Facebook Hoax: "Girl Killed Herself..."

Debunking time =')

Afternoon. Browsing Facebook. A friend's status message read:
"This Girl killed herself after her dad Posted something on her wall!http://bit.ly/fClneO"

It was followed by another status message. Same friend:
"I honestly started crying after i saw this http://bit.ly/fClneO"

Other friends followed:
This Girl killed herself after her dad Posted something on her wall!http://apps.facebook.com/sadgl
I honestly started crying after i saw this http://apps.facebook.com/sadgl

I think clicking on those links wouldn't be harmful, but if you click on their links further, that would probably be unsafe. But if you think you're safe, go ahead. I retained the links for your... pleasure?

Hoaxy, I thought:
What my friends wrote wasn't them, personality-wise, and that wasn't how any of them write their statuses.

I clicked on a link, and a Facebook page appeared, with a hyperlinked image (see screenshot below). What appeared was NOT a news story. Just screams "HOAX!" in all caps with an exclamation point (no quotes).
Actual screenshot of that hoax/scam on my end. Click to view original size (957x678).


Here are some links to my search:

Posted by at 3 comments:
Labels: ,

deviantART-ists May Get Spam

I just read an email message from deviantART, stamped 13 December 2010, 06:52pm. It states that spammers copied email addresses of deviantART members, and may have also copied usernames and birth dates, but nothing more. Below is an exact copy of the statement in the email:


Silverpop Systems, Inc.,  a leading marketing company that sends email messages for its clients, told us that information was taken from its servers.  This was probably part of a sweep by spammers.  As a result, email addresses belonging to deviantART members were copied. Corresponding usernames and birth date may also have been removed.   
We can assure you that nothing occurred on our systems with respect to this incident and no access was gained to private information on deviantART’s servers.       
As a member of deviantART, you certainly have a right to know when an incident of this kind occurs.  Unfortunately spammers are an unavoidable part of living on the Web.     
The likely result of this event might be an increase in spam to your email. Experts have told us that there is an increase in email scams out there on the Internet and you should be cautious. Only click links or download attachments from people you know, particularly if they ask for personal information, and be sure that your email service provider has adequate spam filters. 
Because we value the information that members give us, we have decided not to rely on the services of Silverpop in the future and their servers will no longer hold any data from us. 
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Facebook Toon Profile Pic Not Advocacy

... yeah.
But it's not about pedophilia either.

Weeks earlier, I saw a "call" to change our Facebook profile images to a cartoon character (that we enjoyed on TV in our childhood). It said it's a call for advocacy on protection against child abuse.
It's a scam, as I've found out. Harmless, but still a scam. Was still happy to have done it nonetheless, even after I found out it was only a joke.

A few days after I changed my profile photo (to Visionaries ='), a Facebook friend posted this profile status (or something like it): "ATTENTION! Just reported that the group that started the post about changing your profile picture to a cartoon character is actually a pedophiles group that is doing this because its easier to get accepted friend requests! Please re-post."

My FB profile image. Leoric by stratosmacca on Deviantart.com.

(Actually asked myself why children would use Facebook other than for playing games... I know of some kids who have Facebook accounts, but they only really use it for games. Sometimes they post comments. Sometimes they post photos, but none of those photos could be something that's "pedophile material". Actually a lot of those are cartoons too... Also, I don't think pedophiles could coax these children to go out for a meet-up... It's just improbable.)

So I went and Googled "scam Facebook cartoon profile", and I was surprised at how far back the scam has been around.

I won't reiterate what the many posts that are around have stated so I'll just let you browse the articles themselves.
Here are the links I visited:

Some people think it's nonsense, that it's a waste of time. Oh, come on! If we get a few people think about these important issues that we previously were unaware of or just purely ignored, then it was worth it.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

ABS-CBN Live Streaming

... because Mama and Papa are frustrated of the "auto on-off" TV.

[Thanks to YeheyTV.com]

ABS-CBN:
Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: ,

MK12's Cowboys & Aliens?

In 2007, I attended the second Graphika Manila, a multimedia (design) conference held in the Philippines.

Among the presentations was from MK12, which is a design company based in Kansas City in the U.S. They premiered the amazing and amusing video production titled "History of America" where cowboys and astronauts battled it out for... I don't remember what about.




Today, I discovered Cowboys & Aliens, a movie slated for release in 2011 (saw it on the MoviePostersDB site).



Now, I'm just wondering if "History of America" had somehow inspired Jon Favreau with the movie.

(On further research, however, I discovered that MK12 had nothing to do with it. The original Cowboys & Aliens was instead a comic book from Platinum Studios).

----------
More related links (click to view; links open in a new page):
Cowboys & Aliens on ComingSoon.net
Cowboys & Aliens official website
Graphika Manila 2007 official website
The Graphika Manila 2006 announcement on PhilMug forum
An attendee's blog and discussion after Graphika Manila 2006
Graphika Manila's 2010 website
Some "History of America" trailers, on Youtube
MK12 on Wikipedia
MK12 on Vimeo



Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)