Re: virus: The Nametag Affair

Tadeusz Niwinski (tad@teta.ai)
Tue, 14 Oct 1997 09:01:11 -0700


Richard wrote:
>ANSWER: I have a program running on my computer that checks for
>patterns matching objective reality. The program detected that
>the word "Nateman" did not match objective reality, and hence
>it selected the closest objective word and replaced it with that.
>That word happened to be "Nametag."

Assuming this is true, and that the program never asked you what to
replace an unknown word with, you seem to be out of luck with
Microsoft: "In no event shall Microsoft or its suppliers be liable
for any other damages whatsoever" (unless your pattern checking
program is made by someone who takes responsibility for their
software).

You are still responsible, Richard. I know it's impossible on
Level-3 to say "sorry for my mistake". Saying "I am always wrong"
is not the same as actually admitting being wrong. It is much
easier to blame the software, me and Nate:

>Now shame on Tad for accusing me and shame on Nate for using
lawyer-like dishonesty in his signature!

Here are some facts (useful only for those who care to use logic in
their thinking):

(1) Richard has some control over his program, as it does not
change words "Brodie" to "Broiler" or "Niwinski" to "Nitwit".

(2) The "Nametag" change was not performed in some other posts
written by Richard, eg. 6 Oct 1997 21:27:03 -0700.

(3) In the string "mindThe Nateman" (12 Oct 1997 15:54:08 -0700)
the program did not do anything about "mindThe" spelled as one
word.

(4) My spell-checker does not recognize the word "Nametag" spelled
as one word. Webster's does not list such a word either (even
"name-calling" is spelled with a hyphen).

Look at your nose, Pinocchio.

Regards, Tadeusz (Tad) Niwinski from planet TeTa
tad@teta.ai http://www.teta.ai (604) 985-4159