Technology is all around us – it has now become an integral (some might even say essential) part of our daily lives. With the complexity of technology comes a huge assortment of misconceptions and misunderstandings. This list looks at ten of the most common and dispels them. If you think of others that you feel ought to be here, mention them in the comments.
Misconception: It is dangerous to use a cellphone at a gas station
This misconception came about due to a bunch of emails being spread around the Internet describing cases of explosions caused by cellphone use. The emails were purported to have been sent by Shell Oil. When questioned, Shell denied sending the emails. Furthermore, not only has there never been a case of a cellphone causing an explosion at a gas station, no one has been able to prove that it is even possible in scientific testing. According to Snopes: “News reports routinely attribute gas pump fires to cell phone use whenever a fire occurs at a service station where such a phone was in use at the time, and police and firefighters at the scene often simply assume the connection between the two to be valid.” Despite this complete lack of evidence of likelihood of accident, Australia and New Zealand both display signs at gas stations telling people to turn off cellphones and the city of Cicero in Illinois has made the use of cellphones at gas stations illegal. Read the full Snopes article here.
Misconception: Charles Lindbergh was the first man to fly the Atlantic Ocean
Charles Lindbergh was not the first man to fly the Atlantic Ocean, although he was the first to have flown across it solo. The first flight had been done first in stages between May 8 and May 31, 1919, by the crew of the Navy-Curtiss NC-4 flying boat which took 24 days to complete its journey. The first truly non-stop transatlantic flight was made in 1919 by John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown in a modified Vickers Vimy bomber.
Misconception: The US Highway system was designed to allow planes to land in emergencies
The United States Interstate Highway System was not designed with airplane landings in mind. A common urban legend states that one out of every five (or ten) miles of highway must be straight and flat to allow emergency (or military) airplane landings, but this is not the case. However, several parts of the German and later the Swiss Autobahn system were indeed designed to be auxiliary military airports, both during World War II and the Cold War. [Source]
Misconception: Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press or movable type
Johannes Gutenberg was not the first to invent the printing press or movable type; these were in use in China and Korea centuries before. Gutenberg was the first European to use movable type, and he probably invented it independently; the printing press did have a larger influence on Western than on Eastern culture. Another misconception about Gutenberg is that the first thing he printed was the Latin Vulgate (known as the Gutenberg Bible). Gutenberg’s Bible was printed in Latin because he believed it would be more widely accessible to the common people. But prior to the Bible, he had printed a number of Catholic Church documents and papal letters. [Source]
Misconception: Web cookies are dangerous and should be avoided
In fact, cookies are plain text files which a website can store on your computer with information to manage your browsing. Unless there is a security flaw in your webbrowser, cookies can not access or modify files or settings on your computer, nor can they execute code. The only thing you have to fear from web cookies is the lack of privacy regarding some of your browsing habits. In general, cookies are helpful things – for example, they can keep you logged in to your favorite websites saving you from having to enter your login data every time you visit.
Misconception: Apple Macs don’t get viruses
While it is true that Macs almost never get viruses, it is also true that there are some in existence. First of all there are Macro Viruses which infect Microsoft Word and Excel documents. Because Word and Excel are available for the Mac also, this means that they can be potentially harmful on Macs as well (thanks Microsoft). As of writing, Apple recognizes four possible viruses for Macs, though they are seldom seen. The reason for the low number of viruses is that the Mac operating system is based on a Unix subsystem which usually prevents the average user from running software with sufficient privileges to allow harmful software to cause damage.
Misconception: Hitler created the autobahn
Many people believe that Hitler and the Nazis conceived of the idea of the first Autobahn (essentially a large motorway) in Germany (and the first laned free public motorway in the world). But in fact the autobahn was built in 1931 and opened by Konrad Adenauer, the Mayor of Cologne. This was two years before Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Interestingly, however, the very first motorway (unlaned) was the pet project of a dictator: the Autostrada dei laghi was inaugaurated on the 21st of September 1924 in Milan during the rule of Benito Mussolini.
Misconception: Planes dump their toilet waste while up in the air
Not only do planes not dump their waste mid-flight, it is also impossible for them to do so short of some kind of catastrophe which causes the waste tanks to explode open (because the valve is on the outside of the plane). When toilets are used on a plane, the waste is dumped into a special tank. The waste remains in the tank until the plane lands, and then special ground crew members pump the tanks. So now you can rest safe in the knowledge that you don’t need to watch out for flying chunks of frozen poop when a plane flies over you. In case you are wondering about the sucking noise toilets on planes make, a vacuum is used to allow the toilet to be flushed with less water and because plumbing cannot rely on gravity alone in an aircraft in motion.
Misconception: Pong was the first video game
Computers are much older than many people think and when you talk about the very first game, most people tend to think of Pong. Pong was invented in 1972 by Atari and it was an arcade style game that featured two opposing paddles and a ball with which you played virtual tennis. It was the first commercially successful video game and it launched the video game industry. But… Twenty years earlier (in 1952), another game was created. It was called OXO and it was a noughts-and-crosses (tic-tac-toe) type game which was played on the EDSAC computer. It was made by Alexander Douglas for his PhD thesis at Cambridge University. It is quite astonishing to think that the very first computer game was created nearly sixty years ago!
Misconception: The web is the Internet
This is a very common misconception, most likely brought about due to the fact that most people use the web as their almost exclusive method of using the Internet. But in fact, the Internet technically began to exist in the form we know it on January 1, 1983 when its predecessor (Arpanet) began using TCP/IP – the system of network communication still used today. The web was invented by an Englishman called Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. The World Wide Web is made up of servers (which serve the pages) and clients (like Firefox, Safari, and IE) which display the page. The Internet is the set of technologies beneath the web which enable the web to exist. If the Internet didn’t exist, the web would not be able to function; if the web didn’t exist, the Internet still would. Other programs that use the Internet which have nothing at all to do with the web are email, IRC (Internet Relay Chat), most internet messaging programs, newsgroups, BitTorrent, telnet, FTP, etc.
This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.
10 – I constantly use my cell phone in a gas station and occasionally someone will tell me that it could explode. I know better and point it out. What CAN explode is if you have static electricity and touch the nozzle, causing a spark.
8- Although true, I think this might have come from the first highways being made in california. At times when LAX was small, airplanes used the 1 highway to land or lift off. My teacher mentioned how sometimes the 1 was blocked as a plane landed LoL…
6- didnt know cool
5- this one annoys be because of the faulty logic used. People think…ohhh macs are superior and more safe. But the only reason they arent targeted is because they arent the majority. Its like if you are trying to hurt the US government, and attack the capitol of Kansas LoL. If they become more popular, expect viruses
3- The guys who dump this have a funny name, and are paid a lot… lol
1- I kinda knew this, but kinda didnt… thanks LV for taking me out of my ignorance
-Max
TEX- Sounds like too much work. I would just were my “no fat chicks” shirt and see what happens.
@61 max: Thank you. Was going to write the same thing about the Mac but you beat me to it. If I’m an “evil hacker,” why would I spend all of my time writing a virus that will only target less than 4% of the users? Makes no sense at all. It’s like writing a virus to infiltrate LotusNotes – why bother?? They target MS products because (unfortunately) they have the market share and their “masterpiece” will spread far and wide after affecting MS products.
Just joking don`t flame me.
Man…. i still dont understand the difference between web and Internet… can somebody explain me????
bigski – you’ll be lucky if you get away with it – you got balls
49. bucslim: WRONG! eHarmony’s applicant test is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. You can’t beat this test, that is “cheat” even if you know you are being tested.
The completed tests are checked for all sorts of areas of compatibility, and things like “cuteness” don’t come into the equation.
I met my husband on eHarmony, after getting tired of meeting the friends of friends boyfriends, who always seemed to turn out to be closet sociopaths or complete idiots. With eHarmony, out of the first 8 men they sent me introductions to 3 were men with whom I could have been happy enough, and so could they. Then I met my future husband and it was fireworks and meteors!
We both knew. Our relationship was entirely by e.mail for the first 2 months, then phone calls were added as well. Finally, after 5 months we met in person and that was it. The looking was over (had been over for a while, really), and within two months I had moved in with him and we were married 6 weeks later.
@65 Kadaj: Click here: ftp://ftp.alaska.edu/
You’re using the Internet, but not “the web.” Note the link has nothing to do with “http” or “www.” It’s FTP. The Internet is the underlying communications infrastructure for relaying information. The web uses that infrastructure to deliver most of the pages that you see in your browser.
You can get to the same FTP site without your browser – use a command line tool (most likely the Windows command prompt) and type: ftp http://ftp.alaska.edu Your username is “anonymous” and your password is whatever you want it to be.
Happy FTP’ing.
62. bigski: hmmmm….So it would be ok for me to wear my “No fat, balding, smelly men” shirt? (not pointing fingers……)
OK, I´m going to try to post one last time because I´ve been getting error messages all day… Here goes:
We also have NO CELLPHONES signs in gas stations here in Peru. We dont (actually cant) pump our own gas so it has nothing to do with focusing on the task at hand. I guess the stations would rather be safe than sorry.
One thing I always wondered about this myth… Do you have to turn the phone off completely or is it enough to just not talk while at the gas station? If you get an incoming call, are you supposed to just let it ring or would that cause the explosion too?
On the other hand, my husband completely believes in the link between cellphones and brain cancer. The mother of a friend dies from BC and apparently some doctor mentioned that charging the phone next to her bed might have had something to do with it. Needless to say, he now makes me charge my phone in our bathroom!
TEX (58): I actually met my husband on a blind date! It was actually more of a set-up but it counts!
segue (67): My brother actually met his wife on MSN Messenger… They chatted daily for a little over a year before they actually decided to meet. Six months later he proposed and four months after that they were married!
GTT, I’ve heard of that happening, too. I think there is something about the anonymousness of e.mail of MSM Messenger that allows us to be more honest with each other, discuss subjects more deeply with each other. We can allow ourselves the luxury of vulnerability there because it is, after all, just e.mail, or messaging and someone you’ll probably never meet, so why lie? Then, when things go remarkably well, and you do meet, you have already known each other more deeply than many couples who have been together for years.
I’m all for it. Congratulations to your brother!
The British Airship R34 crossed the Atlantic nonstop in 1919 as well.
@46: No, Bush invented “The Googles.”
oouchan I would encourage you too wear that shirt.It would discourage people like me.
bigski…if it makes you feel any better…you would need to wear your shirt against the likes of me.
But fat chicks like me need love too!
Nice list. I’m glad you mentioned Lindbergh. I have always wondered why the first 2 guys didn’t get a lot of recognition compared to Lindbergh. In my opinion I always thought his accomplishment just because it was a solo flight was a little overrated. I mean If two guys are first to climb mountain I think they would get more recognition than one guy climbing the mountain by himself 8 years later.
I just did a quick search on John Al*****and Arthur Whitten Brown. Both men were knighted by King George V and there are several monuments and memorials in their honor. So I’m sure at the time it was a huge deal. My perception of Lindbergh and the attention he was given might be from watching Pride of St Louis with Jimmy Stewart 50 times. My favorite part is when he yells out “Ireland”
Sorry I meant Spirit of St Louis not Pride.
I was combining Pride of the Yankees (another good movie) and Spirit of St Louis and came up with that.
Cookies are annoying, but I’m glad to know they’re not harmful. Still, when my computer’s having the occasional functioning problem, one of the first thing I do is delete my cookies.
#3 is described correctly. In college, I cleaned cabins for Delta airlines. We took turns emptying the “poop tanks” as they were called. The worst was when it was not hooked up correctly when you pulled on the lever the hose would fall off and all the tank contents fall out on the ground, very gross job usually given to the new guys. I had one coworker hook it up wrong and had to go home because the tank contents were spilled all over his cloths and the ground.
the only time I know of when a cell phone has exploded is in a firework accident – my bud Daniel set his pants on fire and got some pretty serious burns…
oouchan-I hear ya !
67. segue – great story!
a very good family friend of mine is a 50 year-old widow with 2 late-teen/college aged daughters. she was in a long term (10 year+) relationship after her husband passed, and it turned into an unhealthy thing (they met in grief counseling, and both were actually far from healed) she broke it off with him a year ago, and since then he also passed from a massive heart attack, leaving her with some massive debt on a few joint credit cards (she is a wealthy business owner, that guy was basically unemployed for the decade of their relationship) talk about more sadness!
but i saw her last weekend and she’s now dating a man both her daughters are sure she will marry. and she met him on match.com, but not with their “matching” help. after a series of creepy failed dates she spoke to her 80-something mother who said “honey, run this thing like you run your business, get proactive and do you own choosing!” so she made her own criteria list, and choose only profiles that fit, found 2 men in her town she met in person and adored and now will very likely marry this one.
the “social web” can be very useful if you know what to look for (and what to avoid).
83 lo: the “social web” can be very useful if you know what to look for
I usually have good success when I narrow my choices down to “anything with a pulse”.
maggot-
hey, aren’t you a married man? should you be cruising the “social web” for any “pulses” at all? or are you a single dad (a very noble thing to be)? just compiling my mental trivia sheet on all my LV friends…
and i should have said “single/or divorced dad” to be fair to everybody out there, sorry.
lo: Um, I meant back in the day…
(lol, yes I’m happily married, I just couldn’t resist making the joke. You killjoy.
)
sorry for being a killjoy, but i’m happy you are happily married. see, good people really can find an equally awesome mate out there, somehow, some times
so maybe i’m not a killjoy, but rather a reminder of the actual joy that’s out there 
the number ten item above was featured in Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters.. it;s not the cellphones..it’s the friggin’ friction baby//yeah// hehehehe try wearing a silk panty in your hands and rub them near an open gas pump.. ooppsss..sorry..hehe
Mobile phones are not “intrinsically safe”.
Call item 10 a myth if you wish. But I still prefer to leave my phone in the car when refueling.
Re “Autobahns” – items #4 & #8 – Correctly atated, Hitler did NOT invent the autobahn: Mussolini instigated the first – an “autostrada” in the 20′s “bypassing” Milan (htough I think that was mentioned).
However Hitler inaugurated a massive series of autobahn projects toi revitalise the labour industry in post-Weimar Germany: this had two purposes:-
1) It gave him access to a very large body of men already trained and disciplined in working together to form the nucleus of a revived ‘armed forces’ and also
2) Covering #8 – he determined that regular straight, flat sections be incorporated so he had alternative airfields for his fighters and bombers in the event of invasion following his “coming out” confession (confirmation) of having a fully-functioning airforce and military. He surmised that, should Gerrmany be invaded due to its abrogation of the military preclusions of the Versailles Treaty before he was ready to go on the offensive, any and all airfirelds would be the first to be hit. Thus he stipulated the autobahn requirements as alternative ‘counterstrike’ airfields!
Brilliant. Twisted, but brilliant!
John
BTW – another myth attached to Service Station / Gas Station explosions revolves around refuelling motorcycles. Many outlets (read: MOST, if not all outlets) now require a rifer to dismount before they will turn on the pump – requiring the rider to refuel from the standing position.
The rationale being that petrol overflowing onto a hot motorcycle engine will cause an explosion.
BOLLOCKS!!!
In 35 years of riding motorcycles (and quite a lot of those as a paramedic) – I have yet to witness (or hear a report of) a motorcycle petrol tank exploding due to overflow – it simply doesn’t happen.
The other thing is – should the bike explode, the rider is safer.
Again – - – BOLLOCKS!!!
What’s the *****ing difference – getting blown in half (or through a canopy roof over the bowsers) while SITTING on a bike during refuelling, or getting blown to pieces and across the forecourt while standing bewside it???
And that’s only when (or more correctly IF) the next (and FIRST) motorcycle refuelling explosion in history ever takes place.
*****ers!!!!
Florence “Shagrat” Nightingale.
After you have calmed down look up “intrinsically safe”.
Then look how some of the earlier crude carriers went up.
Please don’t hurt me.
Some of those were interesting items; although I’ve heard of some before – I tend to know my way around technology.
Just how this list turned into online dating 101 I’ll never know, but it is true I am also trying an online service for the first time. Relationships can be funny old things; when I’m in one I yearn for space and privacy, and when I’m out of one I yearn for togetherness and intimacy. Go figure! My compromise has been to search for an ‘Activity Partner’ so that perhaps we are both free to do whatever we want.
@ 15 + 16
made my day with those comments (:
laughed for ages!
good way to forget about my exams
83. lo: Thanks. The story is, of course, much longer, but I thought the highlights would do.
94. Lifeschool:…Just how this list turned into online dating 101 I’ll never know, but it is true I am also trying an online service for the first time….
****
I don’t know exactly how it got started either, but it did, and it turned out to be a chance for everyone to learn a little something about the experience.
Why, besides the closet sociopaths and complete idiots, did I try eHarmony? Because, at my age, the pickings start to get pretty slim (or so it seems), and when I had divorced my children’s dad, when they were 4, 5 & 6, I made a vow to not get involved in any relationship, to not date at all, until the youngest was off to Uni. They deserved all of my attention and love.
When I was finally free to get involved, I got sick. That took another several years out of my life before we got it under control. I needed help. eHarmony gave me that help. eHarmony gave me the husband of my dreams. We live in the location of my dreams. We are happier than I could ever have expected to be, and he says the same.
Remember the old joke about the little girl who always looked on the bright side?
One Christmas she woke to find the livingroom full of sh*t. She squealed with joy and began to dig through it. Her brother, watching in bewilderment asked what she was doing.
She said,”With all of this horse-sh*t here, there just *has* to be a pony somewhere!”
I found my pony.
Wow, I’m glad Al Gore invented the Internet.
Segue: Awesome story. Thanks.
Mom424, you’re welcome.
The cellphone thing for #10 is based on the fact that cellphones aren’t “intrinsically safe.” Training for oilfield sites ensures all employees keep their cellphones in the truch because, although it’s unlikely, they can cause a spark.
Fires at gas stations caused by cellphones sounds dubious.
Read in a book that Theodore Roosevelt did infact have the plan for 1 out of every 5 miles of interstate to be suitable for landing a plane. Now if this is correct or not I am not sure but I know that the book is historically accurate.
#10
Highly unlikely to cause anything more than a quick flare up ok. Not much fuel in the pump itself. Probably just enough to keep it primed, and even more incredibly unlikely for the flame to find its way back along the pipe to the storage tank. But, given the right circumstances ignition of the fumes while filling your car your must be technically possible with a phone.
I like phones, filling stations, cars and even the smell of petrol. This therefore may be my last post.
It’s been real…
101-hogfan~~ That use to be my C.B handle when I was a trucker.Small world.
Hahahaha, whoa, dude. Jamie’s famous for something that isn’t Listverse. I dint no you was a opra singer, Jamie!
They’ve got those “No cell phones” signs up all around Washington too. I’ve always wondered if filling up your gas tank while refueling is actually dangerous too, because I’ve never heard of anything bad actually occurring from it.
96: Segue – yeah, good for you. You certainly seem very happy with that particular service – are you on commission?
Actually, the Cathode Ray Entertainment Device was created prior to the tic-tac-toe game by a professor at Furman University.
I’m the Manager of a gas station in North Carolina, we are required to put certain signage on our gas pumps, and one of the signs has several warnings about what you shouldn’t do while fueling, one of them being that you should not use your cell phone! Most people ignore it though.
105. Lifeschool: hahaha! Commission. I wish. I’ve turned so many friends and family onto the service, all to their benefit, that I should get a cut.
Maybe if I write them….
great list JFrater and pee-yaj, no9 reminds me i have to do a list that includes the story of “wrong way corrigan” if he hasnt been mentioned already…
am i right in recalling that the idea of the web was to create an alternative source of communication in the aftermath of a nuclear war?
Number 3 happened to my old roommate when he was a kid.
http://www.post-gazette.com/neigh_north/20021121blueicenp3.asp
segue-
so, i’m really, really happy eharmony worked for you. as i’ve said before, i like and respect you (muchly!), and i think “internet matchmakers” in general do have the potential to work. but i also know that the specific “eharmony” company is owned by a christian evangelical. as an atheist, i always felt i couldn’t trust his company to fairly profile me (or people that could genuinely interest me…). what do you think?
111. lo, you can believe the world was created by furry green hippos, and it doesn’t come into the the equation.
The test you take is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Profile. It rates you on many different personal and personality levels, but whether or not you are an atheist is of interest only after the test is passed and you are filling out the part where you put down your must haves, or mustn’t haves, can put-up-withs, or would rather not’s.
Honestly, your being an atheist will not bear on the acceptance at all.
You are intelligent and beautiful, you are funny and sharp as a tack. If you do join, you’ll have more men attracted to you than youll know what to do with.
He maybe a christian evangelical (which I didn’t know), but his mission in life is to find the right person for as many people as he can. So far, he’s doing the right thing.
It’s an intelligent choice, lo. I truly believe you would easily find the love of your life through eHarmony. I did.
segue-
well, i guess i’ll have to reevaluate if the idea of bias in “mr. eharmony” has a bearing upon his services. that said, i’m very flattered with your take on me. thank you
i do sincerely hope he is able to run his “matchmaker” service without judgement upon his clients versions of “faith” -or lack there-of!
lo, if it helps at all, I do know couples who have met through eHarmony who have no faith, who are Jews, who are Buddhists, who are New Agers (I still can’t figure out what that is, exactly).
It was years ago when I filled out my forms, and I don’t really remember the question being posed…that is, it was some kind of multiple choice which included “none”, as I vaguely recall, or something like that.
psycho that wasn’t a cellphone. The man uses a lighter to try to see inside the tank. Fumes are ignited by the lighter….boom
re: #2…
A video game and a computer game are NOT the same thing. The game you suggest as the first is a computer game, which requires a computer to play, NOT a video game which requires a console to play. Different animals. (Yes, I know Pong came with it’s own console. I also remember it and can vouch for the fact that it was interesting for about half an hour…)
Re: #3 – Plane toilets.
You’d be right except for the numerous news reports of the stuff hitting people’s houses/property. Seriously – just google news it. Whether it’s a leak in the tank or something airlines don’t like to mention – it happens.
my wife is an arse bandit.
Here in the Philippines, all gas station post a note to turn off cellphone when refilling our cars.
To say cookies are not dangerous in of themselves is like saying matches don’t create fires because they only do when you strike them. I just got my bank account disabled because my friend and I used the same PC to sign up for two new separate accounts on there. We made two complete separate security questions and because of the cookies saved on my PC, the 1st account kept asking for the security question of the second account and eventually disabled it. Not only that, when he attempted to sign in under his account, it gave an error that it couldnt complete the process, and said “Hi, my name” instead of his! That is dangerous! With the right amount of know how, a person can get my security info from the computer because of these cookies. Yes, I know it’s primarily because of bad programming on my bank’s part, but the very function of a cookie makes it possible. Like when I go to Lowe’s and look for hammers and then I go to ebay and it all the sudden shows me hammers on the front page. Then I go to my gmail & it shows an ad regarding a new hammer store online. You don’t find that completely disconcerting?