Touch Inappropriate book suggestions on recommendations

danskmacabre · 03-07-2012, 06:50 AM

So I check to see if there's any updates for the KT firmware today and as usual it replaces my shortlist with recommendations, which is irritating, but that's not the nature of this thread.

The purpose of this thread is to state one particular suggestion it came up with.
Before I go further I should note that my ereader is not just used by me, but by my 11 year old son who reads some of his favourite books on my ereader, various fantasy and scifi books.

Imagine my shock when I get a book suggestion in "Recommendations" of an extremely graphic and sexual nature.
I have never bought any books of a sexual nature so am surprised to see this book suggested.
Does "game of thrones" by George R.R. Martin count? I don't think so. I suppose it has narrative sex scenes, but it's all pretty mild stuff.

I'm not very happy that an ereader that my kids are using as well has recommendations on it of a strong sexual nature.

Has anyone else experienced this?

geenp · 03-07-2012, 07:07 AM

My recommendations are horribly inaccurate and irrelevant but I've never gotten anything innapropriate or offensive.

danskmacabre · 03-07-2012, 07:29 AM

Yes this is the first time I've seen something like this. I check for updates every week or so I guess like you say, whilst the suggestions are inaccurate, they've never been inappropriate until now.

paulsalter · 03-07-2012, 07:51 AM

have you ever accidentally clicked on romance or anything that could be an adult type novel, not knowing what it was until you red the description

I have found that recommendations are not just based on books bought, but also books looked at in the store

mine are totally wrong by just browsing the store (see lots of romance/children's). The cover looked interesting so I clicked into the book to read more, but when I read the detail they where not interesting

Andy_T · 03-07-2012, 07:52 AM

Well, there's also another possible explanation.

When I was 11 (and a boy) myself I might certainly have been interested in hmm, doing research into the realm of sexuality, had I had the means (e.g. google etc.) available today.

Of course, that might have nothing whatsoever to do with what has happened in reality at your device.

Best regards,
Andy

carpetmojo · 03-07-2012, 07:53 AM

Suppose it depends on what you consider inappropriate or offensive.

And they don't know - nor does any supplier of ebooks - that you have an 11 year-old child
Or any TV broadcaster, come to that.
I hope.....

That would present a whole new layer of censorship opportunities.

danskmacabre · 03-07-2012, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulsalter

have you ever accidentally clicked on romance or anything that could be an adult type novel, not knowing what it was until you red the description

That is possible. Before I bought my wife an ereader, I put a lot of girly books on it for her to read.

danskmacabre · 03-07-2012, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy_T

Well, there's also another possible explanation.

When I was 11 (and a boy) myself I might certainly have been interested in hmm, doing research into the realm of sexuality, had I had the means (e.g. google etc.) available today.

Of course, that might have nothing whatsoever to do with what has happened in reality at your device.

Andy

Lol!, I've talked to him about "the facts of life" and so on and he's not interested in that sort of thing yet. he's still a kid atm.
That and he doesn't know how to use the device wirelessly anyway. He just knows how to read books on it and that's about it.
Additionally I have parental controls on internet access, so it would be difficult for him to bypass that.

danskmacabre · 03-07-2012, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

Suppose it depends on what you consider inappropriate or offensive.
And they don't know - nor does any supplier of ebooks - that you have an 11 year-old child
Or any TV broadcaster, come to that.
I hope.....
That would present a whole new layer of censorship opportunities.

I'm pretty open-minded, but the book in question was called

Spoiler:

or something like that.

Not that I'm against that sort of thing as an adult, but I don't want my kids at their current age reading about that sort of thing.

I'm not that happy about recommendations being forced upon me anyway, but since they are, it WOULD be nice to have some sort of filtering controls available to me.

I re-ran the sync and it's disappeared from recommendations now anyway.

illiterate · 03-07-2012, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danskmacabre

I'm pretty open-minded, but the book in question was called

Spoiler:

or something like that.

Not that I'm against that sort of thing as an adult, but I don't want my kids at their current age reading about that sort of thing.

I'm not that happy about recommendations being forced upon me anyway, but since they are, it WOULD be nice to have some sort of filtering controls available to me.

I re-ran the sync and it's disappeared from recommendations now anyway.

Wow.... now is the time to revive my KT and get some preview of this "art".

danskmacabre · 03-07-2012, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by illiterate

Wow.... now is the time to revive my KT and get some preview of this "art".

Yeah I lol'd (at first).
As it turns out I had a dig around these forums and noticed the plugin thread and installed it, which can remove the recommendations bar anyway, so problem solved.

The Terminator · 03-07-2012, 11:45 AM

FWIW Short List reverting back to Recommendations is going to be fixed in the next firmware. But the current plug-ins don't seem to work in the beta builds, just sayin. My recommendations are way off too, most are either Harlequin or Warrior Cats, which I'm not interested in whatsoever. I've bought quite a few Agatha Christie's this year, but do mystery's show up? Of course not, what about comedy? No way, you already bought some of those, why would you want more?

PeterT · 03-07-2012, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danskmacabre

Yeah I lol'd (at first).
As it turns out I had a dig around these forums and noticed the plugin thread and installed it, which can remove the recommendations bar anyway, so problem solved.

Do remember though that the plugin only activates AFTER you go to the Library view; so if you power the unit off and back on you will still see the recommendations.

danskmacabre · 03-07-2012, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

Do remember though that the plugin only activates AFTER you go to the Library view; so if you power the unit off and back on you will still see the recommendations.

Yes, I just leave it in sleep mode for now.

MikeNorrish · 03-07-2012, 08:11 PM

Haven't downloaded any of the Dresden Files books have you? My search for "Summer Knight" (the fourth book) fairly quickly turned up a bunch of soft porn books by an author of that name, as well as the book I was looking for.

Can't really be helped - the joys of fuzzy searches... lol

03-07-2012, 06:50 AM	#1
danskmacabre Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 3593438 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Glo. Galaxy Tab S 8.4	Inappropriate book suggestions on recommendations So I check to see if there's any updates for the KT firmware today and as usual it replaces my shortlist with recommendations, which is irritating, but that's not the nature of this thread. The purpose of this thread is to state one particular suggestion it came up with. Before I go further I should note that my ereader is not just used by me, but by my 11 year old son who reads some of his favourite books on my ereader, various fantasy and scifi books. Imagine my shock when I get a book suggestion in "Recommendations" of an extremely graphic and sexual nature. I have never bought any books of a sexual nature so am surprised to see this book suggested. Does "game of thrones" by George R.R. Martin count? I don't think so. I suppose it has narrative sex scenes, but it's all pretty mild stuff. I'm not very happy that an ereader that my kids are using as well has recommendations on it of a strong sexual nature. Has anyone else experienced this? Last edited by danskmacabre; 03-07-2012 at 07:01 AM.

03-07-2012, 11:45 AM	#12
The Terminator Retired Posts: 2,552 Karma: 37638420 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)	FWIW Short List reverting back to Recommendations is going to be fixed in the next firmware. But the current plug-ins don't seem to work in the beta builds, just sayin. My recommendations are way off too, most are either Harlequin or Warrior Cats, which I'm not interested in whatsoever. I've bought quite a few Agatha Christie's this year, but do mystery's show up? Of course not, what about comedy? No way, you already bought some of those, why would you want more? Last edited by The Terminator; 03-07-2012 at 02:48 PM.

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03-07-2012, 07:07 AM	#2
geenp Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 16628 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: none	My recommendations are horribly inaccurate and irrelevant but I've never gotten anything innapropriate or offensive.

03-07-2012, 07:29 AM	#3
danskmacabre Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 3593438 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Glo. Galaxy Tab S 8.4	Yes this is the first time I've seen something like this. I check for updates every week or so I guess like you say, whilst the suggestions are inaccurate, they've never been inappropriate until now.

03-07-2012, 07:51 AM	#4
paulsalter Fanatic Posts: 579 Karma: 3243761 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Fire HD8	have you ever accidentally clicked on romance or anything that could be an adult type novel, not knowing what it was until you red the description I have found that recommendations are not just based on books bought, but also books looked at in the store mine are totally wrong by just browsing the store (see lots of romance/children's). The cover looked interesting so I clicked into the book to read more, but when I read the detail they where not interesting

03-07-2012, 07:52 AM	#5
Andy_T Evangelist Posts: 431 Karma: 5121676 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Hannover, Germany Device: iPod touch, iPhone, iPad, Kindle KB, NT, Fire, PW II	Well, there's also another possible explanation. When I was 11 (and a boy) myself I might certainly have been interested in hmm, doing research into the realm of sexuality, had I had the means (e.g. google etc.) available today. Of course, that might have nothing whatsoever to do with what has happened in reality at your device. Best regards, Andy

03-07-2012, 07:53 AM	#6
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	Suppose it depends on what you consider inappropriate or offensive. And they don't know - nor does any supplier of ebooks - that you have an 11 year-old child Or any TV broadcaster, come to that. I hope..... That would present a whole new layer of censorship opportunities.

03-07-2012, 08:11 PM	#15
MikeNorrish Member Posts: 11 Karma: 16808 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: New Zealand Device: Kobo Glo	Haven't downloaded any of the Dresden Files books have you? My search for "Summer Knight" (the fourth book) fairly quickly turned up a bunch of soft porn books by an author of that name, as well as the book I was looking for. Can't really be helped - the joys of fuzzy searches... lol

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