Someone blocked a bunch of sites on this computer

[danielxcutter]

The computer I'm using is a public one, and I suppose I mooch off it a bit much. But I think this is going too far.

Guess what some jerk decided to do?

They used a "hosts" program to selectively block the sites I frequently go to. The ones I'm sure of currently are Gmail, Deviantart, Tumblr, Youtube, TvTropes, Namuwiki(Korean TvTropes), Naver Webnovels, and maybe a few others I haven't found yet.

And then they used Secretfolder to protect the hosts program, so I can't delete it. Secretfolder itself is being protected by a password, so I can't erase *that* either.

They specifically targetted ME.

Essentially, a third party installed a bunch of programs on a public computer that's technically owned by the government, for the sole reason to screw with another third party, me.

I've told the employees, but they can't do anything until we talk to the culprits yet.

And that's the most annoying part. I use this computer a lot, yes, but the most important times are morning up to early afternoon in local time. But the prime suspects arrive at around 6 PM(again, in local time). They can just open the passwords and use the computer fine, while I'm screwed 24/7!

They could have just asked! Yes, I used it more than my fair share, but my wants are less important than the needs of others. If they'd asked me to use it less, I'd have gladly agreed.

But they just screwed with me by crippling the computer that isn't even theirs, and even the one next to it.

Seriously, why? That's just petty.

[warty goblin]

How do you know it's just you? Could easily be a wider effort to crack down on people computer-mooching. Youtube in particular seems like a totally standard thing to block, since video eats bandwidth.

[danielxcutter]

How do you know it's just you? Could easily be a wider effort to crack down on people computer-mooching. Youtube in particular seems like a totally standard thing to block, since video eats bandwidth.

Because a) all of the sites blocked were *specifically* the ones I frequented while others like Twitter and Facebook worked just fine, b) the employees had absolutely no idea what happened until we found the programs that were blocking them, and c) the time said programs were uploaded matches the time period of the primary suspects. Plus, the intended uses of the computer includes educational videos, so it makes no sense to block Youtube for bandwidth problems.

This was directly intended to screw me over, it practically screams it.

[Douglas]

How do you know it's just you? Could easily be a wider effort to crack down on people computer-mooching. Youtube in particular seems like a totally standard thing to block, since video eats bandwidth.
Gmail, Tumblr, Youtube, and maaaybe Deviantart and TvTropes might be blocking popular sites to cut down on bandwidth use or something. Namuwiki and Naver Webnovels? ...I suppose those might be popular in Korea, which is where danielxcutter's location field says he is.

[danielxcutter]

Gmail, Tumblr, Youtube, and maaaybe Deviantart and TvTropes might be blocking popular sites to cut down on bandwidth use or something. Namuwiki and Naver Webnovels? ...I suppose those might be popular in Korea, which is where danielxcutter's location field says he is.

Not *that* much, honestly. As I said, the employees had no idea what happened, so that means a third party did this.

[TuggyNE]

Gmail, Tumblr, Youtube, and maaaybe Deviantart and TvTropes might be blocking popular sites to cut down on bandwidth use or something. Namuwiki and Naver Webnovels? ...I suppose those might be popular in Korea, which is where danielxcutter's location field says he is.

I have a lot of trouble understanding why anyone, in *any* context, would block a very popular webmail site in the name of "bandwidth". That's not saving bandwidth, that's just cutting off communications, period.

YouTube would doubtless save bandwidth, although at e.g. a library that would still be pretty silly, given all the educational videos on it.

Tumblr and DeviantArt arguably save some bandwidth, and also avoid various potentially controversial pictures.

TvTropes doesn't really save any bandwidth, though, since it's not very picture-heavy.

[Dr.Samurai]

...so that means a third party did this.
In the immortal words of Agent Smith, "Find them and destroy them!"

[Anymage]

If I wanted to be a massive jerkwad, I'd block all the sites popular with whoever else liked to use the computer. Which would block your sites, but also a bunch of other people's favorites that you wouldn't have much reason to go to.

So yeah. Still jerkwads, and still something that the employees there need to set up some way to ensure that they can override it if some random jerkwad decided to ruin other people's fun. But you weren't specifically targeted so much as caught in a broader act of jerkery.

[JBPuffin]

If it's password-protected, can you see all the sites that are blocked? Depending on who the person is, they might be acting revenge on more than just you, but if those are the only sites blocked...dang. Humans can be so petty.

[druid91]

The real question here is why their computer security is so lax as to allow any old random to install software on their computers.

[Vinyadan]

Yup, they could just have put different rights for admin and user, and made the admin account inaccessible to not-admins...

[danielxcutter]

So I found and talked to a friend of the guy who did it(turns out only one of them did it), and he said that his friend had done it because I'd been mooching off the computers too much... which is true, I admit, but still, MAJOR jerk move.

The guy who actually did it was surprisingly more agreeable and less annoying. Pretty sure he opened it, but I haven't checked yet.

As for how bad it was, I couldn't go into the sites, period.

[Dr.Samurai]

Do you want us to help you devise a way to get back at them tenfold? Because we can do that :smallamused:.

[danielxcutter]

Do you want us to help you devise a way to get back at them tenfold? Because we can do that :smallamused:.

...Actually, no. After I talked to them, they unblocked all the sites(see post above yours). And I suppose I *was* mooching a bit too much... So problem solved I guess.

[druid91]

I really don't understand how you can mooch off a public government computer. It's there for you to use. I could see it if you were blocking others from using it. But by your own words you weren't.

[danielxcutter]

I really don't understand how you can mooch off a public government computer. It's there for you to use. I could see it if you were blocking others from using it. But by your own words you weren't.

That wasn't it's intended use, and I *was* using it a bit much. And I guess someone might have wanted to use it but couldn't because of me but just didn't say so.

[Vinyadan]

Do you want us to help you devise a way to get back at them tenfold? Because we can do that :smallamused:.

We are the Playground

We Intrude

With Tentacles

[Lvl 2 Expert]

We are the Playground

We Intrude

Yes, hello, cybercrime division?


With Tentacles

Never mind, I need the special victims unit.

[Knaight]

I really don't understand how you can mooch off a public government computer. It's there for you to use. I could see it if you were blocking others from using it. But by your own words you weren't.

There are plenty of public computers with restricted use times (e.g. express computers you get 15 minutes on at a library), and even absent an official time policy there's an etiquette for how much time is spent on the computer.