Since the Planning Commission Hearing on Kink.com‘s Fortress of Pornitude a couple of weeks ago, there’s been little news about the hulking edifice or its denizens. So far the dramatic increase in crime predicted by protesters doesn’t seem to have materialized, or at least it wasn’t in evidence when I walked up 14th St. at nine this morning. The building was quiet; the only sign of malfeasance was a trickle of urine from behind a low wall. But the graffiti that has marred the building in the past was gone.

It occurred to me that it would be easy to check whether Kink.com had a bad influence on the neighborhood — just look at crime statistics on a periodic basis.

Until somebody does that, CNet news checks in with a Kink.com story: At Kink.com, a live tool against piracy. It features all sorts of Kink.com related news, from their decision to figure out how to copy-protect their product (perhaps Cory Doctorow will be joining the ranks of anti-Kink protesters) to the challenges of producing a high-def video broadcast, and winding up with a summary of how they bought the Armory and what they intend to do with it.

Photo of the Armory by Flickr Zemistor, some rights reserved.

Coincidentally on KQED’s “Forum” show this morning there was an extended discussion about 826 Valencia, and listening to it, I thought the same thing — their tutoring program has been around for a long time now. They have purportedly taught hundreds, if not thousands, of teenagers to write in the last five or so years. What does the Mission District have to show for it? Do we have a drop in crime? Do we have more kids going to college? Do we just have more literate taggers? What?

I’ll give them a call and find out. They must be getting beaucoup bucks from grants and nonprofits to keep that place going — it can’t all be funded by Eggers’ royalties. I wonder what kind of stats they keep.