Space Imposter?

    Part of the international phenom? Or a finger-giving renegade? Gotta go back at night - there's a battery connected.

    Comments and faves

    1. centralsq (77 months ago | reply)

      This is actually a mooninite from aqua teen hungerforce. There are big billboards of him around town too but they [censor] his finger. Still really cool and the first led throwie i've seen in our area.

    2. rekha6 (77 months ago | reply)

      Ah - from the Graffiti Research Lab at Eyebeam. I just got an email about this today.
      graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=6. Thanks for the explanation, centralsq

    3. rekha6 (77 months ago | reply)

      Oh my goodness - I just saw a news report that some throwies found around Boston -- including on the Longfellow Bridge -- shut down the Red Line!! Earlier, I had heard that some circuitboard device had raised suspicion, and I joked to a friend that it was probably an LED throwie. Jeez. I guess street media is going to have to remain low-tech or it will scare the crap out of everyone.

      The news report said they're part of a national advertising campaign. So they are NOT put out by GRL. I didn't realize what you meant by Aqua Teen Hunger Force, centralsq. Now I certainly do.

      www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breakin g_news/2007/...

    4. rekha6 (77 months ago | reply)

      My friend Gregor Rothfuss just told me about this: www.enocean.com/indexenc6.html I wonder what they think of this.

    5. ★

      elhalo and Michael Berch added this photo to their favorites.

    6. centralsq (77 months ago | reply)

      It is pretty sad that it only takes some wire and battery to scare city officials into responding with a bomb squad. The report I read said the guys arrested for this are facing felony charges. Civil death over guerilla marketing...

    7. ★

      robotkasten added this photo to their favorites. (77 months ago)

    8. paul_irish (77 months ago | reply)

      what a mess that whole thing was! and your photo proves these things have been around for weeks before this whole thing exploded.

    9. ★

      paul_irish and Dan_H added this photo to their favorites.

    10. Dan_H (77 months ago | reply)

      so friggin awesome. I love ATHF and this is an amazing marketing campaign. Your photo gives great perspective on how dumb they'd have to be to think this was a bomb.

    11. studio323 (77 months ago | reply)

      Sad I left Boston in 2000 and missed all of the fuss and photo-ops

    12. rekha6 (77 months ago | reply)

      I don't think my photo proves that people were dumb to mistake this for a bomb. It's all about placement - I made sure to include contextual details, and these show that this was out in the open. In fact it was on Mass. Ave in Central Square, where street art is commonly placed. Nothing sinister crossed my mind. But if I were an MBTA employee and saw this in a subway station or on a bridge, I'd have been trained to take it differently. (Remember the Sept 11 planes left from Boston, so people might be a little more sensitive here.)

      I'm torn - it does seem ridiculous that Lite-Brite-style throwies could be mistaken for anything else, and there's no question that the local news media and vans with "Bomb Squad" labels driving around town contributed to an overreaction. But on the other hand I understand that city govt had to respond quickly because they didn't know what they were dealing with. If 10 of these were just battery-operated decoys, maybe the 11th was something worse. And once they knew the whole story, well, the media and the vans were already out sowing panic...

      I'm curious to see if anyone stands behind the local artist who was arrested. Maybe he'd have more support if he weren't working for a big corporation masquerading as grassroots? Or maybe it doesn't matter?

    13. NowPublic (77 months ago | reply)

      This photograph appears in a NowPublic news story: Boston Hoax - good publicity?.

    14. Em and Leigh (77 months ago | reply)

      wait, hold on a second...that looks like a bomb! rekha! rekha! get out of there quick!!

    15. rekha6 (77 months ago | reply)

      This photo might be on CNN's The Situation Room tonight at 5p ET - they want to show that some people had seen these weeks ago. I'm a real citizen journalist now. (Note that CNN is part of Turner Broadcasting Co, as is ATHF.)

    16. ★

      j____ added this photo to his favorites. (77 months ago)

    17. centralsq (77 months ago | reply)

      There is a growing number of free speech activists mobilizing to support Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens. A friend of mine also has one of the mooninites and ebay has shut down his auction several times. The proceeds are to help with legal defense funds. Last I heard the DA is pushing for two years PER incident. 40 devices X 2 years = 80 years in prison!

    18. ★

      evilcabeza, bandita, Lindsay Beyerstein, kellan, and 2 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    19. martinipa24 (76 months ago | reply)

      Dear Rekha,

      I am writing to you on behalf of Hamish Pringle, Director General of the IPA (www.ipa.co.uk), the trade body for the advertising industry in the UK.

      Mr Pringle is currently completing a series of books on how advertising works, and would very much like to feature the above photo. Naturally, should you grant permission you will be acknowledged in the book next to the image.

      The IPA is a non profit organisation and all profits made by the books will be streamed into career development for those seeking to enter this competitive industry. Unfortunately, this does mean that we will be unable to offer payment in this instance, however this would obviously be a great opportunity to get your work into print.

      Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch. If you could though let us know your response as soon as possible (martin@ipa.co.uk) as we are subject to deadlines.

      I look forward to hearing from you.

      Kind regards,
      Martin

      martin@ipa.co.uk

    20. yoyolabellut (un oeil qui traîne) (74 months ago | reply)

      U.S.A is really a great country... !
      This story is incredible.
      Perhaps, you should be prohibit weapons before seeing bombs everywhere !...
      Fear is a great political weapon... Bravo Mr Bush !

    21. rekha6 (73 months ago | reply)

      Here's an update: Today the two guys arrested for posting the items were let off the hook. Apparently because they took this more seriously than they appeared to at first. Smugness can get you five years in jail.

      www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breakin g_news/2007/...

      My favorite quote in the article is Mayor Menino saying, "I hope the message goes out to all guerrilla marketers who plan on doing business in Boston that we take the public safety of those who live and work here very seriously."

      To that, I ask: was the message for marketers, or for terrorists?

    22. _sgt_riot_ (71 months ago | reply)

      did ou know the movement called spaceinvaders.doc com ? :)

      the invassion is inminent!

    23. ★

      Tom Lepo, ( kurtz ), and Kaeru added this photo to their favorites.

    24. Jihanemo [deleted] (52 months ago | reply)

      It's not the Space Invaders! It's Ignignokt of the Mooninites from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. My favorite villainous duo from ATHF.

    25. ★

      DEV!SU added this photo to his favorites. (51 months ago)

    keyboard shortcuts: ← previous photo → next photo L view in light box F favorite < scroll film strip left > scroll film strip right ? show all shortcuts