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Graffiti Bridges Worlds for Cell User

Posted by Zonk on from the live-in-your-world-etc-etc dept.

babokd wrote with a follow up to a piece we ran about the phenomenon of Grafedia, graffiti with links to the internet. The idea has caught on, and 'a communion of the real world with the Internet' may become more and more common. From the article: "It's all around you -- and not just in the phone lines and cables running under the streets or in the airborne Wi-Fi streams....If you send a text message to an e-mail address scrawled in paint on a subway advertisement or on a sidewalk, for example, you could get some digital pop art on your phone in return. An adhesive arrow on a telephone pole could hold the key to the history of a nearby building."

100 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Seen it before by CaseyB · · Score: 3, Insightful
    This sounds much like the whole "warchalking" phenomenon that was picked up by the media when it became SO popular a couple years ago.

    Not that anyone ever saw real examples of it.

    1. Re:Seen it before by mogalpha · · Score: 1

      I've seen it before too; this morning in fact. I think that's the first time my local newspaper has pre-empted slashdot in getting to an article :)

    2. Re:Seen it before by ShaniaTwain · · Score: 1

      ..or 'toothing', the ultimate geek fantasy.

      "If I get the phone with bluetooth, I will have amazing anonymous sex with beautiful strangers!"

      It makes me wonder though, what zigbee was the protocol, would it it be 'zigging' or 'beeing'?

      --
      Starsucks
    3. Re:Seen it before by generic-man · · Score: 2, Funny

      I am pleased to announce a new phenomenon in which users of recent-model camera phones can use publicly-visible markings to initiate a chat with each other about music. It is called Bluemochalkblogcasting.

      Coming soon: The very first Bluemochalkblogcasting manifesto. Say goodbye to traditional media and bow down to Bluemochalkblogcasting!

      --
      For more information, click here.
  2. Bathroom walls..... by AtariAmarok · · Score: 3, Funny

    "For a Good Time, text 443544"

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
    1. Re:Bathroom walls..... by spellraiser · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bah, 867-5309 has much better times. Just remember - The password is 'Ken sent me'.

      --
      I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
    2. Re:Bathroom walls..... by DeadSea · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't it be better if you could carry your cuecat around and scan the bar code on grafiti?

      For a good time: ||||||||

  3. Cool by lawpoop · · Score: 5, Funny
    You are on a busy street corner. You are next to a building. Before you towers a light pole.

    $> look building

    You see an email address scrawled on the bricks.

    $>grafitti email address

    You get some nice pop art in return.

    $>look light pole

    You see an adhesive arrow.

    $>look adhesive arrow.

    You find the key to neaby building!

    $>use key on door

    You unlock the door.

    --
    Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
    -- Pablo Picasso
    1. Re:Cool by Infinityis · · Score: 1

      From the door escapes a giant monster. The giant monster grabs you by the collar, smashes you against a wall, and shouts "STOP USING STUPID WORDS, LIKE GRAFEDIA OR BLOG".

      The monster attaches a yellow arrow to your forehead with the following link to a Dave Barry article. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/column ists/dave_barry/9872714.htm

      $>click link

      $>laugh

    2. Re:Cool by wintermute740 · · Score: 1

      "$>use key on door

      You unlock the door. "

      You are eaten by a grue.

      --

      --
      www.nitemarecafe.com
    3. Re:Cool by geekwithsoul · · Score: 1

      The light at the top of the pole burns out $>You can't see anything. You're eaten by a grue . . .

    4. Re:Cool by C.Batt · · Score: 1

      But without words like Blog or Grafedia where would the inventors of those terms be?

      Still working as "barristas" at the local cafe serving skinny double mochachino machiattos that are light on the froth dreaming of that big day when they have an "article" in Wired about their visionary greatness. That's where! Don't you want them to succeed? Stop trying to keep the little-guy down.

      So fuck you! Mr. Holier-than-thou corporate sellout language purist. /zooms off on Segway

      --
      -- All views expressed in this post are mine and do not
      -- reflect those of my employer or their clients
    5. Re:Cool by name*censored* · · Score: 1

      Uhh ok then, instead of calling things by their abbreviated-and-easy-to-remember titles, we'll now refer to things by a short description of what they do. Let's all thank infinityis for renaming the "internet", to "the porn what comes through the computer". Thanks infinityis!

      --
      Commodore64_love: I don't comprehend people who're so frightened of death that they'll bankrupt themselves to stay alive
  4. visions of 90s viral marketing by bombastinator · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Smells like someone is trying to bring back viral marketing again. It was a stupid idea the first time.

    1. Re:visions of 90s viral marketing by lawpoop · · Score: 1

      I would be interested in bacertial or fungal marketing.

      --
      Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
      -- Pablo Picasso
    2. Re:visions of 90s viral marketing by bombastinator · · Score: 1

      fungal marketing is what it turns into really. The bathroom walls of night clubs or other "hip" places covered with stickers with cryptic urls on them, because if they told you what they really were you probably wouldn't look. It's wall spam.

    3. Re:visions of 90s viral marketing by gandhii · · Score: 1

      hog wash!
      andre the giant still rocks! ;]

  5. Overblown hoohah by Webs+101 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I wrote this two months ago:

    Clickable Graffiti, or Not

    When we first heard of Grafedia, we thought it was an amazing new technology: take a photo of a word with your camera phone and it turns into a clickable link. The truth is more mundane, although you wouldn't guess that from the hype. The word does indicate an e-mail account - e.g. word@grafedia.net - but the picture-taking is superfluous. All Grafedia really is is a mailserver whose e-mail accounts return files to anyone who e-mails. The "twist" is that the person who creates the account has to upload a file and then tattoo, spraypaint, or engrave the word out in the wild. It's more like an invitation to urban blight than an honest-to-goodness new medium. John Geraci, who dreamed this up, sees it as an extension of the Internet. He and at least one Grafedia fan Wired interviewed claim that they don't advocate vandalism. Meanwhile, we wait for software that can read words from photos and turn them into links.

    --

    "Even for Slashdot, that was a very obscure reference!" - Anonymous Coward

    1. Re:Overblown hoohah by Webs+101 · · Score: 1
      I didn't write the original for Slashdot, so it's not a dupe. It's repurposed. :)

      See my link for where the original appeared.

      --

      "Even for Slashdot, that was a very obscure reference!" - Anonymous Coward

    2. Re:Overblown hoohah by Thuktun · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile, we wait for software that can read words from photos and turn them into links.

      Software that can do that could conceivably be used as anti-CAPTCHA tools, and vice versa.

  6. Mr. Adams, is that you? by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1

    Scott, you are always looking for a way to bring back your famous text adventures. Do continue. I bet Zork was behind that door, right?

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
    1. Re:Mr. Adams, is that you? by wo1verin3 · · Score: 1

      Scott Adams was a god.

  7. What does this have to do with Prince? by JudgeFurious · · Score: 1

    It said "Graffiti Bridges". Is this another one of those Hollywood summer sequels?

    --
    Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
    1. Re:What does this have to do with Prince? by Infinityis · · Score: 1

      No, that was "Graffiti Brides of Madison County". Eastwood is back, with a cooler line than before:

      "I know what you're thinking: 'Did he say to click "Google Search" or "I'm Feeling Lucky?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being this is a Google Search Engine, the most powerful search engine in the world, and would index your homepage in milliseconds flat, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"

    2. Re:What does this have to do with Prince? by syrion · · Score: 1

      Mod parent funny. Someone. Anyone.

  8. for a good time, call... by johnrpenner · · Score: 2, Interesting


    how's this any different
    than scrawling a phone number
    on a bathroom stall?

    1. Re:for a good time, call... by Infinityis · · Score: 1

      You can have porn sent back to you instead of regular phone sex.

    2. Re:for a good time, call... by Stoutlimb · · Score: 1


      Well now the process can be automated. The technology for liking the real world to the matrix has already been made. Behold: The CUE::CAT!

      The revolution will not be televised. Or anything else. :P

    3. Re:for a good time, call... by erlenic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Almost a haiku, but not quite. Change "How's" to "how is", take out the "any" and you're there (if you slur your "different" into "diffrent" like everyone I've ever met.)

    4. Re:for a good time, call... by Thuktun · · Score: 1

      Otherwise, change the first line to "is this different".

    5. Re:for a good time, call... by Alan+Livingston · · Score: 1

      Technically, Haiku is supposed to reflect an aspect of nature or spirituality. I guess it works if you worship the CueCat...

    6. Re:for a good time, call... by xcreature · · Score: 1

      In my travels across Canada, and some in Thailand, documenting graffiti walls, both public and private, sometimes a URL such as the one seen here can give a lot of interesting information. In that specific case I learned a lot about the graff scene in Toronto based on the information available at that link. Sometimes it's an email address or URL for a musical group or just for the artists themselves. I think that links in public art are a great way to publicize one's art further. Why this is news to the Slashdot community is beyond me.

    7. Re:for a good time, call... by naxi · · Score: 1

      to be grammatically correct, should it be "different from" or "different than"? I always thought it was different from.

      --

      He's dead, Jim. You get his tricorder, I'll get his wallet.
  9. And then... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    In other news, Microsoft applies for a patent on graffiti.

  10. very interesting but... by phillk6751 · · Score: 1

    I think it would be cool to use something similar to this as a virtual tour-guide.

  11. It's all around you by prgrmr · · Score: 1

    "It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."

  12. Not only that.... by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1
    Not only that, but the article is accompanied by an illustration of a Palm PDA. You can clearly see the entry area for the stylus squiggle entry code...and what is it called? Ah yes, graffiti.

    (For those of you with Apple Newtons, it is where you enter your "hanbvvwritten 7ettXrs")

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  13. Not to rain crap on somebody parade, but... by Gruneun · · Score: 1

    You pay for the redirection service, you're limited to finite message sizes, and the other person has to know that emailing the Grafedia address or texting the number on the coded yellow arrow will result in an auto-reply of some sort?

    How is this better than just scrawling your web address underneath your graffiti?

  14. am I the only one who believes that... by xutopia · · Score: 4, Insightful
    there are 4 types of graffiti?
    1. beautiful art
    2. tags - the equivalent of a dog pissing to mark his territory.
    3. ugly scribblings just for the sheer pleasure of vandalising
    4. text to express a view point or provoque

    Am I the only one feeling that only a minute amount of graffiti fits into the first category?

    1. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by davide101 · · Score: 1

      Yes. I do not want my f*cking tax dollars spent removing someone elses idea of art. Let them paint their own walls!

      On the other hand, I have no problem with graffiti artists volunteering to paint a mural on the side of a delapidated community center. That's constructive.

    2. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by tilleyrw · · Score: 1

      OK...

      • You don't want tax dollars spent to remove someone's elses idea of art.
        • You do approve of murals (which are only an idea by
        • someone else).

        • ...rustle...rustle...Where is my damn clue stick?...rustle...rustle...

      --
      This post encoded with ROT26. If you can read it, you've violated the DMCA. Handcuffs please, sergeant.
    3. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by davide101 · · Score: 1

      Most graffiti is randomly applied to public spaces without any community involvement. If the people 'in charge' of a space decide to decorate it, great. If I spend time to paint the wall of my building and it gets graffiti for someone elses amusement... that's not cool... just like me graffiting your house would be wicked uncool.

    4. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by erlenic · · Score: 1

      The difference is in the authorization. When he talks about someone volunteering to paint an old building, the assumption is that the owner of said building has authorized it. The type he was complaining about is unauthorized.

    5. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by xutopia · · Score: 1

      not all graffiti falls into that category. My sister used to hang out with a crowd of graffitists. They sometimes (though not always) asked shop owners and had permission to make drawings on a wall or parking place. Some of it was beautiful.

    6. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by Aerog · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, you're probably right. There are artists out there with way too much talent with a spray can who are getting a bad name from the other 99% - often just kids with nothing better to do. But in those few cases, the results are artistically equal to paying somebody a truck of money to paint an 'approved' mural on the side of a building, just cheaper.

      Personally, when I'm stuck waiting for a freight train to pass, looking at the graffiti isn't a bad way to pass the time. It's kind of like an art show on rails to pass the time.

      --

      - Relativistic? That's barely Newtonian!
    7. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by Skye16 · · Score: 1

      Or, at least the good stuff is. Sometimes you just get some jackass no-talent hack (like I would be, if I picked up a can of spray paint) who just scribbles his name on it like he's cool or something. Boo to him for ruining real art.

      I did like this comic that is somewhat related, though (I love his work, though, so maybe it's just me): Bolt City

    8. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by Aerog · · Score: 1

      Ah, Copper. Timeless -AND- timely.

      --

      - Relativistic? That's barely Newtonian!
    9. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by dabigpaybackski · · Score: 1
      You're right. Shitty tags notwithstanding, I have seen some exquisitely well-done, even epic pieces done by anonymous artists on the sides of rusty boxcars. Quite to their credit, the freight companies rarely paint them over.

      I think the operators should make the whole freight car painting scene an official part of their business--hold graffiti contests that award publicity to the participants (which is what they want) and prizes to the winners. Legitimize the scene. It wouldn't have to be an expensive undertaking for the rail companies.

      --
      "OH SHIT, THERE'S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!"
    10. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by Kinky+Bass+Junk · · Score: 1

      Am I the only one feeling that only a minute amount of graffiti fits into the first category?

      The problem isn't that there are a lot of graffiti artists who don't do the beautiful art, rather they either can't because it's too hard (i.e. high traffic) or because they're wimps. I do some graffiti art, what I would class as fitting into section 1 and 4, but most of the time it's too hard to get section 1 art in places that are visible. As a general rule of thumb, if you can see it, then you're at risk. Most of my good stuff is on commisioned property, or in places where no-one ever goes.

      --
      Anonymous Coward
    11. Re:am I the only one who believes that... by zero_offset · · Score: 1

      I agree that a lot of boxcar graffiti is interesting and well-executed, but the rest of your post ignores certain realities, all of which come to mind because I happen to know a guy who works for a train company (in the gruesome role of on-scene train wreck investigations)...

      1. The rail companies don't paint over them because repainting boxcars is extremely expensive.

      2. Repainting boxcars takes those boxcars out of circulation, which means they're not profitable.

      3. The rail companies have no incentive to "legitimize the scene" by making boxcars available for "art". See #2.

      See the trend? :)

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

  15. Anti-Grafedia ... by Infernal+Device · · Score: 4, Funny

    The campaign to counter all those idiot vandal grafitti advertisers should be titled:

    "Say it. Don't spray it."

    --
    "My God...it's full of trolls!"
  16. Duplicating yourself and even admitting it by rminsk · · Score: 1
    babokd wrote with a follow up to a piece we ran about the phenomenon of Grafedia, graffiti with links to the internet.
    What new information does this new slashdot article present? Absolutely nothing.
  17. I don't get it by ArielMT · · Score: 1

    I see this as being abused by script kiddies so that your computer can have as good a time asking for Bubba as you can. And with the same "must've caught something bad" results, too. I see this as a merging of real-world and virtual blights on the landscapes of the 21st Century. What am I missing here?

    --
    It must be Windows. It needs half a gig of RAM and a hardware-accelerated graphics card just to run Solitaire.
  18. I don't know about you... by Cyclotron_Boy · · Score: 4, Funny

    but I don't want to text "goatse" and get any "pop art" while walking around downtown.

    1. Re:I don't know about you... by jamshid42 · · Score: 1

      goatse@grafedia.net and tubgirl@grafedia.net both give you exactly what you would expect. Larva boob seems to be missing though.

      --
      /. - Proof that Sturgeon's Law is true...
    2. Re:I don't know about you... by Cyclotron_Boy · · Score: 1

      Ha! Speechless.

    3. Re:I don't know about you... by xMilkmanDanx · · Score: 1

      But around the house it's ok??

      --
      I am not in anyway affiliated with Max Cannon
  19. graffiti is not art by eclectro · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Graffiti is not art, it is vandalism. Anything that encourages it should be outlawed.

    I know that their are possible legitimate uses, but vandalism centric services really should not exist.

    Eye-spam is just as bad as other spam.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    1. Re:graffiti is not art by eclectro · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In my opinion, urban public spaces and surfaces belong to the public.

      Yes, and your opinion is wrong. The notion of "private property" is a well established legal principle.

      If you owned the property, you wouldn't want people painting whatever they wanted on it, art or not.

      But your opinion does not matter, as you fall under the "rule of law." And most places have laws against vandalism.

      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    2. Re:graffiti is not art by RegularFry · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're right, graffiti isn't art. It's just a medium. A medium through which some quite astonishing art has been expressed. Nmap is just a network analysis tool, and bittorrent is just an efficient file-streamer. Don't blame the tool.

      Eye-spam is just as bad as other spam.
      So we should outlaw email?

      --
      Reality is the ultimate Rorschach.
    3. Re:graffiti is not art by jaycontonio · · Score: 1

      let's rephrase this. Graffiti is art. Putting it in illegal places in vandalism. Public graffiti walls are fine to paint on. Oh and U.S. mail trucks...

    4. Re:graffiti is not art by erlenic · · Score: 1

      Wow, what socialist utopia dream did you crawl out of? McDonald's owns the wall, no one else.

      Also, the constitution guarantees you the right to say anything without Congress stopping you. It doesn't guarantee you a place to say it.

    5. Re:graffiti is not art by Sin+Nombre · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Then who lets you walk around? Who are you to decide what is and what isn't art?

      --
      "Im such a nonconformist I'm going to not conform to the rest of you!"
      "Dude I think we just got goth-served"
    6. Re:graffiti is not art by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      in my opinion your money belongs to me, so if i break into your house to take your money you won't call the cops will you? after all in my opinion that money is mine.

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    7. Re:graffiti is not art by Firedog · · Score: 1

      It is true that the notion of "private property" is a well established legal principle. But that doesn't necessarily make it "right".

      Most private property in the U.S. originally became that way because it was taken by force (i.e. stolen). So basically, every deed to land in this country has a tainted history. All ownership is suspect.

      The AC's opinion does matter. True, he probably lives in a jurisdiction where vandalism is illegal, so there are consequences if he violates these rules and gets caught. But if he chooses to, he can exercise his ability to violate the law and either accept the consequences or escape them, depending on his ability in that regard.

      And judging by the state of the exteriors of most buildings in, say, New York City, there are a lot of urban dwellers who agree with his opinion.

    8. Re:graffiti is not art by kwoff · · Score: 1

      In my opinion, people with opinions like yours should post not as Anonymous Coward, so that we can scrawl on your publicly available karma.

  20. You now have to add... by Stoutlimb · · Score: 2, Insightful


    5. Advertising.

  21. The Matrix? by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1

    The Matrix? No. I'm pretty sure the guy is talking about plastics.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  22. Editors, are they buying you hookers? by spun · · Score: 3, Funny

    Pay for a crappy service that invites people to vandalism and will probably only be used by corporate 'underground' marketing? No thanks.

    Makes me wonder how some things get accepted to slashdot. Then I thought about it and it became crystal clear. If you want a story accepted onto slashdot, you have to buy hookers for the editors.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:Editors, are they buying you hookers? by garcia · · Score: 1

      If you want a story accepted onto slashdot, you have to buy hookers for the editors.

      Man, hookers that would fuck them are a lot more time/effort/money than just actually taking the time to verify the story isn't a dup, write up the blurb so that you aren't flamed to hell for not thinking for yourself, and not linking to your own blog for the profit margins. ;-)

    2. Re:Editors, are they buying you hookers? by pinchhazard · · Score: 1
      Makes me wonder how some things get accepted to slashdot.

      It's taken me a while, but I have started to notice which editors post consistently crappy stories with stupid headlines. Looks like you've been here a while: come, post of your dislike of Zonk so we can both be modded down by his unlimited power.

      --
      Do you love freedom??? Do you love freedom!!! DO YOU LOVE FREEDOM!!!!!!!!
    3. Re:Editors, are they buying you hookers? by spun · · Score: 1

      Oh, I don't dislike any of them. Just like I don't dislike my mom's ancient moth-eaten chihuahua even though it craps in my shoes whenever I visit. If you are around something pathetic and disgusting long enough, you begin to like it.

      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  23. This isn't innovative... by null+etc. · · Score: 2, Funny
    If you send a text message to an e-mail address scrawled in paint on a subway advertisement or on a sidewalk, for example, you could get some digital pop art on your phone in return.

    C'mon, this is soooo last generation. I propose some new forms of "interactive art":

    • Murderesqueism
    • - murder victims left in public places with hyperlinks or other obscure clues left on the body.
    • Popup Exhibitionism
    • - beautiful women with URLS and other monikers tatooed over their abdomen, chest, and derriere, exposed at random times, with no provocation, to strangers.
    • Licensism
    • - the replacement of random car license plates with cleverly crafted URLS or AOL screen names.
    Or, instead of trying to legitimatize vandalism, we can simply use RFID sticks for everything. IMHO, that would be cooler, because you'd have no idea of a sticker contained embedded data until you tried to scan it.
  24. Not a follow-up by AEton · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is not a followup and it hasn't caught on.

    This is a textbook example of the kind of marketing I read about in an earlier article. I can't find it now, but the example used was the phrase "suits are in".

    The idea is, you feed this kind of information to dozens of different news sources' fashion, entertainment, life, news departments. Three to five of them will run stories which will read basically the same:

    Catchy lede paragraph
    Information about the product
    Quotes from the manufacturer
    Quotes from an industry group
    Anecdotes from users
    Catchy summation

    This is standard marketing practice and not much more. Once you know the format, you can spot many of these articles. However, I can't find the original source on the "suits are in" marketing expose - does anyone have it?

    --
    We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
    1. Re:Not a follow-up by mikvo · · Score: 2, Informative

      I believe you are referring to this article

    2. Re:Not a follow-up by AEton · · Score: 1

      Aha - Google for "suits are back" gets it but no other combination of keywords will. Thanks!

      --
      We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
    3. Re:Not a follow-up by 0110011001110101 · · Score: 1

      Your opinion has been impregnated into you by space aliens! I have a product called "brain wash" that can abort this impregnation immediately! "Our Brain wash is made from free-range pigs, so you don't have to worry about errr non free range stuff... and its bottled in the US!" Republicans love this stuff! Just listen to this high profile congressman... "My crazy alien thoughts and ideas vanished instantly after applying brainWash!" Suzie from Duluth, GA says "I reckon them space critters know we got them whooped now, no more radical leftist thoughts for me! Thank you Brain Wash!" Who wants crazy alien thoughts in their head? Not me, not you! Get Brain Wash, and get better!

      --
      Don't anthropomorphize computers: they hate that.
    4. Re:Not a follow-up by kwoff · · Score: 1

      This is not a followup and it hasn't caught on.

      This is a textbook example of the kind of marketing ...

      I agree 100%. This is what I mean with this previous comment, though it's in the context of activist movements.
  25. Graffiti by kevin_conaway · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Graffiti in general. I don't understand it. Whats the appeal of wrecking the apperance of otherwise beautiful communities? Just to say you were there? Do you dipshits realize how UGLY spraypaint and pseudo-old-english looks sprawled across an overpass or on the side of the building? Its bullshit and it needs to stop.

    1. Re:Graffiti by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Yeah, because overpasses are so incredibly beautiful that writing on them would be a crime.

      Jesus. 99% of cities are fugly, and if it distracts some kids from real crime I'm all for graffiti...

    2. Re:Graffiti by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Insightful??

      He just said he doesn't understand it. By summarizing that it's bullshit and needs to stop proves that he's right- he doesn't understand it.

    3. Re:Graffiti by Guildencrantz · · Score: 1

      Tagging and graffiti aren't necessarily the same thing. Tagging generally refers to a form of graffiti used to mark one's territory with a name or alias. I don't "run" with a graffiti artist, but I do have artist friends who have done some gorgeous work that would be classified as graffiti, without attaching any form of name or alias.

      --

      Penguin Trivia #46: Animals who are not penguins can only wish they were. -- Chicago Reader 10/15/82
  26. It is dark inside by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 3, Funny

    You have been eaten by a grue.

  27. Nah. Not happening. by Animats · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Remember "Warchalking"? "Sousveillance"? This is another one of those one-person "trends" that Tired hypes up to justify their self-image of "cool".

    Texting to an autoresponder - yeah, cool. Would you like spam with that?

  28. I've been doing the same thing with Postit Notes.. by feloneous+cat · · Score: 1

    Frankly, I was underwhelmed. The home-made air conditioner was kinda' interesting, but this just plain wasn't worth posting.

    Man, now that the Mac has gone x86, slashdot has gotten boring...

    --
    IANAL, but I've seen actors play them on TV
  29. for slashdot news, text "dupe" in your cellphone by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 1

    OK OK it wasn't on /., but it was 3 months ago!

    http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66992,00. html

  30. goatse@grafedia.net by bmalia · · Score: 1

    Ah, a new twist on a classic.

    --
    There's no place like ~/
  31. Marketing Speak by g1zmo · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...for example, you could get some digital pop art on your phone in return.

    We used to call it viruses, spam, spyware, and adware. Digital Pop Art sounds much friendlier.

    --
    I have found there are just two ways to go.
    It all comes down to livin' fast or dyin' slow.     -REK, Jr.
  32. Hey! you could put *bar codes* in magazine ads... by dpbsmith · · Score: 1

    ...that would link to websites about the products!

    Consumers could scan those bar codes with a handheld device of some kind and be taken effortlessly to the site!

    Why, it would be like a... a... digital _convergence_ between the physical world and the Internet!

    You could give the devices away to Wired subscribers and Radio Shack customers. You'd want them to appeal to the right demographics, so they shouldn't look too industrial or nerdish.

    You could make them look like a cute little cat or something.

    You call call them :CuteCats!

    What a fantastic idea! I wonder why nobody has ever thought of anything like this before.

    --

    "How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!

  33. This ain't "Lain - Serial Experiments" by ILKO_deresolution · · Score: 1

    This is mostly garbage, seriously get a GIS ...the captcha idea is a good idea
    for raves and the like!

    --
    I tip toe like rats on vouge runnways.
  34. or Clint..? by CdBee · · Score: 1

    The Graffiti on the Bridges of Madison County....

    --
    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
  35. oops, sorry Infinityis by CdBee · · Score: 1

    Someone beat me to it and did it better too. I feel crushed.

    --
    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
  36. Seriously! by ILKO_deresolution · · Score: 1

    This is a step in the wrong direction.
    This shit is retarded.
    Write a new underweb and incorperate a Global Information System or somthing as underground as graf'in! P34c3 gru

    --
    I tip toe like rats on vouge runnways.
  37. Bring Back the Cue Cat! by richyoung · · Score: 1
    Now all we need is a mobile phone adapter for the Cue Cat!

    Unseen urban artist people will stencil bar codes on bridges and railroad cars. Then you'll walk along with your CueCat Mobile and scan the bar code, and your phone will load a fabulous [multimedia advertisement | ameteur pr0n video featuring his estranged ex-girlfriend | virus] authored by the stencil-wielding Pop Artist.

    The future is now!

    --
    6. Audible Alarm (not shown)
    -from a Cuisinart product owner's manual.
    1. Re:Bring Back the Cue Cat! by Kinky+Bass+Junk · · Score: 1

      Unseen urban artist people will stencil bar codes on bridges and railroad cars.

      Yeah, but imagine the problems with underspray! Plus, it'd be a bitch if you went through your bridges.
      A much smarter idea is to laser-print stickers, and put them along your regular art, such as the stencils. Then you get the regular art, as well as the digital :)

      --
      Anonymous Coward
  38. Enh... by iamdrscience · · Score: 1
    Real world hyperlinks my ass. What would be cooler than just writing a URL or whatever on the wall would be writing a 2 barcode on the wall then having a camera phone which can decode it. Just and it brings you to a related site.

    It wouldn't have to be grafitti either, you could put barcodes like it on buildings/historical/monuments/businesses/etc. Imagine the following scenarios:
    • Restaurant: Clicking brings up their menu, prices, nutritional facts, takeout number, hours of operation.
    • Magazine Article: Clicking on a code at the end of an article brings up a page with related links, i.e. further information on the topic, the author of the article or the people mentioned therein.
    • Billboard Advertisement: Brings up company's website with further information about the product, a way to buy it, etc.
    • Subway or other transit map: Clicking brings up pertinent schedules.
    There are lots of possibilities.
  39. Might as well whore it out again... by goofyheadedpunk · · Score: 1

    The last time grafedia was mentioned I got curious as to how quickly a wikipedia article could come to shape. I started this article.

    Obviously I should have thought a bit more, because no one knew anything and so the text written was little more than lifted from grafedia.net. But now I've got another chance to whore out my little article.

    If you know anything about grafedia, how about contributing?

    --

    What if the entire Universe were a chrooted environment with everything symlinked from the host?
  40. email in a bottle by -Harlequin- · · Score: 1

    The closest thing I've done to this is put a "captain's log" and email address cards in a bottle in the ocean. The idea was that a finder would update the log (when/where it was found), take an email card, and then throw it back out to sea. Upon using the email address, its course could be charted on a website.

    But I never heard from it again... :-(

    I imagine you have to do these things in bulk to get results. Maybe someday I'll make a hundred of them :-)

  41. Effect on Google Page Rank? by rich42 · · Score: 1

    So if I graffiti my URL someplace prominent, will Google crawl it and increase my PageRank accordingly?

  42. Circular Semacode-like system? by serutan · · Score: 1

    Semacode involves a square pattern of dots that you aim a camera phone at; special software in the phone reads the dot pattern and can connect you to a website or whatever. These dot pattern would be very hard to reproduce by hand.

    But there is another system that uses odd circular maze-like graphics, that I imagine might be possible to hand draw if the image processing software were decent. I can't remember the name of this circular system, but the patterns reminded me of the sockets R2D2 was always plugging into.