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19 Oct 2009 01:52

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Tech: Think you have a solid antivirus on your PC? Double-check, bro.

  • Lots of times, in fact they’re a conduit for attackers to take over your machine. They’ll take your credit card information, any personal information you’ve entered there and they’ve got your machine.
  • Symantec’s Vice President for Security Response Vincent Weafer • Describing the nefarious ways that fake antivirus software works. Weafer says that there were as many as 43 million attempted downloads of realistic-sounding antivirus software with names like “Antivirus 2010” and “SpywareGuard 2008.” But they’re really just vectors to take over you computer. Even worse, Weafer notes that there was an affiliate program for middlemen who wanted to earn as much as 55 cents for each PC they infected. The top affiliates were bringing in hundreds of thousands each month through early Conficker virus server TrafficConverter.biz. • source

18 Sep 2009 22:33

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Offbeat: The most believable congregation in history doesn’t congregate

  • The Calvary Nudist Baptist Church isn’t real. Mark Johnson, how could you lie to us! Your referencing of biblical passages to promote the idea of free-flowing nudity in church services was funny, and we believed it was real (in the way that one believes the tooth fairy is real). So, Tyler, Texas, your claim to fame remains … being known as the “Rose Capital of America.” But you could have been so much more … naked. (Thanks to Darren Benson for the protip.) source

15 Sep 2009 09:59

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Offbeat: How not to get of of showing your parents a bad report card

  • A kid in Huntsville, Ala., had a terrible-looking report card. He totally freaked out, just like we did when we were 11 and slacked our way through the fifth grade. source
  • To hide the report card, he faked his own kidnapping, saying a man in a beat-up car grabbed him. Now it’s a news story. Good job not hiding the report card, kid. source

31 Aug 2009 21:59

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Culture: This Michael Jackson coroner van video genuinely fooled us. Not.

21 Jul 2009 23:52

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U.S.: This photo the New York Times ran on Sunday was, sadly, real

This photo freaked a lot of people out. Some, angry it might have been faked. Some, angry it could be real. (As it turns out, the second group guessed right.) source

11 Jun 2009 21:52

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U.S.: Meet the d-bag who pretended to be a war-hardened marine

  • Hopefully the people that I hurt can in some way gain closure from that, and I myself don’t know what I can do short of leaving them alone and not being in their lives, to make that happen.
  • Richard Strandlof • Who, under the moniker Rick Duncan, claimed he was in the Pentagon on 9/11, survived a roadside bomb attack in Iraq, started a political lobbying group in Colorado, and – finally – got nailed on a minor traffic charge, which unraveled the whole stack of lies. He claims he suffers from an underdiagnosed mental illness. What’s it called, Richard? Liegnosis? • source

27 Apr 2009 21:19

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Tech, World: In China, the iPhone knockoffs are as good as the real thing

It’s brilliant. It’s perfect. It’s counterfeit. And the faux-cell-phone industry is booming. source
 

20 Apr 2009 10:49

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Offbeat: This waiter is a regular Frank Abagnale. Catch him if you can.

  • $186 collected in tips by the fake waiter. Genius. source

19 Mar 2009 10:16

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World: Correction on German school shooting

  • The online transcripts were fake. The shooting, which we most recently reported on last night, initially centered around an online chat that the shooter, Tim Kretschmer, allegedly had with a friend the night before. This was fabricated by someone on the Internet. We apologize for the inconvenience. source