Infocult: Information, Culture, Policy, Education

Wikipedia art

Smuggling short fiction into Wikipedia entries is what Jesse Walker finds in at least one 'pedia entry.  A biographical story lived for a while between the curious animal and his yellow-hatted pal.

This sort of art-hoax or social narrative hack reminds me of the way Amazon.com inadvertently hosted bits of stories, like the premature Pynchon review, or the way an alleged murderer's wish list vanished from the site.  This is different from the stories Amazon supports, such as this story-game.

The Curious George tale and the Wikipedia hacks are another strand of Web 2.0 storytelling, hoaxes or accidental story nodes halfway between pranks and alternate reality games.

WikiTimeTravel

"Wikihistory" is a time travel short story in the form of a discussion thread.  Time travelers head into the past, and reality becomes the Wikipedia entry for their fractious discussion tab.

(thanks to Jesse Walker)

More Anonymous versus Scientology

The phantasmal war of Anonymous and Scientology continues.

• More than one hundred Floridians protested a Scientology center in Orlando (YouTube).  This might be a sample of the February 10 events.
• The Eidolon AI TLP project has thrown its/his/their support behind Anonymous (YouTube).
  
• There's talk of some anti-Scientology books to be developed online, probably en-Wiki.
• The Project Chanology wiki offers more updates, news, and projects.
• More mainstream coverage from the Guardian.

Anonymous versus Scientology: white powder student

In the latest round of the Scientology versus Anonymous campaign, packets of white powder were discovered outside various Scientology churches.  The powder wasn't anthrax, but corn starch and wheat germ.

Authorities had to evacuate at least one building in Tustin and shut down a street in Glendale while they examined the substance. Envelopes were also sent to Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica locations.

Was Anonymous responsible?

On a Project Chanology website, 'Anonymous' made a statement about the senders of the powder under the heading 'To the Public and Anybody Investigating the Anthrax Hoax': "They may not even be Anonymous (they might even have been a plant by the "Church" of Scientology as black propaganda); we do not know, and by the nature of our organization, cannot know."

This just ramifies.  Is Anonymous encouraging involvement by outsiders, making themselves (in part) a sort of franchise or flag of convenience?  Could Scientology be staging some of these in order to win public sympathy, discrediting Anonymous?  And who's editing these WikiNews articles?Note that WikiNews has become the leading reporter on this story.

Previously on this tale: the campaign begins, and some clarification.

More Anonymous versus Scientology

Anonymous' campaign against Scientology continued to develop since its appearance last week, ramifying in complexity.  A new video explains their efforts in more detail:

A physical protest is scheduled for February 10th.  YouTube hosts at least one video clip offering guidelines for the event:

I think Warren Ellis is right to note the ominous nature of this movie, and its predecessor, especially

the sense of foreboding they manage to create... There’s a sense of control here, and, clearly, of threat.

There is a wiki site, Project Chanology, hosting information, news, and discussion.  And this discussion thread might be the locus for the whole thing.

Meanwhile, another group, The Regime, has apparently opened up a campaign against Anonymous.  Or so says this long, complicated, and fascinating WikiNews article.

I must add that February 10th is my birthday.  Thank you, Anonymous.

Mail art prank to be, via eBay

Here's a way of entertaining yourself in a dull locale: threaten to send postcards to people you don't know, auctioning off dibs on targets via eBay.

These postcards will be rant-ravingly insane, yet they will be peppered with unmistakable personal details about the addressee. Details you will provide me.
The postcards will not be coherently signed, leaving your mark confused, guessing wildly, crying out in anguish.

Chaotic fiction!

(via MetaFilter)

Hacking YouTube: one man behind the curtain speaks

A web video viral marketing master reveals some secrets at TechCrunch this week.  It's a disturbing, hilarious post, brazenly confessing to a series of dodgy tricks, from astroturfing and sock puppets to deleting critical comments, nudity for hits and light spamming.

A-a-and one might wonder, how much of this is real, and how much... a viral campaign for the author's viral campaigns?  Is this the opening to a rabbit hole?  And this very post might be contributing to it.

Criminal cultists sacrifice doppelganger in jail

The accidental surrealism of the internet is a steady source of joy.  Today's example comes from Google News, where they've flagged stories about or by people sharing my same name.  The headlines seem to describe some horrible crime story, or a Gothic event:

Three men arrested in van theft still in jail
Caught in the Act!
CULTS NET TENSE WIN TO SEAL THE DOUBLE

You can read the original stories (sources 1, 2 3), but the headlines are far better with their suggestive powers.

Karl Marx Supercenter

A great, historically neat photo:

(thanks to Jesse Walker)

Auto insurance does *not* cover Decepticon attack

An auto insurance letter, from Geicko to one Optimus Prime.

Since becoming a GEICO customer in January of this year, you have reported 131 accidents, requesting reimbursement for repairs necessitated by each one. You have claimed not to be responsible in any of them, usually listing the cause of the accident as either "Sneak attack by Decepticons" or "Unavoidable damage caused by protecting freedom for all sentient beings."...

Your policy with GEICO only reimburses you for accidents that occur while you are engaged in the reasonable use of your truck and trailer. As I told you when you originally purchased the policy, GEICO does not offer Megatron coverage, Starscream coverage, Soundwave coverage, Decepticon coverage, or Energon-blast coverage. Those are just not the types of damages we would expect from reasonable use.

(thank you, Tanya!)