from the real world

BP Account on Twitter? Just a Joke; K thx bye
By BRIAN STELTER
There is a BP public relations account on Twitter. But it’s probably not the one you’re reading.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/us/10twitter.html?th&emc=th
“June 9, 2010
BP Account on Twitter? Just a Joke; K thx bye
By BRIAN STELTER

With corporate imbroglios now come online parodies — sometimes very popular ones.

The operator of a Twitter account that exists to mock BP and its response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was asked by the oil company this week to specify that it is just kidding.

The anonymous operator of the account, BPGlobalPR, was asked Tuesday to modify the account to make certain that users do not mistake it for a real public relations account by BP. (The oil company’s real Twitter account is called BP_America.)

The mock account, which is followed by almost 145,000 people and has received widespread attention, formerly claimed that it seeks to “get BP’s message and mission statement out.”

Not that anyone would believe that, of course. Among the more recent, more sarcastic posts: “Surprised ourselves by getting emotional on the coast today. Turns out the wind blew dispersant in our eyes.”

In acceding to BP’s request that it acknowledge it is just a fake, the account had some more fun at the company’s expense. “We are not associated with Beyond Petroleum, the company that has been destroying the Gulf of Mexico for 51 days,” it declared Wednesday.

A Twitter spokesman, Sean Garrett, said, “BP requested that the account holder be asked to comply with Twitter’s guidelines regarding parody.” These say that parody accounts should not deceive or confuse users.

The operator said in an e-mail message on Wednesday: “The changes we have made are the only changes we will make. If there is a problem, they will have to shut us down.”

The online eye-rolling about BP’s request generated only more readers for the fake account. Perhaps wanting to return the favor, the operator tartly suggested that Twitter shut down BP’s official public relations account because, he or she wrote, “no one can tell if it’s a joke!”

Noam Cohen contributed reporting.
“

A grade three teacher is giving a lesson on nutrition, and she decides to ask her students what they had for breakfast.

To add a spelling component, she asks the students to also spell their answers.

Susan puts up her hand and says she had an egg,

‘E-G-G’.

‘Very good’, says the teacher.

Peter says he had toast ‘T-O-A-S-T’.

‘Excellent.’

Johnny has his hand up and the teacher reluctantly calls on him.

‘I had f**k all’, he says, ‘F-*-*K A-L-L’.

The teacher is mortified and scolds Johnny for his rude answer.

Later when the lesson turns to geography, she asks the students some rudimentary questions.

Susan correctly identifies the Capital of Canada. Peter is able to tell her which ocean is off Canada ‘s east coast.

When it’s Johnny’s turn, the teacher remembers his rude answer from the nutrition lesson, and decides to give him a very difficult question.

Johnny, she asks, ‘Where is the Pakistani border?’

Johnny ponders the question and finally says, ‘The Pakistani boarder is in bed with my mother.

That’s why I got f**k all for breakfast’.

‘” What’s going on with the Australian Tax Office? When I called last week to ask a simple question over which parts of a plumber’s bill avoids GST, I was initially told, after a 10-minute wait, that phone lines were busy and I would have to wait 90 minutes to talk to a human. They suggested I call back later. I did, but was greeted with another recorded message that “we will answer your question and attend to it personally”, but that was transferred back to the business section, resulting in another 15-minute wait before the line went dead. I then tried directory assistance and called the ATO’s Canberra bureaucracy. After being flipped around through four different sets of hands, I finally asked the receptionist if the ATO has a complaints number. “Yes,” they said, “but it isn’t in the phone book.” The transferred call went to voice mail. “

from a Crikey reader

I have to say I’ve only had helpful people at the ATO when I’ve phoned for information on the business lines.

I have to admit to having dealt with really polite and (trying to be) helpful people at Telstra too … but the system problems almost defeated them every time.