The dangers of avatars

Don't fall in love with avatars. Hilarious story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/15/secondlife-digitalmedia

The thing that makes this story so funny is the, er, discrepancy between the real life people involved and their avatar personae. Sadly the pics aren't available on the online version of The Guardian. Suffice to say that in one setting they are lithe and beautiful and in the other...a little bit different.

You could just as easily call this thread The Dangers of the Interweb'.

On our local radio's morning show there's a slot on the morning show on Mondays where people can share a problem with a couple of counsellors.

Yesterday a woman texted in to say that her husband of 28 years was leaving her for a woman he met on the Internet. They'd been chatting for a good while and met up in Kilkenny for five days not too long ago. The internet woman is American and fourteen years younger than the Irish missus who has been left by her husband for said American whom he has only just met.

The internet has a huge propensity to lead people to false impressions. I know a girl who went down to Cork (from Dublin) to meet a boy she met on a website, against the advice of everyone she sought the opinion of. She ended up very disappointed and upset by the whole thing.

I know someone too who had her heart broken - I don't think that's an exaggeration even if it sounds clichéd - by a guy she met online. They never met though.

Also, this time of year brings many disappointments in terms of fake websites selling fake stuff an stealing people's money.

See EchuntFashion.

Last week this website was selling Uggs, Abercrombie, GAP, Hilfiger etc.

Accepting Western Union and Paypal. (Cash in other words)

Look at it now....

It's broken ! What's all the PHP ? Did some programmers find a site at a firesale price and set up their code in the window ?

Indeed, if anything is too good to be a bargain it generally is too good to be a bargain.

A friend of mine left her husband and child and fled to the US with a guy she met in Second Life. She came back again fairly shortly, which may relate to the fact that he turned out to be an unemployed trucker with six kids.

What did her husband do upon her return?

johnfás wrote:

What did her husband do upon her return?

Forbade her to play Second Life, and generally wore the trousers more often than before. I lost contact a bit, because they both got involved with, and then employed by, a charismatic American businessman, and it rather took over their lives and turned them into arseholes for the duration. He eventually hoofed it to Malta leaving something of a bad smell behind - covered in the papers at the time, I recall. Still, people turning all Gordon Gecko's acolyte tends to put you off seeing them, particularly when you think they're being suckered.

Hmm. I wonder if that has anything to do with my deep distrust of a certain charismatic Americanised businessman?

There's his problem - a lack of masculinity.

Everything to do with it ibis.

I just haven't met the trucker yet. I'm psychic.

At the rate your acquaintances (?) are going they are probably Scientologists at this stage.

johnfás wrote:

At the rate your acquaintances (?) are going they are probably Scientologists at this stage.

That's distinctly possible. As to their status...it's one of those married people things. She's originally a friend of my wife's, and they have fallen out (during the Gordon Gecko power suit episode). I remain, in my blokish way, fond of them even so, but can't realistically go and see them very much.

ibis wrote:

johnfás wrote:

At the rate your acquaintances (?) are going they are probably Scientologists at this stage.

That's distinctly possible. As to their status...it's one of those married people things. She's originally a friend of my wife's, and they have fallen out (during the Gordon Gecko power suit episode). I remain, in my blokish way, fond of them even so, but can't realistically go and see them very much.

Uggggh. Akward. (Spell - wtf I can't spell awkward)