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Not bragging here, but a while ago I used IFTTT to create a system where I created a quasi-alert system for a local legend/mentally ill guy who wanders the subw
by bx_ 13y ago
Not bragging here, but a while ago I used IFTTT to create a system where I created a quasi-alert system for a local legend/mentally ill guy who wanders the subway in my city. Everyone knows him, but sometimes he disappears for a month or two and people online start to talk about where he went.
I began wheatpasting a photo of him with a QR over his mouth (he often says the government/big corporations are trying to kill him) and the phrase "have you seen me?" around the subway stations he's usually on. The QR code went to an SMS #, which caught an IFTTT trigger to turn that SMS into an email (to an anonymous Gmail account) which, upon receipt, caught another IFTTT trigger and posted the text of their message to a Tumblr account -- one seamless workflow. This way, people could in more-or-less real time keep tabs on him and how he's doing.
It went well until the police took down the posters, of course. Haven't thought of a way around that, yet.
- kaybe 13y agoWhile that sounds cool it's also scary. I mean, everyone is stalking him.. it's not 'trying to kill him', but it's a reason to become paranoid. Without his agreement, I don't believe this is ok. (For non-humans however.. )
- donohoe 13y agoWhat!? People used QR codes? I'm very surprised (seriously)
- bx_ 13y agoExtremely frequently in China (where I am), yes.
- jkldotio 13y agoYou put up posters encouraging random people to track a paranoid mentally ill person? Did you not think that might have harmed his mental health to see those posters of himself and have people pointing him out to their friends without understanding it? It'd be creepy enough for a normal person to see such posters about themselves.
- Plutor 13y agoNote to self: Do this to my brother for April Fool's Day next year
- bx_ 13y agoNah, most people are just genuinely concerned about him, especially when he disappears. I'm in China -- if I did this in NYC, I wouldn't have done it. But that type of malicious intent is far, far less here. When he's gone, there's lots of talk online about where he went and people start looking out for him. I just made a way to scale and centralize it.