Monday, November 19, 2007
Pageviews and unique penises
Pud,
What happened to Mobog.com? I loved looking at cameraphone pics while I was on the phone with customers.
Thanks,
Pete
35 years old
Tampa, Florida
Hi Pete,
Thanks for your interest.
For those who don't know, Mobog.com was a site that I built in 2003 that allowed you to instantly upload pics from your camera phone to the Internet. If you've heard of Twitter, it was similar to that, but for pictures instead of text.
The site was always kinda broken because I didn't spocus on it (one day I'll post something about "spocus" -- speed & focus). Nevertheless, at its height there was a new pic posted every second.
But the problem with publishing user generated photos on the Internet, is that it will ultimately devolve into porn unless heavily moderated. Sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Photobucket review every single photo that reaches the sites, and porno pics are removed.
It's pretty easy to build a system for cheap laborers around the world to review pics and pluck out the dirty ones. But I never got around to it.
And what started out as clean wholesome fun, turned into the world's largest collection of penis pictures on the Internet. Every couple of minutes, someone new would send in a picture of their penis.
And it was accelerating.
I became less concerned with the number of "unique users" visiting my site, and became worried about the number of unique penises. With about 1,000 unique penises per day, doubling every 2 weeks, I calculated that by the year 2009, one-in-three men in the United States will have uploaded a picture of his penis to my website.
:)
Anyway, I shut it down. One of the more unfortunate parts is that -- as I was in the process of shutting it down -- I was unexpectedly informed that FHM magazine chose Mobog as #1 in their list of "50 most addictive websites." (click the picture below)
Ah well.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Scrabble
Tonight I played some online Scrabble and I think the game was suggesting that I do something about my receding hairline.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Getting over her
Dear Pud,
I knew she was all wrong for me. She was too selfish, financially irresponsible, and we had too-different views on marriage and kids.
Still, I loved her, faults and everything.
We just broke up after 4 years. She's 33 and has been cheating with her 21 year old co-worker.
How do I get over her?
Thanks,
Tyler
31 years old
Long Beach, CA Tyler,
You still love her and want to get back together. And you know it might happen, but probably won't. You're sad because the future is unclear, and the present is unpleasant. But this lack of clarity is the very thing that's going to help you.
Would it help you get over her if I were able to prove to you, right now, that you're better off in this situation? And what if I could prove that, because of this, your future is brighter than ever?
Here ya go.
You know you're not going to be sad and lonely for the rest of your life. So then there are two possible outcomes:
- Either you'll get back together, or
- You'll meet someone else, and be happy that this happened
Either way, it will be awesome. That's the way it works. You're lucky.
Rock on,
Pud
Friday, November 02, 2007
Website that knows everything
I was just looking through my referral logs and discovered that, as of this writing, Ask Pud is the #1 Google result for website that knows everything.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Brazillian
Hey Pud,
I'm Brazilian. My English isn't perfect but I understand most of what you've said in your blog and I love it. I like the way you say things, you know?
Here's my question. I'm studying industrial engineering at college, which I think is a good career. But I'm not sure what I want in my life, and I feel so tired of all this. I can't wait to finish and go somewhere else in Europe, or even the US, and live there for a few years.
I want to meet different people and have a different life! Should quit school and travel, or wait until it ends? I have about 2 more years until I graduate.
Thanks for your time.
Julia
24 years old
Brazil Julia,
Engineering is interesting.
Doctors and lawyers require a degree before they can call themselves that. Of course, law is the basis of modern society and doctors got lives in their hands.
But many people feel the same way about engineering -- if you don't have an engineering degree, you can't call yourself an engineer, and you shouldn't expect an engineering job.
That said, times are changing. With college-dropout software engineers leading the pack, the tools to become a masterful engineer are available to almost anyone right now. And unlike saying you're a doctor or a lawyer, it's kind of easy & harmless to prove your engineering skills.
And you won't kill anyone if you suck at it.
But there are enough engineering snobs out there that'd you'd be hurting your chances of getting an entry-level engineering job if you quit now. Of course, maybe you don't want one.
Here is the answer to your question: Pick a country in Europe or a place in the US you'd like to visit (i could give you that answer too, but you didn't ask. okay fine. in the u.s., pick NYC. in europe, if you speak spanish as many brazillians do, pick barcelona. consider that a bonus answer.). Enroll in an engineering school there, start a new life, new friends, and you will be happy.
Pud
Brother
Hey pud,
I was watching some of your YouTube videos today. In your "baby" video, who's the guy who's talking & recording? His voice sounds exactly like someone i know... especially the "okay, you're an idiot" part.
Thanks,
Tracy
36 years old
Castro Valley, CA Tracy,
That's the baby-daddy, Seth, who is also my big brother by 3 years. We were at his house in Virginia, testing a new video camera.
Rock on,
Pud
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