I’m laughing so hard.

Okay, so a quick google search tells me that my blogging software WordPress records the IP address of every comment. So I search the database and lo, all the “meego” comments (i.e. by user meego) are from the same IP. No big deal. So I search for the IP. And I find another comment from the same IP:

Wow Meego ur like heaps smart! I hope I can be as cool as you one day! PS Fat chicks rock!

WTF?? I thought that was a sarcastic dig at meegos, but it was actually meego praising himself.

So I dig a little deeper. The IP address of the poster is in Milton, NSW - according to xpenguin.com. This is because he uses TPGI broadband to access the ‘net. That’s where they’re based, or near enough.

Alright, we know where the poster came from. Now I wonder who owns meegos.com? A little check of networksolutions’ whois service tells us it’s one Dave Heysen, on behalf of the 3hgroup.com. So I find out the IP address of 3hgroup.com, and guess where they’re based… yep! Milton, NSW.

Amazing how supportive the locals can be, eh Dave?*

Dave Heysen turns up all over the ‘net - a while ago he was the director of Soulmates Technology / match.com international (Sydney). He created matchmaking software for the TVMates Optus interactive broadband dating service, which according to the press release saw “high number of visits and transactions from trialists” and then sank into a mire of nothingness.

Now he’s at 3hgroup, presumably because he is “heaps smart”, and according to their site has strengths from a “financial and personnel management perspective”. Does managing your personnel include astroturfing, Dave?

Anyway, I’ve had enough fun for now. Let the issue rest, 3hgroup. All you’re creating is an indelible log of your fruitless and cynical attempts to market loathsome pap on a consumer base that’s already way ahead of you **.

3h == har har har? ***

• for the record, I’m aware of just how unreliable geographic IP locators can be, but in this case can you really say “well, that’s just a coincidence!”? I’d say that they’re a fairly strong indicator that the meegos astroturfer and 3hgroup belong to the same ISP, which in turn hints at them being the same person. Of course, this is pure speculation - but isn’t it fun? :-)

** Create avatars for free through the flash program available at www.mess.be. Example:

*** I’m also the top non-official english-language post for the seach “meegos” on www.altavista.com.