Don't pass this on: hoaxes, scams and urban legends can plague districts. (The Online Edge).

Don't pass this on: hoaxes, scams and urban legends can plague districts. (The Online Edge). A teacher recently forwarded to me a disturbing series of imagesthat supposedly documented the Feb. 1 explosion of the Space Shuttle space shuttle,reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank. Columbia. The message stated the pictures were taken by an Israelisatellite, and released by the U.S. Department of Justice to"hopefully give NASA NASA:see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASAin full National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationIndependent U.S. a better idea of what happened." Thee-mail was sent to more than 70 colleagues, who in turn likely forwardedit to countless others. However, the so-called photographs were a hoax. No camera on anysatellite was trained on the shuttle at exactly the right time; thefederal government never released such pictures; and the Columbia didnot explode all at once as the images suggested. The bogus graphics wererather movie frames from the film Armageddon that used special effects special effects,in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. to depict the destruction of a space shuttle by an asteroid.Nevertheless, they circulated across the Internet as truth. I also received a panicked message from an educator stating thateveryone in her address book--including me--had contracted a "teddybear virus" mailed automatically from her infected system. Sheincluded directions to remove the offending "jdbgmgr.exe" fileand eradicate the virus. Although my search did reveal a disconcerting dis��con��cert?tr.v. dis��con��cert��ed, dis��con��cert��ing, dis��con��certs1. To upset the self-possession of; ruffle. See Synonyms at embarrass.2. teddy bear icon, thistoo was a hoax. The file was simply a standard program used in a Javaroutine, and keeping it would do no real harm. Still the news alarmedusers who took the icon as proof that their machines were infected andsent the message on. COUNTING THE COSTS I regularly receive such hoax messages from well-meaning educatorswho pass unverified notices to others. These include a petition toprotest government cuts spelling the end of National Public Radio, amessage to help stop "Federal Bill 602" that would establishcharges for e-mail, and a note about a dying girl claiming that theAmerican Cancer Society American Cancer Society,n.pr established in 1913, this national volunteer-based health organization is committed to the elimination of cancer through prevention and treatment and to diminishing cancer suffering through advocacy, scholarship, research, would donate three cents for each forwardedmessage to "live life to the fullest." However, NPR NPRIn currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Nepal Rupee.Notes:The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. is aliveand well, there is no Bill 602, the ACS (Asynchronous Communications Server) See network access server. does not make such donations,and there is no technology to track messages sent out by individuals.Still, these "urban legends" continue. Most hoax e-mail originates from pranks and attempts at humor, suchas the announcement asking administrators to shut down school serversfor a 24-hour period so the Internet could be "cleaned." But while the cost in deleting one hoax from one machine is modest,significant time and bandwidth can be wasted across an entire district."We've seen cases where e-mail systems collapsed after dozensof users forwarded a false alert to everybody," says MikkoHypponen, research manager for F-Secure, a company that provides onlinesecurity products. And, if senders find out they were duped, many sendapology messages, squandering squan��der?tr.v. squan��dered, squan��der��ing, squan��ders1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste.2. additional bandwidth. But there are also malicious hoaxes that trick unsuspecting usersinto reformatting hard drives and damaging systems, and schemes todefraud, such as the scholarship scams that bilk bilk?tr.v. bilked, bilk��ing, bilks1. a. To defraud, cheat, or swindle: made millions bilking wealthy clients on art sales.b. students and parents ofmore than $100 million annually. Your district community therefore needsto keep up-to-date about hoaxes and take advantage of online resourcesthat separate fact from fiction. These include the information packedguides listed below where users can quickly get information aboutrumors, myths, hoaxes and warnings that are circulated by e-mail. For example, searching Snopes for "shuttle explosion" and"teddy bear virus" identifies each as a hoax. Many districtsprovide links to such resources, as does the Britton-Hecla SchoolDistrict in South Dakota South Dakota(dəkō`tə), state in the N central United States. It is bordered by North Dakota (N), Minnesota and Iowa (E), Nebraska (S), and Wyoming and Montana (W). . While e-mail appeals that play on fear,sympathy and greed are always suspect, directives to "send this toeveryone you know" should raise red flags. Web Resources --Hoaxbusters hoaxbusters.ciac.org --ScamBusters.org www.scambusters.org --Snopes.com www.snopes.com --TruthOrFiction.com www.truthorfiction.com --Urban Legends www.urbanlegends.com --Britton-Hecla School District britton.k12.sd.us Odvard Egil Dyrli, dyrli@uconn.edu, is senior editor and emeritusprofessor of education at the University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs.UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. .