I've just signed up with Google Ads to have them place ads on my website, thus ending my long-standing principled stance against cluttering up my site with advertising. Since it's costing me $50 a month to pay for the bandwidth for the site, I figure that I need to make an effort to recoup those costs somehow. Plus, the Google Ads, being only text, are relatively unobtrusive. And finally, the Google computer tailors the ads to the content of each page, so that the ads aren't totally irrelevant. I'm finding it very interesting to see what ads the computer chooses to place on each page. I've only begun adding the ad code to my pages, but on the Bonsai Kitten page the computer chose ads for charities and humanitarian organizations (maybe because of all the messages about the inhumanity of Bonsai Kittens), whereas on the page for Munchkin the Cat it chose ads for Cat merchandise.

A visitor sent me a question about holotouch.com: "Dont think this is for real. Check it out. Seems too simple a site to claim what they have achieved."
Actually, although the technology sounds like something out of Star Trek: the Next Generation, it is real. The links they have to articles about themselves written by the New York Times and others all check out. Plus, I've read about similar technologies before. As for the simplicity of the site, I assume that the company just doesn't have a lot of cash to spend on a flashy website. That's often the case with startup companies.

Dr. Zizlesse offers a revolutionary alternative for overweight women who can't lose those extra pounds: nipple surgery. I'll let you discover on your own why nipple surgery can solve women's weight problems, but I have to say that there's definitely a strange, twisted logic to what he suggests. I'm also sure it's a hoax. Note that near the bottom of the intro page Dr. Zizlesse asks 'Are you gullible?' (may not be safe for work because of the background image, though it took me ages before I actually noticed what was in the background).

This next site also involves strange forms of body modification. At Adding and Subtracting we meet two identical twins, Ryan and Dave, who like to swap body parts. Dave supposedly had his right arm amputated and then surgically attached to Ryan's chest. This is actually an April Fool's Day joke that's been around for a while (look at the date at the bottom of the article). Mara, who also sent me the picture of Munchkin the Cat, reminded me of it.

The Sydney Morning Herald has labelled that photo of Munchkin the Monster cat (see below) a hoax (thanks to Steve Wilson for pointing this out to me). Still, I can't see how the hoax was done.

Cute hoax website: WeWantYourSoul.com. Though it's more of a spoof than a hoax, I'd say, since I don't think anyone is actually going to believe they're going to get money out of this.

Interesting piece in the NY Post about how government economists can lie with statistics, making economic growth go up and down like a yo-yo.

Flight attendants on Air Canada are all going to start wearing fake names on their name tags, as a security measure. So your stewardess could now be Xena, Warrior Princess or Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Buck Wolf reports that Loren Coleman has opened a Museum of Cryptozoology in his home. Included is a Feejee Mermaid. Of course, it can't be THE Feejee Mermaid displayed by Barnum. No one knows what happened to it (though some claim that the mermaid now owned by Harvard University is the authentic one).

Meet Munchkin the Monster Cat, who seems to be related to Snowball. Is Munchkin for real. Honestly, I don't know. I'm looking for answers. (Thanks to Mara, who thinks Munchkin is fake, for sending this image).

An email has been going around containing the text of a supposed Air Force press release that lists bases slated for reduction or closure due to budget cuts. The Air Force announced today that the press release is a hoax.

At last we have definitive scientific proof that ducks' quacks DO echo. Now hopefully researchers will press ahead and perform echo tests on the full range of barnyard sounds: moos, oinks, barks, cock-a-doodle-doos, etc.

The Guardian, inspired by the recent publication of Peter Carey's My Life As a Fake, is offering a Short History of Literary Hoaxes. If you want a slightly longer history of literary hoaxes (as well as every other type of hoax) you could, um, buy my book.

I've mentioned Larry Adams's book before, Fraud in Other Words, but I was reading through it again tonight and thought it deserved another mention. The book is an exploration of the language of fraud. Adams has collected together all the jargon and terminology of the culture of fraud, and as you flip through the book you come across one devious scam and ploy after another. For instance, I've always thought it was annoying how those subscription cards fall out of magazines when I'm reading them. I never realized that the cards are designed to fall out. They're called 'Drop Outs.' According to Adams:
If the recipient has to bend over and pick up a card, they are more likely to read it. A drop out is a commonly used gimmick used to attract curiosity in fraudulent and legitimate mail advertising.
Some other definitions:
Suck the Mop: To be left sucking the mop is to be left helpless and hopeless. The victim of any trick. To be left at a complete disadvantage.
Joe Soap: A foolish or a gullible person.
You can read more about Larry's book (and order a copy) at his website.

Crop circles are appearing in soy bean fields in Adams County, Ohio.

An accountant fakes cancer in order to avoid a five-month prison term. Gets found out, and is now looking at the possibility of a 50-year term instead.