The UK has had it's fair share of official muck ups, in fact we almost seem to be famous for it. A while ago a poster was made about our modern day terrorist. This has been passed around a lot of users' email accounts, the poster in question is shown below:
Now myself, along with most of the people that read this had a good laugh, but it did get me thinking: how are the not so "tech savy" people around us reading this?
Well I started looking at what I had in my van, yes that is the start: I drive a van. Terrorist no, I am just a practical minded guy who was sick of ripping up the back seats when I was transporting wood around in my car. I carry a ruck sack all the time with my gym gear in it, it is certainly well packed and bulky. I have two digital cameras, I like to take pictures, but I do not even class myself as an amateur photographer. Anybody that knows me is aware that I have my mobile phone in my hand almost twenty four hours a day, I'm constantly using it to post messages on
identi.ca. The final piece of information is a computer, that is the key to tell if somebody is performing illegal activities. Well I do not only have a computer I am well down the geek line, I do not simply use it to play solitaire and write the occasional letter. I am most definitely a power user, and as a result spend a considerable amount of time at my PC.
Do I hit every target that is on the poster telling people to watch out? Yes. Does this mean that I should be treated with suspicion by those around me? I think that a severe lack of common sense was despatched in the design and distribution of the poster. They have chosen everyday objects that many of us own and use without a second thought. A much more realistic alternative was created to put our minds at ease:
I'm sorry that I have to take a serious issue like this in jest, however I think a severe lack of thought went into this part of the campaign. My concern is that geeks in general may be looked at with a lot more suspicion. Will the geek carrying the netbook become the new target for automatic searches at airports? Will the techno-fobs among us actually believe the poster and call the number, legitimately believing that they're doing the right thing? I already feel like we are interrogated enough whenever we travel without adding to it.
I seriously hope that this poster campaign is taken down permanently, if it has not been already.
The UK has had it's fair share of official muck ups, in fact we almost seem to be famous for it. A while ago a poster was made about our modern day terrorist. This has been passed around a lot of users' email accounts, the poster in question is shown below:
Now myself, along with most of the people that read this had a good laugh, but it did get me thinking: how are the not so "tech savy" people around us reading this?
Well I started looking at what I had in my van, yes that is the start: I drive a van. Terrorist no, I am just a practical minded guy who was sick of ripping up the back seats when I was transporting wood around in my car. I carry a ruck sack all the time with my gym gear in it, it is certainly well packed and bulky. I have two digital cameras, I like to take pictures, but I do not even class myself as an amateur photographer. Anybody that knows me is aware that I have my mobile phone in my hand almost twenty four hours a day, I'm constantly using it to post messages on
identi.ca. The final piece of information is a computer, that is the key to tell if somebody is performing illegal activities. Well I do not only have a computer I am well down the geek line, I do not simply use it to play solitaire and write the occasional letter. I am most definitely a power user, and as a result spend a considerable amount of time at my PC.
Do I hit every target that is on the poster telling people to watch out? Yes. Does this mean that I should be treated with suspicion by those around me? I think that a severe lack of common sense was despatched in the design and distribution of the poster. They have chosen everyday objects that many of us own and use without a second thought. A much more realistic alternative was created to put our minds at ease:
I'm sorry that I have to take a serious issue like this in jest, however I think a severe lack of thought went into this part of the campaign. My concern is that geeks in general may be looked at with a lot more suspicion. Will the geek carrying the netbook become the new target for automatic searches at airports? Will the techno-fobs among us actually believe the poster and call the number, legitimately believing that they're doing the right thing? I already feel like we are interrogated enough whenever we travel without adding to it.
I seriously hope that this poster campaign is taken down permanently, if it has not been already.
UK Anti-Terrorism poster
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