unforum

[jamesi]

ARG Brings Out Bomb Squad in Des Moines?

[catherwood]

Further details in other coverage, it was a red envelope...
http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/05/18/news/breaking_news/doc464e0fa413aa4427771489.txt

(edit to add)

[Rekidk]

Is this it?

*sigh*

[catherwood]

[Adrian]

Without getting into details*, this is something we very recently had to give some thought to do. What did we do? We consulted the relevant security authorities and the police, and made sure that there was zero possibility of any scare or misunderstandings. It's irresponsible to do otherwise in the current climate.

*PXC/FIA players might have an inkling of the issue

[vpisteve]

Ya know, yeah, nobody seems to ever mention this. When a live event of *any* kind (ARG or not) is scheduled, those behind it typically issue an alert to the pertinent authorities/media. This is really standard operating procedure with any media/entertainment company, and has been since even before 9/11.

First thing authorities usually do when something is reported is check it against that day's report. It's not anything new, nor does it really take a rocket scientist to figure out why this is just common sense. Interesting that the existence/lack of such a notification was never mentioned in any story about the Boston fiasco. I'd be really interested to see if anything was submitted.....

[Francus]

According to an MSNBC vote, 77% of the people say Boston officials should not prosecute the men responsible for putting up the signs.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16923848/

[vpisteve]

Charges have actually been dropped against them. Don't get me wrong. Boston totally overreacted and is totally to blame for this, imo. It's become bizarro-world....

[Rekidk]

You also have to consider it from the other side, though. Imagine if the police ignored things that "probably aren't really a threat." Surely, more lives would have been lost. As embarassing as it is, it is best to err on the side of caution

Or, better yet, do what the good folks at PXC have done--call ahead.

[vpisteve]

Oh sure, but c'mon. Ammunition (even if it's spent) is a little different than LED cartoon characters. Or golden boxes with question marks, for that matter. It's just too bad we now live in a day and age where covering-your-ass takes precedence over common sense.

Sad.

[Phaedra]

Okay, the article about the Mario boxes just started off my day depressing.

Thanks a lot, Steve.

WTF!? I mean, I think the LED thing was stupid, but at least those had, y'know, wires and lights and stuff that maybe could be bomb-like. But GOLD BOXES!?!?

[thebruce]

[Francus]

Both the question-mark boxes and the LED-boards look quite innocent:







The overreaction in those cases is just a classic example of being afraid of the unknown... Familiar things like cars or people with backpacks don't cause such big scares, even though there have been lots of (real and deadly) cases of car-bombs and suicide bombers with explosives carried in bags or suitcases. ANYTHING that's big enough could contain a bomb, and you don't see people freaking out over common, every-day objects.

[thebruce]

well the key you're missing is the suspicion. They won't just respond to anything, but if there's a sufficient level of suspicion reported or expressed, then they can't simply ignore it, or shrug it off. At some point it's a matter of trusting an authority on the matter - whether it's definitely safe, or potentially harmful. You can't obviously go around responding to any minimal level of suspicion for anything out there. The situation needs to be assessed, and never simply shrugged off. In the case of the LEDs, the attitude of the character on the front mixed with suspicion of those not in the know raises a big red flag, and they didn't have anyone suffiently in the know to state that the thing was indeed not harmless, because (as far as can be certain) no one was informed.
And like I said, I don't condone all that happened after the fact, but their process for approaching and 'defusing' the immediate situation itself I think was warranted. Some may laugh at them for being fooled, but that's a perk of their job.

Think about the bomb squad that got all suited up for a few empty shotgun shells and a piece of paper. Due precaution, because no one had sufficient info to say that it was entirely harmless, and the fear of unknowing people seeing bullets and a note was sufficient to raise a red flag.

- Bullets+note with a protruding wire left conspicuously in the open.
- Offensive (YMMV) character depicted on a box of electronics in a fairly hidden but populated area.

Immediate situation: handle with due precaution.

PS: Francus, I think you just wanted a reason to post the innocent hot chick pic hehe

[Pixiestix]

I fully agree that things should be investigated, in that people should go and physically look at them. But the over reaction is what happens inthe aftermath of such events.

I have been having these discussions with friends in RL for a while now - but more related to Geocaching. Granted, around my area {south NJ, pine barrens} police, officials, rangers, etc are all consious of geocaching, and most support us because of our policy of "cache in, trash out" HOWEVER, in other locations there are politicians trying to put a stop to it because of security issues. The discussions mostly consist of what can we do to make this an acceptable activity? It is fully legal, however you find people being accused constantly of security issues. I just LOVE hearing stories of the bombsquads blowing up a cache only to find little plastic toys or geobugs...