I’ve run into something similar when naming loadouts in Call of Duty. “Assault” is never accepted presumably because it has “ass” in it. It’s not even something other players can see, like a username.
Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
271–280 of 307 posts
Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
It does mean white/of European origin in American English. Just like entree means main dish. Both don’t correspond to the original meaning of the words. You can find similar shifts in meaning in other languages too (e.g., German calls a mobile/cell phone “Handy” which makes no sense to a native English speaker). I question the wisdom of telling native speakers that their language uses a word wrong/that doesn’t mean w…
‘Handy’ comes from the WWII ‘handie talkie’, a transceiver small enough to hold in the hand¹, which followed the ‘walkie talkie’, a transceiver small enough to walk around with². ¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Portable_radio_SCR536.png ² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scr300.png
Meanwhile, at least in the modern US, "walkie talkie" is the name of the handheld unit and "handie talkie" would get weird looks because it's not really known.
Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
#273Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, no name filter is going to be perfect for all edge cases. But presumably, it's a lot cheaper to have the Lyft support team handle email tickets from the relatively few Professor Fucks, than to have them also deal with every Cummings and Dick.
Or just not filter names on an app like Lyft. You can't even see other users' names. Who is potentially being harmed by even a malicious Professor Fuck?
> You can't even see other users' names.
You do see their first/given name for identification on pickup.
Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you and the driver are supposed to exchange names. This is probably awkward when you name yourself "suck my balls" or something, which people undoubtedly do because people are terrible. The Simpsons figured this out decades ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1EjcWU6sEk
> I think you and the driver are supposed to exchange names. What for? And how does any other environment where people introduce themselves to each other fix this? I don't think they see it as a problem in practice.
One of my co-workers once got in the wrong Uber; she and another person with the same name were being picked up on the same corner, and the cars just happened to arrive close enough they each got into the wrong car. It was confirming the driver's name as they sat down that clued them in.
Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
> traditionally Caucasian names like "Cummings" It always amazes me when US Americans talk in terms of human races like it's the most normal thing in the world. And no, “Cummings“ is not a “Caucasian name“ (whatever that is supposed to mean), it's an English name. I don't want sound too harsh, it's just that as a Central European with all our recent history, things like this really rub me the wrong way.
Race is not a uniquely American concept. The Germans were the ones who first came up with the idea of a Caucasian race back in the 18th century. You're not wrong though, we should use White European instead since that's what it means today.
> The Germans were the ones who first came up with the idea of a Caucasian race back in the 18th century.
Yes, but it has been completely abandoned by the scientific and political mainstream for decades now. Using the word "Caucasian" will definitely give you some strange looks ;-)
> You're not wrong though, we should use White European instead since that's what it means today.
I agree, because it would make it clear what it is really about: lumping people together by their skin color. This is one of those examples where PC speech only helps to hide a problem instead of solving it.
Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
#276Earlier quoted context omitted.
> traditionally Caucasian names like "Cummings" It always amazes me when US Americans talk in terms of human races like it's the most normal thing in the world. And no, “Cummings“ is not a “Caucasian name“ (whatever that is supposed to mean), it's an English name. I don't want sound too harsh, it's just that as a Central European with all our recent history, things like this really rub me the wrong way.
As an American I agree and this was also my reaction to the comment. There are a number of these things, though. I personally get a little irritated with the way many people here use terms like "Hispanic" to contrast with "white people". To me, "Hispanic" is a wide spectrum of ethnicities but really more of a linguistic, cultural and national/political specifier, with lots of overlap with "white". People who are tryi…
Thanks for you comment! After all, the concept of "ethnicity" is highly debated and numerous definitions exist (just have a look at the wikipedia article). Many European countries don't even ask for "ethnicity" in their census; cultural minorities are often rather defined by their language because this is what practically matters regarding things like school, traffic signs, offices, court, etc.
Therefore I find it pretty odd that in the USA the idea of a uniform European "ethnicity" - largely defined by skin color! - is still very common and even officially practiced. I remember how I had to fill a form when entering the USA which asked for my "ethnicity". I was flabbergasted and just ticked "unknown" or something like that because I didn't want to identify myself as "Caucasian".
Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, no name filter is going to be perfect for all edge cases. But presumably, it's a lot cheaper to have the Lyft support team handle email tickets from the relatively few Professor Fucks, than to have them also deal with every Cummings and Dick.
Or just not filter names on an app like Lyft. You can't even see other users' names. Who is potentially being harmed by even a malicious Professor Fuck?
Not only do drivers see your name, but I believe when you do a Shared Lyft, other riders also see your first name. And customer support will see your name as well.
In general, just because someone is providing a service to you (e.g. driving you, providing customer support, etc) doesn't mean they should be unnecessarily exposed to offensive language.
Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
#278Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you want to have fun with the English slang, change it to ‘Joost De Tip’. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Just%20the%2...
Joost ryhmes with toast though
Doesn't start with an English J [dʒ] sound, either. Not important to the casual English reader.
Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
#279[deleted]
Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’
#280It seems like tech companies have been doing DIY profanity filters. Apple has a profanity filter for engraving text onto a device in the online store ( https://twitter.com/minimaxir/status/1213188371452841984 ); intended to be your name, so terms like "Dick" have to not be filtered. I learnt that Apple has a validation endpoint. Since the engraving service was recently updated, I took a profanity wordlist and checked…
The Apple endpoint, inconsistent as it was, was a little more permissive than I expected. At least compared to something like the Sony Playstation ID filter; for example, 'hitler' is fine for Apple, whereas Sony seems to block out any ID containing the literal string of 'hitle', e.g. `hitle123987` [0]. Meanwhile, Apple manages to block some of the more esoteric sexual profanity that Sony's filter can miss, e.g. `bung…
What does this code do? Is it an API call? How can I run it myself?