Comments on: The Levitra Couches

The Levitra Couches

loquacious — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:34:21 -0800

The Levitra Couches

By: fish tick

fish tick — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:52:23 -0800

Gotta keep drugs away from the furniture.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:57:06 -0800

I wonder how much of the labeling was done by people who had come across the website... Weird.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:01:46 -0800

IMO, loq just got hooked by web meme marketers. This is as fake as anything we've ever seen.

By: Kwine

Kwine — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:09:26 -0800

I've corresponded with Rob Cockerham. He seems to be a nice guy, and he has used his website as a platform for educating people about how bad pyramid schemes like Herbalife are, many times in the past. I would be incredibly surprised if this was the work of web meme marketers--at least, if it is, he is being duped as well. It is true that this link is positively ancient in internet years, however. I was hoping that there had been some resolution to the mystery.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:15:50 -0800

FFF, cockeyed.com has a long history of pro-consumer articles, and an equal history of whim-driven investigative journalism (blogerism?) like the link. No conspiracy here.

By: DU

DU — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:21:48 -0800

Obviously it could be marketing, but not by Rob Cockerham. Rob Cockerham is THE MAN.

By: scratch

scratch — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:27:47 -0800

Rob Cockerham is so goddamn funny. I mean that.

By: IronLizard

IronLizard — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:30:11 -0800

The truth is a bit uglier. The recipients of Levitra prescriptions, after coitus, often find themselves compelled to write the name of the drug on anything within reach. Most are small, hastily scrawled markings. Others, like these couches, render the object in question unusable and fit only for the dump. The makers of this drug have created the manufacturer's dream. A product that brainwashes it's users into mindlessly advertising itself. Like Apple.

By: Brittanie

Brittanie — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:37:15 -0800

The thing I've always loved about Levitra is it's marketing. Their logo, the flame, is so great on both an obvious and a subliminal level. I mean, it's a flame but it's also got a very O'Keefe vibe to it, if you get my drift.* And then there's the commercial. Pure genius. *Psst. It's a va-jay-jay!

By: inthe80s

inthe80s — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:37:27 -0800

I doubt it's marketing by Cokerham, he's a riot. It does feel like a joke someone is pulling though. Like a prank by the Something Awful goons, or maybe some other forum orchestrating it.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:44:34 -0800

I wonder how much of the labeling was done by people who had come across the website... Maybe the first two were random, but I think most of the people doing the tagging now are tagging, then taking a picture and sending it in. It's all conspiracy to drive up adsense revenue by being able to put "levitra" ads on the site. There's one Levitra ad on the sidebar right now. (okay I meant that tongue in cheek but it ended up sounding rather serious)

By: Lentrohamsanin

Lentrohamsanin — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:53:37 -0800

This is the kind of thing that I dread Xeni Jardin finding out about.

By: jack_mo

jack_mo — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:54:11 -0800

1. Spray 'Levitra' on sofa, post on popular website, wait for copy-cats. 2. ~~???~~ Add Levitra adverts to footer of each page. 3. Profit.

By: blasdelf

blasdelf — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:01:06 -0800

delmoi nails the shit out of this one! Rob Cockerham is no stranger to Adsense chicanery -- many of his articles are framed around other hot keywords, and heavily paginated to show you as many ads as possible. How many ways can you spell V1/\9R@? $pyramid-scheme sucks a lot? It's only one step removed from blogging about Mesothelioma. The guy also had a big hand in that whole zug.com / Prince Halftime at the Superbowl non-prank. Face it, Rob sold out years ago.

By: Mid

Mid — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:18:01 -0800

It's a joke. Cockerham's site is almost all jokes -- most are pretty funny, too. Been reading and enjoying for years. Check out some of his pranks.

By: Mid

Mid — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:28:40 -0800

Blasdelf - my impression is that Cockerham isn't exactly rolling in cash. I don't blame the guy for trying to make a little money off his website. God forbid that someone stoop so low as to use adsense!

By: signal

signal — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:28:44 -0800

I wonder if there are any couches with "Viral" sprayed on them?

By: fleetmouse

fleetmouse — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:28:47 -0800

When I saw the title of this FPP I immediately thought it was regarding some middle aged man equivalent of The Vagina Monologues.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:41:51 -0800

It's live art.

By: empath

empath — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:57:28 -0800

It's definitely an adsense scam.

By: The White Hat

The White Hat — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:00:38 -0800

It's a prank.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:02:30 -0800

Cockerham is a MeFi member, so maybe he'll let us know if it's a joke/scam/ad or not. For myself, I remember seeing this a couple years ago, and I'm also surprised that there's no resolution, and there's still levitra couches turning up. I have never seen one myself, but if I did, I would certainly take a picture of it and send it to Rob (so maybe it IS a self-perpetuating meme); but on the other hand, I have never spray-painted a couch with "LEVITRA" and sent it to Rob (so maybe it isn't) - but, who knows?

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:15:24 -0800

If someone were going around spraying "Schadenfreude" or "Kill the Wabbit" or "23 Skiddoo" on couches, I might buy that it's some sort of hep phenomenon or movement. But impotence pills? Come on. Now, if these were the Levitra La-Z-Boys [titter], that'd be something. Are we meant to think this is some sort of post-pomo commentary on the commodification of sexuality or the disposable nature of virility or . . . oh fuck it.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:19:41 -0800

I think you're shooting blanks there, Fellini.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:25:08 -0800

Hmm. I tried to send Mr. Cockerham an email alerting him to this thread, but the contact email address on his website isn't funtional, and I can't find his MeFi account page to see if there's another address there. Sorry.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:25:29 -0800

It isn't functional, either.

By: selfmedicating

selfmedicating — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:40:44 -0800

Ever tried shlepping an old couch up to a 2nd floor apartment? At some point you realize you're just never going to get it up... and that's when you abandon the fucker and spray-paint Levitra on it.

By: wendell

wendell — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:48:07 -0800

Everybody missed the obvious... they were just misspelling Levitz.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:51:53 -0800

I have a levitra pen. It folds in on itself, and if you press a small button on the side, it flips out again. There is a small, slight bend at the base... (video here)

By: davy

davy — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:51:53 -0800

I don't care. Nobody with a mental age of more than 6 cares. This is "humor" for ninnies. What the couches SHOULD say is "Free crabs & bedbugs!" 'Cuz, y'know, that's what they're full of. Now I only scarf up non-upholstered furniture I can carefully sterilize.

By: davy

davy — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:55:20 -0800

How cute Pope Guilty, a switchblade pen. Fonzie had a switchblade COMB -- in 1975.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:55:33 -0800

It's just some way to get ad revenue. Did you know you can get real Levitra from netdr.com? Only $99!

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:10:02 -0800

If it was real marketing for Levitra, shouldn't the sofas be hard to find? They should also say somewhere on them: " in the event that this sofa is here for more than four hours, consult your physician....."

By: SassHat

SassHat — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:12:18 -0800

Yeah, when the first thing you see on the page is a Levitra ad, I'm pretty sure this is about ads. But if I know Rob (and I don't, but I like to pretend I do), I don't think he would do it unless it's going to come to some sort of awesome conclusion.

By: Iosephus

Iosephus — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:59:42 -0800

The real question here should be: which came first, the Levitra couches or the guys in the ottoman humping YouTube video?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:00:57 -0800

Right, so we're agreed, we've been trolled by a marketing web meme. And a piss-poor one at that.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:16:32 -0800

Right, so we're agreed, we've been trolled by a marketing web meme. And a piss-poor one at that. Waiter? This fish? It is not so fresh. Send it back.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:37:16 -0800

Besides everyone knows Cialis is hardcore gansta compared to lavitra. I mean who would want to fuck Mike Ditka.

By: Plutor

Plutor — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 05:29:09 -0800

blasdelf: "Face it, Rob sold out years ago." Wow, the bar for selling out must be lower than I was previously aware.

By: enn

enn — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 06:12:45 -0800

What the couches SHOULD say is "Free crabs & bedbugs!" 'Cuz, y'know, that's what they're full of. Now I only scarf up non-upholstered furniture I can carefully sterilize. A month or two back I saw a couch in an alley on which someone who apparently agrees with you had spraypainted "PLAGUE" along with a skull and crossbones.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 06:30:05 -0800

If even one person wonders why there's a boner pill named after that word that people spraypaint on discarded couches, all of this hard work will have paid off.

By: ImJustRick

ImJustRick — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 08:26:30 -0800

This is the kind of thing that I dread Xeni Jardin finding out about. That is the funniest thing I've read all hour.

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:22:32 -0800

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:44:58 -0800

on the last page, Rob invites email at a different address than the pacbell email shown on the contacts page: "Rob at Cockeyed.com"

By: theora55

theora55 — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:08:16 -0800

Levitar, verb. present tense, el, ella, Ud. levita . At least 1 of the couches says Levita. Could it mean pick up, as in rubbish?

By: cockeyed

cockeyed — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:09:20 -0800

YES, as many have guessed, this was faked. The vast majority of the couches were painted in Sacramento by me personally, set up as an "unfolding" story. I think I started posting when I had pictures of 15 couches ready to go, and I continuously came across new couches to spray paint. I regret being deceitful to my own audience, and (although it is still tempting) I resolve to stay away from this sort of thing in the future. It certainly undermines the perception of the rest of my site. (Which is why a reporter from the New York Times asked me to personally verify the accuracy of the "torn up credit card" story). SO, for the record, there are two articles which have been faked on Cockeyed.com, one was the first "how much is inside" episode, (Shaving Cream) which I revealed as fake in 2005, and the Levitra Couches story was the second. There aren't any more, although there are some which I consider to be obvious satire, such as "celebrity comment sections" and the "Ultraherbal - You will not believe the incredible list of magical miracles which herbs can do for you" story. Sorry. I value my readers, and I hope that this lapse is offset by the rest of my efforts. Rob Cockerham Sacramento

By: loquacious

loquacious — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:52:30 -0800

Damn your black hide. Well, should I remove the "meta" from my tags? That leaves me with simply "couch".

By: IronLizard

IronLizard — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:02:35 -0800

So. They've bought your silence too. I hope that pile of ill gotten money comforts you in the last hours, when the earth is overrun by mindlessly marketing zombies sporting permanent erections.

By: Ogre Lawless

Ogre Lawless — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:13:59 -0800

I continuously came across new couches to spray paint. Is an oddity of our fair Midtown or does any good town with alleyways adjacent to loads of rental properties have this kind of thing going on?

By: Baby_Balrog

Baby_Balrog — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:15:19 -0800

b-b-but my girlfriends couch! I.... uh.... *puts down spray paint*

By: Kwine

Kwine — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:23:39 -0800

I'm extremely disappointed in you, Rob. I'm not sure that I'll be a regular Cockeyed reader any longer.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 19:11:51 -0800

I'm a little disappointed too, but my disappointment is offset by your having come clean on this one. Rob, you have a great site, a wicked sense of humor and an engaging personality, which shows in your presentation and writing style. DO continue to stay away from "this sort of thing" in the future, and I believe you will have continued success and readership.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 19:16:59 -0800

Rob, thanks for coming clean. I love your work and this story rang as weird compared to the rest of your site and I figured maybe it really was a prank for some competing ad revenue or something. Glad to hear there are only two fakes on the whole thing and I hope you don't digress in the future.

By: anildash

anildash — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 19:20:14 -0800

people are allowed to screw up. you've done tons of good stuff, and you spilled the beans on here without waiting for someone to dig up the dirt on you on their own. man, i'd never noticed the flame in the levitra logo before, though.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 19:47:07 -0800

This is Comedy Gold for so many reasons and I wouldn't have seen it if not for the sidebar - I do wish I had read the comments before clicking the link, though.

By: LarryC

LarryC — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:25:54 -0800

Hey--WHO THE FUCK SPRAY PAINTED MY PORCH COUCH!!

By: growabrain

growabrain — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:50:23 -0800

Twenty Hail Marys & all is forgotten

By: Ufez Jones

Ufez Jones — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 22:06:22 -0800

Ain't that a pisser. I've never been obsessed with Cockeyed, but it's given me plenty of fond internet memories, with its traditional pissant Yippie-ish spirit. That spirit's crushed. Good luck with Cockeyed in the future, Rob. I know I'm just one random surfer that clicked through quite a bit on your site, but I'll forever question anything else you do again. I doubt I'll be alone.

By: jtron

jtron — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 22:16:52 -0800

OH NO WE GOT LIED TO hahahahaha my first response on seeing this article for the first time, quite a while ago, was that it was something done by Rob or one of his buddies. jesters are funny until you get suckered in by the joke, is that how this works?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:16:18 -0800

Oh Noews! We've been Kaycee Nicole'd!

By: eritain

eritain — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:01:55 -0800

Er ... is it OK that I'm not all grumpy and disappointed and stuff? And that I'm not going to boycott Cockeyed, or even look cross-eyed at it? No? Okay, I'm furious. Glad we got that sorted. Joe, did the Super Bowl bit bring in the same sort of 'I will nevar trust teh intarnets agian' response? 'Cause I mean, dude.

By: taz

taz — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:26:56 -0800

Wow. I'm pretty surprised that anyone with such an (apparently) good reputation would do something like this for pharma cash (and if it was just high spirited pranksterism, why all the Levitra ads?). Doesn't seem worth it.

By: rikschell

rikschell — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 05:08:10 -0800

Um, after about page 5, wasn't it obvious it was a prank? I mean, COME ON folks.

By: From Bklyn

From Bklyn — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 05:37:07 -0800

1., I read this as LeVITRA couches. 2., Now that that's cleared up and I know what this is about I just want to chime in and say I'm shocked! Shocked! that someone on the internet was not one hundred percent truthful about something as serious as a potentially new (in 1995 mind you) meme! Did I mention Shocked!

By: Plutor

Plutor — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 05:52:53 -0800

cockeyed: "YES, as many have guessed, this was faked." *sob* I'm loyal, Rob. Good luck with the light sharpener, I'm on the edge of my seat.

By: theora55

theora55 — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 06:22:44 -0800

I am shocked, SHOCKED, that you would pull a stunt like this. I have always valued your journalistic integrity. How can you continue to call yourself a News Site???

By: Mid

Mid — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 06:24:07 -0800

I too feel personally betrayed by Rob. I relied on him for honest and accurate reporting. He was my only source of unbiased news regarding graffiti on abandoned upholstered furniture in the greater Sacremento area. Now, when Rob writes about homemade springy shoes, or how many packages of gummi bears will fit into a 1987 El Camino, I will always question his underlying journalistic integrity. A nation weeps. Wahh! The internet lied to me!

By: Kwine

Kwine — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 06:46:23 -0800

One of the big values of cockeyed, to me, was that Rob was a regular guy who just happen to have fun goofing off with science. He stood with people against consumerism and corporate greed. Imagine if mathowie turned out to work for an Apple Computer astroturfing team. How would we view his iPhone video (or his MacBook motion sensor lightsaber video) in that context? I imagine large sections of the Metafilter userbase would be angry and upset. This is like that. There's a big difference between pranks played on the public, that one lets one's readership in on, and "pranks" played on the readership on the site, that also "happen" to sell ad space for one of the objects of the prank. When you have a reputation as a crusader against companies that use no-good sales techniques like lying to their sales force/customers, and then you drive traffic to Levitra spam websites by lying to your reader base, you've just irrevocably lost your credibility. Of course the internet often lies to us. Thanks for the tip. Of course, we don't keep going back to the same place to get lied to, do we?

By: From Bklyn

From Bklyn — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:22:10 -0800

...Of course the internet often lies to us. Thanks for the tip. Dude, you just found that out? I've known for, like, weeks. I am not so familiar with Cockeyed that I would take this whole thing as you say. I only know it as a breezy, low-key humorous bunch of observations and experiments all of which I have enjoyed. If I knew it as you do, I probably would feel the same kind of - uh - betrayal of the contract between a writer and his readers. (I don't mean to undermine it, this time, I just can't put in better). Which I understand. Of course, we don't keep going back to the same place to get lied to, do we? But, seriously, dude, did you hear about that Steorn business? I hear they've almost got the kinks worked outand then it's like, "Look out all you oil tycoons! Woo Hoo!"

By: Mid

Mid — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:49:48 -0800

Imagine if mathowie turned out to work for an Apple Computer astroturfing team. This is nothing like that -- there's no astroturfing. There's no advertising pitch for the drug or any claim that would make someone want to go out and buy the drug -- just a dumb idea that someone painted the name of the drug on abandoned furniture. If anything, I'm sure the folks in the Levitra marketing department would be unhappy about Rob's joke/meme -- it hurts the brand by associating it with weird graffiti in alleys, not what you generally want from a medical product. Granted, the click-thru ads are a little tacky. But still, it's not like he's pitching the drug, just cashing in on people who happen to land on his site looking for some place to buy Levitra. A harmless semi-blunder on an otherwise great site.

By: acro

acro — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 08:04:55 -0800

Cockeyed.com: As intelligent as astroturfing gets on the web

By: acro

acro — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 08:06:00 -0800

ps /not astroturfist;)

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:19:33 -0800

It's so interesting how MeFi's values shift with our idolation of the web-famous.

By: Plutor

Plutor — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:21:43 -0800

Mid: "If anything, I'm sure the folks in the Levitra marketing department would be unhappy about Rob's joke/meme -- it hurts the brand by associating it with weird graffiti in alleys" Yeah, instead of just old guys with boners. That's a big step down.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:29:51 -0800

Put me in the "not outraged but don't do this thing again" group. Also, was that superbowl "prank" faked or what...

By: hypersloth

hypersloth — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:32:02 -0800

I'm gonna see if I can get paid to spray-paint "Maxiderm" instead.

By: Nabubrush

Nabubrush — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:15:08 -0800

Rob, did you hit that one on the porch or not? Cause that guy's fixing to kick your ass if you did.

By: spitbull

spitbull — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:41:27 -0800

WTF is cockeyed.com?

By: sycophant

sycophant — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:11:59 -0800

Rob, I still love you.

By: BeerFilter

BeerFilter — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:12:42 -0800

I stand by my orignal flag.

By: mmoncur

mmoncur — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 05:03:34 -0800

I saw it years ago and assumed not only that it was a fake but that everything else on cockeyed was too. I found it all quite entertaining, though.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:08:09 -0800

It's so interesting how MeFi's values shift with our idolation of the web-famous. posted by five fresh fish at 12:19 PM on July 10 As it has always been. There are so many "it's okay if you're an A-lister" incidents on MeFi over the years I don't keep up anymore. I think it would be interesting for a site to leverage their userbase and "create" revenue for the site off of purposefully manufactured memes. But the community has to be "in on it". Imagine if mathowie turned out to work for an Apple Computer astroturfing team. That's preposterous. Everyone knows Matt is in the backpocket of the powerful recumbent bike industry.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:10:07 -0800

I imagine large sections of the Metafilter userbase would be angry and upset. What happens when I pretend reality is real? BRB .... OHMYGOD!!1 that was awesome. I think.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:12:25 -0800

(I didn't actually pretend reality was real nor was it awesome. I also don't think. I don't want to betray my readers.)

By: beelzbubba

beelzbubba — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 12:25:38 -0800

never visited cockeyed.com before this confessional post. Probably won't be going back, but not because of the Levitra Couches (what a great name for a series of monologs by a group of Guys with ED), but because it just.was.not.interesting.

By: acro

acro — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:36:16 -0800

@beelzbubba... check out the travel section (imo) the best part of the site;)

By: Sailormom

Sailormom — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:49:30 -0800

So this is what a prank is these days? Give me a break. Dropping $1000 in small bills onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and watching the traders climb all over each other trying to grab as much as they could is a prank. Levitra couches not so much.

By: beelzbubba

beelzbubba — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:11:02 -0800

@beelzbubba... check out the travel section (imo) the best part of the site;) posted by acro at 7:36 PM on July 11 [+] [!] OK, I did, and read the story about the lads' trip to London. In a small coincidence, I travelled to London for the first time just a few months after them. My experiences were +/- about as amusing as theirs. Other than telling you this now, I have not thought it very interesting to blog about. Still don't. Sorry. If this is what passes for amusing, c'mon over anytime, I'll keep you in stitches.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 21:46:52 -0800

come back rob! all is forgiven!

By: anildash

anildash — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 10:04:59 -0800

Ynoxas, fwiw, there are so many "it's okay unless you're perceived as an A-lister" incidents on MeFi over the years I don't keep up anymore.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:33:40 -0800

anildash: I agree that occurs as well, but don't you think the first greatly outnumbers the second? Being held to a higher standard because of your "status" seems somewhat reasonable to me, or at the least intuitive. A healthy dose of "he should know better", no?

By: anildash

anildash — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:52:53 -0800

I wouldn't disagree with you, if there were some criteria for having the "status", but it seems somewhat arbitrary. Anyway, happy to move the chatfilter to IM or email, ping me there. :)