Anytime anybody anywhere is on about how TV news is biased, and that’s the real problem with America, I always try to bring them around to the fact that the majority of TV “personalities” aren’t biased so much as they’re stupid.Case in point:
This whole “bomb scare” thing is just unbelievable. And it’s really emphasizing just how wide the technology gap between the generations is right now. All of these newscasters and newswriters are apparently completely not-savvy with the Internet; on boston.com, the news stories still don’t know why these Errs were posted or by whom, while all the people on the message boards know exactly what’s going on. People who know how to use the Internet know that this is a ten-city ad campaign, and they know who put the signs up and under whose aegis; people reporting the news know that “college kids” were involved. Below is transcribed a conversation λ and I were having as we watched the news:
BOB THE NEWSCASTER: Lauren, do you have any idea how they might go about tracking down who posted these things around the city?
LAUREN THE NEWSCASTER: Well, Bob, we have just received information that this hoax may be connected with some sort of a website. We have a visual of this website –
VISUAL: ::is a posting on Flickr::
λ: Dude, that’s Flickr.
LAUREN: But we are not sure at this time who is responsible for this website –
KYLIE: It’s FLICKR!
LAUREN: – or who posted this photo there.
λ: It’s Jackpot321. It says it. Right there.
BOB: And, Lauren, do you have any idea how they might find out who posted this photo?
λ: Call in a tech expert. Track down the IP address.
LAUREN: Well, Bob, these people are experts. I’m sure they’ll interview people, attempting to find out whether anyone saw anyone posting these photos –
KYLIE: OMGIPADDRESS.
LAUREN: – or whether anyone knows anything about who may have posted these photographs. After all, ::smug tone:: when college students are involved, it’s fairly certain that someone will talk.
If anyone needs me, I’ll be over here. Singing along to Foreigner.
A.
Yeah, it certainly seems to me that the authorities in Boston have made total idiots out of themselves. Even in New York — which has actually been the victim of terrorist attacks in the not too distant past — the government was able to deal with the prank without going into an utter tizzy.
Grow up, Boston. You blew it; you fell for an advertisement and overreacted badly, and it’s not the fault of the advertisers that you wasted the people’s time and money so badly.
Sheesh. And I usually like Boston, but this has definitely lowered my opinion of the city.
I hope mayor Menino can see this
,|,,
because i’m doing it as hard as i can.
at least they didn’t use energizer batteries.
Shorter Boston, using another cartoon:
Marge: What happened here?
Homer: Oh, nothing, Marge. Just a little incident involving the boogeyman!
[He tosses the shotgun aside and it discharges] Of course, none of this would have happened if you had been here to keep me from acting stupid!
—
“I have a serious problem with calling this a hoax. It was a marketing campaing. A little weird unorthodox, sure. But it’s advertising. Like we’ve never seen that before.
I have an even bigger problem with arresting those ‘responsible’ – the artist…I mean, come on. Asshats.
And finally, I have a huge fucking issue with the fact that no one seems to be openly laughing at Boston for overreacting and being such bags o’ douche. Okay, I get it. Post-9/11 world. Bomb threats are scary. But these things were there for weeks without a problem. And not one of the other (I believe nine) cities had a problem – not even New York. Come on. Get a life, and admit that you totally freaked out over a few cleverly-positioned Lite Brites.
THIS is what we ought to concern ourselves with? Come on, you want to talk about the cost of this ‘hoax’? What about the tax payer money that will be wasted spent prosecuting an artist who was paid to do a job that posed absolutely no threat to anyone? Maybe the terrorists have started taking art classes. Maybe they’re using their newly developed creative gifts to design more asthetically pleasing IEDs. Give me a fucking break.”
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Sorry to repost my earlier comment (originally under “CNN teh so funny”) but I’d like to amend it. It’s not that no one is openly laughing – it’s the media and Boston that aren’t laughing. And really, in light of this and the countless other examples I’m sure are out there, the media should be laughed at significantly harder.
p.s. what, no tags allowed on typepad?
I work in IT, and sometimes describe my position as being like the proverbial one-eyed king in the kingdom of the blind (and my one eye could be a little nearsighted/astigmatic at that)…
Your “case in point” is yet more proof…
Although I don’t appreciate the humor style of the hunger force and dive for the remote control when they appear on my TV. I’ve got to ask:
Are you telling me that no one in Boston recognized their image? That no one that covered this intensively on national news recognized them?
Would Al Quada be likely to use them as an icon for their Jihad?