The Night Mail

[Tony_S]

48 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

I've now filled in the gap with the words 'make l0ve'. I find it mind blowingly, stupidly futile that the system regarded the original as offensive.

 

Dave  

I wonder  if there are two systems running, one which deletes words and one which replaces them with  #####.

[Dave Hunt]

It's only a matter of time before * or # are removed because they may be hiding something offensive to wallies.

 

Dave

[Northmoor]

Funnily enough, just today a colleague of similar age and I were remembering the bafflingly inconsistent censorship of Kenny Everett by the BBC.

 

HIs outrageous (bearded) American actress who crossed/uncrossed her legs and with the catchphrase, "And all my clothes fall off!", was called Cupid Stunt.  This was the name he chose after the BBC wallahs had barred him from his first choice, Mary Huff.

[pH]

3 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

It's only a matter of time before * or # are removed because they may be hiding something offensive to wallies.

 

Dave

Recursive censorship!

[Steamport Southport]

2 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Funnily enough, just today a colleague of similar age and I were remembering the bafflingly inconsistent censorship of Kenny Everett by the BBC.

 

HIs outrageous (bearded) American actress who crossed/uncrossed her legs and with the catchphrase, "And all my clothes fall off!", was called Cupid Stunt.  This was the name he chose after the BBC wallahs had barred him from his first choice, Mary Huff.

 

Yes, but it was all done in the best possible taste!

 

 

I was having a conversation about Kenny Everett and Benny Hill with someone much younger recently who didn't believe they were early evening family entertainment!

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

My brother-in-law considers himself a connoisseur of Looney Toons cartoons.  He says he can tell which compilation program he's watching by what is left out.  In one, Bugs and his enemy are chasing in a movie theatre. One of them keeps pulling the "Intermission" switch, at which point the whole audience moves to the lobby and smokes.  One show deletes all the scenes of smoking, which ruins the joke.

 

[polybear]

9 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

I've now filled in the gap with the words 'make l0ve'. I find it mind blowingly, stupidly futile that the system regarded the original as offensive.

 

Dave  

 

Probably cos' it's a naughty word is somewhere like Iran .....

 

[iL Dottore]

Censorship.

 

A bit of a thorny topic: undoubtedly a certain amount of restriction of what can be shown IS necessary, but do we have to go out of our way - going through various philosophical, linguistic and semantic contortions - so as NOT to offend.

 

To illustrate: @polybear and I have a long running “in-joke” about the merits (or lack thereof) of tinned baked beans and frozen curly fries versus homemade from fresh ingredients. I think that tinned baked beans (TBB) are, well, basically inedible. In fact (and this is really stretching it a bit) I could say that I am offended by any mention/reference to/image of TBB. Now, if I were to insist that RMWeb delete and prohibit ALL references to or mention of TBB because I am “offended” you’d all think I’m bonkers (and rightly so). But this is the approach favoured by a number of people, sometimes in positions of authority.

 

I would argue that, as long as what is being said/written is not an incitement to violence (e.g” kill all baked bean eating polybears”) it is acceptable, then if what is written is found by some to be offensive, tough! The real world is full of discomforting things (and people) and forcing others to “play nice” (so to speak) doesn’t do anyone any favours. By prohibiting people from writing things that might be offensive to others (say anti-TBB rants) you stoke resentment in those who are prohibited from writing/saying what they truly think, whilst deluding those who “might be offended” that no one dislikes them/disagrees with them/has a different point of view.

 

Finally, an interesting snippet of research (returning to the long running saga of RMWebs rather touchy censoring software):  offensive words and swearwords, it seems, are directly linked to national cultural obsessions, prohibitions and phobias. So in the UK, US, Oz and other Anglo-Saxon countries the most “offensive” words and swear words are all related to sex and sexual organs, in German speaking countries it is excretory functions and products, whilst in Italy it is religion and blasphemy.

[TheQ]

Of second homes and certain areas..

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/24207647.nelson-pub-burnham-market-closing/

[SM42]

Hello from a sunny but breezy Poznan.

 

As far as censoring goes, I can understand the more extreme forms of words being censored as the Internet is free for all regardless of age. 

 

I'm not sure parents would appreciate their pre school youngsters learning some words and using then out of context , or at all for that matter. 

 

It is some of the seemingly innocuous words that get censored that baffle 

 

With the way language developes any word could be in the firing line. 

 

Radio and TV is somewhere a degree of control is possible by parents, the Internet is the wild west. 

 

I find it amusing that age restrictions for websites are being touted. 

I wonder how this will be achieved 

 

" Are you over 18?" 

 

Click yes. 

 

" Enter your date of birth."

 

Just add 20 years 

 

" Enter your credit card number"

 

Who's going to trust that?

 

and

 

Oh look there's mum's credit card, I'll just write the number down so I can use that web site.

Does everyone have a credit card?

 

It's a problem to which there seems no easy solution. 

 

On second thoughts, the latter seems easy as people of all ages over 18 won't visit and it will close down.  

 

Andy

Edited March 27 by SM42

[Happy Hippo]

Apparently it is my job to plant out the potatoes this morning.

 

Duke of York for the first earlies, and Kestrel for the second.  The Kestrel variety are an old favourite, and always do well.  The DoY we've not planted before, so it will be interesting to see how they fair.

 

I have to admit that we have been cutting back on potato production, and now only have six tubers of each variety, so very much hobby veg planting

 

Still it beats pushing the vacuum cleaner around🤣.

 

The new Blackstar pellets arrived yesterday, all I need now is the new rifle.

 

Fortunately, I found a tin of 'basic' .177 pellets when I was going through my range box yesterday.  These will allow me to 'lead up' the barrel, prior to switching to the newer, better (more expensive) stuff.

 

On the model railway front I managed to transfer two boxes of 4 mm stuff from the garage to the workshop.

 

Trains seem to have taken a place at the back of the room at present.  I've not suddenly lost interest, but seem to be a bit short on time.

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, SM42 said:

Hello from a sunny but breezy Poznan.

 

As far as censoring goes, I can understand the more extreme forms of words being censored as the Internet is free for all regardless of age. 

 

I'm not sure parents would appreciate their pre school youngsters learning some words and using then out of context , or at all for that matter. 

 

It is some of the seemingly innocuous words that get censored that baffle 

 

With the way language developes any word could be in the firing line. 

 

Radio and TV is somewhere a degree of control is possible by parents, the Internet is the wild west. 

 

I find it amusing that age restrictions for websites are being touted. 

I wonder how this will be achieved 

 

" Are you over 18?" 

 

Click yes. 

 

" Enter your date of birth."

 

Just add 20 years 

 

" Enter your credit card number"

 

Who's going to trust that?

 

and

 

Oh look there's mum's credit card, I'll just write the number down so I can use that web site.

Does everyone have a credit card?

 

It's a problem to which there seems no easy solution. 

 

On second thoughts, the latter seems easy as people of all ages over 18 won't visit and it will close down.  

 

Andy

The latest wheeze is facial recognition. With them promising  to not keep a record of it. So quite how that's going to work I'm not sure if each time they ask for it they don't have one to compare it to. Maybe there just promising to not keep a record of how many times you need to be recognised. Just one thing for them to sell on I reckon.

[Happy Hippo]

5 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

The latest wheeze is facial recognition.

In my case it's once seen never forgotten. Even if you do use eye bleach:

 

 

This picture was taken from the NAAFI wagon, just after it had pulled up on the ranges with a fresh load of cake and tea. (Other drinks were available)

 

As you can see, I wanted to be first in the queue🤣.

 

 

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Probably cos' it's a naughty word is somewhere like Iran .....

 

More likely to be Utah…

[Tony_S]

18 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

The latest wheeze is facial recognition. With them promising  to not keep a record of it. So quite how that's going to work I'm not sure if each time they ask for it they don't have one to compare it to. Maybe there just promising to not keep a record of how many times you need to be recognised. Just one thing for them to sell on I reckon.

They don’t save the photo, just the biometric information, like the ratio between certain facial features (allegedly). 

[Dave Hunt]

I went to Utah once but it was closed.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

A question for HH - when does a pellet become a bullet?

That’s not the lead in to a joke by the way, it’s a serious question.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

I’ve just had one of those queries. Someone sent me a photograph of a Stanier Pacific saying that his grandfather used to drive it and could I tell him all about it.

 

Sigh…….

 

Dave

[PhilJ W]

On the subject of naughty words.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285776879147?

Bottom right, apparently it was a genuine German brewery that closed in the 1920's.

[Dave Hunt]

It’s interesting that many so-called swear words, including the f word, are in the Oxford and Chambers dictionaries. I wonder if the self appointed guardians of decency would campaign to have them removed?

 

Dave

[TheQ]

9 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

It’s interesting that many so-called swear words, including the f word, are in the Oxford and Chambers dictionaries. I wonder if the self appointed guardians of decency would campaign to have them removed?

 

Dave

They've tried banning a lot of words in the good ol' USA, banning such books from the libraries , then found they'd banned many dictionaries and the Bible.

 

 DH visiting Utah... Red Flag?

 

Edited March 27 by TheQ

[jamie92208]

11 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

It’s interesting that many so-called swear words, including the f word, are in the Oxford and Chambers dictionaries. I wonder if the self appointed guardians of decency would campaign to have them removed?

 

Dave

Many of the words that some people, e in the US want to ban are in the Bible, alo g with stories about all sorts of shenanigans and extreme violence. 

 

Jamie

 

Got eaten to it by The Q.  Drat. 

Edited March 27 by jamie92208

[PhilJ W]

Fine upstanding citizens?

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/two-british-traitors-fighting-vladimir-32448485

[Dave Hunt]

10 minutes ago, TheQ said:

DH visiting Utah... Red Flag?

 

How did you guess?

 

Dave