[2706] in Humor
HUMOR: Trojan Horses
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Erik Nygren)
Thu Mar 11 09:05:40 1999
To: humor@MIT.EDU
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 08:58:50 EST
From: Erik Nygren <nygren@MIT.EDU>
------- Forwarded Message
From: laocoon@doomgloom.edu
To: hector@troy.org
Subject: Greeks bearing gifts
Hey Hector,
This was forwarded to me by Cassandra-it looks legit. Please distribute to
Priam, Hecuba, and your 99 siblings.
Thanks,
Laocoon
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
IF YOU RECEIVE A GIFT IN THE SHAPE OF A LARGE WOODEN HORSE DO NOT DOWNLOAD
IT!!!! It is EXTREMELY DESTRUCTIVE and will overwrite your ENTIRE CITY!
The "gift" is disguised as a large wooden horse about two stories tall. It
tends to show up outside the city gates and appears to be abandoned. DO NOT
let it through the gates! It contains hardware that is incompatible with
Trojan programming, including a crowd of heavily armed Greek warriors that will
destroy your army, sack your town, and kill your women and children. If you
have already received such a gift, DO NOT OPEN IT! Take it back out of the
city unopened and set fire to it by the beach.
FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
Poseidon
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FROM: hector@troy.org
TO: laocoon@doomgloom.edu
RE: Greeks bearing gifts
Laocoon,
I hate to break this to you, but this is one of the oldest hoaxes there is.
I've seen variants of this warning come through on other listservs, one
involving some kind of fruit that was supposed to kill the people who ate it
and one having to do with something called the "Midas Touch."
Here are a few tipoffs that this is a hoax:
1) This "Forward this message to everyone you know" stuff. If it were really
meant as a warning about the Greek army, why tell anyone to post it to the
Phonecians, Sumerians, and Cretans?
2) Use of exclamation points and CAPITAL LETTERS. Always a giveaway.
3) It's signed "from Poseidon." Granted he's had his problems with Odysseus,
but he's one of their guys, isn't he? Besides, the lack of a real header with
a detailed address makes me suspicious.
4) Technically speaking, there is no way for a horse to overwrite your entire
city. A horse is just an animal, after all.
Next time you get a message like this, just delete it. I appreciate your
concern, but once you've been around as long as I have you'll realize how
annoying this kind of stuff is.
Bye now,
Hector
------- End of Forwarded Message
