Virus Scares and False Authority Syndrome

Fifth of Five writes: "Ran across this article on the IS-IT-TRUE.org site regarding False Authority Syndrome and the spread of virus misinformation by the media, users and Folks Who Probably Ought To Know Better. If you've ever watched the TV news and gritted your teeth over what is being presented as 'fact' this may shine some light on just how it got to be like this."

Comments

Re:ultracrepidarian

[rossz]

and if you're the boss, tell your employees that speaking to the press is voluntary resignation (e.g. nobody does it except you)

In this country, we have something called the Constitution - perhaps you have heard of it. You can not be fired for talking to the press. The exception would be if you revealed trade secrets.

You wanna see a virus?

[Anonymous Coward]

Two men camping in the mountains had spent four days together, and they were getting a little testy. One morning, the first friend says,

"You know, we're starting to get on each other's nerves. Why don't we split up today. I'll hike north and spend the day looking around, you hike south and spend the day. Then tonight, we'll have dinner and share our experiences over the campfire." The second friend agrees and hikes south. The first man hikes north.

That night over dinner, the first man tells his story.
"Today I hiked into a beautiful valley. I followed a stream up into a canyon and ate lunch. Then I swam in a crystal clear mountain lake. As I sat out and dried, I watched deer come and drink from the stream. The wildflowers were filled with butterflies and hawks floated all day overhead. How was your day?"

The second friend says, "I went south and ran across a set of railroad tracks. I followed them until I came across a beautiful young woman tied to the tracks. I cut the ropes off, gently lifted her off the tracks, and we had sex in every imaginable way all afternoon. Finally, when I was so tired I could barely move, I came back to camp."

"Wow!!" the first guy exclaimed, "Your day was MUCH better than mine. Did you get a blow job, too?"

"Nah," says the second friend over his meal, "I couldn't find her head."

Here's another example

[tb3]

Check out this article from Newsweek which is typical of this kind of stuff. My favorite part is the paragraph about "Steve Gibson, a respected info-security guru". Respected? Yeah, right! The rest of the article is good for a laugh, especially when the writer sits down to test BlackIce Defender.