# The Oddest Things Blocked By My Office Internet Filter **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204 "2012-12-06T17:29:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/41 "2012-12-09T13:35:08Z")
> [@NIKI50](#): > > At my previous job the filters were extremely strict, one day there was a pen left at my desk with a website printed on it. I typed it in just to see what would happen. It was a very graphic tutoring lesson on cunnilingus. I laughed at the absurdity of their policies. Pen island? ---
**Author:** ![NIKI50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/958977/32.png) [@NIKI50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NIKI50)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/42 "2012-12-22T12:46:17Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Did you figure out who left the pen on your desk? I suspect there was an intended message, but it wasn’t about Internet filtering policies. 😉 > [@Rick](#): > > Pen island? No never figured it out, I kept the pen tho for the laugh factor! ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/43 "2012-12-30T04:48:55Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I took out the email address you posted…instead of posting the actual email, you could just let everyone know it began with “shitz”. This allows you to get the point across yet keep her email private. I had already changed her name. I forgot to mention that in my OP. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/44 "2012-12-30T07:26:33Z")
This one still has me stumped: [Train Safe Barrel Blockers](http://www.trainsafe.us/products.php). A barrel blocker (for those of you who won’t be able to see the site because your IT Department has it blocked) is a plastic rod which you can insert into the barrel of a pistol to make it unable to chamber a bullet (and thus make it 100% safe for practice purposes). What’s odd is that my hospital’s filter allows me to see almost the entire website. What’s blocked? Just the page that allows you to actually order a barrel blocker online. And it comes up blocked as “Adult Material,” not “Guns.”. WTF? Strange are the ways of Internet filters! I may buy an iPad mini just for work web surfing, because the filter has recently become completely unpredictable in terms of what it blocks, and I’m pretty tired of it. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/45 "2012-12-30T17:24:00Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I used to work for a school district and once found the SDMB banned. I contacted IT to ask why and in a couple of days it was un-banned with no explanation. No idea why. Probably because of the “Dope” in the title. I tried to access it from a work laptop in a public wi-fi spot once and got “drugs” as the reason. > [@](#): > > By the way I think talking of hockey should be prohibited as long as THEY AREN’T PLAYING DAMMIT. (suffering withdrawal here…) No comment. 😃 (I’m not a hockey fan.) ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/46 "2012-12-30T18:10:46Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > This one still has me stumped: [Train Safe Barrel Blockers](http://www.trainsafe.us/products.php). A barrel blocker (for those of you who won’t be able to see the site because your IT Department has it blocked) is a plastic rod which you can insert into the barrel of a pistol to make it unable to chamber a bullet (and thus make it 100% safe for practice purposes). > > What’s odd is that my hospital’s filter allows me to see almost the entire website. What’s blocked? Just the page that allows you to actually order a barrel blocker online. And it comes up blocked as “Adult Material,” not “Guns.”. WTF? > > Strange are the ways of Internet filters! I may buy an iPad mini just for work web surfing, because the filter has recently become completely unpredictable in terms of what it blocks, and I’m pretty tired of it. Maybe the filter assumes “barrel blocker” is a euphemism for something? ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/47 "2012-12-30T22:07:01Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > This one still has me stumped: [Train Safe Barrel Blockers](http://www.trainsafe.us/products.php). A barrel blocker (for those of you who won’t be able to see the site because your IT Department has it blocked) is a plastic rod which you can insert into the barrel of a pistol to make it unable to chamber a bullet (and thus make it 100% safe for practice purposes). > > What’s odd is that my hospital’s filter allows me to see almost the entire website. What’s blocked? Just the page that allows you to actually order a barrel blocker online. And it comes up blocked as “Adult Material,” not “Guns.”. WTF? Is (or was) there something requiring the purchacer to affirm being 18 or over? I didn’t notice anything like this, but I may not have been looking in the right place. Or the software thinks they look like sex toys. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/48 "2012-12-30T23:48:10Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > The people of [Scunthorpe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_problem)regularly have problems with people not being able to access their local sites, or search for info on the town. Something to do with a banned word, apparently 😉 Once I tried to write a perfectly innocent comment on a blog website, something like “Don’t pani **c unt** il you’re sure there’s a problem.” They rejected my comment because it contained the C word. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/49 "2012-12-31T00:58:02Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > Is (or was) there something requiring the purchacer to affirm being 18 or over? I didn’t notice anything like this, but I may not have been looking in the right place. I ended up ordering mine by emailing the company owner, but when I looked at the webpage on my iPad at home I don’t remember seeing an over-18 age affirmation statement anywhere. And I can’t imagine one would be needed, as the barrel blocker is just a simple piece of plastic. It looks like a pencil the color of a traffic cone. No clear reason why it would be illegal to sell to the kiddies. > [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > Or the software thinks they look like sex toys. That could be it - but it’s still weird that only the order page is blocked. Somehow I don’t think my hospital wants me either ordering OR merely looking at sex toys while I’m working! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204.md?page=2)