In my fourth year of my PhD on schizophrenia and I'm currently writing up my thesis. I'm procrastinating right now so thought I'd do something useful with what I've been studying.
And no, schizophrenia is not multiple personality disorder.
Edit: I have to get dinner and run some errands. I'm really enjoying this so I will definitely get back and answer the rest of the questions.
I read the wikipedia page about it a long time ago and found it fascinating. There is a link to the original 1919 article on the wikipedia page.
Oh right, actually I have heard of this Influencing Machine (one of the most well-known ones being the Air Loom). The funny thing about the Influencing Machine is that if you progress through different times and even cultures, there's almost an archetype of delusions. There are several different types of Influencing Machines, the most famous being the Air Loom. Television has been used before, I'm not sure what the current version of it is.
Yeah, if you browse through the gangstalking sub you'll find a whole bunch of modern ones. Like this guy is convinced he's being attacked by some sort of energy weapon.