I’m sitting in the Downtown Mudhouse right now, facing the desktop they have set up there, and having far too good a time. What do most people do when they get on a computer at an internet cafe? One of two things. They either A) Check their email, or B) Check Facebook. But the good folks over at Mudhouse can’t have people on Facebook, taking up the computer for hours…

Now some (such as the Charlottesville City School’s tech department) deal with this problem by simply blocking the offending site. But whoever is in charge of that desktop at the Mudhouse has too developed a sense off humor for that. You see, if you try to visit Facebook on that particular computer, you are redirected to the websites of various non-profit organizations, such as Computers4Kids, or some Linux webpages.

And I must say, it’s far too amusing, watching someone sit down at that computer, set on checking their Facebook profile. Strawberry-Banana smoothie in one hand, the mouse in the other, they open up Firefox. They start tapping on the keyboard. Enter.

Cue: Head-tilt.

The still-unsuspecting individual then hits the back button. They type the address in again. Click.

Cue: Hands flying up in the air, resting on their head.
Cue: Contortion of face, first of surprise, then of anger. You can almost hear the curses they utter at the computer in their mind.

And this is how I spend my Wednesday afternoon… I’m not creepy…

Yup, nothing like redirecting http://www.google.com to KittenWar.com’s IP address using the /etc/hosts file. Nothing like it at all.

Haha, that sounds brilliant! I really must try that sometime…