Room Generico.

Bebo is, for the most part, superficial and stupid. That's easily understood, Rockdolphin. As for not liking it, they're planning on making money out of people by selling branded skins in the future, so they make a profit out of addicts - if people attempted to do that with alcohol or cigarettes (sell an additional item to make the product even more addictive) there'd be uproar. But hey, this is just the internet, right? It can't cause that much harm can it? Eh... Wrong! So you'll have to excuse people who don't "get" being addicted to sharing photos with people and drawing stupid pictures on whiteboards during academic hours. I just get a little peeved when I know that 10% of my degree is being p!ssed away by the guy drawing a birthday cake for one of his friend's friends who he's never actually met because he's using a computer I need (as do the other 20 people in the queue with me) while he messes around.

I think perhaps it's you who doesn't understand, being frank.

AdMMM

For those of who you who are desperate to access Bebo then there are ways and means for you to do do, one of which has been posted already but it's likely to be tracked down soon and be blocked.

As for college's blocking Bebo, I think it's their right to do so once the situation gets out of hand like it has done!