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smoke and mirrors

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia 0.02 sec.
smoke and mirrors - Marketing deceptions. The term is mainstream in this general sense. Among hackers it's strongly associated with bogus demos and crocked benchmarks (see also MIPS, machoflops). "They claim their new box cranks 50 MIPS for under $5000, but didn't specify the instruction mix - sounds like smoke and mirrors to me." The phrase has been said to derive from carnie slang for magic acts and "freak show" displays that depend on "trompe l"oeil' effects, but also calls to mind the fierce Aztec god Tezcatlipoca (lit. "Smoking Mirror") for whom the hearts of huge numbers of human sacrificial victims were regularly cut out. Upon hearing about a rigged demo or yet another round of fantasy-based marketing promises, hackers often feel analogously disheartened.


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There have been a lot of different diet fads over the years Some are highly effective while others are nothing more than smoke and mirrors There have been a lot of different diet fads over the years.
If you are still on the outside looking in, the many websites that are dedicated to numerous network marketing opportunities appear too good to be true In some cases the data posted as proof looks very convincing but it also looks implausible, making some would-be entrepreneurs wonder if network marketing is little more than smoke and mirrors If you are still on the outside looking in, the many websites that are dedicated to numerous network marketing opportunities appear too good to be true.
Byline: CLINTON MANNING HALIFAX is using smoke and mirrors to try to disguise bad news.
 
 
 
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