5 ms·

BUI: The internet's dirty little secret

15 points by bootload 18y ago

swombat 18y ago
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 18y ago
  >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 18y ago
    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 18y ago
      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 18y ago
        99.52% of statistics are made up. The rest is irrelevant. </quote> http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-05-08/ http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-05-08/
froo 18y ago
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 18y ago
  How good was the hanzo sword?
  - froo 18y ago
    Umm, not half bad actually - definitely works as a display piece. That being said, I don't forsee myself becoming a ninja anytime soon.
lallysingh 18y ago
I've picked up a few programming books on amazon sometimes, stuff that'd been sitting on my wishlist for a while.
- silentbicycle 18y ago
  "Practical Brainfuck?! What was I thinking?"
  - 0x44 18y ago
    ->+>+++>>?
    - deleted 18y ago
      [deleted]
patrickg-zill 18y ago
I think The Onion covered this several years ago... http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39045 http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39045
reitzensteinm 18y ago
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.
josefresco 18y ago
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.
sethg 18y ago
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.
Morieris 18y ago
I've bought a domain name while under the influence. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
- anotherjesse 18y ago
  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.
- anotherjesse 18y ago
  sorry, I down-modded you by accident - it doesn't appear there is a way to undo :-( I had meant to click up but I missed.
tdavis 18y ago
When I'm drunk (or buzzed) at the computer, which used to be a lot of time, I'm just working :\

15 points by bootload 18y ago

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 18y ago
>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 18y ago
  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 18y ago
    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 18y ago
      99.52% of statistics are made up. The rest is irrelevant. </quote> http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-05-08/ http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-05-08/

froo 18y ago

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 18y ago
How good was the hanzo sword?
- froo 18y ago
  Umm, not half bad actually - definitely works as a display piece. That being said, I don't forsee myself becoming a ninja anytime soon.

lallysingh 18y ago

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

silentbicycle 18y ago
"Practical Brainfuck?! What was I thinking?"
- 0x44 18y ago
  ->+>+++>>?
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]

patrickg-zill 18y ago

I think The Onion covered this several years ago... http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39045 http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39045

reitzensteinm 18y ago

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.

josefresco 18y ago

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.

sethg 18y ago

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.

Morieris 18y ago

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

anotherjesse 18y ago
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.
anotherjesse 18y ago
sorry, I down-modded you by accident - it doesn't appear there is a way to undo :-( I had meant to click up but I missed.

tdavis 18y ago

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