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Automating Ourselves Out of Existence

Time has grown more scarce after having a child, so I rarely blog anymore. Though I thought it probably made sense to make at least a quarterly(ish) post so people know I still exist.

One of the big things I have been noticing over the past year or so is an increasing level of automation in ways that are not particularly brilliant. :D

Just from this past week I've had 3 treat encounters on this front.

One marketplace closed my account after I made a bunch of big purchases, likely presuming the purchases were fraudulent based on the volume, new account & an IP address in an emerging market economy. I never asked for a refund or anything like that, but when I believe in something I usually push pretty hard, so I bought a lot. What was dumb about that is they took a person who would have been a whale client & a person they were repeatedly targeting with ads & turned them into a person who would not recommend them ... after being a paying client who spent a lot and had zero specific customer interactions or requests ... an all profit margin client who spent big and then they discarded. Dumb.

Similarly one ad network had my account automatically closed after I had not used it for a while. When I went to reactivate it the person in customer support told me it would be easier to just create a new account as reactivating it would take a half week or more. I said ok, went to set up a new account, and it was auto-banned and they did not disclose why. I asked feedback as to why and they said that they could not offer any but it was permanent and lifetime.

A few months go by and I wondered what was up with that and I logged into my inactive account & set up a subaccount and it worked right away. Weird. But then even there they offer automated suggestions and feedback on improving your account performance and some of them were just not rooted in fact. Worse yet, if they set the default targeting options to overly broad it can cause account issues in a country like Vietnam to where if you click to approve (or even auto approve!) their automated suggestions you then get notifications about how you are violating some sort of ToS or guidelines ... if they can run that logic *after* you activate *their* suggestions, why wouldn't they instead run that logic earlier? How well do they think you will trust & believe in their automated optimization tips if after you follow them you get warning pop overs?

Another big bonus recently was a client was mentioned in a stray spam email. The email wasn't from the client or me, but the fact that a random page on their site was mentioned in a stray spoofed email that got flagged as spam meant that when the ticket notification from the host sent wounded up in spam they never saw it and then the host simply took their site offline. Based on a single email sent from some other server.

Upon calling the host with a friendly WTF they explained to the customer that they had so many customers they have to automate everything. At the same time when it came time to restoring hosting that the client was paying for they suggested the client boot in secure mode, run Apache commands x and y, etc. ... even though they knew the problem was not with the server, but an overmalicious automated response to a stray mention in a singular spam email sent by some third party.

When the host tried to explain that they "have to" automate everything because they have so many customers the customer quickly cut them off with "No, that is a business choice. You could charge different prices or choose to reach out to people who have spent tens of thousands on hosting and have not had any issues in years." He also mentioned how emails can be sent to spam, or be sent to an inbox on the very web host that went offline & was then inaccessible. Then the lovely customer support person stated "I have heard that complaint before" meaning they are aware of the issue, but do not see it as an issue for them. When the customer said they should follow up any emails with an SMS for servers going offline the person said you could do it on your end & then later sent them a 14-page guide for how to integrate the Twillio API.

Nothing in the world is fair. Nothing in the world is equal. But there are smart ways to run a business & dumb ways to run a business.

If you have enough time to write a 14-page integration guide it probably makes sense to just incorporate the feature into the service so the guide is unneeded!

Businesses should treat their heavy spenders or customers with a long history of a clean account with more care than a newly opened account. I had a big hedge fund as a client who would sometimes want rush work done & would do stuff like "hey good job there, throw in an extra $10,000 for yourself as a bonus" on the calls. Whenever they called or emailed they got a quick response. :D

I sort of get that one small marketplace presuming my purchases might have been a scam based on how many I did, how new my account was, and how small they were, but the hosting companies & ad networks that are worth 9 to 12 figures should generally do a bit better. Though in many ways the market cap is a sign the entity is insulated from market pressures & can automate away customer service hoping that their existing base is big enough to offset the customer support horror stories that undermine their brand.

It works.

At least for a while.

A parallel to the above is my Facebook ad account, which was closed about a half decade or so ago due to geographic mismatch. That got removed, but then sort of only half way. If I go to run ads it says that I can't, but then if I go to request an account review to once again explain the geographic difference I can't even get the form to submit unless I edit the HTML of the page on the fly to seed the correct data into the form field as by default it says I can not request a review since I have no ad account.

The flip side of the above is if that level of automation can torch existing paid accounts you have to expect the big data search & social companies are taking a rather skeptical view of new sites or players wanting to rank freely in their organic search results or social feeds. With that being the case, it helps to seed what you can to provide many signals that may remove some of the risks of getting set in the bad pile.

I have seen loads of people have their YouTube or Facebook or whatever such account get torched & only override the automated technocratic persona non grata policies by having followers in another channel who shared their dire situation so it could get flagged for human review and restoration. If that happens to established & widely followed players who have spent years investing into a platform the odds of it happening to most newer sites & players is quite high.

You can play it safe and never say anything interesting, ensuring you are well within the Overtone Window in all aspects of life. That though also almost certainly guarantees failure as it is hard to catch up or build momentum if your defining attribute is being a conformist.

Categories: 




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Boxing Development League At Whitney

[Written by Stephen Wright] The Bermuda Boxing Federation [BBF] will hold the first in a series of Development League tournaments at Whitney Institute tomorrow [March 9]. The event, which runs from noon to 4 pm, will feature sanctioned fights, masters, celebrity, corporate and charity bouts, and open sparring for elite and youth competitors. Nathan Dill, […]




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Boxing: Tyler Christopher Set For May Fight

[Written by Stephen Wright] Boxer Tyler Christopher will return to the ring after recovering from a broken hand for a fight at the Holiday Inn in Birmingham, England, on May 18. The 27-year-old fractured his left hand during his points win over Connor Meanwell at the H Suite in Edgbaston, Birmingham, in October last year. […]




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Saundre Simmons Happy To Fight In Mexico

[Written by Stephen Wright] Bermudian boxer Saundre “Dash” Simmons has described himself as a “road warrior” as he prepares for his first fight outside the United States against Victor Aceves in Tijuana, Mexico, on Sunday [May 19]. Although Simmons will step into a ring on foreign soil for the first time, the cruiserweight has fought […]




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Andre Lambe On Future Boxing Plans

[Written by Stephen Wright] Boxer Andre Lambe said he is ready to step up to eight-round contests as he pursues overseas opportunities on fight cards shown on streaming platforms. Lambe improved his professional record to 11 straight victories after defeating American Kenny Paklos [3-1-1] via a unanimous decision at The Shed in Dockyard last Saturday. […]




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Saundre Simmons Set For Boxing Match In US

Bermudian boxer Saundre “Dash” Simmons will aim for his fifth straight victory in the professional ranks when he returns to the ring on October 26 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It will be Simmons’s first outing since beating Mexican Victor Aceves via a knockout in Tijuana, Mexico, in May. The 27-year-old [4-0] wrote on social media: […]




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Simmons Remains Unbeaten In Pro Boxing

[Updated with video] Saundre ‘Dash’ Simmons made his return to the boxing ring at the Red Owl Boxing Arena, in Houston, Texas, claiming yet another victory. “The hard-hitting, knockout artist Dash Simmons [5-0, 5 KOs] remained true to his reputation with a fourth-round TKO victory over Nosa Divine Nehikhare [5-2] in a 185-pound fight. Nehikhare became […]




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Hurts - Exile

A second set occupying a murkier world than that of Hurts’ glossy debut.




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After Shohei Ohtani and Jontay Porter, can sports and legal gambling coexist?




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Teenage boy hit by taxi in Greenacre

A 14-year-old boy is in hospital after being hit by a taxi at Greenacre on Monday.




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Xie faces fourth Lin murder trial

Robert Xie Lianbin, 51, returned to the NSW Supreme Court for the start of his fourth trial in the killing of five members of the Lin family almost seven years ago.




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Teen eyes Golden Gloves boxing glory

“I don’t know how I kept going I just know why I did.” - Omer Mustafa fasted for 12 hours a day during Ramadan but the 15-year-old boxer from Liverpool still got up and trained twice a day.




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Exit Right - Dissent Magazine




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Perplexity brings ads to its platform | TechCrunch





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White-Nose Syndrome in Bats | Return on Investment for CA College Graduates | Post-Election Anxiety and Stress

How white-nose syndrome threatens bat colonies in California. Tracking college graduate earnings based on their major. Finally, how to address anxiety and stress after the election.






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20 Beautiful Black Celebrities of All Compexions



Black Hollywood's most beautiful celebs in different hues.





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Kiszla: The Broncos have no quarterback, no draft capital, no salary-cap flexibility and no real hope

After not only losing, but getting bullied in a 27-14 manhandling by the hated Raiders, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton tried to scrawl a smiley face on this mess.




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Kickin it with Kiz Podcast: What Bill Belichick, Nick Saban exits say about what Sean Payton has to do in Broncos Country

In the latest edition of the Kickin' it with Kiz podcast, sports columnist Mark Kiszla reflects on a pair of coaching legends calling it quits in the same week.





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Black Michigan City Exposed To Toxic Water In New Crisis



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Boxing Legend Evander Holyfield To Fight Vitor Belfort After Oscar De La Hoya Contracts COVID-19

Holyfield will fight Belford on September 11.




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Ride.bm Transportation Taxi App Released

Ride.bm said they are offering an “easy-to-access app that provides Bermudians and visitors alike with seamless, on-demand transportation.” A spokesperson said, “For decades, the number 295-4141 has been synonymous with safe and reliable transportation in Bermuda. Today, Ride.bm, powered by Central Dispatch, builds on that legacy, transforming a household number into a modern, easy-to-access app […]




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Video: Tyler Christopher Earns Boxing Win

[Written by Stephen Wright] Boxer Tyler Christopher delivered a disciplined and measured display to defeat Cameroonian Serge Ambomo on points in the main event at the Holiday Inn Birmingham Airport yesterday [May 18]. The southpaw deployed a piston-like jab and straight left-hand punches to control the four-round super-welterweight contest, improving his unblemished record to nine wins, with […]




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Video: Simmons Earns First-Round Win In Mexico

[Written by Stephen Wright] Boxer Saundre “Dash” Simmons scored his third successive first-round stoppage win with a TKO over Mexican Victor Aceves in Tijuana yesterday [May 19]. Simmons dropped Aceves [2-7-2] twice in the opening stanza before the referee waved the fight off, handing the Bermudian his fourth straight victory since turning professional. Dismantling his […]




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BCCL To Host Dyslexia Awareness Workshop

The Bermuda Centre for Creative Learning [BCCL] is hosting a free Dyslexia Awareness Workshop and launching a screening program for parents on November 12th. A spokesperson said, “Building on the success of September’s Unlocking Potential: Dyslexia Awareness and Education Forum for teachers, the Bermuda Centre for Creative Learning [BCCL], along with Mindset Bermuda and The […]




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Video: Hall Stars In Biloxi Shuckers Big Win

Bermudian Adam Hall continued his promising start for the Biloxi Shuckers after helping them to a 10-2 win over the Tennessee Smokies at Keesler Federal Park on Saturday [June 15]. Hall, who was promoted to the Shuckers from the Rookie-level ACL Brewers last week, went three for five at the plate, recording his first three-hit […]




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Adam Hall & Biloxi Come From Behind To Win

Despite an early deficit, Adam Hall and his Biloxi Shuckers teammates battled back with three unanswered runs and the bullpen tossed 3.2 hitless innings with seven strikeouts in a 3-1 win over the Rocket City Trash Pandas at Toyota Field on Tuesday night. Dylan O’Rae, in his double-A debut for Biloxi, recorded his first hit […]




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Adam Hall Extends Hit Streak For Biloxi

Baseball player Adam Hall recorded a double RBI to help the Biloxi Shuckers win their fourth straight match after beating the Chattanooga Lookouts 5-4 at AT&T Field in the Double A Southern League yesterday [July 9]. Hall’s two-hit night also extended his hit streak to nine games, the longest active streak on the Shuckers roster. […]




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Adam Hall Extends Hitting Streak For Biloxi

Baseball player Adam Hall extended his hitting streak to ten games for Biloxi Shuckers who beat Chattanooga Lookouts 11-2 at AT&T Field in the Double A Southern League yesterday [July 10]. Hall [1-for-4] recorded a second-inning single to help the Shuckers win their fifth successive game. The 25-year-old was promoted to the Shuckers from the […]




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Adam Hall Continues To Impress For Biloxi

Baseball player Adam Hall continued his fine form for Biloxi Shuckers in their 5-4 defeat to Chattanooga Lookouts at AT&T Field in the Double A Southern League yesterday [July 11]. A wild pitch in the fourth inning allowed Hall to score from third base, making the score 3-2. The 25-year-old was promoted to the Shuckers […]




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Adam Hall Impresses In Biloxi Shuckers Win

Baseball player Adam Hall played his part in Biloxi Shuckers 7-5 win over the Chattanooga Lookouts in the Double A Southern League at AT&T Field yesterday [July 14]. Hall, who went 2 for 5 with bat, tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI [Run batted in] single into right field. The 25-year-old was promoted […]




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Adam Hall And Biloxi Defeat Montgomery

Baseball player Adam Hall played his part in Biloxi Shuckers 6-4 win over the Montgomery Biscuits at Keesler Federal Park yesterday [July 19]. The Shuckers took an early lead on a sacrifice fly from Hall in the first inning. Hall also scored a run after a sacrifice fly that allowed him to drive in from […]




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Adam Hall And Biloxi Beat Blue Wahoos

Baseball player Adam Hall hit a single run in the Biloxi Shuckers’ 8-4 win away to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos at Blue Wahoos Stadium yesterday [July 27]. Hall extended his side’s lead to 8-4 in the ninth inning with a RBI. The 25-year-old was promoted to the Shuckers from the Rookie-level ACL Brewers last month. […]




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Adam Hall Helps Biloxi Shuckers Win Again

With a two-RBI triple in the ninth inning from Casey Martin, Adam Hall and his Biloxi Shuckers teammates led for the first time on the night and ended the game with their fifth consecutive comeback win, a 6-3 win over the Montgomery Biscuits at Riverwalk Stadium on Tuesday night. With the win, the Shuckers improved […]




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Adam Hall & Biloxi Shuckers Fall To Montgomery

Bermudian baseball player Adam Hall had another multi-hit game, going 2-for-5, but his Biloxi Shuckers fell to the Montgomery Biscuits 11-3 in their series opener at Keesler Federal Park. Hall’s performance included a key RBI single that also led to a second run scoring on an errant throw, momentarily closing the gap to 7-3. Despite […]




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Hall & Biloxi Defeat The Montgomery Biscuits

Adam Hall and his Biloxi Shuckers teammates earned a 4-2 win over the Montgomery Biscuits at Keesler Federal Park. With the win, the Shuckers maintain a 2.5-game lead over the Mississippi Braves and expand their lead to four games over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos for the final playoff spot in the South Division with 17 […]




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Adam Hall & Biloxi Shuckers Split Double Header

Bermudian Adam Hall and his Biloxi Shuckers team-mates split a doubleheader against the Rocket City Trash Pandas on Tuesday before losing to the same opponents yesterday [September 4] at Toyota Field. The Shuckers lost their opening game on Tuesday 8-4, with Hall going one for four with the bat and scoring one run. In game […]




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Baseball: Rocket City Defeat Adam Hall & Biloxi

After a four-run sixth inning for the Rocket City Trash Pandas, Adam Hall and his Biloxi Shuckers teammates fell by a 5-2 score at Toyota Field. Despite the loss, the Shuckers remain a game ahead of the Mississippi Braves for the South Division wild card with 10 games remaining in the regular season. Hall went […]




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Adam Hall Helps Biloxi Beat Rocket City

Bermudian baseball player Adam Hall played his part in the Biloxi Shuckers 4-2 win over the Rocket City Trash Pandas at Toyota Field. A bases-loaded walk from Hall in the sixth inning tied the game at 1-1. Meanwhile, Hall helped the Shuckers defeat Rocket City 3-2 at Toyota Field on Thursday. Hall, who was hit […]




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Adam Hall And Biloxi Play Final Road Game

Bermudian baseball player Adam Hall’s Biloxi Shuckers went down 6-3 to the Rocket City Trash Pandas in the final road game of the regular season at Toyota Field yesterday [September 8]. The previous day, the Shuckers beat the Trash Pandas 4-3 at the same venue, with Hall having one at-bat appearance, which he drew a […]




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Adam Hall Helps Biloxi Reach Play-offs

Bermudian baseball player Adam Hall has helped the Biloxi Shuckers reach the Southern League Play-offs for the first time since 2019. The Shuckers will open the play-offs at Kessler Federal Park on Tuesday [September 17] against the Montgomery Biscuits. They secured their play-off berth after a double-header triumph over the Mississippi Braves yesterday, winning the […]




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Mississippi Braves Defeat Adam Hall & Biloxi

Adam Hall and his Biloxi Shuckers teammates fell to the Mississippi Braves 6 – 0 in a seven-inning, rain-shortened game at Keesler Federal Park. The game was called in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out, one on and a 0-1 count on Ethan Murray. Hall went 2 for 3 from the plate, […]




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Adam Hall Plays Play-Off Game For Biloxi

Baseball player Adam Hall’s Biloxi Shuckers suffered a 9-2 defeat against the Montgomery Biscuits in their first play-off game since 2019 at Keesler Federal Park yesterday [September 17]. The defeat means the Shuckers must win their game against the Biscuits tomorrow to keep their season alive and force a winner-takes-all game three on Friday. Hall, […]




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Video: Mexico vs Bermuda PanAm Hockey

[Updated] The Bermuda national women’s hockey team is matching up against Mexico this evening [Sept 22] as part of the Pan American Challenge at the National Sports Centre, and you can watch replay below. Update: The Bermuda women’s national hockey team faced tournament favourites Mexico in their second pool game in the Women’s Pan American Challenge […]




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Mexico Defeat Brazil In Hockey Challenge

Tournament favourites Mexico won their second game at the Women’s Pan American Challenge at the National Sports Centre yesterday [September 23] after defeating Brazil 3-1. Maribel Acosta, Grecia Mendoza and Dariana Cardiel scored for Mexico; meanwhile, Mayara Eiko netted for Brazil. In today’s games, Brazil face Paraguay at 3.45 pm and Bermuda play Guyana at […]