Slashdot Mirror
Flash Mobs a Threat to Security?
RawCode writes "News about a recent report released by the RCMP suggests that flash mobs could pose a future threat to security. 'Some are aimed at celebrities. Tech-savvy teenaged girls in Britain can quickly spread the word on the whereabouts of Prince William, surrounding him with hundreds of screaming fans. Some are political, organizing protests. Text-messaging was instrumental to organizing public demonstrations in the Phillippines that forced President Joseph Estrada from office'."
For those who don't know (and the article doesn't seem to explain), RCMP stands for Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Y'know the mounties, with the red uniforms. I believe they are roughly equivalent to the FBI, though I am sure someone else can explain exactly what their duties are.
"But I trust in the people's capacity for reflection, rage and rebellion." -Oscar Olivera
"The Last Days of the Permanent Floating Riot Club", 1974; collected in "A Hole in Space".
Unfortunately, the solution is going to have to be different. The stories make a starting point for thinking about the problem.
//Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
Of course, the entire case was eventually dismissed.
Fight Spammers!
You are aware that Canada doesn't have a president?
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
Civil disobedience is a very good idea in principle, and with the right enemy it can work wonders. But the WTO arrests, the RNC arrests, the willingness to shut down airplanes and whole airports because someone finds a piece of paper with "BOB" written on it, the mass detention of muslims in LA a few years back, the indisputed fact that the US has _by far_ the highest incarceration rate in the world, it's all indicative of guys in charge not really giving a shit about public perception and being more concerned with CYA and maintaining their own jobs.
Dyolf Knip
You are completely mistaken. Did you even read the summary? The summary, let alone TFA, explained how the "mob" can unintentionally locate high valued targets. That the person calling the mob to a location could inadvetantly be acting as a lookout. That the mob converging on the location could inadvertantly be acting as camoflauge for a terrorist. Things are far more complicated than your post suggests.
Wow, I'd love to have a link for that, might explain some of the folks infatuation with modern political figures too. Please post it if you have it.
I wanna see a cite for this. It'd be interesting to read the methodology.
"America has done some terrible things. But I know that Americans don't cheer when innocents die." -Dave Barry
No cite, sadly -- I can't find the original (and more in-depth) article I had originally read on the web now -- but the researcher's name was Dr. Michael Platt, and the research in question is referenced in this NewsWeek article (halfway down, look for "berry berry"). I'm not sure if this was before or after he left the Glimcher Lab for Duke.
His lab page is here, but none of the paper titles ring a bell.
If you're interested, you should at least be able to reach him at: platt at neuro dot duke dot edu
DNA just wants to be free...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5304846/site/newsweek/
Although it sounds like a good idea to use ones self to clog the courts, have you considered what being a convicted criminal may mean?
As far as I understand the US political system, would you be willing to give up your right to vote ever again just to put a point accross? What about being able to travel overseas?