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Epignosis View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 11:49
My opinion on the matter was articulated by the late George Carlin many, many years ago:

"Shoot is just sh*t with two Os."
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 12:08
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Because, and I quote:
 
Originally posted by site rules site rules wrote:

1. No Vulgarity, profanity or bigotry. We ask all members to refrain from using "foul language." Profanity - the deliberate denigration of another person's belief, will not be tolerated. Our membership is global, and thus represents a host of spiritual and religious beliefs. Given this, profanity is tantamount to personal attack (see next entry). Likewise, there is no place in this forum for bigotry (this includes religious bigotry, racism, and sexual discrimination) which are also considered to be personal attacks.
We are committed to not censoring messages or opinions, but this is a moderated forum. We simply want to maintain the spirit of an open, interactive discussion without offending any of the participants.
Any deliberate and conscious attempt to "circumvent" or ignore this guideline will be seen as grounds for a warning to be issued, and may result in ejection from the site.

Stern Smile
 
 
Come on, I don't often swear or use these words, but I should be able to use the censor with asterisks when I feel I must get my point across, or else I might actually  be tempted to circumvent it, since I can't use the asterisk version (BTW, I have developped a few methods, which I jokingly used once or twiceBig smile).
 
And the fact that uncensored prog forum are certainly not anymore violent or shocking than PA, but I understand the average age here causes a problem.
 
 
So instead of modifying the censor, I'd try to fix it when it goes overboard and we cant write bandnames Stilt**ter and other perfectly innocent names.
 
 
I haven't really noticed much more asterisks around, either.
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 13:07
I don't like censorship, I abhorr censorshipp.. if there are 13 year-old prog fans coming here they better learn that prog-land is not disney-land but just another segment of the real world we live in where people, yes, say things like F.
 
As you know, I swear only a little... it's not that IO think my posts will be affected... but it's the general idea behind this what I'm against.
 
At least keep the asterisks. The somehow manage to at least look less "offensive" (come one... if you get offended by someone saying something -most of the times not even at you but just throwing it at the air-) then the interenet is not your place. I guess. Or maybe forums for... kids... (where there';s probabl much more foul language anyway, haha).
 
The moment I see a F*** replaced by a "fluffy" will be the moment I'll decide to be just a team member and a reviewer. Again, not because I really say F** that much (actually, almost never) but because I'd feel I'm in ProgKindergarten....
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 16:54
Originally posted by WinterLight WinterLight wrote:

Originally posted by Easy Livin Easy Livin wrote:

Thanks for the helpful contribution... or is there an emoticon missing?


Not sure why a good Anglo-Saxon word or two should offend while its Latin counterpart acquires a reluctant respectability.  Still, only the most penurious imagination takes offense over words, especially in view of the genuinely offensive deeds which plague our world.
 
That doesn't really address the logic behind your previous post does it?
 
On the wider question of the profanity filter, we're not trying to change the world or eradicate all eveil here, all we're trying to do is make this place somewhere where epople can enjoy a friendly environment.
 
If members genuinely have difficulty in expressing themselves without using profanities, perhaps they need to ask themselves how they got into that postion.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 18:29
Originally posted by Easy Livin Easy Livin wrote:


Originally posted by WinterLight WinterLight wrote:


Originally posted by Easy Livin Easy Livin wrote:


Thanks for the helpful contribution... or is there an emoticon missing?

Not sure why a good Anglo-Saxon word or two should offend while its Latin counterpart acquires a reluctant respectability.  Still, only the most penurious imagination takes offense over words, especially in view of the genuinely offensive deeds which plague our world.
That doesn't really address the logic behind your previous post does it?


A bit of a dishonest question since I never claimed to have addressed the rationale (a more accurate term than "logic") for that post.  I merely elaborated on my view in a slightly less sardonic tone--this should be transparent to anyone without underlying motives.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 19:28
Ermm The proposed idea is not without some merit and whimsical charm, but I have some serious misgivings that it might be more trouble than it's worth. I think you should remove troublesome members and topics, not troublesome individual words.
 
Like my friend The T, I am also leery of this forum becoming too "safe" and bland, too "wrapped in cotton wool" in an overwrought effort to "protect" the delicate and easily-offended. (Such folks, arguably, should not use Internet forums at all, and perhaps should not even leave their houses, for that matter.) Stern Smile
 
I like to think I am (generally) among grownups here. The forum was more free-wheeling in the early days, and we got along okay, as I recollect. I am a grown man, and I work with English for a living. Sometimes,  l choose to use (or hint at) profanity here to indicate emotion, conviction, humour, or strong feeling. I don't think I ever direct it at other members. I would not want my posts and words, which I have thought about, to be modified by unthinking software, just because a small minority here are too free with their insults and personal attacks. As I say, remove the post and/or member (censure and censor) in such a case -- don't catch us all in the same indiscriminate "humourless big brother is watching" net. That smacks of being over protective, and over-reacting to a small problem (which is best controlled via existing methods, IMO).
 
If I want to say "this is an effin' good album," then I think I should be able to, without anyone's diapers, knickers or Attends getting in a twist.
 
Again, as I did there ^, there will always be ways around the "no cussing" software, which will make the implied profanity obvious to a human, but not to a machine. It won't work very well, and it just might p*ss off more people than it pleases. Is it really worth the bother? Is the problem really that bad? Are there not bigger fish to fry? (racism, hatred, personal attacks, sexism, pornography, etc.) Stern Smile
 
Shall we ask Dick Heath to change his name? Can I discuss Joe Cocker, or blue-footed boobies? How about God and Jesus Christ? Firetrucks? Wink
 
Rock itself (which encompasses prog) is also rife with profanity, sexuality and thinly-veiled profanity and sexual references and it has always been so. (Much like Shakespeare is.) Then there is the rather grownup (if not sometimes disgusting) album art we reproduce here-- you are aware, of course, of that  Death album cover, a certain Blind Faith cover photo, a famous Nirvana cover, a certain Supertramp cover, a certain Roxy Music cover, etc, etc.
 
Rock is not music for little kiddies, your great-granny, Sarah Palin, or nuns. Better stop listing certain Zappa song titles too, while you're at it!
 
Ermm Don't we also list the music of at least one convicted murderer (Burzum), as well? Hmmmm... moral ambiguity, or people being largely free to decide for themselves on matters of morality?
 
Yep, much more trouble than it's worth, in my considered opinion -- a real can of worms! Thumbs Down


Edited by Peter - November 19 2008 at 19:37
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 19:37
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2008 at 20:23
Not too long ago I tried to post Carlin's seven dirty words just to see what the autobleeper would do to them and even though they all got autobleeped an admin came along and put the post on ice.  LOL

Hey let's try Carlin's euphemisms for intercourse:
ball
baloney ride
bananas and cream
bang
beef injection
belly ride
belt
blanket drill
blow off the loose corns
board
boff
bone
bore
bump fur
bump uglies
bury your wick
bury the bone
bush patrol
buzz the brillo cane
change your luck
chuck a tread
cock up
dance the mattress jig
daub of the brush
dick
dunk
diddle
dig your stinger in the honey
dip your stick
dip your wick
dirty work at the crossroads
do
do a dive in the dark
do a slide up the board
dog
do it
do the dirty deed
do the horizontal bop
do the nasty
feather-bed jig
feed the dummy
fiddle
firk
fit end to end
fix her plumbing
flesh session
flop
flop in the hay
four-legged frolic
f**k
get a crumpet
get a little
get a piece
get a snipper
get a wet one
get into her pants
get it on
get jack in the orchard
get laid
get lucky
get your ashes hauled
get your leather stretched
get your noodle wet
get your oil changed
get some
get some action
get some ass
get some stuff
get some tail
get some tweeze
get your bean waxed
get your pole varnished
give her a stab
go all the way
go like a belt-fed motor
go to bed with
go to it
go to town
go vaulting
grease the wheel
grind
grind your tool
hanky-panky
have a bit of giblet pie
have a bit of summer cabbage (huh?)
have a blow through
have sex with
hide the ferret
hide the salami
hit on the tail
hock
hop on
horizontal bop
horizontal hula
horizontal refreshment
hose
hot roll with cream
hump
impale
introduce charlie
invade
irish whist
jazz
jink
job
join paunches
jounce
joy ride
jug
juke
jump
jump your bones
knock
knock off a piece
know
lay
lay some pipe
lay the hip
make feet for children's shoes
make it
make love
make babies
make the beast with two backs
make whoopie
mate
mattress dance
mess around
mingle limbs
mix your peanut butter
mount
mugg
nail
nib
nub
nut
park your yacht in the hair harbor
peel your best end
peg
pestle
pile-drive
pin
plant your oats
play at all fours
play hide the bone
plow
pluck
plug
pocket the red
poke
pole work
pop
pork
post a letter
pound
pump
put a finger in the dyke
put the boots to
put the tool in the shed
quimstick
ram
ride
rites of venus
roast the broomstick
roll
roll in the hay
rock
rod
roger
romp
root
roust
rub bacon
rub up
rumble
rumple
rut
saw off a chunk
score
screw
scutz around
service
shack up
shaft
shag
shake the sheets
shoot between wind and water
shoot your wad
short arm practice
shove
shtup
sink the sausage
sink the soldier
slam
slip her a length
slip into
split
spoil
squat on the hog
squat jumps in the cucumber patch
squeeze and a squirt
stab
stable your naggie
strop your beak
strum
stuff
swing
tail-work
take a turn in the stubble
take a turn on shooter's hill
tear off a piece
the disappearing cane trick
the matrimonial polka
thread the needle
throw a hump
throw a leg over
thump
tie the true lover's knot
tip the long one
tool in the woods
trim the buff
trip up
the Rhine tumble
tumple
turn up
twiddle
varnish one's cane
vitamin F
wap
wham
what mother did (I'd rather not think about that)
wind the clock
work out
work the hairy oracle
yard
yentz

I see the usual suspect didn't make it through. LOL


Edited by Slartibartfast - November 20 2008 at 14:16
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 20 2008 at 13:19

http://store.funnytimes.com/merchant2/


Newest and Bestest: Swear Bears!

Swear Bears Adults OnlySwear Bears, a great stress reliever for any daily disaster. Don't let the 'cute' fool you; one little squeeze gets you an earful! ADULTS ONLY!
 
Individually hand-crafted in Vermont by disgruntled US workers.
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 20 2008 at 13:30
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

 
I propose we swap all the substitution words in the Auto-censor with something completely innocuous and un-euphemistic - something so totally silly and ridiculous that whatever message using the swear word was supposed to send is made completely harmless... words like 'cuddle', 'fluffy' and 'tickle'
 
Solves two problems in one go and offends no one. Big smile
 
LOL, everything has two sides.
 
There's another site in which the words are replaced by silly messages, the word Dick appears as thingy, so when i wrote Bruce Dickinson, I found Bruce Thingyson. LOL
 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 12 2008 at 01:01
I personally think censorship (especially when you can still derive waht the word was supposed to be) is pretty dumb. However, I don't blame the site; you can get sued these days for looking at someone the wrong way. The last thing we need is some repressed parent finding their kid on a site full of "filthy language" and going ape sh*t. So it beign said that censorship is a must, we might as well make it hilarious. I propose writning a rand fucntion that goes to a look-up table of hilarious words. That way you don't get the same fluffin thing  twice. Cuz that would just be George Foreman.

Edited by Deathrabbit - December 12 2008 at 01:05
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 12 2008 at 06:40
Originally posted by Ivan_Melgar_M Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:

Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

 
I propose we swap all the substitution words in the Auto-censor with something completely innocuous and un-euphemistic - something so totally silly and ridiculous that whatever message using the swear word was supposed to send is made completely harmless... words like 'cuddle', 'fluffy' and 'tickle'
 
Solves two problems in one go and offends no one. Big smile
 
LOL, everything has two sides.
 
There's another site in which the words are replaced by silly messages, the word Dick appears as thingy, so when i wrote Bruce Dickinson, I found Bruce Thingyson. LOL
 
Iván


That's hilarious. LOL
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 12 2008 at 06:55
That is hilarious.  LOL
 
Why not just have the auto-censor replace bad words with Censored?  That tends to be what I use anyway.  Of course, we'd have to be careful what words we include in the auto-censor, so that we don't have rediculous things happen like with Ivan's Bruce Thingyson.  We probably shouldn't include Dick in the auto-censor, since it also has non-vulgar uses.  However, we could obviously still include Censored Censored Censored and of course Censored.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 12 2008 at 07:17
Originally posted by The Doctor The Doctor wrote:

That is hilarious.  LOL
 
Why not just have the auto-censor replace bad words with Censored?  That tends to be what I use anyway.  Of course, we'd have to be careful what words we include in the auto-censor, so that we don't have rediculous things happen like with Ivan's Bruce Thingyson.  We probably shouldn't include Dick in the auto-censor, since it also has non-vulgar uses.  However, we could obviously still include Censored Censored Censored and of course Censored.
Exactly - use the Censored emoticon.
 
My point is - people shold stop using the auto-censor to censor their posts, do it yourself.
 
Bruce Thingyson is silly - it's supposed to be - seeing pocket**tch censored is equally as silly - in fact it highlights a "banned" word where no one saw one before...
 
Originally posted by Dean, from a parallel thread in the CZ Dean, from a parallel thread in the CZ wrote:

I cannot be 'king serious Shocked
 
Seriously, I can't.
 
I'll level with you...
 
My initial idea was to propose turning the auto-censor off – after an initial feeding frenzy the actual levels of swearing would dissipate, probably to less than what we see at the moment (which I admit is not very much – but it is more that we were seeing six months ago, which is more than a year ago). On unregulated boards & forums the level of swearing is lower than here, but when it is used you can be damn sure the person means it. The big difference there is those forums are often a lot less antagonistic that we appear to be.
 
I have (had?Wink) no real intention of changing any of the auto-censors translations - the purpose of the thread was to bring attention to lazy (or even deliberate) use of the auto-bleeper and to promote discussion on the general subject of swearing on the forum. My logic was simple - the worse kind of swearing occurs here when someone loses the plot and has a minor paddy in the middle of a thread - the discussion seldom recovers from that - it turns into a slanging match, people who were enjoying a good debate get disenchanted, spectators get bored and wander off, Admins are forced to step in and we're the bad guys againOuch. To me, that’s not unlike an angry child chucking his teddy from the pram, so I thought how disarming it would be for the protagonists if the profanities they were hurling magically turned into cuddly toys. (I guess that's the hippy side of me wanting to turn bullets to flowers).
 
And it is a really silly idea – I’ll not deny that – but it is one that would encourage the determined swearer to be creative and to actually think about what they are saying - I cannot help wondering whether some of the people who are getting all hot under the collar about this are really concerned about free speech and censorship, or just fearing being made to look foolish by an impartial and unthinking piece of software, not because it modified their carefully chosen word but because in a moments heated passion they forgot to think and forgot they actually had a vocabulary to choose from.
 
The bottom line is - the auto-censor is there now, monitoring your every word, whether it replaces the colloquial term for fornication with f**k or cuddle is actually irrelevant – ('f**k' lost its power years ago, now it is just noise, like verbal punctuation – most 11 year-old kids in the UK use it with impunity) – we could reprogram it with any phrase from the marvelous list of euphemisms that Brian so kindly provided, but the f-word is never used here in that context (well, rarely anyway) so it wouldn’t be of much benefit. If we were so inclined we could program it to replace any word – we could make it replace “overrated” with “a band I don’t like very much”  - but we won’t because that is true censorship – the deliberate altering of the meaning of a phrase – not simply bleeping a choice selection of offensive words. Censorship prevents you from saying what you want to say, not how you say it. (yeah, yeah, I know technically ‘go cuddle yourself’ has altered the original meaning, but since that is a physically impossible request it never really had a meaning in the first place) – It is not about censoring language, it is about moderating language – two different concepts.
 
Like it or lump it, this site has two main “rules”: no illegal activities and be respectful (the other three are variants on the latter). The use of profanity is restricted because their original use was for abuse, offence, bigotry, blasphemy and personal attacks – regardless of how they are used colloquially now; they still have that meaning and that usein some contexts.
 
That is the crux of the matter – it is not about casual swearing – we all do that (in the pub with my b*****d mates getting sh*tfaced on cheap beer I’ll swear like a f**king docker) and casual swearing here is (again) irrelevant; it is about targeted profanity – words purposely chosen to offend - there are some words that are still have that power, that are highly emotive… we cannot allow these words to be used at any time (even casually) … there is no valid justification for using them on a Prog Rock website - I’m sure you’ll correct me if you think I’m wrong - but I would go as far as to say that even when these words are bleeped they are still offensive.
 
The auto-censor is a dumb machine – it has no idea of context or intent – it does not know the difference between casual swearing and actual abuse. It’s our job as collaborators to determine those properties of a particular post and decide whether to report it or not. This is easier if the profane words are not there and we could more easily identify the offensive individuals from those who think they are still in the pub getting drunk with their mates.
 
Of course people will find ways around it, but at least they will be thinking about what they type rather than typing "like wot they speak" and once they start actually thinking instead of posting through a haze of anger, then perhaps the level of discussion on the forum will be raised a tad for the better.
 
Then perhaps I'm hoping for too much but if there is a windmill nearby, bring me a horse and a long stick. Wink
 


Edited by Dean - December 12 2008 at 07:25
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