MetaFilter posts tagged with hoax

TSA agents took my son

cgs — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:59:45 -0800

Woman tries to go through metal detector at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson aiport with her infant son, only to have his pacifier set off the alarm. TSA did the only rational thing and took the woman's son

The fake truth

hellbient — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:06:37 -0800

NY Post Special Global Warming Edition (courtesy of The Yes Men). Thousands of hard copies hit the streets of New York at the crack of dawn.

Reingelegt!

chillmost — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:20:44 -0800

Net Hoax Convinces Germany of Fake U.S. Suicide Bombing Attempt All of Germany was bamboozled Thursday by a bizarre scheme that tricked the country’s main wire service into reporting an attempted suicide bombing in a California town — an attack supposedly perpetrated by a non-existent rap group called the “Berlin Boys.” This was all planned and carried out by the makers of a soon to be released German film. Fake TV station K-VPK TV - Now hosts "the making of". Bluewater, California - Fake website used in the hoax. Response from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German)

"Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you to come home and eat."

tapeguy — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:28:11 -0800

China's latest Internet obsession began with an anonymous post on a computer gaming forum: "Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you to come home and eat." After attracting more than 17,000 replies in six hours, the original message went on to appear in All Your Base-style photoshops and on t-shirts amid claims by internet marketing experts that they invented the whole thing. Why did the joke travel so fast and so wide? Childhood memories, according to China Daily. Or maybe it was because of a team of secret viral "internet promoters". See also: Toyota's co-opting of the Leeroy Jenkins World of Warcraft video, Russia's Preved! bear and all your memes.

16 men on a dead bloggers chest...

happyroach — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:58:09 -0800

Reports spread around the internet about an offer by a Russian company to do pirate hunting cruises off the coast of Somalia. The news garners a swarm of comments and outrage, and it looks like we have the beginnings of a snowballing controversy. The only problem is, the "cruise" is a hoax. The website for the cruise itself has no contact information, and a little digging reveals the humor website it originally came from. So rather than a searing indictment of decadent millionaires or amoral Russians, this seems to be an indication of how incestuous and self-referential the internet is, and how poor fact-checking can be in the brave new world of blogs. Is this the true face of internet reporting?

Greatly exaggerated

robcorr — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:31:40 -0800

With the world buzzing about celebrity deaths, it was an opportune moment for hoaxsters. A rumour that Jeff Goldblum had died spread quickly on Twitter, and "'Jeff Goldblum dead' was at 11am the third-most popular search term on Google". The actor's agent quashed the rumour, but not before Australian TV broadcast it as fact, complete with a touching montage tribute. Still, now he knows what it will be like when he really goes: "A surprise funeral? For me?"

I was picturing a basket

outlier — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:39:39 -0800

The trailer for "After Last Season" quietly appeared on the Apple site recently. But what is it? Some suggest a hoax, others a parody. Apple lists it as a comedy, IMDB as a thriller. The over-engineered official site (flash required) is no help. Is this another vanity project gone wrong, a la The Room, some sort of conceptual art, trying to out-dogma Dogma 95 or is it viral marketing? The movie appears to be real with a production announcement and release date. For the moment gasp at the cardboard MRI machine, thrill to overlit actors stiltedly reciting lines, be intrigued by pictures of the back of someone's head (link to movie site, again) and astounded by the worlds least interesting telepathy experiment illustrated by early 90s computer graphics.

I Write, They Answer (Usually)

netbros — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:48:59 -0800

What if you wrote to Alpo to ask if they have a senior citizen's blend, or to the AARP to inquire about the living status of Abe Vigoda? And what if they wrote back? That's the purpose of Jackassletters.com, part mischief, part mayhem, from MeFi's own cjorgensen. History has demonstrated the fun of hoax letter writing, for instance Kitty Piddle Soda from Avery's Beverages. Someone has to carry on the tradition. Tweaking the noses of power and fame. (via MeFi Projects)

Cosmic Microwave Radiation discoverer demo-hoaxed

oonh — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:06:17 -0800

In 1989 Rob Pike, Penn & Teller, and Dennis Ritchie (one of the creators of UNIX), prank Arno Penzias, with a funky speech recognition demo.

250 miles out of 2,100 is close enough right?

Mastercheddaar — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:04:56 -0800

Jennifer Figge a 56 year old mother turned adventurer is the first woman to swim across the frigid Atlantic Ocean!. Or so they thought...

Mythbusters takes on the Moon Hoax!

Sir Mildred Pierce — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:30:22 -0800

Has man really set foot on the moon? There have certainly been a lot of claims that the whole Apollo missions were one giant hoax. Adam and Jamie at Mythbusters examine the claims of the Hoax Believers one by one. Did they use a wire rig or slow down the film to simulate the 1/6 moon gravity? What would it look like in real 1/6 G? Would a footprint in the lunar regolith have maintained it's shape even if there was no moisture to keep the material together? Why was the flag waving so much if there was no wind on the moon? Why are the shadows on the moon not parallel if they are coming from a single light source? Why can we see the astronauts when they are in shadows if there isn't a second light source? To finish it all off they shoot a laser at the moon to see if the reflector they supposedly left there is actually there.

Palin & Africa Redux

lalochezia — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:42:03 -0800

A false expert and phony think tank fool bloggers and the mainstream news media. The status of Sarah Palin's pre-election knowledge of Africa's continenthood can now be placed from the Not-knowing back into the Unknown category.

Early spirit photography

mediareport — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:19:33 -0800

Ghosts, apparitions, angels, spiritual visitations and views of the future "The relationship between photography and the spirit world of ghosts, apparitions and angels during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was a blending of popular belief and scientific fraud. The lack of sophistication in the public in an age of deeply held religious values and the generally accepted belief that the camera recorded truth allowed the unscrupulous to exploit the situation for financial gain...This online exhibition explores the diverse interactions between mortals and the spiritual world..." [via Bouphonia]

Gotcha!

chuckdarwin — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:45:22 -0800

Nothing But The Truth: Internet Hoaxes previously

Master of the hoax finally goes straight.

blimp77 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:10:27 -0800

Master of the hoax finally goes straight. Clifford Irving, author of the now infamous Autobiography of Howard Hughes, publishes his own autobiography, Phantom Rosebuds. Irving has already covered the story of that Hughes forgery pretty thoroughly in his earlier book, The Hoax, and Lasse Hallstrom retold the story in a film starring Richard Gere. Phantom Rosebuds though makes a case for the rest of Irving’s life - f for fake, the subsequent novels, the jail time and the dramatic consequences of the hoax which draw him into a world of espionage, renegade presidents, and rogue hitmen.

night people vs. day people

krautland — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:17:12 -0800

Jean Shepherd has been mentioned before but WFMU's Beware of the Blog has finally dug out an mp3 of Shepherd himself telling the story of "I, Libertine" (mp3 link) (wiki). I, Libertine was a literary hoax that began as a practical joke. Shepherd asked his listeners ("the Night People") to go into bookstores and ask for a book that didn't exist. Fueled by bewildered bookstore owners and distributors, I, Libertine eventually did end up as a genuine bestseller, proving his point that the process of choosing bestsellers was flawed.

Fire-Wielding Beavers and Man-Bats, Oh My!

amyms — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:12:09 -0800

The Great Moon Hoax of 1835. During the last week of August 1835, the New York Sun published a six-part article about the discovery - purportedly by renowned astronomer Sir John Herschel - of fantastical life on the moon, including herds of bison, blue unicorns, "a primitive tribe of hut-dwelling, fire-wielding biped beavers, and a race of winged humans living in pastoral harmony around a mysterious, golden-roofed temple." The public's reaction was a mix of credulity and skepticism. Read the full text of the serialized articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.

Phony airline ads and website almost too close to reality

polysigma — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:01:34 -0800

A fairly convincing website for a fake airline added to the outrage some felt in Philadelphia when newspaper ads promised airfares based passengers' weights. "Philadelphia to L.A., $2.25/pound" read the ads.

The Biggest Drawing In The World

Armitage Shanks — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:47:08 -0800

The Biggest Drawing In The World.

We all die in the dark.

klangklangston — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 10:50:16 -0800

Darko Maver: In 1999, An artist is killed in his prison cell in Podgorica.

Early works. Writings. Culminating exhibit. His arrest. His death. The full story, with interview (s), and explanation.

Wow, isn't that... doing...? Wait.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:44:24 -0800

Alison Jackson takes paparazzi shots of celebrity lookalikes. (NSFW) Old news I'm sure, but I hadn't seen a comprehensive post before and I thought it was worth it. Wikipedia. Guardian and BBC links are reasonably SFW (some buttocks).

Crafty Cartography

Rykey — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:36:04 -0800

Lost? Why not consult a map? Because, according to a past exhibit at the British Library, the mapmaker might have a political agenda.

Your $7,250 speakers cables are crap! Mine cost $43,000.

The Deej — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 09:43:24 -0800

Journalist Accepts $1 Million Challenge: Do $7250 Cables Sound Better or Not? (Or they could use these $43,000 cables instead). At least, it sounded like acceptance, even to James Randi. But then... maybe not. So while you're waiting to find out if you should spend that much for cables, maybe you can buy something from this collection of fine audiophile products. $400 for a pair tweeters may not be too bad. You can use them with your $350,000 amplifier, and your awesome-looking $100,000 turntable. Make sure you set aside $13,416 for a decent power cable, though, or you're just wasting your money.

The Life and Death of Jesse Jubilee James, Featuring Harlan Ellison

Locative — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 22:19:48 -0800

In the grand tradition of Kaycee Nicole, Anthony Godby Johnson, and Kodee Kennings, Jesse James was a studly volunteer firefighter and 9/11 hero who A History of Violence screenwriter Josh Olson's friend Audrey fell in love with over the internet. He turned out to be not what he seemed. None other than Harlan Ellison himself took part in the intervention, and the ensuing confrontation of the perpetrator was recorded for posterity. Via.

30-Year Laptop Battery?

Kirth Gerson — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:46:02 -0800

Betavoltaic Batteries are supposed to last 30 years, run cool, and be inert and harmless when depleted. The batteries, which generate electricity from radioactive decay, have a 50-year development history, but breakthroughs at the U.S. Air Force Research Lab are said to make the batteries practical for use in consumer applications. So why doesn't the Air Force lab's website feature this discovery? Maybe because it's a hoax, or a scam.