[IP] Simple mistake. Could happen to anybody.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Randall <rvh40@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: March 21, 2006 2:36:20 PM EST
To: Dave <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>, Dewayne Hendricks
<dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, JMG <johnmacsgroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Simple mistake. Could happen to anybody.
http://htdaw.blogsource.com/post.mhtml?post_id=285925
Tuesday, March 21, 2006 at 2:34 PM EST
SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon-dot-com says it is changing the way its search
engine handles requests for the term “abortion.”
The Web retailer says it got an e-mail complaint that the results of the
searches seem biased.
Until the criteria were changed, if you were to type in the word
“abortion” you'd get a prompt that asks: “Did you mean adoption?” Under
the question, there are search results on abortion.
A spokeswoman for Amazon says the prompt isn't meant as some kind of
political or social statement but rather a technology issue.
Patty Smith notes that adoption and abortion are nearly the same, save
for two keystrokes, so the program takes into account the possibility of
a misspelling.
But the company says it ditched the question because the e-mailer raised
a valid question. People who type in the term “adoption” don't get a
prompt asking: “Do you mean abortion.” The change in the site was
reported yesterday by The New York Times.
http://www.wtsp.com/weird/weird_article.aspx?storyid=27589
--
"The people who still support George Bush are the same people who
believe Adam and Eve rode to church on the backs of dinosaurs". - SNL
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