Tuesday, April 12, 2011

IN SEARCH OF JAPAN INC


IN SEARCH OF JAPAN INC
Originally uploaded by Colonel Flick

3 comments:

  1. Dear Banzai San,

    I hope this note finds you well.

    In travelling this past week, I was hit squarely between the eyes by an otherwise innocuous (and at this point ubiquitous) graphic -- the 4square barcode in a restaurant window. Then in a hotel lobby. Then at a shopping mall. Perhaps I am being a silly Luddite, but the image of continuous retinal scanning a-la 'Minority Report' is but a step away. The people are being conditioned to accept as normal actively 'checking in' -- as if the positioning data provided by our cellphones wasn't enough...

    Anyway, this led to an idea about a scavenger hunt/global ZH positioning system. It is mostly in jest, though I thought it is also a potential way to (relatively effortlessly) spread the word and also to engage in 'team building'.

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  2. (pt 2) A few months back you were kind enough, at my request, to create a few small ZH logos with the URL -- images small but detailed enough that they print reasonably well onto self-adhesive mailing label templates for laser printers. Unfortunately I lost my hard drive in the meantime, and now cannot find where you posted the images -- just small ZH logos with the text ("Read between the lines" on one, and "Money Matters - Intelligence Matters" on the other). One of them is here:
    http://www.zerohedge.com/article/cheney-or-assange-who-first#comment-775347
    I used Staples size 5163/8163, but you can play around with the specific size. This is just another version of writing/stamping zerohedge.com onto dollar bills (as some other ZH members have started to do), but has the advantage of being more globally available, and relatively tied to a particular place. I scattered a few dozen stickers in hotels, bars, cafes, restaurants, phone booths (UBS building in Nuremberg, Cafe Kadinsky Amsterdam, BMW central showroom parking garage level 2 in Munich, etc.). They can be stuck on surfaces, or just slipped into lucite table menu stands, mailslots/boxes. The Emergency Landing Procedures booklet on the plane was the first place I stuck one...

    The idea is for more of us to start doing the same, and to see how far/how fast such a label campaign can spread. While I do not have any specific aim beyond spreading awareness of the website and bringing a smile to the face of any fellow readers -- perhaps you or others could come up with additional applications. If so moved, anyone who finds such a tag can Tweet @zerohedge, or post a note on the current top thread (there is usually one in 'sticky' first position on the site).

    I suppose I wanted to explore the idea of riding your coattails in winning an endorsement for such a project -- either/both of you would be much more visible to the wider ZH community than my own humble self. I suppose I can submit to Tyler(s) directly as well.

    The other reason for my asking was to see whether YOU thought it a worthwhile exercise with actual merit, or merely a pointless 'secret handshake' that allows us to pretend we have done something, when in reality we remain passive.

    Curious to hear your thoughts. My email should be visible on my Blogger profile page.

    All the best,
    CD

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  3. Hi CD,

    I have my hands full at the moment. Let me think about this and revert to you in the next 12 hours.

    Best,

    Bill

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