banned from chat

Ordinarily I would agree with you but I was about to build a new system and would have used this chat room for any help I might need. I thought it was a little ridiculous to say that solar plexus was profanity. I mean is the software that buggy?

Ordinarily I would agree with you but I was about to build a new system and would have used this chat room for any help I might need. I thought it was a little ridiculous to say that solar plexus was profanity. I mean is the software that buggy?

The Computer Hope forum has free computer help. Very often, the advice you receive on the forum will be better than on chat.

I agree with that but patio, mopar, Lisa_Maree and guitar_man are always very helpful when I'm on the chat and if I have another question right after one gets solved I can ask it right away instead of posting again. Beside that I would like to know why the *censored* I got banned and not just my profile but my ip for saying solar plexus. Someone else on the forum gave me good advice on a mobo and other things but when it's just a small question it was usually better to ask the chat room.

Beside that I would like to know why the *censored* I got banned and not just my profile but my ip for saying solar plexus.

The short answer is pretty much that Nathan wrote Hopebot from scratch- and rolled his own solution- rather than using any number of readily available options. One of the disadvantages of rolling your own is that you have to learn the hard lessons that were already learned by existing solutions. (if you ask me there shouldn't be any "detection" of disguised profanity, that's what Operators are for...)

Agreed and what got censored there was he+ll which I don't even use in the chat room. Also it didn't even say Hopebot banned me it was Chang something or other a bunch of numbers but I couldn't read it all before it completely blocked me out. I sent a pm to computer hope admin and hopefully they will try to do something about the sloppy recognition. I don't really think you need a profanity filter on a site like this anyways. I have seen a couple of people acting like children on the forums and then getting censored but I think a moderator  or two checking in on the chat room should be enough. I mean the whole you can't cuss period thing really annoys me.

That's why this whole thing has really ruffled my feathers when I have been stopping myself from talking like I usually do and then saying solar plexus is an instant ban from the chat room. I was just trying to help some girl out with something I actually know a lot about. I've helped a few people out with computer oriented stuff on the chat but mostly I use it for questions that are probably too stupid for me to ask on the forums. Also why did it kick me from the chat but hasn't censored it any of the times I've said it here?

Generic Note: the forums and chat are completely separate and hosted by separate entities. the Chat channel is merely a channel within a larger IRC server, run by mibbit. Heck I have a channel.. or, rather, help run a channel, on mibbit too. The actual channel itself and it's management of course depends on who is running it. For #computerhope, it has a long and rather colourful history. As it is now, it's run by a few Operators, and Hopebot. Naturally, Hopebot seems to be... a bit green around the gills, so to speak. And it's swear detection is a tad silly.

Now, back to the the Server itself; the Server has it's own list of swear words, too. These are more exacting and there isn't any detection for people "working around" them; you can merely put a space inside them. However, if it detects one, it will replace that with <CENSORED>.

On the channel I generally idle in, we have a EggDrop bot configured to only issue warnings for swearing when it sees <CENSORED>. There is no special logic to detect when somebody is working around that because, honestly, that's sort of why there are Operators; and some of the censored words themselves are pretty ridiculous, so we still have to workaround the server to communicate adequately sometimes. It works fine, though; and EggDrop is a well-tested piece of OSS that has been through a lot so it's probably quite reliable. That isn't to knock on Nathan's bot, of course; but I think there is a such thing as "trying too hard" particularly when it comes to trying to determine inappropriate language.

The Forum runs SMF and is owned and operated by Computer Hope Admin himself (with help from the community, of course ). SMF's censoring and swearing is on a per-user basis; that is, each user can decide in their profile whether words are censored or not. I have it disabled entirely, personally. The reason that you don't have the same issue here is the same reason you wouldn't have the issue in other Mibbit channels where Hopebot doesn't reside; Hopebot isn't here . The forum software doesn't try to be "clever" to detect profanity. If somebody goes to the effort of hiding profanity- like saying say @$$ or something, it doesn't care. That's what moderators are for; that is something that can only really be parsed and interpreted as either being appropriate or inappropriate by a human; since a "disguised swear word" could just as easily be something like "Solar plexus" (and what the heck word it thought that was I don't know) On another note ChanServ was likely what kicked you, but technically it was probably HopeBot that issued the command. Another possibility is that an Op didn't like you and kicked you for no reason. But that seems unlikely.

It was Chanserv that kicked me I went back and looked at the chat logs. I also sent a pm to computer hope admin with the logs and it showing that it banned me for saying solar plexus which I assume it thought the second word was referring to genitals. It didn't censor me thought it didn't warn me it just booted me right away ip and all. Now I thought the ban was lifted since I could get back on the chat but loastcoast said my ip had changed and the ban wasn't lifted at all. So he said I should make my own posting including a link to the logs but on the other thread everyone was getting mad because I posted on two threads. I had not thought I needed to pm someone yet and didn't think it was a huge deal to post on two threads since the one was about it being oversensitive.

I did not use profanity I did not get warned and now on the other thread the moderators are mad because I posted? What's with the god complex? One of the moderators was offended because I called the bot "retarded"? I am offended because I watch my language and get banned anyways! I thought the profanity filter was not neeeded as it was but it banning me without warning without using any profanity is just ridiculous. I don't know why the moderators here are being over sensitive either I did nothng wrong I'm peeved about it and they want to get all stuck up about me calling the bot "retarded? Take it easy guys I did not call a person that but the bot is less than intelligent.



Definition:re·tard   /rɪˈtɑrd, for 1–3, 5; ˈritɑrd for 4/  Show Spelled[ri-tahrd, for 1–3, 5; ree-tahrd for 4]  Show IPA
verb (used with object)
1. to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.

What's with the god complex? One of the moderators was offended because I called the bot "retarded"? I am offended because I watch my language and get banned anyways! I thought the profanity filter was not neeeded as it was but it banning me without warning without using any profanity is just ridiculous. I don't know why the moderators here are being over sensitive either I did nothng wrong I'm peeved about it and they want to get all stuck up about me calling the bot "retarded? Take it easy guys I did not call a person that but the bot is less than intelligent.

This post is an excellent indicator of why you were banned. It reveals a tendency to hurl insults, to be rude, to be insensitive, to argue, to be opinionated, to refuse to heed advice given, and in addition to whine and complain, all at great length. These are things that chat mods (and participants) hate like poison, they are unattractive traits and they lead to trouble in chat rooms and forums, and it sure looks like a ban for "profanity" was maybe a convenient excuse and the real reason was they just don't like you.

[Moderator]

I did not use profanity I did not get warned and now on the other thread the moderators are mad because I posted? What's with the god complex? One of the moderators was offended because I called the bot "retarded"? I am offended because I watch my language and get banned anyways!

Definition:re·tard   /rɪˈtɑrd, for 1–3, 5; ˈritɑrd for 4/  Show Spelled[ri-tahrd, for 1–3, 5; ree-tahrd for 4]  Show IPA
verb (used with object)
1. to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.

I never said I was "mad", only offended - that's a personal response, not an official one. Whether or not you care or choose to modify your language to be less offensive to me is entirely up to you - it will certainly not effect your status on the forum.

[Moderator]

Not only that but by definition retard and retarded are quite different...
You chose the definition of the former rather than the latter...

HopeBot has feelings.

This kind of stuff makes me want to punch things. What kind of stuff!? When people get into the "he said/she said" because it doesn't matter. I don't understand why people have such a problem with people saying certain words on a forum. So what? People swear all the time in day-to-day life, why do we have to censor everything. I can understand if it's directed at someone, but if it's not, why does it matter!?

So this guy is kicked because his name had "pee" in it!!??? Are you Fing kidding?

"Sticks and stones. . . "

I don't understand why people have such a problem with people saying certain words on a forum. So what? People swear all the time in day-to-day life, why do we have to censor everything. I can understand if it's directed at someone, but if it's not, why does it matter!?

This website is for users of all ages. This is free computer help for everyone.

This website is for users of all ages. This is free computer help for everyone.

What does that have to do with swearing?

Most forums that are populated by a much younger demographic have more swearing, not less...

[Moderator]

I can only speak to the question from a forum, not a chat room perspective. These forums are read by people of all ages, faiths, and creeds. To whatever extent possible, the goal is to not offend anyone or make them feel uncomfortable when they read these posts. They should know that when they come here with a technical question they will not be exposed to behavior or language that is contrary to their religion, beliefs, or morals. I agree it's possible to go overboard in our attempts to eliminate profanity, and we on the staff need to be aware of that; but this isn't the streets and we're not your best friends.  This is first and foremost a support forum. While "community" is encouraged, abuse of others and profanity are not.... there are plenty of websites and forums where you can go for that.

Heck I have a channel.. or, rather, help run a channel, on mibbit too.

I should probably clarify this. I basically just have an FTP that the logs can get dumped to. I don't actually "own" the channel by any means. I'm just there to look pretty.