Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS)

I've added a PICS tag to the head section of this site. Personally, I like the use of self-rating sites and leaving the decision on what to see in the hands of the user. In both IE and Netscape, there is a content advisor that can block sites which contain violence, sex, or other possible disturbing content from the user. It is up to the user to select what they will accept. Just the opposite if the approach taken by Congress. This ties into cataloging since it could be used to describe a site. It is certainly more descriptive than the MPAA ratings. This system has been in place for quite some time and never caught on. Maybe given the current debate over the CIPA it will be an option. Could a public library set the IE content advisor and call that their filtering device?

A nice article on PICS is PICS: Internet Access Controls Without Censorship by Paul Resnick and James Miller.

I have to give a plug to a very fine comic strip Overdue. I'm glad I subscribed to get mine sent to me every morning.

There will not be a posting Monday. I'm taking the day off. See you Tuesday.