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http://www.graffiti.org/uk/index.html

one dat Negroponte might let them have his cheap PDA, until then it's spray paint

I wonder what "Cool 'Disco' Dan" thinks about this? Is this a new frontier for him?

Too late.

It's the original spam.

Everyone is into it.


It's so pervasive that

you don't even notice any more.


But some people are predictably taking artistic advantage

and some are merely advancing the art predictably


Maybe it'd be more obvious

if you could sell the old ones on eBay.

I work right in between a large train yard and several train lines. Often there are numerous cars just sitting around and the majority of them have been "decorated". Some look quite crappy, but others look excellent and a work of art (of sorts). Anyone know how long it takes someone good with a can of spray paint to finish a work of art?

Coming from a person who has both an interest in network security (me) and graffiti (again, me), I have to point out that graffiti and network intrusion don't really overlap and here is why:

When a person writes on a wall (or a "reach"), the owner of the shop might show up and go, "oh crap" and they might very well pay someone a few bucks to cover it up or perhaps do it themselves. The artists' intention is clear -- to throw up some paint and that's it. The paint isn't going to seep into the wall and ruin everything inside, however. It isn't going to pick up the cash register and run off. It isn't going to take every customer's credit information.

When someone breaks into a system -- regardless of their motivations -- the breakee does not know what the intruder has in mind. Maybe it is benign, maybe it isn't, but there is no room to "let it slide." It must be treated as a malicious attack and thus computers must be shut down, customers/students lose services, huge costs in time and effort can and will be expended to purge the system of the problem which often involves what might very well be overkill -- like reinstalling a system or a number of systems because you Don't Know and you can't afford to leave loose ends.

Graffiti and network intrusion would be analagous if and only if graffiti caused the same sort of response. It doesn't.

And in case you're curious as to why I'd be into graf, check out these sites.

It seems that they will be attempting to show off products with embedded XP technology, and various server products.

I spent last year studying abroad in Grenoble, France, and became interested in these little guys when i noticed them starting to crop up around the city there. Apparently there's only one tile one in Grenoble, but there are many more that are spraypainted. I started noticing them in other cities, too, and for a while I really thought they were some sort of city beautification project. The tile ones, especially, are very well done.

Inferring from space-invaders.com, this phenomenon is pushed mostly by a couple of French kids. I think they either live in Montpellier (in the south of France) or in Paris, because that's where I saw the most tile invaders, and those two cities are the most elaborate part of their web site.

The invaders actually got me interested in graffiti-as-art in general. If you've never checked out some of the really neat graffiti, go over to graffiti.org to check out some of the better stuff. I also have some photos of Grenoble's large graffiti wall up at ambient.2y.net. Granted, a lot of graffiti is just people showing off or advertising their gang or whatever, but some of it is truly amazing.