Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jacques Chitte who wrote (18422)	3/5/1999 12:34:00 PM
From: Rick Julian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

"States screen vanity plate requests in an effort to uphold what they regard as common decency. (Obviously, some forbidden phrases slip through.) The problem with that standard is that what disturbs one person might not disturb another. "Basically, we look for anything that could be offensive to the general public," explains Anne Atkins, who sits on Virginia's "word committee." After a computerized index weeds out obvious no-nos, the panel rejects combinations that are profane, obscene, sexually explicit, crime-related, excretory in nature, socially disparaging, or otherwise offensive. Panelists are on the lookout for creative use of numerals, like "6UL-DV8." They consult slang dictionaries and foreign linguists. They even use mirrors to foil sly wordsmiths whose messages may offend when reflected in a rear-view mirror. One Iowa man swore his "3MTA3" was a corporate abbreviation; the profanity patrol ruled otherwise."