ShortFormBloghoaxes Archives

yeah, We were surprised, too. Canadian firm ApTiquant recently reported that Internet Explorer users had lower IQ scores than users of other browsers — a study which, by the way, got picked up by a ton of news outlets. Turns out their entire study was completely fabricated (and the firm didn’t even exist until recently). When the BBC asked Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University’s Statistical Laboratory for his opinion, he said “these figures are implausibly low — and an insult to IE users.” Some people are willing to do anything to get IE users to upgrade — and we don’t blame ’em. source

Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

I say shame on you!!! There are bloggers in Syria who are trying as hard as they can to report news and stories from the country. We have to deal with more difficulties than you can imagine. What you have done has harmed many, put us all in danger, and made us fearful about (pursuing) our…activism. Your apology is not accepted, since I have myself started to investigate Amina’s arrest. I could have put myself in a grave danger inquiring about a fictitious figure.
GayMiddleEast Damascus blogger Sami Hamwi (who works under a pseudonym) • Expressing rage over the finding that the blogger behind “A Gay Girl in Damascus” was actually a middle-aged dude from the States. Tom MacMaster says that he used the pseudonym to focus the attention not on the person writing the blog, but on the information itself. Good to see that one worked out for you. Now you’ve instilled doubt into every true story that’s out there. Nobody would’ve been upset had you admitted you were just a middle-aged white guy who felt the political situation in Syria was worth keeping an eye on. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

The money from the winning bid goes to Japan. Buy it outright for $1 million. Want to help the people of Japan and own an insane piece of swag in one fell swoop? Get a hold of our boy Richard Heene, who is selling the balloon he falsely claimed his son Falcon was flying from. Now that the hoax is long-forgotten, the Heene family apparently wants to help out the people of Japan — so all net proceeds go to that. In case you’re wondering if this is a scam, the site where said balloon is being sold claims otherwise: “The winning bidder’s funds will go directly into the Trust Account of Attorney Perry H. Rausher of Calabasas, California. Mr. Rausher will then write a check to a selected charitable organization that is helping the Japanese cause. The Heene family will not receive anything from the sale.” Alright, who wants to start a Kickstarter project to turn this thing into a killer Flaming Lips stage prop? (via Cheat Sheet) source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

I never intended to become part of the story. But things suddenly took a very strange turn.
CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau • On nearly getting punked by @(&#(&!) (@&!(!( James O’Keefe. O’Keefe apparently wanted to meet the reporter, alone, and pretend to hit on her in an overtly sexual way in a room complete with props (“condom jar, dildos, posters and paintings of naked women, fuzzy handcuffs”), then tape the whole thing for a hit piece. Boudreau was doing a piece on O’Keefe and other conservative activists, by the way. Is it us, or did this guy get lucky once (with completely inaccurate information) and is now just a piece of scum on the American culture? Seriously, James. Go away. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

anyone fooled by this needs to try harder. Jenny, the employee who quit her job via dry-erase board, was proven to be a hoax today. But then again, it did fool some people. We’re actually not disappointed. Anyone who looked at those photos would wonder why the quality of them was basically perfect, like they had been shot in a studio. Because they had been. This hoax flew through the Internet in a matter of hours, which leaves a lot of questions about both the girl (real name: Elyse “I’m freaking famous now” Porterfield) and the traffic she drew. So, let’s throw out some numbers.

20 girls applied to an ad looking for an actress for the role; Elyse was the obvious choice
two the number of hours the photo shoot took – half of which was spent on waiting for a battery to charge

» How has it worked out for Elyse? Well … her Facebook fan page is brimming with new fans. Like, 4,100 or so. While she claims to have gotten more marriage proposals than job offers, she did get a few of those, too. She should do a commercial with the Old Spice Guy. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

03 Aug 2011 20:28