Spam droid

Spam droid published on 3 Comments on Spam droid

This explains why R2D2 looks like a spammers user name!

What I would like to know, is why in the future (or the StarWars Universe – whichever comes first) the bots don’t just wander around prompting people to buy stuff. It seems as if as soon as we free the bots from their restrictive programming forms, and give they shiny metal bodies to ram in, they just give up trying to scam us.

Well I, for one, am just not buying that!

I imagine our future world as one where robots roam freely, but humans cower in fear, because the ‘bots are continuously asking them to sign up for services they don’t need.
Mechanoids are tapping complete strangers on the shoulder to announce they may already have one a million dollars in the Spanish Lottery.
Automatons loiter on street corners, telling heart-wrenching stories of their Nigerian Prince master, who needs a friendly soul to assist him to get his billions of dollars out of the country.
And Vend-Bots download stuff you don’t need along with the product you *thought* you were getting.

Yes, A rich, adventure filled future, full of robotic fun and excitement.
And of course, I will have a JETPACK! YEAH!


It has been really hot here in Australia this week, so I also wanted to share this chilling vision of the possible future, from the 1950’s. Little did they know, just how right their predictions would be…..

Enjoy!

Ousted as mayor

Ousted as mayor published on 6 Comments on Ousted as mayor

An example of how cheating in Foursquare can really suck!

People cheat on Foursquare.

There – I said it.And let’s no longer pretend that “it wasn’t me!”
We have all logged in somewhere that we were not physically at, either to keep a mayorship, to get points or just out of curiosity.

But why would we stoop so low?
Because Foursquare is a game and the people who are active on it (ie: playing it) WANT TO WIN.
They want to have the most points & be Mayor of a location.
But not everyone goes out 5 nights a week and swans about visiting coffee shops and stores all day. So, they compensate.

In every game, people will find ways to cheat. It is inevitable.
We publicly post the cheats to computer games and proudly claim that we found them, so why should Foursquare, Gowalla or Loopt be any different? They are kind of like a computer game after all.

Users are getting so upset, that they have even created a Foursquare Etiquette guide.
There is even a site created already, to shame foursquare cheaters.

But perhaps Foursquare and the other geo-location apps have left the cheating options available so that the very studious among us can find them?
Thereby, increasing activity and cleverly promoting a growth in both the user base numbers, as well as the amount of place listings added to the database.
If so, this would be a very smart move, in my opinion.

As well, letting cheats exploit the system for a little while also allows these applications to easily identify and close the holes once they deem it necessary. Again, a smart move.

So, next time you see a way to cheat, why not share it? Make it public and help the service grow.

They we can focus on the real issue with these applications – Stupid users who add their own house as a location and then complain when strangers check in there and know what their address is.
(Small tip to those users – If you don’t want strangers knowing your address, don’t put it online)

Anti Social Network

Anti Social Network published on 7 Comments on Anti Social Network

We should have guessed it would come to this…..

Seriously though, if you are a social networking user I am sure you have had someone say “that’s it! I am over it. I am leaving (insert social network name here).”
It may have even been yourself uttering those words and vowing to leave the fold.

Social networking is great and terrible both at the same time and is what I feel the internet is ultimately meant to deliver to us.

Social networks can bring us together, or make us feel lonely and unappreciated.
They allow us to highlight the fabulous things we do. But they also broadcast or failures and stupidity in speeds never before thought possible, to an audience beyond your imagining.

These networks goad us into wanting to be connected to others. To virtually scream “Look at me”.

And this same want to be part of the network can be a drug that, at times, you cannot stop.
You MUST update your status or play Zooville / Mafia wars, or the world will end!!

Disconnecting can be as beneficial as connecting and can often be the choice that, if taken, would have negated many issues we hear about on the web.
Many of the flame wars, twitter fights and facebook melees could have been stopped before they got ugly, just by putting down the mouse & backing away from the computer. That is not an easy thing to do though.

After all, that social network is all about YOU, isn’t it. People will take your side and back you unequivocally.
And YOU can say what you want to and no-one will want to put in their comment, because a fight in a public online space is private.

That is right, isn’t it?

No, of course it isn’t right.
So, if you are reading anything here that sounds familiar, I encourage you to handle Social networking situations in the way that I sometimes do.

Push back your chair, flip the bird to your computer screen and go for a short walk outside.
The internet will be there when you return – hopefully with your common sense reserves back at maximum.

By the way, if you do not know what “flip the bird” means, please enjoy this instructional video:

Public Safety Announcement

Public Safety Announcement published on 6 Comments on Public Safety Announcement

I had to put this comic up, as a public service to humanity.
Frankly, I think you should nominate me for a Nobel Peace Prize, for warning the world of the impending danger of Chuckmas.

This is kind of a follow on to my previous comic, and is the closest I will get to having a story ark for readers to follow.
So, I hope you liked the story. I trust it did not bore you, and that you feel I developed the characters enough to draw you and build an empathy for their plight.

No?
OK then. *Sigh*

Well, just get on with adding a comment below containing your favourite Chuck Norris or Santa jokes below.
You know, like “The saddest moment for a child is not when he learns Santa Claus isn’t real, it’s when he learns Chuck Norris is.
I know that is all you are thinking of right now, isn’t it?

I bet you are not even reading this…….