Do you know there’s a tracking device fitted inside your razor blade? And how would you feel knowing that your photo is taken by a spycam every time you pause by a certain shaving product shelf?
There’s a worldwide boycott growing against Gillette – the makers of various shaving goods. Why? Well, using advanced technology, they’re embedding what are basically tracking devices into their products. The Mach 3 shaver you’ve seen repeated TV adverts for, has a tracking device built into it. Gillette are also using spy-camera technology on so-called ‘smart-shelves’ to take photographs of consumers who pick up their products. Perhaps its time to find a new razorblade? Start off at Boycott Gillette.
Then read the very informative article How Wal-Mart and Gillette Got Themselves Into a PR Nightmare. For online forums, debating the issue try Wrap Your Head In Tin Foil — The Razors Are Attacking. And there’s an article and discussion at Mach 3 Razorblades Take Your Photograph.
And to go deeper into the spy-technology that is part of that innocent-looking plastic card you have from Supermarket X which you thought was just a membership card to give you discounts, read a Guardian article titled The Card Up Their Sleeve.
Here’s another Guardian article on the spy-tags being used in the UK — Tesco Tests Spy Chip Tedchnology.
(Based on the above, you might want to throw away every single non-credit card plastic ‘loyalty’ card you have from any supermarkets or shops, if you like your privacy).
For info on the spy technology that Gilette (and others) are using – go to the site run by Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering – aka CASPIAN.
Gear change. Moron company alert time. What happens if you’re a geek who discovers that your company has a security hole in its network, and you quietly alert its customers to this fact, without doing any damage to the system? Correct — you end up in jail for sixteen months. Read the odd sad story of a Security Whistleblower.
To show how the world’s changing, look at these photographs of a couple’s lovely new home — a refurbished missile silo: Our Nuclear Silo Home.
It could be fun to erase the entire files of the JSE, just to demonstrate how irrelevent stockmarkets are to you and me down on street level, as we struggle to make the rent and avoid being murdered. Read this recent Wired magazine article titled One Zap And Your Computer Is Dead. (Do a search online for a ‘hertz gun’ to get the specs and component parts to try out creating cyber-mayhem locally at a cost-effective price.)
More fun local creeping fascism. Questions were asked in Parliament a few months back about encryption software. We’re still waiting for the answers. Read this extract about Questions on Encryption Software.
Ever thought about becoming a whore? No, I’m not talking about becoming an advertising copywriter – I mean a ‘genuine’ whore – one of those ‘sex industry worker’ types. Well, for a (ahem) blow by blow introduction to the (ahem) ins and outs of becoming part of one of the oldest professions (and adults only, please) take a look at The Shy Girl’s Guide to becoming a Whore.
So you might be facing a lie detector at some point, or be working for a company stupid enough to think that a lie-detector is of use to them. Go quietly and read the info and learn about the growing online community who know how to Pass Lie Detector Tests and for a glimpse into the online forum discussing various aspects of testing.
Way back in 1976, a bored teenager saw an advert from a company looking for song lyrics and songwriters. “Wouldn’t it be fun”, he thought, “to send these people the most ridiculous, stupid, vile, obscene, retarded lyrics to see their response?” And he did. To hear the song the company created from his deliberately awful lyrics, download (1.5megs) and listen to Blind Man’s Penis.
I was helping some folks sniff through computers the other day, and had fun showing them some of the information which all PCs keep copies of. If you really think that emptying the recycle bin gets rid of anything, start your journey towards true paranoia at Microsofts Really Hidden Files.
We all know about ‘porking’ – but have you ever heard of ‘orking’? (This is the online habit of taking pictures of animals who’ve put their noses too close to the camera) Go have a look and go awwwwww at Orking.
There’s a growing trend with governments not wanting us to see various things (like their militray bases for instance). Maps and satellite pictures are being censored or quietly removed under the ongoing global ‘war on terror’ fairytale. Go take a browse through photographs and info that you’re being deprived of at Revealing Hidden Places. And continuing this theme, there’s a growing interest in underground man-made structures, mostly from the Cold War era – browse through the pix at this UK site called Subterranea Brittanica.
The Internet itself is, as usual, under attack for sites like the previous two. Read this piece from the Guardian titled Making a Mockery of the UK’s Secrecy Act. And then the BBC’s UK Secret Site’s Photos Must Go. This ongoing withdrawal of a wide range of information that you have a right to see and know about, by governments, is generally called a ‘Chilling Effect’. Now you know, do some browsing at the .
Onto more fun things. Christians continue to provide mirth and happiness for all of us unbelievers here in the real world. You’ve seen the standard Christian bumper stickers and other merchandising. Now take a look at how shoes with ‘Jesus Loves You’ printed on them, are sold at the aptly named Shoes Of The Fisherman.
Personally I’d go for something a little different. Hmm, let’s see what’s out there. How about a 40 mph jet-powered barstool? Take a look at the Jet Propelled Barstool.
Or specially to teach a lesson to those offensive doorknocker types on Sundays when you’re having an afternoon nap, try the Double Barreled Rubber Band Gun.
For weapons of a different sort, that you thought were only in the province of science fiction films – take a read of the article from the New Scientist, about the fairly frightening genre of Gamma Ray Weapons.
Now I like Schwarzenegger flicks as much as the next dumb meat-eating advert-worshipping sports-loving cretin. (Stop me if I get judgmental, okay?). However, an aspect to the likely next Governor of California’s past, that isn’t being covered much, is the fact that Arnold’s dad was a Nazi. Go take a read through the fairly eye-opening article Nazi Military Role of Actor’s Father.
The spin and lies are getting bigger, as the US starts getting more and more deaths in Iraq, and tries to hide the numbers. Read this article about the odd phenomenon of troops being wounded yet not being listed as casualties.
And if you’re curious about the mystery surrounding the latest microbiologist to die in strange circumstances, go bookmark and keep an eye on The Hutton Inquiry Into the Death of Dr Kelly.
Finally, for those of you who feel that Jamie Oliver (of ‘The Naked Chef‘ infamy) is the worst thing to come out of the UK since Bomber Harris (look him up), then try this adults only total hate site dedicated to the Fat Tongued Oliver.
Until the next time, if Gillette spies or copywriters dont get me.
Ian Fraser is a playwright, author, comedian, conspiracy nut, old-time radio collector and self-confessed data-junkie. Winner of numerous Vita and Amstel Awards, he’s been an Internet addict and games-fanatic since around 1995, when the Internet began to make much more sense than theatre.