Mike Irwin wrote: Having Fucking Asshole and Throbbing Monster Cock in use as accounts names and spread throughout the Wikipedia greatly limits the appeal and utility of the database and site for a lot of potential users.
My reply:
Could pages be rated for maturity and the appropriate rating meta
tag be inserted into the page header for childproofing software?
Christopher Mahan chris_mahan@yahoo.com http://www.christophermahan.com/
On one hand .... Anything is possible given sufficient free labor and infinite time. Whether volunteers think it is reasonable or worthwhile for implementation is another question.
It is my experience that most of my relatives and friends do not mess around with kiddie censorship or spy software. It is sufficient that the kids know where they should or should not be and that they have occasional adult advice/supervision. If they do not use the computer responsibly, then they do not use it for a while. Remarkably repressive I know but it seems effective. They seem to absorb what parents or "Uncle" Mike will view as "responsible" quite quickly, their furtive behavorial cues inviting a spot check makes baby sitting or casual supervision fairly easy and amusing.
If this nonsense can be easily avoided then the adults will mandate that it should be avoided. If the adults find it permeates the site past a threshhold, the site will be placed off limits. Probably redundant. The kids know the basic rules, no spy/censorsihp software required, we check on our minors periodically, and they learn rapidly.
Also, one kind of has to wonder if an account name like Throbbing Monster Cock; and the associated visual humor; is a cruising tool for a potential child molester. Of the adults I know, some would find it amusing in private while most would not consider it appropriate public humor with minors present in the audience.
Have we determined what our target audience for Wikipedia (online and derivative products) should be? The last attempted discussion I saw on the topic at meta was cut short due to uncivil behavior.
It would certainly seem, to me, more appropriate free speech to exercise at an adult porn site rather than a general encyclopedia site.
Finally, IMO, it is unreasonable to expect kids to use an encyclopedia where pages and utilities are randomly and arbitarily (from the minor's perspective) restricted due to the casual dropin of a flashing account name.
Consider the following operational scenario:
1. A minor is checking occasionally to see if an answer to their question on a science or math talk page has appeared from one of the admired Wikipedian authors. 2. Suddenly due to [[Throbbing Monster Cock]] attempting to flash them with this signature, they are restricted from the applicable talk page.
Not a very good operational scenario in my view.
So I say censorship software is probably a waste of time and undesirable. A public librarian or school board might have a different perspective. Likewise other parents and relatives with different rearing habits or experiences.
Regards, Mike Irwin