Cute Industries (CI) has a 27-step verification process to ensure you get not only the most adorable, but most scientifically valid Cuteness™ on the Internet. Yet despite the hundreds of highly trained Cuteologists, massive verification process, and ISO-9001 certification, sometimes we make mistakes. Today, just such a mistake occurred. A person by the name of “Kelly Harrod-Lui” submitted a picture of a mouse ostensibly caught in a toner cartridge claiming the photos came from her office. During step 13, one of our patented Cuteness Fraud alarms was tripped. Special Agent Ivana Tinkle, a member of the CI Investigative Department, contacted the submitter and determined the submission was indeed valid and the submission proceeded through the process. The NSA identity verification during step 27 passed and the post was released January 12, 2005 at 19:11:03 PM PST.It was a fraud.Fortunately, our ever vigilant Cute Overload Army quickly caught the deception and notified us. The CI Emergency Response Team was immediately activated and the offending information was sanitized. Coincidentally, Special Agent Tinkle was found dead late tonight, having accidentally choked to death on 2,500 Marshmallow Peeps. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ivana and her family.Cute Industries would like to offer our sincere apologies to Campagna, McGroarty, kelly, Uriel, Chell, liquidnight, kat, suzy, benjamin, Vale and any other members of the Cute Overload Army who might have been traumatized by this incident. And whereever that Cliff-Claven-voiced mouse is, may he rest in peace.We salute you,The Cute Overload Security Department
From the desk of: The CI Security Department
Previous post: Paku! Paku!
Next post: Puppy with the flu
{ 1 trackback }
{ 22 comments }
I swear, I didn’t know it was a fraud when I sent it! I was set up, I tells ya, set up!
I’m no expert or nuthin’, but when I clicked your “fraud” link to Snopes, it says the status is “undetermined”. They even go on to say, “There isn’t any real doubt that these are genuine (i.e., unaltered) photographs of a mouse in a printer toner catridge…”
Either way, I don’t think it’s good to put up something of questionable origin here, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a fraud. At least not yet, anyway.
…hundreds of highly trained Cuteologists, massive verification process, and ISO-9001 certification…
ISO-9001 – hehe -
Yeah, Jeff, that’s the link I sent Meg right after I heard back from her asking if the mouse was okay. I wasn’t sure at that point, so wanted to let her know. I felt bad for possibly sending tainted cute.
There’s something very troubling in these photos. First, darn if that doesn’t look like a “rat” — not a mouse. Also, the second photo shows some very “odd-looking” eyes. Photoshopped perhaps? Looks very Stuart Little. And beyond that — this is so not cute. This is horrific. Bring back the bunnies!
Aw. Happens to the best of us. Keep on keepin’ on. (Translation: Don’t stop the cuteness!)
Kelly! no worries! We’re innocent until proven guilty!!!
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2005/09/im_innocent.html
Since snopes says they don’t doubt the pictures are genuine, I’m going to run with the assumption that the little rodent is dead. From my experience with autopsying toner cartridges, there really isn’t a lot of room in those things to safely stick a mouse in.
Everyone keeps mentioning that there isn’t enough room for a mouse (or rat) to get caught in one of those cartridges and live. But let me point out that mice and rats are well known for squeezing themselves into the most impossible places (as well as survive falls from astounding heights, and create their own immunity to rat poison, etc). They’ve been known to squeeze under those tiny gaps underneath doors.
There’s a reason they’re so hard to get rid of when you’ve got them in the house.
Man… that is not even remotely cute. Actually, it really makes me wish I hadn’t stopped by the site today- why would someone looking at “cute” animal pictures want to see a photo of some poor dead mouse that got crushed in someone’s printer?
Arg.
Oh, I know mice are squeezy, I’ve had a few myself. What I’m saying is, it would be pretty darned hard to convince a pet mousey to cram himself in the cartridge for a photo op, which makes it pretty likely this was a wild mousey that had a big mishap.
Is that a boxer???
Cairo… looks like a very smart brindled pit bull to me, waiting to get his little bumm frisked.
dude the dog is a suspect!!!
I also wondered what happened to the mouse. According to the anonymous email received by the Urban Legends site with the mouse photos:
“He’s not dead but he’s sure stuck. They do end up getting him out and letting him loose for those of you that are mouse lovers.”
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_mouse_printer_jam.htm
I’ve been fixing copiers and printers for 10 years and have pulled a couple of mice out of various kinds of machines over the years and sorry to say, they were all taking the eternal celestial dirt nap upon removal.
The rodents like it in the machines because its warm (heaters for removing moisture come on when the devices are turned off). When the machine is turned on it goes from warm to a couple hundred degrees in about 90 seconds. Also the inside of a toner cartridge has a DC voltage of somewhere between 600 and 1200 volts applied to the drum (the shiny green part in the pic).
Not good news for the mouse. Sorry for this post being such a downer.
-Greg
hey!! you guys need a NEXT link at the bottom so we can see the immediately older posts!!! i never know how to find them otherwise!!
There is a “next” at the *top* of all posts…
-Meg
dudes – that is a boston terrier up against the wall. I’ve had those my entire life…
No need to ‘ruff’ up the suspects!!
Is that pic (the one with the pat down, not the mouse) real, or was it staged? It is so unbelievably cute!
this site is very good. so i am very happy
Comments on this entry are closed.