[OPLINTECH] Kids computer setup

[Chad Neeper]

A couple of things I've used in the past that may or may not be of use to
you:

I'm pretty certain that LAN Settings -> Proxy settings stored in the
user-profile, so if you set up a different user profile in Windows for each
function, you can use the proxy settings to limit access to a small set of
sites. Set the HTTP proxy to an unused local IP address (I usually use the
loopback address 127.0.0.1 and a random high port number). You can then set
a list of exceptions for URLs that are to not use the configured proxy. In
this way, all sites except the ones you specify will essentially go nowhere.

I suppose, if you don't want to use different user profiles, you could
perhaps make use of scripting and have the icon you presumably will have on
the desktop to launch BookFlix launch a script that first changes the proxy
settings and then launches the browser to BookFlix's URL. But then you have
to ensure that it gets set back to "no proxy" when you're done with
BookFlix.

Another alternative to proxy settings could be to configure your locally
installed firewall or the network perimeter firewall to block outbound
network traffic from that computer, except to specific sites, perhaps again
based upon logon account or another parameter.

If you do use different user profiles, you can configure both accounts with
no password, so the user just selects an account and it logs in. You can
take it further by auto-launching either BookFlix or Zoodles. ...and then
even further by scheduling a task that waits for a specified period of
inactivity before auto-logging out again to make it ready for the next
patron.


Just some quick thoughts. HTH,


______________________________
*Chad Neeper*
Senior Systems Engineer

*Level 9 Networks*
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

*Full LAN/WAN consulting services -- Specialized in libraries and schools*


On Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 3:35 PM, Becky Schultz <bschultz at yourppl.org> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> We are having a problem figuring out how best to provide two separate
> services on our kids computer configuration, while blocking general
> internet browsing.  We want the kids to be able to select either service
> easily:
>
> - We currently use Zoodles, via Chrome with a kiosk plugin (Zoodles kids
> mode for Chrome), that keeps kids from wandering off to other sites.
>  Zoodles accesses many websites that have flash games.
>
> - We want to add access to BookFlix, which only needs to access a single
> site.
>
> I would appreciate any ideas!
>
> Thanks,
> --
> Becky Schultz
> Technology Coordinator | Portsmouth Public Library
> (740) 354-5688 ext.10518 | bschultz at yourppl.org | http://www.yourppl.org
> http://www.twitter.com/portsmouthpl
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