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This month I was going to write a little bit about the FCC rulings recently handed down pertaining to ownership of multiple media outlets in given market areas and my concerns for the possibility of resulting changes to the quality and diversity of content. My concerns not withstanding, something else came up this month that caught my attention even more.

On June 23rd, the U.S. Supreme court upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act with provisions requiring libraries to install content filtering on their Internet connected computers else face loss of federal funding. The American Library Association was quick to denounce the move. We, however, applaud it and wonder why they fear it so.

Do they not already have sections of the library set aside for children's reading material and adult reading? And in those sections for adults, do most not already prohibit explicit pornography? When is the last time you walked into your public library and picked up a pornographic magazine for casual reading out in the open? Which of course begs the question, why should they allow access to pornography online?

I found a very good, well balanced analysis of this decision at the Findlaw web site. Please take a few minutes to read this.

Given that filters are known for their imperfection, libraries who grant adults online access are required to give them unfilterd access at their specific request should the filters interfere with their research. This goes a long way toward taking the ALA's first amendment argument out of the picture. Ultimately, what I envision happening is that libraries will have separate computer station areas entirely, just as they do now for reading materials. One for children, one for adults. Doesn't it just make sense?

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Version 3.1 of my favorite spam busting mail management utility Mail Washer Pro is finally out. It now incorporates most of the improvements I've been asking them for for a long time. Unlike MW Pro 2.x which barely warranted my attention when it was released (basically nothing more than the beta versions with a prettier skin), 3.1 does get my nod.

Added an option to run MailWasher Pro on system start-up.
Added an option to minimise MailWasher Pro to tray on application start.
Added an option to minimise MailWasher Pro to tray on 'Process Mail'.
Added an option to minimise instead of close MailWasher Pro when X pressed.
Added an option for small buttons.
Added an option to remove button captions.
Added a spam throttle option so user can select how many lines of each message to download by default.
Added SSL Support. E-mail read information is now stored by MailWasher Pro.
E-mails that have been previewed in MailWasher Pro are 'read'.
E-mails that have not been previewed are 'unread'.
Option to display 'unread' e-mails in bold, and/or a user-specified colour.
Option to display e-mails that have been 'read'.
Un selecting this option hides e-mails marked 'read'.
Option to specify colour for e-mails that are marked 'read'.

Any time I happen to be away from my computer for more than a couple of days, my inbox invariably fills with hundreds of spam. Managing this volume of junk mail without MWP would be a nightmare. With MWP it's a breeze, even a joy because I know it's combating the problem of spam at the very source, not just looking the other way and deleting it as if it doesn't exist the way traditional ISPs such as AOL and MSN deal with it. MWP bounces the mail back to the spammers as if YOU don't exist. When their spam software gets "undeliverable" returns, those email addresses are cleansed from their lists. That's what sets MWP apart.

FINALLY, they are also in beta testing for use with AOL and IMAP email accounts. Finally, AOL users will soon be able to join the anti-spam movement and help make a difference. I will let you know the moment it arrives.

If you use any online service other than AOL, I heartily encourage you to get Mail Washer Pro today.

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Be informed,
Be involved,
Be well.

Sincerely,
Mark Brasche
Founder and CEO,
SurfSafely.com