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Pigeons to Blog Pollution

Posted by samzenpus on from the 100-monkeys-with-typewriters dept.

Strolls writes "In an release which conjures images of avian borg, a press release tells of plans to release pigeons equipped with cellphones and GPS so that they can "blog" air pollution data. The plan is the brainchild of Beatriz da Costa of the University of California Digital Arts Research Network and is scheduled as part of the inter-Society for Electronic Arts' annual symposium in San Jose in August. Da Costa has previously been involved with RFID roaches."

34 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sounds more like a job for African swallows, but then again African swallows are not migratory.

    1. Re:Hmmmmm by Viper+Daimao · · Score: 3, Funny

      pigeons equipped with cellphones and GPS

      I hope they weigh less than a coconut.

      --
      "In the game of life, someone always has to lose. To me, if life were fair, that someone would always be Oklahoma." -DKR
    2. Re:Hmmmmm by timeOday · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I hope they weigh less than a coconut.
      Me too (and it's not just my pythonesque sensibilities.) Did they really need to put a camera onboard too?

      My big question (not addressed in the article) is the power supply. What's the fun if each birdphone only lasts a couple days? I guess solar would be the first choice, but how about a little wind turbine or an induction coil spanning the bird's wings?

  2. Blogging Quality by narcolepticjim · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't imagine they'd have anything too insightful to write in their blogs. Coooo, coooo.

    Either way, their comments section will be FILLED with anti-science trolls.

    1. Re:Blogging Quality by afaik_ianal · · Score: 5, Funny

      And that's worse than the current standard of the average blog?

    2. Re:Blogging Quality by ToasterofDOOM · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's a hell of a lot more scientific and insightful than 90%+ of all the human blogs combined already! You're off to a good start! On the other hand, if the internet had any more mindless droll I'm sure the Earth would implode into a literal black hole of knowledge and all that is good and pure.

      --
      I am Spartacus
    3. Re:Blogging Quality by nametaken · · Score: 2, Funny


      Either way, their comments section will be FILLED with anti-science trolls.

      And hunters that can't afford to pass up a free gps unit and cellphone with no bill.

  3. wow by cyranthus · · Score: 3, Funny

    wow, imagine that! pigeons with cellphones!

  4. Oh, this is good by cc-rider-Texas · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now we have to worry about inattentive pigeons flying into our cars along with business men and teenage girls while they're on the phone.

    --
    If you give a liberal an enema, he'll turn transparent.
    1. Re:Oh, this is good by ozbird · · Score: 4, Funny

      Do you have business men and teenage girls flying into your car often?

  5. Suspicious indeed by Saint37 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't know, this sounds like to sneaky attempt to set up a peer to peer network.

    http://www.commodore69.com/

  6. I'm not surprised... by grcumb · · Score: 5, Funny

    They've had the protocol in place for years!

    --
    Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
    1. Re:I'm not surprised... by TubeSteak · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is Slashdot, you should have linked directly to the RFC
      http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1149.txt

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  7. Blog? by MustardMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How is this blogging, exactly? It's bad enough we have eight zillion blog derivative buzzwords, but when they are completely mis-applied it's even more annoying. Next step: record dogs' farts and call it podcasting. Then again, it might be more interesting than a lot of podcasts already out there...

    1. Re:Blog? by CyricZ · · Score: 2, Informative

      Buzzwords are used to get the attention of people at large. This time they're using the word "blog", while other times people use words like "terrorist", "communist", "liberal", "synergy", "rich web application", and so forth.

      Sure, the word is likely misapplied, but that's irrelevant. The main point is to get attention, which can at times lead directly to the receipt of financial support.

      --
      Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
    2. Re:Blog? by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why would anyone use a word like "blog" when it is not needed. Especially in this case where it makes no friggen sense.

      Why would anyone use a word like "friggen" when it is not needed? For the fun of it.

  8. Burgle their phones. by CyricZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Soon enough people will shoot the birds, steal their phones, and then sell those phones.

    --
    Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
    1. Re:Burgle their phones. by Lijemo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Soon enough people will shoot the birds, steal their phones, and then sell those phones.

      I haven't RTFA, but I highly doubt they are strapping regular commercial cell-phones, complete with push-buttons and display screens, to the birds.

      more likely, it's just a single device, that can read pollution data, get a GPS reading, and transmit this information over the cell-phone network to a pre-programmed number. I highly doubt such a device would be much use to anyone who stole it, or have much value on the black market.

  9. Blog? by Eightyford · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why would anyone use a word like "blog" when it is not needed. Especially in this case where it makes no friggen sense.

    --
    Religion for nerds. Stuff that really matters
  10. Blogging is for the birds! by xdc · · Score: 5, Funny

    Man, I knew blogging is for the birds! Now this proves it.

    I suppose if any pigeons reply to this, they will be posting nested comments. <gr&d>

  11. Finally! by brian0918 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Finally! A blog that rivals MySpace and LiveJournal! And with the camera, we're sure to get photos of some hot chicks...

  12. It could very well be considered blogging. by CyricZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It depends what you define "blogging" as. Do you consider the frequent posting of short blurbs of information to a publically-accessible web site to be blogging? If so, then this would indeed qualify as blogging.

    --
    Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
    1. Re:It could very well be considered blogging. by Z0mb1eman · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Would a PHP random number generator script count as blogging? What about a script that generates a random blurb based on a random number generator?

      In terms of information, it's roughly equivalent. I'm going to go out on a limb here and, even without reading the article, assert that the pigeons themselves are not "posting short blurbs of information" anywhere.

      --
      ClutterMe.com - easiest site creation on the Net. Just click and type.
    2. Re:It could very well be considered blogging. by CyricZ · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Again, it depends on what you consider "blogging" to be.

      Nothing about the particular definition I supplied suggests that it has to be a human (or even a pigeon) posting the information.

      You might suggest that a blog entry would have to have meaning. But that's not necessarily true. A blog in Chinese, for instance, would look far more like gibberish to somebody who only speaks English than a PHP-generated string of numerals.

      --
      Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
    3. Re:It could very well be considered blogging. by kfg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm going to go out on a limb here and, even without reading the article, assert that the pigeons themselves are not "posting short blurbs of information" anywhere.

      And that, my friend, is why you should RTFA.

      KFG

    4. Re:It could very well be considered blogging. by Vellmont · · Score: 2, Insightful


      Again, it depends on what you consider "blogging" to be.


      Exactly. I consider blogging to be when children eat ice cream too fast and get an ice-cream headache.

      Seriously, can't we all agree on some basic definition of blogging rather than play these dumb word games? You've taken the word and completely redfined it so it no longer resembles the original word. Pigeons making blog entries through data gathered from devices attatched to them? I think you've broken some basic laws of logic about who does what, since obviously the pigeon doesn't actually post any information itself. If you want to define it that way, hey great. But don't expect anyone to understand what the hell you're talking about anymore.

      --
      AccountKiller
  13. How convenient! by techno-vampire · · Score: 3, Funny

    Letting all those pigeons get cell phones makes it easier for them to let each other know when some sucker in the park is feeding them. I'm sure Tom Lehrer would be thrilled.

    --
    Good, inexpensive web hosting
  14. Why not light posts by 246o1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Pigeons cover a wide variety of altitudes far better than light posts do. This makes the data they provide potentially much more valuable.

    --
    Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away.
  15. How will I be able to trust search results??? by tomhuxley · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh Noes!!! What effect will that have on PigeonRank ?

  16. STOP USING BLOG FOR EVERYTHING by jigjigga · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They will submit data, they wont blog. I guarantee the data collected wont be posted in threads like blogs. 1 pigeon won't post "ZOMG teh air is teh bad!" with another saying "its teh worse next door" It will be collected and processed. If it ins't, its useless. I am not trying to be a troll, just someone who is getting sick of the word blog. I am happy the masses have discovered that they too can contribute to the internet, but they need to realize there is more going on than blogging! ZOMG T3h BLOG!!!ocho!

  17. Going to troll their blog by toupsie · · Score: 3, Funny

    I bet someone is just going to release Peregrine Falcons to troll the Pigeon blogs.

    --
    Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
  18. I'm outmoded again by Namarrgon · · Score: 3, Funny
    Yeah. And GPS too.

    Dammit, now even pigeons have better toys than I do. I really gotta try harder to keep up.

    --
    Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
  19. Keep on blogging by novus+ordo · · Score: 2, Funny

    too bad that they will still be 'blogging' your windshields.

    --
    "You're everywhere. You're omnivorous."
  20. Raven's Livejournal by Bushido+Hacks · · Score: 5, Funny

    Monday
    The world is a pitch black place. I leave my cage. I see the people down the street. I hope one of them dies.

    Tuesday
    Children in the park. The air is so stagnant. A dirge to anyone whose traffic is within the city. Consumer whores have no sole.

    Wednesday
    High School Assemblies are evil. The humans collect themselves for a meaningless celebration. The sun it burns. I long for my solitude. I wish a cat would get that peppy song bird!

    Thursday
    I saw Jay. Told him to caw me later. My spelling checker is not working.

    Friday
    Saw The Crow for the umteenth time. Ruffled my feathers at some creepy goth kids who were following me. Humans are scary.

    Satuday - Poop Day!
    My favorite day of the week. Nailed the a car with football players. Grossed out their cheerleader girlfriends. Got caught by the scientists again.

    Sunday
    Escaped the lab. Found computer. My last entry and nothing more. If some human replys the word "nevermore" I will peck their eye out!

    --
    The Rapture is NOT an exit strategy.