Re: viruses, hoaxes, etc

[Johanna Halbeisen Woodland ES <jhalbei@k12.oit.umass.edu>]

Here's two good web sites to check when you get sent something that sounds
horrifying and/or fantastic.  Includes horrible computer virus messages
which are being dubbed viruses themselves as they eat up space on many
computers and time in reading and sending (and worrying).

This one is an archive of urban legends, mostly spotted on the internet.
        www.urbanlegends.com

This one is THE place to check if you get a virus scare.  Do everyone a
favor and check this page before you send it on.  This is a govt agency to
track down viruses, but as they say on their page, they spend far more time
debunking virus hoaxes.
        ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html

Both of these make for fun reading too.

I investigated these after getting the Stollen Kidney story.  I found a log
of sightings of the story and a discussion of what details where added when.
Some people make a hobby of tracking this kind of stuff.  When will we see
this stuff in the 398.2 section of the library??

Oh, yes, please note that any virus warning that claims that reading an
email message will have dire consequences (other than vast amounts of wasted
time) IS A HOAX.  E-mail is ascii characters and cannot carry a virus.
--
Johanna Halbeisen
Woodland Elementary School(K-4)
Southwick, Mass
jhalbei@k12.oit.umass.edu

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