As a Mac user, I've always hated Internet Explorer. But that may be about to change: according to Gizmodo, there are rumours floating around that Microsoft may incorporate a private browsing feature, a.k.a "porn mode", that would allow users to thoroughly cover their tracks from anyone who might be checking their browsing history.
This could be key for those of us whose laptops are used for both work and pleasure, and who would like to allow our significant others to to borrow our laptops to check email without worrying that they may discover our YouPorn search for lesbian threesomes that one time at 3 am when we were bored.
Then again, it may not make any difference: my friends tell me that Safari already has a similar feature, and it doesn't seem to work that well for them. So I think I'll stick to Firefox until I get more convincing evidence to make the switch.
Best advice I can give is:
1. Don't bother with porn sites.
2. Use Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or avant
3. Download and use CrapCleaner
Oh and if you must use I.E. Set up Privacy settings properly. If you don't know how get someone to show you.
Then forget it because depending on who you're using, you've probably already had the Phorm cookie loaded and logging you.
Posted by: flipped | Wednesday, 20 August 2008 at 08:43 PM
oh my God what a disgusting article - here we have a journalist from the Independent giving advice about how we may potentially be able to cover our tracks using a new software when checking out porn sites. This newspaper is beginning to stink.
Posted by: Brigitta | Thursday, 21 August 2008 at 08:00 AM
I think Brigitta needs to start buying the Daily Mail if this sort of blog shocks her.
The easiest way to cover surfing habits is to use a different user account from your normal one and if you are running OS 10.5 (aka Leopard) on your Mac switch on the Guest user account. This enables to surf to your hearts content and once you log off everything gets deleted (unless you save files outside of the home folder)
Posted by: Nivag | Thursday, 21 August 2008 at 10:33 AM
dearest Nivag, it does not shock me at all - it just sickens me that there sre so many pubescent adults who need to see other people's willies and bums in order to feel good and get through the day. Infantile obsessions etc. And I did not think the Independent would promote it.
Posted by: Brigitta | Thursday, 21 August 2008 at 06:02 PM
If we took more of a Scandinavian approach to naked bodies in this country then the sight peoples bits being shown in the media wouldn't be such a issue of excitement, horror or mirth amongst any age of adults or children. Once the shock value has gone we'd probably see a lot less being shown.
As for the Independent promoting it, they do have a past history of showing naked people for obscure stories or reviewing art shows that contain the human form, so it's hardly new for them.
Posted by: Nivag | Thursday, 21 August 2008 at 07:48 PM
I wouldn't know, the last time i saw a porn movie was 1976 and I was really young and innocent, it all seemed very silly to me even then. I must admit that I have seen a few snippets of some soft porn on TV and been totally astounded that so many beautiful women think it is totally normal to lick eachother's vaginas and let various men put their penis wherever they want. There just seems so many much more interesting and worthwhile ways to spend one's life and as a career move.
Posted by: Brigitta | Thursday, 21 August 2008 at 07:54 PM
Brigitta,
Catherine Townsend is not a journalist - she is a blogger. One would have thought someone who is "young and innocent" in 1976 should have be now old and mature to know that difference.
And, if her writing disgusts you, why are you reading this and commenting? It's hypocritical.
Posted by: Ellie | Friday, 22 August 2008 at 07:45 AM
oh Ellie, she publishes books. She is a journalist of sorts, granted not a very good one but she contributes to a massive newspaper. I didn't know that middle age was old but yes I am mature - your argument means that I should not read something that disgusts me? No , you have got it wrong, I would not watch porn as it is disgusting and very low class and stupid and pointless, but I , like many other people, read a massive amount of literature in order to understand the world we live in. It is not hypocritical to comment on things that one may not live or admire in one's own life.
Posted by: Brigitta | Friday, 22 August 2008 at 08:49 AM
1) I am sure PC world magazine has informed the masses of this information ages ago.
2) Catherine has made money on her own observations of life. That makes her successful in her own right. Her observations are different and that is why she writes for the Independent. The newspaper is Independent. With all due respect I do not believe you have made any money out of your comments on understanding the world in which we live in - where again I say, Cat has.
3) The Independent stinking? The readership levels have never been that great - so losing another reader like yourself would not be a loss.
4) So just chill, get off your high horse and just appreciate different observations.
Posted by: Lady | Friday, 22 August 2008 at 02:08 PM
hee hee
Posted by: lorrie | Friday, 22 August 2008 at 08:28 PM
First and foremost, why are other people flaming Brigitta for her valid point of view in regards to pornography? Pornography is and nothing more than prostitutes and gigolos that become infamous for performing sexual activities at the forefront of a camera. It's just a glamourous terms of putting it so that the society are more susceptible of accepting the act than not. Having said that, it's beside the point - I suppose there are other people whose more interested in critical issues of the world that to waste a couple of lines or sentences concerning such material makes me feel despair over the lack of intelligent content in that post. Again, having said that, it is just my opinion and no one else's.
Posted by: Dandy | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 at 11:56 AM
ZoneAlarm's "ForceShield", amongst other things, provides a private browser mode for both IE and Firefox.
Posted by: Nik | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 at 12:09 PM
I always found it fascinating how so many women hate pornography and either accuse porn actors (especially women) of being prostitutes or victims. Well, I've got some news: we are all prostitutes. The only difference is in what we sell: your brain power, physical work, some expertise or other, or your buttocks. Every time you get paid for something you do, there you are, my darling prostitutes.
Posted by: peter green | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 at 03:08 PM
I don't know how you come to justify pornography by saying that we are all prostitutes - it depends how much you value your integrity. There is a vast difference in selling one's intellect than selling one's genitals and body - the reason is very complex actually. First of all selling one's body for another's pleasure could seem even an act of generosity or kindness but we all know and sense it is wrong for the perosn concerned. It is the moral aspect within and that has nothing to do with religious values. Every time you visit a prostitute or ogle at porn you diminish yourself - because the body is a sacred place and sex is a very special and intimate act. Those who give their bodies up for perversions and without any self respect are actually giving away their moral fibre and integrity. Most people who are obsessed with sex are very needy people or have not grown past infantile stages of development - but it is true, many people are either damaged or extremely retarded sexually, emotionally and are caught in an never ending cycle of fascination of the genital areas of thermselves and other people.
Posted by: Dr Stephen D Brown | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 at 05:52 PM
Did I justify pornography? My apologies: I didn't realize I was saying what I wasn't saying. And my new dilemma: how is obsession with sex something that belongs in the pediatric domain of life? I see lots more adults than children engaging in sexual behavior ...actually I don't see any child at all unless forced by an adult. As to diminishing myself through porn, I am happy to report that I haven't lost one eye or a pound of flesh ever.
Posted by: peter green | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 at 07:55 PM
Dear Dr Brown:
I'm afraid that your analysis is less based on science or objective reasoning than it is on your own personal values and opinions on life and "morality" which in itself has no objective standing anywhere.
The genital areas are fascinating, they have been, for as long as we have been in existence on the earth, and unlike our fascination with genitals, our concept of right, wrong and morality has changed almost as often as we would tear the pages off a desk calendar.
I take personal offense to your statement of "we all know" because with all my degrees, knowledge, life experience and brain cells, I sir, do not "know" or even believe for that matter that selling your body is, in the objective sense of the word any more wrong than selling your brain, as Mr. Green was so generous to point out in the post before yours. That I, due to my programming I am taught to believe otherwise is simply my ontology, and apparently yours as well, with the simple difference that you confuse opinion and fact.
As far as Brigitta is concerned, I believe we all have a right to voice our opinions, and there is an invitation to post comments at the bottom of this forum for a reason. But her choosing to belittle the blogger in question is just silly. A journalist is simply someone who gets paid for work published in a periodical of any kind.
And if the alternative is to live in a place (here on in an afterlife) with judgmental and close minded people such as yourselves... i'll be at the bar next to Catherine.
Posted by: Thefabulousmissv | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 at 08:58 PM
My dear Fabulousmissv
I am sorry but you have missed the point - there is nothing more fascinating than the human genitalia but unfortunately I am far too busy in my life than being so pre-occupied that I would have to make them the focus of my life. The crux of the argument is pornography I believe which is the addictive aspect of the human psyche that tends to over-indulge and over consume certain things - it could just as easily be food, drugs or alcohol. It is normally a fixation with the oral cavities of the body namely the mouth or the genitalia area - which unfortunately indicates that as an infant the human being has been deprived of some kind of nurturing that has resulted in addiction. Unfortunately addiction to human genitals does emerge in the form of pornography and so many humans are afflicted. The genital addiction is primarily a form of the most base of human intelligence so i am very sorry if you are afflicted yourself and I would suggest therapy.
As for myself I am happily married and enjoy a wonderful sex life but since the age of about 13 i have not found the need to view other people's genitals or look at people having sex.
I have grown up.
Thank you.
You may have various degrees but on some level you are very immature.
sincerely
Dr Stephen Brown
Posted by: Dr Stephen D Brown | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 at 11:05 PM
Thefabulousmissv.
Couldn't agree more. The fact that Mr. Brown has to sign his name 'Dr.' tells any intelligent person everything they need to know about him and his opinions. We've all got an education but you'll find that the one's that have actually learned anything don't need to point it out by printing their titles on a blogging site. I very much doubt that Mr Brown holds a real PhD, given his shocking inability to be objective in his analysis and also his poor standard of communication skills (secondary school education at best)
Posted by: bill | Wednesday, 27 August 2008 at 02:15 PM
hee hee
Posted by: lorrie | Wednesday, 27 August 2008 at 06:34 PM
oh its so easy to wind you guys up
love Dr Brown
age 13
don't ever believe what you read in newspapers or blogs for that matter
Posted by: Dr Brown | Wednesday, 27 August 2008 at 06:46 PM
Catherine,
if you're using a Mac, you'll find the equivalent feature in Safari, under the 'Safari' menu. Apple calls it "Private Browsing". When you switch it on, nothing you do, besides Bookmarking, is recorded.
Pretty boring comment alongside the tiff above, I know.
Posted by: David Le Page | Tuesday, 02 September 2008 at 01:22 PM
I'm confused, can someone help me? Here are the facts:
- I read a lot of literature in order to understand the world we live in (it's an interesting world after all.) In fact i generally think pretty deeply about most stuff. It's THE thing to do as a concious enity these days dontchya think?
- I had no shortage of love growing up. My family were wonderful. I lived in the country where everthing was nice and the birds sung every day and the sun shone down and made the flowers bloom.
- To me the body is amazing, beautiful, sacred and to be cherished. As such, I like looking at pornography, especially videos couples have made, where you can tell that they also cherish and adore the body, their sexuality, and that of their partner.
- Watching the news had me want to kill myself. Watching porn has made me want to give other people pleasure.
I'm confused can someone please give me a moral compass so I can safely get to the shores of heaven?
Posted by: kinglime | Tuesday, 02 September 2008 at 01:42 PM
whatever turns you on man as long as it does not hurt anyone......but try making your own movies with your gal and forget all this commercial porn as that is the real demon as it is only generated for money and there's no love in it at all - your moral compass has to be connected to love and there is absolute NO LOVBE in commercial porn - looking at your lover's body and enjoying filming it as you make love - why not? Peace and love man.
Posted by: hippee | Tuesday, 02 September 2008 at 04:08 PM
No love in commercial porn true. Usually no aesthetics, no eroticism and no intelligence either.
But all of these do, suprisingly, seem to be a part of 'real' couples/amateur (call them what you will) porn. So long as they were intended to be shared then yes, who's hurting anyone? Actually quite startling how powerful it can be when you can see there's some love.
Posted by: kinglime | Tuesday, 02 September 2008 at 04:49 PM