Reality Rules Links

1.2 and 10.1 & 10.2 - Iranian Woman "Gives Birth to Frog" the original BBC story; the Urban Legends Reference Pages explanation

1.3 - Babycage.net.

1.5 and 1.7- The First Human Male Pregnancy add to "press conference" the term "web site".

2.4 and 5.1 - Pictures that Lie This gallery of images shows how digital image manipulation has made photography the least reliable medium around.

5.2 - Tourist of Death illustrates the premise that if dramatic images of major events don't exist, they will be created. Also, 1.3, people will make jokes about anything.

5.3 - Snowball the Giant Mutant Cat One of the leaders in the giant animal image category, Snowball has become the stuff of internet legend. Other giants include: Camel Spiders and Catfish

6.1 - Blondes 'to die out in 200 years' or the more malicious and dangerous version, Black Invention Myths

6.2 - Clubbo.com

7.2 - Malicious code and viruses So when you forward it on, you aren't passing information, you are actually spreading the virus itself.

7.4 - Celling Your Soul good deed emails are the ones we are least likely to check out and the most likely to forward.

9.1 - Early Science Fiction Concepts early in the twentieth century most views of the future were positive. Most views of the future today are dystopic instead. Both are likely to be equally wrong, but in what ways are unclear.

9.2 - Can you fear me now? the dark side of cell phones

10.1 and 10.2 - Onion Taken Seriously, News at 11 chronicles some of the times that the parody news The Onion has been taken as serious journalism...

10.1 and 10.3 - NEW UNDIES TURN DUDS INTO STUDS

10.4 - TV Crime Facts

10.5 - Extra! Extra! Your Guide to the Latest Investigative Work

12.1 - Amazon.com Reviews are a Farce How much time do you have to devote to reviewing products?

12.2 - BBB Code of Advertising - A long breakdown of how and the ways in which certain kinds of advertisements are acceptable, thereby implying the varieties that are not... For a more inflammatory version of some deceptive practices, check the uncited entry in Wikipedia on Fake Advertising.

12.3 - Guerilla Marketing - Marketing is not a dirty word; it's just important to recognize it for what it is.

So how can you check for validity in relation to web pages? Some quick checks - search for the page or the subject in Google and see what you find. Hoax sites are often identified here. Also check in Wikipedia. Another good source is the Urban Legends Reference Pages and The Straight Dope. The Museum of Hoaxes also can provide information about a number of current hoaxes and long-standing pranks.

Numbers refer to Reality Rules in Alex Boese's Hippo Eats Dwarf: A Field Guide to Hoaxes and Other B.S., Orlando: Harcourt Brace, 2006.

Created September 1, 2006.