More viral nonsense

[Victor Steinbok]

I got a message from a friend that included what appeared to be typical
viral content. It seems to have been bouncing around the net at least
since August of this year, possibly longer. Perhaps it's not as viral as
it could have been, but it has a lot of hits in Google, including many
Facebook posts. Other similar posts often circulate faster and with
greater frequency. A similar earlier text with displaced or deleted
letters had been dropped in my mailbox several times over a period of
years. It also appeared on the list at least once (and has been
mentioned--dismissively--in various language-related blog posts). This
one deserves similar treatment, although that might get it more
publicity rather than less.

Here's the message:

> F1gur471v3ly  5p34k1ng?
> If you can read this you have a strong mind:
> 7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5!
> 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15LIN3
> Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17,
> B3 PROUD! 0NLY C3R741N P30PL3 C4N R3AD 7H15.
> PL3453 F0RW4RD 1F U C4N R34D 7H15.
> 4s U c4n 73e I 4m 9orw4rd1ng 7H15!


One of the more interesting posts on it, mostly disliking it:

http://goo.gl/Pi5Pl

It also appeared earlier on Yahoo! Answers

http://goo.gl/2Jwk8

The earliest dated post I found is from Jul 29, 2011, but it's clearly
not the original:

http://goo.gl/N4YFq

     VS-)

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