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News That James Gandolfini's Death Is a Hoax Is a Hoax

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:14:09 +0000

This, sadly, is true: actor James Gandolfini died today at age 51.

Which means that a widely shared Internet report claiming news of Gandolfini's death is a hoax (see Facebook blurb above) is itself a hoax.

Even as major media organizations scrambled to provide confirmation that he was dead, confused Internet users latched onto false claims that Gandolfini was still alive. Here's a sampling of the Facebook chatter surrounding today's news:

So, is Gandolfini dead or what? Is it a hoax or is it real?

I just read that James Gandolfini died of a heart attack, in Italy, at 51 today. Then I read it was a hoax??

Gandolfini is alive and well....... MAJOR media corporations said they confirmed his death. Wow! Hoax!

Why are people saying its a hoax and that Tony Soprano is alive ??? This is totally not even right.. What's wrong with people ???

The meta-hoax was published on a self-styled "satire" site called Mediamass.net whose stated mission is "to expose with humour, exaggeration and ridicule the contemporary mass production and mass consumption that we observe."

Mission unaccomplished.

Don't Bother Posting That 'Privacy Notice' on Your Facebook Page

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:14:18 +0000

With the recent news about NSA snooping still ringing in their ears, folks have taken to copying and pasting that year-old, viral "Privacy Notice" on their Facebook walls again, apparently in the belief that a bunch of legalistic verbiage — e.g., "You are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or taking any other action against me with regard to this profile and the contents herein" — magically protects their profile and content from prying eyes.

It doesn't.

Once Again, the Internet Proves It Can't Tell Satire from Reality

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 19:41:06 +0000

Here's a direct quote from a "news story" published yesterday on a website called the National Report, and currently making the rounds on Facebook:

"At about 2:08 pm employees at the National Report were shocked when dozens of black clad machine gun toting DOJ agents wearing black masks entered the National Report office forcing everyone to the ground while demanding they put their hands on top their heads."

Here's a direct quote from that website's disclaimer page:

"All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news."

Apparently, some folks never read the fine print.

Owner of Mystery Vietnam War Dog Tag Found

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 15:00:08 +0000

Thanks in part to the Internet, a long-lost dog tag belonging to a U.S. Marine who served in the Vietnam War is about to be reunited with its owner.

A photo of the tag (see above), which was found by chance two years ago by an Australian teacher visiting the site of the former U.S. military base in Khe Sanh, was posted online in the hopes that others could provide information leading to the whereabouts of the Marine, identified only as Martinson, L.P., service number 1984025, religion Lutheran.

Diligent sleuthing by an active-duty Marine named Joshua Laudermilk and others led to the discovery that the tag's original owner, former Platoon Sgt. Lanny Paul Martinson, is alive and well in Sugar Land, Texas, and thrilled at the prospect of recovering his lost tag.

The full story has yet to be told.

Read more:
• Lanny Martinson's Facebook Page
• Another Dog Tag Owner Found (SDHarleyRiders.com)

Update:
• Long Way Home for Marine's Dog Tag (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Pareidolia of the Day: Elvis Tree

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 17:15:41 +0000

Does this tree in Herefordshire, England look like Elvis Presley to you? Personally, I think it looks more like Abraham Lincoln, but that's the thing about pareidolia: it's in the eye of the beholder.

Check it out:
• Elvis Tree in Herefordshire Has British All Shook Up

Annals of pareidolia:
• Bigfoot on Mars
• 9/11: The Face of Evil
• What's That in Dick Cheney's Sunglasses?
• Pareidolia for Dollars

Bogus Shark Warnings in California and New Jersey

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:28:13 +0000

Virtually identical flyers have circulated for the past two days warning of great white shark attacks in the waters off Santa Cruz, California and the Jersey Shore (example above).

"Due to the highly aggressive nature of these encounters it is strongly advised you stay out of the water in these areas for the next 48-72 hours," both flyers warned.

Though purportedly issued by the California Parks Department and the U.S. Coast Guard, authorities were quick to deny there have been any recent shark attacks in either locale and dismissed the warnings as hoaxes.

Surf's up!

NOT A HOAX: 'Zeus' Facebook Virus Steals Money from Your Bank Account

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:53:45 +0000

The New York Times reports that a dangerous Trojan horse program called "Zeus" capable of sniffing out passwords on infected PCs and using them to steal money from users' bank accounts is "alive and well" on Facebook.

Facebook members are exposed to the spyware via malicious links that show up in phony e-commerce ads offering deals on items such as sunglasses, sneakers, and sports apparel.

There are few obvious signs of infection, if any. If you think you may have clicked on a malicious link and your computer is infected, try Microsoft's free Safety Scanner tool to detect and remove any dangerous files.

Practice safe computing: Think before you click.

The Best Chain Letter Ever

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:07:36 +0000

Found today (and duly shared) on Facebook:

Are Mermaids Real?

Thu, 30 May 2013 14:29:10 +0000

MERMAID, or MERMAN, a sea-creature frequently talked of, supposed half human and half a fish.

However naturalists may doubt of the reality of mermen or mermaids, we have testimony enough to establish it; though, how far these testimonies may be authentic, we cannot take upon us to say.

— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1797

	The progress of zoological science has long since destroyed the belief in the existence of the Mermaid. If its upper structure be human, with lungs resembling our own, how could such a creature live and breathe at the bottom of the sea, where it is stated to be?
	— John Timbs, Popular Errors Explained and Illustrated, 1841

In olden days sailors peopled the sea with mermaids, mermen and strange and impossible sea-monsters and related stories of weird and remarkable adventures. Even to-day, when great steamships plow the oceans in every direction and every nook and corner of the sea is known, deep-sea sailors spin wonderful yarns and almost yearly some one tells in all seriousness of having seen a sea-serpent.

We know that many of the stories of the sea are purely imaginary and that mermaids and many other sea-monsters are mere myths, but the fact remains that we really know very little of the sea or its inhabitants and that many of the ocean's greatest mysteries still remain unsolved.

— Alpheus Hyatt Verrill, The Ocean and Its Mysteries, 1917

Mermaids — those half-human, half-fish sirens of the sea — are legendary sea creatures chronicled in maritime cultures since time immemorial. The ancient Greek epic poet Homer wrote of them in The Odyssey. In the ancient Far East, mermaids were the wives of powerful sea-dragons, and served as trusted messengers between their spouses and the emperors on land. The aboriginal people of Australia call mermaids yawkyawks — a name that may refer to their mesmerizing songs.

But are mermaids real? No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.

— National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 2012

Mermaid lore:
• The Mermaid Myth
• Pictures of a Merman Carcass
• Igpupiara: Mermaids in Brazilian Folklore
• Water Spirits: Becoming Mermaids
• On the Trail of Mermaids: Facts & Myths
• 'The Little Mermaid' - Hans Christian Andersen
• P.T. Barnum's Feejee Mermaid
• Video: Mermaid Sighting
• Mermaid Found on Beach After Tsunami?

Mermaid Sighting Video Is Fake

Tue, 28 May 2013 20:11:42 +0000

Not everything is a mermaid that dives into the water. — Old Russian proverb

I hate to break it to you, Internet, but that blurry, one-minute video clip showing a couple of credulous dudes freaking out after seeing a mermaid slither off a rock into the deep blue sea is 100% fake, as are other "mermaid" videos circulating via social media these past few days.

The CGI-enhanced scene is from Animal Planet's new pseudo-documentary, Mermaids: The New Evidence, which premiered on Sunday. It's a sequel to last year's equally bogus Mermaids: The Body Found, which confused so many viewers with its false claims and fake footage that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had to issue a statement saying that in fact no evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.

As P.T. Barnum discovered over 150 years ago, fake mermaids sell. It remains true today.

More mer-fakery:
• Mermaid Body Found After Tsunami
• Merman / Mermaid Carcass Found on Beach