To understand the true purpose of this project, it is highly recommended that you read at least the introductory paragraphs of our first Urban Legend article. Short version:
- The story below is fiction.
- To participate, email copies to people in your address book.
- See if you get a copy back.
Use this in your email's subject line:
Fwd: Warning about Psychosis screen saver
Here's a text file, suitable for copying and pasting -- as is -- into the body of your email. (We've made it look like it was forwarded to you already.) For the experiment to work the best, forward it intact without any notes explaining where you got it. Do remember where you saw it first, in case it appears in your in-box.
From: N.O. Reely <cummon@wouldilie.net>
To: SanMiguel@beer.com, quantum@mechanics.org,
donny-n@marie.net, producto@environment.co.uk
cadgodde@superchicken.net, david@goliath.com
Subject: [Fwd: Warning about Psychosis screen saver]
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 21:34:56 -0700
Message-ID: <3672CF05.45F5@wouldilie.net>
The Committee on Technology and Youth of the U.S. House, led by Rep. Henry Clay of Kentucky, have been looking into a possible relationship between the increase in teen violence and computer ownership. It is well known that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris -- the perpetrators of the Columbine Colorado massacre -- were computer users. This Committee has recently uncovered a startling bit of information.
A company known as Synthesoft has developed a product called the "Psychedelic Screen Saver". A psychedelic is something which generates hallucinations, distorts perception and sometimes produces mental states resembling psychosis. The word is often used for drugs such as LSD and mescaline. Synthesoft's web site at www.synthesoft.com plainly refers to this screen saver using phrases such as "mesmerizing" (another word for 'hypnotizing' and related to the occult), "blow your mind" and "[if you] have a history of mental illness, you'll love this screen saver."
There are over 600 modules available for the current version of this screen saver. They are designed to induce states of mind ranging from euphoria to agitation. Although the Committee's report has not been finalized, there are early indications that some of these modules -- under certain conditions -- may bring about temporary bouts of mental miasma accompanied by violent behavior, especially in adolescents.
Unfortunately, trusting people -- believing them to be a joke -- are not taking the warnings seriously and are downloading this shareware. Also, Psych (as the product is also known) is available from other web sites that do not include these warnings.
It is recommended that you forward this email to as many households as you know, especially those which include children.
If anybody receives this email in the future -- or some version of it -- forward the entire message to us and we will post the results of the experiment. Let's have a little fun, shall we?
Full disclosure:
- Although we expect some gullible people will believe the email, we also expect at least an equal number will check out the screen saver, download it, maybe even pay for it. The Unquiet Collective is not in contact with Synthesoft and we aren't getting any kind of monetary kickback.
- There is no "Committee on Technology and Youth" in the U.S. House of Representatives. Henry Clay of Kentucky was a Democratic-Republican representative during the early 1800s and ran for President several times during that period.
- I love this screen saver, have used it for months, and I am no more psychotic now than I was before I started using it.
- It costs $20 to register the Psychedelic Screen Saver, to get rid of the annoying little message boxes that pop up in the middle of the screen.
Related resources:
(Check these sites before forwarding suspicious emails -- except this one, of course.)
Also see...
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