Reddit bans communities promoting QAnon conspiracy theory

Reddit's tougher policies just led to more community bans, albeit not for typical reasons. The site has confirmed to Slate that it shut down subreddits associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory, including GreatAwakening, QProofs and thestorm, among...

Google Maps Brings New Meaning to a Search for Nessie

It is perhaps the most famous monster photo of all time. Appearing in England’s Daily Mail on April 21, 1934, it was snapped by London physician Robert Kenneth Wilson and became known as the “Surgeon’s Photograph.” We’ve all seen it countless times – a creepy snake-like head jutting out of the dark waters of Scotland’s Loch Ness. The image was later discovered to be an elaborate ruse created using a toy sub.

loch_nesszoom in

Even though that photo was proven not to be a real portrait of Nessie, many still believe a giant beast actually haunts the Loch. To mark the date the image was taken, Google posted a host of its Street View images of both the surface of the Loch and what it looks like under the surface so that explorers around the world can scan the terrain themselves in search of the infamous creature.

What’s crazy though, is that one of the 360-degree images you can view is titled “Bird, log or monster?” And when you click into it you can clearly make out four small black bumps breaking the surface that look a heck of a lot like Godzilla’s tail slipping back beneath the water. I certainly don’t believe in the monstrous myth, but after seeing that Google pic I won’t be taking a dip in Loch Ness anytime soon.

[via Google Maps Blog]

Email widget takes on viral rumors, fact checks for you

Email widget takes on viral rumors, fact checks for you

If you're one of those people who actually believes that Facebook is going to start charging users tomorrow, you're probably going to want to skip this post. LazyTruth is working on a Gmail widget -- something that could've easily been borne out of Google Labs -- that will automatically vet your messages and determine if they're full of viral misinformation. When it detects specific unique phrases that are consistent with known fallacies, it immediately circles back to Snopes.com and Factcheck.org (a pair of myth busting portals, if you couldn't guess) to provide original source links and even rebuttals. It seems like it could be a great way to make us all even lazier more efficient when it comes to debunking some of the wilder rumors that tend to affect our most gullible friends. Of course, given that there's no set release date just yet, perhaps the source link could use a scrubbing itself. We kid... we think.

Email widget takes on viral rumors, fact checks for you originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 02:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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