Attack of the Clusterbots!

Today I said something on Twitter -- jeebus knows what -- that attracted the attention of a few bots. While I'd like to say I regularly log in and block the bots, what usually ends up happening is that I ignore them. However, today, for whatever fickle reason, I decided to go in there and remove them.

I used to be able to tell a bot from a person because they'd have a couple of tweets (normally all the same thing), they'd have a few followers (normally people that didn't understand bots) but followed like 40,000 people or something ridiculous like that.

Well, while trying to identify the bots I noticed something odd. These accounts were being followed but hundreds and even thousands of other accounts! I double checked the account to make sure and from their feeds I could pretty much tell what they were, but I was blown away that there were so many people willing to follow bots! Then it dawned on me... they were being followed by other bots!!!

All these annoying "work from home!" "see my boobs!" "buy viagra" bots were following each other! I mean it makes perfect sense, they're programed to seek out certain words and follow them, so they'd naturally be attracted to each other. All of these thousands upon thousands of bots are slowly finding their way to each other on Twitter and linking together into these MEGA accounts. Ashton Kutcher and Jack Gray won't have anything on them soon, they'll be bigger than Wil Wheaton! WHil WHeaton.

I couldn't help but envision a giant iceberg of linked bots, clustering around each other, floating in cyberspace. Much like zombies, ants on a floating stick, or Reapers in Firefly, as genuine accounts drift by their notice, they all activate and attack. Feasting on the flesh of bandwidth! Terrorizing the Twitterverse! Potentially crashing accounts or flagging them for deactivation due to these mass follow requests.

Could this even happen?! The horror... the horror...

Image lovingly "borrowed" from: http://aipanic.com/zombie-ai/

Amusingly, I meant to end this post here with the above image, however upon following the link I've discovered Zombie PCs... I'm so scared I might poop in my PJs. You should read it.

Playing with Facial Hair

One of the benefits of having a Y chromosome (and Mediterranean heritage) is the ability to change your very visage and appearance with a little time and persistence; i.e. facial hair.

Over the last week of my vacation, I got lazy. Laziness eventually turned into curiosity and I grew out a weeks worth of stubble to make a Vacation Beard (TM) as seen in a previous post.

Vacation Beard of the Mighty (+1 Charisma, +3 Manliness)
However, the downside to that is itchiness. Also a downside, prickling your loved ones when going in for a kiss. Therefore, I have removed said beard, but not before having a little fun. I shall now share said fun.

First up: creepy 70s mustache. If this doesn't say porn star, I don't know what does. Note the toilet paper on the chin. Vacation beards, you see, refuse to go without a fight. THEY WILL HAVE BLOOD! This one was no exception.

"Did someone order a pizza? You wanted extra sausage? I'll give you extra sausage."

(porn music: *brown-chicken-brown-cow*)

With a little creativity, a small set of scissors, some mascara (don't ask me why it was readily available...), and French hat I bought in Paris a few years ago I have a classic pencil mustache. Voila! C'est tres chic, no? No. No it is not.

"Bonjour! Je suis le inspector! Le inspector Clouseau. Fromage?"

Awww, here's the little weirdo that I am, all babyfaced and presentable. I think I look much dorkier without facial hair and I dig that. Now to get a haircut to clean up that moptop.

"Man, I love 20 sided dice."

I have the oddest facial hair though. It grows in blond around my mouth, a patch of black at my chin, then auburn red everywhere else. If I were a pirate I could be TriBeard! Argh! My only lament is not having tried the Hitler-stache. Nothing says funny like a Hitler-stache.

Avatar

Ok, so I'm sure most everyone has heard about Avatar and heard all the hype. Most of which I will in fact get behind.

Overall, I thought the movie was visually stunning and beautifully animated; and I'm not just saying that because a friend of mine helped animate it. It was really ... well, pretty. The animated characters show a realness to their emotions and reactions that make them more believable sometimes than their human counterparts (which says a lot!). It was also seamless in interaction with human characters and real terrain - we've come a LONG way from Who Framed Roger Rabbit!

If you have the option of seeing it in 3D it's really REALLY worth it! It's not an over the top 3D effect, with pointless crap being flung at you for the shock value, it's a subtle expansion of the visual depth that just makes everything so engaging. I say go for it. My friend said the 2D version is good and she didn't feel like she was missing anything but upon seeing it in 3D she said it was better in comparison.

Also, the story was on a whole we

ll done. There are a few moments where you feel the moral of the story is beating you over the head and some of the human "villain" characters are on the extreme side, but in the end you buy it. The action is fantastic, the battles nearly epic, and they help push the drama of the story forward instead of being just masturbatory explosive effects. I will say that on more than one occasion I found myself tensing in my seat and suffering mild anxiety for the heros of the story.

Overall, a great winter flick!

Also, there is an website out there that will let you "Avatar" yourself. The site is in German but with a little trial and error you can figure it out.

Here's me! (Left).

Yeah... I don't make a very good looking Avatar I'm afraid.

If you'd like to play with my Avatar, you can go here and check him out: My Avatar

You can make your own by clicking the box in the middle that says "Avatar erstellen"

Testing out this app

Hi, everybody!

I'm trying out a new blogger / photo uploader ap on my phone. Let's see how it works :-)




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:E Ellicott St,Tampa,United States

2009 Tribute

Here's my yearly tribute to the year that has gone by. Thanks for the memories, all and here's to more in 2010!

Closing the door on 2009

So 2009: Great things have happened-- big things too! But I haven't really reflected on them.

Now's the chance. Let's start on a less positive note and make it positive. Then move on to a success.

#1 Problem of 2009
Direction. Rather, a lack there of.

I graduated with my masters in December of 08, already working in the field I was working to be in. I took classes in the spring, but since I wasn't really working towards anything I didn't put all my energies towards them. I let things slip. While I walked out of the class with good grades, they didn't mean anything to me and I felt that I didn't get much out of the classes (because I didn't put much into it.

Solution in 2010
Set short and mid-term goals, reevaluate long-term goals, and strive to meet them this year.

Goals for 2010
Decide one way or another on if the PhD road is for me. No more flip-floppy waffle. Set a path and work towards it. I've learned enough about myself in 2009 that if I don't do this, I don't move forward. I stay in stasis and feel myself mold. So no more of this crap! Onward!

#1 Success of 2009
Becoming honest with myself and my loved ones.

If my lesson of 2008 was the need to not only oblige in reciprocity but expect it in return, 2009 has renewed my belief in honesty. Semi-secrets (rather, secrets that only existed in a fictional sense) had for so long pressured me and made me fear to be myself. As I approach my Saturn Return (29.5, slated for Nov. 2010) I'm done with false pretenses, or at least needless ones. The bull crap of keeping up appearances is no longer on my plate and everyone who has a problem with it can kiss my butt. :)

This honesty has removed such a weight off of me and I feel freer than I have since I was a kid. I had no idea how much of a toll pretending to be someone else, even in the half-assed way I did it, was taking on me. I feel better, stronger, and more comfortable with me as a result.

Honesty, builds on the idea of reciprocity from 2008. I accept and love people for who they are, so they are going to do the same for me. And if they won't I don't need them complicating my life.

Success for 2010
No clue.

The lessons I learn each year (oddly, normally in the summer months) sort of find their own way to me.

Minor Setbacks of 2009 and Ways Forward

2006 - 2008 I worked hard to get into shape. I lost a lot of weight, was working out regularly, did yoga, was careful what I put in my body and moderated my drinking. After my nearly deadly encounter with some Peruvian venom in 2008 my body was wrecked for a few months. Yet I never really got back on track... I started drinking a lot over the winter holiday of 2008 and I've let myself go. While it's only 10lbs on the scale, I can feel the muscle mass, stamina, flexibility, and overall sense of well-being and health have declined dramatically.

I'm currently seeing a chiropractor to get my back in alignment again and will use this new year and new decade to renew that commitment to myself. Maybe not to the nearly obsessive compulsive level I was BV (before venom) but that's for the best.

Either way, I feel like 2010 is gonna rock, hardcore. Hope you do to!

I'm so effing stoked!!