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Moblogging Bush - SMS Text Tracking System for State Visit >>

tektrik | 15.11.2003 17:06 | Bush 2003 | Anti-militarism | Globalisation | Technology | London

OK, folks - here's the nuts and bolts of the Bush-stalking moblog...

Chasing Bush - the very first project of the passive resistance network...

In reaction to protests about censorship via crowd control the UK government has taken the public position that protestors will not be forcibly kept at bay.

However... the itinerary is deliberately vague. Planned movements that we do know about are sure to be changed at the last minute to keep us away from the action. There is talk of shutting down whole streets (no doubt for 'security reasons') to shuttle Bush from place to place without confrontation.

These shadow-play and shut-down techniques are the last publicly-acceptable weapons left in their arsenal. And we're going to stuff that up.

We're going to stalk Bush with a purpose-built moblog.

No matter where he goes and no matter how many decoys they use to keep protestors from him, there will be one central database of information to keep people up to date with his current location at all times. Anybody with a mobile phone will be able to text information, and those with cameras in their mobile phones will be able to provide visual confirmation and images of protestors for the world at large to enjoy.

We'll be running on a Moveable Type platform and publishing on a post-and-update basis. Input will be categorised as follows:

- Bush: Current Location Reports
- Bush: Decoy Watch
- Visions of Protestors
- Images of Chaos (caused by security measures)
- Protests in the News
- Lies in the Media

In short, through one central portal, anyone in the city or across the planet will know where Bush is at any given moment - and be able to see what a misguided venture the entire visit is.

The information about Bush's location will be available for those who are out and about and just need the raw data.

In the next few days, A4 posters will be made available for distribution throughout the city. They will clearly display the email and text addresses on-the-ground volunteers will need to submit their information, links and images (this information will also feature on nifty tearaway sections on the bottom, so folks can carry this information with them if they wish). There will also be a central information page about the campaign on the web and a possibly even an email designed for associate circulation.

Homebodies, wage slaves and others who cannot attend protests can keep an eye on the website and inform their friends of updates by mobile phone so they can be in the right place at the right time. (We were going to have a clever text alert thingie, but we ran out of time, money and hummus. Sorry about that.)

Images on the portal (mostly submitted via mobile phone cams) will be shown not only of Bush, but the protests going on and the traffic chaos caused by his over-the-top censorship-driven security.

In short, he can run and hide all he likes, but there will be no escape for George W. Bush.

That's it in a nutshell.

FROM:  http://www.interwebnet.org


tektrik

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