Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with False

Eris, "Bob," the FSM... and who else?

lekvar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:18:04 -0800

I know Eris, "Bob," and the Flying Spaghetti Monster... but what faux-religions came before? Humorous mocking (gentle or otherwise) of dominant religious organizations and beliefs are central to these "disorganized religions" but there's also an element of fellowship and "getting the joke." Are there other examples of this kind of thing? I find it hard to believe it's a spontaneous manifestation of the late 20th century.

How to build a false floor for use in an art gallery?

ThaBombShelterSmith — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:40:53 -0800

I need help with building a false floor. I am an artist and I am needing to build a false floor in the future in which to plant this work in what appears to be a concrete floor. Google-fu has failed me in only bringing up how to build a false floor in reference to cars to conceal stereo mods, so I am wondering if any MeFis have had any experience in building a false floor for art gallery use. Thanks in advance, and my apologies if anyone has asked this question before!

Is it actually right?

hexxed — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:34:56 -0800

I recently read something that has made me start to wonder about the credit given for inventions in the past. I was unaware that in France, Brazil, and other places the Wright brothers are not listed as the first in flight. I am wondering what other things I may be missing out on due to my American midwest public school teachings. I started this question after reading this response from a different question

Brazilians are taught that Alberto Santos Dumont was first in flight, rather than the Wright Brothers. The debate rages, to this day. Every society has its own version of history- before you can get outside of the comfortable bubble in which you were educated, you have to understand that there is a bubble, and that you're in it.
posted by ambrosia at 6:52 PM on October 3, 2006 [+] [!]

Past examples of altering images in media

CitrusFreak12 — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:37:28 -0800

I'm looking for examples of incidents where photographers/newspapers/photojournalists altered photos (e.g., the Reuters Smoke incident of '06). Help? I need to write a paper for a class. I'd like it to be on photoshop in the media, namely any controversy over the use thereof, but I'm unsure of whether or not there are enough examples for me to use. I have LexisNexis at my disposal, but the search results (usually hovering at about 1000) are overwhelming.

Any prior incidents that you could enlighten me about would be wonderful.

What to do about false adverting.

cilantro — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 15:03:23 -0800

What recourse is available against a restaurant for false advertising? There's a bar/restaraunt right near campus that my friends and I frequent. There's a separate lunch menu with smaller portions of the items on the regular menu and much lower prices. On the bottom it says, in fairly large letters, "lunch menu available during dinner hours for college students with valid I.D."-but they won't actually let you do it, and if asked the servers just say "The owner changed his mind." That's been the case since they opened a year ago but the menu hasn't been changed. The menu says "free refills on coffee, tea, or soda", but the policy is to charge again after three refills. The menu also lists a special of "any large pizza and any pitcher of beer, 15$", but you can only actually get Busch (the cheapest beer they have on draft) and any of the pizzas with expensive-ish ingredients (chicken, prosciutto, etc.) are off limits.
This isn't a huge deal, but it irritates me and everyone else. We'd go somewhere else but this is a really small town and there aren't many options. What recourse do we have? Hire a lawyer? Report them to someone? I probably won't do anything, but I'm definitely curious about what the procedure would be if I did.

False positives on HSV tests?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:58:50 -0800

False positives on HSV tests? My girlfriend tested positive a few years ago to genital herpes, though she's never had any symptoms. After switching to a new ObGyn clinic, her new doctor mentioned in passing that she probably got a false positive if she's never had any symptoms, as the HSV test is notorious for spitting out positives if you've ever had chicken pox as a kid. Is this the case? What's the history of this test in terms of accuracy, and are there new tests that are actually accurate?

False positive spam problem with hotmail

twiggy — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:32:37 -0800

Despite plenty of googling, and even email with Microsoft's support - I cannot seem to solve my problem. I'm wondering if perhaps any of my fellow geeks have had this problem: I run a web/email server of my own, colocated in a highly reputable facility. For some reason, Hotmail views any email coming from my box as spam, and tosses it in a junk folder. I've done all the checks to make sure I don't have an open spam relay problem, etc. I've checked all the blacklists I can think of -- I'm not on any of them. Are any of you having your legitimately sent email relegated to Hotmail's SPAM coffers? Hotmail says they'd love to help me, but they use Brightmail by Symantec, and it is they who need to help me. Symantec, however, has not responded to repeated emails/phone calls.

I've even done what I need to do (I think) to follow Microsoft's Sender ID program - yet still my email is relegated to spam folders. Personal email - no attachments, nothing out of the ordinary.

How to handle a false advertisement from across the border?

peewee — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 19:48:08 -0800

Recourse Filter: I bought a product from a Canadian company. I realized upon it's arrival that it’s incorrect and was falsely advertised. Discussions with the company haven’t went well at all . Advice and suggestions on the possibility of getting things corrected? I’m a Google neophyte and all of my attempts to research the proper procedure for addressing possible recourse haven’t lead to anything helpful. Perhaps someone here knows where and how to start pursuing something like this, specifically with the "international" aspect of it?

Here’s what happened so far:

1) Several months ago I read an announcement from a company that a product was available, notably with a certain, well-known finish that I like. All of the specifications sounded dead-on for what I was after, so I bought it for U.S. $2,100. (a fair price)

2) It arrived recently with a finish that’s different than what was advertised. I would not have bought it had I known about this in advance.

3) Company says first that the finish was a “variation” of what it was supposed to be, but later begins saying that it *is* in fact what was advertised. Things are spun by the company to sound like I’ve simply changed my mind and don’t want it anymore (inaccurate). I’m happy with everything else about it, just not the incorrect finish.

4) I tracked down the actual part numbers of the finish (a pearlescent “wrap” that’s adhered to the product), and sure enough, what I have is different than what was advertised. No question about this.

5) Talked to the company about it again, and this time they say “Maybe you can sell it on eBay or something.” As if that statement wasn’t ridiculous enough on it’s own, I’d be sure to take a big financial hit by doing this because it’s now considered “pre-owned.” They’re unwilling to exchange it for a properly-built product, they’re unwilling to take it back and redo the finish correctly and they’re unwilling to give me my money back.

And that’s where we are as of today. I have all of our email correspondence, including where they admit that the finish is a “variation” of what it should’ve been, and also that they’re not willing to take care of things. Sadly, I didn’t think ahead to record any of the telephone conversations, though. The company is in Vancouver, B.C. and I’m in Minneapolis; this is where I’m running into difficulties, what with the “international” aspect of taking legal action. I believe that they’re a small operation, possibly even a “one man shop,” if that means anything.

I’m assuming that this would have to take place in Canada’s legal system? I don’t have a clue where to start or what to expect, so I’m initially wondering about the following:

How on earth do I track down a reputable Canadian lawyer? How much upfront money (roughly) might be necessary to get the ball rolling? Will any of my incurred expenses for this action (travel, legal fees, etc...) possibly be recoverable? Are there any good resources I could peruse to educate myself a little more in the mean time to get a better overall feel for the actual realities of any end-result success?

This is a real drag. Anything at all that anyone could suggest would be greatly helpful. And I love email too!!

Thank you,
peewee