BBspot
Encyclopedia
BBspot is a geek
satire
and humour
web site founded in 2000. In 2003, the site was successful enough that webmaster Brian Briggs "quit his day job" and made the site his full-time vocation. BBspot is most notable for its technology news satire
.
Material from BBspot has been featured several times, sometimes presented inaccurately as real news, on respectable news websites and on TV.
BBspot is a founding member of HumorFeed
, a prominent community of news satire
webmasters; Briggs is also a member of the editorial board for Check Please!, a journal devoted to the serious examination of news satire and journalism.
, which mainly covers Technology, Microsoft
, and Hollywood. Responses from "BBelievers" who are fooled by the stories are posted approximately weekly. Since 2006, the site also hosts The PC Weenies
cartoons by Krishna M. Sadasivam, which replaces the FuzzyLogic cartoons created between 2001 and 2004.
BBspot issues an award, the Technical Award of Excellence, for gadgets and technology, based on a series of obscure or superficial challenges; such as coin flips, who has the best mascot, logo or name, and the web site.
The site also contains movie trailer reviews, internet-based guffs ("BBloopers"), regular guest columns and other items of general interest. There is also a forum
.
's The Screen Savers
show, the Discovery Channel
as well as radio shows, major newspaper
s and book
s.
twice, in 2006 for its story "Microsoft's AntiSpyware Tool Removes Internet Explorer" and in 2007 for "Teen Using Myspace To Lure Bands to Los Angeles".
Geek
The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
and humour
Humour
Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...
web site founded in 2000. In 2003, the site was successful enough that webmaster Brian Briggs "quit his day job" and made the site his full-time vocation. BBspot is most notable for its technology news satire
News satire
thumb|right|220px|[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]] is a news satire program.News satire, also called fake news , is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content...
.
Material from BBspot has been featured several times, sometimes presented inaccurately as real news, on respectable news websites and on TV.
BBspot is a founding member of HumorFeed
HumorFeed
HumorFeed is a satire and humor news aggregator website founded in 2003 by Bill Doty and Uncle Sharky, who brought together a group of around 20 news satire webmasters. It displays headlines submitted by its members in a list generated daily in an RSS feed which many members also include on their...
, a prominent community of news satire
News satire
thumb|right|220px|[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]] is a news satire program.News satire, also called fake news , is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content...
webmasters; Briggs is also a member of the editorial board for Check Please!, a journal devoted to the serious examination of news satire and journalism.
Content
BBspot is most notable for its news satireNews satire
thumb|right|220px|[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]] is a news satire program.News satire, also called fake news , is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content...
, which mainly covers Technology, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, and Hollywood. Responses from "BBelievers" who are fooled by the stories are posted approximately weekly. Since 2006, the site also hosts The PC Weenies
The PC Weenies
The PC Weenies is a popular webcomic with a special focus on technology humor and geek culture, as experienced through the lives of the fictitious Weiner family. The PC Weenies was created and launched on the web in October 1998 by Krishna M. Sadasivam, a former electrical engineer. The series has...
cartoons by Krishna M. Sadasivam, which replaces the FuzzyLogic cartoons created between 2001 and 2004.
BBspot issues an award, the Technical Award of Excellence, for gadgets and technology, based on a series of obscure or superficial challenges; such as coin flips, who has the best mascot, logo or name, and the web site.
The site also contains movie trailer reviews, internet-based guffs ("BBloopers"), regular guest columns and other items of general interest. There is also a forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
.
Press coverage
Several mainstream media outlets have represented the satire on the site as real news. Fooled outlets include TechTVTechTV
TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...
's The Screen Savers
The Screen Savers
The Screen Savers was a live American TV show on TechTV. The show launched concurrently with the channel ZDTV on May 11, 1998. The Screen Savers originally centered around computers, new technologies, and their adaptations in the world...
show, the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
as well as radio shows, major newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s and book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s.
Awards
BBspot won third place in the HumorFeed Satire News AwardsHumorFeed
HumorFeed is a satire and humor news aggregator website founded in 2003 by Bill Doty and Uncle Sharky, who brought together a group of around 20 news satire webmasters. It displays headlines submitted by its members in a list generated daily in an RSS feed which many members also include on their...
twice, in 2006 for its story "Microsoft's AntiSpyware Tool Removes Internet Explorer" and in 2007 for "Teen Using Myspace To Lure Bands to Los Angeles".