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I'm still trying to work out what Sony's filter doesn't like about my username (zeta0134) which I've had for ages. The first bit is just the letter "z" in Spani

I'm still trying to work out what Sony's filter doesn't like about my username (zeta0134) which I've had for ages. The first bit is just the letter "z" in Spanish; there's no deeper meaning. To my knowledge it's not considered offensive in Spanish, but Sony would not let me have it no matter how many variations I tried. Maybe there's some political thing I'm not aware of? Anyway, I switched languages and I'm "zed0134" on their network. The whole thing struck me as a bit odd.

somehnguy 7y ago
Maybe something related to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas ? Seems like a poor reason but most profanity filters are inconsistent as hell anyway so its possible.
Gibbon1 7y ago
> what Sony's filter doesn't like about my username (zeta0134) I can explain that one to you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas
danso 7y ago
That's very interesting. I just called their endpoint: curl -d '{"onlineId":"zeta0134","reserveIfAvailable":true}' \ -X POST https://accounts.api.playstation.com/api/v1/accounts/onlineIds \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" And got a response indicating that the name was both valid (i.e. not "improper") and available. Maybe at one particular time the word was flagged, but I can't imagine why. edit: As other repliers have said, I did think that it could have something to do with Los Zetas, and maybe that was the case in the past. However, as of now, `zeta0134`, `zetas0134`, and `loszetas0134` are all valid and available names, according to the endpoint. Interestingly, `pabloescobar0134` is considered improper. However, `elchapo0134` is not – which supports the argument that Sony's blacklist is (obviously) manually curated and perhaps subject to change. Maybe enough people who wanted "Zeta" complained for Sony to realize it was a word that had many more uses than in Los Zetas
- Al-Khwarizmi 7y ago
  Pablo is a very common Spanish name, and Escobar is a fairly common last name. There probably are thousands of people called Pablo Escobar who could want to use that name.
okasaki 7y ago
Possibly because of the Mexican drug cartel?
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
dspig 7y ago
Los Zetas?
interestica 7y ago
This is making me think of elevators that deliberately leave out floor numbers (13 in north america, 4 in asia) because they are 'bad luck'. Numbers! As Mitch Hedberg would say, the people on the 14th floor know which floor they're really on.
- Al-Khwarizmi 7y ago
  And most planes don't have a row 13. I don't know Mitch Hedberg, but that's also my reasoning. I'm not superstitious, but if I were and I had a problem with number 13, I totally wouldn't want to sit on row "14". There is a supernatural power that makes 13 bad and you can fool it by printing a "14" on top of what's clearly the 13th row? The spirit, deity or force of nature that causes bad luck looks at the labels? Come on!
  - wutbrodo 7y ago
    > I'm not superstitious, but if I were and I had a problem with number 13, I totally wouldn't want to sit on row "14". I imagine the way you're approaching this is not unrelated to the fact that you're not superstitious. That is to say, if you were superstitious, it's possible you wouldn't feel this way about the fake 14th row. Not having to see and think about the number 13 may be enough.
SerLava 7y ago
"Eta" is a Japanese derogatory slur referring to the descendants of butchers, funeral workers, executioners, and other people who handled dead things for a living. It means filthy person. They are still discriminated against, and in the past it was incredibly severe. Maybe it's that.

somehnguy 7y ago

Maybe something related to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas ? Seems like a poor reason but most profanity filters are inconsistent as hell anyway so its possible.

Gibbon1 7y ago

> what Sony's filter doesn't like about my username (zeta0134) I can explain that one to you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas

danso 7y ago

That's very interesting. I just called their endpoint: curl -d '{"onlineId":"zeta0134","reserveIfAvailable":true}' \ -X POST https://accounts.api.playstation.com/api/v1/accounts/onlineIds \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" And got a response indicating that the name was both valid (i.e. not "improper") and available. Maybe at one particular time the word was flagged, but I can't imagine why. edit: As other repliers have said, I did think that it could have something to do with Los Zetas, and maybe that was the case in the past. However, as of now, `zeta0134`, `zetas0134`, and `loszetas0134` are all valid and available names, according to the endpoint. Interestingly, `pabloescobar0134` is considered improper. However, `elchapo0134` is not – which supports the argument that Sony's blacklist is (obviously) manually curated and perhaps subject to change. Maybe enough people who wanted "Zeta" complained for Sony to realize it was a word that had many more uses than in Los Zetas

Al-Khwarizmi 7y ago
Pablo is a very common Spanish name, and Escobar is a fairly common last name. There probably are thousands of people called Pablo Escobar who could want to use that name.

okasaki 7y ago

Possibly because of the Mexican drug cartel?

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

dspig 7y ago

Los Zetas?

interestica 7y ago

This is making me think of elevators that deliberately leave out floor numbers (13 in north america, 4 in asia) because they are 'bad luck'. Numbers! As Mitch Hedberg would say, the people on the 14th floor know which floor they're really on.

Al-Khwarizmi 7y ago
And most planes don't have a row 13. I don't know Mitch Hedberg, but that's also my reasoning. I'm not superstitious, but if I were and I had a problem with number 13, I totally wouldn't want to sit on row "14". There is a supernatural power that makes 13 bad and you can fool it by printing a "14" on top of what's clearly the 13th row? The spirit, deity or force of nature that causes bad luck looks at the labels? Come on!
- wutbrodo 7y ago
  > I'm not superstitious, but if I were and I had a problem with number 13, I totally wouldn't want to sit on row "14". I imagine the way you're approaching this is not unrelated to the fact that you're not superstitious. That is to say, if you were superstitious, it's possible you wouldn't feel this way about the fake 14th row. Not having to see and think about the number 13 may be enough.

SerLava 7y ago

"Eta" is a Japanese derogatory slur referring to the descendants of butchers, funeral workers, executioners, and other people who handled dead things for a living. It means filthy person. They are still discriminated against, and in the past it was incredibly severe. Maybe it's that.