hoax

Video of child-snatching eagle an animation-student fake

Alas for those excited by a video seemingly showing an eagle's unsuccessful attempt to carry off a child: it's not real.

"A shadow analysis revealed some pretty severe inconsistencies," said Kevin Connor, president of Fourandsix, an imaging forensics specialist. "It appears to be a fake."

Just as Fourandsix was digging into the matter, a Montreal school said animation students were behind the video. It "was made by Normand Archambault, Loic Mireault, and Felix Marquis-Poulin, students at Centre NAD, in the production simulation workshop class of the Bachelors degree in 3D Animation and Digital Design," a statement from the center said. "Hoaxes produced in this class have already garnered attention, amongst others a video of a penguin having escaped the Montreal Biodome." … Read more

Facebook Powerball hoaxer is software engineer, report says

You have probably barely slept for wondering what kind of sniveling snail would put their picture up on Facebook with a fake winning Powerball ticket.

Or you have probably barely slept for wondering what kind of saintly sort would ask people to share on Facebook his picture with a winning Powerball ticket and offer $1 million to a random sharer.

Either way, the excitement generated by Nolan Daniels has been heated and profound -- especially as more than 2 million people have now shared in the experience.

Now, it seems, we know which Nolan Daniels he is.

The Savannah Morning … Read more

The 404 1,123: Where a storm is coming (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- McDonalds to open first vegetarian restaurant.

- Hoax alert: Bruce Willis fights for the right to bequeath his iTunes library.

- How classic games got their names (hat tip to Corey).

- Is this new Prince Harry game using Jeff's likeness?

Episode 1,123 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

The 404 1,120: Where we pay you in nickels (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- 51 percent of people believe stormy weather can interfere with cloud computing.

- No, Samsung did not try to pay Apple its $1 billion fine in nickels.

- Apple's AirPlay might soon work without Wi-Fi.

- Stop douching your noses, people.… Read more

Seen that privacy chain letter on Facebook? Ignore it

If you've been on Facebook this week, you may have seen a status update now making the rounds that purports to explain how to safeguard your privacy on the service. Which sounds great, but for one thing: It's pretty much bogus.

In fact, you're much better off just ignoring this latter-day chain letter (see the full thing below) and voting on Facebook's proposed changes to its real privacy policy instead.

The gist of this chain message is unless you post a disclaimer specifying that you forbid organizations and other people from using your Facebook updates, pictures … Read more

Facebook was Abraham Lincoln's idea? Oh, please

So today we were asked to imagine the case of Abraham Lincoln (and his heirs) against Mark Zuckerberg.

For the Web was taken by the idea that President Lincoln had once tried to patent an idea that was very similar to Facebook.

Lincoln was neither so half-witted, nor so trivial to wonder what his neighbor's dog had eaten for dinner.

The Lincoln Museum's spokesman, Dave Blanchette, told me very bluntly: "It is a complete but clever hoax."

Earlier, many like the Next Web got excited over the discovery by self-styled builder of things Nate St. Pierre … Read more

Flying Dutchman is Lying Dutchman in elaborate hoax

Curse you fake birdman! Just when it seemed like we humans might get to spread our wings and fly, it turns out the whole shebang -- videos, plans, everything -- was part of an elaborate plan/scam/hoax by filmmaker Floris Kaayk.

I wrote earlier in the week about the footage produced by Dutch mechanical engineer Jarno Smeets that looked real, if questionable, and has now been disproved and admitted as a very disappointing hoax. As Kaayk put it on his Web site:

Today, I revealed my latest project on Dutch prime-time TV show 'De wereld draait door.' In the … Read more

Facebook is still free, so stop with that silly rumor

It happens every so often; a rumor starts somewhere in cyberspace and people pass it around as if it's true, like they really believe it. With all of the Facebook chatter over changes that have just been implemented--a new News Feed and Ticker--as well as upcoming changes announced at Facebook's f8 developer's conference, Facebook users can't help but join in the conversation.

From members posting about how they welcome the upgrades to many threatening to flee the social network because they liked Facebook sans updates, another Facebook tale started to make the rounds this … Read more

The 404 911: Where we put our ear to the cloud (podcast)

Welcome to the bigger and beefier 404 Podcast! With Buzz Out Loud going weekly, we're taking the reins and reporting all the daily tech news headlines in addition all the discussion topics, voice mails, and jokes at Wilson's expense you've come to expect from our show.

We're also superexcited to have SoundCloud CEO Alexander Ljung in the studio for the second part of today's episode. SoundCloud.com is a music-streaming service that allows anyone to upload and share music across multiple platforms--blogs, direct links, and even cross-platform properties like Outloud.fm and Headliner.fm.

Alexander tells us all about how the company started with just a few musicians playing songs for one another, then slowly grew into a service with over 5 million active users uploading, playing, and sharing music. We'll also talk to him about SoundCloud's partnership with Facebook announced last week at the company's F8 Developers Conference, and what you can expect from the Web service in the coming months.

Stay tuned after the break for more discussion topics about this weekend's Facebook paid-services hoax, more Facebook privacy flaws, and more!

The 404 Digest for Episode 911

Amazon is set to announce a tablet on Wednesday. Amazon Instant adds FOX movies and TV shows. Netflix gets DreamWorks movies. More Motorola Xoom 2 leaks: Two models? Apple slashes fourth-quarter iPad orders, report says. Yes, Google Drive is coming. For real this time. Hoax! Fake Facebook fees. "Read" in Facebook--it's not a button, so be careful what you click! SoundCloud opens its first U.S. office in San Francisco. Outloud.fm lets you share tracks from SoundCloud. Follow Alexander Ljung on Twitter. Bathroom-break videos of the day: Boston Terrier dog likes his belly tickled and a cat's first day of exercise.

Episode 911 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 901: Where the world ain't all sunshine and rainbows (podcast)

Remember the "Tourist Guy" meme that popped up on the Internet after the attack on September 11? After 10 years, we finally have a name of the guy who started the hoax--35-year-old Hungarian Peter Guzli visited the World Trade Center back in 1997 and Photoshopped himself in front of the oncoming plane, fooling a lot of people into believing his lie.

On today's 404 Podcast, we'll explain all of that and dig into some tech stories that surfaced this weekend, like the NBC Twitter page hack on Friday, video game manufacturers getting huge tax breaks, and a study that claims "Spongebob Squarepants" may be dangerous to your children's mental development.

The 404 Digest for Episode 901

NBC News Twitter hacked! Hungarian apologizes for 9/11 hoax. Rich tax breaks bolster makers of video games. Science says Spongebob is killing your kids' brains. Video Voice Mail: Alessandro and his wife brushing their teeth in bed! Video Voice Mail: Kokesh will do anything to get on the air! Justin's Daily Bathroom Entertainment: Tickling a camel.

Episode 901 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more