Money from Microsoft Giveaway Hoax

Summary:
Email claims that Bill Gates of Microsoft is "sharing his fortune" with those who forward the email to others (Full commentary below.)

Status:
False

Example:(Submitted, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Here something that you might want to read it was on the news .
Subject: FW: PLEEEEEASE READ!!!! It was on the news!

Dear friends,
Something to share with all of u. Would u believe if this is true? Read on..... For those who need money badly and this is one opportunity to try it! I'm an attorney, and I know the law. This thing is for real. Rest assured AOL and Intel will follow through with their promises for fear of facing a multimillion-dollar class action suit similar to the one filed by PepsiCo against General Electric not too long ago.

Dear Friends,
Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this you will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test. When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (if you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period. For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00, for every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a cheque.
Regards.
Charles S. Bailey
General Manager Field Operations
[CONTACT DETAILS REMOVED]

I thought this was a scam myself, but two weeks after receiving this e-mail and forwarding it on, Microsoft contacted me for my address and within days, I received a cheque for US$24,800.00. You need to respond before the beta testing is over. If anyone can afford this Bill Gates is the man. It's all marketing expense to him. Please forward this to as many people as possible. You are bound to get at least US$10,000.00.

We're not going to help them out with their e-mail beta test without getting a little something for our time. My brother's girlfriend got in on this a few months ago. When I went to visit him for the Baylor/UT game. She showed me her check. It was for the sum of $4,324.44 and was stamped "Paid In Full".

Like I said before, I know the law, and this is for real Intel and AOL are now discussing a merger which would make them the largest Internet company and in an effort make sure that AOL remains the most widely used program, Intel and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.

Source: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/ms-money-giveway-hoax.html

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Dell Inspiron Mini - The Perfect Small Laptop for Cloud Computing ? from Digital Inspiration

Cooking an Egg with Mobile Phones

Summary:
Message claims that an egg can be cooked by placing it between two active mobile (cell) phones.

Status:
False

Example:(Submitted, June 2007)

We need:

One egg and 2 mobiles
65 minutes to call from one phone to the other
Set up something like in the graphic

We'll initiate the call between the mobiles to last for 65 min's approximately;
Nothing will happen on the first 15 minutes...

After 25 minutes the egg starts warming up, after 45 min's;
The egg is already hot; and after 65 min's the egg is cooked


Conclusion:
If the microwave radiation emitted by the mobiles is capable to modify the proteins in the egg. Imagine what it can do with the proteins in our brains when we talk through the mobiles.

Photo credits: Komsomolskaya Pravda

Commentary:
According to this message it is possible to cook an egg by placing it in between two call-connected mobile (cell) phones. Versions of the message have been circulating via email, blogs and online forums since at least 2006. The version discussed here typically travels as a Microsoft Word email attachment, complete with photographs.

The information in the message is untrue. An article that detailed how to cook an egg with mobile phones was first published on the Wymsey Village website in 2000, supposedly by Suzzanna Decantworthy and Sean McCleanaugh. However, the article was a hoax and the names of the writers were made up. The creator of Wymsey Village Web, Charlie Ivermee, eventually admitted to Gelf Magazine in 2006 that he was the real author of the prank article. He explains that, back in the year 2000, he decided to "add to the silliness" surrounding mobile phone health concerns by penning the piece. He explained to Gelf that he "really underestimated how many people would take it seriously".

During 2006, two Russian journalists, Vladimir Lagovski and Andrei Moiseynko, gave the hoax a whole new life when they claimed to have cooked an egg in around 65 minutes using two mobile phones. Ivermee's original hoax article was apparently the inspiration for the experiment. An article discussing the experiment was featured in Russian publication, Komsomolskaya Pravda. The photographs and text in many of the circulating versions of the story are derived from this Russian article. However, the results of the Russian experiment have never been substantiated and are highly questionable. Others who have tried the same experiment have failed to even warm the egg, let alone actually cook it. The Three Wise Men website details an experiment in which three mobile phones, and several other devices that emit radiation were all combined in an egg cooking attempt that turned out to be a dismal failure. Freelance food writer Paul Adams also attempted the experiment and subsequently wrote about it in a New York Times article. He told National Public Radio (NPR) that, although he left an egg between two cell phones for around an hour and a half, the egg did not cook. Moreover, UK television science show, Brainiac, tried the experiment with no less than 100 mobile phones, but, again, the egg did not cook.

Most commentators agree that two mobile phones simply could not emit enough energy to actually cook an egg. An article debunking the hoax on the Mobile Manufacturers Forum website notes:

[T]he claim that RF energy from two mobile phones can cook an egg in 60 minutes cannot be true as it is impossible for the egg's temperature to rise to a level that will cook the egg. We can demonstrate this as follows: even if you assume that each mobile phone is emitting RF energy at its maximum average power of 0.25 W (based on a peak power of 2 W per phone) for 60 minutes; and even if the total power (2 X 0.25 W = 0.5 W) of both phones was completely absorbed by the egg (assuming it weighs 50 g), then the result would be a maximum temperature rise after 60 minutes of only 13 C. Even if the egg was at room temperature before starting the experiment, the result would still be far below the temperature actually needed to cook an egg (which is approx. 65- 70 C).

In reality, an egg placed between two phones would have a much lower temperature rise because the egg is not thermally insulated and it would only absorb a small portion of the energy emitted.

So, although this story has spread far and wide, and some of the sites on which it has been published still claim it to be true, in reality, it has no basis in fact. You cannot cook an egg with a pair of mobile phones.

Google AdWords Phishing Scam

 

Summary:
Email purporting to be from Google AdWords claims that the recipient's Google ads will be suspended unless payment information is updated (Full commentary below).

Status:
False

Example:(Submitted, July 2008)

Subject: Your payment didn't succeed, so your ads have been suspended.

Dear Advertiser,

We were unable to process your payment.
Your ads will be suspended soon unless we can process your payment. To prevent your ads from being suspended, please update your payment information.

Please sign in to your account at [Link Removed],
and update your payment information.

We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available.
Thank you for advertising with Google AdWords.

The Google AdWords Team

Commentary:
This unsolicited email claims to be from Google AdWords. Google AdWords provide an easy method for people to place advertisements on the Google network via an online submission system. According to the message, the recipient's payment for ads was unsuccessful and current ads will be suspended if payment details are not quickly updated. The email instructs the recipient to click a link to sign in to his or her AdWords account and update payment information.

However, the email is not from Google AdWords and is designed to steal personal and financial information from AdWords customers. To further the illusion of legitimacy, the email is disguised so that it appears to originate from a genuine Google AdWords email address. A victim who clicks the link in the scam email will be taken to a fake login web page that is almost identical in appearance to the genuine Google AdWords login. If the victim "logs in" on the bogus webpage he or she will then be taken to a fraudulent web form like the one shown in the following screenshot. The form requests credit card names and numbers as well as address details and other personal information:

 

Any information submitted via this fake web form and the initial bogus login page can be collected by the criminals responsible for the scam and subsequently used for credit card fraud and identity theft. Google Adwords has warned customers about these phishing scam attempts on its website. Other versions of the scam may inform users that an ad has been disapproved or that they must update account details or accept new terms and conditions before proceeding.

Internet users should be cautious of any unsolicited email that requests the recipient to provide personal and financial information. Google and other reputable companies will not request such sensitive information via an unsolicited email.

Read more information about phishing scams

References:
What do I do if I receive a suspicious email claiming to be from AdWords?
Beware email scam trying to get your adwords account details

TWO MOONS on 27th August ...

Example of the Email

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of - 2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye .

Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest , Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Share this with your children and grandchildren.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN


The Reality

Commentary:
An email that has circulated during July and August for several years is again hitting inboxes in 2007. The message informs recipients that the planet Mars will be passing very close to Earth in August. While this information was valid back in 2003, it is totally inaccurate for 2007.

The year is not specifically mentioned in the message and a great many recipients therefore assume that the message refers to August, 2007. Another version of the message is circulating via SMS. Virtually identical (and equally misleading) messages were circulating back in July and August 2005 and again in July and August 2006. The events outlined in the message were more or less true back in 2003 although they were a little hyped even then. According to NASA, on August 27, 2003, Earth and Mars were the closest they have been for around 60,000 years. Mars was indeed a spectacular site in the night sky during several months of 2003.

However, this fact is not quite as earth shattering as you might think. A 2003 NASA article on the subject explains that:

Much has been made of the fact that the August 27th encounter with Mars is the closest in some 60,000 years. Neanderthals were the last to observe Mars so favorably placed. This is true. It's also a bit of hype. Mars and Earth have been almost this close many times in recent history.

In spite of the claims in the 2006 incarnation of the message, Mars was a far less than "spectacular" sight in the night sky. For much of 2006, it was on the far side of the sun from the Earth and was quite inconspicuous during July and August.

And, during July and August 2007, the view of Mars will again be far less than spectacular. Mars will make its closest approach to Earth in December 2007, but, even then, it will not be particularly bright. The SEDS website notes:

Mars will come into its Opposition on December 24, 2007 in constellation Gemini. Six days earlier, on December 18, 2007, the planet will have come to its closes distance to Earth during this apparation: 88.42 million km (55 million miles, or 0.58935 AU). This is not very close, as Mars will be quite close to its aphelion at the time of this opposition. As usual, this approach will offer another opportunity to launch spacecraft to the red planet: Nasa intends to send the Mars lander Phoenix.

The planet will be situated far north: At a northern declination of +26:46 at opposition time, Northern hemisphere observers will find it high in their meridian, and Southerners will find it low in the North. In this rather aphelic opposition, the planet will become only as bright as mag -1.64, and of diameter 15.88 arc seconds around that time.

At around 88 million kilometers, Mars will be a lot further away from Earth this year than it was back in 2003 when the distance between the planets was only around 56 million kilometers.

This message seems set to keep resurfacing every year and duping a whole new set of recipients into gazing rather fruitlessly at the night sky. But don't despair! Close encounters with Mars are not such uncommon events. The claim that "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN!" is misleading. It is true that the next time Mars will be as close to Earth as it was in 2003 will be on August 28, 2287. In the mean time however, there will be plenty of other close approaches, so our children and our children's children are not likely to miss out altogether.

Perhaps by 2287 some of our descendants will be observing the close encounter from the Martian perspective.

A slightly different version of the hoax email:

Subject: 2 MOONS ON 27 AUGUST 2007

27th August 2007, a Monday the Whole World is waiting for.............2 moons on 27th August 2007

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27, 2007 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons.

The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.

Source http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html