W.J. Elvin III - The Art of the Prank

July 28, 2011December 15, 2023

China: The Alice”™s Restaurant of Fake Collectible Coins

Among many great discoveries that can be attributed to the Chinese is that Western consumers will buy shit if it”™s chocolate covered and packaged as an upscale brand. Our longtime fakes and frauds columnist W.J. Elvin takes a look at one little slice of the Chinese counterfeit market, collectible and rare coins, an area in which he dabbles with commercial and journalistic interest.

China: The Alice”™s Restaurant of Fake Collectible Coins
by W.J. Elvin III
July 28, 2011

Seems kind of weird for a Wag-the-Dog culture like ours to be getting all righteous with the Chinese over a bit of fakery.

I”™m talking about fake Apple stores in China, a scam so marvelously done that even some of the employees believed they were working for Apple.

Latest reports indicate those shops have been shut down. But, to give China its due, that story was just one little blip on the fake-o-rama radar.

Most fake stuff coming into the U.S. originates in China where, so we hear, not only factories — entire towns are devoted to producing counterfeit popular merchandise.

Those folks get down to it, even making money by making money.

How do you do that? Continue reading “China: The Alice”™s Restaurant of Fake Collectible Coins”

July 22, 2011December 15, 2023

Chinese Take-Out? Make That Fake-Out

Update, 7/22/11: China’s Fake Apple Store Sparks Customer Ire; Staff Remains Defiant

Submitted by W.J. Elvin III: Love it that maybe the employees don’t even know they’re not working for Apple…

China’s Fake Apple Stores Mimic Real Thing–Down To Product Displays
by Steven Hoffer
The Huffington Post
July 20, 2011

The following is perhaps the greatest Chinese knock-off of all time.

A blogger living the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, in Yunnan province has discovered bit-for-bit rip-offs of the iconic and well-branded Apple retail stores.

The BirdAbroad blog describes a store housing display cases filled with what appear to be Apple products, that unmistakable Apple Store design, “classic Apple store winding staircase” and even Apple “employees” wearing blue t-shirts ready to assist customers with all of their Apple troubleshooting needs.

But, of course, there’s more to this store than meets the eye. Bird writes, “this was a total Apple store ripoff. A beautiful ripoff – a brilliant one – the best ripoff store we had ever seen (and we see them every day). Continue reading “Chinese Take-Out? Make That Fake-Out”

July 14, 2011December 15, 2023

Yarn Bombing: Not Your Grandmother’s Doily

Submitted by W.J. Elvin III:

Extreme Knitting and Crochet Art
by Brynn Mannino
WomansDay.com
May 19, 2011

Check out 10 elaborate masterpieces made from yarn and string

While some people may think knitting and crocheting are just for grandmas, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, in the last few years, there has been a huge resurgence in these techniques, and the projects go far beyond scarves and gloves. Crocheted and knitted artworks have taken the world by storm, both on the street””a movement referred to as “knit graffiti,” “yarn bombing” and “urban knitting”””and in modern art circles alike. Loved for the humanizing quality it lends to everyday objects, the medium continues to attract artists, who have no doubt been inspired by the pioneering works below.

“Locker Room”

Through his artwork, New York–based artist Nathan Vincent works to gender-neutralize objects associated with overt masculinity. When completed, “the objects are no longer rough and manly, but soft and inviting,” he says. This particular installation, for which he crocheted over 200 skeins of Lion brand yarn, will be displayed at the Bellevue Arts Museum in Seattle through June 26, 2011. Photo: courtesy of Bellevue Arts Museum

Banksy Tribute

In 2011, Polish artist Agata Oleksiak””who goes by “Olek”””paid homage to one of the great street artists of her time, UK-based Banksy, by crocheting Red Heart acrylic yarn to emulate one of his most famous pieces: “Balloon Girl” (a.k.a. “Girl with Red Balloon”). She installed her works (five in all) on the sides of buildings throughout downtown Manhattan to help promote Banksy’s documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, which was nominated for an Oscar. Photo: courtesy of Olek

Continue reading “Yarn Bombing: Not Your Grandmother’s Doily”

May 18, 2010December 15, 2023

Facebook Candid Camera Prank: Adware or Worse

Submitted by W.J. Elvin III:

Facebook Users Warned of Sexy ‘Candid Camera Prank’ Attack
by Ellen Messmer
NetworkWorld
May 18, 2010

Security firms are warning Facebook users to beware of what’s being called the “Candid Camera Prank” attack recently spotted on Facebook that tries to use the lure of a sexy video of a scantily clad woman on a bicycle to download a video player that’s actually Hotbar adware, and maybe worse.

Also: FBI details most difficult Internet scams

Websense and Sophos are among the security firms pointing out the dangers of the “sexiest video ever” trick, posted automatically on users’ profile pages, that shows a message posted on the walls of Facebook users, seemingly by their friends, of a movie thumbnail of a woman on a bicycle wearing a short skirt in a video entitled “Candid Camera Prank.” Continue reading “Facebook Candid Camera Prank: Adware or Worse”

January 29, 2010December 15, 2023

LiteratEye #49: Biff! Bam! Super-Journalist Takes On the Academics

Here’s the forty-ninth installment of LiteratEye, a series found only on The Art of the Prank Blog, by W.J. Elvin III, editor and publisher of FIONA: Mysteries & Curiosities of Literary Fraud & Folly and the LitFraud blog.

LiteratEye #49: Biff! Bam! Super-Journalist Takes On the Academics
By W.J. Elvin III
January 29, 2010

“I have never done any research that shows blondes are more aggressive, entitled, angry or ‘warlike’ than brunette or redheads.” Aaron Sell, Center for Evolutionary Psychology, in a letter to the Times of London.

You probably noticed the anti-British journalist rant posted on this site yesterday, provoked by the article referred to above. If not, it’s still available for your reading enjoyment.

The controversy has been getting a lot of play on sites catering to scholars such as Arts & Letters Daily as well as some more popular arenas like Defamer.

Thus far, though, no one seems to be standing up for British journalists. Until now, that is. Here in the LiteratEye bunker we’re taking a contrarian position on the matter. We declare British journalists to be the best and brightest in the business.

As I recall, old school British journalists could typically run circles around their American counterparts as news-getters and as entertaining writers. The few I’ve known as editors could no doubt have donned general’s uniforms and tidied up Afghanistan and Iraq in short order.

Their secret – and I’m speaking here of those I knew in the good old days — is that they understood and served reader interest. I’m sure they could have produced brilliant thumb-sucker think pieces or razor-sharp analysis of yet another boring issue. Or they could have written suck-up puff stories touting their intimate buddy-buddy relationships with the high and mighty. But, no, they wrote for the fellow who, over his morning coffee, would peek from behind the paper to say: “Jumpin’ cheeses, Alice, listen to this!” Continue reading “LiteratEye #49: Biff! Bam! Super-Journalist Takes On the Academics”