tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56597082011-04-21T14:07:13.598-04:00FLASHHACKHacking the Flash Mob -
Social Engineering the Sheep since August 2003Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1065203009724017332003-10-03T13:25:00.000-04:002003-10-06T03:15:56.533-04:00Disperse Now.The Flash is gone.
The Mob trails off in different directions, leaving nothing of substance or significance in the street.
Whimsy is no match for autumn, with its cold winds. Trucker hats are traded for touques.
Were they silly? Occasionally.
Stupid? Most of the time.
Smart? No.
Mobs are about the power of many, in the pursuit of nothing.
But over the past months, some have stepped Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1063306843359845522003-09-11T14:57:00.000-04:002003-09-11T15:00:43.246-04:00The end is nigh! and HACKED!OM Bill's last stand, NY flashmob #8, went down, but not the way intended:
satanslaundromat explains:
"The intended performer was a recorded message on a boom box. Instead, a man with a bright neon sign reading "Cafe Thou Art" in a suitcase hijacked the mob by displaying his sign and making a peace sign with his right hand. (Who carries a neon sign in a suitcase?) The crowd, playing along Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1062615213279273212003-09-03T14:53:00.000-04:002003-09-03T14:53:33.243-04:00Your Worst Nightmare.Remember that little worry and warning about a Corporate HACK of the Mob, through Guerilla Marketing?
Well the Suits are thinking hard about exploiting the innocence.
At Turn Flash Mobs into Flash Customers, James Hering contends:
Most make you do something inane, like sing a song at a specific time, or hop like a bunny for five minutes, then disperse. But most retail-driven marketing Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1062606595548982482003-09-03T12:29:00.000-04:002003-09-03T13:16:09.786-04:00Mommas, don't let your cowboys grow up to be babies.It was a long time gone, but peruse this here Austin, Texas HACK.
Courtesy of Schamea The Third comes a report of anti-social engineering at Austin Flash Mob #2:
All was going to plan. That is, until the Ninja guys showed up. They hurled buckets of water (along with dry blue bath towels and flyers of their own) at the mob and skulked off into the early Austin evening. Henceforth, they shallTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1062010044428303072003-08-27T14:47:00.001-04:002003-09-03T14:55:03.320-04:00FLASH! The end of Mob!?Has O.M. Bill from New York called an end to the madness? Flashmob.uk reports on the 7th NY mob, and adds:
"Bill announced Mob #8 to be held on 10th September will be the last.
UPDATE: The New York Times gets down (and name drops this little Blog) @ Guess Some People Don't Have Anything Better to Do:
As they say in the City:
Dead cat bounce.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1062009551188422452003-08-27T14:39:00.000-04:002003-08-27T15:00:08.743-04:00Cardiff, Glasgow, you've been HACKED ... (?)Submitted for your approval....
From the deepest recesses of the information superhighway, your blogger gets mysterious mail.
The sender, one "phantom_spammer", who claims a bit of social engineering in the Cardiff Flashmob board.
The message:
I would like to think that the Cardiff Flash mobs first event getting a turnout of 10, was in part due to my small efforts. They were expecting Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1061580663354649262003-08-22T15:31:00.000-04:002003-08-22T15:31:14.133-04:00If things go a bit dodgy, ah jist cannae be bothered, ken?Raise a dram of single malt or Irn Bru to Stewart Kirkpatrick at The New Scotsman for a bit 'o mob-bashing and revealing the real reason media likes a flash:
Summer. A time of warm(er) weather, holidays, cricket on the green and tripe in the newspapers.
Its silly season.
Pure boredom.
Maybe that's why mobs are flopping.
Defective Yeti's Blog says it time to clean up the mess.
You guessed itTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1061579680026289322003-08-22T15:14:00.000-04:002003-08-22T15:14:40.040-04:00Didn't you kill my Flash Mob?Why Mob, when you can Mug?
My droogs across the pond at Flashmugging propose a bit 'o the old horrorshow, to liven up the whimsy.
Separating hipsters from their ipods seem to be the main purpose of the graphic-rich blog.
They steal some flashhack ideas in the process. Gimme a pod and we'll call it even.
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060982487563574832003-08-15T17:21:00.000-04:002003-08-16T13:14:01.656-04:00Flash out.courtesy: reuters
Witness the City fall into darkness.
Fifty million people, unplugged.
So they wander, and talk, and meet neighbours they never knew they had.
And sleep on roofs. And stare at stars now unmasked.
Look up.
Who says the world lacks silliness? And joy?
And wonder?
Unplug.
Flash out.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060819773809110072003-08-13T20:09:00.000-04:002003-08-13T20:15:58.660-04:00My Definition is this.Via SmartMobs:
Anil Dash, Biz Development VP at Six Apart (the co. behind Blog goodness typepad and movabletype) notes:
Mobs are truly the flagpole-sitting of the new millennium. ....Flash Mobs are striking in that they are an affinity event for people who have no affinity group. A Meetup for people who like Meetups. How much more meta can it get? None. None more meta.
And he adds a new Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060814845338492582003-08-13T18:47:00.000-04:002003-08-13T21:57:57.316-04:00Sheep Going South.So what's the deal with DUCKS?
Flocking in the face of any surprise and originality, flashmobs from San Fran to Montreal are waddling in flurry of feather fetishism.
snowchyld proposes a hack for an upcoming SA Flash, in the Forum:
Pretend everyone coming out of the Cape Town convention center is a duck,
and its duck season, use your imaginary gun to mow them down ... will see if this works.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060678330520061812003-08-12T04:52:00.000-04:002003-08-12T04:52:10.360-04:00The Cable snaps.Angry funnyman Bill Maher (the other Bill?) rants:
EXTRA: People Still Sheep: ...In that sense it’s a bit like the custom of mass church attendance on Sundays. Flash mobs combine the pointlessness of chain letters with the adolescent inanity of "Everybody cough at exactly 2:08!" rituals in high school. They also prove several points I’ve been arguing for years: the Internet is evil.
Speaking Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060645387150302892003-08-11T19:43:00.000-04:002003-08-11T19:43:23.810-04:00Deathmatch: The Evil TwinsIt all started when a young man had a simple idea: call your friends, get a crowd, ask people to do something silly, and document it for the record.
He wasn't sure if they'd follow. But he asked. And they did!
His name was Joe.
And it was the MOB FLASH
Then he realized the internet could only make it better. In fact, technology made it what it is today,
Now, some were embarrassed. Some Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060616141819507342003-08-11T11:35:00.000-04:002003-08-11T11:35:41.870-04:00Tastes Great. Less Filling.Mobs are hard work.
So Steve in Boston calls for the King of Mobs, a Beer Mob
Naturally, this leads to the earlier mentioned BarfMob
Which reminds me of, well this Kid, our age, but he's fat, real fat ... Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060544675492612122003-08-10T15:44:00.000-04:002003-08-10T17:36:57.430-04:00Social Engineering A Flash Mob: a primer.
So here you are: one of civilization's most powerful forms of communication at your fingertips. You get the message, you're in the exclusive secret agent club of mobsters. Now you're surrounded by 500 strangers about to suddenly, and quietly, make the world a better place.
Once upon a time it may have been thus.
But now it hits you: I'm an idiot.
Suckered into this summer's equivalent of Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060495563779110142003-08-10T02:06:00.000-04:002003-08-10T02:06:03.800-04:00Flash Anger.Mobs are anonymous. The participants don't take responsibility for their actions or words.
Kevin, on the other hand, at incestuousamplification lays it out, takes the heat.
"Let's hope that the cops start responding to flash-mobs with tazers and rubber bullets. I'm serious about this. If tax dollars are going to be spent on policemen standing around watching a group of assholes, we may as Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060473939793648442003-08-09T20:05:00.000-04:002003-08-09T20:12:38.090-04:00Your Father's Flash Mob
Who needs technology?Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060463929831051052003-08-09T17:18:00.000-04:002003-08-09T17:19:49.886-04:00The Media hates you.The NY Times and Science Monitor rain on the parade.
Such fickle friends.
But its not about the media, really, is it?Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060462977490485792003-08-09T17:02:00.000-04:002003-08-09T18:48:36.736-04:00The Media loves you.O.M. (Original Mobster) Alex at Mob(b)log sighs from the underground:
"I think it's time for me to give up this blog, now that the phenomenon has reached the New York Times."
Track the media hype, (2).
Track the blog hype, (2).Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060451766338935122003-08-09T13:56:00.000-04:002003-08-09T13:56:06.370-04:00The Clown Conspiracy: laughing at you, not with you.Everyone, of course, likes a clown.
They're fun, and whimsical, and and silly, and everything that can and should bring joy to Mobs.
Unless, as FlashmobUK reports, they're hacking your scene:
"Although Mobs are organized for fun purposes only, one only has to wait for something unexpected and unwanted to happen. The mob-crowd easily distracts attention from pickpockets and shoplifters for Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060446723893179082003-08-09T12:32:00.000-04:002003-08-09T12:37:26.286-04:00Table for One.Did you ever call a Flashmob and no one showed up?
I bet folks in Nashua, NH, are flocking to the food court for the quirky, whimsical, joyous experience that is the mob.
So why don't we ever hear about these failures?
Share your sadness in the Forum.
The mob won't be there, but I will.
I'm listening.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060383599424654902003-08-08T18:59:00.000-04:002003-08-09T17:38:31.810-04:00The European Front: I was just following orders.Those Germans know a thing about mobs. Actually, last century it was two things.
So it comes as no surprise that my Deutsche Freunde (translation here) should so enthusiastically embrace the idea of Flashmobs (translation).
OK: The Baghdad Flashmob is great laugh. (translation)
Thankfully there is "Flash Mobs Suck!" to set die Schafe straight. Granted, it loses something in the translation)Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060368151361502842003-08-08T14:42:00.000-04:002003-08-09T13:20:55.263-04:00Rise of the AntiMobProps to Sean at CheeseBikini? for the link and the (just hours old!) AntiMob movement.
Yes. That's right. Hours old. The power of the internet to free the mind and set bodies loose from the control of the Flashmob.
The AntiMob Project knows what I'm talking about.
fight the power. zig when they zag. be your own freak.
You can set the rules.
But will the sheepster hip follow?Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060363766384487422003-08-08T13:29:00.001-04:002003-08-09T12:39:28.680-04:00Are Corporations controlling the Flashmob?TVGUY at Flashmob.info: Sheep Central notes that in the past two days, two mobs have hit the Toys-R-Us: one in New York, one in Toronto.
Is the smell of guerilla marketing, overpowering the love, kids?
UPDATE: Peep the Flashmob.info threadTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5659708.post-1060359553934911572003-08-08T12:19:00.000-04:002003-08-09T12:40:04.200-04:00Hacking the Flash Mob: ManifestoHow is it possible that a technology with such potential to empower the individual -- has turned into an irritating clique-machine for the hipster sheep?
You know what I'm talking about.
The FLASH MOB.
This self-proclaimed movement of self-empowering "spontaneous" public performance has reached internet critical mass in just three months.
Hundreds have gathered to embarrass themselves in Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10765629882594703311noreply@blogger.com0