Linkage for 3/30/09

So yesterday I was at the grocery store deli counter and this lady comes up to me and starts telling me all about how she hates her daughter-in-law and thinks her son is an idiot for marrying the girl. True story. Makes me wonder what my mom says about me to random strangers in the grocery store.

Anyway, here is your Linkage for today — these are some links you definitely don't have to feel guilty about visiting:

EZ Action: Get a Girl to Touch Your Crotch (I Hate My Cubicle)

How AIDS Works (PhillyD TV)

Man I Need to Get One of These (Tasty Booze)

Is this Popeye the Sailorman Himself? (9 to Fried)

Padma Lakshmi Does Food Pr0n (pure magic at 0:37) (Popoholic)

Note to Self: Make Sure You Hit 'Reply', Not 'Reply-All' (College Humor)

The Thin Line: How to Get Along with iamguiltyof.com

I've been thinking about this post for a while now, mainly because I wasn't really sure what I wanted to say. We've been getting a lot of attention over the last few days from a lot of different sources, and honestly that's awesome in my book. However, it does bring to light a kind of problem that I hadn't necessarily anticipated: there's a thin line between freedom and chaos.

See, here at iamguiltyof.com we're all about honesty. That's why we created this site in the first place. But, there's a difference between honest, open communication and communication that espouses fear, hatred, violence, racism, and prejudice. For that reason I've had to delete many posts and ban many people from iamguiltyof.com over the last few days. I wish it didn't have to come to that, but unfortunately that's how it goes sometimes.

In light of recent events we've updated our Terms of Service, and I personally have decided to dissect the General Terms portion of the TOS here so that it's all clear to everyone who visits iamguiltyof.com what is and is not acceptable:

Plain English Guide to the iamguiltyof.com General Terms:

The TOS Says: The content that you contribute to this web site is done so in an anonymous basis inasmuch as other users are concerned. However, your IP address will be recorded with each of your posts for administrative and legal purposes.

The PEG Says: Just because other iamguiltyof.com users don't know who you are doesn't mean that we don't know who you are. Okay, so we don't really know who you are but we know what network location you're connecting from and that's all we really need to know.

The TOS Says: You and you alone are responsible for all posts that you make to this site. Furthermore, iamguiltyof.com is not responsible for any content posted by you or any other users.

The PEG Says: We're not to blame for what you post on our site, whether it's good or bad.

The TOS Says: Parents of minor children should note that some content contributed by users of this site may not be appropriate for children under the age of 18. Parents are advised to use their discretion in allowing their minor children to access any part of this website.

The PEG Says: If you're a parent and your under-18 kid starts quoting un-holy crap from our site, there are two things you need to know:

1. You should more closely monitor your child's internet habits, and make sure that they don't visit sites like iamguiltyof.com without your supervision or approval.
2. Whether or not you approve of your child visiting our site, we've already warned you that some of the content might not be good for them to see.

The TOS Says: iamguiltyof.com is not responsible for any third-party content made available via hyperlink on this web site.

The PEG Says: Just because it's underlined and starts with "http://" and your cursor turns into a little hand thingy when you roll over it doesn't mean you should click it. If you do click a link and something really bad happens, remember that you were the one who clicked... not us. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. etc etc etc...

The TOS Says: You may not post anything to this web site that implicitly or explicitly threatens, harasses, harms, or demeans any person or group of people. iamguiltyof.com reserves the right to delete any posts that it deems threatening, harassing, harmful, demeaning, or otherwise inappropriate to/for any person or group of people.

The PEG Says: This one is simple. Don't be an asshole. If you're an asshole, chances are that we'll delete your posts, and most likely ban you from the site.

The TOS Says: iamguiltyof.com reserves the right to temporarily or permanently deny access to this website to anyone for any reason (or no reason) without prior notice.

The PEG Says: I think this one is self-explanatory, but if it's not please see my previous statement.

Now that you have the Plain English Guide to the iamguiltyof.com Terms of Service under your belt, there should be no questions about what is or is not ok to post on our site. However, if you're not sure about something please feel free to get in touch with us via our feedback form. We're always happy to answer questions.

Okay people. You know what you need to do. Let us go forth and keep iamguiltyof.com All Killer, No Filter forever!

Brian
iamguiltyof.com

New Feature: Give Your Twitter Followers Something to Read

Hello there fine-feathered friends. Just wanted to drop a quick line to say that you can now post any confession you want to your Twitter feed.

Here's how:

1. Click the "tweet this" link in the bottom right corner of the confession you'd like to share.
2. In the form that pops up, enter your Twitter username and password* and add a comment if you'd like (this is optional).
3. Click "Send." A message will pop up to let you know if your Twitter update was successful or not.
4. Click "Close" in the upper right corner of the form to return to the page you were viewing.

The result will be a status update that looks something like this. Your status update will also be re-tweeted by @guiltyof, our Twitter application.

*We will never store or share your Twitter info with ANYONE. We promise.

Happy Twittering!
Brian
for iamguiltyof.com

Weekend Update

Okay, I totally didn't just steal that title from SNL, I swear. Anyway, just wanted to throw a quick update out there: we've had a pretty big weekend. Since Thursday we've gotten over 1,000 visits from over 900 new visitors!

For the most part, we have The Bachelor Guy, Blog of Hilarity, and The Kane Show (HOT 99.5, Washington, DC) to thank for all the new visitors... hopefully you all keep coming back because we're cooking up some new stuff for iamguiltyof.com that will be revealed in future posts on this blog (hint: subscribe to this blog's feed to stay up-to-date).

We were also featured on a few other radio shows' blogs on Friday, including those of Morning Sickness (95.7 The Rock, La Crosse, WI), The Spoon Show (97.9 KISS FM, Jacksonville, FL) and Dan Mason's show (107.9 THE END, Sacramento, CA), so they deserve a mention here as well.

Of course, while we appreciate the attention we're still a young site - so we can use as much coverage as we can possibly get out there in the great big world. So... if you work in media, know someone who works in media, or know someone who knows someone who works in media, please let them know about iamguiltyof.com. We very much appreciate it. All media inquiries can be directed to info@iamguiltyof.com or brian@driscollwebdev.com.

I hope you all have a great weekend!
Brian
for iamguiltyof.com and Driscoll Web Development

Update on our Site Feeds

In case you're subscribed to either the Daily or Hourly Confessional RSS Feeds: we had to clear out both feeds tonight due to an error, so don't be alarmed if the next time you check the feeds you find that all of the entries are gone.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

iamguiltyof.com Gets Coverage in Local Papers

Greetings! In case you didn't see, iamguiltyof.com was covered in yesterday's Burlington County Times (NJ) and Bucks County Courier Times (PA), and on PhillyBurbs.com. Here's the link to the story:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/448/2009/march/09/i-am-guilty-of.html

Is Your City in the iamguiltyof.com Century Club?

In our first 2 weeks in existence, there are 3 cities that have sent 100 or more visitors our way: London, Philadelphia, and New York; therefore, those cities are the first inductees to the iamguiltyof.com Century Club.

Three more cities, Cambridge (MA), Bromborough (UK), and Nottingham (UK) all have more than 50 visits to their credit and are hopefully on their way to the Century Club.

We've been visited by people in nearly 500 cities in over 40 countries on 6 continents, so chances are that if you're reading this your city is on our list. Want to see your city in the iamguiltyof.com Century Club? Well, then there are a few things that you can do:

1. Keep telling your friends about iamguiltyof.com! Tell them to visit the site, follow @iamguiltyof on Twitter, and have them Fan our page on Facebook.
2. Stop by the iamguiltyof.com store and pick up some official merchandise to show off around town.
3. Keep your confessions to iamguiltyof.com rolling in!
4. Fave the confessions that you like and leave comments for others' confessions.

If you do any or all of the above we're sure that you'll see your city in the iamguiltyof.com Century Club soon enough.

Here are the detailed standings for the Century Club members and the cities that are within striking distance:

1. London, UK (150 visits)
2. Philadelphia, PA (119 visits)
3. New York, NY (100 visits)
4. Cambridge, MA (67 visits)
5. Bromborough, UK (59 visits)
6. Nottingham, UK (52 visits)

Good Luck! I hope to see your city in the Century Club soon...

Get Your iamguiltyof.com Merchandise

I'm very, VERY excited to announce today that the iamguiltyof.com store is now live! We have iamguiltyof.com merchandise available for men, women, and pets available from CafePress. We're adding more everyday, so if you don't see something you like now keep checking the store for new items on a regular basis.

Here are some samples of merchandise currently available from iamguiltyof.com:




We'll be announcing a merchandise modeling contest shortly, so be sure to subscribe to this blog's feed or follow @iamguiltyof on Twitter for more information on that.

Please help support and spread the word about iamguiltyof.com by buying our merchandise and displaying it proudly!

Brian
iamguiltyof.com

Guilt Of The Day 3/3/09: School Superintendent is a Swinger

We've all been fired from a job at some point for doing something incredibly stupid. Me? Well, let's just say I wrote an email that I should have reviewed more carefully before clicking "Send." I'm sure you can pause and reflect for a moment on your own misdoings that got you canned...

...And then rest assured that whatever you did was NOWHERE NEAR AS STUPID as what Michael Bull, former Glynn County (GA) School District Superintendent did. Apparently Mr. Bull thought it would be a good idea to send sexually explicit email responses to Craigslist personal ads from his EMPLOYER-PROVIDED blackberry.



I'm a civilized person so I'll try as best as I can not to crack any jokes about the single-digit IQ that this confederate flag-waving, snuff-chewing, gun-toting, all-around-southern-stereotype-fulfilling redneck must have in order to have thought to himself: "Hey, I bet no one will find out if I use the blackberry that my EMPLOYER gave me to send messages like 'let's do this' and 'slave' to various men, women, and couples that have posted ads on Craigslist seeking companionship."

I mean, seriously, I don't even think about looking at or sending anything that's NSFW when I'm at work — not because I think that someone will spot me doing it but because there's always that chance that someone, somewhere might take a peek at our network data to find out what we're doing. As a result, I really don't understand why this douche nozzle couldn't just wait to get home to get his rocks off, but then again maybe he thought that using his work blackberry to send salacious emails was a better use of taxpayers' money.

But here's the kicker: as if it isn't bad enough that this window licker was using his work blackberry to send text porn to strangers, the guy is married and has 2 kids! I feel truly sorry for the poor sucker that married this a-hole, and I'm even sorrier that she gave birth to his kids.

If Michael Bull had any sense whatsoever he'd go grab one of his guns from his gun rack and use it to spare his family any more humiliation or misery at his expense. But, of course, that's just my opinion.

iamguiltyof.com Usage Update

I took a look at our analytics data today and I am happy to throw out the following numbers to you all...

Since its launch on 2/19/09, iamguiltyof.com has received over 2,200 visits from over 1,500 unique visitors in 40 countries. In that time we've recorded over 375 confessions from our users.

All I can say is "Rock On!" I don't think I ever would have expected this kind of response to iamguiltyof.com but it's awesome nonetheless. Of course, being in the web development business I know that the numbers I quoted above are nowhere close to the kinds of numbers that huge social networking sites like twitter, facebook, myspace, etc. pull in. Hell, those sites probably get 2000 visits per minute, but for a small-time guy like me 2,200 visits in less than 2 weeks makes me smile from ear-to-ear. Thank you all for giving us a successful launch and for helping us to keep it going.

Obviously I want nothing more than for everyone who reads this to help keep our momentum going by continuing to visit and contribute confessions so that hopefully 2 weeks from now I'll be able to quote wild and crazy numbers for our first month live.

Oh, and don't forget to tell your friends...

Brian
iamguiltyof.com
driscollwebdev.com

The Hourly Confessional RSS Feed AND One More Reason to follow @guiltyof on Twitter

As you may have already read here, we offer an RSS feed of confessions on a daily basis. However, we realize that some of you may want more regular updates and may not always be able to make it to iamguiltyof.com to get them. So, we've added The Hourly Confessional, another RSS Feed that is updated with new confessions on an hourly basis.

While we were at it, we decided to add the same feature to our Twitter bot, @guiltyof, so that those of you logged into Twitter who want to keep up with the latest confessions may do so simply by following @guiltyof. There's really no difference between The Hourly Confessional and following @guiltyof with the exception that if you follow @guiltyof you will also have the ability to tweet your confessions to iamguiltyof.com directly from your Twitter account.
You can subscribe to either of our feeds by clicking on this icon () at the bottom of any page or by pointing your browser directly to http://iamguiltyof.com/feeds.html.