Newsgroups: rec.humor.funny.reruns From: trans@lucent.com (Forbes, Michael Scott (Scott)) Subject: Horse Virus? Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 7:20:00 PST URL: http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/99/Apr/trojhorse.html

-----Original Message----- > TO: Trojan Army Listserv <Trojans-L@troy.org> > RE: WARNING!! BEWARE GREEKS BEARING GIFTS!

Hey Hector,

This was forwarded to me by Cassandra--it looks legit. Please distribute to Priam, Hecuba, and your 99 siblings.

Thanks,

Laocoon

> WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! > > IF YOU RECEIVE A GIFT IN THE SHAPE OF A LARGE WOODEN HORSE DO NOT > DOWNLOAD IT!!!! It is EXTREMELY DESTRUCTIVE and will overwrite your > ENTIRE CITY! > > The "gift" is disguised as a large wooden horse about two stories tall. > > It tends to show up outside the city gates and appears to be abandoned. > > DO NOT let it through the gates! It contains hardware that is > incompatible with Trojan programming, including a crowd of heavily armed > Greek warriors that will destroy your army, sack your town, and kill > your women and children. If you have already received such a gift, DO > NOT OPEN IT! Take it back out of the city unopened and set fire to it by > the beach. > > FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW! > > Poseidon > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > FROM: hector@studmuffin.com > TO: laocoon@doomgloom.edu > RE: Greeks bearing gifts > > Laocoon, > > I hate to break to you, but this is one of the oldest hoaxes there is. > I've seen variants on this warning come through on other > listservs, one involving some kind of fruit that was supposed to kill > the people who ate it and one having to do with something called the > "Midas Touch." Here are a few tipoffs that this is a hoax: > > 1) This "Forward this message to everyone you know" junk. If it were > really meant as a warning about the Greek army, why tell anyone to post > it to the Phonecians, Sumerians, and Cretans? > > 2) Use of exclamation points. Always a giveaway. > > 3) It's signed "from Poseidon." Granted he's had his problems with > Odysseus but he's one of their guys, isn't he? Besides, the lack of a > real header with a detailed address makes me suspicious. > > 4) Technically speaking, there is no way for a horse to overwrite your > entire city. A horse is just an animal, after all. > > Next time you get a message like this, just delete it. I appreciate your > concern, but once you've been around the block a couple times you'll > realize how annoying this kind of stuff is. > > Bye now, > Hector

[Note - making the rounds - ed.]