By now you may know that the world’s most famous street artist has indeed not been detained by police and his identity remains secret, but how much do you know about the prankster who perpetrated this scandalous subterfuge? For those who missed the start of this affair: a supposedly anonymous author claimed Banksy was unmasked and taken into custody by London police a few days ago during an elaborate sting operation – the story spread like wildfire despite being easy (for those so inclined) to debunk.

Paul Horner, the man behind the National Report piece, fingered himself as the real Banksy. In reality, he is a serial hoaxer with a history of viral exploits (often involving his own identity) of which this is simply the latest. In many ways, he is a subversive and comedic artist in his own right, arguably not so unlike Banksy after all, who has himself been known to dupe fans for fun if not profit. One could argue that Horner’s artistic stunts simply take other shapes, like writing, coming out of a background of activism and comedy. He is also not the only one who has cleverly used Banksy’s own stunts for creative monetary gain.

His fake story, titled Graffiti Artist Banksy Arrested In London; Identity Revealed, has been shared 3.5 million times on Facebook so far, despite being published on a website well known for reporting fictional (and frequently  hilariously improbable) news. Another early clue: the article’s thin sourcing is relatively transparent: a link to the BBC takes you to their homepage, not an article. For anyone in doubt, there is also fresh new work up on Banksy.co.uk, shown below.

Beyond that, the article is riddled with inaccuracies, including inconsistent locations and names as well as an image of an arrest that took place years prior in an unrelated incident. Indeed, the further you read, the more ludicrous the entire thing looks, and yet it fooled millions of believers, too gullible or perhaps simply too eager to finish the piece before sharing it. Superficially, in defense of those duped, it has all of the trappings of a real breaking news piece, including seemingly-relevant pictures and videos peppered throughout.

As for Horner, he “has been alternately described as a media troll, a liar and a hack, but he sees his work in a different light: one part activism, one part fan fiction, and many parts subversive, absurdist comedy.” His exploits include (but are not limited to) claiming he was cast in The Big Lebowski 2 (a film that is not even in production) and the mastermind behind a plan to charge Facebook users for pro accounts. Some would call his pranks and pretensions cruel, but in the midst of the controversy, one has to wonder: what does the real Banksy think of all of this? Does he see a kindred spirit or simply someone using his name to turn a profit?

Made for those who like to color outside lines and jot outside boxes, each page of this bound pad provides a unique source of inspiration and different framework for drawing, sketching and writing out ideas.

Available from tmsprl, the minimalist brown-bound notebooks show traditional lines on the front and back but playing on and warping the horizontal blue-on-white (with red verticals) convention within.

Some pages sport twisting topographic lines while others thin, thicken, curl, loop, twist and spiral, encouraging the user to put pencil or pen to paper in different ways throughout.

The deeper you delve the more surprises you find, starting with upward-swooping lines and culminating in crazy abstract patterns and strangely whimsical shapes.

A few notes from its creator: “If you’re in search of inspiration, this notepad might help. Second edition. 48 pages, dimensions 165 x 210 mm, softcover. Printed on sustainable paper in Belgium.”

In a handful of pages in a book the size of a fingernail, this book artist tells a minimalist story of life on Earth, illustrating pivotal moments with brief text and tiny images.

A beautiful bit of hand-bound book art, The Mini Book of Major Events is just one of a series of micro-volumes made by Evan Lorzenzen, all of which pack large ideas into the smallest space possible.

Of course, selectivity is key – which events warrant mentioning when space is at a premium? Then, how does one illustrate these most effectively at such a minute scale?

Along similar lines, The Little Book of Big Ideas tackles large and important concepts from war and death to love and infinity, again with lovely drawings alongside each.

Most of us don’t expect our writing instruments to do anything more than write. But after seeing the incredible things that these 14 pen and pencil designs can do, we might just raise our expectations. Going far beyond making a mark, these inventions can capture colors from your environment, measure curves, write through water and record lectures.

Color Picker Chameleon Pen Copies Colors

(image via: tuvie)

Artists sketching on the go would never have to worry about carrying around a full set of colored pencils, markers or pastels again if they had this handy gadget: the Color Picker. It’s a pen with a color sensor on one end that you can simply point at anything in your environment to instantly copy the color. The internal RGB inks mix to produce an exact match.

Write Through Water with Wet Surface Marker

(image via: inventables)

Not only will the ink in this Wet Surface Marker from Inventables stay crisp and clear when it gets wet – it will write through water. You can use it on wet surfaces.

Chromopen: Point & Shoot Tablet Pen

(image via: yanko design)

This concept is similar to the Color Picker, but it works in a much more realistic way: with a tablet computer. The Chromopen features a built-in camera that can capture colors, making it easy for digital artists to create extremely realistic replicas of the scenes they’re painting.

Construct-Your-Own Pendragon Pen

(image via: yanko design)

Put your own pen together using various components, to the length and curvature that you prefer. The Pendragon pen is much more than a writing instrument; it has a built-in lamp and comes with a dock so you can connect it to your computer and charge it. In addition to the nib, the central unit and the end part, there are expandable units including a camera, microphone, laser pointer, USB connector and WLAN receiver.

Inka Pen with a Pressurized Ink Chamber

(image via: yanko design)

This pen has a pressurized ink chamber that allows you to write smoothly from any angle, even if you’re writing upside down. It even works under water. It includes an integrated PDA stylus and closes up into a compact package when not in use.

Inkless Beta Pen Writes with Metal

(image via: vat19)

It writes like a pencil, but is permanent and smudge-proof like a pen – and you’ll never run out of ink. The Inkless Metal Beta Pen works by depositing tiny amounts of metal alloy onto your writing surface, and never requires sharpening or refills.

Sharpie Liquid Pencil – No More Broken Pencil Lead

(image via: sharpie)

Sharpie has come out with a new writing instrument that combines the erasability of a pencil with the smooth writing quality of a pen. The concept of the Liquid Pencil is interesting, but may require further refining, as consumers report a lot of problems with skipping.

Constrained Ball Drawing Aid

(image via: design boom)

Attach the ‘Constrained Ball’ to your pen and you can draw straight lines without using a ruler. Essentially, it stabilizes your pen while you’re writing using a brace and a tiny wheel. The tool also measures as you write, so you can create a line to the exact length that you need. It can draw lines horizontally and vertically, as well as in 45-degree angles.

LED Pen Ruler Traces Distances

(image via: monocomplex)

Plot a course or measure a curve with a handy LED pen ruler that records distances as you write. Shaped like a six-sided wood pencil, the pen ruler has a twisting end that allows you to choose your preferred unit of measurement, and includes a digital readout on the side.

Flat Bookmark Pen by Steve Yang Che-Hsiao

(image via: tuvie)

This bookmark pen concept by Steve Yang Che-Hsiao opens totally flat to hold your place in a book, with a clip keeping it secured. To use it as a pen, you simply fold it into a three-dimensional triangular shape.

Ball-Shaped Pen Support Helps the Disabled Write

(image via: yanko design)

This idea is incredibly simple, but it could make a huge difference for people who don’t have full muscular control of their hands. A pen or pencil is inserted into the center of an hourglass-shaped rubber knob, enabling the user to push the instrument around on  paper.

Spiral Chamber Holds Double the Ink

(image via: yanko design)

How do you fit more ink into a standard disposable pen? Make the cartridge a spiral. This concept, the T&T Pen-Ink Chamber, doubles the amount of ink in that comes in a pen, reducing plastic waste.

Pen + Sprayer: Write on Your Hand, Peel it Off

(image via: yanko design)

Have you ever written something important on your hand, like a phone number or a reminder, only to find that it has become unreadable after just an hour or two? Most of us occasionally turn to this tactic when there’s no paper around or we’re afraid we’ll forget something. The Pen + Sprayer concept makes it a little more practical, although it would be a bulky extra item to carry around on the off chance that you need it. It sprays a writable surface onto the palm of your hand, which can easily be peeled off when you no longer need it.

Continuous Pencil Never Ends

(image via: yanko design)

There’s nothing high-tech about this, but it’s still a smart design: the Continuous Pencil makes it easy to continue using stubs long after they’ve grown too short to comfortably hold. Once connected, you can simply continue sharpening the extended pencil until it’s too short again, and start over.

This project tackles what is probably the last place anyone expect to find a digital-age intervention: the centuries-old tradition of the mobile and homeless communicating via shorthand markers, left to denote different risks and advantages to illicit living spaces.

From its creators at Free Art & Technology: “These stencils can be understood as a covert markup scheme for urban spaces — providing directions, information, and warnings to digital nomads and other indigenterati. We present these as modern equivalents of the chalk-based “hobo signs” developed by 19th century vagabonds and migratory workers to cope with the difficulty of nomadic life.”  (Hobo signs via Sources: Fran DeLorenzo (left),Wikipedia (right).

But it also goes beyond the conventional messages once conveyed: “Indeed, our set of QR stencils port a number of classic hobo annotations to the QR format (“turn right here”, “dangerous dog”, “food for work”) as well as some new ones, with a nod to warchalking, that are specific to contemporary conditions (“insecure wifi”, “hidden cameras”, “vegans beware”).”

As ingenious as this all is, the question, of course, remains: even in an age where almost everyone has a cellular phone, how many truly nomadic peoples have one? The answer, though, may be: more than we realize.