Randomness thread, part two.

[a500lbgorilla]

It's called magic, motherfuckers. And it's what allows you to argue about rape on this crazy thing we call the internet.

[spoonitnow]

It's called magic, motherfuckers. And it's what allows you to argue about rape on this crazy thing we call the internet.

In a previous life, I was a computer engineering major and absolutely loved programming microcontrollers to do fun shit.

[a500lbgorilla]

Programming is a pretty solid hobby. Even learning a quick scripting language can pay dividends in all sorts of ways.

What can you do with microcontrollers?

[spoonitnow]

Programming is a pretty solid hobby. Even learning a quick scripting language can pay dividends in all sorts of ways.

What can you do with microcontrollers?

Pissant robotics, alarms on random shit, monitoring the state of the lights in my house, if certain doors are open, lots of little dumb things like that.

My favorite programming-related thing I've done was create a Twitter bot army that grows followers, etc.

thecarissamyers is one of the accounts for an example. They stop gaining followers when they hit somewhere in the 200-300 follower mark to avoid having too many eggs in one basket. My goal is to get several thousand accounts and use them to try to influence trending items. I can go into the mechanics of how it works if you want.

I don't really have any goal for this yet in terms of what I was actually going to use it for. I'll probably figure out something to do with them when I get there. I included URLs to some test websites here and there to see what kind of traffic it would get on average per account per day with its following/unfollowing regiment, but the traffic largely drops off when they stop accumulating followers unless I tweet out on them.

At some point, I'm going to have to create some kind of interface for having these accounts actually interact with users on some serious level, but I'm just dicking around for now.

[jackvance]

My favorite programming-related thing I've done was create a Twitter bot army that grows followers, etc.

thecarissamyers is one of the accounts for an example. They stop gaining followers when they hit somewhere in the 200-300 follower mark to avoid having too many eggs in one basket. My goal is to get several thousand accounts and use them to try to influence trending items. I can go into the mechanics of how it works if you want.

This is cool.

[boost]

This is cool.

and scary.

[Galapogos]

and scary.

Why is it scary? I'm not into Twitter so what comes of being able to influence what shows as a trending item?

Also, wouldn't this same thing have been done by thousands of other programmers already? So would Twitter have done protection about it or possibly not care?

[spoonitnow]

Due to interest shown in this thread and via PMs, I'm going to do my best to detail how my approach to automating social media works. I'm going to try to avoid getting too technical in this while still giving the general idea. It's also worth noting that there are people who are much, much better at this than me like a guy who was recently outed for having over 750k accounts that accumulated millions of total followers.

The technique for accumulating followers on any social platform is to follow other people, which will lead to a percentage of them following you back. Generally speaking, I tend to get follow rates of about 12-15 percent on Twitter and 20-25 percent on Pinterest. If we're following 200 people per day on a single Twitter account, then that's 1,400 people per week or about 168 followers per week. This following process is really easy to learn how to automate using something like the iMacro plug-in in Firefox or Chrome. If you know Javascript, then you can very easily add logic to iMacros, which is more or less a requirement

One problem that comes up is that we will look like an obvious spam account if we have an absurd number of people we're following without as many people following us. In the example given above, after five weeks, we would have 7,000 people we were following with just 840 people following us. The solution to this is to unfollow a bunch of people from the list we have followed. To make things less obvious, we put a few days between the time that we follow a single person and the day that we unfollow that same person. I prefer to wait a week.

It's more difficult to automate the unfollowing part of the situation because it requires keeping up with a few pieces of information. First, we have to know which accounts we followed on specific days so that we can wait the correct amount of time before we unfollow them. Second, we need an automatic way for the correct accounts to be fed to a script in iMacro so that the correct individuals can be unfollowed. One solution is to simply keep a database of the users that we follow as we follow them and to tag them with the date and time that they are followed (along with if we have unfollowed them or not). We can have this database feed our iMacro script the next available person to unfollow based on the last person we followed who hasn't yet been unfollowed. I use PHP to query the database and feed the appropriate values to the iMacro script.

Remember that this is just for a single account. For a quick recap:

1. A PHP script runs on a cron job to automatically log in to a Twitter account and view the list of followers for popular accounts. This script adds all of these followers to our MySQL database of victims while checking to make sure that we're never adding the same victim to the database twice.
2. For following, an iMacro script asks a PHP script a question: Who do I need to follow next? The PHP queries the MySQL database and answers the question.
3. For unfollowing, the same thing happens with the question, "Who do I need to unfollow next?"

I hope that this answers the interest in a reasonable way.

Why is it scary? I'm not into Twitter so what comes of being able to influence what shows as a trending item?

Also, wouldn't this same thing have been done by thousands of other programmers already? So would Twitter have done protection about it or possibly not care?

It's something that's been done a lot, but it's very, very rarely ever done well. Twitter does have levels of protection in place, but then the best people adjust until another set of protections comes out, and the cycle repeats itself.

As far as it being scary, it's not that big of a deal considering the same thing has been going on to influence public awareness/the public consciousness for a very long. I can see why it would seem scary at first if you're realizing for the first time that "ordinary" people can influence the public on such a large scale.

If you want a good example of this in the general sense, look at what Buzzfeed has already done this within the past couple of years on a particularly large scale. The only difference is that they paid off a lot of big accounts to constantly share their crap instead of building up their own accounts with followers, so it was an investment of money instead of an investment of time. But guess what? You can already pay people to Tweet/blog/whatever your shit whenever.

Here's an example: Plenty of people who write for "serious" online publications get paid thousands of dollars on the sly to mention names and services. Want a link from inside of an article on the Huffington Post? Go here and cough up a couple hundred bucks: http://www.wickedfire.com/links-and-...-delivery.html

Pay (in either money or time) for enough shit to get talked about , and you can make it popular enough that people will talk about it on their own. Cha-ching. Repeat. So easy.

This is a good reason why you shouldn't trust the media or what's "popular" because the best prison is the one where you don't know you're captive.

[spoonitnow]

As an aside, iMacros (used to automate the interaction with websites) are fairly easy to learn how to do, especially if you've have any type of rudimentary introduction to HTML. They're also extremely useful, especially if you care a lot about productivity and eliminating mindless tasks. If there's enough interest, I might type up some examples for my FTR brethren.

[PokerFighter]

It's called magic, motherfuckers. And it's what allows you to argue about rape on this crazy thing we call the internet.

really cool !!!!

[MadMojoMonkey]

RIP
Percy Sledge



inb4 spoony cries

[spoonitnow]

Washington Times: Feminism may be dead: 72 percent of Americans say they're not 'feminists'

Among women, 38 percent consider themselves feminists.

I'm glad to see that 62 percent of women do not consider themselves feminists.

“It is negative associations people carry regarding feminism that causes Americans to shy away from the label. People are twice as likely to consider calling someone a feminist to be an insult (23 percent) rather than a compliment (12 percent),” the poll says.

What with man-bashing and the erosion of the traditional masculine and feminine roles or family structure, Americans also apparently associate feminism with things other than, say, equal rights - and it is problematic.

Ding ding ding.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Ho
Lee
Shit



Phone took a tiny dent.

[a500lbgorilla]

Washington Times: Feminism may be dead: 72 percent of Americans say they're not 'feminists'



I'm glad to see that 62 percent of women do not consider themselves feminists.



Ding ding ding.

"problematic". The flagship word of, "There's drama over here."

[eugmac]

Ho
Lee
Shit



Phone took a tiny dent.

Quick physics question for you, is there enough force in that phone to be likely to kill a person?

[OngBonga]

I'm gonna answer that for him and say, duh yeah fucking obviously.

[eugmac]

is it really so obvious? I know that pennies killing people has been debunked as a myth, but I was just casually thinking about how big the object needs to become to start guaranteeing kills.

[eugmac]

Without going into actual calculations, ballpoint pens can perhaps turn into a missile and drill into your skull apparently. http://www.livescience.com/18832-pen...kyscraper.html A phone weighs more, but an iPhone is pretty flat and would face quite a lot of air resistance?

[OngBonga]

I did think the same when I saw that video, funnily enough. I think it's obviously a very dangerous thing to do. A penny isn't very heavy, whereas an iphone is going to carry some serious inertia at terminal velocity. I'd liike to think this phone was thrown somewhere safe. If this hit someone on the head directly, I wouldn't expect them to survive. A single punch can kill someone, this is going to come sharper than a punch.

[OngBonga]

A phone weighs more, but an iPhone is pretty flat and would face quite a lot of air resistance?

This is a fair point, it's not going to reach terminal velocity. Still, it's going damn fucking fast, and it's significantly heavier than a penny. I think it'll kill if it hits someone on the head.

[eugmac]

Well, a single punch I think is simplifying quite a bit - surely it must be a very well placed punch with enough force by a trained martial artist who could actually pull that off. I think we overestimate how easily we die.

[OngBonga]

Fear not, I've asked Chris Moneymaker, he'll clear it up for us.

[rong]

Would you rather an iPhone hit you on the head with medical experts in the scene ready to help, or a large dismembered human penis but in a very public environment? Both from a sky scraper of course.

[MadMojoMonkey]

The phone was not thrown, it was ripped out of the guy's hand by a gust of wind. Someone found the phone after it fell and took it.
The guy used an app called FindMyPhone (or some shit) to GPS track it back down. Took him an hour, he said.
His first tweet said the phone was "without a scratch," but he later posted a pic of the phone showing a (less than dime-sized) dent on the back corner.

IDK about killing someone. I suppose a penny could actually kill if it hit you in the eye or something. I was quite surprised to see Myth Busters come on the non-fatal side of the pennies. I believe they were specifically aiming for the top of the skull. Breaking a rigid dome with a direct hit is not easy. The structural advantage of the dome is worthy of respect. Think of how easy it is to break an eggshell once it's not in an egg shape.

The energy to accelerate the phone's rate of spin is definitely slowing down its rate of decent, but is it enough?

I'm guessing the fact that the phone took such minimal damage means that fatality is unlikely.
Just don't look up when you hear that odd buzzing noise, I guess. Good luck with that.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Would you rather an iPhone hit you on the head with medical experts in the scene ready to help, or a large dismembered human penis but in a very public environment? Both from a sky scraper of course.

I mean... Penis, obv.

No contest, really.

Does the 'yuck' factor really play a part, here?

[aubreymcfate]

my friend lives by this crazy town church. they just put up this new sign, which i actually find to be genuinely comedic. i lol'ed pretty hard. seriously, good work.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Would you rather an iPhone hit you on the head with medical experts in the scene ready to help, or a large dismembered human penis but in a very public environment? Both from a sky scraper of course.

I guess only time I choose the phone is when the skyscraper isn't located in a city with - you know - infrastructure like medical clinics and whatnot.

[MadMojoMonkey]

my friend lives by this crazy town church. they just put up this new sign, which i actually find to be genuinely comedic. i lol'ed pretty hard. seriously, good work.

Maybe they're just there to throw their homo penises off of skyscrapers.

It's worth letting this scenario play out, just to see.

[rong]

I was assuming the phone hurt but did no long term damage.

[MadMojoMonkey]

I was assuming the phone hurt but did no long term damage.

Me, too.

[eugmac]

and uh, i guess penis. does that make me gay?

[JKDS]

Of course. Getting hit in the face with penis is like, the definition or something.

[eugmac]

Hrm.

[JKDS]

It gets better.

[eugmac]

So yeah, this dude in Japan, he got arrested and shit for having hired underaged prostitutes while visiting the Phillipines. Pretty standard stuff right? Key is in the details.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/09/as...-underage-sex/

[MadMojoMonkey]

and uh, i guess penis. does that make me gay?

Of course. Getting hit in the face with penis is like, the definition or something.

Hrm.

It gets better.

[JKDS]

So yeah, this dude in Japan, he got arrested and shit for having hired underaged prostitutes while visiting the Phillipines. Pretty standard stuff right? Key is in the details.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/09/as...-underage-sex/

Pedophiles like this guy are fucking immature assholes.

[eugmac]

Pedophiles like this guy are fucking immature assholes.

Well, not to defend him, but his range was 14-70. I was more interested in this 12,000 number. Isn't that even a slight bit impressive?

[eugmac]

And he did the bulk of it while on vacation. If he had 50 days of vacations in the Philippines every year, he hypothetically would go through 6-7 a day.

[rong]

Maybe he'd have several at a time.

[eugmac]

i guess one threesome in before lunch, one before bed, i guess it's doable.

[jackvance]

Well the 12,000 number is the typical hyperbole like Chamberlain supposedly fucking "20,000" women in his career which was probably around 1000-2000. That said this guy I know has been going to Bangkok a lot and I've definitely heard a story where he fucks 3 at the same time so who knows..

[eugmac]

true, no reason to take his word for it per se, but they did find the photos that he allegedly took himself showing all the wimmins.

[jackvance]

If there is one thing guys will lie about it's women. Not even sure it's on purpose.

[eugmac]

ya surveys show men say they've had 2 to 4 times more partners than what women report.

[rong]

Well that would put me in 800!

[OngBonga]

I'd be in double figures.

[spoonitnow]

Pedophiles like this guy are fucking immature assholes.

I absolutely love this and do not want to take away from it all at.










Just for general awareness, he's not a pedophile:

Pedophilia or paedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children, generally age 11 years or younger.

[OngBonga]

Yeah it's not technically correct to call someone who nails a 13 y/o a peedo, you have to call them a wrong 'un or spoon will get the google dictionary out.

[JKDS]

So, suppose you could get a prostitute for $1.

I think if prostitutes were cheap enough, like the article implies, its reasonable to assume his number is correct.

[OngBonga]

I didn't read the article, but 12k is bollocks.

[JKDS]

It was over 25 years though.

If you flew to another country, for cheap prostitutes, and they were really cheap, you'd get as many as you could.

[spoonitnow]

Would you rather fuck the same prostitute 12,000 times?

[rong]

Would you rather fuck the same prostitute 12,000 times?

No.

[spoonitnow]

No.

Divide the sex by 10, and that's just like getting married.

[BooG690]

Am I really supposed to think that that "Blurred Lines" song is somehow different from all the other songs selling sex and that it's a rape anthem?

DISCLAIMER: HYPERSENSITIVITY

http://www.psmag.com/books-and-cultu...ed-lines-66569

[JKDS]

I mean, there are substantially more offensive songs to complain about. Seems "school homework assignment" -esk

[aubreymcfate]

if you think the "blurred lines" nonsense is bad (i mean really, it's pitiful), check this out. this made me want to weep/strangle: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/op...ary-ideas.html

dude that immortal technique song is freaking intense. nothing like a good old fable of (song spoiler)"i chose the wrong path in life and whoops, now i'm raping my mom!" to the tune of henry mancini's "love story."



grade a awesomeness:

[BooG690]

Aubrey: Spoiler tags for those who've never heard the song, imo.

[aubreymcfate]

thanks a lot boog u made me look like a super dork
im gonna come to qns blvd and kick ur butt, ur not that far at all

[jackvance]

Those articles make me question my sanity :/

grade a awesomeness:

Awesome, gonna watch it a few more times.

[spoonitnow]

The safe space, Ms. Byron explained, was intended to give people who might find comments “troubling” or “triggering,” a place to recuperate. The room was equipped with cookies, coloring books, bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and a video of frolicking puppies, as well as students and staff members trained to deal with trauma.

I love how the solution to not treating women like adults is to treat women like children.

[spoonitnow]

Pretty cool dick size calculator scenario: http://bl.ocks.org/abovethemean/raw/9395398/

[eugmac]

well, if i'm east asian and i'm above the mean here, i'm supposed to throw a party or something?

[wufwugy]

you already got that banana for scale.

[a500lbgorilla]

if you think the "blurred lines" nonsense is bad (i mean really, it's pitiful), check this out. this made me want to weep/strangle: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/op...ary-ideas.html

dude that immortal technique song is freaking intense. nothing like a good old fable of (song spoiler)"i chose the wrong path in life and whoops, now i'm raping my mom!" to the tune of henry mancini's "love story."



grade a awesomeness:

Standard drunk.

[Renton]

Okay I don't have a tailor's tape to measure girth so I guess I'm gonna go on not knowing.

One thing that dismays the shit out of me about penis size:

The relationship of length/girth to cross-sectional area and volume is totally fucked up. Like, lets just say for the sake of argument that you have a 5 inch penis, and you see that the average is 6 inches. If you assume that length and girth are proportional, and girth for a 5 inch penis is 4 inches, thus the diameter is 4/pi or about 1.25 inches, so the cross-sectional area is 0.625^2*pi = 1.23 in^2 and the volume is 1.23*5 = 6.15 in^3.

Meanwhile, the 6 inch average has a girth of 4.8, a diameter of 1.53, an area of 1.83, and a volume of 11 in^3. So at first you were like, "hey, only one inch below average" then math comes along and is like "naw man, your dick is 6/11 the size of the average, so enjoy that shit. Oh by the way, a below-average porn actor has 7.5 times as much meat as you, just thought you should know." "Thanks math :/"

[daven]

Pedophiles like this guy are fucking immature assholes.

i assumed that only some of them were immmature?

[wufwugy]

[boost]

Okay I don't have a tailor's tape to measure girth so I guess I'm gonna go on not knowing.

string, ruler.

[oskar]

Lately I feel an incredible urge to yell allahu akbar every time I'm in a crowded area.

[spoonitnow]

I never thought I'd say this, but I finally found an article about increasing gun control that makes sense, and I might actually just sell my guns and be done with it now.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Lately I feel an incredible urge to yell allahu akbar every time I'm in a crowded area.

Might as well just use your native language and shout "God is Great!"

Although, I doubt you'd get the same reaction.

[MadMojoMonkey]

string, ruler.

Someone's done this before...

Spoiler: Show

It's boost

[wufwugy]

I never thought I'd say this, but I finally found an article about increasing gun control that makes sense, and I might actually just sell my guns and be done with it now.