Conversations with Spambots, Part 2

Today I sat down at the computer to see a new IM from a potential new friend. I didn’t recognize the screenname, but that’s not unusual. I considered briefly that it may have been from a spambot, but “mattp204” didn’t seem like a sexbot’s screenname, so I responded. After a couple of lines, however, the text coming in turned pink and the conversation turned familiar. I gotta say—some of the responses really surprised me.

mattp204: I got you now !lol was up
CFI Debbie: ?
mattp204: 🙂 hi cutie what’s up?
CFI Debbie: Just working. Do I know you? Continue reading “Conversations with Spambots, Part 2” →

“Sliding Board” v. “Slide”: Some Notes on the Mid-Atlantic Dialect

When I moved from Philadelphia to Buffalo a handful of years ago, I thought I was pretty prepared for the major dialect differences. Pronunciation-wise, I had steeled myself for the Western New York pronunciation of words like car and crab shack, and I knew I wouldn’t be understood if I asked for a glass of water the way I was used to. (Check out the fantastic Super Grip Lock commercials on YouTube for examples of the accent here.) They say garbage where I say trash, pop for my soda, and they’re generally clueless about hoagies—but at least they don’t say tennis shoes or youins. Continue reading ““Sliding Board” v. “Slide”: Some Notes on the Mid-Atlantic Dialect” →

Conversations with Spambots, Part 1

(Last week, this was my first post ever on my newish Tumblr account. Then I realized Tumblr doesn’t do what I want it to, so I will probably never use it again. Therefore, I am reposting here.)

A few times in the last few months, I’ve received random unsolicited IMs from spam accounts trying to get me to go to their stripper webcam sites or something. Last week I was contacted by a repeat offender from an account I recognized. So after engaging for a bit, I looked up the old conversation and pasted it, along with the new one, below. Continue reading “Conversations with Spambots, Part 1” →