Lately there's been a lot of Spam being submitted to Mixx, some even being made popular and onto the front page. I know many top Mixxers are pissed off at it and I'm one of them. Social Media/News sites are always prime targets so having some spam submitted has to be expected. But what's been going on at Mixx lately is well beyond that. Mixxers who have been around are even voting for some of this shit that gets submitted, some Supermixxers even. I don't know whether they're voting for it because they're part of some spam voting ring, whether they just are too lazy to pay attention to what they're voting on, or what, but that's fucking wrong.

Then there are the voting rings, people all linked together voting stuff up just to get their shit on the front page, submissions that probably wouldn't even get to 5 votes without the voting ring. I've seen evidence of it and voting rings HURT sites like Mixx. And the fucking spam voting rings are even worse. All of a sudden some porn video or some spam makes front page, you view it and 20 spammers all voted for it. Spam accounts solely there to just vote up spam (sock puppets if you will) to try to get it to the front page. I report it and there are 5 more votes for it also from spammers.

Then of course there are the revenge votes, I got many of my stories voted down yesterday by a few spammers and other jackasses in revenge for me voting down and reporting them for spam. And don't think revenge voting is limited to spammers. Normal users too are guilty of this. Assholes who get pissed off that someone downvoted ONE of their stories, take revenge by voting down EACH AND EVERY ONE of yours. Grow up people, one downvote isn't the end of the world. And of course you have those people who will downvote anything and everything that doesn't match up perfectly with their beliefs, the ones who feel that if you don't believe what they believe than you are wrong. I may not agree with everything everyone else believes in, hell I'm sure I don't, but you won't see me going around and just voting it down because of that reason alone.

Comments are another issue, leaving only comments like "great article", or "nice" do nothing but clog the comment stream. Once in a while is ok, but add some value to the conversation, don't just post comments. I'm not even going to get into the one Mixx user who happens to write 300 line comments that pretty much end up being off topic onto articles that don't conform to what he/she wants.

I know Bdog2g2, gbarberi, loup.dargent and others, including myself, yesterday were trying to go through Mixx and help get rid of the crap that's been building up and submitted to Mixx. I hate to say it but we showed very little mercy. We all like Mixx, and don't want to see it filled up with spam, so we decided to go on the offensive for a change. I can't speak for them personally, but I know I want Mixx back, the Mixx I saw when I first joined where there was a lot of conversation, and quality discussion over some of the crap that makes the front page.

So to any other Supermixxers out there, keep your eye out for the spam that gets posted...report it and note it to help keep shit off the front page, we don't need to see it.

I just want to end with one note.

Yesterday I downvoted some spam stories and reported a user for spamming. About 15 minutes later I get a MixxMail from him saying that he reported me and was gonna get me kicked off of Mixx, also saying that Mortalwind did so before and he got back anyway. He then also proceded to downvote every story I submitted over the last 2 months (I really don't feel like spending the time counting how many back were downvoted, suffice it to say, it was a LOT) Well when I got this, I just laughed and shrugged it off because I didn't do anything wrong, I'm simply going after the spammers who think Mixx is their stomping ground. It might be kind of jerkish to say, but I wish I could've seen the look on his face when he realized he just got the boot from Mixx (he was booted sometime in the evening yesterday).

Tags: mixx, spam, crap

Unbelieveable....that is all.

Tags: batman, movies, darkknight

I will be on the Mashed Buttons Gamecast (Podcast) tonight at 7PM EST, 4PM PST. It's a podcast dedicated to video games and the gaming community. Check it out:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mashedbuttons-gamecast

Tags: podcast, mashedbuttons

Earlier today I went and got the link for the manual download of the iPhone 2.0 firmware and so far it's pretty nice, got a few apps installed and they're working pretty well. AIM is nice, and even though its from AOL, there are no ads like in the Windows versions, although I hope someone creates a 3rd party app that also incorporates Google Talk into it.

My main complaint with it is the lack of background processes. I enjoy talking to people through AIM and it'd be nice if I stayed online when I closed the app and even when i turn off the screen, so if someone IMs me, it notifies me as say an SMS message or an e-mail would, but alas it doesn't. Oh well, it is definitely a step in the right direction for Apple.

One nice little feature is the ability to easily create screenshots...

Update: From what I've been seeing, I'm glad I did this all last night, people seem to be having problems upgrading or for the new 3G customers, even ACTIVATING their new iPhones.

Tags: apple, iphone

While I initially debated upgrading my iPhone to the 3G model, I have since decided that it's just not worth it, for several reasons.

First, the new iPhone plans from AT&T now suck in comparison to the first gen iPhone plans. The voice plans remain the same from what I can see, but the data plan is now $10 more and does not include the 200 text messages like the old one did, so in order to get the "same plan" for the 3G iPhone, you'll be paying $15 extra a month. It may not seem like that much, but over the course of your 2 year contract, it adds up and even cancels out the cheaper price for the phone itself.

A second reason is that despite what others want to say, the battery life on the 3G model is noticeably worse than that with the original. The 3G drains the battery faster than does the EDGE network. Walt Mossberg has already reviewed it and said he barely got 4.5 hours out of it.

A third one is features. The 3G really only adds 2 new features. The first of course is the 3G network, and the 2nd is GPS. Yes the 3G network is faster than the EDGE network, but speed isn't everything. And GPS, on a phone, I could take it or leave it, especially since I would really only see it as useful for maybe driving, but i already have a car GPS system. Keep in mind that all the other features like the app store, etc are part of the 2.0 firmware which still will work just fine on the original models.

So while the 3G iPhone doesn't suck by any means, in fact it looks great, especially for someone who doesn't have an iPhone to begin with, for someone like me however; the new iPhone 3G doesn't pack enough of a punch to make me toss my current iPhone for the new model. Maybe in the future with newer iPhone models, but for now, I will be sticking with my current iPhone.

Tags: opinion, iphone, apple