Reality Show Software
January 9, 2006 by Jayvee Fernandez
Filed under Computers
Every once in awhile, a piece of software comes around that simply makes you smack your forehead. That was my reaction today when I heard about TalentVoter a piece of software which allows you to score your own votes for shows like American Idol or Big Brother.
It comes to us from the “Sure To Be Demonized, Not Idolized” Folder because as “nice” as a piece of software like this is, it is in essence malware. The biggest weakness I see in the software is in the automated dialing. You know how you can text message your votes to various numbers at the end of each show?
The reason why those systems work is because they rely on the human limitation. A human being can only call in so many times. Plus, the lines already get overloaded with other human beings. This is not the internet, folks! This software assumes the role of auto-dialer to phone-bomb the system which has two effects
- Gives some people an unfair voting advantage over others who play by the rules, and
- Inflates vote counts
I expect the systems will get smart and begin to block this sort of traffic quickly. Don’t waste your $25.
