A Linkspank Christmas - 100+ Christmas Specials

Thanks to this link for 100+ complete Christmas specials:

(enjoy and happy holidays!)

Hannukah Harry saves Christmas and Easter!
A Rugrats Chanukah
Sesame Street Christmas Special 1978
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street 1978
A Muppet Family Christmas
The Simpsons Christmas Stories
Christmas with Mr. Bill
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In 1968 Holiday Special
MST3K: Santa Claus
Frank Sinatra/Bing Crosby Holiday Special
The Nanny Christmas Special
The Nanny CARTOON Christmas Special
The Nick & Jessica Christmas Special
An Amos and Andy Christmas
A Very Special ALF Christmas
Six South Park Christmas episodes
SCTV Dusty Towne Sexy Holiday Special
Blackadder's Christmas Carol
A Beverly Hillbillies Christmas
Justice League Christmas Special
Life with Louie Christmas Special
Merry Christmas Mr. Bean
A very Frasier Christmas
Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire
Star Wars Holiday Special
A Perfect Strangers Christmas
Boy Meets World: A Very Topanga Christmas
Pinky & The Brain Christmas Special
Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas
A He Man and She Ra Christmas
A Very Elimidate Christmas
Davy & Goliath Christmas Lost & Found
Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
Welcome Back Kotter: A Sweathog Christmas
Mary Tyler Moore Show: Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid
A Robot Chicken Christmas
Bugs Bunny Christmas Carol
Rankin Bass Pinnochio's Christmas
A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Christmas
Family Guy Christmas Special
Rankin Bas Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Rankin Bass Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
A Gumby Christmas Carol and Santa Witch
A Growing Pains Christmas
A Garfield Christmas
Rankin Bass Night Before Christmas
Animaniacs Christmas Special
Dennis Leary Merry F$#@in' Christmas
The Doris Day Show: A Two Family Christmas
The Doris Day Show: Christmas Time in the City
Rankin Bass Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Back For Christmas
A Growing Up Gotti Christmas
Rocko's Modern Christmas
A Very Smurfy Christmas
Tis the Season to be Smurfy
Eight is Enough: Yes Nicholas, there is a Santa Claus
A Lou Grant Christmas
A Scarecrow & Mrs. King Christmas
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in The FBI: Dark Christmas
A Wonder Years Christmas
I Love Lucy Christmas
The Ray Bolger Show Christmas (1953)
A Will & Grace Christmas
A Barney Miller Christmas
Rankin Bass Year Without A Santa Claus
Santa guest stars on Gilligan's Island
Alice: A Semi-Merry Christmas
Alice: Mel's Christmas Carol
Bless This House Christmas starring Andrew Dice Clay
Just Shoot Me: Jesus, It's Christmas
A Hangin' With Mr. Cooper Christmas
The Extras Christmas Special
Kirk: The Christmas Show (Cameron, not James T.)
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Batman: Christmas with the Joker (animated)
Yogi Bear's First Christmas
Yogi's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper
News Radio: X-Mas Story
American Dad: Most Adequate Christmas Ever
Casper's First Christmas
A Cabbage Patch Kids Christmas
A Flintstone Christmas
Christmas Comes to Pac(man) Land
A How I Met Your Mother Holiday
A Scooby Doo Christmas
Casper's First Christmas
Wanda Sykes in A Wanda at Large Christmas
Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Krueger's Christmas
A Cosmic Christmas
Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales
Boondocks Christmas

Bonus fun:
Night Before Christmas (1903)
Max Fleischer's Rudolph cartoon (1948)
Scrooge (1934)
A Christmas Story
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Contest Leaders in Both Divisions.

As we explained before there are two divisions in the current contest. Here are the current contest leaders in both divisions. With 13 days left to go in the contest, this is still anybody's game.

Western Division



Eastern Division



Merry Spanking.

Notes for Powerusers: Contest Quality Ratings and Score Refresh Rates

This post is all about Linkspank technology, baby. If you are new to Linkspank this might not make too much sense and you may want to start on the help pages or the orientation checklist.

Contest Quality Ratings.
Starting with this contest, you have a "contest quality rating" that is based only on the spanks you sending during the contest, and your contest score is based in part on that quality rating. (Your lifetime quality rating is not a factor in your contest score.)

Since it's still early in the contest, your contest quality rating is probably chillin at 0.5, which is the provisional value until you have sent some spanks and some time has passed. Then it should change (hopefully jump up) and your contest score will change.

The contest quality rating was introduced to make sure that the playing field was re-leveled with each new contest.

When does my score refresh?
Until "recently", your lifetime and contest scores refreshed whenever you logged in to linkspank. But the scores are calculated using all kinds of fancy algorithms and we figure that you want your login experience to occur in the blink of an eye (we do when we go on the spank!). So now, your score will update on a regular basis (roughly once / day) independent of your login.

However, you may see your completely up-to-date contest AND lifetime scores and quality ratings at any time by visiting your Score Tracker page. When you visit the page, we whip out all the algorithms and give you your latest score.

That is all.

A Wii Awarded; Feature Updates.

Nintendo Wii? Check.

Recently NathanA earned his Nintendo Wii through the Spankathon and we'll be delivering it in the New Year.

People are often shocked about what we offer in the Spankathon and the contests. But awarding prizes is a big part of Linkspank and our dream to bring joy to every spanker's monotonous existence. And to those who have yet to achieve a pledge, we'd love to give you a Wii too :-).

Some New Features

As mentioned before we're making lots of changes to the site in our never-ending quest to create the ultimate procrastination machine.

The homepage for spankers who are logged in has changed a little and will continue to change.

We've added a Linkspank, Inc. Orientation Training Checklist for new spankers to help them get going right away.

Thanks for your understanding and, as always, we love your feedback on anything & everything.

What's Up with the "Western Division"?

The Holiday Contest is the first one with divisional play - every spanker is seeded into either the Eastern Division or the Western Division.

You are automatically seeded into one of the divisions. Each of the divisions will have its own Top 6 scorers, and its own winner - so you are competing only with the spankers in your division. So we can give away twice as many prizes and increase your odds of winning.

The divisions are equal in all ways - they are seeded by spankers' lifetime scores (if you don't have a lifetime score you're seeded into one of the two randomly).

www.linkspank.com/contest

The Holiday Contest has Begun.

The holiday contest has begun. See www.linkspank.com/contest for the totally radical prizes. This one is shorter than the last one, and it has two divisions. We'll get in to all that on the blog over the next several days.

But a quick tip: don't forget to spank your friends by email. This tactic can lead you to the top in a couple ways. First, you can get lots of points for your friends who you bring to the site. Second, your quality rating will generally be higher if you spank people you know, rather than befriending people on the site (although that's cool by us).

spank long, spank strong.

Start Doing those Pushups

The Holiday Contest may start as soon as Friday. SpankDroid will spank his friends when it does start, so stay glued to your Inbox. We will have 7 prizes in two divisions thanks to great suggestions from the community.

Don't Freak Out

Just kidding - we didn't think you were freaking out. Just FYI, we are changing some of the menus and details about the Spank. For example, the current menu links on the right-hand column of the screen are now under "More" in your black profile box.

Our goal is to tune your procrastination experience to perfection. Thanks for your patience and we always love your feedback!

The Winner of the Hawaii Contest.

MikeWMiller is the winner of the Hawaii Contest! In somewhat legendary fashion, he has now pushed himself up to the top Lifetime Scorer, and he is the only 2nd degree (two-time) Spankmaster.

This contest was quite competitive, and each of the Top 6 scorers put in a hefty effort. Many spankers outside of the Top 6 contributed greatly to the community during the Hawaii Contest, and we are grateful and hope to get some prizes into your hands in the future.

Here are the final scores:

1. MikeWMiller
911 points

2. KidBaby
756 points

3. MrZach
738 points

4. Elaine
484 points

5. JO3L
394 points

6. guenmen
357 points

Each of these Top 6 (who have won consolation prizes) is a champion spanker, a benefactor to the community of laughs, tender moments, and wise observations. But I don't need to tell you that - you know, because you have enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

The next contest is starting in about 2 or 3 days, so stay tuned. In case you're wondering, MikeWMiller has already volunteered to sit it out. Also, as always, we will be implementing some improvements to the contest system, new and exciting prizes, and new ways to win.

Thanks again and congratulations!!

6 Tentative prizes for the next contest

A contest is beginning this week. The winners (yes, that's a plural) will get to choose one prize apiece from a list. Here is the tentative list of options:

Nintendo Wii

Bose SoundDock

iPhone

iPod Touch

Sony PSP

some car GPS system.

Are you stoked or what? If not, what prize do you want to see on here? Send us feedback.

What do YOU want for the holidays?

Please tell us what should be inside this box

Our Next Contest is Starting Soon! Drop us a line and tell us something you have been wanting for a while. We're always looking for awesome prizes to give you.

2 contests, 1 pledge drive, and a spankmaster walk into a bar.

The Hawaii Contest is over. Results will be forthcoming next week, here and via The Monthly Spank.

A new contest, The Holiday Contest, with new prizes, (slightly) new rules, and new winners, will begin next week.

Between now and then, always and forever (until further notice), you can also chase down a Nintendo Wii or Bose SoundDock just by meeting your Spankathon pledge. Then you can start off the New Year right with a new pledge - to play the Wii constantly in between Linkspank sessions.

Toolbar is Out for Testing in Firefox.

Our toolbar is out for testing. If you are Level 3+, and you use Firefox, contact us for a piece of the action. An Internet Explorer toolbar will come within the month.

Contest Countdown: 7 Days Remaining

The Hawaii contest has 7 days remaining (see the contest page). If you're a latecomer, you still have a little time to try to steal the contest.

Also, a new contest will be starting shortly after the Hawaii contest, so if you're new to the Spank now would be a good time to complete your checklist and get ready to go. :-)

Win 30 Points, Be on Linkspank TV

Check this post on Inside Linkspank for a point-winning and fame-garnering opportunity.

How to Steal the Hawaii Contest Real Quick-Like

We're teetering at 1000 users. In celebration of hitting our first milestone (without formally launching or doing any PR), the person who recruits the 1000th user gets Thousand User Bonus: 100 points.

Also - we're still missing a Continent (Antarctica), so whoever recruits the first spanker located in Antarctica wins the Operation: Antarctica Bonus: 150 points.

Winning one or both of these prizes could get your ass to Hawaii real fast.

Hawaii - 80 degrees F in January

Happy Spanksgiving! (with holiday logo)

This image was submitted by one of our spankers. An amazing job! We were hip to the "spanksgiving" pun last year (wow that was a while ago!) but this is a great logo - done without our font and the turkey is a stroke of GENIUS. Thanks, anonymous spanker.

We're thankful for you, you're thankful for us... you get the picture. Hopefully your stomach doesn't feel like this.

Sneak Peek of the Toolbar for Level 3+ Spankers

If you're a spanker of Level 3 or higher, we'd love to give you a sneak preview of our Linkspank Toolbar.

A very small preview of the toolbar

Currently, the Toolbar is available only for Firefox or Safari - not Internet Explorer. The Internet Explorer version is coming soon!

The Toolbar is still being perfected, but we think you're going to love it. Also, as a tester of the Toolbar, you can provide feedback to get the features that you want!

Curious to learn more? Then sign up for the Toolbar.

Wall Street Journal - Free

As Lifehacker reports, the Wall Street Journal will soon offer its content for free, and as a step it's providing for free its article that have been Dugg.

You can read and spank these articles at Linkspank on our Wall Street Journal (free) via Digg page.

(You can also browse the Journal at the Linkspank WSJ.com: US Business page.)

If you see one of those lonely Diggers, thank them for reading (and paying for) the WSJ so you can spank it to your friends for free. :-)

Four New Features

here are four new features on Linkspank:

Contest Advisor. Click here for information on how close you are to the Top 6 to win a trip to Hawaii. You also get a personal strategy for climbing to the top.

Attaching Links. Sometimes one great spank reminds you of another and you want to share that one with friends too. You can attach one spank to another by clicking "Attach a Link". Look in the menus under a spank and you'll find it (we hope!).

Linkspank TV. We aim to please. So we have created a pleasing mini Internet TV show. It's a way to catch up on the latest popular spanks - and maybe see yourself highlighted. You can find the latest episode, as well as the spanks referenced in it, at www.linkspank.com/tv.

Email Preferences. Linkspank TV is the first of multiple new content features that we will lovingly desposit in your Linkspank Inbox. But it's important to us to keep Linkspank 100% spam-free. You can edit which content features you receive in your email preferences. And if that still doesn't make you happy, let us know!

Spank Ye Onward

Bring Home the Bullion as a Spanky Sponsor Rep

This can make Linkspank better. Plus you keep some.

Linkspank is piloting the Advantage:Sponsor^TM program and seeking Sponsor Reps to help us set up contest sponsorships.

Your job is to identify and approach potential contest sponsors; set up and attend informational meetings with these sponsors.

It's a paid position.

For more information and to apply, see www.linkspank.com/jobs

Thank you. Spank long, spank strong.

Linkspank's facebook application

Linkspank’s facebook application is now available at apps.facebook.com/linkspank.



With this app, you have the option share your linkspank wall on your facebook profile. This way, your unenlightened facebook friends will still have a chance at enjoying the beautiful spanks that you have imparted to the world.



You also have the option to show your Spankathon progress. Unenlightened facebook friends who click on your link and create a profile will move you closer to winning your Wii or other Spankathon prize. (They will also boost your contest points toward Hawaii.)



Lastly, you can invite your facebook contests to join the spank as your friend (once again, giving you credit also). This is a great way to invite facebook friends whose email addresses may not be in your address book.

Give it a shot and let us know what you think.

Two Pilots: TV Show, Facebook App

1. We are testing a facebook app for linkspank. Check it if you dare.

2. Linkspank TV pilot exists. Way rough. Way indicative of an awesome future.

Procrastination... or Productivity?

You can be this productive.

Lifehacker has recommended ten ways to prevent brain drain while trying to be productive. Here are some highlights:

Read something entertaining. i.e., go to Linkspank.

Play a game. i.e., go to Linkspank.

Play a sport. Sounds like tag-team full-contact spanking to me.

Go to a movie. Linkspank has lots of movies.

Break down your project into bite-sized chunks. i.e., visit linkspank on the hour, every hour.

Listen to classical music, Take A Walk, Listen to motivational CDs, and Meditate. All things best done in Hawaii... thanks to Linkspank.

Yes, Virginia, there is a SpankDroid

Some people have trouble believing the full awesomeness of Linkspank. In particular they wonder, are these prizes you can in the

Contest

and

the Spankathon

for real?

The answer is no. Oh wait, I mean it's "yes." These prizes are completely real ladies and gentleman! Get your asses out there and win some stuff!

As a tangible reminder, check the winners page - those people are currently chillin with their linkspank prizes, right as your are prizelessly reading the page.

Seeking CTO

This is a quite rough description - but we are primarily networking to find candidates so hopefully this will get the ball rolling.

Seeking: Bad-Arse who thinks this kind of vortex is a fun place to be

Linkspank CTO.

Linkspank is starting to scale and we're looking to fill a supremely important position - CTO.

This individual lives and breathes Apache and MySQL, and has full command of PHP and Javascript. This is primarily an admin type position, but you should be able to code PHP and Javascript and be willing to do that as a big part of the job!

Key Responsibilities:

+ Continuity - providing 24 x 7 continuity to the Linkspank site.

+ Security - of apache.

+ Database - MySQL quality and scale, future db ring, integration of code with server and db setup.

+ Server Scale and quality - involving integration of apache and mysql.

+ Development of code and site appearance.

This is a job for DOERS. You must be non-jaded and eager to actually do stuff like program, roll up your sleeves, do stuff because for a while there will be no one to delegate to!

This position is located in Cambridge, MA. The position is not starting immediately. In fact, start date is uncertain, probably sometime early 2008.

Thanks to everyone who's interested. Pass it along and you can contact us at www.linkspank.com/jobs

Another (very fast) Way to Invite Friends.

As always, we're experimenting to bring you a superlative spanking experience. For today: a new way to invite friends - just email them a link to your profile page!

To get your link, just click "Invite Friends" at the top of the page while you are logged in to Linkspank.

Send your friends an engraved invitation to Join the Spank

This way of inviting is good for people who don't want to import contacts. Also, it's the best way of dodging spam filters. But it's also a good idea to import your contacts - because then you can spank your friends by email. And remember, spanking your friends' emails is also a great way to get them to join (plus then you can spank them either way).

How the Hawaii Contest is Different from Past Contests

Here's a few notes on how this contest is different from last contest.

(Admittedly if you're a new spanker, this post might not be so interesting to you, but someone asked about this.)

1. Not different: the Top Scorer in the contest gets the Grand Prize.

2. Different: This contest has Consolation Prizes for everyone who finishes in the Top Six but doesn't win the Grand Prize. (Replaces the "Semi-Random" Prize.)

3. Different: Rather than showing a leaderboard of the contest scores, we're just showing who's currently in the Top 6. We think this will be a bit more fun. The idea may be tied into our upcoming TV show.

4. Different: We hope to introduce some personalized coaching for spankers who want to know what they should do to get in the Top 6 or even the Top 1.

5. Different: The prize is not a technological device. Instead, it is a getaway vacation to one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Hawaii - a beautiful place, a beautiful prize

Someone is Going to Hawaii

The contest is underway!

To see who's winning on the race to Hawaii, visit www.linkspank.com/contest

Small Clarification on Spankathon Extra Prize

The "extra" prize for the scorer of the most points during the Spankathon WILL still be awarded based on who has the most points through Oct 31 (the deadline for the Spankathon before we made it open until further notice). Hopefully that makes sense.

That is all.

Hawaii

After a long hiatus, our greatest contest ever is starting quite soon:

www.linkspank.com/contest

Help Us Represent - Seeking PR rep.

We have a super bazillion stuff coming up at Linkspank.

Hence we are seeking a PR rep. Please pass along the word.

Inquires can be sent to prdiva [@] linkspank.com

The Environment: Blog Action Day

Blog Action Day is about unifying blogs in a collective voice:

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic.

We here at Linkspank Super-Officially endorse the environment - both its existence and its care. Here's a toast to preserving the basic things in life, so that we may enjoy the finer things, like a walk in the woods...or the pleasure of receiving an excellent linkspank.

Eternal Spankathon...and the Wall of Shame.

The Spankathon is going great - over 600 new spankers have been pledged.

Two items of Spankathon news:

• We are going to extend the Spankathon - indefinitely, until further notice - to make sure people get their Wii's and Bose SoundDocks. Keep inviting and you'll get your prize!

This bitchin' thing is your destiny... so get on it.

• Coming soon - a WALL OF SHAME for Spankathon pledgers with NO real progress. If you are trying, you won't be on the wall. Otherwise, prepare for a public spanking. "Oh no, you wouldn't!" Dude, this is Linkspank. Yes, we would.
  

Happy spanking and as always, we love to hear about what is confusing you on the site, what worries you, and what you find just delightful.

3 New Features and Attractions.

Here's some new stuff on the site.

1. New Stuff and More New Stuff. Check the homepage and a "more news" page for quick link deliciousness. Either makes a good homepage fer ya.

2. Improved Address Book. When spanking, try clicking "Address Book." We've improved the menu and added the ability to delete emails from your Address Book.

3. Email Privacy Pledge. If you are afraid to import your contacts, check out this pledge by the Spankdroid. We've also added a feature that makes it virtually impossible to send out invitations by an accidental click.


Spankathon activity is going well... make your pledge and get inviting! Many have earned T-shirts now and some are shooting for bigger prizes.

Are Your Invites Joining Linkspank?

It's Spankathon time, so here is a brief note of encouragement to pledgers.

Consider these two facts:

1. The average spanker required 3 invitations before joining the spank.
2. 90%+ of spankers remain active on the site.

Combine these facts and you get the following conclusion:

Invite your friends at least three times -- 90+% of them will thank you later!

In fact, your friends may not even have opened your invitation yet! You can see who has, and reinvite your friends, all on the fancy Invite Tracker page.

Complete Your Profile: A Checklist for Spankers

We've created a little checklist to help spankers finish off their profile and get started using the site's fantastic features.



This feature was inspired by LinkedIn's similar feature. There is a lot to learn and get used to on Linkspank. I guarantee you that if you go through it you will be a better spanker. Plus, you will have the satisfaction of completing something 100% - and getting 30 points.

Go to the checklist

Operation Antarctica

In the spirit of the Spankathon, here is a bonus point-winning opportunity. (It will count toward your lifetime points, and also your points during the Spankathon, which can help you win the mysterious, still-unnamed prize for the top contest scorer.)

Linkspank currently has registered users on five of the seven continents: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. You can browse linkspankers on our Friend Map,

The Linkspank Friend Map

which is built on Google maps (the "API") and which has benefited from recent improvations in "geocoding" made by Google.

In the spirit of charting the globe, we will aware 50 points to the first person who recruits a spanker in Australia, and 150 points to the first person who recruits a spanker in Antarctica.

Recruiting this penguin could earn you 150 points

The spankers you recruit don't have to be permanent residents of those continents (those are hard to come by in Antarctica) but they have to be actually logging into Linkspank from those locations.

If you achieve your goal, declare victory to us so we can give you your points.

Extended Spankathon: Making the Possible Inevitable.

Getting a Wii has gone from "possible" one step closer to "inevitable."

Many spankers have pledged in the Spankathon and are out there busting their humps to get a Wii. Other spankers have pledged and are slacking a bit.

For all of you, getting 50 friends on takes time and we want to give away as many Wii's as possible.

So, the Spankathon has been extended until October 31.

Go to the pledge page to make a pledge and track your progress.

Spanking Emails: Easier than Unlocking the iPhone?

Spanking Emails

Spanking emails has gone from easy to super-easy. So if you're looking for a Nintendo Wii (which has outsold the other game systems worldwide) pay attention:

Now when you click "spank", choose "all contacts who haven't seen it"...
...to automatically fill the box with people you've invited, as well as your friends on linkspank. The emails you spank can still go and watch / see what you sent them without joining linkspank - but it's a good reminder to them of the rich tapestry of spank that is available to them.


How to Get 1,000 Points

A beautiful milestone was reached today: MikeWMiller hit 1,000 points. While his points may decrease (due to the vicissitudes of quality ratings), he still has hit it and that's a great milestone.


How did he do it? By inviting friends, and spanking them great links. Consequently, an iPhone and special Flair-giving powers have rained upon him.

Who knows what special powers will await him if he attains the fabled Level 6?

Join his ranks! Make your pledge, try a spank or two to your contacts, and go for that Nintendo Wii.

Special Power: Giving Flair

We stated a while back that spankers of higher Levels would acquire special powers, and we are now testing the first special power: giving flair.

A piece of flair

To give flair, you must be a Level 4 or higher spanker. (Anyone can receive flair.) Visit the profile of the lucky recipient and click "Give Flair" under their picture.



The Importance of Flair

More details:
+ Flair is vital to your social status and self-respect.
+ You can only give flair once a week.
+ Both you and the recipient receive a couple points.
+ The flair item and your message are PUBLIC.
+ Flair must be approved by the recipient - then it will appear in a "flair" tab on that person's profile.

Four Steps to Get Friends

Spankathon pledges continue to rise -- very exciting! Do these Four Steps to get friends on linkspank.

Step 1. Import your contacts from webmail or from Outlook.

* Be REALLY enthusiastic!! Or your invitation may be ignored.
* Invite Groups - for a "domino effect."

Step 2. Urge your friends to join by email, phone, and in person.

* Send separate emails to your friends, asking them to click the link (maybe in the spam box ) and join.
* Call your friends and be like, "WTF?!"
* Give them a demo at a computer and make them join.

Step 3. Reinvite your friends.

* Most people don't even open the first invitation to a site!
* Can you remember how many times you were invited to linkspank before you joined?

Step 4. Send spanks to their email addresses.

* If you keep spanking people at their email address, they will eventually succumb.
* Just start typing an email in the "recipients" box to get it auto-filled.
* Repeat, until they join.

(This page is maintained here on linkspank.com)

It takes a lot of work to get people to try something new... but in the case of Linkspank they are usually glad they did!

New Feature: Quick Search

We are testing out a new feature: quick search. There is a little button at the top right of your screen, where the old search used to be:

click "quick search" to search right in the same page

Here is what it should do for you:
* make it really fast to find a link you have received, sent, clicked, saved, whatevered, by searching "my stuff"
* make it really fast to find and visit the profile of a particular spanker
* give you a new way to find new new new stuff online.

For example, you may wonder what is new with the Nintendo Wii, especially if you're planning on winning one in the Spankathon:



The search results are not as comprehensive as a search engine like Google, but the links are REALLY REALLY new :-)

Give it a whirl and let us know what you think!

Spankathon begins on Friday!!

The Spankathon begins on Friday -- cast your pledge now on the contest page.

There are six prizes for meeting your pledges, including the Team Spank Track Jacket:



and the Nintendo Wii:


There will also be a special price, announced soon, for the person scoring the most points during the contest.

Can I pledge now?

Yes, pledge now to build our collective goal, which currently stands at 260 new spankers.

You get credit toward your pledge prize for any spankers who join after your pledge. (However, you get contest points only for spankers who join after the contest starts on Friday.)

260 new spankers and counting

This is the first ever Spankathon, so our pledge level of 260 so far is very exciting. The more spankers we have, the better our content gets (and the more people you have to share links with). That's why for Linkspank, Bigger is Better.

You Think, Therefore Linkspank Is

Organizations like to talk about talk about how important their members are. But it's REALLY TRUE for Linkspank. Most bug fixes, suggestions for minor improvement and suggestions for major improvements -- not to mention new spankers, which gives everyone better content, and even better the linkspanks themselves -- it all comes from the spankamaniacs.

We are just like Bryan Adams: Everything We Do, We Do 4 U.

So let us know what you like, what you do like, and what problems in your life of web, viral videos, staying in touch with college buddies, procrastinating at work, keeping in touch with what's new, we can possibly help with and how.

And when you find a bug or a problem, let us know. ;-).

-----------
this has been a public service announcement!

New Feature: Import from Outlook

Because some of your best friends are in your Outlook contacts only.

We've thrown up a page where you can import your Outlook contacts. Then you can see which of these friends are using Linkspank. You also have the option of selecting and inviting specific emails to invite to Linkspank.

Since Linkspank is a great prelude to the workday, and a great complement to eating lunch at your desk, importing contacts from Outlook was a sorely needed feature... which hopefully will turn out to be a sorely awesome feature.

It's new so if you experience any problems with it, since let us know.

This way, at the watercooler you can ask, "Didja get that spank I sent you?"

Winners of the Earn your iPhone Contest.

MikeWMiller won an iPhone
for being the top contest scorer.

400 points



djperry1973 won an iPhone
in the random drawing of the top ten contest scorers.
94 points

Random winners of gift certificates included schwenks, Tirso, gsbrob, and kcin.

Final standings are available on the contest page. For our iPhone winners we couldn't have had two more deserving people. Both winners sent great spanks and got friends on the site.

Thanks to everyone who participated. What a great contest!!

Coming soon: the Spankathon.

New Feature: Groups

If your lifelong dream is to spank a dozen people simultaneously, your lifelong dream would appear to be on the verge of coming to pass.

That's because we've added an experimental new feature: groups.

Groups: a new way to bring spankers together

Here's how a group works:

1. Click "Groups" at the right of a page.
   
2. Join a group.
3. The group name will be added to your address book.
4. When the group is spanked (by you or someone else), all the group's members receive the spank.

Give it a try and send feedback on how it goes. Also if you want to add a group contact us with the group name and description.

Thanks for being part of the ongoing spank experiment!

Reminder: Points "Settle" after Contest

There are just a few days left in the current contest!

Be reminded that your points will finalize a couple days after the contest is over. Why? Because your quality rating depends on people reading the spanks you send them. We have to give everyone a chance to read the spanks you send toward the end of the contest so your quality rating (and hence your points) can be finalized.

So, if you are tempted to send lots of spanks at the end of the contest, remember not to send too many, or your quality rating will go down and so will your finalized score.

Tiny feature: view your own blog

A user pointed out to me that he couldn't see his own blog. Other people could read it but he couldn't see what it looked like.

Good point! So a tiny feature has been added: click on My Profile -> Blog, and if you have a blog on the site there is a link to "view blog." (This may not work if you have added your blog within the last day or so.)

thanks for the suggestion... keep em comin'.

Get Found, and Avoid Redundant Invitations

Adding additional emails to your profile will improve your life in a couple ways:

1. You'll get the friend request through linkspank when someone invites you to linkspank at one of your other email addresses.

2. You'll be found by friends who import their contacts and have one of your other email addresses in their contacts.

New Feature: Public Friend Link

Introducing a new feature: the public friend link.

A friend link is a public link that you can publish on your own website, blog, or facebook or myspace or linkedin profile.

When a visitor to your website clicks your friend link and creates a profile:

1. You get credit for bringing that person to the site.

2. A friend request is sent from that person to you.

You get points for that person even if you don't approve their friend request.


Friend link posted under Notes on facebook

See the how to page to get your link. Also, as with any new feature please send feedback and let us know how we can help.

4 questions about Points

1. Why Spanking is not Spamming

Q: If every person you send a link to is a "spank", doesn't that encourage spam?

A: A good Spank 101 question. The answer is No, because your points depend a lot on your quality rating, which depends on whether people open your mail and click on the link or embedded video. The quality rating strongly DIScourages spam.

In fact, since the quality rating was established, spankers who have sent fewer links with higher quality ratings have usually been victorious. (On surprising victories, see also "Point Spikage" below.)




2. Why you should spank your enemies... and send their spanks onward

Q: "I spanked something to about a dozen people. X saw it and for the sake of argument, he spanked it on to another dozen people. Do I get any credit for having originally spanked it? All other things being even (e.g. number of our friends who open it) which of us comes out ahead, or do we both make out evenly?"

A: the exact recipe for points is secret, but the basic idea is that it's good for both of you when you spank someone and he spanks it onward. you do get points when he passes it onward. he gets points too.

if you think he will send it onward, you might as well spank him so you get a piece of the action. otherwise he'll probably see it (if he's playing for keeps) and spank it but then you get no action.

from his point of view, a good link is always worth spanking even if it originated with someone else. the reason is that he gets more points from the spank than you do.

so, oddly, even if you're directly competing, it makes sense for you to spank him, and for him to spank it on (if it's a good link and the recipients like it).

if you spank him, it's illegal for him to try sneakily to start it fresh as a new spank. that's not allowed and you can report it (to your gain and his detriment, though it's an informal process at the moment).

so, spank your enemies. but see the next point.




3. Spanking Strangers

Q: "Can I spank strangers?"

A: No. You can only spank your friends on the site, and email addresses that you have. We played around with this idea and that way turned out best.

It may be a win-win to be friends with your competitors - particularly if you read and like the same types of links.





4. Point Spikage

Q: "How did X's points skyrocket with just a couple posts?"

A: there is a major reason, and a minor reason. the major reason is that X probably invited some friends to the site. friends can win you some major points!!! second, X may have a very high quality rating. the quality rating is very powerful. someone who brings lots of friends to the site and sends some high-quality links can amass muchos puntos.

a conversation we all need to have.

The Earn your iPhone Contest is beginning.

That's right: the Earn your iPhone contest is beginning on Monday. Check the contest page for the contest status, who wins, prizes, and current standings.

Further info:
How to Win Prizes

A couple new features, an upcoming contest

+ In test is a new homepage. If you click on "home" you may see it. As always, your feedback is welcome...

+ Minor feature: you can now unfriend someone discreetly by visiting that person's profile.

+ Very minor feature: if you would like to change your primary email account, you may now do this.... by going to "My Profile" > "Email". You must add an email address, then confirm it, and then you can make it your primary one.

+ If you're a blogger, don't forget to add your blog to your profile.

+ A contest is coming soon. Both iPhone and non-iPhone enthusiasts are likely to be excited.

Browse by Source, and another thing

Some more experiments are under way:

Browse by source. If you look to the right, you may see a "Sources" link under the usual categories link. This is a little experiment -- just another way to browse links. Let us know what you think.

Spanker level. Second, you may have noticed that you have a "spanker level". This is a supplemental new measure to aid in esteeming yourself, comparing yourself to others, and spanking.

Spanker levels also serve another purpose. As you attain higher levels, you acquire special powers. No one has a high enough level for special powers yet, but some of you will discover them as you advance.

Results of the Third Ultimate Linkspank Contest

1. The New Spankmaster: Tirso.

The Fourth Spankmaster

Tirso made a fabulous performance and dislodged vin at the last minute from a lead held throughout the contest. But as Tirso placed second in the last contest, once might say that he was due, and by the same rationale vin will be due next time.

Tirso is going with the Black Bose SoundDock.



Gee, don't you want one of those, or another sweet prize? Then you ought tune in to a future contest. Every contest is different and they happen often.

2. The Semi-Random Grand Prize
The winner of the Weighted Lottery / Semi-Random Grand Prize is MrZach.

Coming in 7th in the contest, it is no surprise that MrZach won the semi-random prize.. There was roughly a 2/3 chance that one of the top ten scores would win the Semi-Random Prize.


MrZach, lucky-ass random winner. This could be YOU.

MrZach is going with the Apple TV:

.

Final Standings:



Points can shift a bit shoftly after the contest ends (the "dust has to settle" a bit to determine everyone's quality rating). For both Tirso and MrZach, a high quality rating helped them win. Soon we will publish more guidance on the quality rating for those of you who are interested.

3. Random Winners
As always, we had TWO RANDOM WINNERS of gift certificates: they were SkinnyMuscles and Chad.

4. Quality Appreciation

We are working on developing new ways of identifying and recognizing sweet contributions by linkspankers. This time around, we would like to honor the most-clicked links during the contest:

First, "One of those days in a hotel...", brought to us by Jeremy.



Second, "Paul Potts sings opera", brought to us by vin.


Thanks to both of you - these links were enjoyed by MANY people.


Thank you EVERYONE for participating! Whether you were on the giving or receiving end of a spank, you have enriched others' life and increased the general enlightenment of the planet by 110% percent.

The next contest is coming soon.... and we have a prize coming up that will blow you away. (No, it's not Microsoft Table.) Until then, beef up your quality rating and your lifetime points.

happy spanking.
sd.