Fake websites - scientific and commercial
All of the following websites are, to the best of my knowledge
fake sites, spoof sites or parodies of 'real' sites. This is by no means a
complete collection, nor should it be regarded as definitive. I have tried when
possible to indicate if the site is suitable for minors, or if it contains
material which viewers may find offensive. However, it is your
responsibility to gauge the appropriateness or otherwise of the sites yourself,
particularly if you intend to use them for educational purposes.
Sites are
arranged in subject groupings, with what I consider to be the most credible
examples at the top; hopefully this will help when you come to choose examples
for yourself or students. If you find any that no longer exist, or you have
other examples, please email
me.
This page contains examples of scientific and commercial sites.
There is a second fake or spoof page that looks at
examples in the area of Historical, social, academic, religious, travel/tourism
and politics, among others.
Scientific
Dihydrogen
Monoxide
Sounds like a very dangerous chemical indeed. It's actually
H2O, but if you're not of a scientific mind this site will get you every
time.
Type: Scientific
Credibility? 10/10
Child
safe? Yes
Genochoice
Prenatal genetics to
eliminate various genetic traits in unborn children.Part of the
RYT Hospital-Dwayne Medical Center
which gives it added credibility.
Type:
Scientific
Credibility? 10/10
Child safe? Yes
Save the Tree
Octopus
Very well put together site and perfectly
believable.
Type: Scientific
Credibility? 10/10
Child
safe? Yes
RYT
Hospital
Well put together website, linking into a number of other
spoof sites, and from a quick view looks entirely bono fide.
Type:
Scientific
Credibility? 9/10
Child safe? Yes
The Ova Prima
Foundation
This site has scientific 'proof' that the egg came first.
Very well done, with todays date, various sections and very academic
looking.
Type: Scientific
Credibility? 9/10
Child
safe? Yes
Hetracil
Commercial site
supposedly selling Hetracil as an 'anti-effeminant' drug. The FAQ is
particularly well done.
Type: Scientific
Credibility?
9/10
Child safe? Yes
The Centaur
Excavations
Very well done, with photographs, created in a good
academic style with an .edu domain. Actually explaining a hoax, but from a
quick look it's easy to be fooled.
Type:
Scientific
Credibility? 9/10
Child safe? Yes
Male
Pregnancy
Another of the RYT linked sites.
Type:
Scientific
Credibility? 7/10
Child safe? Yes
The Museum of Jurassic
Technology
Museum parody site; very dry and dusty.
Type:
Scientific
Credibility? 7/10
Child safe? 16+
Clones R
Us
Providing information on their 'cloning' operation for human
beings. FAQ, price list, testimonials. Quite slick and professionally put
together, though the price list is a giveaway.
Type:
Scientific
Credibility? 6/10
Child safe? Yes
Save
the Guinea Worm
Well put together site, very credible, but the URL
gives the game away.
Type: Scientific
Credibility?
6/10
Child safe? Yes
Online Pregnancy
Test
This shouldn't really fool people, but I suspect that it does.
You may need to try and be scanned twice to confirm that you are actually
pregnant.
Type: Scientific
Credibility? 5/10
Child
safe? 14+
First
Genetics
A genetically modified ape that can converse via the
keyboard. Well done, except for the point that you can converse with him, but
only for today. That's pushing co-incidence a little too far.
Type:
Scientific
Credibility? 5/10
Child safe? Yes
People for the Ethical Treatment
of Algae
The title says it all. It's not particularly well done, in
that there isn't a great deal of information there, and it's quite a basic
site.
Type: Scientific
Credibility? 4/10
Child
safe? Yes
Commercial
Microsoft Firefox 2007
Professional Edition
Very clever, and very credible. It's necessary
to really dig into the site to see that it's not actually real.
Type: Commercial
Credibility? 10/10
Child safe?
Yes
Floral Sculpture
Clinic
This is close to be entirely possible. The site offers to
sell you items that can be inserted under the skin and onto the bone to create
sculpture under the skin. It's another of those 'probably not true, but I
wouldn't be surprised if it was' sites.
Type:
Commercial
Credibility? 10/10
Child safe? Yes
Pets or Food
A
supposedly commercial site selling exotic animals for food. This is very well
done, and has a semi working ordering system.
Type:
Commercial
Credibility? 10/10
Child safe? May upset younger
children
Petrol
Direct
Buy your petrol direct and have it delivered. It sounds like
a sensible deal.
Type: Commercial
Credibility?
8/10
Child safe? Yes
Baby
cages
Infant confinement specialists since 2001. This is one of
those 'it's probably not true... is it?' sites that you can't be absolutely
sure about.
Type: Commercial
Credibility? 7/10
Child
safe? Yes
Telco Powered
Products
A range of products that are powered by the electricity you
get from the telephone point. Sounds credible, although the site design isn't
that professional, but it's good enough.
Type:
Commercial
Credibility? 7/10
Child safe? Yes
Dehydrated
water
A commercial website selling dehydrated water. Very well put
together.
Type: Commercial
Credibility? 7/10
Child
safe? Yes
Rectaltronics
Inc.
A commercial website selling sex toys. Well done, though
somewhat dated, and some of the links show it up as a hoax very
quickly.
Type: Commercial
Credibility? 5/10
Child
safe? Adults Only
Free electricity
project
Campaign for free electricity. Very busy, and while it's
well done I think it's a bit too over the top to be entirely
believable.
Type: Commercial
Credibility? 5/10
Child
safe? Yes
FlikFX Digital
Recomposition System
A system to digitally remove white space in
movies to make the suitable for television viewing. Not terribly believable,
and the screen shots are not of a high quality, but it's reasonably well
done.
Type: Commercial
Credibility? 4/10
Child
safe? Yes
Lacuna Inc.
A site
offering to erase troubling memories. Featured in a movie, and well put
together, although the date gives it away since it hasn't been updated for a
long time.
Type: Commercial
Credibility? 4/10
Child
safe? Yes
Shards of
glass
A 'consumer' website about a food product containing shards of
glass. Professional in a light hearted way, and very believable from a quick
view, though the joke is apparent very quickly.
Type: Commercial
Credibility? 2/10
Child safe? Yes
Real Hamster
A
stuffed, toy hamster used as a sex aid. (No, really!)
Type:
Commercial
Credibility? ?/10
Child safe? Adult Only
I culled this material from a number of different websites, as
well as those that I was aware of myself. Consequently there's a hat tip to
MonkeyFilter, the
Museum of Hoaxes and Jane
Collinson. |
