Turning the table on Big Brother

rhetoricat — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:29:12 -0400

Here's another nifty item from GOOD magazine. They feature a short article on Hasan Elahi, a professor of art at Rutgers who was questioned by the FBI shortly after 9/11. He was continually harassed and repeatedly questioned, in Arabic, a language that he doesn't speak. This is unsurprising considering that he is Bangladeshi and not Arab. Afraid of being abducted during the night and spirited away to Guantanamo, he began tracking his own movements on his website Tracking Transience. It was a brilliant move. He documents all of his travel on this site, which currently includes a video feed of present location, a Google map indicating present location with flashing red arrow, and a series of photos of things like buildings, meals, and even urinals. If you click on any of the pictures, additional verification is provided in the form of a bank statement. When I clicked on the plate of spaghetti, a window listing the charge on his bank (or credit card?) statement appeared.

English 680V: Visual Rhetoric in a Technological Age (Purdue) - Big Brother is watching you

Turning the table on Big Brother