The Power of Livigent

Some people wonder what's special about Livigent, and why it is better than other solutions. (Livigent is the company which powers the Venishmartem Cloud Filter, Meshimer and other filters).

It would take a long time to write a full list of features, but I'll start with a few things and edit the post from time to time to add additional information. Bear in mind that this post will be technical, and is meant mainly for technicians interested in understanding how Livigent works.

1) Category based filtering. Almost any filter has this feature, but livigent does it better. For example, if you decide to block "News", Livigent lets you specify if you want to only block sites that are 100% news, or even sites that are 10% news. To get a feel of how this works, click here to test a URL.

2) Keyword Filtering. This is a feature that lets you allow or block a page depending on the keywords. You can tell Livigent to block or allow any website that has specific keywords. K9 seems to have limited support for keywords in URL's, but it can't detect words inside the webpage itself.

Livigent can do any of the following:

• Detect how many times a word appears in a page. You can specify if you want the words to appear in the body of the page, title of the page, URL of the page, keywords of the page or any combination of these. 

•  You can set Livigent to only block pages that have a combination of keywords (in any of the aforementioned places). For example, if you want to block any site that sells women's clothing, you can set the filter to block any page that has the words "women" and also the word "clothing".

• You can tell Livigent to only block these keywords if they appear an X number of times on the page. For example, to only block sites that have the words "women" and "clothing" twice on the page. 

• You can create very complex rules that sounds like they came straight out of a long tosfos in bava kama. E.g., if keyword X or keyword Y are in the URL, and also the body of the page has Keyword A or keyword B five times then block the site, unless it has keyword C, D and E less than 3 times...."

This feature is the most powerful feature in Livigent, since it lets you be very specific about which pages you want to block.

3) Layered rules.  Livigent allows you to create conflicting rules, but stack them on top of each other in order of priority. For example, let's say you 2 rules:

• A) Block sites that have 20% or more of entertainment.
• B) Allow CNN.com

If you put rule A first, only the parts of CNN that don't contain entertainment will be allowed. If you put rule B first, CNN will be entirely open. This feature let's you be very specific about what should be opened and what should not be opened.

4) Blocking types of pages. Livigent allows you to block/allow parts of the web based on what type of files they are. For example, you can block all videos or all images on the web (or on specific sites) with just one click.

Of course it isn't practical for each user of Livigent to setup these rules themselves. But the flexibility in the filter allows companies that use Livigent (like VCF) to create a different collections of pre-set rules that they can apply to any of their customers.

Do you know of other solutions that offer similar functionality? If yes, please share them in the comments.

Here are some ideas on the K9 wish list, which Livigent already has:

• Real-time Blacklist/Whitelist of page content (425 votes!)
• Remote/Central Administration (1,567 votes!)
• Add regular expressions to the keyword filter (126 votes)
• Allow wildcard characters in whitelist and blacklist entries
• Filter pictures (109 votes)
• Non-ASCII support for keywords (83 votes)
• Custom/advanced install option: permanent "hard" blocking (no password override) of specified catgegories
• A feature to prevent display of images of some user mentioned sites
• Submit blocked site to admin for white listing
• Block base file types like mp3, flv, etc ?? also block user from upload
• Offer configurability for mobile devices (2104 votes!)

בשולי הדברים, I'll address a myth I read on some forum that Livigent is "strict". The truth is that Livigent is an empty canvas and the rules are set only by the filter administrator, each company that licenses Livigent does it their way. Most companies offer various degrees of strictness depending on the level that the customer wants.

Cute filter campaign on TheYeshivaWorld

A new campaign on TheYeshivahWorld website is promoting the use of filters. Each week a new cartoon is displayed on the homepage that shows the dangers of unfiltered internet.

Here is this week's cartoon:

Venishmartem Cloud Filter and the Esrogim "Scam"

This is a response to the "Scams that plague the frum world" blog, which has written a post titled "Venishmartem Cloud Filter Scam".

The logic of his post is so twisted and faulty, that it boggles the mind. The guy hasn't got one ounce of critical thinking, which is the most important skill needed to expose scams. Instead he suffers from selective thinking, and confirmation bias. Since he is an Anti-filter advocate, he lets his pen loose whenever it comes to filters. That's how a non-profit filter built by a small group of idealistic people, who in real life might have been his best friends, can be classified as a "scam". To see how ridiculous his post is, I'll paraphrase his blog post below, and just replace the words VCF with "esrogim".

"The Esrogim Mehudarim organization has recently recently distributed a flyer in my neighborhood of Brooklyn. In short I'll explain why this flyer is a scam.

"The flyer is promoting an event that is here to help yidden to buy esrogim, and will have rabbonim on site offering FREE advice as to which esrog is the best for them. It is well known today that lemon varieties, such as Bonnie Brae grown in  San Diego County are available for free, and yet this event is promoting a "mehudar and better" esrogim. This scam falls into the category of Bait and Switch Scam. One is lured into attending this event and then is recommended by professionals to pay for a esrog they claim is best. This behavior is unethical anywhere but it being done in the name of the Gedolim and as a community service is the only reason I'm speaking out.

"This itself is a problem but furthermore there is no documentation that this new costly esrog, where you pay a extra fees for the look and shape of the esrog is any more effective than a free lemon. Bonnie Brae lemons are smooth, thin skinned and seedless too.

"The flyer claims "Much effort and expense was invested to make sure our esrogim are not murkav". Yet there is absolutely no proof or reasoning why it's any less murkav than the pure Bonnie Brae breed. As a farmer myself and speaking to those I know, there is no reason to believe this esrog is any less murkav than Bonnie Brae or other free lemons.

"There is no explanation as to why this is any better than a free lemon just the fact that they say so. The many other reason noted on the flyer are also available for free in any lemon farm, whether it is color, shape or texture. I have searched through every possible scenario and as a qualified farmer I don't see any advantages in fact I see many problems and issues with this type of fruit: It has too much skin and not enough flesh.

"This has all the indications of dishonest business. They are trying to sell you a product that is nothing better than one of many free lemons that are available anyway for anyone to harvest or buy at your local supermarket. Most famous being Bonnie Brae. This esrog has all the warning signs. I am sorry that they invested so much for growing these esrogim but that is no excuse to fool the public."

Enough of that. You get the idea. Here are the facts on why VCF is a different breed of filter:

• As the websites states, VCF has "No nisayon (challenge) of holding the password". In plain English that means that as opposed to other free solutions where you can disable the filter at any time with a password, VCF is secure. Opening new sites is done by filling out a request form, and the sites are reviewed by real humans before they are opened. Does K9 or any other free filter do that? 

• Note: You can sign up for K9 with a friend's email address, and have your friend set the password. See here for instruction in case you're interested in doing this. However, you'll need to ask your friend for assistance each time you need a site opened. With VCF you just click a button on the blocked page, and the page will be opened.

• VCF allows you to allow a website, but still automatically block the portions which have problematic content. Does K9 or any other free filter do that?
• VCF allows you to block sites that have a specific frequency, or a combination of keywords (e.g. block any page that has the words search + girls in the URL). Does K9 or any other free filter do that?
• VCF has an optional skin-block feature. Does K9 or any other free filter do that?

This is just a partial list of features in VCF. In the best case, the blog author was not aware of these features when he wrote the post. In the worst case, the blog author is intentionally trying to mislead the public.

As far as the filterthon event, had he bothered to arrive to the event, I'm sure he would retract his post. Everything written on the flyer was 100%, and the conspiracies in his blog post are baseless:

• Volunteer technicians from all over NY gave free advice at the event. The goal of the event was so that people get filters, not to make money. In fact, last year they same organization (Venishmartem) organized a similar event and suggested K9 exclusively (there was nothing better at the time). 
• Each person who came to the event was given an overview of all the available solutions in the market (yes, including K9 and other free software). The volunteers gave professional advice and were not trying to sell any specific service.
• Many people were interested in VCF but said that it is too expensive. These people were given VCF for FREE. (The people who got if for free outnumbered the ones who paid for it).

The bottom line is the this blog seems to be biased against filters, and does not hesitate to write the most outlandish posts whenever Internet filters are involved.

Why pay for a filter?

In the current filter there are a few filters that are completely free, the most prominent example is K9. Other filters on the other hand have a modest or not-so-modest monthly fee.
What a Chutzpa!
Well, actually paid filters and free filters have substantial differences, so it's like comparing apples to oranges. Here are the key reasons why paid filters cost $$$ (Hint: it's not because they want to rip you off).

• Licensing costs: Paid filters generally do not use their own filtering technology, it is too difficult. Instead they license filtering technology from other companies, and then customize it for their customers. For example, Jnet, Meshimer, VCF (Venishmartem Cloud Filter) and NetTzach all license the same technology from Livigent. VCF Basic licenses technology from  Websense. 
• Support: Paid filters give much better support than free filters. (Note: Meshimer gives very extensive support, and that's why their price is higher than VCF.)
• Filter management: Rather than allowing you to open anything instantly during a weak moment, paid filters manage the filter for you and open/close sites that you request. This service adds to the cost as well.

Note: If you can't afford to pay for a "paid filter", but really want the benefits of it, you can fill out this form and request to receive a free license for VCF.

Hidden Filter Benefits

Here's an aspect of internet filtering which is often overlooked. Put simply, a filter can free up many hours of your time to do what you really love.

• Are you a news freak?
• Do you often feel guilty about time wasted online?
• Do ever scratch your head wondering how you spend so many hours of your precious time doing things that will actually give you nothing in return in the long term?
• Do you often tell yourself to stop browsing, but continue browsing anyway?
• Would you feel gratified if you get 5 extra hours of free time a week, to do what you really want?

If the answer is yes, a internet filter may able to do wonders for you. When setting up the filter, you'd enter the websites you waste your time with most, and you'll be locked out of them. (Obviously, this only works with filters that don't let you disable the filter whenever you want...).

About this blog

The purpose of this blog is to give an honest review of the internet filtering solutions currently available, and to start a conversation about the benefits of internet filtering.
Stay tuned...

How to lock your Bios

Follow these steps to prevent a common way of bypassing computer filters.

(Exact wording varies by computer - the following works for most  computers)
As computer is starting (before Windows logo appears) Press F2 (in Dell and most computers / F10 in HP / F1 in Toshiba) numerous times,will enter BIOS (mouse will not work, use keyboard)

STEP 1 – SETUP PASSWORD
Choose SUPERVISOR PASSWORD or SETUP or ADMINISTRATOR (whichever appears)
Do not choose computer password!
CLICK ON ENTER
Type Password
CONTINUE or ENTER or SAVE SETTINGS or LOCK

STEP 2 – COMPUTER SHOULD RETURN TO ORIGINAL BIOS SCREEN
Choose BOOT or ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES or SYSTEM CONFIGURATION (whichever appears) on top row
You will see list – remove** any item with “USB” or “CD ROM”
“EXIT SAVING CHANGES”
(Some computers – first SAVE, then EXIT)

**How to remove varies by computer- choose item and then, either NO BOOT or UNCHECK. (CAUTION: Do not choose DISABLE)