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https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38323470 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38323470 Dropping this link to another comment I made because people often f

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38323470 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38323470 Dropping this link to another comment I made because people often forget what "fiduciary" actually means. You see it all the time in legal dramatizations where the lawyer is telling the client that they can get more money, but the client tells the lawyer they just want the legal process to stop. The client gets their way because the lawyer has a fiduciary duty to them. Edit to add: I'm curious what word "Revlon" was supposed to be.

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nkurz 3y ago
> Edit to add: I'm curious what word "Revlon" was supposed to be. I'd guess "revenue", but who knows. Autocorrect is a disaster for clear communication these days. It's strange to me that it's as bad as it is. Is there a patent on using context to decide which word is appropriate? If not, I can't figure out why it isn't done more commonly. It seems certain the poster didn't type "Revlon" with a capital R, and it also seems certain that any statistical model wouldn't think "Revlon" would be the most likely word here.
- bbor 3y ago
  It’s all about edge cases. Sometimes, people are discussing some random proper noun, and with modern lax internet/SMS etiquette all sorts of unusual constructions pop up occasionally. Hard to know when it’s intentional, and any amount of over-zealousness is immediately noticeable. At least that’s a layman’s guess
  - nkurz 3y ago
    Sure, and thus the default should be to assume the user is correct and not change anything. But how much chance is there that the user actually typed Revlon with a capital R? I think practically nil. Instead, something was typed that wasn't in the dictionary and the autocorrect decided that "Revlon" was best fit. Depending on what was typed this might be true by Levenshtein distance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levenshtein_distance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levenshtein_distance), but I'm really doubtful it could possibly be the best fit in this sentence by any metric of likelihood that considered context. Hence my question of why context isn't used by most autocorrect systems.
    - bcbrown 3y ago
      > But how much chance is there that the user actually typed Revlon with a capital R? I think practically nil. Uh....... You might want to spend a second researching what "Revlon" is before speculating like this. I'm 100% positive that they actually typed Revlon with a capital R, because I know what Revlon is, and it's completely topical and contextual. It's very well known in certain circles, much like Chevron, Howey, and Brandenburg.
      - nkurz 3y ago
        Wow, thanks for the hint. I presume you mean this case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revlon,_Inc._v._MacAndrews_%26_Forbes_Holdings,_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revlon,_Inc._v._MacAndrews_%26.... That does make it very likely that I was wrong and that is indeed exactly what they typed!
jrapdx3 3y ago
Yep, "fiduciary" is about a trust relationship. A fiduciary is obligated to act in a trustworthy manner. 501c3 board members are entrusted with the welfare of the organization vs. their own interests. I surmise that "Revlon" stands for "an entity worth billions". IOW having a component with large monetary value to manage.
- anonymouskimmer 3y ago
  Apparently Revlon is a legal standard: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38326869 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38326869
bcbrown 3y ago
A quick search for e.g. "Revlon legal standard" will clear that up.

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nkurz 3y ago

> Edit to add: I'm curious what word "Revlon" was supposed to be. I'd guess "revenue", but who knows. Autocorrect is a disaster for clear communication these days. It's strange to me that it's as bad as it is. Is there a patent on using context to decide which word is appropriate? If not, I can't figure out why it isn't done more commonly. It seems certain the poster didn't type "Revlon" with a capital R, and it also seems certain that any statistical model wouldn't think "Revlon" would be the most likely word here.

bbor 3y ago
It’s all about edge cases. Sometimes, people are discussing some random proper noun, and with modern lax internet/SMS etiquette all sorts of unusual constructions pop up occasionally. Hard to know when it’s intentional, and any amount of over-zealousness is immediately noticeable. At least that’s a layman’s guess
- nkurz 3y ago
  Sure, and thus the default should be to assume the user is correct and not change anything. But how much chance is there that the user actually typed Revlon with a capital R? I think practically nil. Instead, something was typed that wasn't in the dictionary and the autocorrect decided that "Revlon" was best fit. Depending on what was typed this might be true by Levenshtein distance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levenshtein_distance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levenshtein_distance), but I'm really doubtful it could possibly be the best fit in this sentence by any metric of likelihood that considered context. Hence my question of why context isn't used by most autocorrect systems.
  - bcbrown 3y ago
    > But how much chance is there that the user actually typed Revlon with a capital R? I think practically nil. Uh....... You might want to spend a second researching what "Revlon" is before speculating like this. I'm 100% positive that they actually typed Revlon with a capital R, because I know what Revlon is, and it's completely topical and contextual. It's very well known in certain circles, much like Chevron, Howey, and Brandenburg.
    - nkurz 3y ago
      Wow, thanks for the hint. I presume you mean this case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revlon,_Inc._v._MacAndrews_%26_Forbes_Holdings,_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revlon,_Inc._v._MacAndrews_%26.... That does make it very likely that I was wrong and that is indeed exactly what they typed!

jrapdx3 3y ago

Yep, "fiduciary" is about a trust relationship. A fiduciary is obligated to act in a trustworthy manner. 501c3 board members are entrusted with the welfare of the organization vs. their own interests. I surmise that "Revlon" stands for "an entity worth billions". IOW having a component with large monetary value to manage.

anonymouskimmer 3y ago
Apparently Revlon is a legal standard: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38326869 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38326869

bcbrown 3y ago

A quick search for e.g. "Revlon legal standard" will clear that up.