RE: UKNM: The fundamental issue: who is the *real* "Top of the Bots"?

[Philip Rooke]

This sounds like an auditing problem to me!  Better call in the ABC!


Philip Rooke

Sales Director


Carlton Online

25 Knightsbridge

LONDON

SW1X 7RX


Tel: 0171 663 6363

Fax: 0171 895 9505



-----Original Message-----

From: Mat Morrison [

matt [dot] morrisonbmpinteraction [dot] com (mailto:matt [dot] morrisonbmpinteraction [dot] com)

]

Sent: 26 August 1998 13:28

To:

'uk-netmarketingchinwag [dot] com

'

Subject: UKNM: The fundamental issue: who is the *real* "Top of the

Bots"?



Jo Guest has won the Star readers' "rear of the year" competition. 


MegaStar is running a similar poll online, entitled "top of the bots"

(http://www.megastar.co.uk/megastar-cgi/vote/vote_botty.pl)


If only they knew how right they were...


In a fit of unusual chivalry, an account director at a well-known

interactive agency took pity on the daughter-in-law elect, Emma Noble

(who

was falling behind in the polls, err... coming bottom). He decided to

support the Noble cause.


A quick phone call to one of the more technically minded members of this

list seemed to provide the solution, a neat little piece of code which

voted

mindlessly for Ms. Noble about five times every second.


To the account director's joy, Ms. Noble began to creep up the charts.

Quarter of an hour later, however, he was surprised to notice that Ms.

Guest

had more than doubled her votes.


A quick flurry of calls later, and the issue became clear. Someone else

had

built a better bot, running off a Unix box somewhere.


Internet diva Jo Guest is now well ahead of Ms Noble, and is set to

become

bottom of her class.


But the question remains. Who was the *real* top of the bots? Can anyone

shed any light on this?