The Go Daddy Girl® and Getting a Grip

Quite a few years ago, someone on Eternal World Television Network (EWTN) noted that their television network had contracts with several cable services. On some services, EWTN had it's own dedicated channel; on others, they shared a channel with some other network. It one case, the other network was a porn channel.

The person with EWTN said this was great: EWTN's time slot on that channel came after the porn - so anyone who was watching the 'adult' programming and didn't change channels promptly would see at least part of the Catholic network.

I suppose I could decide to be upset at EWTN's willingness to share bandwidth with a pornography service: but I'm not. I agree with the person on EWTN: the situation was an opportunity, not an affront.

The Go Daddy Girl® and Me

I'm pretty sure that my Brendan's Island website (brendans-island.com/) was unavailable a week ago. I use the Go Daddy hosting service:

"Web sites serviced by DNS and hosting provider Go Daddy were down for most of today, but were back up later this afternoon. A hacker using the "Anonymous Own3r" Twitter account claimed credit for the outage...."
(Go Daddy-serviced Web sites go down; hacker takes credit"
(Elinor Mills, CNET)

I didn't learn of the outage until several days later, when I checked my personal email. Go Daddy had sent a 'sorry about that' message, and offered in-store credit as a token of sincerity.

Normally I'd have noticed something was wrong last Monday, but last week was anything but normal. I was in North Dakota, being the acting boss of a candle manufacturing company:

• "Another Month, Another Unexpected Drive"
  Through One Dad's Eye (September 16, 2012)

I got back to central Minnesota on Saturday. As I've said before, I'm not a 40-year-old kid any more. I'm still pooped, and may take the rest of this week off.

While catching up on what had been happening in online communities, I read a slightly-snarky post about the Go Daddy service outage, and its effects on some Catholic websites. The fellow apparently thought that nice Catholic websites shouldn't use the Go Daddy hosting servers.

Go Daddy, Decency, and Women Driving Cars

I see his point, sort of. He stated out that Go Daddy has (soft) porn in its advertising: and that good Catholics shouldn't have anything to do with the company.

GoDaddy's trademark Go Daddy Girl® advertising started out with commercials that were, I'll grant, not up to the broadcast television standards of the '50s. I know of a crisis pregnancy organization that won't have a thing to do with Go Daddy, because the young women they help shouldn't thing that they'll be treated as sex objects.

Today's Go Daddy Girl® is shockingly indecent, too. Sort of:



In some parts of the world, I understand that no 'decent' woman would appear:

• In a photograph
• With her face exposed
• While admitting to driving a car
  
  • "Saudi Arabia women drive cars in protest at ban"
    BBC News (June 17, 2011)
  • "Saudi court orders woman to be whipped for driving car"
    Maggie Michael, Associated Press, Via MSNBC News (September 27, 2012)

Danica Patrick's photo isn't the only indication that Go Daddy doesn't conform to Saudi sensibilities: or to the cultural norms of 1950s America. I clipped this image from the Go Daddy Twitter account today:

In the World - - -

I thought that the original 'Go Daddy Girls' were inappropriate: but I decided to use GoDaddy as a hosting service anyway.

If I had the technical skills and time it would take to set up and maintain a reliable server, I wouldn't need a hosting service. But even if I had the skills and time, I'd much rather be doing something other than handle the technical side of keeping a website available.

I did the usual due diligence, and found that Go Daddy offered the best balance of cost, reliability, and service. Yes, they got national attention with the original Go Daddy Girl® - but I wasn't operating a sensitive social agency, and was operating with a very limited budget

I'm not wracked with shame that I use

• A hosting service that conforms to cultural norms
• A combined television/Internet/phone service that
  • Includes naughty television programs
  • Could be used to contact my mistress
    • If I had a mistress
      • Which I don't

Some folks decide that it's better to withdraw from the world. Some may do so in order to concentrate on spiritual growth. Some may have less adequate motives.

I have a high regard for those who have what it takes to enter a cloistered religious order. That's not my vocation, and that's another topic or two.

- - - But Not Of The World

I plan to continue using Go Daddy's hosting service: and the 'impure' company that makes it possible for me to use a telephone, browse the Web, and watch television. I could isolate myself until the world provided a thoroughly 'nice' way to share my thoughts: but I'd rather deal with the world as it is.

I figure it's up to me to control what I see, and what I write. And that's yet another topic.

Somewhat-related posts:

• Getting a grip
  • " 'The World is On Fire' - Again: Saint Teresa of Avila and the New Evangelization"
    (July 22, 2012)
  • "My Take on the News: Hack Attack; Double Standard; Purloined Heart"
    (March 9, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Vatican's Website, and what Bishop Sheen Said
  • "Modernism, Luddites, Catholicism, and Godzilla"
    (April 7, 2011)
  • "A Catholic Blogger In the Digital Continent"
    (November 15, 2010)
  • "Some Catholic Blogs Bother Bishops - A Lot"
    (June 17, 2010)
• Sex, sin, and sense
  • "College Kids, '100% Organic Sex,' and Me"
    (June 30, 2012)
  • "Politics, and a Sexologist's Preferred Reality"
    (May 10, 2012)
  • "Men, Women, Differences, and Equality"
    (May 2, 2012)
  • "Secret Service Sex SNAFU: My Take"
    (April 26, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Porn, Prostitution: What's the Big Deal?
  • "Sex Isn't a Product for Consumption?"
    (June 8, 2011)
• Modesty
  • "Proper Dress for Mass: From the Archdiocese of Washington"
    (May 25, 2010)
  • "Mass, Dressing Properly, and Staying for the Final Flag"
    (May 15, 2010)
  • "Are You a Boy, or Are You a Girl?"
    (September 26, 2009)
    Particularly
    • Change Happens: Deal With It
  • "Modesty: Living in Balance"
    (August 16, 2009)
  • "Bikinis, Burkinis, and Modesty: The Other Guy isn't Always Wrong"
    (August 16, 2009)

In the news:

• "Go Daddy-serviced Web sites go down; hacker takes credit"
  Elinor Mills, Security & Privacy, News, CNET
  (September 10, 2012)