Your Skull, In Stereo

This is the audio story which helped to inspire this blog. Most Monday mornings on the bus from Minneapolis to Saint Paul I listen to a podcast of WNYC’s On The Media.

This weeks episode had a story about a new technology which is being tested with a billboard in New York. When someone on the street walks by sensors (or points which the billboard is sensing?) it sends a very directed broadcast (I don’t really understand the technology) which is able to use the person’s skull to resonate an audio message. The billboard is about a new TV show about paranormal activity, so the audio it sends you makes it seem like you are hearing voices advertising the show. There is no way to plug your ears to block out the audio because the voices are…in your head.

They interviewed someone who is researching this technology who talked about possible uses in the future and uses that are already being used. They include directed advertising in malls or cops using the technology for crowd control. Very loud noises could be directed to individuals in a crowd/protest/etc, incapacitating one of the organizers. The researcher made some comment about him not being comfortable with the idea, but that who knows, in twenty years it could be the norm. Ahh.

You can listen to the story here, http://www.onthemedia.org/episodes/2007/12/14/segments/90482

Trying blogging again.

I have tried to keep blogs before about myself, and I never end up keeping up with them, or never knowing what to say. So, here is an attempt to have a blog on a theme. Inspired by my co-worker Mary (who has been starting/working on some blogs this year: technolution.wordpress.com and amerimom.wordpress.com) and a creepy story that I heard on WNYC’s On The Media, I decided to keep track of creepy media and advertising, cool hunting (you should watch Frontline: The Merchants of Cool, if you haven’t), and media literacy resources and curriculum I find along the way. I think that I will be able to go strong in the beginning, I might have a backlog of these ideas in my head, so…stay tuned (or rss feeded).