Yea....

Alek Komarnitsky is back with his web-controlled Christmas lights. These are the lights that started out as a hoax, but have transformed, by popular demand, into something real. Alek writes:
There are three live webcams and X10 powerline control technology system so web surfers can not only view the action, but also *control* the 17,000 lights. Heck, you can even inflate/deflate the giant Elmo, Frosty, Santa, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Homer Simpson – D’OH! While people around the world (157 countries last year) enjoy seeing the lights ON, environmentalists will be happy to know that they can turn the lights OFF with a click of the mouse. Better yet, this is the 4th year I'm using 100% Wind Energy and even though that is "clean" energy, I even did a Carbon Offset contribution for the 0.61 Tons of CO2 for the ~MegaWatt-Hour of power consumed; that's about the same as *one* cross-country airline trip. Finally, by providing viewing via webcam, you don't need to burn fossil fuels by driving around to see christmas lights - Al Gore would be proud!

Last week Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao released the first photograph taken by the Chang-e 1 lunar probe. The picture showed the surface of the moon. Wen declared, "Chinese people's dream of flying to the moon for more than 1,000 years has started to materialize."But then people on the internet started to point out that the picture looked an awful lot like a NASA picture from 2005. In fact, the two photos looked almost identical. So now the Chinese lunar probe programme is defending itself against charges of fakery.To be fair to the Chinese, the two photos aren't entirely alike. The shadows are different, and the Chinese photo shows an extra crater. So the similarity is likely a result of the fact that both photos happen to show the same part of the moon. But it's nice to see that China has just as many conspiracy theorists as America does, ready to doubt anything produced by their government space program.

Death by Cell Phone Report DisputedIt turns out that the death of a South Korean man was not due to an exploding cell phone, as many media outlets recently reported. Instead, police are attributing the death to a co-worker who backed into him with a drilling vehicle, and then tried to frame the cell phone.

Fake Euros fool shoppers"A publicity stunt by a German firm which sent out fake 300 and 1,000-euro notes adorned with naked women has backfired after people began using them as legal tender. The firm Planet-Present said it had permission from the Bundesbank and European Central Bank. Only close scrutiny shows the notes are fakes.

The rumor going around online is that in one of the previews for the new Disney movie Enchanted, you can hear someone say "Get the f*ck outta here."The preview in question shows the Prince attacking a bus. The exclamation can be heard around 30 seconds into it, as the bus driver is walking out of the bus.The first time I listened to it, it definitely sounded like "Get the f*ck outta here." But when I listened to it again, it sounded more like "Get that bus outta here." Basically, it seems to me it could be interpreted either way. Who's to say what the correct way of hearing it is.

Hoaxes

Each year, a few people will be drowned mysteriously in Huadu's Furong Reservoir. It was not until recently when the son of a certain official went swimming in the reservoir with his friend and were drowned that the secret was unravelled!
It's a 3 metre long man-eating catfish whose head alone is 1 metre wide! After cutting up the catfish people were surprised to find the remains of a man inside!
Because this was a huge incident, and the local government was afraid of the impact on local tourism, they imposed an embargo on the news, but people came away with these pictures taken on their cell phones of the man-eating fish!
Swimming in the reservoir is now forbidden because it is feared another similar man-eating catfish is still lurking in the waters.

Forgeries of the Medieval ChurchSure, they devoted their life to God, but that didn't stop the men and women of the Church from engaging in a little creative forgery. In fact, the medieval church was probably one of the most prolific sources of forged documents of all time.Donation of Constantine History of Crowland

Pope Joan Pope John VIII ruled for two years. However, while riding one day from St. Peter's to the Lateran, he had to stop by the side of the road and, to the astonishment of everyone, gave birth to a child. It turned out that Pope John VIII was really a woman. In other words, Pope John was really Pope Joan.

Medieval Travel Lies As Europe lost contact with the rest of the world during the dark ages, classical knowledge of the outside world receded, and what emerged in its place was a peculiar mixture of fact and fiction. European scholars inhabited the lands to their east with unicorns, cyclops, and other fantastic creatures. Strangely, travelers who returned from abroad routinely confirmed the existence of these imaginary creatures.

The Shroud of Turin Is it the true image of Christ, or just a medieval fake? Throughout the twentieth century researchers have dueled back and forth over this question. In 1982 a group calling itself the Shroud of Turin Research Project declared it to be genuine after studying samples lifted from the cloth using tape. However, radiocarbon tests performed later during the 1980s dated the shroud to approximately the fourteenth century, indicating that the relic was a fake. Waiting for the Apocalypse The medieval mind fixated on the end of the world. Predictions of imminent, world-encompassing disaster turned up during the middle ages with almost clockwork regularity. This atmosphere of constant dread had its ridiculous elements. For instance, we read about medieval survivalists frantically storing up grain or heading to high ground in anticipation of the final days. But it also had serious consequences for the course of European history.

Medieval Pranks and TricksA number of texts have preserved the 'tricks of the trade' of medieval pranksters. The notebook of Thomas Betson, a fifteenth-century monk at Syon Abbey in Middlesex, records his joke of hiding a beetle inside a hollowed-out apple. When the apple began to mysteriously rock back and forth people believed it to be possessed. Other manuscripts include instructions for more mischievous tricks, such as how to make beds itchy and meat appear wormy.