I found this recently in Lifehacker, and it ties in well with this other posting. Here goes:
How Can I Explain an Internet Hoax to Non-Techie Friends? ... When it comes to hoaxes and non-techie users, being gentle is really the wrong tactic. It's only a matter of time before they fall for something that actually harms them, by stealing their information, or something else. They need to learn, and quickly ... personally I reply all with a link to Snopes or elsewhere, explaining that it's a hoax. Then I include this line: "Every email that asks you to forward to all your friends is a hoax, or a joke by somebody that just wants to clog people's email."
Here's the original article, which was in the Superuser forum. Interesting stuff, by the way.
Good, sound advice. Personally, I get an itchy trigger finger when I get emails marked Fw:, and that finger hovers over the DELETE key. Sure, some of the Fw: stuff is funny, some is inspiring, and much of the photography that gets forwarded to me is flat-out stunning (current screen background is an airborne shot of the Blue Angels, which I got from that slush pile). I've written plenty of columns from something I got in FW: land. But any computer advice, or any rumor, or anything that may seem important -- check it out.
How Can I Explain an Internet Hoax to Non-Techie Friends? ... When it comes to hoaxes and non-techie users, being gentle is really the wrong tactic. It's only a matter of time before they fall for something that actually harms them, by stealing their information, or something else. They need to learn, and quickly ... personally I reply all with a link to Snopes or elsewhere, explaining that it's a hoax. Then I include this line: "Every email that asks you to forward to all your friends is a hoax, or a joke by somebody that just wants to clog people's email."
Here's the original article, which was in the Superuser forum. Interesting stuff, by the way.
Good, sound advice. Personally, I get an itchy trigger finger when I get emails marked Fw:, and that finger hovers over the DELETE key. Sure, some of the Fw: stuff is funny, some is inspiring, and much of the photography that gets forwarded to me is flat-out stunning (current screen background is an airborne shot of the Blue Angels, which I got from that slush pile). I've written plenty of columns from something I got in FW: land. But any computer advice, or any rumor, or anything that may seem important -- check it out.
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