“Warning: My Philosophy Book Is "Potentially Damaging" - Huffingtonpost.com” plus 1 more |
| Warning: My Philosophy Book Is "Potentially Damaging" - Huffingtonpost.com Posted: 05 Aug 2010 10:52 AM PDT GreatPhilosophersBook.com -- the website that I created for my forthcoming Harper Perennial book Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love -- was recently categorized by Internet web filter WebSense as a "dangerous" site. When my editor tried to access the site from within HarperCollins's computer network, she received the following error message:
This wasn't any fault on HarperCollins's part; thousands of companies utilize WebSense software to block employees' access to pornographic, obscene, or harmful material in their workplaces. Unfortunately, WebSense's analysis of a website's contents is not always accurate.
Perhaps the site had one too many sexual words sprinkled about it. One sentence in particular, a blurb from Neal Pollack, may have prompted the site to be flagged by WebSense:
Perhaps it's not my book that's too sexy. Perhaps it's Neal Pollack who's too sexy. I contacted WebSense customer service via e-mail and they responded less than 12 hours later. "Thank you for writing to Websense," the e-mail cheerfully said. "The site you submitted has been reviewed. We have made an update to the URL in our master database." WebSense recategorized the site from "dangerous" to "entertainment." It couldn't be that easy, could it? I checked with my editor at HarperCollins. "Either the office has become less stringent overnight, or all your websites are now even less dangerous than a barrel of puppies," she wrote back. The block had been lifted. I can't help but being a little upset. Being labeled "potentially damaging" made me feel sexy and cool, like how Russell Brand must feel every day when he wakes up. Or at least how he did before he settled down with Katy Perry. And now? My website is just another part of the "entertainment" ecosystem, as harmless as Justin Bieber fan-fiction.
Follow Andrew Shaffer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/orderofstandrew Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Posted: 27 Jul 2010 06:59 AM PDT • VIDEO: Rhoads press conference • TWITTER: Follow Bobby's updates on www.twitter.com, @BobbyLaGesse • • • IRVING, Texas — Simple worked once. Why not try it again? After keeping things simple in his first-year as Iowa State head coach, Paul Rhoads plans to do the same as the Cyclones look to build upon an Insight Bowl victory in 2010. For more ISU sports, see GoCyclones. "You can't go away from the basics just because you stopped some people and you scored some points," Rhoads said at Big 12 media days on Monday. "You did it because you blocked and you tackled, not because you out-schemed them." Stripping football to the bare essentials — Rhoads spent 15 minutes in his very first spring practice going over tackling 101 — helped ISU get back on the national map. The Cyclones snapped a 10-game losing streak. They ended the nation's longest road losing streak. They won at Nebraska for the first time since 1977. And they had a winning record for the first time since 2005.That was a good first act. But ISU defensive end Rashawn Parker knows more is expected when the Cyclones hit the field for the encore. "All the expectations are raised," Parker said. "We want to go to a second bowl game and have more success this season." ISU believes it's up to the challenge. The running game, which anchored the offense last year, returns nearly intact with running back Alexander Robinson and the four starting offensive linemen back. Quarterback Austen Arnaud overhauled his mechanics and said his accuracy is "night and day" better than last year. Even though the defense only returns four starters, the Cyclones like the strides being made by defensive coordinator Wally Burnham's unit. "They are going to make plays," Arnaud said. "I've seen them all summer and spring. We are excited for them." For Rhoads, developing talent will be a key to ISU's success, not just this season, but for the foreseeable future. "People are going to see that this fall, and not just players that played last year," he said. "But redshirts and so forth that begin to play with us." But what about the schedule, the one that could potentially feature four preseason top 10 opponents? "We play the toughest schedule in America," Rhoads said. "We have to be ready for it." A demanding schedule is nothing new for the Cyclones, Arnaud said, because the teams on it that college football pundits are raving about — Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska — are old foes. "Every game is tough," Arnaud said. "There is not a team on our schedule that I feel we would murder. We open up with Northern Illinois, and they made a bowl last year." But after everything ISU went through last year, the Cyclones think they're ready to take it on. "We've already proven ourselves," Parker said. "But we have to prove ourselves again. It's a new year. Everything we did and learned last season, and all the hard work we put in this offseason will carry over into the season." Alburtis no longer on team Defensive tackle Austin Alburtis graduated in the summer and decided to give up football. "He has elected to forego his senior year of eligibility and move into the workplace," Rhoads said. Sims update expected soon Rhoads said he hopes to hear something about the ongoing police investigation involving David Sims in the next day or two. Sims is under investigation by the Ames Police Department for unauthorized use of a credit card. Bobby La Gesse can be reached at (515) 663-6929 or rlagesse@amestrib.com. The following are comments from readers. They do not necessarily represent the views of The Tribune or Amestrib.com. We encourage feedback, questions and discussion. All comments are reviewed by editorial staff before posting. Submission of a comment indicates that you have read and agree to follow our comment policy. Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
Philosophy has a long history of dangerous ideas, but I wondered how a philosophy book could possibly pose a security threat to a computer network. Is existentialism incompatible with binary?| You are subscribed to email updates from Philosophy - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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