Posted by
CowboyNeal
on from the some-of-the-people-all-of-the-time dept.
ziggy_az writes "A local TV station aired an ominous story about some "Hacker group" attacking AOL. You can catch the whole story here. "
Yes, I absolutely hate getting a chain letter, but at least this time it made more people look stupid than just those forwarding it around.
That's a good idea, but...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2
That could inflict a *lot* of damage, in a very, very painful lesson to the masses.
That sounds like a good idea, and I'm sure we've all thought about it at one point or another. But I'm apt to believe that it would only give the general populace yet another reason to hate the evil hackers (like it or not, they use 'hackers' in a negative sense). If we learned something from Melissa 'virus', we learned that most people will never, ever fault Microsoft or an insecure computer. People don't see their computers as being insecure; they only see hackers (the malicious people) as people who have some sort of supernatural power in cyberspace and therefore must be legislated against. [rant off]
"We have the technology!"
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3
Out of curiousity, given that there are systems with...
a) _stored passwords_, sometimes with weak crypto b) rather powerful macro languages c) a highly homogeneous (sp?), insecure computing environment among home users d) users that forward mail... e) users that rely on hordes of tiny, shareware downloaded utils f) "smart" mail programs that automatically look at attachments
Couldn't one do some damage here? As in a trojan or worm that waits a _long_ time (say, 6 mo.) before doing anything particularly suspicious? Or, more fun:
a worm that simply a) collects information from say, the registry on Win9x; cookie files; history lists; default document directories... b) attaches it to itself c) propagates, perhaps through mail-forwarding, perhaps more subtly.
so that by the time it was detected, private info would already be in many, many different places... That could inflict a *lot* of damage, in a very, very painful lesson to the masses.
Re:Sounds like a match made in heaven
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3
Rombuu,
Sounds like you have your own knee-jerk reactions to deal with.
Making the generalization that "stupid people use AOL" is on the same level as saying that "teens in black use bombs".
AOL presents itself as easy to use, so, sure it's going to attract folks who are not the computer genius that you are. That doesn't make them stupid.
Same for Local TV news. Sure, they're not Peter Jennnings, but I sometimes like to hear stories that relate to my hometown. Does that make me stupid?
A very wise man once said: "Pick the board out of your own eye before you point to a splinter in someone else's"
Anonymous Kevin
>Stupid people use AOL >Stupid people watch Local TV News
Good Times!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5
DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS POST! It contains a dangerous virus that will re-format your hard disk! Please pass this on to your on-line friends to help them avoid this problem. Remember, if you see a "Good Times" post, just score it -1, do not respond.
Oh common you don't really expect us to------ asdawjkzxkh*&%^**(FN ahsdkjfabASDGBX*(^$%^*^#*&^(@*&&# jkahsdf&(*&IJAEKG(798980(8098hiutgaskhiaughlagsd bf
Same Old Virus
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5
Seems like the post off the cypherpunks list from fall of '98 needs to be aired again.:-)
************************************************ ****************** WARNING, CAUTION, DANGER, AND BEWARE! Gullibility Virus Spreading over the Internet! ************************************************ ******************
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Institute for the Investigation of Irregular Internet Phenomena announced today that many Internet users are becoming infected by a new virus that causes them to believe without question every groundless story, legend, and dire warning that shows up in their inbox or on their browser. The Gullibility Virus, as it is called, apparently makes people believe and forward copies of silly hoaxes relating to cookie recipes, email viruses, taxes on modems, and get-rich-quick schemes.
"These are not just readers of tabloids or people who buy lottery tickets based on fortune cookie numbers," a spokesman said. "Most are otherwise normal people, who would laugh at the same stories if told to them by a stranger on a street corner." However, once these same people become infected with the Gullibility Virus, they believe anything they read on the Internet.
"My immunity to tall tales and bizarre claims is all gone," reported one weeping victim. "I believe every warning message and sick child story my friends forward to me, even though most of the messages are anonymous."
Another victim, now in remission, added, "When I first heard about Good Times, I just accepted it without question. After all, there were dozens of other recipients on the mail header, so I thought the virus must be true." It was a long time, the victim said, before she could stand up at a Hoaxees Anonymous meeting and state, "My name is Jane, and I've been hoaxed." Now, however, she is spreading the word. "Challenge and check whatever you read," she says.
Internet users are urged to examine themselves for symptoms of the virus, which include the following:
The willingness to believe improbable stories without thinking. The urge to forward multiple copies of such stories to others. A lack of desire to take three minutes to check to see if a story is true.
T. C. is an example of someone recently infected. He told one reporter, "I read on the Net that the major ingredient in almost all shampoos makes your hair fall out, so I've stopped using shampoo." When told about the Gullibility Virus, T. C. said he would stop reading email, so that he would not become infected.
Anyone with symptoms like these is urged to seek help immediately. Experts recommend that at the first feelings of gullibility, Internet users rush to their favorite search engine and look up the item tempting them to thoughtless credence. Most hoaxes, legends, and tall tales have been widely discussed and exposed by the Internet community.
Courses in critical thinking are also widely available, and there is online help from many sources, including
Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability at http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
Symantec Anti Virus Research Center at http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html
McAfee Associates Virus Hoax List at http://www.mcafee.com/support/hoax.html
Dr. Solomons Hoax Page at http://www.drsolomons.com/vircen/hoax.html
The Urban Legends Web Site at http://www.urbanlegends.com
Urban Legends Reference Pages at http://www.snopes.com
Datafellows Hoax Warnings at http://www.Europe.Datafellows.com/news/hoax.htm
Those people who are still symptom free can help inoculate themselves against the Gullibility Virus by reading some good material on evaluating sources, such as
Evaluating Internet Research Sources at http://www.sccu.edu/faculty/R_Harris/evalu8it.htm
Evaluation of Information Sources at http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/evaln.htm
Bibliography on Evaluating Internet Resources at http://refserver.lib.vt.edu/libinst/critTHINK.HTM
Lastly, as a public service, Internet users can help stamp out the Gullibility Virus by sending copies of this message to anyone who forwards them a hoax.
************************************************ ****************** This message is so important, we're sending it anonymously! Forward it to all your friends right away! Don't think about it! This is not a chain letter! This story is true! Don't check it out! This story is so timely, there is no date on it! This story is so important, we're using lots of exclamation points! Lots!! For every message you forward to some unsuspecting person, the Home for the Hopelessly Gullible will donate ten cents to itself. (If you wonder how the Home will know you are forwarding these messages all over creation, you're obviously thinking too much.) ************************************************ ******************
ACT NOW! DON'T DELAY! LIMITED TIME ONLY! NOT SOLD IN ANY STORE!
Make Chain Mail Fun Again!!!
by
Suydam
·
· Score: 3
Hey...speaking of chain mail... check out the Urban Legends Generator. It lets you build your own chain letters/urban legends and then email them to the ignorant masses.
Yes, it's my own page Yes, that's shameless self-promotion Yes, the ethics behind letting people generate their own chain-letters is questionable and yes, i still think it's pretty funny :-)
--
Werd.
Re:from the some-of-the-people-all-of-the-time dep
by
soren.harward
·
· Score: 2
The original quote is from Abe Lincoln, 16th president of the USA:
"It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
Mass media too gullible.
by
red_dragon
·
· Score: 2
It's interesting to see this kind of events happen in an industry that prides itself in accurate information and thorough research. They actually take responsibility in being the primary source of information for the great majority of the population. If all this were true (plausible), then they should make sure that they have a set of standards to follow while doing their work, in the hopes of filtering out false information. One would think that the journalists and editors working for news outfits are smart enough to see a chain letter and tell it apart from the "real stuff". That they managed to have it aired as news not only makes us think whether they're good enough for their assigned task, it also makes us wonder whether most of the information they feed us is correct or not.
-- In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
I've got 2 words for you......
by
Accipiter
·
· Score: 2
"Quality Journalism"
Whatever happened to a media outlet checking in to a story before blurting it out to the general public? And considering that the majority of late-night news viewers are adults age 35 and older, a lot of people could have been *snicker* fooled by this. Personally, I feel that anyone using AOL deserves to get e-mails like this (Look who you signed up with), I DON'T think people deserve to be slammed by a local news station with a story this absurd.
She used the word "frantically" again later in her report, suggesting she had a telepathic grasp of happenings inside AOL's headquarters...
Considering that the AOL HQ was closed, this was an amazing assumption. And typical of news media, "if there is the Slightest degree of believablilty to a story, RUN WITH IT. Gaps? Just make something up."
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
--
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.:P)
Re:from the some-of-the-people-all-of-the-time dep
by
Christopher+Thomas
·
· Score: 2
"You can please some of the people all of the time, or [...]
The variant that I heard had "fool" instead of "please". I've seen this in many places, so it seems to be in fairly widespread use.
Re:Watch the newsreel with this corrected link.
by
jerodd
·
· Score: 4
Could you give that Real video link again... it seems to be busted...
/me ncurses Netscape
Netscape is too dumb to understand pnm:// URLs. Grr.
For those of you haven't already gone to the trouble to watch the RealVideo of the newscast, go see it now. It's hilarious--I love reporting that acts so seriously.
I'm just glad I'm not an AOL user getting barraged with copies of this.
-- --jon. Postel is dead. May we all mourn his, and our, loss.
Local TV News Makes False Claim -- Film at 11
by
Royster
·
· Score: 2
Considering the quality of "Journalism" at local TV stations these days, it was just a matter of time before a hoax was reported as news. I can't imagine a professional news outfit going with a story like this without an official comment from an AOL spokesman.
-- I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
Gullibility Virus Warning Posted as a Public Service by Robert Harris Southern California College Version Date: February 27, 1998
___________________________________ Forwarded Message Subj.: Virus Warning! From: HOONOZE To: All@msn.com To: Jake5551212@aol.com To: President@whitehouse.gov To: Pope@vatican.va To: 007@MI5.com To: Flounder@fish.net To: Etal@etc.com
************************************************** **************** WARNING, CAUTION, DANGER, AND BEWARE! Gullibility Virus Spreading over the Internet! ************************************************** ****************
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Institute for the Investigation of Irregular Internet Phenomena announced today that many Internet users are becoming infected by a new virus that causes them to believe without question every groundless story, legend, and dire warning that shows up in their inbox or on their browser. The Gullibility Virus, as it is called, apparently makes people believe and forward copies of silly hoaxes relating to cookie recipes, email viruses, taxes on modems, and get-rich-quick schemes.
"These are not just readers of tabloids or people who buy lottery tickets based on fortune cookie numbers," a spokesman said. "Most are otherwise normal people, who would laugh at the same stories if told to them by a stranger on a street corner." However, once these same people become infected with the Gullibility Virus, they believe anything they read on the Internet.
"My immunity to tall tales and bizarre claims is all gone," reported one weeping victim. "I believe every warning message and sick child story my friends forward to me, even though most of the messages are anonymous."
Another victim, now in remission, added, "When I first heard about Good Times, I just accepted it without question. After all, there were dozens of other recipients on the mail header, so I thought the virus must be true." It was a long time, the victim said, before she could stand up at a Hoaxees Anonymous meeting and state, "My name is Jane, and I've been hoaxed." Now, however, she is spreading the word. "Challenge and check whatever you read," she says.
Internet users are urged to examine themselves for symptoms of the virus, which include the following:
the willingness to believe improbable stories without thinking
the urge to forward multiple copies of such stories to others
a lack of desire to take three minutes to check to see if a story is true
T. C. is an example of someone recently infected. He told one reporter, "I read on the Net that the major ingredient in almost all shampoos makes your hair fall out, so I've stopped using shampoo." When told about the Gullibility Virus, T. C. said he would stop reading email, so that he would not become infected.
Anyone with symptoms like these is urged to seek help immediately. Experts recommend that at the first feelings of gullibility, Internet users rush to their favorite search engine and look up the item tempting them to thoughtless credence. Most hoaxes, legends, and tall tales have been widely discussed and exposed by the Internet community.
Courses in critical thinking are also widely available, and there is online help from many sources, including
Those people who are still symptom free can help inoculate themselves against the Gullibility Virus by reading some good material on evaluating sources, such as
Lastly, as a public service, Internet users can help stamp out the Gullibility Virus by sending copies of this message to anyone who forwards them a hoax.
************************************************** **************** This message is so important, we're sending it anonymously! Forward it to all your friends right away! Don't think about it! This is not a chain letter! This story is true! Don't check it out! This story is so timely, there is no date on it! This story is so important, we're using lots of exclamation points! For every message you forward to some unsuspecting person, the Home for the Hopelessly Gullible will donate ten cents to itself. (If you wonder how the Home will know you are forwarding these messages all over creation, you're obviously thinking too much.) ************************************************** ****************
ACT NOW! DON'T DELAY! LIMITED TIME! NOT SOLD IN ANY STORE!
-- Those who open their minds too far often let their brains fall out.
Re:Good Times! -- A Bad Day...
by
Mr.+Competence
·
· Score: 5
I know this guy whose neighbor, a young man, was home recovering from having been served a rat in his bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
So anyway, one day he went to sleep and when he awoke he was in his bathtub and it was full of ice and he was sore all over. When he got out of the tub he realized that HIS KIDNEYS HAD BEEN STOLEN, and he saw a note on his mirror that said "Call 911!"
But he was afraid to use his phone because it was connected to his computer, and there was a virus on his computer that would destroy his hard drive if he opened an e-mail entitled "Join the crew!" He knew it wasn't a hoax, because he himself was a computer programmer who was working on software to save us from Armageddon when the year 2000 rolls around. His program will prevent a global disaster in which all the computers get together & distribute the $600 Neiman Marcus cookie recipe under the leadership of Bill Gates. (It's true --I read it all last week in a mass e-mail from BILL GATES HIMSELF, who was also promising me a free Disney World vacation and $5,000 if I would forward the e-mail to everyone I know.)
The poor man then tried to call 911 from a pay phone to report his missing kidneys, but reaching into the coin-return slot he got jabbed with an HIV-infected needle around which was wrapped a note that said, "Welcome to the world of AIDS."
Luckily he was only a few blocks from the hospital-the one, actually, where that little boy who is dying of cancer is, the one whose last wish is for everyone in the world to send him an e-mail and the American Cancer Society has agreed to pay him a nickel for every e-mail he receives.
I sent him two e-mails and one of them was a bunch of x's and o's in the shape of an angel (if you get it and forward it to twenty people you will have good luck, but ten people you will only have ok luck, and if you send it to less than ten people you will have BAD LUCK FOR SEVEN YEARS).
So anyway the poor guy tried to drive himself to the hospital, but on the way he noticed another car driving along without his lights on. To be helpful, he flashed his lights at him and was promptly shot as part of a gang initiation.
And it's a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages.
Mercifully, this is the end....
-- Those who open their minds too far often let their brains fall out.
Re:Sounds like a match made in heaven
by
Rombuu
·
· Score: 2
You are right, here is my revised comment..
Ignorent people use AOL People who are involved in Local TV news are pretty ignorent...
Therefore, if you want to fool a lot of ignorent people...
--
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
Fortunatly, I do not subscribe to AOHell, and KOLD is my least favorite local station. So I fortunatly missed this little fiasco. (I've already passed this little factoid to my friends at ANOTHER local station KVOA and let them play with it.)
The thing is, Tucson news is pretty lame, overall. There is no weather here to speak of. So we are the city where Meteorologists go to die. Traffic is slower then the weather. And news, is just hard to find. So it only makes sense that reporters and news anchors get excited over something like this.
But still, this is pretty bad, even for the press. *Carlos: Exit Stage Right*
"Geeks, Where would you be without them?"
-- *Carlos: Exit Stage Right*
"Geeks, Where would you be without them?"
"Got Linux?"
Anybody feel like calling up their local news station with an indignant story about how Neiman-Marcus screwed them over? Maybe we could get the recipie spammed over the airwaves, too.
Sad part is, people really ARE this ill-informed
by
fable2112
·
· Score: 3
I used to work for a bank, and the Budweiser Frogs Virus Alert showed up there.
I patiently explained to the rest of my department that this was a hoax, and there was no way in hell that all this scary stuff could actually happen. I also e-mailed a friend who goes to my alma mater, whose fiance is a sysadmin there, for further backup on this.
The response of one of my co-workers? "Well, I'll take the word of the president of Company XYZ [I forget what it was exactly] over a bunch of snotty college kids any day!"
Pity she didn't realize that said "snotty college kids" actually KNOW SOMETHING about the 'net.
*chuckles* Was her face ever red a few days later when the "This is a hoax!" e-mail was sent from Information Security. *smirk*
-- "Somebody exploded a letter-bomb today... but it wasn't anybody I knew" -The Moody Blues, "Dear Diar
Y'know, I've seen this, and I got a good laugh out of it. I thought (at the time) that it was a joke, that there could not be anyone that stupid out there. Well, serves me right for assuming...
:p
--
censorship is a form of noise,
which actively seeks to drown out
content with silence - Crash Culligan
Slashdot Mirror
That sounds like a good idea, and I'm sure we've all thought about it at one point or another. But I'm apt to believe that it would only give the general populace yet another reason to hate the evil hackers (like it or not, they use 'hackers' in a negative sense). If we learned something from Melissa 'virus', we learned that most people will never, ever fault Microsoft or an insecure computer. People don't see their computers as being insecure; they only see hackers (the malicious people) as people who have some sort of supernatural power in cyberspace and therefore must be legislated against. [rant off]
Out of curiousity, given that there are systems with...
a) _stored passwords_, sometimes with weak crypto
b) rather powerful macro languages
c) a highly homogeneous (sp?), insecure computing
environment among home users
d) users that forward mail...
e) users that rely on hordes of tiny, shareware
downloaded utils
f) "smart" mail programs that automatically look
at attachments
Couldn't one do some damage here? As in a trojan or worm that waits a _long_ time (say, 6 mo.) before doing anything particularly suspicious? Or, more fun:
a worm that simply
a) collects information from say, the registry on
Win9x; cookie files; history lists; default
document directories...
b) attaches it to itself
c) propagates, perhaps through mail-forwarding,
perhaps more subtly.
so that by the time it was detected, private info
would already be in many, many different places...
That could inflict a *lot* of damage, in a very,
very painful lesson to the masses.
Rombuu,
Sounds like you have your own knee-jerk reactions to deal with.
Making the generalization that "stupid people use AOL" is on the same level as saying that "teens in black use bombs".
AOL presents itself as easy to use, so, sure it's going to attract folks who are not the computer genius that you are. That doesn't make them stupid.
Same for Local TV news. Sure, they're not Peter Jennnings, but I sometimes like to hear stories that relate to my hometown. Does that make me stupid?
A very wise man once said: "Pick the board out of your own eye before you point to a splinter in someone else's"
Anonymous Kevin
>Stupid people use AOL
>Stupid people watch Local TV News
DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS POST! It contains a dangerous virus that will re-format your hard disk! Please pass this on to your on-line friends to help them avoid this problem. Remember, if you see a "Good Times" post, just score it -1, do not respond.
Seems like the post off the cypherpunks list from fall of '98 needs to be aired again. :-)
* ****************** * ******************
* ****************** * ******************
***********************************************
WARNING, CAUTION, DANGER, AND BEWARE!
Gullibility Virus Spreading over the Internet!
***********************************************
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Institute for the Investigation of Irregular Internet
Phenomena announced today that many Internet users are becoming infected by
a new virus that causes them to believe without question every groundless
story, legend, and dire warning that shows up in their inbox or on their
browser. The Gullibility Virus, as it is called, apparently makes people
believe and forward copies of silly hoaxes relating to cookie recipes,
email viruses, taxes on modems, and get-rich-quick schemes.
"These are not just readers of tabloids or people who buy lottery tickets
based on fortune cookie numbers," a spokesman said. "Most are otherwise
normal people, who would laugh at the same stories if told to them by a
stranger on a street corner." However, once these same people become
infected with the Gullibility Virus, they believe anything they read on
the Internet.
"My immunity to tall tales and bizarre claims is all gone," reported one
weeping victim. "I believe every warning message and sick child story my
friends forward to me, even though most of the messages are anonymous."
Another victim, now in remission, added, "When I first heard about Good
Times, I just accepted it without question. After all, there were dozens of
other recipients on the mail header, so I thought the virus must be true."
It was a long time, the victim said, before she could stand up at a Hoaxees
Anonymous meeting and state, "My name is Jane, and I've been hoaxed." Now,
however, she is spreading the word. "Challenge and check whatever you read,"
she says.
Internet users are urged to examine themselves for symptoms of the virus,
which include the following:
The willingness to believe improbable stories without thinking.
The urge to forward multiple copies of such stories to others.
A lack of desire to take three minutes to check to see if a story
is true.
T. C. is an example of someone recently infected. He told one reporter, "I
read on the Net that the major ingredient in almost all shampoos makes your
hair fall out, so I've stopped using shampoo." When told about the
Gullibility Virus, T. C. said he would stop reading email, so that he would
not become infected.
Anyone with symptoms like these is urged to seek help immediately. Experts
recommend that at the first feelings of gullibility, Internet users rush to
their favorite search engine and look up the item tempting them to
thoughtless credence. Most hoaxes, legends, and tall tales have been widely
discussed and exposed by the Internet community.
Courses in critical thinking are also widely available, and there is
online help from many sources, including
Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability at
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
Symantec Anti Virus Research Center at
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html
McAfee Associates Virus Hoax List at
http://www.mcafee.com/support/hoax.html
Dr. Solomons Hoax Page at
http://www.drsolomons.com/vircen/hoax.html
The Urban Legends Web Site at
http://www.urbanlegends.com
Urban Legends Reference Pages at
http://www.snopes.com
Datafellows Hoax Warnings at
http://www.Europe.Datafellows.com/news/hoax.htm
Those people who are still symptom free can help inoculate themselves
against the Gullibility Virus by reading some good material on evaluating
sources, such as
Evaluating Internet Research Sources at
http://www.sccu.edu/faculty/R_Harris/evalu8it.htm
Evaluation of Information Sources at
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/evaln.htm
Bibliography on Evaluating Internet Resources at
http://refserver.lib.vt.edu/libinst/critTHINK.HTM
Lastly, as a public service, Internet users can help stamp out the
Gullibility Virus by sending copies of this message to anyone who forwards
them a hoax.
***********************************************
This message is so important, we're sending it anonymously! Forward it to
all your friends right away! Don't think about it! This is not a chain
letter! This story is true! Don't check it out! This story is so timely,
there is no date on it! This story is so important, we're using lots of
exclamation points! Lots!! For every message you forward to some
unsuspecting person, the Home for the Hopelessly Gullible will donate ten
cents to itself. (If you wonder how the Home will know you are forwarding
these messages all over creation, you're obviously thinking too much.)
***********************************************
ACT NOW! DON'T DELAY! LIMITED TIME ONLY! NOT SOLD IN ANY STORE!
Yes, it's my own page
Yes, that's shameless self-promotion
Yes, the ethics behind letting people generate their own chain-letters is questionable
and yes, i still think it's pretty funny
:-)
Werd.
The original quote is from Abe Lincoln, 16th president of the USA:
"It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
It's interesting to see this kind of events happen in an industry that prides itself in accurate information and thorough research. They actually take responsibility in being the primary source of information for the great majority of the population. If all this were true (plausible), then they should make sure that they have a set of standards to follow while doing their work, in the hopes of filtering out false information. One would think that the journalists and editors working for news outfits are smart enough to see a chain letter and tell it apart from the "real stuff". That they managed to have it aired as news not only makes us think whether they're good enough for their assigned task, it also makes us wonder whether most of the information they feed us is correct or not.
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
Whatever happened to a media outlet checking in to a story before blurting it out to the general public? And considering that the majority of late-night news viewers are adults age 35 and older, a lot of people could have been *snicker* fooled by this. Personally, I feel that anyone using AOL deserves to get e-mails like this (Look who you signed up with), I DON'T think people deserve to be slammed by a local news station with a story this absurd.
She used the word "frantically" again later in her report, suggesting she had a telepathic grasp of happenings inside AOL's headquarters...
Considering that the AOL HQ was closed, this was an amazing assumption. And typical of news media, "if there is the Slightest degree of believablilty to a story, RUN WITH IT. Gaps? Just make something up."
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
"You can please some of the people all of the time, or [...]
The variant that I heard had "fool" instead of "please". I've seen this in many places, so it seems to be in fairly widespread use.
/me ncurses Netscape
Netscape is too dumb to understand pnm:// URLs. Grr.
Try this corrected link.
Cheers.
--jon. Postel is dead. May we all mourn his, and our, loss.
I'm just glad I'm not an AOL user getting barraged with copies of this.
--jon. Postel is dead. May we all mourn his, and our, loss.
Considering the quality of "Journalism" at local TV stations these days, it was just a matter of time before a hoax was reported as news. I can't imagine a professional news outfit going with a story like this without an official comment from an AOL spokesman.
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
Southern California College
Version Date: February 27, 1998
___________________________________
Forwarded Message
Subj.: Virus Warning!
From: HOONOZE
To: All@msn.com
To: Jake5551212@aol.com
To: President@whitehouse.gov
To: Pope@vatican.va
To: 007@MI5.com
To: Flounder@fish.net
To: Etal@etc.com
************************************************** **************** * ****************
WARNING, CAUTION, DANGER, AND BEWARE!
Gullibility Virus Spreading over the Internet!
*************************************************
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Institute for the Investigation of Irregular Internet Phenomena announced today that many Internet users are becoming infected by a new virus that causes them to believe without question every groundless story, legend, and dire warning that shows up in their inbox or on their browser. The Gullibility Virus, as it is called, apparently makes people believe and forward copies of silly hoaxes relating to cookie recipes, email viruses, taxes on modems, and get-rich-quick schemes.
"These are not just readers of tabloids or people who buy lottery tickets based on fortune cookie numbers," a spokesman said. "Most are otherwise normal people, who would laugh at the same stories if told to them by a stranger on a street corner." However, once these same people become infected with the Gullibility Virus, they believe anything they read on the Internet.
"My immunity to tall tales and bizarre claims is all gone," reported one weeping victim. "I believe every warning message and sick child story my friends forward to me, even though most of the messages are anonymous."
Another victim, now in remission, added, "When I first heard about Good Times, I just accepted it without question. After all, there were dozens of other recipients on the mail header, so I thought the virus must be true." It was a long time, the victim said, before she could stand up at a Hoaxees Anonymous meeting and state, "My name is Jane, and I've been hoaxed." Now, however, she is spreading the word. "Challenge and check whatever you read," she says.
Internet users are urged to examine themselves for symptoms of the virus, which include the following:
T. C. is an example of someone recently infected. He told one reporter, "I read on the Net that the major ingredient in almost all shampoos makes your hair fall out, so I've stopped using shampoo." When told about the Gullibility Virus, T. C. said he would stop reading email, so that he would not become infected.
Anyone with symptoms like these is urged to seek help immediately. Experts recommend that at the first feelings of gullibility, Internet users rush to their favorite search engine and look up the item tempting them to thoughtless credence. Most hoaxes, legends, and tall tales have been widely discussed and exposed by the Internet community.
Courses in critical thinking are also widely available, and there is online help from many sources, including
Those people who are still symptom free can help inoculate themselves against the Gullibility Virus by reading some good material on evaluating sources, such as
Lastly, as a public service, Internet users can help stamp out the Gullibility Virus by sending copies of this message to anyone who forwards them a hoax.
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This message is so important, we're sending it anonymously! Forward it to all your friends right away! Don't think about it! This is not a chain letter! This story is true! Don't check it out! This story is so timely, there is no date on it! This story is so important, we're using lots of exclamation points! For every message you forward to some unsuspecting person, the Home for the Hopelessly Gullible will donate ten cents to itself. (If you wonder how the Home will know you are forwarding these messages all over creation, you're obviously thinking too much.)
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ACT NOW! DON'T DELAY! LIMITED TIME! NOT SOLD IN ANY STORE!
Home Page of Robert Harris | SCC Home Page
Robert Harris is Professor of English at Southern California College. RHarris@sccu.edu
I keep it around for just this purpose
Mark
Those who open their minds too far often let their brains fall out.
I know this guy whose neighbor, a young man, was home recovering
from having been served a rat in his bucket of Kentucky Fried
Chicken.
So anyway, one day he went to sleep and when he awoke he was in his
bathtub and it was full of ice and he was sore all over. When he
got out of the tub he realized that HIS KIDNEYS HAD BEEN STOLEN,
and he saw a note on his mirror that said "Call 911!"
But he was afraid to use his phone because it was connected to his
computer, and there was a virus on his computer that would destroy
his hard drive if he opened an e-mail entitled "Join the crew!" He
knew it wasn't a hoax, because he himself was a computer programmer
who was working on software to save us from Armageddon when the
year 2000 rolls around. His program will prevent a global disaster
in which all the computers get together & distribute the $600
Neiman Marcus cookie recipe under the leadership of Bill Gates.
(It's true --I read it all last week in a mass e-mail from BILL
GATES HIMSELF, who was also promising me a free Disney World
vacation and $5,000 if I would forward the e-mail to everyone I
know.)
The poor man then tried to call 911 from a pay phone to report his
missing kidneys, but reaching into the coin-return slot he got
jabbed with an HIV-infected needle around which was wrapped a note
that said, "Welcome to the world of AIDS."
Luckily he was only a few blocks from the hospital-the one,
actually, where that little boy who is dying of cancer is, the one
whose last wish is for everyone in the world to send him an e-mail
and the American Cancer Society has agreed to pay him a nickel for
every e-mail he receives.
I sent him two e-mails and one of them was a bunch of x's and o's
in the shape of an angel (if you get it and forward it to twenty
people you will have good luck, but ten people you will only have
ok luck, and if you send it to less than ten people you will have
BAD LUCK FOR SEVEN YEARS).
So anyway the poor guy tried to drive himself to the hospital, but
on the way he noticed another car driving along without his lights
on. To be helpful, he flashed his lights at him and was promptly
shot as part of a gang initiation.
And it's a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages.
Mercifully, this is the end....
Those who open their minds too far often let their brains fall out.
You are right, here is my revised comment..
Ignorent people use AOL
People who are involved in Local TV news are pretty ignorent...
Therefore, if you want to fool a lot of ignorent people...
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
I am a palefaced nerd who HAS a girlfriend (still working on porting her to linux, though)
The thing is, Tucson news is pretty lame, overall.
There is no weather here to speak of. So we are the city where Meteorologists go to die.
Traffic is slower then the weather.
And news, is just hard to find.
So it only makes sense that reporters and news anchors get excited over something like this.
But still, this is pretty bad, even for the press.
*Carlos: Exit Stage Right*
"Geeks, Where would you be without them?"
*Carlos: Exit Stage Right*
"Geeks, Where would you be without them?"
"Got Linux?"
Anybody feel like calling up their local news station with an indignant story about how Neiman-Marcus screwed them over? Maybe we could get the recipie spammed over the airwaves, too.
I used to work for a bank, and the Budweiser Frogs Virus Alert showed up there.
I patiently explained to the rest of my department that this was a hoax, and there was no way in hell that all this scary stuff could actually happen. I also e-mailed a friend who goes to my alma mater, whose fiance is a sysadmin there, for further backup on this.
The response of one of my co-workers? "Well, I'll take the word of the president of Company XYZ [I forget what it was exactly] over a bunch of snotty college kids any day!"
Pity she didn't realize that said "snotty college kids" actually KNOW SOMETHING about the 'net.
*chuckles* Was her face ever red a few days later when the "This is a hoax!" e-mail was sent from Information Security. *smirk*
"Somebody exploded a letter-bomb today
Y'know, I've seen this, and I got a good laugh out of it. I thought (at the time) that it was a joke, that there could not be anyone that stupid out there. Well, serves me right for assuming...
:p
censorship is a form of noise, which actively seeks to drown out content with silence - Crash Culligan