admin on Aug. 3, 2008.If we’re still here in two months time, then you can rest easy that firing off the Large Hadron Collider didn’t end life as some theories predict. If it does, we can rest easy that France went first. Either way it is pretty impressive.
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admin on Aug. 2, 2008.And so goes the cat and mouse game…
If you haven’t seen this (article on Mashable), Hasbro has forced Scrabulous to shut down. Why? Because the most popular game on Facebook and the one touted the most for its success on Facebooks open platform, was effectively an electronic version of Scrabble. Electronic Arts owns the rights to the electronic version, so we have two large corporations versus two Indians. The fact that Facebook chose to pull the plug on an application that was used by nearly half a million members is both surprising and, quite frankly, bullshit.
I’m all for preserving your rights. It is the American way. But in this era of open source, and free Internet trade, these big companies are losing site of the big picture. The money should follow the users, not the other way around. Hasbro and EA missed a great opportunity to partner with these guys and mine that resource of customers.
To their benefit, Hasbro and EA did see a surge in new users after Scrabulous was shuttered. But the creators of Scrabulous haven’t gone away. They released a revised version (under a different name). So, expect more to come as the battle wages on. In the mean time, Facebook has their top application back online and all is good with the world.
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admin on Aug. 1, 2008.
Several startups that I’m using, Twitter and Entrecard use the Amazon S3 Web Services for data hosting. They do this for the pay as you go model and superior service for for those techie things. But as more and more start ups leverage this environment, they become less distributed (as the Internet should be) and when it goes down, they all go down. For early adopters, or those who are just unlucky to use several that are on this platform, it is bullshit.
Twice in the past mont Amazon has gone down. Now, it is one thing when an Internet store goes down. We go somewhere else to buy that book or we change our mind and go to the library instead. But when it takes down several services that we use and rely on, then we have an issue.
I can hear some of you now. Maybe you should just step away from the computer and get on with things when these services come back up. You are clearly missing the point and not understanding the cost of these things. Entrecard was down for more than 8 hours. All of my advertising that I’d paid for (with credits that have value) were lost for 1/3 of the period. I also missed receiving traffic from that source for that period.  Now as the timing goes, I lost very little. But it could have been much worse. That is my flag that the risk is emence. The more companies that leverage hosting like this, the more dangerous it is when those services go down.
The Internet is a critical part of the world’s infrastructure. Billions of dollars of business are conducted there daily. When something threatens that resource, we should all be calling bullshit!
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admin on Jul. 31, 2008.Perhaps you’ve seen this on YouTube, four cell phones popping popcorn or this on television a few years back, Toyota Tacoma getting hit by a meteor. It appears the trend is getting much, much worse.
Instead of giving us solid information about their products, companies are making more and more comercials that mislead us about their products. And in many cases, most cases, the product claims are wrong. Cell phones cannot pop popcorn and pick up trucks cannot take a direct hit from a meteor and drive off. Why are they allowed to get away with this false advertising?
Because they believe it is so far fetched that we take half the leap with them. That we will come to like them as a brand because they took the time to entertain us with their advertising. I call bullshit!
Companies should not be allowed to make these ads. We are watching the truth in advertising laws be reduced to a pile of rubble. And yet, it keeps happening. I do have one power as a consumer. Listen up companies that are considering these viral approaches:
I won’t buy a vehicle from a company that resorts to these tactics. I won’t buy the bluetooth headset sold by the company that made the popcorn ad for YouTube. And any other company that resorts to this bullshit, should know that I’m not going to buy your stuff. Start educating and entertaining. Its not all that hard if you put your mind to it. Enough with this bullshit!
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admin on Jul. 30, 2008.AOL Mail survey results indicated that 59% of people email from the bathroom, up from 53% last year.
I’m not really sure how to respond to this. When cell phones first came out, I thought it was odd that people were talking on the phone in the restroom and now this.
Now I’m wondering if anyone has checked phones for traces of fecal matter. I’m definitely not borrowing anyone’s mobile phone again. Chances are…
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admin on Jul. 29, 2008.I first heard about this through Fox News a couple of days ago. As I started looking into it, I came across this podcast interview with Dr. Edgar Mitchell (note: the interview lasts an hour). He was an astronaught who, along with Buzz Aldren recorded the longest moon walk (11 hours).
Much of the interview focused on his findings and beliefs that were developed while on the moon mission and his subsequent career. He has a strong belief in spirituality and our place in universe.
The interview then moved on to UFOs. He claims, with his family being in ranching, he knew many people directly involved in the Roswell incident. He said that he was briefed by several in the military and intelligence community who wanted to get this off their conscience before they died.
Per Dr. Mitchell, since the Kennedy administration, any presidential inquiries, including one by President Clinton, were stifled. As a result, there has been a sixty year cover up of the true events at Roswell.  If Dr. Mitchell is correct, this Weekly World News picture and article are bullshit! Bill Clinton did not meet an alien in the early 1990’s.
Dr. Mitchell’s inquiries have led him to believe that aliens were on Earth for quite some time, but are no longer here. Most of the current sitings are false.
While a man’s past accomplishments are often a benchmark for their trustworthiness, it cannot be the only measure. Clearly, well respected individuals can be as full of bullshit as anyone. It is a shame that all of the people that Dr. Mitchell reportedly spoke to about the Roswell events are now dead. We may never know if he is bullshitting us or not.
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admin on Jul. 28, 2008.
Some of you may wonder why I started this blog. Okay, that is bullshit. I’m sure none of you have lost any sleep on that one. Anyhow, I didn’t register this domain and go through this trouble just to start yet another rant blog. There are plenty of people out there who are far more articulate and angry than me. Heck, let’s be honest. There are thousands of people more articulate and angrier than me. This blog is in fact a subsidiary of a much larger project.
The curious ones out there have probably already done a bit of snooping and found that this blog is built as a subdomain. Meaning that there is another site on top of this one. That site is The Bullshit Awards (bullshitawards.com). I think it is going to be a ton of fun for those who choose the participate.
Remember those thousands of more articulate and angrier people? I’ve given them all a playground!
And what good is a good rant if the very people it is about aren’t aware it exists? We solve that problem. Each person nominated for a Bullshit Award will receive notification in the mail. The members of the site can then vote and comment on the nominations. The individual with the most votes (in each category) wins the quarterly prize. We will also announce a Bullshitter of the Year award!
To add to the fun, we’ve created a community area for users to discuss the Bullshit Award candidates and other bullshit.
We’re currently in alpha testing, which means there are quite a few tweaks to work out. You can nominate someone and the accepted nominations will be temporarily posted to the site (we won’t be mailing notifications during the alpha testing). Please check it out and tell us what you think. There will be some special perks going out to those that registered during our alpha testing, although we haven’t quite worked what). So, don’t miss out!
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admin on Jul. 27, 2008.I woke up at 2:30am the other night and turned on the television. I started flipping channels, looking for an infomercial I haven’t seen. Since I fancy myself as an Internet marketer, there are some great lessons to learn from these late night staples.
As I clicked through the normal fodder of real estate riches, eBay millions, and weight loss miracles, I was floored when I landed on the following:
Yes, that is what you think it is. In the QVC/HSN style, a program dedicated to selling dildos and vibrators. Two women discussed how each tool would feel and provided provided special usage tips (i.e., apparently one of the benefits of a glass dildo is that you can put it in the freezer for a special sensation).
As a marketer, I found it interesting that they had different call in numbers for men and women. I can guess it would be a different experience for a man ordering than a woman. Therefore it would take a different skillset for the operator. Especially for those ordering this:
Had I gone back to bed, I’m pretty sure I’d have had nightmares!
They closed out the sesson with an extensive discussion on the features and benefits of their double dong:
This was on Oh! The Oxygen Network. I guess it was the ladies answer to Girls Gone Wild commercials that run in the same time slot on Spike and the Comedy Channel. Personally, I’d prefer that neither of these be on. Am I a prude for thinking that it is out of line for this stuff to be on standard cable TV?
Tell me what you think?
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admin on Jul. 26, 2008.
I’m almost at a loss for words on this one. Obviously women and men are jilted every day. With a divorce rate over 50%, I’ve always thought it was noble to walk away beforehand. It makes no sense to stick with it if you’re not 100% WITH IT.
Well, the jury in in RoseMary Shell’s suit against her fiance thought otherwise (video on Breitbart.tv). She was awarded $150K.
Key points:
I just hope any future suitors have the forethought to Google her before they get serious. This was a bullshit case that could have far reaching implications. At the very least, it should for her.
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admin on Jul. 26, 2008.
Back in April, the Green Bay Packers announced that they were going to retire Brett Farve’s number 4 at the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on September 8th (see ESPN).
Yesterday, word came that they are considering delaying the retirement (see ESPN). This due to the back and fourth comeback talks that has occured recently. Brett wants to come back to the NFL and it looks likely if he does, it won’t be at Green Bay.
I’m not going to discuss the merits of this decision because it isn’t mine to make. If he wants to play and someone wants to pay him to play, he’ll probably play. These are business decisions that the teams make every day. Brett’s star power aside, they have to consider whether he can accomplish what they need from their QB. Only time will tell if he can or not.
I think it is bullshit that Green Bay would consider delaying this ceremony. The only reason that I can think that this would make sense is that he might have another game, and you really want him there for the event. Either way, the timing of this news relative to the ongoing negotiations about his release just stinks.
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Category: General
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