Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 14:03:06 -0500
From: crispen@NETSQUIRREL.COM
Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
To: TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Subject: TOURBUS EXTRA -- 29 JUNE 1998 -- MORE URBAN LEGEND STUFF
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| Dive, dived, diving. Not dove for past tense. | | |
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\___/ \___/ T h e I n t e r n e t T o u r B u s \___/
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP: EXTRA URBAN LEGEND STUFF
For those of you who have been following my GBA 490 saga, here is a
little update. I just got back my report on my recommendations
regarding Merrill Lynch's potential entry into the electronic
brokerage industry (my recommendation was Merrill shouldn't do it --
yet -- because Merrill's corporate vision clashes with the needs of
the online investing community). My grade? 48 ... out of 100.
That's okay, though. 73% of my class failed. [I *TOLD* you this
class was tough!]
On to brighter topics. I will try to add some more stuff to the
TOURBUS Urban Legend Combat Kit later this week. In the interim, here
is a quick look at the truth behind some of the stories that have been
floating around the Net recently:
STORY: Email messages with the subject line WIN A HOLIDAY
contain a virus.
TRUTH: Not true. You can't get a virus from an email message,
regardless of its subject line. For more information,
see http://www.stiller.com/holiday.htm
STORY: Email messages with the subject line RETURNED MAIL or
UNABLE TO DELIVER contain a virus.
TRUTH: Not true. You can't get a virus from an email message,
regardless of its subject line. For more info, see
http://www.av.ibm.com/BreakingNews/HypeAlert/Returned/
STORY: Dialing 9-0-# lets people charge calls to your phone.
TRUTH: Sort of. It only affects business telephone users who
have to dial 9 to get an outside line and who, once they
have an outside line, have no restrictions on where they
can call. This does not affect home telephone users, or
business users who can't make unrestricted calls. See
http://www.tourbus.com/archive/tb021298.txt
STORY: The Bud Frogs screen saver contains a virus.
TRUTH: Not true, but it could be. Because the Bud Frogs screen
saver is an executable file, it *COULD* contain a virus
or a Trojan horse, although none have been found.
Solution? Virus check every executable file you
download from the Net. For more information, see
http://www.av.ibm.com/BreakingNews/HypeAlert/BudFrogs/
STORY: The file "BUDDYLIST.ZIP" contains a virus and will steal
your AOL screen name and password.
TRUTH: Not true, and the AOL stuff is pretty unlikely as well.
Simply downloading a ZIP file will not cause any damage
to your computer, but you should always virus check
every file you download from the Net before you execute
the file. For more information, see
http://www.nai.com/services/support/hoax/buddylst.asp
STORY: AOL is taking away Instant Messages.
TRUTH. Not true. In fact, this hoax is silly.
STORY: AOL "Blinking Buddy Invites" are Trojan horses that will
steal your password.
TRUTH. Not true. For more information, see
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/weekly/
aa031898.htm.
STORY: NPR and PBS are in risk of being eliminated by Congress.
TRUTH: Not true. For more information, see
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/weekly/
aa052798.htm
STORY: Patrick Crispen is actually going to graduate sometime
this century.
TRUTH: Not after receiving a 48% on a paper that makes up 15%
of my GBA 490 grade. :(
By the way, for a complete list of pretty much every Internet hoax
there is, visit
http://kumite.com/myths/myths/
That's it for this extra post. Be looking for a regular TOURBUS post
from me (the one I was supposed to send out last Thursday) in a couple
of hours, and I'll try to send out my missing Plus Bus post either
later tonight or tomorrow afternoon. :)
--------------------------------
TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE DAY
--------------------------------
MAY-UH-REE (Noun). A woman's name. (Say quickly).
LAY-UMB (Noun). A wooly mammal.
Usage: "May-uh-ree had a little lay-umb."
[Special thanks goes to me for today's wurd]
You can find all of the old Southern Words of the day at
http://netsquirrel.com/crispen/word.html
=--------------------------------------------------------------------=
For info on my book "Atlas for the Information Superhighway"
Visit http://www.brigadoon.com/~crispen/atlas.html
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(\__/) .' ) )) Patrick Douglas Crispen
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