Hello all,

>>>This article ran in this morning's N Y Times and it seems that
>>>Microsoft has done it again!
>>>
>>>
>>>Bowdlerized by Microsoft
>>>
>>>By MARK GOLDBLATT
>>>
>>>    I was hard at the grindstone, crusading against hypocrisy and chaos,
>>>armed with my laptop and Microsoft Word 2000. I'd just typed: "Only a
>>>fool would believe." But "fool" did not seem right. So I hit Shift-F7 to
>>>call up the thesaurus. The lone synonym that Word provided was a verb:
>>>trick.
>>>
>>>    Where were the nouns? Where was idiot? I typed "idiot," hit Shift-F7,
>>>and got the message "not found." Then I tried goon. Again, not found. No
>>>luck with ninny, nincompoop or numbskull. Or with nitwit, halfwit,
>>>dimwit or twit. Or dullard, dunce or dolt.
>>>
>>>    "Jerk" called up yank, jolt, tug and twitch. "Dummy" produced
>>>mannequin and copy still not what I was looking for.
>>>
>>>    So I phoned a friend who also uses Word and asked him to test the
>>>phenomenon. He typed "fool," hit Shift-F7 and was provided a hearty menu
>>>of synonyms that included not just idiot and ninny, but such exotics as
>>>dunderhead and ignoramus. We realized the difference: He was working
>>>with Word 97, not the Word 2000 I was using.
>>>
>>>    Concluding that I had found a glitch in the updated version of
>>>Microsoft Word, I decided to inform Microsoft. I called and asked to
>>>speak to Bill Gates, but was directed to a cheerful person named Tim.
>>>
>>>    Tim transferred me to Kate, also cheerful, who promised to look into
>>>the matter. Several days later, Kate sent me an e-mail message with an
>>>explanation: "Microsoft's approach regarding the spell checker
>>>dictionary and thesaurus is to not suggest words that may have offensive
>>>uses or provide offensive definitions for any words. The dictionary and
>>>spell checker is updated with each release of Office to ensure that the
>>>tools reflect current social and cultural environments."
>>>
>>>    Was the world's foremost software designer worried about offending
>>>dullards, dunces and dolts? Are there actually people out there who
>>>identify themselves that way? Even if so, you wouldn't think they'd
>>>represent Microsoft's target demographic. More troubling, if an acute
>>>sensitivity to people's feelings had winnowed down Word 2000's thesaurus
>>>options, what changes loomed in the future? Word 2000 already changes
>>>"thier" to "their" as I type. Would the next generation evaporate
>>>"moron" from the screen the moment it appeared?
>>>
>>>    But maybe this isn't oversensitivity. Maybe it is what postmodernists
>>>call erasure: since language creates reality, if we erase every noun
>>>connoting below-average intelligence, the world instantly becomes a
>>>smarter place.
>>>
>>>    Now, if only Microsoft would erase "hypocrisy" and "chaos" . . . .
>>>
>>>    Mark Goldblatt, who teaches writing at the Fashion Institute of
>>>Technology, writes frequently about politics. He is the author of the
>>>forthcoming "Africa Speaks," a novel.
>>
>>Too many messages and not enough time, contact [log in to unmask] and
>>subscribe to Amy's filters and forwards today!!!


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