

BUI: The internet's dirty little secret - bootload
http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/the-internets-dirty-little-secret/2008/09/11/1220857702243.html

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froo
I must admit I've done this a couple of times.

Going out with mates and getting hammered on a weekend, then a couple days
later getting several emails from ebay informing me I've won some stuff that I
really didn't know I'd bid on.

So far I've purchased a hula hoop, a giant talking ET doll, several pairs of
marvin the martian socks, a replica hanzo sword from Kill Bill and a
tupperware set.

Luckily I have cheap (and tacky) tastes it seems, so the damage has so far
been relatively contained.

~~~
michaelneale
How good was the hanzo sword?

~~~
froo
Umm, not half bad actually - definitely works as a display piece.

That being said, I don't forsee myself becoming a ninja anytime soon.

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sethg
_At online boutique shopbop.com, traffic doesn't spike after happy hour. In
fact, the online research company ComScore says purchases made by women during
the evening total only about 22.6 per cent of all online retail sales. But
internet sellers know all about consumers who click on a Marc Jacobs dress and
slur, "Hey there, frock. I want to take you home tonight."_

In other words: after discovering that there is no evidence of this being a
signficant phenomenon we decided we were going to write this article anyway
and pad it with quotes from some friends of ours who would admit to buying
stuff online while plastered.

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reitzensteinm
I used to do this all the time, but I solved it by switching my search bar to
cuil. Now when I get hammered and search for electronics or movies to impulse
buy, pictures of naked people pop up instead and I get distracted.

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josefresco
I once woke up after some late night computer operating (under the
'influence') and thought my webserver had been hacked. It turns out I half-
installed several scripts the night before and gave up before completing
leaving a mess of non-working scripts on my webserver. I spent 60 minutes
changing all my passwords before I realized what I'd done (still don't
remember why or what I was trying to do that night)

At least I didn't waste any money on crap from Ebay.

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swombat
Meh.

I never buy anything drunk. When I'm drunk in front of my computer (rarely), I
either sleep, waste time on Reddit, or talk crap on IRC.

I doubt this is a widespread problem.

~~~
ovi256
>I doubt this is a widespread problem. I think you're the wrong gender.
Apparently, for females it is. All the interviewed subjects were females,
after all.

~~~
streety
All the people interviewed were female and worked in media in one form or
another.

If that is the only demographic where "BUI" is common I can't say it's
widespread. Difficult to know from this article.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
I sometimes wonder how prevalent selection bias is in articles like this and
the demographics they feature. If you're a magazine writer in NYC writing an
article like this, how do you find people who buy under the influence? Stop
people on the street? Go to a crowded bar and chat people up? It seems likely
that a decent percentage of your interviews are with friends and friends of
friends. It also seems likely that many of those people would be in similar
careers.

~~~
d0mine
_99.52% of statistics are made up. The rest is irrelevant._ </quote>
<http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-05-08/>

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patrickg-zill
I think The Onion covered this several years ago...

<http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39045>

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Morieris
I've bought a domain name while under the influence. It seemed like a good
idea at the time.

~~~
anotherjesse
I'm guilty of this. Luckily the domains have worked out (either having a use
or a friend who wants them).

I was thinking a good iPhone app would be a domain searching/purchasing -
specifically because I've had friends call me to purchase names for them when
they are out drinking.

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tdavis
When I'm drunk (or buzzed) at the computer, which used to be a lot of time,
I'm just working :\

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lallysingh
I've picked up a few programming books on amazon sometimes, stuff that'd been
sitting on my wishlist for a while.

~~~
silentbicycle
" _Practical Brainfuck_?! What was I thinking?"

~~~
0x44
->+>+++>>?

