JULY 23RD, 2009
By BILLYJACKS
Damn Twitter to hell. The spam is out of control. You’d think it was a Hotmail inbox circa 2002. Constantly with the garbage. And I’m not even talking about all the “lets see if this trends” retweets. I’m talking about the bot nets who are abusing the API to post thousands of bullshit messages trying to get you to click to some website that has nothing to do with the message.
I was searching twitter for tweets about Ebay when I stumble on some obviously bogus tweet about how microsoft is buying ebay. The start of the tweet was a recently trending topic followed by some random celebrity name. Then I notice another about Ebay that also mentions that another random celebrity died. So I searched a phrase they both had in common. I found a page full of tweets that only spanned 3 or so minutes. Mostly different user names, all using the Twitter API to post.
It’s all garbage like: Monkey Island trend?LATEST Miley Cyrus has invaded south KOREA , OMG OMG !! earned $2,612 thanks to this to this http://tiny.cc/rYoV
Miley has been busy today. According to the same set of spam bots; she has died in a car wreck, drown in a boating accident, and invaded South Korea (poor SK).
I wait a while and look back to the screen, there are like 475 more new tweets that match my search. Those tweets all had one of three shorted URLs via another service. Unfortunately, there is no obvious easy way to report abuse. The site is designed for that sort of crowd shouting so a bot net is right at home. I wonder how many people where lured away off to fake looking youtube windows that claimed you needed a new Flash player to view or javascript or pdf or jpg exploits?
I really do see value in twitter. Or at least I’m trying. On the same note though, it’s like walking through the midway at a carnival. There’s a lot of random normal folks walking around bumping into one another and sharing a little bit of conversation. For the most part it gets drowned out by the asshole running the scam everyone’s a winner dart game though that’s $3 a dart so you can get a roach clip with some feathers or a 6″ by 6″ Bon Jovi mirror. No matter how many balloons you bust, that stuffed animal your kid wants is $30. He’s shouting all kinds of nonsense to try to trick you into getting robbed. He’s got a megaphone in the form of a bot net (or an army of over zealous fans who want to help make the trend list).
I’m going to start flapja.ws for hard core communicators that only need 70 words to share thoughts. Think of it, half the characters = half the keyword stuffing = less spam. That or double the volume of the shorter messages…
JULY 10TH, 2009
By BILLYJACKS
I spent a lot of time reflecting on one particular issue. You see, Jesus loves you. Love is grand. It makes you all warm and fuzzy inside. It can make you forget your problems.
On the other hand, there is this Read more »
JULY 9TH, 2009
By BILLYJACKS
A few months ago I was able to attend a fantastic 45 minute seminar on spirituality hosted by a group called the Future Religious Leaders of America. It truly was amazing. It was like the clouds pulled open and the bright lights of the heavens washed down upon us right through the ceiling tiles in the hotel conference room.
The 43 people there who were presenting were noticeably excited. They proclaimed that never had they seen such power in a group of people. Four of the seven attendees, including myself, were invited to receive a discount on further spiritual training for only whatever cash we had carried into the room. I almost feel bad for them because that meant I got to go along for less than the cost of a case of beer.
This leads me to why it came to be that I didn’t post here on my website for four plus months… Until just last night I was finally able to prove myself strong enough to withstand the poisons often found out in the natural world. Up until now I was shielded from television, Internet, newspapers, radio, and practically all modes of communication with unbelievers.
I’m back now though and better than ever. Expect regular posts. I’ll share my new knowledge with you all.
FEBRUARY 11TH, 2009
By BILLYJACKS
Not that anyone is overly concerned, but I’ve decided to move the original contents of this post over to it’s own page instead of a post. By doing so, I’ve made it a little easier for people to find the 25 Random Things About Jesus list in a few months when no one cares about this meme anymore…
Oh, and I moved the comments too. Well, comment. Anyways, back to the show.
FEBRUARY 4TH, 2009
By BILLYJACKS
I’ve decided that my current belief system isn’t working out for me and now I need your help. YES. YOU.
I am at this stage in my life I’ve gotten to the point where I keep running into the same question over and over and over again… Because of that, I know it is time for a major change.
Here is where you come into the picture… I have to ask you a very personal question about your faith so I can decide if I should convert. Does your religion have really cool hats? I’ve got this cowlick issue going on with my hair and it never seems to want to lay down right. If I was able to find a really good religion that could help solve (or hide) my embarrassing hair issue, I know I could give myself completely.
Hey, and for those of you whose religion (or lack of) doesn’t involve stylish hats… You can still help. Just point me in the direction of some holy head coverings so I can learn more.
Oh, and btw… If you write an article about certain religious figures or/and link to a magazine that they might be publishing (even though you don’t mention the magazine by name and aren’t linking directly to the publisher or an image), the magazine publisher will visit your website. So will at least one person from an IP owned by a religious figure you mention. Oh and so will some jackassy internet image/brand protection company.
