ANST - [Fwd: (no subject)] (Needle hoax revisited)

[Michael Tucker]

Siiiiigggghhhhh....

Thank you for sharing your concern with us, but the "infected needle" hoax is
just that, a hoax. Like almost every other hoax floating around, it is designed
to prey on your fears, but includes no real verifiable information. Good People,
the next time you read something like this, ask yourself: If this is true, why
aren't they making a big deal about it in the news? If this is true, where in
the story is something I could check up on to verify the story? (For example,
*real* computer virus alerts come with a reference to the government's Internet
Advisory Council; *real* government legislation alerts come with a reference to
the *specific* House subcomittee and bill being considered; etc.) If it sounds
scary, but you haven't heard anything about it in the news, and there's no way
you could pick up the phone (or go to the Internet) and verify the story, it is
almost *certainly* a hoax.

Please, before you blast a copy to the hundreds (thousands?) of people who read
this list, make an attempt to verify the story.

As Pug put it just a few days ago, the LAST time somebody posted an "urgent!
read this!" hoax to this list:

> If you would like some good starting points for Virus, Hoax, and other
> related items, please check out:
> 
> http://ciac.llnl.gov
> http://csrc.nist.gov/virus/
> http://kumite.com/myths/
> http://www.snopes.com
> http://www.urbanlegends.com
> 

In service,
Michael
(Baron Michael Silverhands)

-- 
Michael C. Tucker   | Java Developer
Software Engineer   | Sun Certified System Engineer
Solid Systems, Inc. | Certified Lotus Professional
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