Posts Tagged ‘hyperbole’

… including but not limited to internet blogs …

For what they’re worth: I make no claims whatsoever about the veracity of these clauses, which were sent to me as part of documentation supposedly prepared to settle the ‘refund movement‘ affecting Shaun Stenning‘s Twalk get-rich-quick-through-the-internet scheme  in Indonesia. (Malaysia and Singapore are still in flux, I’ve been told.) The documents, while extraordinary as you’ll […]

Snakes alive!

I’m not going to say which gaggle of personable snake oil salesmen sprang to mind when my niece read out this joke from our Christmas crackers this year. (It’s true.) Poisonality. Bwahaha! Who? Take a guess.

Fallen hero?

There’s a particular kind of anger and outrage sparked when you feel someone has shafted you financially. I’ve been reflecting on the strength of feeling expressed by some commenters in the thread ‘Is this how Shaun Stenning handles a request for a refund?‘ and the public and private reversal of fortunes experienced by some former […]

When listing achievements, always use the third person …

One of my heroes was Peter McWilliams who taught me so much about life in general, and publishing in particular (along with my pal Roger Steele, on both counts). In 1991, Peter McWilliams published a terrifically practical and instructive book on publishing — Self-Publishing, Self-Taught … which he sold for US$95 — and that price point […]

I think I would die …

I think I would probably die of embarrassment if ‘property guru’, ‘internet marketing expert’ and spruiker Dean Letfus endorsed me as a ‘kindred spirit’ like this: Leave aside the Freudian slip of ‘In a pool of sharks I found Steve to be the “real deal” ‘ … (erm, you mean a REAL SHARK?) Dean’s humble […]

Safe investing means doing your homework

My earlier post ‘Good advice: Google the salesmen and their get-rich-quick scheme‘, included the suggestion that a bit of research and homework could save a lot of pain and regret: look at the track records of these guys and their previous ‘enterprises’? Do some due diligence and don’t believe the hype. I’ve been struck by […]

In defence of Shaun Stenning — (update: FAKE) Jennifer from Oz

This comment floated in overnight — from ‘Jennifer‘, [who is a sockpuppet. See UPDATE 2 below] in response to last month’s post ‘Is this how Shaun Stenning handles a request for a refund?‘ and, oh, she accuses me of insincerity, to say the least: Hi Peter, It seems you like to play devils advocate don’t […]

Glenn Beck = fruitcake?

Is it just me? Or is this guy Glenn Beck nuttier than a Christmas cake? Observe the range of emotions he, er, emotes as he  tells the horrific (made-up) story of what happens when people who have a ‘Like problem’ — i.e. who don’t click the ‘Like’ button on his Facebook page — they ‘kill […]

Is this how Shaun Stenning handles a request for a refund?

A heartfelt comment recently on an earlier thread suggests a mass rebellion of dissatisfied customers in Shaun Stenning‘s Twalk ‘internet marketing business’ in Asia. (Sometimes they use the brand ‘Snipr‘, I believe.) Shades of the Geekversity train wreck which saw demand for refunds sink that um, ‘enterprise’ with a AUD $5.5million loss. This smooth-talking itinerant […]

Mow-tee-vay-shuns – ‘It gets a ratings spike’

In, once again (remember the full page ad?), dismissing talk of her jumping the fence and running for office, journalist, Rhodes Scholar and doctorate in politics from Oxford, my hero Rachel Maddow gave an insight into what she called ‘opinion-driven news’, and the motivation of, let’s call it ‘erratic’ behaviour. (Think talkback radio hosts, and […]

Ooh, err…

Bleurgh! I can just hear someone saying, ‘Gosh Darnnit. Kids have to grow up so fast these days, don’t they?’

Godwin’s Law (again)

Godwin’s Law strikes again… What an arse, sorry, billionaire investor arse.

Hyperbole and puffery — that’s your DEFENCE?

Lawyers for fuel giant Shell facing misleading advertising charges have told a court in Wellington that claims in their advertisement for petrol containing an additive ‘designed to take you further’ were “hyperbole and puffery” and they didn’t expect anyone to believe them. (Source: Radio NZ News) RNZ Court reporter summarising Shell’s statement of defence: “The […]

Tall poppy syndrome: last refuge of the scoundrel?

Is a claim of ‘tall poppy syndrome’ the last refuge of the scoundrel? (Yes, I know that’s supposed to be patriotism. But how about it? Or perhaps it could be claims of religious virtue?) Here’s a typical definition of the ‘syndrome’ … Tall poppy syndrome: a social phenomenon in which people of genuine merit are […]

Tumbleweed Dean Letfus pitches the next ‘goldmine’

I take no satisfaction in being proven right (again) about ‘Tumbleweed’ Dean Letfus, the itinerant get-rich-quick spruiker who from time to time features in these pages. I observed earlier “He seems to flit hyperbolically from one cash flow generating event (for him!) to the next without much regard for consistency …” This afternoon a friend […]