5 ms·

"but I was completely pissed off that my tax dollars go to support that." People who can't afford a few hundred dollars for their own computer and the monthly

"but I was completely pissed off that my tax dollars go to support that." People who can't afford a few hundred dollars for their own computer and the monthly bill for internet access? If you're looking at porn in the library, it's because you can't do it anywhere else, not because you're abusing tax dollars. Would I like the poor, the disadvantaged, the isolated to be using the library resources my taxes pay for to advance their lives? Hell yeah. Am I going to begrudge them - let alone get pissed off about - them using it to do the things I can do on my phone, on my way to the well-paying job? Hell no.

rbanffy 16y ago
> ...using it to do the things I can do on my phone, on my way to the well-paying job You really shouldn't watch porn on your phone while you drive. ;-)
- dhimes 16y ago
  Well, we're not allowed to text any more so what do they expect?
- jarek 16y ago
  Maybe he's on a train. In a personal compartment.
  - JacobAldridge 16y ago
    Actually, I was referring to Facebook, Myspace and YouTube (from the parent comment) more than the porn, though it doesn't read like that! And I don't actually have a smartphone, so the only thing I can do with my phone on the Underground when going to work is ... tell the time.
mberning 16y ago
This is completely and utterly asinine. Not only does this inappropriate use cause a hostile environment for people that legitimately want to use the library, but it lowers the number of available workstations for legitimate use. Just imagine your grandmother or little sister going down to the library to do some research and being uncomfortable in this environment. Think they are going to go back? No, of course they won't. But they will continue to pay tax to fund it. I don't understand how anybody could be 'OK' with this gross misuse of public funds.
- mileszs 16y ago
  Perhaps we should pay someone to decide what people are allowed to look at on those computers. Actually, that doesn't seem fair. Perhaps we should pay a committee to decide, and they can hand their decision to an IT department to implement. Well, I suppose adding another responsibility to the library's IT staff will mean we'll have to pay to add a position to the department so they're staffed well enough. There. Problem solved. Funds are no longer being misused. Right? Because this is the internet, the above probably seems really snarky. It's meant to be a calm, civil anecdote to illustrate my point, but I apologize if it does seem hostile. In any case, I think preventing people from using their library computer time as they see fit 1) will result in upset users due to many false positives, 2) results in more ... "big-brother-ism", if you will, 3) will cost as much money as it saves.
  - mberning 16y ago
    I see your point. From a different perspective, if the library weren't so complacent on enforcing the rules there would be a need for less workstations, less IT staff, less infrastructure, less management. I guess I look at people surfing porn and youtube on public computers and see that as a 'waste' of money as compared to how it was intended to be used.
    - silentbicycle 16y ago
      If they're anything like every library I've ever worked for or visited in my entire life, they're probably too underfunded and understaffed to perfectly block people from using the public computers to do anything the local policy considers inappropriate. I highly doubt it's a matter of complacency.
      - steveklabnik 16y ago
        In fact, most librarians I know (admittedly not too many) are even more "information should be free" than your average GNU hippie. These are the places with a sign up in the windows that said "The FBI has not yet raided us," after all.
Semiapies 16y ago
And they're paying into the library too with their taxes, poor or not.
- mberning 16y ago
  They may or may not, but I would put money on a majority of them not paying income tax due to the large number of homeless and vagrants. But that is beside the point. Paying taxes does not give you the right to a) break the rules (surfing porn IS against the rules) and b) causes an environment that is not conducive to the intended use (i.e. a filthy environment that drives away legitimate users)
  - JacobAldridge 16y ago
    I think the porn thing (which is as much about rules not being enforced as anything) can be separated from "facebook and myspace pages, and youtube", which were part of your original point. Is it just the vagrants watching porn that pisses you off? That's maybe caring too much about the topic, but it raises a fair point.
  - Semiapies 16y ago
    Homeless folks still have to pay sales taxes in most places. People breaking the rules is certainly a valid complaint. However, I'm not aware of libraries banning YouTube (if people are using headphones), Facebook, or whatnot.
    - WildUtah 16y ago
      Homeless folks still have to pay sales taxes And a lot of cigarette taxes and booze excise taxes. Really poor people pay a much larger proportion of their incomes in taxes.

rbanffy 16y ago

> ...using it to do the things I can do on my phone, on my way to the well-paying job You really shouldn't watch porn on your phone while you drive. ;-)

dhimes 16y ago
Well, we're not allowed to text any more so what do they expect?
jarek 16y ago
Maybe he's on a train. In a personal compartment.
- JacobAldridge 16y ago
  Actually, I was referring to Facebook, Myspace and YouTube (from the parent comment) more than the porn, though it doesn't read like that! And I don't actually have a smartphone, so the only thing I can do with my phone on the Underground when going to work is ... tell the time.

mberning 16y ago

This is completely and utterly asinine. Not only does this inappropriate use cause a hostile environment for people that legitimately want to use the library, but it lowers the number of available workstations for legitimate use. Just imagine your grandmother or little sister going down to the library to do some research and being uncomfortable in this environment. Think they are going to go back? No, of course they won't. But they will continue to pay tax to fund it. I don't understand how anybody could be 'OK' with this gross misuse of public funds.

mileszs 16y ago
Perhaps we should pay someone to decide what people are allowed to look at on those computers. Actually, that doesn't seem fair. Perhaps we should pay a committee to decide, and they can hand their decision to an IT department to implement. Well, I suppose adding another responsibility to the library's IT staff will mean we'll have to pay to add a position to the department so they're staffed well enough. There. Problem solved. Funds are no longer being misused. Right? Because this is the internet, the above probably seems really snarky. It's meant to be a calm, civil anecdote to illustrate my point, but I apologize if it does seem hostile. In any case, I think preventing people from using their library computer time as they see fit 1) will result in upset users due to many false positives, 2) results in more ... "big-brother-ism", if you will, 3) will cost as much money as it saves.
- mberning 16y ago
  I see your point. From a different perspective, if the library weren't so complacent on enforcing the rules there would be a need for less workstations, less IT staff, less infrastructure, less management. I guess I look at people surfing porn and youtube on public computers and see that as a 'waste' of money as compared to how it was intended to be used.
  - silentbicycle 16y ago
    If they're anything like every library I've ever worked for or visited in my entire life, they're probably too underfunded and understaffed to perfectly block people from using the public computers to do anything the local policy considers inappropriate. I highly doubt it's a matter of complacency.
    - steveklabnik 16y ago
      In fact, most librarians I know (admittedly not too many) are even more "information should be free" than your average GNU hippie. These are the places with a sign up in the windows that said "The FBI has not yet raided us," after all.

Semiapies 16y ago

And they're paying into the library too with their taxes, poor or not.

mberning 16y ago
They may or may not, but I would put money on a majority of them not paying income tax due to the large number of homeless and vagrants. But that is beside the point. Paying taxes does not give you the right to a) break the rules (surfing porn IS against the rules) and b) causes an environment that is not conducive to the intended use (i.e. a filthy environment that drives away legitimate users)
- JacobAldridge 16y ago
  I think the porn thing (which is as much about rules not being enforced as anything) can be separated from "facebook and myspace pages, and youtube", which were part of your original point. Is it just the vagrants watching porn that pisses you off? That's maybe caring too much about the topic, but it raises a fair point.
- Semiapies 16y ago
  Homeless folks still have to pay sales taxes in most places. People breaking the rules is certainly a valid complaint. However, I'm not aware of libraries banning YouTube (if people are using headphones), Facebook, or whatnot.
  - WildUtah 16y ago
    Homeless folks still have to pay sales taxes And a lot of cigarette taxes and booze excise taxes. Really poor people pay a much larger proportion of their incomes in taxes.