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Wired Writer Disappears, Find Him and Make $5k

Posted by samzenpus on from the hiding-in-plain-sight dept.

carp3_noct3m writes "A freelance Wired magazine journalist has decided to see what it is like to disappear from normal life, all while staying on the grid. The catch, is that he is challenging anyone and everyone to find him, take a picture, and speak a special codeword to him. If you can do that, you can make 5000 dollars, which happens to come out of his paycheck for the article he'll be writing. Oh, and to top it all off, whoever finds him gets pictures and interviews in Wired. He has been posting to his Twitter, using TOR for internet, and the Wired website will be posting his credit card transactions."

10 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. The catch by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Funny

    The catch, is that he is challenging anyone and everyone to find him, take a picture, and speak a special codeword to him.

    But, but... that would require leaving my basement.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:The catch by Anachragnome · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hack an ATM and use the image from it for the photo.

      You can speak the password to him via the network that McDonalds uses to take orders in the drive-through these days.

      "Ok. I have 3 cheeseburgers, an Iced Tea and the password is "Where the fuck is Waldo? That will be $5,004.89 at the first window. Please pull through."

      No need to leave the basement.

  2. blarg by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    It'll be funny when a Mac user wins the $5K and has to admit finding him on the other side of a glory hole.

    .

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  3. Far too easy. by ep32g79 · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is too easy, Just get a judge to tell you where he is.

  4. Taking all the fun out of it by horatio · · Score: 5, Funny

    You will be excluded from winning if you commit a crime in your efforts to find me, contact my family, or physically harm me.

    Man, talk about taking all the fun of a game.

    --
    There is very little future in being right when your boss is wrong.
    1. Re:Taking all the fun out of it by sgauss · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, if I believe my television, you should still be able to waterboard him!

  5. Re:Is this an ad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes Slashdot does post links to contests.

  6. hey guy... by hort_wort · · Score: 5, Funny

    Come to my house and let me win the contest. I'll give you $3000. I'd be happy to tell wired the advanced methods I used to win.

  7. No problemo by nizo · · Score: 4, Funny

    1. Post his picture in the general vicinity wherever his credit card transactions are, with the note "Have you seen this child molester?" underneath.
    2. Take pictures of him/give him the codeword in jail* a few days later.
    3. Profit!

    * Though I'm not sure how the whole secret word thing will work if a mob beats him to death.

    --
    I Am My Own Worst Enemy
  8. Why this fails by popo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The problem, as any Wired writer should know -- is that information wants to be free.

    As the writer himself has observed: Contacting his family or breaking the law are easy ways to retrieve the information.

    Those activities may disqualify the offending "player", but they do not disqualify the underlying data -- which wants to be free -- and can easily be passed on to any party in order to claim the prize.

    So like most "hacks", social-engineering will trump using the "grid".

    And the take-away here is this: There are no rules. There is only data, and it will be free.

    The poor writer is going to find much of his personal life violated, I'm afraid. But the blame falls to him. He should have known better.

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )