There is a story about Charlie Chaplin that has been ricocheting around the World Wide Web as of late. When he became a celebrity a century ago or so, there were many lookalike contests in his name. They attracted many a contestant. According to the story, he once joined such a contest under a bogus name and won the third place. Ha-ha! But it takes a bit more careful search of the web to discover that this is a contrived story. Apparently, it first appeared in a newspaper with a hefty gossip column, which was never checked for accuracy, and it spread far and wide at a clip. By and by, it also popped up on the web. As for the story’s popularity at this day and age, the joke is not on Charlie Chaplin but on gullible visitors to a swarm of cockamamie websites comparable to gossip columns in newspapers of yesteryear. And they are lookalikes one and all. Boo-hoo!