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Oops! The Silly Mistakes Thread

Embarrassment as 'moon rock' in museum turns out to be just a piece of petrified wood
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 3:44 PM on 27th August 2009

It's not green cheese, but it might as well be.
The Dutch national museum said today that one of its most prized possessions, a rock supposedly brought back from the moon by U.S. astronauts, is just a piece of petrified wood.
In an investigation into the piece, a space expert told the Rijksmuseum it was unlikely NASA would have given away any moon rock so soon after Apollo returned to Earth.
Rijksmuseum spokeswoman Xandra van Gelder, said the museum will keep the relic as a curiosity.

'It's a good story, with some questions that are still unanswered,' she said. 'We can laugh about it.'
The museum acquired the rock after the death of former prime minister Willem Dreesman in 1988.

Dreesman received it as a private gift in 1969 from then-U.S. ambassador J. William Middendorf who accompanied the Apollo 11 astronauts on a visit to The Netherlands after the first moon landing.

Mr Middendorf told how the rock came from the U.S. State Department, but couldn't recall the exact details.

'Apparently no one thought to doubt it, since it came from the prime minister's collection,' Ms Van Gelder said.
The rock is not usually on display at the museum, which is primarily known for fine art by masters including Rembrandt.
'It's a nondescript, pretty-much-worthless stone,' said Geologist Frank Beunk from Amsterdam's Free University. He said he could see at a glance the rock was not from the moon.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... z0PT78eLRO
 
Unless there are really fossilised trees on the moon and Area 51 were have a car boot sale. :)
 
US man fires cannon, hits neighbour's house
A history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a cannonball through the wall of his neighbour's home in Pennsylvania.
Published: 4:44PM BST 04 Sep 2009

William Maser, 54, of Georges Township, fired the two-pound cannonball on Wednesday evening outside his home that ricocheted and hit a house 400 yards (365 meters) away.

The cannonball, about two inches in diameter, smashed through a window and a wall before landing in his neighbour's closet. Authorities said no one was hurt.

State police charged Mr Maser with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

No one answered the phone on Friday at Maser's home.

He told WPXI-TV that recreating 19th century cannon is a longtime hobby. He added that he was sorry about the damage and would stop shooting them on his property.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... house.html
 
BBC News blooper: Is this the funniest ever?
A clip of a BBC News presenter appearing to suggest he was kidnapped by Philip Garrido has been posten on YouTube by a colleague as a lesson in the importance of punctuation.
By Ben Leach
Published: 8:53AM BST 09 Sep 2009

[video clip]

In the seven-second long footage the presenter says: "This is BBC World News. I'm Jonathan Charles, kept hidden for almost two decades and forced to bear children..." :shock:

But, rather than being posted by an eagle-eyed viewer, the clip, titled "BBC News blooper: funniest ever" was uploaded by Jeremy Hillman, the head of the BBC's economics and business unit. :D

The sub text reads: "A lesson for Jonathan Charles of BBC World News on the importance of punctuation on the autocue and breathing".

It is just one of many BBC News "bloopers" that have appeared on the video-sharing website.

Earlier this year a BBC weather forecaster wrongly predicted temperatures of -99C in Kent. Daniel Corbett was presenting the weather on the BBC News Channel when he made the embarrassing slip-up.

In a separate clip another BBC News presenter is seen putting his head in his hands after making the following slip-up: "Britain's biggest teaching union has vowed to ballot its members over a series of one-day walkouts over pee, um pay".

Video compilations of clips including presenter Rob Bonnet screaming "What's the matter with you" at a sports fan in the Giants Stadium in New York also appear on the site.

In 2006 a presenter on BBC News 24 famously interviewed Guy Goma, a Congolese taxi driver, after mistaking him for Guy Kewney, a British IT expert.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... -ever.html
 
Misread price tag means antique medals were a bargain
An antiques dealer found his set of Victorian military medals worth £1,850 had been sold for just £18.50 after a part-time shop assistant misread the price tag while he was on a lunch break.
By Jasper Copping
Published: 8:57PM BST 19 Sep 2009

The 13 medals, which date back to the 1890s, were on sale in the Treasure Chest antiques store, in Norwich, when a couple spotted them and bought them.

The dealer, who has not been named, was selling his antiques through the shop, which is run by Pasquale Musso.

Mr Musso said: "The dealer came back from his lunch break and said 'Oh, you've sold my medals.' I said that I hadn't, and he said they had gone out of the cabinet.

"Each dealer has a book that we write their transactions in, and so we looked at his and it said they had been sold. I recognised the handwriting and asked the shop assistant, and she said she had sold them for £18.50."

Mr Musso said that when he had pointed out the error to the assistant, she "went very white and got very upset".

"She didn't know anything about medals and didn't realise they would be worth that much," he added.

"I am feeling terrible at the moment. The dealer's wife is six months pregnant and so they need the money. The assistant didn't realise the value, and it is my responsibility.

"The medals date back to the 1890s and are very rare; there are a couple of Zulu medals with a bit of history to them and they are all very collectable."

Mr Musso is now appealing for the couple to return their bargain – in exchange for a £250 reward.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... rgain.html
 
Fox news anchor Ernie Arnastos's obscene chicken slip is instant internet catchphrase
Ernie Arnastos, the US newsreader who told a colleague to 'keep f---ing that chicken' live on air, has spawned a viral web craze.
By Tom Chivers
Published: 9:39AM BST 21 Sep 2009

Ernie Anastos, the US news anchor who made an obscene verbal slip live on air last week, has unwittingly created an instant internet catchphrase.

Mr Anastos, who works for New York City Fox affiliate WNYW, was bantering cheerfully with colleagues during the evening news on 16 September when he apparently told the weatherman to "keep f---ing that chicken."

In scenes reminiscent of the Will Ferrell film Anchorman, Mr Anastos appeared oblivious to the slip, even as his co-presenter Dari Alexander’s eyes visibly bulged with shock. :shock:

It is believed that Mr Anastos meant to say "keep plucking that chicken", possibly meaning "persevere" or "don’t give up".

However, the obscene version has taken on a life of its own. It is a regularly searched term on Twitter and a staple of US late-night talk show hosts. T-shirts (in adult and children’s sizes) are available with the catchphrase across the chest.

And the phrase has even made it into slang bible urbandictionary.com, with the definition "keep up the good work" and an example - News anchor to weatherman: 'Great forecast. Keep f---ing that chicken.'

Even the Rev. Al Sharpton has speculated on the meaning of the slogan. He told the New York Times: "It could be a kind of phrase: 'Well, keep doing what you are doing. Keep going after it.'

"Even if you are tired or distracted, keep on doing that chicken, that kind of thing."

Mr Arnastos has since apologised for the slip, saying: "I misspoke during Thursday night's newscast. I apologize for my remarks to anyone who may have been offended." Fox 5 WNYW vice president Lew Leone said the company was "disappointed with Ernie's comment".

In the 2004 film Anchorman, a rival uses the autocue to trick news anchor Ron Burgundy, played by Ferrell, into replacing his usual catchphrase "stay classy, San Diego" with the more controversial "go f--- yourself, San Diego". 8)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... hrase.html
 
Time for a trip to Ikea: Sweden's SAS blow up wrong house on training exercise
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:24 PM on 30th September 2009

An elite Swedish military unit has been left red-faced after blowing up the wrong house on a training exercise.
The K3 force, who regard themselves a the SAS of Scandinavia, virtually destroyed a holiday home 750 feet away from their intended target.

The owner of the holiday home returned to find it a smoking ruin, with windows and doorframes blown out, scorch marks on all the walls and most of the furniture destroyed.
'It's a trip to Ikea for me now,' he told a local radio station.

It is unclear what caused the error, but the unit did carry out a clean-up of the house.
The blunder happened during a training exercise at Röjdåfors, in central Sweden. The K3 soldiers, members of the Life Regiment Hussars, are billed on their website as 'an airborne battalion and an intelligence battalion'.
It states: 'The airborne battalion is a rapid response unit with high mobility that enables the unit to be first on the scene of a mission.
'The intelligence battalion is able, through the use of advanced technology, to control and guide attacks by aircraft and artillery against a wide range of targets.'
The aim of the exercise was to capture a house using small arms and artillery.

Journalist Stig-Börje Axelsson said: 'It is hugely embarrassing for them. The homeowner returned to find all his windows and doors gone.
'It's a pretty wild area. I mean the houses are not close together.
'I imagine there is some serious a***-kicking going on now.'

Philip Simon, K3's public relations officer, said: 'I think we've already cleaned up after ourselves. And we have, of course, contacted the owner.
'There's no hard feeling between us.'
He refused to say what caused the error.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... z0SgCK7yOt
 
This is a classic!

Plane passenger accidentally activates ejector seat - and survives
A civilian passenger in an air force display plane accidentally activated the ejector seat while reaching for something to steady himself during a mid-air manoeuvre.
Published: 7:14PM GMT 01 Nov 2009

The novice flier instantly shot through the jet's perspex canopy and was blasted 100 metres into the sky by the rocket-powered emergency chair.

Experts said the man was lucky to escape unharmed following the bizarre incident, which happened on Wednesday in South Africa.

It is thought he activated the ejector seat after lurching forward during an aerobatic manoeuvre and accidentally pulling on the black and yellow emergency handle between his legs.

The lever is fitted as standard in the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II jets to allow pilots and their passengers to eject from the aircraft in the event of an emergency.

As soon as it was activated, the ejection sequence activated two rockets attached to the back of his chair.

The man, who has not been named, later floated back down to Earth on a parachute which opened automatically.

South African Airforce bosses scrambled a helicopter to pick up the passenger after the blunder near Langebaanweg airfield, 80 miles north of Cape Town.

The incident happened shortly after he took off for a joyride with an experienced pilot from South Africa's Silver Falcons air display team.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... vives.html
 
This comes with a video!

Oops... How to destroy five million roubles of vodka and cognac in just five seconds, by warehouse forklift driver
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 12:31 PM on 02nd November 2009

If you've already been yelled at by your boss today, this is likely to make you feel a whole lot better.
For it's not many workers who can say they destroyed an entire warehouse full of alcohol in just a few seconds.
Yet that is just what this poor forklift driver in Russia did in a video that emerged on the internet on Friday.

The video, which appears to be taken from a CCTV camera in the roof of the warehouse, shows the forklift driver backing up just a little bit too quickly.
He strikes a stack of boxes containing bottle of cognac and vodka - and the impact, to the horror of those standing by, brings the entire contents of the warehouse crashing down in a freak domino effect.

Workmen are pictured frantically clambering over the rubble to reach the two forklift drivers who appear to have been buried under the thousands of bottles.

The piles of alcohol on the left hand side of the warehouse careen towards the stacks on the right hand side
Fortunately no one was seriously injured, with one driver suffering a wound to his foot, and the other apparently escaping unscathed.

Five million roubles (£105,000) worth of alcohol was destroyed in the accident, according to the Russian website that posted the video, scandalim.ru.
It is not clear if the driver had been sampling some of the stored wares when the incident occurred. 8)
The video from the warehouse, which was not named, was posted on Friday.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... z0Vhx36oQc
 
I've done some FLT driving myself in the last. I've dropped a couple of pallets but thats brilliant. :rofl:
 
The Telegraph said:
Plane passenger accidentally activates ejector seat - and survives
A civilian passenger in an air force display plane accidentally activated the ejector seat while reaching for something to steady himself during a mid-air manoeuvre.

The novice flier instantly shot through the jet's perspex canopy and was blasted 100 metres into the sky by the rocket-powered emergency chair.

Experts said the man was lucky to escape unharmed following the bizarre incident, which happened on Wednesday in South Africa.
A couple of points.

No 1 - The Pilatus PC-7 Mk II is a propeller driven plane, not a jet.

No 2 - What happened to the pilot? he would have been sat behind the civilian, and thus would have had two very powerful rockets go off within eighteen inches of his legs. Also, in many planes, the two ejector seats are linked so if one is activated the other goes off automatically as well

No 3 - "accidentally activates ejector seat - and survives" - surely that's the entire point of ejector seats? What next? "Man uses inflatable life-raft - and doesn't drown!"

Sorry, I'm in a pedantic mood this morning.
 
'Two very powerful rockets'? Pfft, as any Beano reader knows, the only mechanism necessary for rapid vertical propulsion is a very large spring.

Perfectly safe - no danger whatsoever.
 
stuneville said:
What happened to the pilot? he would have been sat behind the civilian, and thus would have had two very powerful rockets go off within eighteen inches of his legs. Also, in many planes, the two ejector seats are linked so if one is activated the other goes off automatically as well
According to the Guardian version of the story, the passenger sits behind the pilot:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/no ... ector-seat
It probably is best not to fiddle with switches or controls when riding in the back seat of an air force plane.

A man who failed to obey that principle found himself hurtling out of the cockpit, smashing through the Perspex canopy and into space after grabbing the black- and yellow-striped handle between his legs. He had inadvertently pulled the eject lever and found himself blasted 100 metres into the sky on his rocket-powered seat.

The South African air force has confirmed the incident that took place last Wednesday, when the passenger took off for a flight with an experienced pilot from South Africa's Silver Falcons air display team. Investigators are assuming that the passenger tried to steady himself while the pilot was putting the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II through its paces by grabbing the eject lever.

"Much of the information has yet to be tested, but it is confirmed that a civilian passenger unintentionally ejected from a Silver Falcons Pilatus PC-7 Mk II Astra during a general flying sortie out of Langebaanweg air force base this week," a South African air force spokesman said. "The passenger was recovered [by helicopter] unharmed, and returned to Langebaanweg. The aircraft landed safely."

The spokesman said the flight had been cleared and all procedures adhered to "prior to the passenger boarding the aircraft", making it unlikely charges would follow.

A retired SAAF instructor pilot said the passenger was extremely lucky to have survived the ejection with barely a scratch.

"We train for this and if you don't get it right, and are not in the correct ejection posture, you can sustain severe spinal cord injuries or even worse."

He discounted the possibility that the seat fired of its own accord, as too many safety features were built into the system.

"All it takes is for the firing handle [the rubbery black- and yellow-striped loop] to be pulled up about 2.5cm and you're on your way out."

He said the ejection would have been dramatic. "You get one almighty kick under the backside and then you're gone. The seat separates from the pilot automatically and the chute opens," he said. "This is in case the pilot is incapacitated during the ejection."

Passengers would have been briefed on the ejection sequence and warned that the "loop" between his legs was not to be touched unless the pilot called "Eject, eject, eject" during the flight. Such a briefing is done routinely, even when two qualified pilots are involved in the flight. It is likely the rear cockpit was extensively damaged by the firing of the cartridges and rockets during the ejection.

The Silver Falcons are the SAAF's aerobatic team that perform precision formation and aerobatics displays at airshows around the country. The five pilots are all serving instructors at Central Flying School, Langebaanweg.

As one observer said: "What a trip. That guy took off in an Astra, came down in a parachute, and landed back at base in a helicopter. Not bad for a for a single flip."
 
Tesco sues for refund on bicycles order
By Wesley Johnson, Press Association
Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Britain's biggest retailer is taking legal action after mistakenly paying almost £1m for six bicycles which should have cost less than £1,000, sources said today. :shock:

Tesco is seeking restitution of the overpaid monies following the error by its finance team.

The supermarket chain should have paid Universal Cycles, a subsidiary of Sports Direct which is controlled by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, £984 for six Muddy Fox Suspension Bikes but paid £984,000 instead.

Universal, an Essex-based company majority-owned by Sports Direct, has paid back £863,000 but Tesco claims it is holding on to more than £121,000 in outstanding funds, sources said.

It has launched legal action at the High Court to recover the remaining money, legal costs and a further £1,783 - the sum the retailer claims it is owed in interest at 8 per cent a year.

The error was made on 13 August and Universal was asked to repay it 15 days later.

Universal then repaid some of the funds on 29 September, but £121,412 is outstanding, sources said.

It is understood a meeting will be held between the two parties in a bid to resolve the dispute out of court.

A Tesco spokesman declined to comment on the ongoing case.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/busin ... 27136.html
 
Vanuatu PM loses parliamentary seat over blunder
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8382887.stm

Edward Natapei. File photo
Mr Natapei is flying back home from the Commonwealth summit

The prime minister of Vanuatu has been stripped of his position and parliamentary seat because of a basic paperwork error.

Edward Natapei, who has been attending a Commonwealth summit, missed three consecutive sittings without submitting a written explanation for his absence.

Under Vanuatu's law, this means he must forfeit his seat.

The Pacific island-nation will now be ruled by a caretaker government until MPs elect a new prime minister.

The vote is expected next week, and there will also be a by-election for Mr Natapei's seat.

To have retained his seat, Mr Natapei - who is now flying back from the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago - needed simply to have notified the parliamentary Speaker.
 
I didn't know where to post this - maybe here is best?

DIY jetpack sled experiment ends in burns ward

A MICHIGAN man who rigged an explosive backpack for a backyard sledding stunt suffered burns to 18 per cent of his body when it blew up.

The Detroit Free Press reported the 62-year-old man from Independence Township had been hosting an outdoor winter party in his backyard and was reportedly drinking before the Sunday night mishap.

“Apparently, he has this sledding party every year, and he always does outrageous things at it, but he’s never blown himself up before,” Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe told the paper.

The man, whose name was not released, was believed to have constructed the backpack from an old car muffler, which he filled with gasoline and gunpowder, “trying to get a rocket-launch effect”, Mr McCabe said.

“He asked another person to light a wick and then began to sled down a hill.

"At some point during the ride, the device exploded."

The man, who suffered second-degree burns to his face and the right side of his body, was in hospital in a stable condition yesterday.

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/di ... 5825748186
 
Australian banker caught ogling nearly naked model 'sacked'
An Australian banker who was caught on live television looking at racy near-nude photographs on his computer, has reportedly been sacked from his job.
Published: 7:00AM GMT 03 Feb 2010

The Macquarie Private Wealth employee ran into trouble when he opened an email containing images of Australian model Miranda Kerr from a recent GQ Magazine shoot, unaware that a colleague nearby was doing a live television interview about the Australian economy.

Australia's Seven Network broadcast the news item on Tuesday, with the photographs clearly showing on a computer screen in the background.

At one stage, the man turns and looks directly at the television camera and realises his actions have been caught on camera. :shock:

Ninemsn.com.au, an local online news website, later reported rumours that the man, who had worked for the company for three years, had been sacked. The company did not confirm the report.

The incident has become a global internet hit with over 200,000 views and a 5-star rating on YouTube .

Macquarie Bank, known locally as the "millionaire's factory', said it was taking the matter seriously.

"Macquarie has strict policies in place surrounding the use of technology and the issue arising from today's live cross on Seven News is being dealt with internally," the bank told local media.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... acked.html
 
:lol: Classic!

You can almost hear him turn back round and mutter, "Shit!"
 
That's a bit unfair, really.
Somebody sent him the email, and he opened it. Perhaps whoever sent it should have been given the sack rather than him?
 
Isn't that what they always say when they get caught?

About 10 years back there was only one computer in my work building with unrestricted internet access and i found 'cyber whores #1 teenslut wonderland' on the history right after a guy used it. He insisted his friends sent him the link and he clicked it without realising what it was. :roll:
 
Chile mint boss pays the price of coin spelling howler

The general manager of the Chilean mint has been dismissed after thousands of coins were issued with the name of the country spelt wrongly.

The 50-peso coins - worth about 10 cents (6p) - were issued in 2008, but no-one noticed the mistake until late last year.

Instead of C-H-I-L-E, the coins had C-H-I-I-E stamped on them. :shock:

The coins have since become collectors' items and the mint says it has no plans to take them out of circulation.

The BBC's Gideon Long, in the Chilean capital Santiago, says people have been hoarding the coins in the hope their value rises.

But the mistake has cost the mint's general manager, Gregorio Iniguez, and several other employees, their jobs.

It is not the first embarrassing blunder at the Chilean mint, says our correspondent.

Last October, someone there sold a rare medal, which should have been housed in the institution's museum, to a coin collector.

A month later, another medal - this one bearing the face of the country's then President Michelle Bachelet - was inadvertently sold on the open market.

The latest blunder has caused a few chuckles in Chile, says our correspondent, and prompted shoppers up and down the country to view their loose change in a new light.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8511910.stm

I reckon that guy must have worked as a sub-editor on my local paper! 8)
 
Tories get their sums wrong in attack on teen pregnancy
An errant decimal point leads to Conservatives inflating pregnancy rates among the poor by a multiple of 10
Allegra Stratton The Guardian, Monday 15 February 2010

The Tories were facing embarrassment last night over an errant decimal place, after a key statistic in a document issued to much fanfare turned out to be wrong by a multiple of 10. :shock:

The Conservatives launched the attack document, called Labour's Two Nations, to try to show the rise in inequalities under the current government. It claimed – three times – that women under 18 are "three times more likely to fall pregnant in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived areas. In the most deprived areas 54% are likely to fall pregnant before the age of 18, compared to just 19% in the least deprived areas."

Within hours, the Labour party had leapt on the accusation, showing that in the ten most deprived areas used by the Tories, the rate of conception is actually an average of 5.4%.

The figures said that 54.32 per 1000 women aged 15-17 years old fell pregnant, which becomes 5.4%, not the 54% the Tories had arrived at. To top it all, in the same 10 deprived areas Labour said that, since 1998, there had been a 10.5% decline in the under-18 conception rate, reversing a previous upward trend.

The Schools secretary, Ed Balls, was not slow to arrive at a broader rebuttal. "They are so out of touch with family life in Britain," Balls said of the Tories, "that they believe over half of teenage girls in the poorest areas fall pregnant."

This particular butter-fingered operation of the calculator appears to be careless rather than malicious but comes just 10 days after the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, was publicly rebuked by the head of the UK Statistics Authority Sir Michael Scholar.

Then Grayling was reprimanded for using non-comparable crime statistics to suggest rises in violent crime which Scholar warned were likely to damage public trust in official statistics.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010 ... cy-mistake
 
Toddler trapped in lolly machine after climbing in for sweets
An Australian toddler was so determined to help himself to sweets from a lolly machine that he climbed through the tiny dispensing hatch, ending up imprisoned inside four walls of glass.
Published: 10:28PM GMT 12 Mar 2010

Cohen Stone, 2, climbed inside the claw grabber machine in an Italian restaurant, where his mother, Kyra, 24, had brought him to celebrate a friend's birthday.

Kyra, from Perth, in Western Australia, said: "I had been playing with him in the children's area but took my eye off him for two minutes as the food arrived at our table.

"When I turned back, he was inside the machine. My first thought was "Oh my God."

"I just couldn't believe what he had done in that space of time. He was there one minute, inside it the next, like a magician's trick. :shock:

She added: "The hole was tiny. I have no idea how he did it. That's when I started to panic. I didn't know how I was going to get him out."

A local locksmith was called to Siena's restaurant to free the little boy, who was released 45 minutes later.

Mrs Stone said she had trouble convincing her husband the story was true. 8)

"I phoned my husband Calan but he thought I was joking. He kept asking me to repeat what I was saying. It was only that I was so upset that he realised I was not having him on," she said.

She added: "I took the video of him when he was calm and after I knew we were able to get him out.

"I'm glad I took photos now - even though I was panicking at the time. No one believes me until they see the video and it will make a great story."

Siena's has now removed the machine from the restaurant and has given the Stone family a £30 voucher.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... weets.html
 
This just in, Georgia invaded...hang on maybe not.

BBC NEWS

Bogus TV report of Russian invasion panics Georgia

Panic was sparked in Georgia after a TV station broadcast news that Russian tanks had invaded the capital and the country's president was dead.

The Imedi network report, which brought back memories of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, was false.

But mobile phone networks were overwhelmed with calls and many people rushed onto the streets.

Imedi said the aim had been to show how events might unfold if the president were killed. It later apologised.

The head of the holding company which owns Imedi TV, George Arveladze, said he was sorry for the distress that the TV report had caused.

'Disgusting'

For a brief moment on Saturday evening many Georgians thought history was repeating itself, the BBC's Tom Esslemont in Tbilisi says.

It is only 18 months since Russian tanks came within 45km (28 miles) of the Georgian capital, our correspondent adds.

In its news report, pro-government Imedi TV showed archive footage of the war and imagined how opposition figures might seize power after an assassination of the country's President, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Although the broadcast was introduced as a simulation of possible events, the warning was lost on many Georgians, our correspondent says.

One local news agency reported that emergency services had received an unusually high volume of calls in the ensuing minutes.

And once calm returned, the report was seen by some as a poorly disguised swipe at the Georgian opposition politicians who recently travelled to Moscow to meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Mr Arveladze told Reuters that the aim was to show "the real threat" of how events might unfold.

That did not stop dozens of journalists and angry Georgians who gathered outside the Imedi TV studios to protest.

One opposition politician who was there labelled the report "disgusting".

MEDIA HOAXES
1926 - mass anxiety after a BBC report of a murderous riot in London. It was a spoof by a literary priest
1938 - thousands flee after a CBS Radio report on Martians landing in New Jersey. It was a radio version of HG Wells War of the Worlds
1994 - panic in Taiyuan, China, after a TV report of a deadly creature on the loose. It was a commercial for a new brand of liquor
 
French 'rail disaster' was part of training exercise
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/wor ... 42237.html

RUADHÁN Mac CORMAIC in Paris

Wed, Mar 17, 2010

WHEN COMPANIES retract public statements, it is very often a matter of a sloppy typo or a point of terminology.

Yesterday, France’s national rail operator went one better – issuing a retraction for an alert announcing that 102 people had died when one of its trains exploded in the country’s east.

Anyone perusing the SNCF’s website just before midday yesterday would have read the shocking news that an “explosion of unknown origin” on train number 1234 near the town of Mâcon on the Paris-Dijon line had left at least 102 people dead and almost 400 injured.

“An explosion of unknown origin occurred today at about 8am on TGV 1234 near Mâcon,” the notice read. “The first estimates from the emergency services report 102 deaths and 380 injured. All victims have been evacuated to hospitals at Mâcon.

“The emergency services are still on the scene, along with an emergency medical-psychological unit. Rail traffic has been halted in the region.”

Immediately, people started to text. Twitter cranked into gear.Startled journalists started working the phones. Then, almost an hour later, the company confirmed the message was posted in error.

A disaster training drill had inadvertently reached the public area of the site, they explained.

“On March 16th, just before 12.00, an error appeared on the sncf.com site relaying information about an accident. This never took place,” the company said, adding that an investigation would seek to find out what had gone wrong.
 
Playboy accidentally played out on children's TV
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8571798.stm

Playboy TV
Preview clips from the Playboy channel were shown for two hours

TV bosses in the US have apologised after preview clips of the Playboy channel were accidentally played out on two children's channels.

A Time Warner Cable (TWC) spokesman said an "technical glitch" was to blame for the mistake which lasted two hours in parts of North Carolina on Tuesday.

The company was made aware of the error after parents called in to report it.

TWC said it had procedures in place to catch errors, but it was not picked up as it affected only a small area.

'Worst time'

"We're very, very sorry it happened - we know parents are concerned," spokesman Keith Poston told local news station WRAL.

"It took about an hour or so once we were notified of the problem to actually get it fixed.

"It was a technical glitch and unfortunately it hit at the worst possible time on the worst possible channels," he added.

The error occurred on the Kids On Demand and Kids Preschool On Demand channels where clips from Playboy TV appeared in the top right hand corner.

Although a menu of available children's programming was listed on the left side of the screen, previews showing nude women engaged in explicit conversations were shown where previews of children's shows normally would appear.

Mr Poston said the explicit content aired from about 0615 to 0815 local time in parts of Cary, Garner, Morrisville, Wilson, Goldsboro, Willow Spring and Johnston County, but added most areas just went black when the equipment failed.

Time Warner said it regretted the glitch and had fixed the problem so it would not happen again.
 
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