Fast Forward's Help File

Q Whatever other people might say about Windows Vista, I love its parental controls. But my son has found a proxy-server site that lets him bypass any site blocks I've placed. I can block this one site, but there must be others like it. Is there an answer to this dilemma?

AThere really isn't. You could completely lock down the machine -- allowing browsing only to a designated set of sites -- but Vista's "Allow List" is blank, so you'd have to fill it out yourself. (Vista can import a "WebAllowBlockList" compiled by somebody else, but good luck finding one to download; this feature seems to have been ignored in practice.)

You can deny access to sites on Vista's "Block List." But by typing a blocked site's address into a proxy-server site, a user can drive around Vista's roadblocks. These sites themselves can be restricted, but there are quite a few around; that whole exercise will degenerate into a game of Whack-a-Mole.

Finally, a child can always go online on somebody else's computer.

This may be an upsetting realization. If you want to feel better about it, consider what this suggests about the odds of the Chinese government keeping a billion or so Internet users away from parts of the Internet.

I just bought a discounted Sony Vaio C series laptop, but it doesn't include a Blu-ray drive. Should I return it for a more expensive Blu-ray unit or hang on to this one, which has everything else that I need?

Keep the laptop. Blu-ray just won the format war against the competing HD DVD standard, but it's a long way from displacing DVDs as the preferred way to watch movies.

More importantly, on all but the largest laptops, you'd have a difficult time seeing much difference between high-definition and standard-definition video.

Rob Pegoraro attempts to untangle computing conundrums and errant electronics each week. Send questions to The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 orrobp@washpost.com. Turn to Thursday's Business section or visit washingtonpost.com anytime for his Fast Forward column.