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Alek's Christmas Lights: Humbug

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the so-whaddya-do? dept.

g00set writes "Alek's Christmas lights story was previously covered on Slashdot here, however the Denver Channel is now reporting that it was all a hoax: 'The Lafayette man said he accomplished the trickery by taking 12 "base" photographs of the house with lights on and off and then constructed a Web page that appeared to show lights going on and off when the Web visitor clicked.'"

17 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. Oh, the humanity by CodeWanker · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thank God the rest of the internet is hoax-free. Now I can get back to my penis enlargement pill popping and free ipod winning in peace.

    --


    "Wow. Now THAT'S a lot of angry Indians." - Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer
  2. Big Deal by Bob+McCown · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So the guy said he did something on the web, and turned out he didnt. Isnt this the way most of the dot-com bubble companies operated?

  3. Heh... by Pantero+Blanco · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm more amused than anything else. It wouldn't make sense to be indignant over an April Fools-style joke.

  4. Hoax or not.... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You really HAVE to give it anyone that can pull this off, especially to /.ers.

    Bravo, bravo...
    clap, clap, clap, clap

    1. Re:Hoax or not.... by Total_Wimp · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Score one for old media. Maybe we should keep them around after all.

      TW

    2. Re:Hoax or not.... by noidentity · · Score: 5, Funny
      Score one for old media. Maybe we should keep them around after all.

      And yet, most of us are reading this via the "new" media. For all I know,

      1. The site doesn't even exist (I've never browsed it),
      2. The site does exist and has web-controllable lights (and the apparent hoax is itself a hoax, perhaps no channel 7 either),
      3. The site does exist and doesn't have web-controllable lights,
      4. Slashdot is just a bunch of AI programs which mod each other up.
  5. Google ads on his page weren't a hoax tho by melted · · Score: 5, Funny

    So I think Google should pay him with Monopoly money or something.

  6. I am not amused by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Let's just say that I AM NOT AMUSED.

    One would think that a tech/science-oriented site such as Slashdot would do a little bit of backround research before publishing articles that will eventually turn out to be hoaxes.

    I am very, very disappointed at the current level of professionalism shown by the Slashdot crew. I mailed the article to several friends of mine and now, thanks to Slashdot, MY integrity is in question.

  7. Not really by jerometremblay · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's already hard to find someone who RTFA, imagine someone checking REALITY.

  8. Someone didn't read the whole article! (Not Hoax!) by ugmoe · · Score: 5, Funny
    Someone obviously didn't read the whole article before posting. (Not a rare occurrance at slashdot)

    http://www.thedenverchannel.com/holidays/4027215/d etail.html

    "I got a chuckle out of putting a clock up in the window and having the hands of the clock display the right time (it actually started out 3 minutes slow, but then gained a minute a day, until it was 4 minutes fast, and then reset itself) -- again, all computer trickery!" Komarnitsky said on his Web site Monday.

    The Lafayette man said he accomplished the trickery by taking 12 "base" photographs of the house with lights on and off and then constructed a Web page that appeared to show lights going on and off when the Web visitor clicked, but after performing web server stress testing, he replaced the test images with real-time camera generated images for the holiday season.

    Not everything on the internet is a forgery.

  9. Alek Comments by xmas2003 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hey /.'ers ... it was all fun ... I'm SLAMMED ... will say more later ... but be SURE to read MY story of the events and also what Wall Street Journal guy wrote ... and then if you want, go to that Channel-7 site and cast your vote if I was naughty or nice!

    --
    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
  10. I'm surprised nobody noticed by enosys · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I'm surprised nobody noticed. Camera images generally contain some noise. The noise changes even when nothing else changes. It can be especially pronounced in the dark.

    Plus what about weather conditions? Plenty of local people must have seen the site. What about when it was raining or snowing and the webcam wasn't showing that?

  11. Marketing/Management Material by MooseByte · · Score: 5, Funny


    Hmmm.

    - Faked a demo of a cool concept.

    - Lacked the geek talent and dedication required to pull it off.

    - Reaped the benefits (web hits and publicity) by duping the users.

    Yep, clearly the guy is made for marketing/management.

  12. Would you like a tissue? by CarnivoreMan · · Score: 5, Informative
    did you read the FAQ?
    " How do you verify the accuracy of Slashdot stories? We don't. You do. :) If something seems outrageous, we might look for some corroboration, but as a rule, we regard this as the responsibility of the submitter and the audience. This is why it's important to read comments. You might find something that refutes, or supports, the story in the main."
  13. His explanation... by josh3736 · · Score: 5, Informative
    Who actually read his explanation? (Yes, I know this is Slashdot, but you can try to RTFA)

    It seems like for all the trouble he went through to set up this hoax, it would actually have been easier to hook up the X10 to his computer and plop a real webcam outside.

    What it took for the hoax:

    • Taking 12 pictures for the various "on/off" states
    • Taking those 12 pictures in varying amounts of snowcover
    • Dynamically inserting airplanes overhead
    • Dynamically changing the position of the garage door by superimposing the garage on one of the 12 pics.
    • Dynamically adding stars in the sky that move over the course of the night
    • Occasionally Adding "cars" driving by
    • When the local news crew took him up in the helicopter, his wife stayed at home flipping the lights on and off.
    • Putting a real (but disconnected) webcam in the neighbor's tree so snoopers would see the webcam.
    For all that trouble, he might as well have just done it up real.

    I guess at least now we know who is really responsible for the moon landing video.

    1. Re:His explanation... by null+etc. · · Score: 5, Funny
      It seems like for all the trouble he went through to set up this hoax, it would actually have been easier to hook up the X10 to his computer and plop a real webcam outside.

      Haven't you ever seen any Hollywood movies? Doing something like that only requires a few typed commands on the keyboard! You don't even need a mouse!

      And, if he wanted to, he could zoom in on and "enhance" a single pixel until it looked like his christmas lights.

  14. Re:I bet the AdWords wasn't a hoax by xmas2003 · · Score: 5, Informative
    BOY - you'd wonder if anyone reads the FAQ - good for you. First, Google Adsense hasn't been around for 3 years ... and I just added this to my hoax explanation

    Several media folks are slamming me for running Google Adsense and saying I cleaned up on it. That is simply not true ... but unfortunately, I can not comment on this due to Google's Program Policies ... but let me just say that the Google Adsense Revenue for the month will just about pay for my wife's 40th birthday party and I would have made a LOT more if I had taken that Radio Station's $10,000 offer. I invite the media to contact Google for the actual numbers and they have my permission to release 'em.

    --
    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease