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Would You Fall For This?

by Dan Reilly, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 6:10PM


We understand that there are people out there who are gullible or uninformed, and that's why we try to help as much as we can. That said, we have never, ever seen a scam this obvious, at least not a real one. The sad thing is there are probably enough people that are dumb enough to fall for it, and therefore scammers who would try it, so it's not out of the question that this ruse actually exists. Scoff if you like, but halfway intelligent people still send money to Nigeria or think that a random link will really show them nude pictures of Jessica Simpson.

Thanks to sites like 419eater.com, we know that many of the criminals out there aren't exactly masterminds, which makes us wonder what other examples of unintelligent Web fraud are out there? There are all sorts of Fail sites, so we here at Switched propose that Scam Fail become the latest genre of captured stupidity. If you have any good examples of this, leave them in the comments below. We can't wait to see the depths of idiocy you've encountered on the Web.

Oh, and by the way, if you haven't figured it out yet, don't put your credit card number into anything like that. Ever. [From: FAIL Blog]

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Woman Conned Into Holding Down Toilet Lever While Thief Raids Home

by Dan Reilly, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 4:26PM



You've got to have questionable character to steal from anybody, but it takes a special type of person (without any respect for humanity) to prey on a 91-year-old woman. That's exactly what a thief in New Jersey did this week after posing as a water inspector to get into the senior's apartment and rob her blind, NJ.com reports.

What he did next would be funny if it weren't so cruel. After saying that he needed to check the water, the man tested a faucet in the kitchen, and then flushed the woman's toilet. Talking on a cell phone the whole time to bolster his image of authority, the thief then told the woman she had to hold down the toilet or else her house would explode. She did as she was told but after two minutes, her suspicion ultimately got the better of her and she let go, only to discover the man ran off with $3650 in cash.

We sincerely hope this guy is caught and punished as severely as possible. While we're sure most of you aren't as gullible as this woman, please let this serve as a reminder to be skeptical of anyone who shows up at your door, even if they're talking hurriedly on a cell phone. [Source: NJ.com]

'Naked Gun,' the 'Grand Theft Auto' Edition

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 3:35PM



Anybody who has ever been an adolescent boy will jump up and applaud this 'Grand Theft Auto' homage to the slapstick cinema classic 'The Naked Gun,' courtesy of Neatorama.com.

For those who might be too "sophisticated" to know much about that seminal Leslie Nielsen film, 'The Naked Gun' begins with a spoof on that archetypal 'Dragnet'-style scene -- a first-person perspective from a cop car rushing through city streets. Only, in 'The Naked Gun,' the officer driving the car makes a few bizarre turns.

We're all anxiously hoping the creators of 'Grand Theft Auto' have a full-on 'Grand Theft Auto: Naked City' sequel in the works. [From: Neatorama]

God-Friendly 'Guitar Hero' Clone Gets Shown Off

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 2:40PM


Oh man... we were excited when we first heard about 'Guitar Praise,' but now that we've seen the three-minute over-explanatory trailer, we might just buy two copies, just in case one isn't enough to get us heathens past St. Peter.

The 'Guitar Hero' clone features songs from Christian Rock acts like Day of Fire and Family Force 5 (What!? no Stryper?), as well as a wireless controller that lets you "shred the riffs and thump the bass." And if you were wondering what to do while you wait for your turn, the trailer lets you know that you can sing along. Exciting!

We really hope that other religions get in on the guitar-based rhythm game fad soon. We're really excited to rock out to 'Hava Nagila.' [From: Joystiq]

Neil Young Argues for Electric Car Revolution in Detroit

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 1:54PM



The award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young is bound and determined to tear down and rebuild the motor in Motor City, according to Autoblog and a piece that the singer wrote for Huffington Post.

Sharing popular concerns about fuel prices and efficiency, Young has been hard at work in recent months, trying to develop practical electric car conversions. His masthead vehicle -- a revamped '59 Lincoln dubbed Linc Volt -- has gotten some media attention of late.

Riding that wave of publicity, Young has penned a piece for the Huffington Post, challenging Detroit auto manufacturers to "make a good deal for the future of America" and to "stop building autos that contribute to global warming now." Referencing his Linc Volt model and other competitors for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, Young vehemently argues that the requisite technology is realistic, if not already available.

While the folks at Autoblog politely consider the realization of Young's dream to be "entirely impossible," we here at Switched are firm believers in our workers and thinkers here in the U.S. of A. It was, after all, this country that gave birth to the first automobile, the first airplane and the first microwave oven. Surely, the U.S.A. can band together to create and produce a vehicle that truly responds to the needs of this millenium.

(We'll forget for the moment that Neil Young is Canadian). [From: Huffington Post via Autoblog]

Canceled XM and Sirius Channels Rankling Merged Sat Radio Subscribers

by Will Safer, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 1:11PM

The Sirius Satellite Radio and XM merger is rankling more than a few of the service's subscribers now that many of their favorite stations have been eliminated in new channel line ups.

As with most mergers, the two companies are, at best, trying to remove redundancy, putting a positive spin on their new combined effort. In actual practice, that means switching some channels from one service to the other or eliminating programming. This has left some passionate satellite radio subscribers miffed.

Some, like long-time Sirius subscriber Stan Petrov, lament the loss of his NBA channels, which were moved over to XM. But why, you ask, do any channels have to be moved? Aren't the combined channel selections available to all XM and Sirius subscribers? The answer is no. Until now, XM subscribers had to use an XM receiver. Sirius subscribers had to use a Sirius receiver. The two receivers cannot make use of the satellite signal previously assigned to its former competitor. It won't be until next May that combined Sirius/XM receiver will likely be on the market.

Will the new XM/Sirius survive until then?

Continue reading Canceled XM and Sirius Channels Rankling Merged Sat Radio Subscribers

The Bacon iPhone Sleeve: For Discerning Eyes Only

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 12:30PM

Are you a classy sort of lady or gent? Looking for something understated and sophisticated to adorn your iPhone that says, 'Hey world, I've got refinement to spare'? You're in luck then, as German artist and rising accessories star Antje has created the bacon iPhone sleeve with which to adorn your precious, high-society gadget. It's the perfect thing to go with your meat iPod case, and your actual meat cellphone. Get them while they last for only €25 (or around $31), you foppish bon vivants!

[Thanks, Jesse]

How World Leaders Call Each Other

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 11:36AM



Some seemed to think it was embarrassing when Sarah Palin was fooled into believing that a Canadian radio shock jock was French president Nicolas Sarkozy shortly before election day. Many people (including some commenters on this site) defended Palin, asking how she could have known (ignoring the obvious clues such as the request to hunt wolves from a helicopter).

Do you ever wonder how someone like the President gets in touch with other world leaders? Let's say the President of the United States wants to speak to Nicolas Sarkozy. The normal procedure involves aides or White House operators calling assistants or operators for Sarkozy. An appointment for the leaders to speak is established. Aides to Sarkozy will call back the White House to confirm the appointment, and then patch the leaders through to each other at the appropriate time. It's not exactly speed-dial.

Continue reading How World Leaders Call Each Other

Study Shows Cell Phones Can Trigger Mercury to Leak from Fillings

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 10:48AM

We're not even going to pretend we fully grasp what's going on here, but the long and short of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences' latest findings are that cell phones can trigger the release of mercury from one's fillings. Yes, seriously. The study asserts that out of 14 test subjects with fillings, those who used mobile phones had a statistically significant increase of mercury from urine tests than those who refrained from yapping. The science behind all of this is far beyond our IQ levels, but we're a little freaked out/not freaked out, regardless.

[Via textually]

Facebook Sounds Death Knell for Birthday Notification Apps

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 10:01AM


Well, with one fell swoop Facebook may have put a whole class of applications out to pasture. A new feature rolled out by the social networking service sends you a weekly notice of your friends' upcoming birthdays, which makes popular applications like Birthday Calendar and Birthday Alert redundant.

The birthday alert business is big money. Social networking service Beebo (owned by our parent company AOL) was founded as a birthday notification service that boasted 100 million users before expanding with more Facebook style features.

While the more popular birthday apps that offer features such as e-cards and e-gifts (those $1 trinkets that people "send" each other on Facebook) might not disappear into the ether over night, many of the smaller ones will quickly fade now that Facebook has replicated their usefulness. [From: TechCrunch]

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