July 18, 2004

Ordering pizza in a surveillance society. [Flash, via Crooked Timber.]
  • But you see, you're missing the point here homunculus. All of this is a good thing. They know where you live so they can take your order more efficiently and save your precious time. They know you have a heart condition they prepare a special meal just for you, that's because they care for you. All they want is for you to have a better life.
  • I feel a little woozy now....
  • That's basically what it's coming to if we don't reinstitute some democracy in this country.
  • That's basically what it's coming to if we don't reinstitute some democracy in this country. That's why we have John Ashcroft.
  • Hey, if you haven't done anything wrong, don't have any special dietary needs, and enjoy being plugged into the Matrix, what do you have to hide?
  • This is a great demonstration for the "average person" of the potential results of bad laws and commercial privacy invasion. Despite the "government surveillance" angle, I found it more of a comment on commercial data mining and trading. Ironically, one must look to the government to regulate privacy in commerce; the same government that's being criticized here for invasion. Thanks homunculus.
  • Thanks, homunculus, for posting this here as well as "the other -Filter." While I am an ACLU member, I do think this scenario is over the top. However, I found that paying cash as a walk-in was no escape from the "feed our database" drill at a Papa John's near my house. The last time I went in there ("last" as in "final" not "most recent"), the counter guy asked for my phone number. Thinking he doesn't need that for a walk-in order, I give him the 555-1212 time/weather number. He punches a few keys, and then smirks and says, "Welcome back, Mr. Pizza Lover" The entry had an address and everything. I was laughing so hard trying to figure out whether it was test data put there by the programmers, or if someone had beat me to using that phone number, I almost forgot being annoyed at the question in the first place. But I've never been back. It's a pizza, for God's sake! What do they need to keep track of?
  • *Tip of the banana to outrigger
  • i sometimes use the work number and am often pleased to find many others have too. We should come up with a universal number everyone uses. Heck the address and everything while we're at it. Where do we live? What's our phone #? What's our email?