^ Click here to remove ads! ^

Conspiracy Theory?

Submitted by RobertABrown on Fri, 12/14/2007 at 3:46pm.

I've been playing on the ChessWorld site for about three years now. The place boasts half a million players, testimony to its appeal to players fond of on-line correspondence chess.  

Chessworld has a messaging feature, like this site does, but unlike Chess.com, the Chessworld message function has a censor on board, an annoying bit of software programmed to pounce on naughty words and issue a curt wrist slap to the offending party in the form of a message telling thme that dirty words have been detected and their name has been noted. 

My first experience with this smug smut detector happened when I wrote a message to my Australian opponent, friend, and fellow geezer, Dooden. In that message I used the word "cum." I used the word to join two nouns to show that a person does two things as in "actor-cum-politician. The censor, who like its human counterparts, has a filthy mind and finds prurient motives where there are none, ripped the word out of context and assumed I'd used it in the colloquial sense to refer to the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa, and admonished me accordingly. 

Censors are not only self-absorbed prudes, they also tend to be ignorant. I don't happen to think male ejaculate is filthy or pornographic in any way. After  all, where would all of us be without it? 

The other absurdity that arises with the use of this holier-than-thou software, is that if some wag wishes to tell jokes via the Chessworld messaging service that would make Eddy Murphy blush, he or she has only to make slight alterations to fly under the censorial radar. For example, a guy could call his opponent a "mother trucker" to pass muster with the censor with little fear of being misunderstood.

My next brush with the Chessworld censor was much more mysterious. I wrote to Reinert, another good friend with whom I've played many enjoyable games on the Chessworld site. The censor refused to send it. I scoured the message for double entendres and found none. I sent the message to Reinert via regular e-mail, telling him what had happened. He gave it the once over and wrote to tell me that he had tried every word combination and couldn't detect anything that could possibly be deemed offensive.

In the message, I told Reinert that I'd begun playing at Chess.com. I extolled the features of the site, including the excellent graphics, and the fact that it was free. Maybe, Reinert wrote  at the end of his message, the censor is troubled by the mention of competing site.

First cum now .com. Could it be? I tried a couple short, innocuous messages – one liners and included "Chess.com" in all of them. All were censored.

Hmmmm...... 


» posted in Robb's Blog
 

Comments:

by BruiserMac - 3 months ago
Orange Walk Belize
Member Since: Nov 2007
Member Points: 88
Much To Do About Nothing ??   :-)
by Gonnosuke - 4 months ago
Southern California United States
Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 428

The vibe at ChessWorld owes much to the Theory X mindset.  In my experience, Benevolent Autocracies are often only one cause célèbre away from anarchy, or worse yet, revolution.  And oddly enough, they're not so benevolent after realizing the pitchforks and torches have been brandished.... 

-Gonnosuke


by nyynygfan - 5 months ago
United States
Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 3
Cute
by Ray_Brooks - 8 months ago
Heart of Darkness England
Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 1015
This censorship issue is spreading all over... I play poker on a European site where the electronic moderator has thrown up some ridiculous situations e.g. "ass" (a horse hybrid in England) is not allowed whereas "arse" (a mild swear word in England) is allowed! It would seem they are using an American dictionary.
by lithium11 - 8 months ago
Wellington New Zealand
Member Since: Dec 2007
Member Points: 255
seconded :)
by erik - 8 months ago
Mountain View, CA United States
Member Since: May 2007
Member Points: 5953

very fun post!

 


by batgirl - 8 months ago
NC United States
Member Since: Jun 2007
Member Points: 3015
I guess pigs are just a bunch of ay sayers.
by RobertABrown - 8 months ago
Terrace, BC Canada
Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 417
Thanks bat girl. I know nothing of Latin, but I'm fluent in Pig Latin where Magna cum Laude is Agnamay umcay audelay.
by batgirl - 8 months ago
NC United States
Member Since: Jun 2007
Member Points: 3015

ps

 

I like your writng so far. Please keep on.

 

pps. "cum" is latin for "with"

by batgirl - 8 months ago
NC United States
Member Since: Jun 2007
Member Points: 3015
I've had some involved dealings with the owner and a couple of the administrators at ChessWorld which began when I tried to negotiate some problems a friend of mine was having with their site.  I've played some games there and found the site more than adequate, however there is a pervasive air of Big-Brotherhood. I think I would call their brand of management a Benevolent Autocracy.
 

Add your comment:

Join Chess.com for free to add your comment! Already a member? Then login now to comment.