#33: Playing Possum & Plano Redux.Last night before Nina and I went to bed, I looked out the window to check on our cat Snuffleupagus. At first I thought I had spotted him, but upon closer inspection what I thought was my adorable kitty turned out to be some sort of grotesque abomination. "What the hell is that?" I wondered, before coming to the conclusion that it was a possum. Nina was brought over for corroboration, and in an indication that we are perhaps more urban-minded than initially assumed, we realized that neither of us had ever actually seen a possum in real life before.
The most surprising thing about our intruder was how unperturbed it was by our presence. After being confronted, it merely ambled off slowly and unconvincingly, as though it was only waiting for us to turn our backs before waddling over again. We both agreed that it looked "creepy" and like "a big rodent," but while I thought it was "gross" Nina deemed it "definitely cute." Agree to disagree, I suppose. Artist renderings follow--see if you can spot who the artist is:
Fig. 1 - Artist's rendering (Danny)
Fig. 2 - Artist's rendering (Nina)They couldn't possibly have possums in Texas, right? Yesterday was the first day we had to throw away votes because they had been cast illegally (i.e. through the use of voting bots). If this is any indication, we'll unfortunately probably wind up doing the same again today.
xoxox
Danny
Labels: Plano
posted by Danny&Nina @ 10/27/2006 11:23:00 AM
28 comments
28 Feedback:
Nina and Danny,
The Ehrensenf team does not ask people to cast illegal votes. They actually ask people to vote legally (that is: manually) only!
Should you however find that some illegal votes have been submitted again, and you have to delete them, it would be nice if you communicated how you are able to distinguish between legal and illegal votes. Otherwise the whole process becomes too intransparent, and people might think that you just delete votes to a) avoid having to go to a place where you don't want to go or b) stretch the voting process as you earn money through the ads on your site.
Apart from that: I think its a great idea, and the best of luck to you!!!
Thanks for the feedback--we think your concerns are totally valid.
Just to be clear, we've never said that the Ehrensenf team advocates illegal voting nor do we believe that to be the case. However, some people have taken it upon themselves to vote with bots.
As far as how we are able to distinguish between legal/illegal votes, it behooves us not to be too specific (since people might use that info to cheat). However, we will say that we are able to view activity via users IP addresses and clusters of similar IP addresses. We are able to use this information to view what files are being requested from our server; the difference between someone who is voting legally and someone who is voting illegally is VERY apparent when you look at the files they are accessing, regardless of whether they are trying to mask their IP or not.
We hope that is enough clarification to put you at ease. Our goal is not to avoid going to a specific place (we selected all of the cities to begin with, so there aren't any places we don't want to end up). Nor are we trying to stretch out the voting process because of advertisements, which actually raise surprisingly little money (to say nothing of the fact that we have actually lost money doing this project because of start-up and hosting fees).
Thanks for the well-wishes and for the questions!
Thanks for your quick reply. I think this clarifies a lot. The concerns I mentioned are actually not my personal ones (I thing your idea is just too good to make it up just for making some money), but were based on some speculations I found in the Ehrensenf forum. I just thought I moderate a bit between you and the German speaking netizens...
Hi there,
Have fun in Texas ;-)
I don't think Katrin will stop before we see you moving in there.
Luv,
BK
(another Ehrensenf watcher)
Hello,
Does using the "back"-button in the browser void multiple votes?
Thanks,
best regards
Hello Nina and Danny,
I'm really sorry that here were idiots who tried to cheat, but: I've no idea how many people watch Ehrensenf frequently, but they are really many and in a huge crowd of people you will always find some guys who have either no or a scrude sense of humour.
By the way, how do people move in America, for example from, let me think..., NY to Plano, Texas? Do you take all the furniture? I mean, it's quite a long way to go. In Germany your not very likely to move much more than about a thousand kilometers, so that's still comparatively moderate.
Did someone inform the mayor of Plano about two new citizens are moving to his city veeerrry soooon... ;-)
Literally: As soon as Ehrensenf's audience bounces, you two have to move again. We will again decide where you will move to after the year in Plano.
Hahaha :-)
In the meantime, happy voting!
I guess, in Plano u will be able to see a lot more of these cute animals ;))))
Michael
From the Mustard of Honour
.... Ich fall vom Stuhl!!!!....
by the way,
when u wasting u time down there,
could u post a photograph sitting on the mighty bulls
we are from
The Mustard ....
Oh, there are possums in Texas ;-)
Yesterday we saw one eating the food of our cat (almost like you). I was so scared, I never saw a possum before (I'm from Germany and have only been two month in Texas yet)I thought it was the cat until I discovered the long tail...
I live only about 20 minutes away from Plano, I like it here, but if you move from New York? At least you will live near Dallas. :-)
wow, i just visited the homepage of plano.
aside from possums there is another attraction that surely will enthrall mr. snuffle:
Plano has one of the first dog parks established in North Texas (1/2 block N of Spring Creek Parkway, W of Custer, on Pleasant Valley Drive). The fenced, 2-acre park, adjacent Bluebonnet Trail, has benches, picnic tables
sounds great, doesnt it ?
Greetz
again Michael
(the one from bremen)
hey - dont be surprised, but now you also have a big vote-community in singapore... have fun in texas ;-)
It seems, taht savannah is coming close.
In the end its a battle between Singapore and Cologne :P
I must admit i was thinking about a voting bot but i didnt use one. I only hit reload and "yes" on the question "send post data again".
Im sure: Plano will win *g*
Maybe Danny should have put up a Banner for you.
i think its like searching for a volunteer for bringing the modern world to plano :P
Anyway, im sure plano is childfrendly and has lots to offer like quilt making, hunting and making moonshine :P
Danny & Nina.
I kindly recommend to check the types of votes for Savannah as you did for Plano yesterday. Othervise I kindly reclaim the more than 200,000 votes for Plano back!!
Yes, the world has recognized the problems of the US with ballot boxes.
Is this just another proof for failing voting mechanisms?
Should we all send our votes by snailmail?
Should you ask the Indians (I mean those living in Asia ;-) about successful digital balloting?
Did you hire some nasty hackers to manipulate the...
We, the free voters of Germany (and other friendly countries), ask you to do something against corruption and misuse!
We want you to move to Plano!
;-)
not that I did it but who ever said that voting with bots is "illigal"? Doesn't it say you can cast as many votes as you like?
Yeah, US IT powered democracy... I will say no more...
how do you realize the difference between using a bot or klicking this button in a very short time again and again?
Aaah... now we know how the wind blows! And the foul malodor of election fraud is blowing over the Atlantic ocean, offending the noses of honest, honorable, hard-working and hand-clicking people in "Old Europe" (and other continents)... Are you putting us on, Nina and Danny? Steeling another 450,000 votes from Plano's account in the middle of the night? And at the same time deducting a moderate 145,000 Savannah votes from their bot attack?
So that's what you're up to! Unfair and fraudulent intervention to get another extra time for your own favorite! May I tell you that I am bitterly disappointed about the way you are treating polite and friendly people in whose hands you are (ostensibly) putting your lives?
We won't put up with this treatment!
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
I'LL FACE IT WITH A GRIN
I'M NEVER GIVING IN...
(That's the way the late, unforgettable and unforgotten Freddy Mercury put it!)
And it WILL go on... you can count on that!!!!!!!
Yours deceivedly,
bustard
Hi guys, thanks for the previous posts and your thoughts.
First off, we just want to make it clear that we are not "stealing votes in the middle of the night" or any such nonsense. If you read our comments above, you will learn a little bit about how we adjust the vote count daily to eliminate illegally cast bot votes. We spend a lot of time looking over logs and monitoring the site to legitimize the vote tallies as best we can, and even though it's impossible to be 100% accurate, we are doing our best.
That said, we do appreciate you offering feedback. There are times when the bot voting for both Plano and Savannah is egregious, when you can literally see the count climbing by thousands of votes per second. It happens on both sides, unfortunately.
Fortunately, we can tell how many people are actually on the site when votes are being cast, and this makes weeding out obviously fraudulent votes a lot easier. Again, it isn't an exact science, but by thoughtfully examining the data it is fairly accurate.
Again, the disclaimer against bot voting is very clearly posted on the voting page; as long as people continue to vote illegally--regardless of what town they are voting for--their votes will be invalidated.
Nina and Danny,
Thank You for your statement. I am sorry for the accusations stated by bustard and some other pushing people. In my opinion you are doing a great job and i want to assure that most people of the "Mustard-community" think so.
It is obvious that you were not prepared for such a run on your site! So it is applaudeable how politely and calmly you are reponding to the postings.
Anyway, i've been voting a few hundred times for Plano. But to me it is obvious that the biggest stake in counted votes is casted by such bots. To me it seems very suspicious the there are so many supportes of Savannah! We havn't seen any life sign of them yet. One would expect a community of a size similar to "Mustard" but we havn't even seen a single posting here yet. So i suspect a missdirected bot to be responsible for this!
It is saddening that your good idea is used in such a way. (I am not going to vote anymore because i think they will decide the race.)
Anyway, i think it will be unavoidable for you to move to Texas! So get you cowboyhats packed! (hehe)
best regards
maybe next year you should move to germany - you already have a lot of friends over here =)and I'm sure you can move in with Katrin for a couple of months. cheers.
...Im from Denton, Texas although I now go to school in Indiana. Although I think you would love Denton, Plano is a horrible place. Im praying that any other city wins--for your sake. I can't imagine people who seem to be liberal, open-minded, creative people surviving in a place like Plano. Here's hopin' for Savannah!
p.s. if you just deleted Plano off the list I wouldn't tell anyone.
-Sam
Honestly, i dont think plano is a bad place at all. I'm German and saw the Ehrensenf advice, however, i dont feel guilty sending u there at all. Texas was a big change for me but it's actually ok :-) Went to a party there the other day, dont worry its not THAT bad!
U have fun and give me a call when your down here in god's country, ill give u a welcoming gift on behalf of all germans who sent u to this wonderful place!
Please don't delete the votes from my IP, even if there will be "some" :-). I was just hitting reload in my browser...
First of all: Greetz from Frankfurt/Germany!
Following "Ehrensenf" and the ongoing disussions on your hp I am wondering how serious the whole story is...
..."we will say that we are able to view activity via users IP addresses and clusters of similar IP addresses."
As far as I remember, clusters of similar IP adresses are "given" to one single country. If so, you guys would "kill" any votes from Germany because of their then similar IP adresses... Sorry?
Ehrensenf is followed by something around 400.000 users a day. If you are serious about "manual" votes, you have to accept nearly every single vote from Germany and therefor have to pack your backs for "Bush County".
Best wishes for the future, keep your heads down low...
The "Frankfurter" (No, i'm not a sausage... ;-))
Dear Nina&Danny,
greetings from munich, the capital of beer-drinking maniacs in bavaria :-)
The current hype concerning your propable move to Plano(Texas) is really amazing. Came to know about yout project - you might have guessed - through ehrensenf show in Spiegel-Online.
Wish U all the best.
Am assuming that Plano is your Home-Base for the time to come ;-)
Take care & all the best,
Holger
(all my votes have been casted manually (approx. 10 or so)
Hi Dannyandnina,
I, too, heard about your project via Ehrensenf, however, I talked to a friend in Texas who assured me that Plano was the hippest and fastest growing community in the country. And I am sure you know that too! So enjoy your stay there - and be sure to learn German for your stay there in 2008! :-) Greetings from NYC - a honeymustard lover
wow, you people really have it all wrong, Richardson, tx is bas, Garland, tx is bad; but plano, it's in collin county, the richest in texas; it's a pretty liberal town in suburbia. i live in central plano, yes there's a lot of "trash" in east/southeast plano, but i'm sure a couple of New Yorkers wouldn't move to that area... If it makes you feel better, the first female space tourist lives here, i don't think she'd live in an outdated, rural, ignorant, poor place, correct?
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