Porn and Seat Belts

Imagine if buckling your seat belt made your car go faster.    Hold onto that idea, we'll come back to it. 

I'm fairly sure this is the worst thing I've read in a long time. Summary:  Researchers want to study porn's impact on guy's brains, but they can't do any research because they don't have a control group.  They can't find any guys who haven't seen porn.

Think about that. 

If you're in the midst of a battle with pornography, this post isn't really for you.  Do the stuff I talk about here, but it's just a start.  I recommend reading this, and then talk to somebody.  I'll listen to you if nobody else will.

But if you're a guy who doesn't struggle with pornography, let me give you two easy steps to make sure you don't accidentally start.  Here's the best part:  they'll make everything about your internet experience better.  FAR better.

First, install (free) ad-blocking software.  

I use Adblock for Chrome.  Do you use Firefox?  Click here.  Safari?  Click here.  Internet Explorer?  Click here.  There are folks that argue against ad-blockers, because so many sites are supported by ad-based content.  Ignore these people.  I know from my own experience and the experience of MANY guys that I've talked to that explicit banner advertisements can be a gateway into temptation.  Close that gate up.

Here's the best part:  even if you never get served questionable ads, the internet is a better experience with an ad-blocker.  You don't get crazy popups, you don't get loud sounds that load in some other tab, and you can actually focus on whatever it is you're trying to read.  Plus, your webpages will load far faster, because they're not pulling down tons of graphical ads.  Getting an ad-blocker is like putting on a seat-belt, but it drastically increases the relative speed of your internet connection.

Second, start using OpenDNS (free).

If you're reading this blog, you probably live around me, which means you're probably on Time Warner Cable or Insight.  These companies use their own DNS services, which are generally sub-par, ad-driven, and SLOW.  I won't fully explain what DNS is (click here for a good explanation) but for now, think of it like an address book.  When you say "I want to go to Google," DNS is the one that actually routes you to that website.

A slow DNS service makes web addresses resolve slowly.  Getting a better one lets your computer "find" websites faster.  It won't make a difference in how quickly the actual content of the website gets downloaded to your computer, but it helps the process get started faster.

Once you're using OpenDNS, though, you can perform some additional magic here.  You can set filtering levels so that certain types of websites are routed around.  The DNS filter simply won't go there.  This is a screenshot from my settings:

This is better than a software filter for two reasons.  First, it applies to all devices (think tablets), not just ones that have the software installed.  Second, it doesn't slow down your computer.  Instead, it speeds it up!  To set up OpenDNS on your home router, click here.

If you're thinking "I don't need this stuff, I don't ever look at porn" then you're missing the point.  These two things will give you a better internet experience even if you've never once been tempted.  It's not an 8-foot fortress wall to keep the bad stuff away... it's more like a guardrail.  But guardrails aren't a bad thing.  And they don't get in your way.