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  #1  
Unread 07-10-2011, 11:36 AM
Ed Shacklee's Avatar
Ed Shacklee Ed Shacklee is offline
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There's been an increasing mention of bots on the Sphere -- not the very nice and much lamented Stephen Dowling Bots of Huckleberry Finn, but search bots. Is this becoming a bigger problem lately, then?

For that matter, as I'm not really sure, I'd like to know: what is the problem? Do poetry editors use search bots and exclude poems from consideration on that basis? If so, do we have a sense of how many, and who? Should we -- apologies if this sounds like a question for a high school health class -- take precautions?

Best,

Ed
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Unread 07-10-2011, 12:01 PM
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Hi Ed,

The question is non-trivial, and it has indeed been raised before. For a sample,

http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=3358

http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=3681

http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=6612

http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=14442

Note that the "PSA" thread linked to in the first two threads is obsolete; Alex has now (as of January 2009) implemented a blanket "no index" prohibition in all of the main workshop boards (Met, TDE, Non-met, Trans, and--I think--Fiction). So you shouldn't find anything popping on Google if you search for text from those pages. The last thread at the end is a recent update on the details from Alex.

As for the question of how much it matters for submissions, etc., obviously that will be up to individual editors . . . and in practice, there's no way of knowing. But as a policy, the Sphere has always (to my knowledge!) maintained that posting in a workshop thread is not equivalent to publication, and we try to keep the nosy search bots out as part of that commitment.

Steve C.
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Unread 07-10-2011, 01:41 PM
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Stephen,

Thanks. Even more reason to appreciate the Sphere.

Ed
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Unread 07-12-2011, 04:10 AM
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The Bots are now worrying me. I have picked up from various posts here that the Distinguished Guest forum is not protected by the Bottywhackers. That, as I understand it, is why the poems don't get given titles on the threads etc.

However, yesterday I was looking for the original of a poem by Gautier, a translation of which I entered in the recent Bake-off and when I put "Gautier Hippopotamus" in the box and hit the tit, my own translation came up as the second entry, followed by the crib, the assessment, the comments, all the way through to the end. Good Grief! I cried, aloud.

I was not at all discombobulated, I hasten to add. Flattered in fact. The poor poem has probably never had so many potential readers in its life. I allowed myself a smug grin. But then I realised that something really creepy had happened. Up in the top right-hand corner it said "Welcome Ann Drysdale".

Bill Lantry has already informed me about how many of my secrets are known unto the virtual world, but I am still constantly amazed by the technology. What I want to know is - how did the Bots know that it was me, and would the poem come up in the same way for anyone else who was looking? Were the little B's just pandering to my ego?

What do they want from me, I ask. Do they mean me harm?

My immediate reaction was that of an overprotected milksop - they should be exterminated! But, on reflection, so long as they adhere to Asimov's first law, I suppose I can co-exist with them.
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Unread 07-12-2011, 04:32 AM
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Janice D. Soderling Janice D. Soderling is offline
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Ann, this is because you entered Eratosphere or at least a snapshot of it. That message is always there when you are accessing Eratosphere, maybe you just haven't noticed it before.
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Unread 07-12-2011, 06:47 AM
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Ann Drysdale Ann Drysdale is online now
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Oh, yes, Janice - I've noticed it each time I've come through the front door, as I usually do. Ta-da! Here I am!

That time, though, I thought (having used Google) that I was creeping in through the tradesmen's entrance and was mortified to have been caught in the act.

If I have stepped into a snapshot, how will I know it from the real one if it dissembles so? As Larkin put it: But o, photography! as no art is/ Faithful and disappointing!

This is all a hall of mirrors; if I stand with my back to one and confront another, I and my bot go travelling at the speed of light into infinity. Heigh ho.

Last edited by Ann Drysdale; 07-12-2011 at 06:51 AM. Reason: I don't know. The Bots did it.
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