Departments  Info    Home Page    Articles    Software Goodies  Explanations    How do they do that?    The Web in Focus  Resources    Web Site Stuff    Tech Books    E-Books    Tech Toys    Web Hosting    Links  Women    Opinion    Tech Women    Women's Studies  Tech News    Computer Security    Databases    Java    Linux    MP3    PC Software    Robotics    Site Owner    Tech Latest    Web Development    XML  Spread the Word    Newsletter    Recommend this Page  Site Info    Legal Disclaimer    Privacy    Contact  Lighter Side    Crazy for Life    crazy for romance    Crazy for Kitties    Crazy for Dogs    Crazy for Cows Copyright 2000-2001, hertechnology.com

The Web in Focus More Internet Hoaxes 2. Good luck letters. I wonder if there have been these good luck letters as long as there have been letters. (Please chisel this message in 10 stones and send to your 10 best friends...) These emails play on that little superstitious imp that lives in all of us. They inevitably say "John Smith broke the chain and the next day he got run over by a herd of camels. But Sally Guillable sent this letter to her 60 closest friends and a week later won 100 trillion dollars." These statements are just logically ridiculous. First of all, who noticed that John Smith got the letter, broke the chain, then got run over -- and even more important -- tracked down all the chain letters and updated them to tell us this piece of news! Certainly when the original writer wrote the letter he/she didn't know that John Smith broke the chain and got run over. If the writer can predict the future that well, he/she should give up writing letters and start a Psychic network! Another type of email hoax is the virus hoax. Because the threat of viruses is real, these letters are particularly annoying. Everyone wants to warn their friends about a potential virus. Even if someone suspects the email is a hoax, he/she thinks it is better to be safe than sorry, so off goes the email to 20 people, who send it to another 20, who send it... Interestingly, these virus hoaxes tend to sound alike. The writers of these emails must not have much creativity! This particular hoax is a variation of a hoax that has been around since at least 1994. OFFICIAL IBM [Must use an important company name to make it official. Throw in the word "official" just in case we don't get it.] VIRUS WARNING. PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE YOU HAVE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR.[Here it is, the hallmark: forward to everyone you know!!] ***** THIS IS NO JOKE - PAY ATTENTION: ******** [Allay our suspicions by declaring this is not a joke.] If you receive an email titled "Lets watch TV" [This name has been changed, but the rest of the email reads like the text from several other virus hoaxes.] DO NOT OPEN IT. It will erase everything on your hard drive. This information was announced yesterday morning from IBM; AOL [Another important company, just in case we weren't impressed with IBM.] states that "KALI" is a very dangerous virus, much worse than "Melissa," [The virus is always much worse than a real virus that has just made the rounds.] and that there is NO remedy for it at this time. Some very sick individual has succeeded in using the reformat function from Norton Utilities causing it to completely erase all documents on the hard drive. It has been designed to work with Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. It destroys Macintosh and IBM compatible computers. [Heck, why not just say "destroys civilization as we know it"?] This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it. Pass this warning along to EVERYONE [Don't leave anyone out!] in your address book and please share it with all your online friends ASAP so that this threat may be stopped. Please practice cautionary measures [Actually, practicing cautionary measures is a GOOD piece of advice! In this case, the caution is to not believe everything you read.] and tell anyone that may have access to your computer. Forward this warning to everyone that might access the Internet. [Again, the hoaxster just keeps telling us to FORWARD THIS LETTER!!!] But wait, there's more... Page 3

Tech Books Tech Toys More News   Want to bookmark this site? Press Control-D. (Hold down the control key and the letter D at the same time.)