Aqua Teen Hunger Force Brings Boston to a Halt 804
An anonymous reader writes "An ad campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force featuring the Mooninites Ignignot and Err caused major security concerns in Boston, MA when magnetic light displays were mistaken for possible bombs. The displays included one of Ignignot flipping the bird (as hard as he could), but Gov. Deval Patrick was not amused."
On the moon... (Score:5, Informative)
Photo's of the devices in question (Score:5, Informative)
Re:As a Bostonian (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Gentlemen...BEHOLD! (Score:2, Informative)
Dumbest thing I've read in years.... (Score:5, Informative)
'Officials said it contained an electronic circuit board with some components that were "consistent with an improvised explosive device," [thebostonchannel.com]'
Okay, now, come on. These are really large circuit boards [cbs4boston.com] with a whole lot of LEDs soldered on to them. Nothing more, unless there are some other really messed up packages out there that haven't been reported on. Those officials sound like they have features consistent with smart police officers, in that they breathe and eat, but the similarities probably end there.
Wow, and he's... (Score:3, Informative)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Adult-Swim-LED-Ad_W0QQitemZ32
Re:Who's the @**hole now! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The whole thing is so STUPID (Score:4, Informative)
This is what gets me. It's well-established that despite all pretense, security (even airflight security) in the USA is poor at best [wral.com]. Given this, if terrorists really wanted to attack America, don't you think they would have, you know, attacked America? At all? In the last five years?
YOUTUBE VIDEO (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doD_VpT_yAY [youtube.com]
Re:Such a crying shame. (Score:3, Informative)
Not to mention that people don't want to pay any taxes, however they want the government to protect us from the terrorists, and close any possible avenue of terrorism. That includes publicity stunts where people place light brights on overpasses. We're fucked.....
Re:Reasonable suspicion (Score:4, Informative)
I looked at the pics.
How many pounds of C4 (Which would be the most potent explosive you could lay hands on...) do you think you could put in there?
1?
2?
You MIGHT be able to hurt someone with it like you would with an anti-personnel mine, but damage the bridge or anything else
that would rate this sort of reaction? Nope.
In order to do something serious with the stuff- say take out armored vehicles, you'd need MUCH more than what could have
ever been deployed in something that size:
US M21 AT Mine: 11 lbs of explosive.
US M15 AT Mine: 21 lbs of explosive.
Type 72 non-metallic AT mine: 11 lbs of explosive.
AP mines have varying weights of explosive but usually it's something like 1.5-3 lbs.
To be sure, it might have been a risk if it WERE a bomb, but it didn't merit the reactions that we've seen. It's not like
a car-bomb where you might find hundreds of pounds of explosive in it...
Re:Who's the @**hole now! (Score:1, Informative)
1984, by George Orwell
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
The Art of Computer Programming, by Donald Knuth
Re:Who's the @**hole now! (Score:3, Informative)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/ap_on_re_us/s
Re:So the /. crowd has bomb experience? NOT.... (Score:1, Informative)
And yet, you could check one and see that it's innocuous and then not make such a big deal about the others (though still check them).
Sure. But guess what? If you see one on a bridge and you think it's innocuous, but you still want to check them, it means you have to ***close off the roads*** for the safety of people who might be on ladders or lifts. That's pretty much what happened. It's not like the mayor ordered a mass evacuation.
Sound monitoring equipment (Score:2, Informative)
I do recall a story that as part of a monitoring campaign one of the devices was left strapped to a telephone pole. It was reported to the authorities and the bomb squad blew it up because it looked suspicious. It was a $5,000 device and this was maybe ten years ago - well before 2001.
Yep, you leave something in a public are expect it to be vandalized, stolen or blown up. People in charge should expect stuff to be placed or left in public places. It's the cost of doing business for both sides.
Get the facts (Score:4, Informative)
Link to pics of all the locations of these things: http://www.zebbler.com/friends/ATHF/mission1/miss
The thing is *obviously* not a bomb. It's a sign. It has big glowing flashing LEDs. Come on. Use your brain, people.
Two Men Arrested on Felony Charges (Score:2, Informative)
Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, were arrested Wednesday night on one felony charge of placing a hoax device and one charge of disorderly conduct each, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said.
Boston Globe [boston.com]
Seriously this is pretty sad if there are felony charges for something as harmless as this. Intent should at least be considered.
Re:Get the facts (Score:3, Informative)
Since few members of the Boston and Massachusetts State Police have the time to sit around watching late night cartoon characters or reading about how cool guerilla marketing is, we can understand why they did not recognize the character these devices.
Better safe than sorry is more than an old saying your grandmother used while admonishing you to take an umbrella.
Rule 1 of IEDs - Make them look like something else.
Rule 2 - Place them where they can do the most damage.
These devices met the criteria.
On a less dire note, there is a reason cities have permitting requirements before signs, illuminated or not, are put up. One of the reasons is to avoid creating an unsafe environment.
As a taxpayer in Massachusetts, I want Time Warner to pony up the cost of the public safety overtime. I's also like them to reimburse the lost wages of all of the hourly employees stuck on busses and subway trains, but that will never happen.