Breaking the Blockade

This is not something the school wants you to know.

Alas.

Let’s say you’re hanging out on a school computer, browsing the Internet. You try to access, say, the Playboy website, or BlowingThingsUp.com, or CNN, or something similar.

But then the dastardly computer freezes, with a message like this: “Sorry, the page you tried to access is forbidden for the following reason: [bogus chump explanation here]”

(That’s not a direct quote, but it’s the general idea.)

You’ll get this message attempting to access sites with “bad” words in them, “objectionable” material, inappopriate content, games, email, many news sites, and more or less anything controversial. It’s part of the school’s filter system, to keep bad things away from the students, to keep them at work, and . . . well, whatever.

So because I feel anarchistic today, here’s how to bypass it:

First of all, do not press the “Override” button — that won’t accomplish anything. Instead, look upwards to the web page’s URL. It will look something like http://www.somesite.com/, and it will be contained within a small box near the top of your screen.

Here’s the trick. Take the http part of the URL, and add an s.

So, if the page’s URL is http://www.guacamole.com/, then you’d simply click in the text box, change it to https://www.guacamole.com/, and hit Return or Enter. Bingo. See how the 'http' changed to 'https'? That’s all there is to it.

Most blocked sites can be accessed in this manner. With some (for example, most email sites) you’ll need to perform this process repeatedly, as most of the pages on the site will be individually blocked, but you’ll be able to get them. Also, a handful of sites (Hotmail.com comes to mind) simply won’t work, no matter what you do.

As for why I’m broadcasting this: I have every understanding and sympathy that the school needs (well, wants) to keep certain websites out of students’ hands. It stems off lawsuits, encourages work, and . . . well, makes teachers feel better. However, the system that’s used is ridiculous, blocking as many legitimate sites as it allows objectionable ones through. Until (and unless) it gets better — and there aren’t any Internet content filters that work very well — I’m not going to support it, end of story.

I make no guarantees about whether or not the school will change this system, now that the word’s out.

[Editorial Note from a later date: As of the current date, October 2003, the same system remains in place.]