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The Internet

UF/BeDope/Segfault Shutdown! 59

Posted by Hemos from the oh-no dept.
Well, after doing some checking around today, it appears that as yet unknown entity has managed to shutdown BeDope, User Friendly, and Segfault.
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UF/BeDope/Segfault Shutdown! More

UF/BeDope/Segfault Shutdown!

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  • ... is obviously substantially different from what we're used to in the UK.

    Did anyone fall for any of the April Fools `jokes'?

    Did anyone find them funny? At all?
  • Oh, did you know that Microsoft are purposely omitting the word 'gullible' from the new Encarta? :)
  • Posted by Windigo The Feral (NYAR!):

    They're pulling your leg. Rest easy. ;)

    I'll admit they had me going till all three sites went down...at which point I'm thinking "this has to be a prank...a frighteningly believable prank, but a prank". Then I laughed, found out the next day Userfriendly has owned up, and went on with life. :)

    Just about the only really scary thing is one can't exactly put it PAST megacorporations to do these kinds of lawsuits anymore...still, I'm glad to know we were all merely being kidded with. ;) Like people DON'T expect at least one "joke story" or at least one huge, Malkavian-scale prank on April Fools Day. Sheesh. ;)

    Making a toast to Lord Arlecchino,

  • Since this topic should be dead anyway...

    What is up with all the new Slashdot cookies? Is it just a little joke by Rob and Co? I find them kind of funny.

    So far I've seen:

    • religion
    • visa_number
    • high_school_gpa
    • sexual_orientation
    • iq
    • income_bracket
    • soc_sec_number
    • mothers_maiden_name
    All with what looks like random numbers as their value. Did I miss any?

    Later,
    Xamot

  • Hey, um, like - you know, you posted this before, man. This is so old, dude. ;>
  • This is the written version of "slapstick humor" that Americans are so fond of.

    There's no punchline, it's not witty or entertaining, but it bears a resemblence to the Three Stooges poking each other in the eyes. Some people find this funny. I hope it entertained the owners of UserFriendly, segfault, and the other one whose name escapes me right now.

    Better April Fools jokes:
    The BBC's documentary on the "Italian Spagetti Harvest"
    Taco Bell's Purchase of the Libery Bell
    The exchange of comic strip artists on comics pages in 1997

    This whole thing just goes to prove that too many computer people, even the ones who stage practical jokes, have no real sense of humor.

    Better luck next time.

    -Dean
  • Definately April Fool's day. For those who had any doubt at all, User Friendly is now back up, and admitting to the whole prank on the static page.
  • Maybe you should read Rob's posting about complaints for posting things twice and Hemos' comments up here... it kinda makes sense to have a day in wich you can get a little bit anoying in return (if that really is the intention here).

    Besides, I think this day has been pretty funny so far. Keep on going everyone!
  • I bet they havent had that many hits for ages.
  • Now that's a twist, usually it's us 'Mericans complaining about the obscurity and low-level of British humor. ;-)

    I have to admit, though, the Register piece about the UserFriendly/Segfault/Bedope shutdown was by far the funniest part of this whole affair. Story here. [theregister.co.uk]

    P.S. The U.S. love affair with The Three Stooges was over decades ago.

  • And people wonder why they - ESR et al - refer to this place as being full of kiddies.

    The fact is that although I don't mind a good practical joke, the emphasis here is on "joke". I do mind a plain wind up at the expense of many people who are - or were - loyal supporters.

    From UF:

    > I'm glad I'm not on the bad end
    > of the stick you guys were waving.

    Well, now.

    Why the hell would I want to support these guys in any kind of problem now? Even if it's not a joke next time, they've had their chance.

    The way I'm feeling right now, I'd be quite happy to see all these sites sued, and I'd take great pleasure in ignoring it.

    Yeah, my chain was yanked. The purpose of a joke is to amuse. This one didn't.

    I've been trying to persuade the people in the company I've just joined that Slashdot is a good way of keeping tabs on what's happening in a marketplace that it's considering moving into. I'm not entirely sure how I'm meant to ensure that they keep that opinion after today, and I'm not even sure I want them to myself.

  • stevied asked plaintively:

    > Did anyone find them funny? At all?

    Yes, I loved the Metalab (né Sunsite) one. "Windoze is soooo good that we will surrender to the Borg." Bwa ha ha ha ha. Ouch, make them stop!

    BTW, check the IDs on the fake cookies Rob is sending today. Now, that's funny. :-)

  • So is the article about IDG's findings real, or just another 4-1 post?

    Irresponsible...

    You guys (all sites involved) need to re-evaluate your position in the "community".

    "Byte's" been doing this for years, but it was
    expected.

    I was genuinely concerned about "Userfriendly".

    "April fool" is all fine and good when it occurs
    on April first; it's not _AT ALL_ funny when
    it starts before April 1st, and seems to affect
    our dearly held "rights" of free expression (speaking as a USA citizen).

    I'm disappointed with ALL of the sites that
    participated in this particular 'hoax'..We've
    enough 'GENUINE' threats to our platform of choice that we shouldn't have to worry about 'fake' challenges.
  • And British humor is sooo cerebral. :)

    Spam spam spam eggs and spam.

    Seriously, April Fools jokes are funny the same way that practical jokes are. Funny to everyone but the one fooled. The more sadistic you are, the more funny it is.

    The fun isn't really the "punch-line" anyway; It's the construction. Some April Fools jokes are just stupid. The best ones are the ones that appeal to our most gullible qualities. The kind that in retrospect seem so obvious but that at the time had us hooked good.

    This is one of my favorites: "I read an article yesterday that modern grammarians are meeting to vote on whether or not they should change the spelling of the word gullible. It seems that a good deal of them think it should actually be spelled gullibull from now on."

    When you can catch someone with this one it's classic.
  • Ditto. Maybe it was just funny when I was younger, or maybe people are just getting less funny themselves.

    -lx
  • Making so many people genuinely worried about the site, people offering donations of money for legal defense, voicing their concern and trying to round up support for people who had apparently been victimized - that's pretty fucking funny.

    Here's a funny April Fools joke - why don't I just run around claiming that I'm dying of a terminal disease, wait for people to send all their condolences and offers of support, and then, several days later on April 1st, tell them I was kidding? If it was just a one day thing, shutting down the site for April Fools, it would have been ok, but the entire week beforehand? This has been nothing but a collective 'crying of wolf' among the nerd community.

    After all this, I think said community is going to be a little more reluctant to offer their support to any site who actually does have litigation launched against them.

    -lx
  • And we should believe you because why?
    You're not even logged in.
    -lx
  • no! I still don't believe you! It was real!

    -lx
  • It's back up.....
  • There is a comics page switch this year, too! This time, it's among non-syndicated artists, and includes Helen, Bruno, Keven & Kell, & many others. You can hook in at http://grove.ufl.edu/~normal/switch.html
  • How many times are you guys going to post about this?
  • Yes, I fell for it, until I went to slashdot 10 seconds later. I thought Microsoft had objected to the jokes or something.

    No, it's not funny, since I actually wanted something specific from the site today...

    (On the bright side, my UF t-shirt arrived today.)
  • If you actually go to the front page at BeDope, you can easily tell that this is just a joke. Here is the list of the supposed victims:

    Microsoft
    Apple
    the Vatican
    Coca-Cola
    LucasArts
    Intel
    Transmeta
    the White House
    the FBI
    the CIA
    McDonalds
    the NSA
    Hallmark
    Disney
    Be, inc.

    And the reason for being sued is just that there were some typing mistakes. And the BeDope team is supposedly on a spiritual retreat in Tibet.

    And if you look under that article you can see that yesterday, a newly found comet was named Comet BeOS.

    And if you look under that article you can see that on 26 March 1999, an article was put out titled "SimCities Out Of Control".

    BeDope being down is definitely an April Fool's day joke.
  • Is there anyone who can substantiate whether this is indeed an April Fool's Day joke (and a mean & nasty one at that) or if there is some real litigation going on here?

    I've only seem rumors on both sides...

    -------
  • every author should post this _at_least_ one time today. in fact...if it could be there twenty times or so, someone might actually see it.
  • And it grows ever more tiring with each incarnation.
  • As ever the funniest part is when others fall for them :).

    However, I liked the Compaq one. Especially the way they actually put up a Shockwave game and everything.

  • > You're fired

    Actually I quit!

    > your dog just got hit by a car,

    Don't own a dog!

    > Star Trek has been cancelled 'cause it's geeky,

    There are better reasons to cancel Star Trek!

    > and your ISP is now charging by the minute.

    They already do!

    Nice try though! ;-)
  • Why don't you post it one more time on the front page? I don't think enough people have heard about it yet.

    But seriously, how much 'checking around' did you do, and what did you 'find out'? hmmm?
  • University Book Store is shutting down?
  • I've never seen such a big bandwagon!
  • Isnt this going a bit too far? :P
  • Just got the email:

    --email starts here--
    Subject: [LATEST] April Fool!
    Date: 1 Apr 1999 19:49:10 -0000
    From: editor@segfault.org
    To: latest@segfault.org

    April Fool!

    Straight from the department of Segfault.org Information

    I am pleased to announce that Segfault.org is once again open for business, all this recent activity over lawyers has in
    fact been a run up to the April Fool's joke today of the site closing. If you want to hear my mumbling apology then read
    on, otherwise I'm facing public execution (death by Windows Installation) from the mob already outside my door!

    Obviously it was in fact co-ordinated between myself, User Friendly author Illiad and BeDope editor Mike Popovic,
    with others from Slashdot and Freshmeat in on it too.

    However I'd like to thank you all anyway. I received so many e-mails of support saying they you were willing to help, a
    few lawyers offering to defend Segfault for free and even people offering to donate money just to help, I was
    overwhelmed. I've been worn out battling with Wired reporters and other websites all wanting the exclusive, and
    arguing with a few websites that wanted to ruin the joke for everyone before it had been completely played out.

    Once again I have to say you are all wonderful people, and I thank you, even though it wasn't a real threat. (And no, I
    didn't take any of the money :)

    I'm really dead now, aren't I :-)

    Written by Scott James Remnant
    --
  • Get over it. It was a joke, and if it ruined your career, then that's too damn bad. I really hate people like you. You're the kind of person who sits at home and gets more and more bitter every day because of it, thus forcing you to stay home, until one day, you blow up and go postal.
  • Read an article posted 31 Mar [theregister.co.uk] for proof
  • At Rob's behest every author will be posting it.
  • If this is truly an April Fool's joke it is about as funny as the story last year about JWZ passing away in a car wreck.

    I fail to see the humour.
  • This is just annoying. Yes, it's April Fool's day, and yes humor is good, but a lot of are still looking for the same real information that we always are, and that gets hard when the jokes outnumber real stories 2 to 1.
  • It was a well planned and stupendously executed prank.

    It was great watching so many people fumble around worrying about the status of Segfault/UF/BeDope

    I know I've had fun today. :-)

    It's people like you that make this such a great joke.

    It's the fools that get upset over April Fool's jokes.

    Sorry that you didn't get it right away and missed out on all the fun.

    It was just a little to coincidental (three sites, shutting down on April 1?) for me to believe.

    It's funny, laugh.

    ~enucite~
  • http://perl2000.com/Webmaster/Support/
  • check the support site.
    i was had.

    -Z
  • I can see the CNNfn story now...

    "Microsoft stock fell sharply this morning in brisk trading on ill-fated rumors that it was the 'yet unnamed' source of litigation against several web sites. Although there is no legal precedent or even advantage for targets of litigation to withold the names of aggressors, these sites set up April Fools schemes involving alleged lawsuits by 'unnamed' companies that most Linux advocates assumed to be Microsoft."

    "Upon realization of the prank, traders brought Microsoft stock briskly back into the black, and it's currently trading at about 2.5 points above it's open."

    Any alternate theories? :-)
  • Don't criticize his "doing some checking". It's a lot of effort to travel to his two major libraries, check his periodical archives, wade through six web search engines, and skim DejaNews. He did get the news here after confirming it's not a trivial rumor.

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