Today, I got a glimpse of what the webopticon is really about, besides being my blog. So today, I got an E-mail from my old supervisor at SSI Services. As you may or may not know, I worked on the Knowledge Center project, a system to coordinate emergency responders, when I was there.

Anyway, so today I get an E-mail telling me that the “City of Pittsburgh” (nothing more specific) “noticed” me when I was taking pictures of the water main break last week. They then contacted SSI to “ask what our relationship was”.

The reason that this is so interesting to me is that I never gave my name out–nor did I really talk to anybody at the scene. They either recognized me from my time at SSI when I went to client meetings (the “client” including some of the same emergency responders who were at the water main break), or, more likely, they used Google to look for information on the water main break.

They then likely found my photos on Flickr and noticed themselves, or remembered me being there. Finding my Flickr photos, they got my name, Googled that, found my resume, and then saw that I worked at SSI (phew!). They then must have called SSI to ask what was going on.

What’s also interesting is that my photo of the PEMA/DHS guy at the scene has 10 more views than any other photo of the incident. Was it him who found the photos on Flickr? I’ll never know, but it’s interesting how Google has turned the Internet into a true panopticon (”webopticon”). Viewers can remain anonymous and get a glimpse into my life, to such a level that they can piece together my movements on a given day, and even my past work/jobs. I guess divulging that information is *my* choice, and I’m not trying to explicitly hide, either. There have also been other examples of Google panopticon-ness.

Alex sent me a link to a discussion on LinkedIn about an “infrastructure agenda” (discussion on LinkedIn) The poster asks, in summary, “what should the government do about aging infrastructure?” I’ve noticed so much discussion in the media about this issue lately, and for obvious reasons, it strikes me as interesting.

I believe this rally of sorts for the government to do something about aging infrastructure answers my question, “why should people care about infrastructure?” It really makes the purpose of my project “Critical Infrastructure” more clear in that the public policy issues surrounding these systems are really becoming apparent to everyday people.

Billions will be spent on improving these built systems–may as well chime in if you have something to say!

Yesterday, Alex and I went to go see B.I.K.E. at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. The night started out strangely–outside of Filmmakers, there was a hoarde of bikers. At least 30 to 40. We thought they would come into the show, and as it got closer and closer to show time, we were both sure the bikers would come in “fashionably late”. But they never came.

And the movie itself? It was pretty bad. I think my “favorite” part was when Conrad Carlson, who is the “vice president”(?) of the Black Label NYC group, got into his Range Rover to drive to Minneapolis in order to meet with the other members of Black Label at their national event. Honestly, I was waiting for them to explain that they rented a Range Rover to make a statement about waste and oil consumption (two of their “issues”). But it never came–Conrad actually owns a Range Rover. And his friend drove a Mercedes there.

Not only did the movie leave a lot to be technically desired (the cinematography was awful), but the plot was similarly poor. The movie follows the co-director as he strives to gain acceptance into Black Label after his junkie girlfriend breaks up with him for somebody she met at rehab. Now, I feel sorry for the guy in regards to his emotional pain, but I’m not worried about their well being. They all seem pretty well off: driving expensive cars, playing in a warehouse in New York City, flying to Amsterdam for jousting events, and using conventional emergency services when they get hurt doing stupid things.

I’m not sure who’s wasting more: “conventional” people who “drive and consume”, or those with financial support that allows them to “waste” their younger years falling off bikes, getting high and performing other stupid stunts that keep them in the emergency room (and from growing up).

Doyle asks in New York Times article, “Who else is going to go work out in the desert for cheap for six weeks?” Well, not me. I have one of those pesky middle-class things called a “job”.

Today, I got to see two art projects at the Banff Centre. One was called “tracklines”, a project of the mobile media lab here at Banff. The other was called, “Dead In Iraq” by Joe DeLappe (who is also my roommate)

Tracklines is a “walkumentary” (their words) of the geology of the Hoodoo trail, delivered through a cellular phone and GPS receiver pair. I thought this was clearly technology for technology’s sake–what additional value did the cellular phone bring to the equation? Why not just use a map, paper cards or a cassette tape? The added value of the GPS (not being restricted to discrete, detectable waypoints on the trail) was totally unused–the map on the phone, for instance, didn’t show you where you were on the trail. Or how to get back on the trail if you got off. Honestly, I thought the project could have made better use of the technology, and delivered a better experience to the user if they would have user-tested this. It seems there are some glaring omissions.

Joe’s work is a critique of America’s Army, the US Army produced (and taxpayer funded!) videogame, distributed free on the Intermedianetweb. Joe systematically types in the names of the soldiers killed in Iraq into the game–much to the other player’s dismay. They often insult him or ask him to stop, providing interesting insight into the psychology of the typical AA player. Some tell him to keep going or thank him; there are people who recognize the real world isn’t a game. Anyway, check out his website for more.

Yesterday, we saw the movie “Brazil”. What a great movie! Honestly. It’s like a mix of Charles Dickens, Pink Floyd, 1984, The Matrix and probably others. Perhaps those works either influenced or were influenced by this movie? Totally great–I’ll have to see more of the director’s work…