Quote:
Originally Posted by jamestl2
Why are they willing to put so much time and effort into a “spam program” when they could use that energy to create something positive?
|
If you're talking about email spam, that's a good question. But if you're asking about spam in a larger sense, at least some of what seem like spam programs actually are created to be something positive.
I built something that generates random text. The goal was to have something more realistic than lorem ipsum for user interface development and testing. Now that would be a dream come true to mfa sploggers; generate huge madlib posts that probably aren't distinguishable from real content to a search bot. When I describe it, it really sounds like a spam program. I put the energy into building it to have loads of test data on hand, and also to sharpen my skills with certain types of software development concepts.
On the other hand, I know people write virus labs and all kinds of malware for no good reason. But at least some is created with good intentions, and abused by someone else who figures uot how to profit from it. That's why I never released my lorem ipsum software.
Sample output:
Quote:
|
Application suggested offer achterberg high education spanish - slightly tooo uniforms demands windswept jury taipei - hotlist curious summation symptoms. Escapee million political prints long jumbo. Create increased ninth. Earned palm groups used about places teaching buffett. Duck inspires identified alcoholics.
|
When I'm building a cms for technical information, I'll use the app to regurgitate words from the Apache or sql documentation. Before I selected a theme for my photography blog, I looked at some thousand word test posts with lots of random words related to photography. It probably doesn't make any positive difference to test a ui about tech with content that has words like deadlock and rollback instead of lorem and ipsum, but it does feel like a more accurate preview. |
| 
