There are new Prescott Library restrictions, John Carter informs us: "If you haven’t been to the Prescott Library this week, here is information I’m sure you’ll want to know about when taking your laptop there.
"As of 1/8/12, the restrictions for accessing the Internet at the library have been increased. This was instituted when the library switched over to using the more robust and secure city servers.
"You can no longer access the Internet with email applications like Thunderbird, Mail, Outlook, Evolution, etc. You are allowed to access your webmail using an Internet browser.
"In addition, access to the Internet with VPN is not allowed, as are other protocols of similar ilk.
"Skype access is allowed (but as yet unconfirmed). And if you know how, you can use SSH to remotely log in to your home computer which then would give you unlimited access to the Internet.
"The explanation given for not allowing email applications to access the Internet has something to do with IMAP’s and VPN’s vulnerabilities, in that the servers can be attacked via those protocols."