For example, rather than telling people I live in Asia, I can say, “I live on the largest continent in the world.” No rational (key word here) person would believe I am being deceptive because Asia being the largest continent is common knowledge and for those that did not know, this information is easy to obtain.

The only possible way this could be considered deceptive is if I purposely directed this statement at a person who I knew wouldn’t know which continent is the largest and wouldn’t be able to figure out the answer on their own.

you regard Wong’s about page as creative, I consider it deceptive.

http://boycottnovell.com/2009/07/14/paid-microsoft-astroturfer-wong/

But it seems you have disabled comments or they are not working for some reason. Allow me to continue here:

I’m sure “you” do indeed check the messages of anyone who posts to this website if they defend Microsoft or disagree with your worldview. This is exactly what you have done to me. You do this because you are desperate for attention. Seeing an IP address that might trace back to Microsoft headquarters would feed into your fantasy. One man fighting a crusade against an evil empire. I realize that even by responding to you I am helping to feed that fantasy. This is why I don’t post from my original IP address. Also, because I don’t think you are above carrying out your own denial of service attack against me. Maybe I’m wrong, but I haven’t seen your personal side and I’m not really sure you have one. Who are you working for? Have you ever told us? What is your job? Are you still a student? You would have a difficult time proving this hobby isn’t a full time job, and that does beg the question, “Who pays your bills?”

As far as Wong is concerned, his “about” page spells it out pretty clear with the first list item: “I am… a technology evangelist working for the biggest software company in the world.” To be creative, he didn’t give the name of the company, but most people would know the largest software company is Microsoft. They could also look at his tag posts and see the largest tag is, that’s right, Microsoft. You are trying to make him out as a deceptive snake, but this would defy common sense. Logic dictates that if Microsoft really wanted to have someone spread covert word of mouth advertising, they would direct someone to create a profile that in no way mentions them working for the company.

http://twitter.com/astralknight
http://twitter.com/nastymicrosoft

http://twitter.com/reachconnection

http://twitter.com/bingdevelop