Tag Archives: botulism

Are Bots Chomping at my Blog?

14 Replies

Does my blog have bot-ulism?

I know I have talked about this before; my stats are booming. In January I had 7.7K views and 7.4K visitors. To put those stats in perspective, prior to this a typical month for me would be around 600 views. The most popular post in January was: https://stopdraggingthepanda.com/2019/02/14/indignatron-b-as-seen-on-tv/

Lots of views, but no likes, no comments and the visitors were mostly from The United States, Singapore and Hong Kong with the majority being from The United States. And it’s still continuing.

So I dug deeper. WordPress stats lists not only countries but also cities where the viewers are located. Apparently I am very popular in North Bergen, New Jersey; 4.7K views in January alone. Before this I did not know North Bergen existed. Although I did spend a summer in Bradley Beach, New jersey working as a student in The La Reine Bradley Hotel. But that’s another story.

North Bergen apparently has a population of approximately 60,000. According to Google AI, it “thrives on a diverse economy heavily anchored by transportation, logistics and warehousing”. This doesn’t explain why I am so popular in North Bergen. The answer could be , of course, that I am not popular at all in North Bergen and yes, there’s a bot chomping on my blog.

On the other hand, if some of you nice people in North Bergen, New Jersey are actually reading my blog, hey, make a comment, say hello! I’m waiting.

Issue #21 Vapid Magazine (Where Shallow Runs Deep)

5 Replies

Yes, Vapid Magazine is back after a long hiatus (I had to look that up). These are vapid times and when the going gets vapid, the vapid get going! Here are some of the highlights from Issue #21.

Is Bot-ulism the end of AI?

Our tech correspondent , Jordan Shallowbyte discusses reports from China about outbreaks of bot-ulism in the robot population. Apparently robot paralysis is rampant. Yes, those robots are in a spot of bot-her. Local scientists are trying to get to the bot-tom of it. They think it may be linked to the ingestion of raw data.

In other tech news, Jordan asks: Are you a victim of Alcorithms ? There are rumors that there are rogue algorithms out there behaving like they have had a few pints over the limit. Yes, if Beethoven starts turning up on your country playlist it may be the work of one of those darn Alcorithms.

In Arts and Entertainment, the indefatigable Georgina Shallowglass asks:

Is Paw Patrol sponsored by the Fossil Fuel Industry?

Think about it, says Georgina, have you ever seen those pups take public transport? Have you ever seen them on a bike? No. Why? Because they each have their own personal motorized vehicle.

Skye has a helicopter for chrissakes.

No vehicle too big no pup too small ! Those pups rev like a canine biker gang. Yep, it’s a cartoon with a big carbon paw print. But help is on the way, Georgina reports that Netflix now offers carbon credits. You can offset that paw print by watching Peppa Pig .

In other entertainment news, Georgina reviews a new French cartoon about a dog called Prenez Le Piss. Prenez leads us on a tour of the lamp posts of Paris, one lamp post per episode. Apparently it’s a leg-raising experience!

Fascinating stuff, Georgina!

And lastly , Charlotte Shallowtrench, our Health and Fitness correspondent and self-styled  Influencer Under the Influence discusses the OH Wellness movement. Apparently more and more people are waking up in the morning, looking in the mirror and saying: “Oh well, fuck all I can do about that” and just getting on with their day.

Also Charlotte asks: Are yoga teachers getting too preachy? Give me Downward Dog, she says, and less of that Downward Dogma!

Vapid Magazine: Home of all things Vapid!

For Vapid Magazine submission guidelines click here.