[ale] Niece's laptop

[joh6nn]

never tried these, so i don't know how good they are, but i've been
following their development:

procon ( http://procon.mozdev.org/ ) is a content filter extension for
FireFox.  by default, it filters out adult material, but can be tweaked
to filter whatever you like.  also has a whitelist feature, and is
password protected (i don't know how strong this is).

procon is based on blockXXX ( https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/226/ )

let me know if you end up going with either of those; i'm interested in
finding out how well they work in actual practice.

personally, speaking as a "kid" (i'll be 23 in a few weeks), i don't
think filters are the answer for someone her age (since she earned the
money herself, i'm imagining she's at least 11 or 12).  sure, there
should be safe guards in place for younger kids, but if your niece is
smart (and it sounds like she is), she will defeat pretty much any
filter you put in her way.  i guarantee you that if she has not yet
defeated AOL, it is only for lack of something that piqued her interest.

the best answer will always be to simply tell her what is and is not
acceptable, and trust her.  if she lets you down, then you can act.  but
we don't like it when the government treats us like children: why should
kids like it any better?

-joh6nn