Image used with permission by copyright holderTrolling generally carries with it a rather negative connotation, but one man is single-handedly doing a pretty decent job of turning this bad rap around. After Target became the brunt of a number of rather ignorant attacks for its decision to move towards gender-neutral labeling of its toy products (apparently, gender equality is an unforgivable sin when it comes to children’s retail), Facebook user Facebook user Mike Melgaard decided he had enough. In a decidedly hilarious (though potentially compromising) move, Melgaard created a counterfeit Target Facebook profile, in which he used the Target logo and pretended to be a member of its customer service team. He then took matters into his own hands, and said what a lot of us wanted to (but didn’t or couldn’t) say.
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Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
For nearly a full day, Melgaard managed to address the concerns of disgruntled customers with the same level of absurdity shown in their complaints. He managed to engage some 50 users before finally getting shut down after a 16-hour stint. Speaking with AdFreak, Melgaard admitted that he pulled the stunt mostly for his own amusement. “I definitely side with Target and support their decision wholeheartedly,” he said. “That being said, this was, for me, more about the laughs. I absolutely love satirical humor, and I think America could use a little more laughter.”
In a statement of its own, Target spokeswoman Angie Thompson told USA Today, “At Target, we are committed to providing outstanding guest service to our guests wherever we engage with them — in our stores, online, or on social media. Clearly this individual was not speaking on behalf of Target.” But still, it doesn’t seem as though the retail giant is too upset with Melgaard anyway. After all, how can you get mad at someone who responds to a comment reading, “[My family] will no longer shop and support your PC transgender store,” with, “Kevin, there’s no real nice way to put this, so we at Target will just say it: You’re a real dick.”
You know we were all thinking it.
For more hilarity, see the full glory of Melgaard’s postings here.
Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day
Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.
In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.
Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.
If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.
Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.
