Infinite Solutions: Elaborate Hoax?
Mikey 14 comments
You have to see these videos to believe them. Mark Erickson hosts a series of short technical spots under the moniker Infinite Solutions which have been making the rounds at YouTube.
The tips and tricks Erickson shows seem convincing enough but the community is divided on their authenticity. In one particular video (see the 3rd video below), Erickson shows us how to increase your wi-fi strength using a cat-5 cable, a mobile phone, some aluminium foil and a salad bowl. MacGyver would be proud.
But the real fuss is surrounding his method to get access to an alleged Google TV beta program. Some people claim it works while others say it is a technical impossibility. Erickson has made a follow-up video assuring us this is not a hoax (see both videos below), but this author still has doubts.
If this is a hoax, kudos to Erickson for going to such great lengths to make it convincing. See the videos below and judge for yourself.
The Google TV Trick
The Rebuttal
Mark's Wi-Fi Trick
Jasmin
Monday 29th January 2007 | 12:51 PMThe wifi vid made DIGG yesterday so it is doing the rounds. My boyfriend tried it without success while I sat back and larfed my arse off :-) Rather than admit he's been hoaxed he just keeps insisting it is possible and that maybe he's just doing something wrong.
Rob
Thursday 1st February 2007 | 12:23 AMWell it looks like i have been had as well, I live in a town house and choose to piggy back off of my neighbors internet. The thought prosses seemed like it would work but did not, my wife laughed at me, cant blame her. But i will give it to this guy it was really believable
RealG
Thursday 1st February 2007 | 05:01 AMI believed it at first as well...I had no reason to doubt this guy and his geeky tech solutions. Someone pointed out that "Mark Erickson" looked like the guy that did the spoof videos on Fatal Farm (fatalfarm.com). Indeed, if you watch the infinite solutions videos, there are multiple credits to Fatal Farm at the end...and even a very small reference to the website at the end. It's an ingenious hoax.
Good spotting. I just checked out another video Mark did and now I am 100% convinced this is all a hoax. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brdmnUBAS00">his video about recharging batteries.
Quote: "It's called electrical tape because it conducts electricity"
I don't know how he keeps a straight face.
This is a FAKE
Tuesday 6th February 2007 | 07:38 AMhttp://www.fatalfarm.com/tvthemes/FFDoogieHowserMDHi.mov
Check that out ..... he is in just about every shot in that video
what
Saturday 17th February 2007 | 03:47 PM
this guy is fake, check youtube...
he said that the electrical tape is called an electrical tape because it conducts electricity.... LOL....
Wednesday 23rd May 2007 | 01:02 PM
This guy is definitely faking the wifi video... his phone is a motorola v551, but when it shows up on the computer, it says motorola v400... there's a huge difference between the two phones.
Also, he implies that his phone is a 3G phone in the wifi video, which it isn't.
Rodney
Friday 25th May 2007 | 12:08 AMIf you needed more convincing:
"Apply peanute butter to your tyres to improve breaking. "
"Use the chunky variety on mountain roads".
You gotta love it.
kim
Wednesday 6th June 2007 | 08:49 AMlol on the: "It's called electrical tape because it conducts electricity" I almost wet my pants when hearing that :')
and why do people think they can get a better wireless connection with a utp cable cat 5, their lan card (not their wifi card) and a mobile!
this is simply IMPOSSIBLE!
FAKE
Friday 4th January 2008 | 02:04 AM"I don't know how he keeps a straight face."
AHAH You're right!
You have your doubts? The man has a guide for excavating mini-dinosaurs! If that isn't legit, I don't know what is.
A
Sunday 27th July 2008 | 08:15 AMIf you know a thing or two about technology this guy is hilarious, but I can see how it can be distressing for those who don't know.
Carlos
Saturday 21st February 2009 | 11:26 PM:) I ve been following this video for a while, the wifi video, reasoning that since the ethernet cable is not plugged to the phone, then what signal if any is the computer going to allow the computer to recognize the particular model? The info is in the phone memory, not in its signal.
I felt tempted to try though, who hasnt got an ethernet cable, a mobile and some tin foil :-)
But the key to the hoax is the group of people who continue to make multiple comments saying that it works :-)
We have to give it to the guy, he is the Youtube version of Hendrik Schon, who revolutionalised nanotechnology for a decade until a lonely scientific jounalist saw that he had been using the same graphs in most of his papers! and that all his reported results were false! and that was in 2002 :-)
Jacko
Monday 29th January 2007 | 12:47 PMI vote in favor of it being a bloddy funny hoax. If you believe this guy, you are nuts.