24 Oct
CNN reported yesterday that a woman was held for the “virtual murder” of her “virtual” ex-spouse. Yes, the guy dumped her online, so she logged in to his account in “Maple Story” a virtual reality world, and killed his avatar.
Apparantly the actual charge is something like hacking. CNN reporters are such a bunch of drama queens. Murder!
But I think the absolute best part of the story is here:
The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead.
It reminds me of the young guy that went to police after being beaten up by a pack of old ladies at a Sarah Palin rally recently. Allegedly. Or something. But the point is, if I were a 20 year old man that went to an enclosed space that was guaranteed to be full of activists of quite the opposite point of view from me, I wouldn’t admit that little gem of stupidity, much less that mob mentality had seized a bunch of seniors and I’d gotten my ass handed to me.
And that’s what this is about really….. good judgement. We expect our political candidates to have it, we want our bosses and our employees to have it, our teachers and even strangers, and then we go off and do things like give our co-workers our passwords after engaging in some “virtual marriage” (as if the real thing isn’t hard enough, we have to pretend to do it online as well) and then are so shocked and surprised when they go postal on us after we tell them that we’re done with them that we call the police when we’ve been virtually wronged. You know what? There’s enough real wrong in the world to worry about this idiot guy’s virtual hurt.
I seriously hope the cops end up just laughing at the guy and saying ‘Umm, this is why everyone with brains ever told you never never never give out your password, no matter what kind of virtual nookie you’re getting.” And then I hope they add “Dumbass.” just for good measure.
Oh, dear. Girl Fren’ is behind the times…way, waaaay behind. Does this mean what I think it means: grownup people go online, pretend to be married or sumpin’, have pretend breakups but hack real computers until someone calls the real cops?
I can figure out HOW this is done but–for the life of me–can’t figure out why. (Did you say “virtual nookie”? Hmmm, I’m not even gonna ask.) TTFN
With all due respect, I guess this could only happen in the States!
Then again, my former blogging colleague, Sir Matt Chingduvé once went onto a Red Light District virtual world, logged in as a woman and had dirty sex with 13 men in one afternoon. He told me it felt quite liberating to flirt with men when he had never been that way inclined. The guy who wanted the anal sex was very polite about it, he confessed. And due to his civil manners, Matt acquiesced gracefully.
I must admit, I felt rather queasy during this conversation…
Virtual nookie sounds virtually consequence fee. I guess in this case it didn’t work out that way!
My teenaged son plays Maple Story. Maybe I better go check up on him and make sure he isn’t married, with virtual children or something.
The internet - helping stupid people find each other faster than ever before.
Well said, Jock. Vurrry well said.
And as for that crack from Agnes Mildew about “… only in the States …” why is it, do you suppose, when a person sets out to say something insulting, they daintily hoist themselves off the hook in advance by murmurring, “With all due respect.”
We have newspapers and even cable TV over here in the Colonies and–worldwide– few exceed the British for entertaining dumbassedness. Aside from the French, of course.
Oh my that is virtually stupid, what is the world coming too, lol. Thanks for the laughs. Anna
Wow, who would have thought? The situations people can get themselves in to is just amazing.