The Origin of the Term “Thong Rig”

On the 28th of December 2010 a twitter conversation transpired between a number of people that resulted in the birth of a term. That term is “Thong Rig”. To be “Thong Rigged” is to have the auto correct change the spelling of a word resulting in you looking like an idiot.

We have all had that happen to us, especially those of us using Apple devices like iPhones and iPads. The auto correct can be somewhat unkind at the best of times. This conversation however was one of the funniest I have ever had on twitter. Making it funnier was the fact that my wife (@Kate_Gray) was sitting right next to me as it happened. She was laughing her head off.

This is an attempt by myself to reconstruct that conversation as best I can. It is unfortunate that the timeline in twitter will only go back 7 hours. So I had to construct this using links and trying to remember what happened. So it might not be 100% perfect. But what it does do is convey the general idea and I don’t think the meaning is lost.

Have a read and you’ll know what we are talking about when we say; “You’ve been thong rigged”. Thong rigging also has it’s own hash tag #thongrig so feel free to use it and spread the meme.

Many Thanks to:

• @Kate Gray
• @Jameswilliams90
• @Space_Cadet
• @Fifikins
• @BZB
• @Superspeechie

for the damn funny experience!

Back on the 28th of December 2010

The_Rooster: PLEASE follow @Kate_Gray she has so few followers she is checking up on what I tweeted like a freaking day ago!!!! Please save me….

space_cadet: My wife @Superspeechie has 4 followers, me, my brother, his wife, and Julia freakin’ Gillard…please follow my lovely wife 🙂

The_Rooster: @space_cadet: retreated in sympathy mate

The_Rooster: @space_cadet make that retweeted – stoopid auto correct

The_Rooster: Ok now she is covering up her iPhone not wanting me to see her tweets… Before they are tweeted geeze

BZB: @The_Rooster @Kate_Gray This is going to be fun *makes popcorn, gets comfy* ;D

Kate_Gray: @The_Rooster go bite me can’t keep up with those people i’m friends with

The_Rooster: @Kate_Gray but your quoting my bloody tweets!!! Not the interesting people

Fifikins: @The_Rooster @Kate_Gray Twitter is not a place for domestics 😉

Kate_Gray: The things that @The_Rooster talks me into

Fifikins: @BZB My money’s on@Kate_Gray (sorry @The_Rooster!)

BZB: @Fifikins I’m with you!

Kate_Gray: @The_Rooster I have better thongs to do and someone has to look after the lifs

jameswilliams90: @Kate_Gray @The_Rooster damn autothongy!

space_cadet: @Kate_gray btw, whats a “lif” 😉

The_Rooster: Shit a bloody brick now there is a book going on who the winner is going to be. She might wear the f^*%ing thong but I wear the pants baby!

space_cadet: @Kate_gray @the_rooster lol – thongs to do 😀

The_Rooster: @Kate_Gray ROFLMHO that’s gold and the old auto correct bit you rig on the arse!!!

BZB: @The_Rooster Bwahahahaha!

space_cadet: @the_rooster bit “rig” in the arse…wow – snapped!!

jameswilliams90: @Kate_Gray @The_Rooster damn autothongy!

jameswilliams90: @space_cadet @the_rooster @kate_gray don’t want to get your thong caught in the rig…

space_cadet: @jameswilliams90 for sure – getting anything stuck in a thong rig, arse or not, is gonna give you the shits. Especially if you have lifs!

space_cadet: @the_rooster @Superspeechie my rig never gets stuck 😉

superspeechie: @space_cadet pretty cool though. Julia is interested in my tweets lol

The_Rooster: @space_cadet @jameswilliams90 yeah byb gosh those lifs can be a pain in the rig

Fifikins: @The_Rooster do they fit you rig on the arse?

The_Rooster: @Fifikins the are no rigs on my arse just for the record….

Fifikins: @The_Rooster that’s what she said 😀

jameswilliams90: @The_Rooster @space_cadet @kate_gray *crying*

Kate_Gray: Laughing so much have tears in my eyes

The_Rooster: @jameswilliams90 @kate_gray she’s wetting herself….

Kate_Gray: @space_cadet kids

The_Rooster: @jameswilliams90 @space_cadet @kate_gray yeah it was that funny here as well

space_cadet: Bed time – night all.

jameswilliams90: @space_cadet night night, don’t let the rig thongys bit.

Kate_Gray: Going to have to watch that auto correct or fix up my typing on small keyboard

The_Rooster: @Kate_Gray excuses excuses…

I hope that goes some way to explaining Thong Rig…

Feel free to follow me on twitter @The_Rooster

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Where You Sit Says a Lot, Maybe

Had to laugh when I saw this, reminded me of my uni days, where I sat and the mates that I sat with.

I would agree for the most part that this is spot on. So where did I sit? Well usually at the back (near a door preferably), but not really because I thought I was cool. My reasons for sitting at the back:

• I am generally paranoid and don’t like people sitting behind me
• I was always worried what would happen if there was a fire with 200 people wanting to get out the same door – I wanted to be first
• Stops me wondering what faces people were pulling
• I could play handheld Yatzee without being noticed
• I have a loud voice so when we were talking I was not heard and if I was the chalk, rubber or other projectile missed
• I knew what was going on in the lecture hall
• sneaking out was easy (we thought about it and never did – honest)

I used to sit with a good mate Benn (who has zero web presence or I would link to him!). We are still mates to this day. I am sure he would agree with the comic as well. Not sure about why he sat with me (apart from being mates), he probably has different reasons.

As far as the assessment of others, front row and second are spot on. The do-gooders in the front row drove me nuts, the guys in the second were OK but they were trying way too hard! The middle bunch were average and never were at any extreme. Don’t know about the sensitive ones, it obviously worked because I can’t remember! Personally, I know I have always been unique and not really fitting any mold you throw at me. I have resisted conformity and stereo-types and this is demonstration of that attitude. I don’t want to either.

This may well paint me as a bit of a paranoid slacker. But I graduated from university with distinction and a Dean’s Commendation. Not blowing my trumpet but did not want you to think I wasted my educational opportunity.

Thanks to Roger Chen who shared this comic via FeedFriend

April Fool’s Collection

Okay so I am tentatively going to say that I aim to be posting a bit more. No promises as I am still very busy, but on with it!

So yesterday was April 1st and as usual we saw  numerous gags take the blogosphere, some funny, some were so quick you would have missed them. I posted about one on The Global Geek Blog that I found quite humorous. That said I did not go out and hunt them all down. Fortunately a few kind souls have done that for us.

First up The Bloggers Blog has done a nice round up of most of the online pranks that were staged. There were some great ones, I particularly liked the WiiHelm from Think Geek. They always come up with a ripper. I saw one joke from them (I have no idea if it was an April Fool) that detailed a product that was a “wireless extension cord”, very funny. The Geeks there even went to the effort to rig up a demo version and a video for the WiiHelm which had the right amount of stupidity about it.

Wikipedia have compiled a more definitive list of jokes and pranks. This list also includes print, television and audio media. Might also be worth checking the legit stories that were not April Fools gags but were mistaken as such. Always good to know. I just about gave up reading the RSS feeds yesterday as I was begining to think that everything was a joke. Must have been a bad day for news.

Other April Fools 2007 Lists and Resources:

Urgo’s 2007 List of April Fool’s Day Jokes on Websites: Add one if you can not find it

2007 April Fools Jokes by goodstuff: Do the April Fools Jokes Web2.0 style with this tour on Trailfire. It would have been nice  if this was a bit more exhaustive, but that would be a huge job to put together. Nice way to see them though, including descriptions.

Have fun and get thinking for next year, maybe your prank will top the lot, might make you famous even.

An Irreverent Podcast

There has been a discussion going on in the latest podcast from Cameron Reilly of G’day World. It is about how can we promote podcasts and podcasting. There have been a few responses from listeners about what they think. Such as giving away a Wii. This to us podcasters would be great… as long as you are providing it! So I made the suggestion that people blog about a podcast that they listen to on The Podcast Network. Here is my take on G’day World and me “putting my money where my mouth is”.

G’day World is hosted by Cameron Reilly, CEO of The Podcast Network and pretty much the flagship show of the Network. Generally has a show every week day unless he has an Xbox night with his mates…

“G’DAY WORLD, the very first Australian podcast, is an irreverent rant about technology, science, politics and the arts by Cameron Reilly, CEO of The Podcast Network.”

Cam is opinionated, blunt and at times argumentative. His latest show talks in part about the fact that it was pointed out to him that he was abrasive when talking about certain topics. It was an interesting reflection that he had about himself in response to that. It is partly true as Cam believes he is right and you can get totally owned being on the show. Is that a good thing? In some respects yes. To be that self assured and certain about what you believe in is great. To be so at the expense of someone else nope. So it was good to hear Cam reflect on that, it showed his listeners another side of him. Something I thought I would never hear from Cam.

One thing that I respect about Cam is the fact that he is very well read and has wide and varied interests. This is reflected in the topics he covers on the show. He is a passionate movie buff and also co-hosts The Movie Show. Cam is into science and technology although does not consider himself a geek. History on the other hand is also an interest and is reflected in his hosting of Napoleon 101. He is also very passionate about online media and podcasting and what it means to be a podcaster.

So why does that make a good podcast? You Never know what you are going to get for one. I enjoy listening to Cam’s perspectives on life and everything. I don’t agree with him all the time but I think he is a deep thinker and has the unique ability to put that thinking into words. That is hard to do. I start putting what I think into words and it never comes out the way I expected or intended.

G’day World is also very funny. I remember one time I was listening in the car and almost ran off the road I laughed so hard. Can not remeber for the life of me what that was about now. But yes the show is also funny. Maybe another unexpected bonus that makes it a good listen.

Why do I listen to it. Not sure. I think it is because sometimes you can not help but to listen. I was a bit like that with one of the latest things Cam has been about: “Curing Christians“. I have not got into the argument, but I disagree with what he is doing. Cam doesn’t want Christians influencing politics and decision making as much as he perceives it does. His answer: Cure some Christians. I believe that a belief system is part of being human and part of who we are. Destroy that and you take some of the person away. I think Cam should attack the thing he has the beef with and that in my opinion is the influence that a minority have over the majority on public policy. He will disagree with that. But I listened and I respect his view, at least he has one and isn’t afraid to say it.

Cam is currently running a competition where you could win a $50 Amazon voucher. What do you have to do? Just register with the online form and send some referrals Cam’s way! Currently he has zero takers so if you are the only one to register then you’ll get the prize. For the record I have not registered nor a part of this competition.

G’day World is entertaining, period. Why? Even myself I am not sure why; but it is. I would recommend G’day World for a listen, it might not be your cup of tea but then you won’t know if it is or not unless you do. While you are there check out some of the other great shows on The Podcast Network you will find something you like. Please remember to leave a comment on the podcaster’s blog, just to let them know what you think or just your opinion. As podcasters we value that and it means a lot to us. Easy for you and invaluable to us. Keep up the good work Cam.

DISCLOSURE: G’day World is part of The Podcast Network where The Global Geek Podcast is also a part, of which I am one of the hosts. I have in no way been offered any incentive or been requested to write this post. These are my opinions and original ideas and not those of The Podcast Network or Cameron Reilly.

Comment Armageddon

So there I was catching up on some RSS feeds that I had missed over the Christmas New Year break. I made an unexpected find while I was doing that. Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch is a respected authority in Web 2.0 circles as far as covering new start-ups and the culture of the Internet and technology news. But this post caused some controversy.

TechCrunch covered a website that was a social network for budding photographers. So what you might say. Well this is a social network for amateur pornography. I have not linked to the site covered because that is not what this post is about. Arrington covers the site in a very matter-of-fact way that you would expect. It would seem that his readers don’t appreciate it, generally. True this is not the sort of thing that TechCrunch usually covers and that might be why there was the reaction that there was. Still not sure it was worthy of the reaction of some.

The real action here is the comments. There are no less than 191 comments at the time of this post. It is the most entertaining run of comments that I have read in a long time. Like fies to a dead cow everyone turns up for a go. It has everything from name calling to preaching doom and gloom. There are “hissy” fits and passionate pleas. Everything, you name it you will find it here.

What’s more the names read like a who’s who of the blogosphere. Featuring in order of appearance:

• Michael Arrington (naturally)
• Robert Scoble
• Eric Rice
• Alex Iskold (Also writes for Read/WriteWeb)
• Phil Wolff

I am sure there are some I missed or did not recognise. These guys probably subscribe to TechCrunch so I am not surprised that they do. But for them to be motivated enough to comment, you can imagine. I learned some things about Robert Scoble that I did not know. He actually kicks butt in an argument. Still not sure why they got involved, no one wins a flame war.

Very entertaining and well worth the read. Not often I recommend to skip the article and go straight to the comments. I am not about to make judgements about the merits of Arringtons choice of topics but suffice to say his readers have spoken. But from my perspective it doesn’t seem like it fits the TechCrunch mould. It says a lot about knowing your audience.