[LINK] the Bill Henson 'mistake' - Conroy

Stilgherrian stil at stilgherrian.com
Sat Mar 28 09:20:19 AEDT 2009


On 28/03/2009, at 8:46 AM, Fred Pilcher wrote:
> stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
>> Maybe as one example of what govs might want for all, have a look  
>> here:
>>
>> http://www.studysearch.com.au
>>
>> And enter the word 'Nazi' Haha. Not even the Uni search finds  
>> anything.
>
> 0_o
>
> Am I the only person who finds that site deeply disturbing?

I'd certainly be happier of the list of what's included / blocked was  
made explicit, but then they're relying in Google's own secret sauce  
there too, I imagine. It's also be better if they said who the  
"independent group" was that run it, and had contacts other than a  
random post office box in North Lakes, Queensland.

The WHOIS entry shows the registrant of studysearch.com.au as "MOLSKY  
HOLDINGS PTY LTD", and their website at http://molsky.com.au has an  
empty home page and a generic privacy statement that's copies from a  
US site (it mentions "ZIP code"). If transparency breeds trust,  
then... etc.

But a little more digging reveals that the "Mol" part of "Molsky" is  
probably one Scott Moller, ICT Services Manager
at Cannon Hill Anglican College, Brisbane. http://www1.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/cnetw08/66customising_web_searching.htm

Also, while "Nazi" returns no searches, "Nazi" does. I guess they've  
turned off word stemming, or something.

I don't find it "deeply disturbing", Fred, just a bit... lacking in  
transparency.

Stil


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