[matmat]

I am somewhat disconcerted that BBO is censoring language in private chat. As far as I've been able to discern, there was no announcement of this anywhere and getting a 2 minute ban for completely non-abusive use of curse words in private chat seems inappropriate.

This means BBO is reading private chat. I would understand (more) if the filter were employed for public chat. I still wouldn't agree with it.

There is no smart filter of any sort in the software, seems like there is just a dictionary (unpublished, obviously). Does not use context clues, just plain old "you used a bad word. bad user! bad!"

It doesn't filter curses in other languages, doesn't pick up local variations, doesn't pick up spelling mistakes.

Seems like this effort is completely misguided, given that BBO already has a blacklist that any person that feels abused could easily employ to block their abuser. I am glad BBO has decided to roll out the language police.


If there is discussion of this elsewhere on the forums -- sorry, didn't see it in my short search.

[sfi]

Agreed. Turns out you can even get banned for writing to a table with 3 robots in 'Just Play Bridge'. This seems like a very blunt instrument to use without warning.

[diana_eva]

 matmat, on 2016-April-03, 22:27, said:

I am somewhat disconcerted that BBO is censoring language in private chat. As far as I've been able to discern, there was no announcement of this anywhere and getting a 2 minute ban for completely non-abusive use of curse words in private chat seems inappropriate.

This means BBO is reading private chat. I would understand (more) if the filter were employed for public chat. I still wouldn't agree with it.

There is no smart filter of any sort in the software, seems like there is just a dictionary (unpublished, obviously). Does not use context clues, just plain old "you used a bad word. bad user! bad!"

It doesn't filter curses in other languages, doesn't pick up local variations, doesn't pick up spelling mistakes.

Seems like this effort is completely misguided, given that BBO already has a blacklist that any person that feels abused could easily employ to block their abuser. I am glad BBO has decided to roll out the language police.


If there is discussion of this elsewhere on the forums -- sorry, didn't see it in my short search.

Hi Mat, nice to see you drop by If I knew all it takes is a swear word filter...

Kidding aside, this was a bit of an emergency measure aimed at blocking something more serious than friends banter or people yelling at robots. Sorry about that, it's a temporary filter and we'll lift it when safe to do so.

[ThymePuns]

Is this on again? It's really annoying. It is not possible for me to express to my friends my thoughts on Farage without using certain proscribed words. There must be a better way than indiscriminately censoring it.

[wmb1956]

I strongly support the ban. There is no need to use crude language, particularly at a bridge table, and BBO needs to set a high standard.

[mijbe]

Agree completely- there should be button for reporting inappropriate language and rudeness

[Zelandakh]

 wmb1956, on 2016-July-30, 11:05, said:

I strongly support the ban. There is no need to use crude language, particularly at a bridge table, and BBO needs to set a high standard.

What do you consider bad language? The pussy I like to stroke in bed goes "meow", the pricks I see in the local bridge club are (Swedish) dots, and when I say you are dick I mean you could afford to lose a few pounds. BBO is an international site, text censorship tends to be problematic in that context.

[mycroft]

...never mind the Scunthorpe problem™.

But I have made my feelings clear on this one in other posts. There are times when a filter is not appropriate (and many times when the personal one is much more appropriate than any filter creatable by AI). There are times when it would be better, though, if there was a "stage 1 filter" available/enforced.

[The_Badger]

Diana said:

"Hi Mat, nice to see you drop by If I knew all it takes is a swear word filter...

Kidding aside, this was a bit of an emergency measure aimed at blocking something more serious than friends banter or people yelling at robots. Sorry about that, it's a temporary filter and we'll lift it when safe to do so."

And I totally agree with her. It's only temporary because some idiot(s) are presumably causing genuine distress with their language to other players, and yes that is serious.

So, for the time being, we will all have to accept it is temporary and once the matter is resolved it will hopefully be lifted.

(Has anyone considered that the abuse may be so bad that the Police are now involved? I wouldn't bet against it.)

[Zelandakh]

 The_Badger, on 2016-August-04, 07:18, said:

(Has anyone considered that the abuse may be so bad that the Police are now involved? I wouldn't bet against it.)

Which police? The state/country where the abused lives? where BBO is registered? where the servers are physically located? of the alleged abuser? The federal police (if both are in the same federal area)? Interpol? It is not always a simple matter in such cases.

[The_Badger]

 Zelandakh, on 2016-August-04, 07:35, said:

Which police? The state/country where the abused lives? where BBO is registered? where the servers are physically located? of the alleged abuser? The federal police (if both are in the same federal area)? Interpol? It is not always a simple matter in such cases.

Totally agree, Mark,

It is definitely not always a simple matter in such cases. Given how many pieces of technology can connect to the internet these days, and the ways people can avoid detection through encryption, and/or onion routing, both trolling and "cyberpsychosis" are on the increase. Let's hope the Police aren't involved and BBO can get the matter sorted quickly.

However, from what Diana said, I have the impression that it's a bit more involved than one idiot with a grudge.

[matmat]

ALT+154=Ü
ALT+129=ü

[Zelandakh]

And alt-132 = ä, alt-148 = ö, alt-225 = ß. I used these all the time before I bought a German keyboard.