(Dramatic crescendoing drum roll finished by a rimshot and cymbal crash, please.)
The Johnson County Library!
And no, I am NOT KIDDING!
We have never hesitated to take this network to task for its horrible shortcomings of the past, so when the scales have apparently fallen from someone's eyes out here and needed reforms made, it's only fair that we trumpet the good news to one and all.
Frankly, though, we were skeptical when we first began receiving reports soon after this item appeared on JCL's website that the hideous overfiltering and heavy-handed port and protocol blocking were a thing of the past. That's why one of us is just now getting out to the main library location to see for ourselves.
And have we seen! No more overblocks-especially of the silly keyword type that made many news sites (the Associated Press' site in particular) often tricky to read; no more blocking of secure POP/IMAP e-mail ports (at least for incoming mail; haven't tried outgoing yet) or, for that matter, Usenet port 119 and its secure equivalent (there's probably so little questionable content on Usenet anymore, and so few old crocks like yours truly who still bother with Usenet it's not worth doing). Why, even good old port 7000-remember my calling out the KCMO Public Library for denying a patron access to a support chatroom by blocking that one a couple of years back?-comes right through.
Good show, JCL. Too bad, though, it took you six years to see the light. But that's water under the bridge; let's let bygones be bygones and move forward. For starters, why not do what I suggested they do at the public library in Des Moines my last time up there-give laptoppers using these microfilm readers some convenient plug-ins by setting out some cheap power strips among them. For that matter, a few more wired-for-power tables and carrels wouldn't be a bad idea, either. Methinks there'll be somewhat more of a demand for them as word of this gets around.
Oops-I almost forgot: The new SSID is "JoCoLibrary Public Wireless."
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