Tuesday, October 18, 2016

FACT CHECKING

I think I would love to be a detective!  Who would suspect a little old lady?

Nancy Drew was my favorite book series.  Luckily I got to read every single one ... and owned most of them.  My cherished possession.  Today I continue prefer mysteries.

Of course the internet is my biggest assistant.  It's amazing what I can learn with a little snooping.  A Maui HOA owner claimed that she bought her home a year ago already painted (color was not approved) and with a white plastic picket fence (not allowed).  I went on Google Earth and gosh!  There was her house frozen in time the month she bought the home.  It was NOT the current color and there was no picket fence. Busted!
So many things are public knowledge if you know where to look.  You still have to verify information (just like in genealogy!) and double check everything.  Especially rumors on Facebook.  It's curious to me how intelligent people simply repost without applying common sense ... or checking the source.

For internet rumors Snopes.com is the oldest and most widely used source.  If your inner voice doesn't tell you "nothing worth anything is FREE" or "how could Bill Gates get his $5,000 to me", check it out.  

Another fact checking site is Hoax-Slayer.  It's a newer site for checking email, social media hoaxes and current internet scams. The crooks are getting more sophisticated so before I open an attachment or visit a link (even from my sister), I text her to be sure it is from her.

The other site I use is Truth or Fiction.  


And don't even get me started on all the political fact checker sites!  Too many to list!!

8 comments:

  1. I was a huge Nancy Drew fan, too. Had all the books and still have a reprint of the very first one. A also love Snopes and Hoax-Slayer.

    Google Earth (as of last year) stills showed my house with no grass, the photo was obviously taken before our lawn was installed 12 years ago. Not sure how to get a real time Google Earth photos. How do you do that?

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    1. I just check the date on the satellite photo ... not sure how to get real time! Let me work on that!!!

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  2. I loved Nancy Drew--read every single book too. My grandma had an old clock, sitting high on a shelf. I always wanted to take it down and find whatever secret was hidden inside it. LOL I have used snopes.com for years, but now people tell me they are biased. Is there a fact checker site that will tell us truthfully which fact checker site has the REAL facts?

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    1. You ARE the best detective I know!!!

      I haven't found snopes to be biased, but you could always check all three sites and make up your own mind. Maybe political situations maybe they could be biased ....

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    2. Judy, if you read the lengthily explanations for why Snopes rules the way they do, they offer proof that can be crossed checked. They are still very credible.

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    3. I agree ... they have been 100% reliable for me.

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  3. I loved Nancy Drew, too. I was not lucky enough to own the books, but I borrowed from a friend who had all of them. I still love mysteries. I use Snopes, too.

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    Replies
    1. Wish I still had those books! I wonder if the newer generation has their updated version of mysteries and heroines!??

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