Friday, July 20, 2001

Risks of profanity filtering Observant readers will have already noted that my last name contains the word "sex." Recently, in trying to register with a Web site -- using my real name -- I was chastised for "profanity" and asked to choose a different ID. I declined, and since the company has offered no response to my inquiry as to whether this policy is really necessary, I thought I'd share the screen grab: http://bissex.net/paul/profanity.gif The business risk, alienating customers, is fairly obvious. More broadly, this highlights a familiar problem with "bad-word list" censorware. Imagine if this were an e-mail filter on a firewall instead of a registration script. Paul Bissex, CEO, e-scribe.com [Paul Bissex via risks-digest Volume 21, Issue 56] 0:00 # G!

Risks of relationships online A reminder: 'FRISKY' is just a big F-Y with 'RISK' in the middle :-) http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_354103.html?menu=news.weirdworld.rockyrelationships Husband's internet date turns out to be his wife A married couple in China ended up brawling after realising they had unwittingly courted each other over the internet. The pair from Beijing sneaked online to flirt with their mystery girlfriend and boyfriend at a chat website called the Green, Green Schoolyard. After a month, the man arranged to meet up with his ideal new friend only to discover it was actually his wife. He had known only her user name, I Want You. They each agreed to carry a certain newspaper to identify themselves, but were shocked when they came face-to-face and started fighting in the street. Passers-by eventually alerted security guards who had to separate the two, reports Norway's main news agency NTB. Gary Stock, UnBlinking gstock@unblinking.com http://unblinking.com/ [Gary Stock via risks-digest Volume 21, Issue 55] 0:00 # G!