Internet Hoax Articles Considered Harmful

[Declan McCullagh]

Right. That's why I said "major cities." Everyone knows where Philadelphia
is; I have no idea where "Knob Noster" would be without a bit of a hint.

-Declan


On Mon, Oct 08, 2001 at 09:17:07AM -0700, Tim May wrote:
> On Monday, October 8, 2001, at 05:44 AM, Declan McCullagh wrote:
> 
> > On Sun, Oct 07, 2001 at 11:54:50PM -0700, Tim May wrote:
> >> PHILADELPHIA, Pennyslvania (AP) - Homeland Defense Secretary Tom Ridge
> >> said Sunday that the U.S. faces a serious and expanding threat from
> >> fraudulent Internet articles, or hoaxes.
> >
> > Almost. The most obvious sign that this is a hoax is your inclusion
> > of the state in the dateline. For major cities, it's usually not 
> > included.
> >
> > -Declan
> >
> 
> Oh? Except for the most common cities (Washington, New York, Los 
> Angeles, etc.), my sampling shows they usually give the state. Sometimes 
> abbreviated to 2-4 letters, sometimes spelled out completely. Here are 
> some AP items I pullled:
> 
> (By the way, the last item is NOT a hoax by me, and confirms what I 
> posted from the Bloomberg site a few days ago.)
> 
> --Tim May
> 
> 
> FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Crews on Saturday installed a clamp over a 
> bullet hole in the trans-Alaska pipeline, finally stopping a leak that 
> spewed 285,600 gallons of oil onto the wilderness over three days.
> 
> KNOB NOSTER, Mo. (AP) - They heard the rumbles and their houses shook. 
> As they sat in their homes next to Whiteman Air Force Base, residents 
> knew the retaliations had begun.
> 
> BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - A co-worker of the man who died last week from 
> anthrax also has tested positive for the disease and the building where 
> both worked was closed after the bacterium was detected there.