# I pit whatever technology shoves my home city in my face. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 16, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273 "2009-07-16T22:44:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/1 "2009-07-16T22:44:54Z")
I don’t enjoy seeing that “Indianapolis mom loses 30 pounds” on top of “Indy man works from home…makes 50K!!!”, and “Indianapolis singles…right here!!!”. I never thought I would miss the good ol’days of a random pop-up asking me to enlarge myself. I don’t know what technology makes this happen, but it needs to stop. That will be all. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/2 "2009-07-16T22:47:07Z")
Half those things think I’m in Louisiana for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/3 "2009-07-16T23:35:18Z")
I think the way it works is that the ads identify the area you are in from the IP adress your ISP assigns. Since my phone company/ISP is across the border in another state, the ‘smart’ ads appear to think I live about 300 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/4 "2009-07-17T00:12:03Z")
Firefox + Adblock Plus = no more web ads, geographically targeted or otherwise ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/5 "2009-07-17T00:25:39Z")
That sounds terrible. Personally I think my social life is on an upswing because I keep getting instant messages from hot local females who want to perform deviant sexual maneuvers on me! ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/6 "2009-07-17T00:59:48Z")
Maybe I’m a prude, but I’m getting weary of seeing ads (and not pop ups either, which I can at least close), on basically every website, for weight loss featuring “before” and “after” bikini-clad female abdomens. I’m getting tired of seeing all those huge, ghostly white guts (funny how they never have bellies of color)! Perhaps if there were more pictures of male abs…😃 it wouldn’t bother me as much. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/7 "2009-07-17T01:59:55Z")
> [@SweetLucy](#): > > Maybe I’m a prude, but I’m getting weary of seeing ads (and not pop ups either, which I can at least close), on basically every website, for weight loss featuring “before” and “after” bikini-clad female abdomens. I’m getting tired of seeing all those huge, ghostly white guts (funny how they never have bellies of color)! Perhaps if there were more pictures of male abs…😃 it wouldn’t bother me as much. Personally I’m sick of seeing the pictures of “teeth whitening secret” featuring a smiling mouth of a black person - that’s been colorized to make their face more _literally_ black in order to more contrast with the “naturally white” teeth. It has just enough left of the natural melanin color mixed with the pitch blackness to be in that uncanny valley in addition to looking like Death…pukey. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/8 "2009-07-17T02:08:52Z")
> [@SweetLucy](#): > > Maybe I’m a prude, but I’m getting weary of seeing ads (and not pop ups either, which I can at least close), on basically every website, for weight loss featuring “before” and “after” bikini-clad female abdomens. I’m getting tired of seeing all those huge, ghostly white guts (funny how they never have bellies of color)! Perhaps if there were more pictures of male abs…😃 it wouldn’t bother me as much. One I saw had a BLACK “before” and a white "after. Once I saw what was clearly a man’s belly in the before and a woman’s in the after. :eek:What kind of pill is this anyway??? ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/9 "2009-07-17T11:41:26Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > One I saw had a BLACK “before” and a white "after. Once I saw what was clearly a man’s belly in the before and a woman’s in the after. :eek:What kind of pill is this anyway??? It’s what Michael Jackson was taking. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/10 "2009-07-17T14:22:55Z")
Eww. What happens if I, as a brown girl, takes one of those pills? Oh, and I hate the “I’m in Albany!” ads too. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/11 "2009-07-17T14:35:32Z")
My work’s ip address is apparently associated with our head office which is over 1100 miles away. Not only do I get the “hot singles in (town 15 hrs from here) looking to hook up”, but I also get to point and laugh at the people with the stupid guy holding a sign in their signatures. You know the ones that say something like “you’re ip address is… You live in… Be careful! I’m watching you!” ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/12 "2009-07-17T19:19:05Z")
I don’t mind ads, but don’t any companies advertise products which are _not_ total scams anymore? Like you know, a good old razor blade or a refreshing beverage? I’d be happy to see an ad for god-damn Coca Cola once in a while. 95% of the shit I see these days is “lose weight miraculously”, “whiten teeth miraculously”, “enlarge your penis miraculously”, “make tons of money at home miraculously”, “meet hot women who want to fuck you miraculously”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/13 "2009-07-18T05:23:24Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I don’t mind ads, but don’t any companies advertise products which are _not_ total scams anymore? Like you know, a good old razor blade or a refreshing beverage? I’d be happy to see an ad for god-damn Coca Cola once in a while. 95% of the shit I see these days is “lose weight miraculously”, “whiten teeth miraculously”, “enlarge your penis miraculously”, “make tons of money at home miraculously”, “meet hot women who want to fuck you miraculously”, etc. I’m totally with you on this ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/14 "2009-07-18T05:41:17Z")
I like the phony personal ads. They’re not fooling me; I know no one around here looks remotely like that. Occasionally, they’ll use the same photo twice in the same ad, but caption it with a different name. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/15 "2009-07-21T16:32:39Z")
The only observation I have here is that in many of the “lose 25lbs of belly fat” ads, I find myself more attracted to “before” because “after” looks like a starvation victim. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/16 "2009-07-21T16:44:45Z")
You all seem to be forgetting the one rule: Obey ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/17 "2009-07-21T18:32:54Z")
I’m on the north side of Minneapolis but according to my IP address all the skanky hos that want to hook up with me are from Minnetonka. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/18 "2009-07-21T18:56:08Z")
I hate hate hate the teeth ads. Teeth kind of gross me out, even perfectly clean ones, so I really don’t like seeing the array of Death’s Head grins every time I go to check my email. And, the “before” pictures usually look pretty normal, while the “after” pictures are just the “before” pictures Photoshopped to a shade of Krylon white that no human has ever displayed. I also hate the dancing animated mortgage people. Christ, those are stupid. Oh, oh, and the stupid “IQ tests” that have some ridiculously easy question, like showing three super-famous people and asking you to identify one. Yeah, right, I’m going to take that “test.” Also, now that I think about it, **Rigamarole** is right. Every ad I see on the internet is a scam. I can’t remember the last time I saw a legitimate product advertised. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/19 "2009-07-21T20:09:10Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I don’t mind ads, but don’t any companies advertise products which are _not_ total scams anymore? Like you know, a good old razor blade or a refreshing beverage? I’d be happy to see an ad for god-damn Coca Cola once in a while. 95% of the shit I see these days is “lose weight miraculously”, “whiten teeth miraculously”, “enlarge your penis miraculously”, “make tons of money at home miraculously”, “meet hot women who want to fuck you miraculously”, etc. That’s a damned good point. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273/20 "2009-07-21T20:11:16Z")
I am in some kind of no man’s land, because I keep seeing “Your city mom lost 43 pounds” and “Your city mom makes $67K working at home.” Briefly, they had me in Greenville, SC. If you rate enough Facebook ads (use the thumbs down) it will eventually start to advertise some less ridiculous stuff to you. After rating thumbs down on a bunch of miracle weight loss (acai, algae…), tooth whitening, look younger, keep your man, fix your credit crap, I eventually started getting some non-profits, books, and movies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whatever-technology-shoves-my-home-city-in-my-face/503273.md?page=2)