Does SPAM work?

Ok, we have all seen them, messages selling Rolex Watches, Mortgages, Pills to make our bodies smaller and other pills to make our bodies bigger. Seems like we are never satisfied.

I get about 300-500 SPAM messages daily added from various email addresses.
But..does it really work?

Well I found an interesting article from the New York Times as well as a few other websites and the short answer is Yes it does actually work.

Here are some snippets from the articles

"...how stock market spam has exploded over the past two years, making up 15% of all spam messages (as of July 2006), compared to less than one percent of spam back in January 2005.

The reason behind this rapid increase? It works. To the tune of an average return of roughly 5.8% over just two days. Spammers buy up shares of penny stocks, distribute spam touting the particular company, then sell off their shares for a profit.

As hard as it may be to believe, there’s still a fair amount of folks out there willing to act on the investing advice of a complete stranger’s unsolicited email showing up in their inbox."

"The gist of the study is that spam e-mail touting a little known stock actually drives enough people to buy that the stock price moves. A spammer that invests before unleashing the stock-touting spam reduces the risks of market timing and direction of price movement, resulting in returns of approximately 5.79% in only 2 days. Not too shabby. Those people reacting to the spam find themselves buying as the price is rising, selling as the price drops after the spam campaign completes, and losing roughly 5.48% of their money. Not too good. The effectiveness of this ploy is evidenced by Sophos measurements which has seen stock spam explode from a mere 0.8% of all spam in January 2005 to a robust 15.0% of all spam by July 2006."

However, the most interesting part from the NYT article

"Spam messages promoting pornography are 280 times as effective in getting recipients to click on them as messages advertising pharmacy drugs, which are the next most effective type of spam."

Now the article was a little dated (July 06) but I still found it humorous. Seems like the stock sellers are trying to break off a little sumpin sumpin from the porn industry.

Logically wouldn't that indicate the best SPAM would be to advertise stocks from a large porn distributor or web hosting company?

It's too crowded in here

Ok, techie topic and of course it's related to Google. So by now you are probably using Gmail, Google Calendar and all things Googlie. Well, how about utilizing some of the drive space.

Gspace

This extension allows you to use your Gmail Space (2.8 GB and growing) for file storage. It acts as an online drive, so you can upload files from your hard drive and access them from every Internet capable system. The interface will make your Gmail account look like a FTP host.
After the installation, you'll get an option called "Gspace" in your "Tools" menu, which opens the GSpace window.

It's great for storing/sharing files with your friends. Also very good to backup photos and music files (as you can view/listen to them from Gspace).

Lowest Price Guaranteed

Ok, pop quiz! When you need to make travel reservations which of the following websites has the best price guaranteed?


A. Expedia
B. Orbitz
C. Travelocity
D. A & C
E. All of the Above
F. None of the Above

If you picked F..."you are correct sir". And you thought F was bad.

I needed to make some reservations recently so of course I scoured the net for the best price and surprisingly the best rate I found was directly on the individual hotel site.

10 Things

Ok, during my long ass drive with the piano I had plenty of time to think up interesting blog posts. At one point in my trip I had just finished about 6 Mt Dews (I needed that many to keep myself just barely conscious) and decided to stop and pee at the Buffalo Alice exit. Of course my mind was a little fuzzy and my eyeballs were floating so I didn't think about where I was parking...at least not until I came back out.

"Ohh Crap, How the hell do I back this thing up?"

After what must have been a very comedic performance for the 13yr old behind the counter I finally did manage to get back on the freeway and kept wishing I would have practiced a few times in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

As I was strolling along listening to Boneyard on XM I came up with this list of:

10 Things You Wish Your Parents Would Have Taught You

1. Patience - Some days do you feel like you are constantly on hold or in line somewhere
2. How to Sew - White thread with black pants = Bad
3. Pick out Wine - Anything more than "some are red, some are white"
4. File Taxes - I sure miss the 1040EZ days
5. Negotiate/Hagle - I know I paid 3x too much for my first car
6. How to Dance - How not to look like a white guy from MN
7. Insurance - Simply to explain how 10% of the population uses 90% of the benefit
8. Breakups - This is one thing that doesn't get any easier with practice
9. Dress 4 Success - It seems so simple but ask my wife, I have no clue
10. Backup a Trailer - Handy when moving a piano

Oh Oh, Oh, Oh Oh Oh

Ok, with summer approaching and AI and Heroes winding down I kept wondering what cool shows might be on. So I said to myself, "self, CBS should bring back Rockstar. Well of course after a little Google digging. I found a good site with instructions on petitioning CBS.

Should you be interested in helping keep live rock music on television, you should address your thoughts/concerns to:
Ghen Maynard
Executive Vice President
CBS Paramount Television Entertainment Group
7800 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles , CA 90036

The email link is here

Of course who could forget Toby.

Weekend Adventure

• Trailer Wiring -- $84.24
• Trailer Hitch -- $21.09
• Trailer Rental -- $134.78
• Furniture Pads - $10.00
• Tie Down Straps $14.99
• Casino Buffet -- $24.53
• One Arm Bandit $40.25
• Gas along 94 -- $152

One "Free" Piano -- PRICELESS

I had a great weekend visiting many friends and relatives and the excitement on the kids faces when we rolled the piano in made it all worth it.

Spell Google

If you said "466453" you win.

Ok, you may have read my post earlier about Google calendar and using Text Messaging to access it. Well, this is even cooler!

Spell Google on your phone keypad = 466453. Now why is this number significant to Google besides the obvious? It's linked to their SMS (Text Messging) service. So if you have a phone with text messaging you can access Google with just a few clicks.

How to use Google SMS
1. Start a new text message and type in your search query
2. Send the message to the number "466453" (GOOGLE)
3. You'll receive text message(s) with results

Ways to use text messaging

For local business listings
* Type what you want (business or type of service; e.g., "starbucks" or "thai restaurant") followed by zip or city and state
* Examples: "pizza hut 10009" or "pizza new york ny"

For sports scores
* Type the name of the sports team
* Examples: "red sox" or "sf giants"

For weather conditions
* Type the word "weather" followed by the zip or city and state
* Examples: "weather 98112" or "weather seattle wa"

More useful information
* Need help? Send the word "help" to 466453
* Additional features include movie showtimes, stock quotes, definitions, driving directions, calculator, and more

Try it out and if you find that interesting here is a link to other phone short codes.

New look

Ok, I really didn't like the greenish layout so I'm trying this one. Let me know what you think.

I also should put a tracker on here so I can see exactly who's reading this.

If you are reading this raise your right hand and leave it up so I can see it.

You really can find anything on the internet

Ok, I thought I would add a little personal history to the blog today by posting a copy of one of the very first email response to my wife's add on Yahoo Personals. For those that weren't aware I met my wife on the internet and I'm sure in her head each day she says "What was I thinking?" I have been hanging on to this as a reminder of just how lucky I am.

So, fall of 1997 I was recently divorced living in Sioux Falls, working at Gateway having just moved back from California and not having much luck finding my soul mate. Being a technology type guy I started searching on the internet and ran across a personal ad from a woman living in MN who sounded like my dream come true.

In just a few days she received several hundred responses to her ad and somehow out of all of them she picked me.

Here is my unedited post.

Wow, Manicotti where have you been all my life? Sounds like you have your hands full. I know this great computer company if you ever want to buy one for your house. I think you would enjoy reading e-mail in your underwear. I know I do, yikes maybe that's more than you wanted to know? Speaking of underwear, boxers definitely, I wore briefs as a kid, but you can't really make a pleasant fashion statement in bikini underwear. It's also a lot warmer when you're running around the house. How about yourself, synthetic or silk, paisley or plaid? It's the start of my weekend today so needless to say I'm enjoying it. Got to go to Menards. There's something psychologically masculine about buying lumber. Especialy if you wear flannel. I'm more of a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy.
Which brings up a good, get ta know ya, kind of question. Where do you like to shop? Do you even like to shop? Do you ever go to the Mall of America? I basically live on the top floor when I go there. Brain Freeze at Fat Tuesdays followed by some hot wings at Hooters sounds good to me. That is if I don't have a date, then the candlelight manicotti dinner in front of a warm fire with some soft music sounds much better. But we both know the chance of me having a date...somewhere between slim and none. I take that back, I actually have a few dates but they either couldn't legally vote in the last election or they have no idea how to spell vote. As for what I find attractive in a woman...well, since I have nothing to lose and believe in being perfectly honest(which is more than I can say for my ex-wife) I will tell you.
Like most males I went through the entirely shallow state in college where a mannequin head on top of Pamela Anderson's body was just fine to show off to your friends. However, like good wine, people mature, now I really love tall women with long hair, great eyes and a nice smile. But I suppose that's because I actually enjoy talking to girls now. Such wasn't always the case but we won't go there. Physically fit is a big plus but I would much rather date a slightly overweight hiker, than a skinny out of breath bar fly. Please tell me you don't smoke? Do you date much? Ever been in a serious relationship? Ever been in love? You don't have to answer I just figured it would make good conversation. As for me, you could never ask me any questions that were too personal. If you haven't already noticed, I'm not real shy. I'm usually the party organizer, socializing type. However, I love quiet nights at home curled up on the couch together as well. Have you seen any good movies lately? That's another one of my interests. I usually go to one of two a week. "Seven years in Tibet" and the "Jackal", were two good ones I saw recently. Hopefully talk to you soon.

Can you say "Train Wreck"

Doesn't anyone realize the chaos this will create? Do you have any idea what Wisconsinites will do for free beer?



Wis. A Step Closer To Allowing Free Beer (Samples)

(AP) Madison, Wis. Beer lovers of Wisconsin, rejoice!

Thanks to the state Senate, you're a step closer to getting a free (yes, free!) half-can of beer.

The Senate approved a bill on an unanimous voice vote Tuesday that allows grocery and liquor stores to hand out samples of up to 6 ounces of free beer per day to people of legal drinking age. The Assembly was expected to take up the measure later Tuesday.

Current state law allows wineries, but not brewers, to offer up to 6 ounces of free samples.

Sen. Pat Kreitlow, D-Chippewa Falls, home of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., is the bill's main sponsor. He said the measure is designed to help beer manufacturers compete with wine makers.

Cool Discovery

Scientists Discover New Snake Species Hidden Deep in Borneo Jungles

East Kalimantan, Indonesia -- A team of international scientists led by The Nature Conservancy today announced the discovery of at least two new snake species and a variety of previously unknown insect, snail and plant species living in the karst systems of Borneo.

More pictures of this and other new discoveries can be found here.

Boy I opened my own can of worms this time?

Ok, my original article today was going to be a light hearted look at the MN Vikings player arrests. Yes, I know all you Sconnies would love to see that so stay tuned.

However, I can't get my mind off the recent Virginia Tech tragedy and the perplexing nature of mass shootings in general. Logical or not, my mind immediately starting trying to correlate gun and crime statistics to see if there is some societal trend or pattern to help explain what I cannot seem to comprehend.

Wow! There's a lot to get your head around and one day's research really won't ease my mind or backup any theories.

Therefore, for now I will resist the urge to whip out my cell phone and vote for Sanjaya and fatefully accept that the world really is going to hell and instead I offer up a question.

Why?

TJ Turns 264 and nobody cares

What don't tell me you didn't notice?

Ok, today's post is all about Thomas Jefferson in honor of his birthday. No, not really but play along anyway. Did anyone notice that it would have been TJ's 264th birthday today? Does anyone care? Probably not, but people certainly care about the king himself, Elvis' birthday Celebration is held every year in Memphis. He would have been 72 this year.

How many times have you heard something like this while driving in the car. "So and So would have turned 83 today". At what point do we stop caring about deceased people's birthdays?

Obviously the most famous of these dates being Dec 25. Will celebrating that birthday ever be out of fashion for the general masses of America? Probably not as long as Christianity is prevalent and there continues to be a holiday related to it.

Of course, I'm not here to bash Christmas, on the contrary I enjoy having a select number of individuals to remember and honor their birthdays or things related to birth. But where do we draw the line?

• Christmas -- OK
• Presidents Day -- OK
• Mother's Day -- OK
• Father's Day -- OK
• GrandParent's Day -- OK
• Kurt Cobain -- Not so Much

In fact, there was even an article dedicated to how not enough people remembered his birthday.

As well it should be. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Nirvana, but don't really need to know when he would have turned 87.

Luckily I found some solace learning that the website http://www.deceasedcelebrities.com/ is for sale, so people must not care that much, but I swear each day on the radio I hear about some rock star who would have been X today.

I'm definitely buying more aerosol hairspray today.

Ok, I think I've finally reached the end of my patience. The first time I ever experienced a Christmas without snow I was living in California. That same Christmas I grilled brats and drank beer sitting outside on my patio while listening to the local Lutheran TV broadcast. It was a good night but I kept wondering if Santa wore bermuda shorts or cargo pants while delivering packages in warmer climes?

The second time was 2006 in MINNESOTA! Do you see something wrong with that? The only reason to stay here for Christmas IS the snow. Arghhh!

Fast forward to April 11, 2007, yes you read that right, April 11. Not Feb 11, not Mar 11, Apr 11 (Only two days before TJ's birthday and Astronomy Week is just around the corner) and what do you think happens???

You couldn't possibly have guessed Snow Storm did you?

Well wrap me up with salsa and call me a burrito, you're right. A mickey frickin snow storm. With all the Global Warming talk I already had my suntan lotion and my lawn chairs out.

Me: "Honey, do you think I should get the pool filled up for the kids?"
Wife: "Are you smokin crack, look outside"
Me: "Ohh wow look at that it's snowing. Sorry I just heard Al Gore again yesterday and thought we should be prepared for the 400 degree summer"

So hopefully you see where I'm headed.... Please, if you are reading this, go to your local salon or department store today, buy some hairspray, (make sure it's aerosol and not that pump crap), and just let it loose all over. Spray the plants, the cat, whatever you can think and if you need some suggestions Charlotte has some here.

BRING ON GLOBAL WARMING!!!!

It can't happen fast enough. In fact, join me in my salute to People FOR Global Warming.

My hat goes off to socker mom's and mid life crisis H3 drivers everywhere.

I think I will go out now and warm up my car for lunch.

Welcome to Malinator

Ok, because of the holiday weekend,
I will make it up by posting twice today.

I think everyone would agree we live in a very disposable world nowadays.

Everything from Diapers to Tires, all just thrown away.

Well why not email addresses as well.

If you haven't used Malinator yet, I suggest giving it a try.

Mailinator is a disposable e-mail address service created in 2003 by Paul Tyma, a software engineer at Google. It accepts mail for any username and allows anyone to read it without having to create an account or enter a password. It is intended to allow people to provide an anonymous and temporary address to an untrusted person, such as a website suspected of selling addresses to spammers.

TMI and RPL

Hello everyone, hope the Easter Bunny was good to you. MMMM Chocolate.

Ok, you all know I love Google but is there such a thing as Too much information? or more precisely information gathered too quickly?

Pop Quiz. What do the following websites have in common?

Anywho.com
Switchboard.com
Whitepages.com
Phonenumber.com
Google.com

If you guessed reverse phone lookups, you win!

RPLs (fancy acronym added for geek appeal) are nothing new, I've been using them to track down ex-girlfriends for years. Ooops did I say that out loud.

The first four websites above might be a little harder to remember however, especially after a few beers, which is when I always used to search for ex-girlfriends.

To make your life easier...
Did you know you can type in any publicly listed phone number into Google and the associated names and address pop up quicker than you can say Big Brother.
Not only that but do you see the little linky to the right that says Map, click that.

As a test of technology I called 411 and asked them for the same information. What do you think they said? That's right, "Sorry wecan't give out that information over the phone" So I politely said "Thanks, I'll just go ask my friend Google"

Now, if you think this information is too easy to stumble on and want your name removed from Google. Just follow this link which goes to http://www.google.com/help/pbremoval.html and you can be quickly removed.

Otherwise, if you ARE the ex-girlfriend, best to just have your number unlisted.

Is my computer Anti-Semetic

I have this process running and maybe this is computer profiling?

Why can't they just leave well enough alone?

So the other day I was craving some really sugar loaded breakfast cereal and headed down to my local Cub Foods store to check out the selection.

First some history, remember this is my blog you always get the long version.

As a kid there were only a few things I really enjoyed and looked forward to....Science class, Halloween and Saturday Mornings. Saturday mornings meant only one thing, television cartoons and unlimited bowls of cereal. Ok, that's two things but whatever. I was always the first one out of bed around 6am. This was long before the days when cartoons where on 24hrs and VCRs and DVRs were common household items so you needed to be up early to see the best shows and it all went to hell once "The Bugaloos" came on or my sister woke up whichever came first.

For a long time we only had one color TV and being the youngest meant I was dead last in deciding what to watch. Saturday mornings were different, it was the only time each week when I was in charge of the television. Woot!

But I digress, don't get me started on the crappy cartoons on tv nowadays, that's a whole 'nother post. Thank god for Boomerang.

So each Saturday morning my routine was basically the same. Jump out of bed, quietly run upstairs, which is impossible without waking my dog who in turn thinks I want to play. He never understood the importance of catching the long opening of The Smurfs, which was only aired for one season before they switched it over to the shorter version. Once upstairs I would hit the on button on the TV as I ran by on the way to the kitchen. We had no remote control and the it would always take about a minute for the set to warm up.

My goal was always the same, try to make it to the cupboard before I heard the TV blast some commercial from the living room. I think I only won once. As I opened the cupboard my heart would start to beat just a little bit faster in anticipation of what I might find.

"Please be there, please be there"....

My beloved HONEYCOMBS

Yes, cha ching, woo woo. I would grab the box as if it were my kiddie crack and I was in desperate need of my "fix". Screw the milk, the box was all I needed, well at least until the first commercial. I would head triumphantly back to the living room prize in hand.

Then if all the stars aligned perfectly I would get to see my favorite Commercial as well.

Honeycomb's big,

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's not small,

No, no, no.

Honeycomb's got

A big, big taste.

It was my childhood heaven. Honeycombs and Saturday morning cartoons.

Well my world came crashing down recently after the aforementioned visit to the Cub Foods store. I waltzed in, grabbed my golden box of big big taste and headed to the office. I pour my bowl and to my surprise immediately I notice something different. These aren't my Honeycombs. /cry
I take a bite and something is horribly wrong. They taste like CRAP.

Honeycomb sux
ya ya ya
tastes like sh*t
ya ya ya

Alas, Why can't they just leave well enough alone?

From Wikipedia

"At the end of 2006, Post changed the formula for this popular brand of cereal in the name of improving its health content."

I don't want healthy you bastards, I want my Honeycombs back. Did they learn nothing from the disaster that was "New Coke"
That's it, I'm starting a petition right now....

Sudoku of the Day

Try this Sudoku Puzzle

Real Life Volcano

This seemed like a funny headline. The scary thing is, I take my kids there.

Duluth waterpark evacuated after fake volcano catches fire...

Duluth waterpark evacuated after fake volcano catches fire

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) The Best Western Edgewater Resort and
Waterpark in Duluth was evacuated after an imitation volcano in the
pool caught fire. No injuries were reported.

A hotel guest says the flames rose three to four feet in the air
and there was a lot of smoke in the water park.

The Duluth Fire Department was on scene within minutes and hotel
staff handed out blankets to guests still wet from the pool.

The fire started shortly before seven (Thursday evening) and the
scene was cleared in about an hour.

A hotel spokesman says it appeared to be an electrical fire.

The displaced swimmers were given blankets and directed to the nearby Perkins and Black Woods restaurants. Once guests were allowed back into their rooms, the staff treated them to in-room ice cream Thursday night.

The Edgewater reopened in January 2006 after a 14-month, $20 million remodeling project.

Guess they should have spent $20,000,001 for that extra circuit breaker.

Best way to spend your lunch break

Ok, you must have discovered YouTube by now?

If not, you should check it out, but people ask me all the time.
"How do you find anything on there"

Well, to be honest it's hard to just randomly go onto the site and find something to watch. So here are some suggestions.

• Use the navigation links on the left to find the most popular, top rated, etc
• Choose the "All Time" link to see what everyone is watching
• Don't limit yourself to just comedy, branch out
• How Not to Change a Tire
• LadyBug Loving
  
• How to Bump a Lock

• Listen to Music, if you want to know what your kids are listening to, it's probably there
• My Humps
• Buttons
• This is Why I'm Hot
• Here it Goes Again
  
• White and Nerdy - My Favorite of course
  

The best links are usually shared by someone. So if you see a large group of people huddled around a computer in your office laughing, chances are they are watching something from YouTube. Act fast however, lots of videos are taken down due to copyright infringement.

Evolution of Dance

SNL Christmas Gift

Beyonce vs Bush

Hobbits to Isengard

Star Wars Kid

Lazy Sunday - Of course this one has been taken down so here's another link to it

AC/DC Hokey Pokey - this one is gone as well from youtube?

Most of this are so popular, spoofs are made from the spoofs themselves.

Enjoy!

Well, here goes nothing

I changed the permissions to allow anyone to post comments.
Isn't it funny how people are so much more honest anonymously.

To Sign or Not to Sign, that is the question

Ok, this isn't so much a complaint as it is a question.
Anyone else confused about needing to sign for a credit card purchase under a certain amount? Some places they still ask me to sign, other places they don't. Some places make you sign one day and not the next. Arbys requires a signature in the restaurant but not if you go through the drive through.

Here's where it gets really confusing. I can fill up my mini-van (ok stop laughing), for $44 using pay at the pump and no crazy signature nazi comes running out of the store after me.

Next time I'm at Fleet Farm I'm gonna ask the cashier, "can I use Pay at the Pump for this?"

So here are the questions. (I have Googled* in vain so far.)

1. Who decides whether a business needs a signature? Is it the business or the credit card company making the rules?
2. Can some businesses overrule the policy and still require a signature?
3. Can you refuse to sign and "educate" the cashier as to not having to sign?
4. Is the amount $25 or less? I had heard $20 or less as well.
5. Does this apply to department stores as well? Target, Wal Mart etc


*Please Mr. Google, don't come after me for using your company as a verb.

48368 is the magic number

Ok, I always knew Google had some really cool applications, maps, spreadsheets, mail but have you discovered the Calendar?

Today I hit a new level of geekness. I know what you're thinking, hardly possible for me to get any higher. First the overview for those not "on the bus". Now take 5 minutes and go set it up, I will wait here. Tick Tock, Tick Tock

See what did I tell you, cool huh? Next you can share your personal calendar with other people you designate by making it public and they will see your events on their personal calendars. For example, you really want to go to Happy Hour but you can't remember when your hot neighbor needed you to watch her fish. No problem, just have her share her calendar, well if you could remember her name you could.

Now for the really cool stuff. Careful you might actually pee your pants a little, not that I did or anything. Let's pretend for a moment that I am a MN Twins fan, I know it's a scary thought for anyone, but just humor me and play along. At the bottom left of the calendar you will see a little box where you can search for other public calendars. So because of the wonderful Al Gore invention other people and companies have calendars they label as public and viola you can immediately have specific schedules tied into your calendar.
Here are some examples to try.
DVD releases
Movie Releases
MN Twins
Google II Softball Season
Comic Book and Toy Event Calendar

It will even assign a different color for each calendar, which you can later modify.

Now, if you still aren't impressed it gets better. So why is 48368 the magic number? Well if you have a cell phone with a calendar believe it or not you can sync it together with your Google calendar. Not only that but after a few quick steps you can actually send a text message from your phone and it will automatically add it to your calendar.

Here are the steps.

1. Sign on to Google Calendar
2. Click on Settings on the right hand side, next to "sign out"
3. Click on Notifications on the top menu
Incidentally, this is also a quick way to have Google calendar entries email you reminders or you can have reminders sent to your cell phone, which is also pretty cool
4. At the bottom enter your cell phone number and choose your carrier
5. Click on Send Verification Code, this will send a special message to your phone
6. When the message arrives type the numeric code into the verification code box
7. Click Finish setup

Now, I saved the best for last. Because of some Google Magic Voodoo
You can simply send a SMS normal Text Message to "48368" and Google will add the event to your personal calendar. Not only that, but you can type the message in a normal sentence.

For example, I typed "Dentist tomorrow 3pm" and hit send and before I could spell ABC-DEF-GHI the event showed up in my calendar under the correct date and time.

For Real! I'm not kidding. So then I tried, "Next Tuesday Jury Duty". YUP, it knew what to do with "next Tuesday".

Ok, for those reading this that are hard to impress, here is a link to more tips and tricks.

Wow! No not the game*, I mean the interjection.

Wow! I have a blog.
Yes thanks to some encouragement and help from co-workers I finally have a place to post all those random crazy thoughts. Not much here right now but keep checking I hope to update this at least 2-3 times a week.

*the game in reference is "World of Warcraft", a very popular online game to which I have been known to occasionally play.