Hoax Museum Blog: Technology

The Phantom Game Console — Recently a company called Infinium Labs announced that it would soon be coming out with a high-powered game console called 'Phantom' that it promises will revolutionize the gaming industry. You can check out their very slick website to find out more about the console. But rumors have began to spread suggesting that there is no Phantom Game Console, that the whole thing is a hoax. The rumors started when someone paid a visit to the company's headquarters and discovered that the headquarters consisted of nothing more than a "100ft x 100ft room with a desk and two phones." Why would anyone perpetrate a hoax like this? One theory is that it's all a publicity stunt put together by Advanced Studios, LLC, the graphic design company that put together Infinium's really slick website. Of course, Infinium is loudly insisting that the Phantom Game Console is real, and a few journalists claim to have seen working prototypes of the console. So we'll have to stay tuned to see how this plays out.

Fake Friendsters — There's been not one, but two articles in the past few days about the phenomenon of Fake Friendsters. Apparently many people using the new online service Friendster — a service that allows you to meet new people by making connections with the friends of your friends — have been creating fake identities, identities such as God, Giant Squid, or Jackalope. Friendster is fighting back by trying to delete all the fakes. Of course, this is like fighting the tide. Just ask any postmodernist and they'll tell you that the concept of identity is itself inherently illusory. So to insist that only 'real' identities are allowed on the service is absurd. Personally, if I were to create an account on Friendster, I'd want all of my friends to be fake.

Defacers Challenge — I haven't yet heard of any websites being defaced as part of today's Defacers' Challenge. Perhaps it was a hoax after all.

The Hacker Challenge — A hacker website (defacers-challenge.com... it no longer appeares to be active) announces a contest to see who can deface the most websites this Sunday, July 6. Authorities suspect the whole thing may be a hoax.

Powergen Italia — Over the past two weeks a lot of attention has been paid to a website whose name could be read in two ways: http://www.powergenitalia.com. Think about it. Powergen Italia, or... Anyway, I didn't link to it here at first, believing it was a legitimate company that didn't realize how its name could be misread. Turns out I was wrong. According to an article in The Register, the site is a spoof. The real company named Powergen denies having an Italian division named Powergen Italia. Someone must have created the site for a laugh. Perhaps a disgruntled Powergen employee. Some other website names that can be read in two ways are WhoRepresents.com (Whore Presents) and IPanywhere.com. (via Vowe.net)

Usability Limited — Is this a hoax website? — Usability Limited: The user interface design specialists. (vis Bifurcated Rivets)

Mainline Airways — Mainline Airways was attracting lots of customers by offering super-low fares to Hawaii. But it turns out there was no Mainline Airways. Only a website created by a teenager.

P4 Laptop — Apple introduces the P4 Laptop in order to compete with Microsoft's iLoo.

iLoo Not a Hoax — Oops! Microsoft now says that the iLoo was not a hoax, just a bad idea. But why should we believe this latest version of the story? Personally I think they'd have been better off leaving it as a hoax.

Microsoft iLoo Diagram — Here's a diagram of the iLoo.

Microsoft iLoo — Microsoft says that the iLoo (the internet toilet) was just a hoax.

Kevin Mitnick — Red Herring reviews Kevin Mitnick's new book, The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security, in which he details the art of the con during the internet era.

RIAA Hacked — Yesterday the website of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was hacked and temporarily replaced by a hoax website designed to look like the official one, but actually featuring various subversive links such as "Where can I find information on giant monkeys?" and "Piracy can be beneficial to the music industry." It also offered a free download of Linkin Park's album Reanimation, was headlined "RIAA against music sharing? Not Anymore!" and apologized for the "heavy-handed manner" in which the RIAA had earlier tried to shut down Listen4ever.com.

Ayleeorgnet — Hoax Website: www.ayleeorgnet.com. It looks like the homepage of a web design corporation, but it's not. A reader explains what it is:

This is a hoax site related to the comic strip at www.sluggy.com. There was an evil web design corporation in the strips for the last few months of this name. There's never been an actual link to the site, but they've mentioned it in the strip several times, and the website is set up just like it would be in the strip. The photo of the receptionist looks just like Gwynn, the cartoon character who was the receptionist. The other title page picture of a ferret is another allusion to the strip, where a ferret is a main character. The joke of the strip is that Aylee, an alien (long story) who runs the webdesign company tends to eat people. You can find various jokes about that on the website as well.

Aug 2002: Top computer hoaxes — The top ten computer viruses and hoaxes reported to Sophos in July.

Online Liars — Using technology to get around the problem of people lying online. From the NY Times (reg. req.). Researchers estimate that 42% of online responses are currently false.

Your Digital Buddy Pirate — On the subject of Digital Buddies (see below) here's a website where your online digital buddy can be a member of an LA street gang. His name is Pirate. Ask him whatever you want. You even get to see him type his reply.

Digital Buddies — Digital Buddies are fake friends who will sell you products online. They chat and make jokes, but they're just computer programs. From the LA Times (requires reg.).

Hacking is most often an inside job — Interesting article in the Daily Telegraph about computer hacking (requires registration), following last week's hacker conference in NYC. Quotes an expert who suggests that the majority of hacking directed against companies actually stems from insiders within the companies themselves.

USA Today Hacked — Hackers broke into USA Today's web site and replaced the real news with fake stories. One of the hoax stories was that the Vatican had declared the Bible to be an April Fool's joke.