Hi everybody, This reminds me of the story of "deadly numbers" in Nigeria (below). Telecom operators went as far to assure their customers via SMS and advertisements that they had nothing to fear.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3906607.stm > Nigerian mobile phone users have been anxiously checking who is > calling them before answering them in recent days. > A rumour has spread rapidly in the commercial capital, Lagos, that > if one answers calls from certain "killer numbers" then one will > die immediately. > A BBC reporter says experts and mobile phone operators have been > reassuring the public via the media that death cannot result from > receiving a call. ..... I guess every culture or society has its own fears with the arrival of new technologies. Michiel de Lange On Apr 18, 2007, at 10:15 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello all > > There is an interesting story going around at the moment on a > killer virus being spread via mobile phones in Kabul. It seems to > be a version of Steven Kings book CELL. The interesting thing is > that it is a rumor being spread in a pretty stressed out country > where there is also a good dose of skepticism towards the US, > Europe etc. Regardless of how far fetched the idea is, the context > in which it is being spread perhaps fosters this kind of thought. > > Rich L. > > A piece form zone-h is as follows: > > > Fear is high in Kabul, and it is not only because of war and > terrorism: citizens are deadly worried about a biological virus > that can be transmitted by mobile phone, Reuters reported today. > > Mobile phone users are fearful that a killer virus is spreading via > mobile phone calls and, according to rumours there have already > been several deaths. > > "Don't answer any strange number because it contains a virus that > will kill you," said the shop-owner Mr. Ahmad Fawad. > > Nobody knows how this news spread out but it rapidly reached any > street and alley in kabul, producing so much panic that Afghan > Government had to intervene and reassure the public. > > This story, which has got all the characteristics of a metropolitan > legend, seems to come from Pakistan and in two weeks it swiftly > spread throughout a country that is still bearing the effects of a > devastating war. > > Officials from the Afghan Interior, Communications and Health > ministries had to hold a speech on television and appeal for calm, > trying to convince people about the impossibility of such a story. > > http://www.zone-h.org/content/view/14714/31/ > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "mobile-society" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mobile-society?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
