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The first update dealt with some reports of translation sites that were being blocked. The six wise blind men of Indostan <http//www.tamilnation.org/forum/goliard/sixblindmen.htm> each had their own impression of what an elephant looks like, but if John Godfrey Saxe had written a sequel we would have seen that they put their heads together, compared notes, and came up with a more accurate picture of the elephant, but probably not without some difficulty. The one who what by the leg may have gotten trampled for his effort and the one by the tail may has suffered a fate similar to what I experienced while investigating the issues. There was enough fertilizer spread on me to turn the Garden State in to a jungle. Let's take a look at some of the information that came in this week and see how it helps paint a more accurate picture of this Filtering Elephant. There were reports of two free translation sites being blocked. This phenomena was first reported a few weeks ago by Bennett Haselton of PeaceFire <http//www.peacefire.org>. There is an interesting trail of events that help clarify the picture somewhat. I'll give you the facts any you can fit them together like the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle. 1) When I did my investigation I found that CyberPatrol's OEM product licensed to Raptor (and MANY others) was blocking the following free translation sites http//altavista.babelfish.com 2) While doing my investigation PeaceFire broke the news about Babelfish being blocked and there was flack aimed at CyberPatrol 3) The following results come from the latest OEM filter list licensed by CyberPatrol. It is no longer blocking Babelfish but is STILL blocking the other four sites It is also blocking http//www.systransoft.com/ a company that supplies translation software.
Still accessible are http//dictionaries.travlang.com/EnglishSpanish/ Are you getting a different picture of filtering, how it effects education, and how it works? So, now what? Well, this report might result in one of three things happening. 1) It will be widely read and largely ignored and nothing will change due to terminal apathy and a "what does it matter if a few things are blocked" attitude. 2) People will begin to complain that this sort of blocking is unacceptable and future CyberNot lists will allow access to these sites. 3) Number one will kick in and the three sites I list as accessible will end up being blocked. It's up to YOU! Please report sites that are blocked in appropriately to http//oii.org/html/overblocking.html It never ceases to amaze me. I have had so many bizaare incidents that if they weren't verifiable, I would have to keep quiet about them for fear of being laughed out of town. Maybe I should start writing a situation comedy screen play. I could call it the Filtering Follies. The sad thing is that if they are happening to me, they are happening in one shape or form to hundreds, if not thousands of others. In my next update, I will tell you of two such incidents. Thanks, [ Previous ] [ Filtering Home ] [ Next ] |
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