rockin'robin
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These Pranks, Hoaxes Had People Going This Year
Pranks are always entertaining, but in the age of Twitter they can be downright confusing.
Whereas Orson Welles once had to rely on radio to spread his "War of the Worlds" hoax, today's pranksters have gone high tech and have no such limitations. These days hoaxes can spread from one person to millions in a matter of hours.
There was no balloon boy to capture the entire world's imagination -- that was last year -- but 2010 had its share of more subtle pranks that had everyone going.
The best hoaxes of the year reached from the office to the airwaves and from Hollywood to space. Take a look at the top five hoaxes of 2010 and reminisce on those "gotcha" moments from the last year.
Top Fakeout No. 5: We're Not In Kansas Anymore
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 5
Topeka Gets Googled
Google took a trip to the heartland on April Fool's Day in 2010, changing its iconic lettering to read Topeka.
Internet searchers were greeted with the Kansas city's name on April 1, another in a long line of Google's famous April Fool's Day pranks. Past pranks included announcements of e-mail autopilot to respond to messages automatically and the option to store anything -- keys and remotes included -- online.
Google's move was in response to Topeka changing its name to Google during the month of March. The Topeka City Council voted unanimously to change the name in a grand effort to win a competition for Google's high-speed broadband experiment.
The hoax didn't necessarily clinch the blazing-fast broadband for the city's 122,000 residents. Google said it will make its decision by the end of the year.
Top Fakeout No. 4: Bieber Fever Will Never Die
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 4
Justin Bieber Is Dead!
Celebrity death hoaxes are nothing new, but in the age of Twitter these simple hoaxes can reach around the world in hours.
Rumors of singing Canadian mop top Justin Bieber's death circulated not once, not twice, but three times in 2010.
In January, the teen sensation's legion of tweeting fans spread the rumor that he had committed suicide at his home. Then in February, rumors spread that the singer had tried to shoot a police officer and had been shot to death. And again in June, a prankster made a lookalike news article saying Bieber died from a cocaine overdose.
The pop singer -- of course -- did not die and said as much on his Twitter account soon after each of the rumors took wing.
Justin was the target of a previous death hoax in 2009, and is in good company with Bill Cosby, who has four such online hoaxes of his own.
Top Fakeouts No. 3: Phoenix Rises ... Kinda
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 3
Joaquin Phoenix Is Nuts
Actor Joaquin Phoenix first revealed that he was going to quit acting to become a rapper in 2008, but he came clean after a movie about his transformation was released in 2010.
The actor's meltdown was most publicly visible when he appeared as a shaggy, dazed and sunglass-wearing guest on "The Late Show With David Letterman." He mumbled, he chewed gum and became an oddball sensation overnight.
In 2010, however, he returned to Letterman's show after the release of "I'm Still Here," the Casey Affleck-directed "documentary." The actor was clean shaven and alert for his return and revealed that his earlier appearance was all part of filming the movie.
Despite his ruse fooling just about everyone, the movie was mostly a bust, and Affleck is said to have lost thousands on the venture. Phoenix has yet to rise to another acting job since the movie was released.
Top Fakeout No. 2: Mars Attacks!
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 2
Mars Gets A Little Closer
Amateur astronomers poured outside in 2010 to get a look at a Mars that was so big it looked as if Earth had two moons.
Once they got outside, however, they faced a letdown of astronomical proportions.
Pranksters spread the rumor that Mars was some 10 million miles closer to Earth than normal at the end of August. Rumor had it that the event was so rare that it wouldn't happen again for thousands of years.
This prank comes up every once in a while, and Mars actually did come close, but appeared only as large as a star. NASA put out a clarification on the hoax, which had millions of people looking for a big red moon.
While it might not have been the spectacle that everyone was expecting, at least the hoaxed had a reason to get outside and enjoy the summer night -- right?
Top Fakeout No. 1: Take This Job And ...
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 1
The 'I Quit' Girl
The sour economy was ever present in 2010, even in the hoaxes.
While everyone else was losing his or her job, one girl was quitting in a very inventive way -- at least that's what she wanted everyone to think.
The girl, known as "Jenny" in the popular online video, used a white board to make a career change with a big, cathartic "I Quit" before going on to dish on her boss for playing Farmville and reading tech websites all day.
The story made its way to countless major media outlets, despite coming from the mouth of a known prankster website.
The prank -- along with the notorious JetBlue flight attendant meltdown -- were telling events of 2010, a time when people looking to climb the employment ladder got stuck on a rung due to the economy. It spawned dreams of dramatic resignations, but alas, "Jenny" was an actress and it was one big joke.
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 1 - Year In Review News Story - WJXT Jacksonville
Pranks are always entertaining, but in the age of Twitter they can be downright confusing.
Whereas Orson Welles once had to rely on radio to spread his "War of the Worlds" hoax, today's pranksters have gone high tech and have no such limitations. These days hoaxes can spread from one person to millions in a matter of hours.
There was no balloon boy to capture the entire world's imagination -- that was last year -- but 2010 had its share of more subtle pranks that had everyone going.
The best hoaxes of the year reached from the office to the airwaves and from Hollywood to space. Take a look at the top five hoaxes of 2010 and reminisce on those "gotcha" moments from the last year.
Top Fakeout No. 5: We're Not In Kansas Anymore
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 5
Topeka Gets Googled
Google took a trip to the heartland on April Fool's Day in 2010, changing its iconic lettering to read Topeka.
Internet searchers were greeted with the Kansas city's name on April 1, another in a long line of Google's famous April Fool's Day pranks. Past pranks included announcements of e-mail autopilot to respond to messages automatically and the option to store anything -- keys and remotes included -- online.
Google's move was in response to Topeka changing its name to Google during the month of March. The Topeka City Council voted unanimously to change the name in a grand effort to win a competition for Google's high-speed broadband experiment.
The hoax didn't necessarily clinch the blazing-fast broadband for the city's 122,000 residents. Google said it will make its decision by the end of the year.
Top Fakeout No. 4: Bieber Fever Will Never Die
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 4
Justin Bieber Is Dead!
Celebrity death hoaxes are nothing new, but in the age of Twitter these simple hoaxes can reach around the world in hours.
Rumors of singing Canadian mop top Justin Bieber's death circulated not once, not twice, but three times in 2010.
In January, the teen sensation's legion of tweeting fans spread the rumor that he had committed suicide at his home. Then in February, rumors spread that the singer had tried to shoot a police officer and had been shot to death. And again in June, a prankster made a lookalike news article saying Bieber died from a cocaine overdose.
The pop singer -- of course -- did not die and said as much on his Twitter account soon after each of the rumors took wing.
Justin was the target of a previous death hoax in 2009, and is in good company with Bill Cosby, who has four such online hoaxes of his own.
Top Fakeouts No. 3: Phoenix Rises ... Kinda
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 3
Joaquin Phoenix Is Nuts
Actor Joaquin Phoenix first revealed that he was going to quit acting to become a rapper in 2008, but he came clean after a movie about his transformation was released in 2010.
The actor's meltdown was most publicly visible when he appeared as a shaggy, dazed and sunglass-wearing guest on "The Late Show With David Letterman." He mumbled, he chewed gum and became an oddball sensation overnight.
In 2010, however, he returned to Letterman's show after the release of "I'm Still Here," the Casey Affleck-directed "documentary." The actor was clean shaven and alert for his return and revealed that his earlier appearance was all part of filming the movie.
Despite his ruse fooling just about everyone, the movie was mostly a bust, and Affleck is said to have lost thousands on the venture. Phoenix has yet to rise to another acting job since the movie was released.
Top Fakeout No. 2: Mars Attacks!
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 2
Mars Gets A Little Closer
Amateur astronomers poured outside in 2010 to get a look at a Mars that was so big it looked as if Earth had two moons.
Once they got outside, however, they faced a letdown of astronomical proportions.
Pranksters spread the rumor that Mars was some 10 million miles closer to Earth than normal at the end of August. Rumor had it that the event was so rare that it wouldn't happen again for thousands of years.
This prank comes up every once in a while, and Mars actually did come close, but appeared only as large as a star. NASA put out a clarification on the hoax, which had millions of people looking for a big red moon.
While it might not have been the spectacle that everyone was expecting, at least the hoaxed had a reason to get outside and enjoy the summer night -- right?
Top Fakeout No. 1: Take This Job And ...
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 1
The 'I Quit' Girl
The sour economy was ever present in 2010, even in the hoaxes.
While everyone else was losing his or her job, one girl was quitting in a very inventive way -- at least that's what she wanted everyone to think.
The girl, known as "Jenny" in the popular online video, used a white board to make a career change with a big, cathartic "I Quit" before going on to dish on her boss for playing Farmville and reading tech websites all day.
The story made its way to countless major media outlets, despite coming from the mouth of a known prankster website.
The prank -- along with the notorious JetBlue flight attendant meltdown -- were telling events of 2010, a time when people looking to climb the employment ladder got stuck on a rung due to the economy. It spawned dreams of dramatic resignations, but alas, "Jenny" was an actress and it was one big joke.
2010 Top Fakeouts No. 1 - Year In Review News Story - WJXT Jacksonville