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Thursday, March 22nd, 2001
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7:01 pm - fnord
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| Friday, March 16th, 2001
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5:06 pm
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WARNING, CAUTION, DANGER, AND BEWARE!
Gullibility Virus Spreading over the Internet!
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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 [perhaps
conspiracy theories should be included here--C's note].
"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 samestories if told to them by a stranger on a streetcorner."
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
...Symantec Anti Virus Research Center at
...McAfee Associates Virus Hoax List
...Dr. Solomons Hoax Page
...The Urban Legends Web Site
...Urban Legends Reference Pages
...Datafellows Hoax Warnings
...Symantec Anti Virus Research Center at
Those people who are still symptom free can help inoculate themselves
against the Gullibility Virus by reading some good material on sources, such as:
...Evaluating Internet Research Sources
...Evaluation of Information Sources
...Symantec Anti Virus Research Center
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!
*******************************************************************
"You may now kiss the geek after picking up a mac...."
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, March 13th, 2001
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2:54 am
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Rourke Walks Again -- Over A Chihuahua
Mickey Rourke has been replaced in Luck of the Draw one day after storming off the
set after producers refused to let his pet Chihuahua appear in a scene, the New York
Post reported today (Friday). The Post, which has kept close tabs on Rourke's
peccadilloes over the years, said that the actor wanted the dog, Bo Jack, to appear
with him in a shootout being filmed in a warehouse. Citing a source familiar with the
incident, the Post reported that producers concluded that the dog looked too much
like the Taco Bell pooch and could turn a serious scene into a humorous one. "If it had
been a larger dog, maybe it would have worked. But a Chihuahua would look silly, " the
source said.
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, March 10th, 2001
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9:23 pm
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5:35 am - where did the boat go
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tHE ECLIPSE
(L?Eclisse)
screens on March 7 (Wednesday) 7 pm
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
France/Italy 1962, 35mm, b/w, 123 min.
With Monica Vitti, Alain Delon, Francisco Rabal
Italian with English subtitles
In this final installment of the trilogy that began with L?Avventura and La Notte, Antonioni again presents a
middle-class couple in crisis, here against the closely observed background of the urban environment. After an
initial breakup with her lover, Vittoria (Vitti) drifts into the classic Antonioni condition, wandering aimlessly
through an alienating milieu. In what is perhaps his most compelling deployment of the architectural setting,
Antonioni displays an unparalleled visual style, using spatial perspective and graphic delineation to create his vision of the modern world. In the film?s
famous final sequence, the narrative space of the story is revisited in the absence of its characters, suggesting perhaps, as George Sadoul has noted, the
nature of solitude as man?s accustomed state.
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, February 24th, 2001
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5:37 am
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4:38 am
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| Friday, February 23rd, 2001
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5:01 am - probably a postcard....
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Wish You Were Here - 112 Years Ago
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Postmen in the Scottish city of Aberdeen did their
very best to deliver a letter from Australia -- even if it was 112 years
late.
"The card was posted by a chap called Colin on the 4th of January in 1889
and it arrived in Aberdeen a few days ago. We have absolutely no idea where
it's been," said Aberdeen postmaster Pete Smith.
The card does not break any official world records for slow mail -- but only
because the category does not exist.
"Whoever has this postcard should get in touch with us because we might
start a new category," a spokesman for the Guinness Book of Records said.
"We've got a record for a parcel but that's only about two or three years."
When confused 21st century postmen tried to deliver the postcard from
Brisbane to a Miss Wardrop at 32 Carden Place, Aberdeen, they discovered it
was a dental surgery.
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, February 17th, 2001
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4:16 am - bits and breaks..all the things between the lines
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| Wednesday, February 14th, 2001
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8:26 pm - Everybody wants to be a cat
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o/~
Everybody wants to be a cat,
Because a cat's the only cat
Who knows where it's at.
Everybody's pickin' up on that feline beat,
'Cause everything else is obsolete.
Now a square with a horn,
Can make you wish you weren't born,
Ever'time he plays;
And with a square in the act,
He can set music back
To the caveman days.
I've heard some corny birds who tried to sing,
But a cat's the only cat
Who knows how to swing.
Who wants to dig
A long-haired gig
Or stuff like that?
When everybody wants to be a cat.
A square with that horn,
Makes you wish you weren't born,
Ever'time he plays;
And with a square in the act,
He's gonna set this music back
To the Stone Age days.
Everybody wants to be a cat,
Because a cat's the only cat
Who knows where it's at;
While playin' jazz you always has a Welcome mat,
'Cause everybody digs a swingin' cat.
Everybody digs a swingin' cat.
o/~
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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8:09 pm
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| Sunday, February 11th, 2001
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11:50 pm
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my dear swordfighting nun,
i'm riding an exploding robotic duck across dry land.
be gentle with the rhinocerous.
yours,
anette
www.nosepilot.com
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| Sunday, February 4th, 2001
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9:51 pm - Coquetish kittens...
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4:46 am
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LONDON (Reuters) - Do penguins topple over when they peer into the sky
watching planes and helicopters fly over? Finally, a full blown scientific
study has come up with the answer.
They may waddle away in fright but they do NOT lose their balance and topple over.
Rumors of falling penguins have abounded since British plane and helicopter
pilots returning from the 1982 Falklands War claimed their flights had
toppled the earth-bound birds. To settle the issue, a favorite of cartoonists
and penguin jokes, environmental research scientist Richard Stone spent
five weeks watching helicopters fly over two King Penguin colonies in the Antarctic,
studying their effect on more than 1,000 birds. "We saw birds moving away from
the noise (of helicopters and planes)," he said. "Not a single bird fell over after 17 flights."
"As it (the helicopter) approached, the birds went quiet," he said. "They didn't appear
to turn around and look." Some birds waddled away from the helicopters. Others became
quiet. A few minutes later, they waddled back.
"We don't know if it's the noise or the visual aspect
-- whether it looks like a potential predator," Stone said.
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(comment on this)
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4:30 am
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| Monday, January 29th, 2001
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1:50 am
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| Sunday, January 28th, 2001
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7:06 pm - ....Someone to watch over me
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o/~
There's a saying old says that love is blind
Still we're often told "seek and ye shall find"
So I'm going to seek a certain man I've had in mind
Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet
He's the big affair I cannot forget
Only Man I ever think of with somesome s regret
I'd like to add his initial to my monogram
Tell me where's the shepherd lad for this lost lamb
There's a somebody I'm longing to see
I hope that He turns out to be
Someone who'll watch over me
I'm a little lamb who's lost in a wood
I know I could always be good
To one who'll watch over me
Although He may not be the man some men think of
As handsome to my heart
He carries the key
Won't you tell HIm please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh how I need
Someone to watch over me
Someone to watch over me
o/~
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(comment on this)
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| Sunday, January 7th, 2001
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1:19 am
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