Shalom everyone!  I am researching filters, and I would appreciate some input.  Are there filters that can block search results?  For instance, you go to Google, and type in search terms that bring up porn sites on the hit list.  Are there filters that block the list, or even prevent the search from executing based on the terms?

Barukh HaShem, I have no desire to watch sex acts.  It's gross, weird, and repulsive.  I'm not drawn to hardcore porn, but soft porn, as it's called, like Playboy centerfolds, as opposed to videos depicting sex acts.  My weakness is for that, and even images of swimsuit models, or finding immodest photography on stock photo sites, and even WWII era pin-up paintings.  Those last three examples are ones which would not be defined as porn, but they are still immodest and arouse lust.  I don't know if there are filters that are designed to be intuitive to lower degrees of immodesty, however that is my weakness.  Even if there are such filters, are there any that can stop search routines for immodest material?

For instance, you wouldn't want a medical site blocked because it has the word "legs," but you have a site or search routine blocked combining "legs" "high heels" or other terms.  You would also want searches blocked for "bikini" or "swimsuit."  And when I refer to filter, I mean one that is owned by an administrator, who has access, but I do not.  I simply supply the administrator with data, and he adds them to the blocked list himself.

Again, any input is appreciated.

Be Strong in HaShem!

BT 73,
We don't know how much you need the internet. Do you need unlimited access, with filters? Or would something like Yeshivanet be enough, where you can hand pick which sites you have access to, and everything else is blocked.

Also, if you search around this site, there are many threads that discuss filters. Check it out.

PS. If you did not receive the welcome package, let us know and we will send it to you. Here's the part about filters.

You may want to look into Jnet.  Jnet is a server-based filter, and has 7 different levels of filtering.  The Mehadrin filter can be used on top of any of the levels.  Below is some information on the Mehadrin filter, which I believe will address many of your concerns:


Mehadrin filter:
The Mehadrin filter utilizes groundbreaking filtering technology to further maximize the protection of your line. Mehadrin offers 2 distinct filtering add-ons, each designed to add another layer of filtering.

• Image filtering:
This filter examines pictures in all viewed webpages, searching for skin colors. If a picture is found to contain skin colors, the picture may be altered or entirely removed, based on the percentage of the skin colors in the image, as compared to the entire image. Below a minimum amount, no action is taken. If the skin colors comprise a percentage above that threshold, those sections of the image are colorized black. If the percentage hits an upper threshold, the entire image is replaced with a solid color. This technology allows you to view pages where the text content is fine, but the accompanying images may be immodest.

• Real-time filtering
Many sites that are fine in general, may contain some pages that have objectionable content. This may be news sites that post an article discussing immoral or indecent content, etc. The real-time filter searches the page, as it downloads, and analyses it. If the page is found to contain inappropriate content – it is blocked.
Both of these options are available as an add-on to any one of our other filtering levels. The Mehadrin filter is extremely fast, and does not affect your browsing speed.

www.guardureyes.com/GUE/Filters/J_FilterChoices_US.asp

There are also ad-blocking and image blocking apps that you can install in Firefox.  I'm not sure about the other Internet browsers but I know that there is such a thing for Firefox.  If someone finds the link to these apps they should post them here.  This is of course assuming that you do not need the images for a business or other necessary use.