Filed under: Rumors, Hacks, Odds and ends, Steve Jobs, Blogs
On the trail of Fake Steve Jobs
Everybody's favorite anonymous Mac commentator might be a little closer to becoming not-so-anonymous. If you checked out Fake Steve Jobs's site yesterday, you might have seen a short post about a marginally funny iPhone Haiku site. I've still got the post in my Google Reader, as you can see in the pic. Seems harmless, right?That's what FSJ thought. But apparently, the link was sent to him by the guys at Sitening (who also created the Haiku site as a lark), and the link he was sent was a specially created link, made up just for FSJ by the Sitening guys. See where this is going? When he clicked the link, they tracked his IP, and here it is: 68.160.21.224. That IP traces back to a Verizon service, which the Sitening guys say is in Boston, MA.
And then the story gets even stranger. Diego Barros at the Radio Active Code Blog posted a comment on FSJ's post about the tricksey linkses, and then the post itself was removed completely. FSJ usually seems pretty easygoing about this stuff, so the fact that he actually took it down gives credence to Barros' suggestion that FSJ is on the run.
So who does all this point to? So far, this evidence all says Andy Ihnatko, who lives near Boston, has written for both MacWorld and Playboy, and has worked anonymously before-- apparently he wrote parts of Roger Ebert's movie guides. TUAW dropped him a note asking him about the rumors, and we'll let you know if we hear anything back.
Thanks, Diego!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jon said 5:19PM on 7-13-2007
Or he could be one of the other 589,000 people in Boston...
Reply
Wayneshorter said 5:20PM on 7-13-2007
Great work Nancy Drew, now we know the name of the person that TUiW rips off their stories from.
FSJ originall reporst:
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/07/john-mayer-you-are-dead-to-me.html
Then TUiW steals the story and re-posts it!
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/11/john-mayers-calls-to-steve-jobs-no-longer-returned/
When I try to point this out, suddenly my comments disappear. The Unofficial iPhon--... Apple Blog, gotta love censorship.
Reply
Starman said 5:21PM on 7-13-2007
Assuming of course that he didn't outsmart you and RDC into someone else's machine.
Reply
Sean said 5:25PM on 7-13-2007
Come on, stop with this revealing FSJ bull**it. The whole thing that makes it fun is NOT knowing who the fake Steve Jobs really is.
Also, posting someone's IP address is not cool.
Reply
Gandhi said 5:32PM on 7-13-2007
Agreed w/ Sean. I for one do not want to find out who the real Fake Steve is (man, that sounds weird). It is more fun to imagine that it is the real Steve telling people what he really thinks outside of the RDF.
Reply
helical said 5:36PM on 7-13-2007
ditto Sean
Reply
Jacqui said 5:42PM on 7-13-2007
Wayneshorter, that FSJ post was made hours and hours after the TUAW post was made. Not only is that reflected in the timestamps, it's also reflected in my feed reader. There's no need to be rude. In the Mac web, a lot of the same things get posted a lot. It happens.
Reply
Billy K said 5:54PM on 7-13-2007
"So far, this evidence all says Andy Ihnatko..."
Sounds plausible. Ihnatko is one of those guys I've never found to be funny, and I've never understood why anyone else does - just like FSJ. Nothing but weak stereotypes and worn-out jokes repeated ad nauseum. Kinda like the Mac Web's version of Jay Leno.
Reply
2shae said 6:11PM on 7-13-2007
http://www.ip-adress.com/details.php?c=U0c5c1luSnZiMnM9OlZWTT06Vlc1cGRHVmtJRk4wWVhSbGN3PT06Ok5qZ3VNVFl3TGpJeExqSXlOQT09OlZtVnlhWHB2YmlCSmJuUmxjbTVsZENCVFpYSjJhV05sY3c9PTpOREl1TVRRek56QXc6TFRjeExqQXdNams1T0E9PTpjRzl2YkMwMk9DMHhOakF0TWpFdE1qSTBMbUp2Y3k1bFlYTjBMblpsY21sNmIyNHVibVYwOjpWbVZ5YVhwdmJpQkpiblJsY201bGRDQlRaWEoyYVdObGN3PT06TURJek5ETT06VFVFPTpUV0Z6YzJGamFIVnpaWFIwY3c9PTpRVzFsY21sallTOU9aWGRmV1c5eWF3PT0=
^ ^
HE"S HERE || ||
Reply
CHNEPR said 6:22PM on 7-13-2007
It must be Jack from AtAT. It's the only illogical explanation.
Reply
Nic said 7:08PM on 7-13-2007
@ 2shae - that only gives the address where the ip is registered too, if I do mine on that site it says that supposedly I live 100miles from my house! actually looks quite a nice area but I live nowhere near it :-)
Reply
Frank said 7:20PM on 7-13-2007
well, on one hand, i don't want to know who FSJ is -- that's part of the humor. but, if it IS andy, i believe it. he's a funny guy, and he's covered apple & mac stuff enough to be able to do it right.
Reply
neb said 8:36PM on 7-13-2007
You guys are dicks for posting that IP. Also, these douches and their tricky links are trying to spoil it for the whole class. Let it be, it's never any fun to meet the Wizard.
Reply
punkassjim said 10:28PM on 7-13-2007
Um, call me crazy or stupid, but didn't Mike Davidson post a picture of FSJ in his blog? Or was that a joke? I'm so out of the loop, I didn't even know FSJ's identity was so clandestine.
http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2007/07/a-week-with-the-iphone
Reply
stevep94 said 10:39PM on 7-13-2007
Ditto Sean
Leave FSJ be.
Reply
HandyMac said 10:41PM on 7-13-2007
Ditto here: Publishing someone IP address is bad form, and I don't really want to know who's behind Fake Steve Jobs. I don't read him regularly, but when I have he's been at least mildly amusing -- and a refreshing antidote to some of the garbage in the Mac blogiverse. Leave it alone.
Reply
Zach said 11:32PM on 7-13-2007
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Reply
mongul said 11:56PM on 7-13-2007
Tracking people on the Internet is best left to sickos. Let FSJ alone.
Reply
Mike D. said 1:48AM on 7-14-2007
Funny, I've been thinking about laying an IP trap for a few weeks now... glad someone bucked up and did it.
punkassjim: The photo of Fake Steve on my blog that you referenced is actually just a photo of a guy in the iPhone line who looked a lot like Steve.
Reply
basscadet said 7:25AM on 7-14-2007
how about this for Halo Effect: you parody Stevie-o and you become a holy figure yourself...
not enough iphone news today I see...
Reply