It’s been another strange day in this place of mystery. I took shelter last night on this deck behind an industrial building; again it was dead quiet all night long except for a constant electronic hum in the air and very distant noises of hovering helicopters.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by cogdogblog
In continuing down the marked road I had followed, I continued to move through a warehouse type area. Interestingly, each building had some sort of large satellite dish on top, and they all buzzed as if they were active. I am sure a number of them swiveled my way as I walked past, but when I turned to look they had resumed their position. Paranoid? Hell yes.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by cogdogblog
The road I was on was sporting “highway 49” markers, and the scenery slowly opened up into a more rural setting, a track down a tree lined lane. It intersected with another road of equal drabness, with a sign that read “Code Bay Road”; within 100 yards was a set of railroad tracks. It was almost a coin toss to go left or right except to the right was a split in the tracks. Of course this is correct; I was supposed to follow the “right” track.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by cogdogblog
I followed the tracks at least 2 hours when it ducked down below a larger (again quiet) brick factory. I heard a vehicle noise, and hid behind a pillar, but managed to see a white van cruise by slowly, and heard the sounds of dogs barking and spotted at least 3 men inside with dark glasses, looking around like they were hunting for something lost.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by cogdogblog
Me?
Likely. remember, paranoid? It just feeds on itself.
I needed a break so once out of the tunnel ventured off into the adjacent woods, where I could parallel the tracks but under cover. Better. I decided to document a few more thoughts. I am using the StoryBox to store key observations on a hidden partition on the usb thumb drive. Someone should know this information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEwnmSCm4Gk
Luckily I got another cryptic message via twitter from @0pcode49:
I’m taking some time now to sort this out.
- I still need to get in touch with Dr. Oliver– he seems to have much more information about this Center of the Internet than me. Please, ds106 students/participants- use those assignments to create ones to attract his attention, like the Character Bird Calls one I created yesterday.
- Am I sure the people in the dark glasses are not friendly? Maybe they are good agents.
- Why should I trust @0pcode49?
- I intend, for now, to explore the ideas suggested by @0pcode49. It’s at least something to do, and following it for now shoul;d give me an indication of their intent.
So the questions I also need your help with are about the idea of “tracks” on the internet. What are the implications of knowing our online activity is tracked in some manner? What happens if don’t pay any heed to this? On the other hand, it is inherently bad? I mean some companies that provide internet services for free need some way to generate income to support what they do. How do we maintain control of our tracking? What is the meaning of privacy now? Can we have a traditional sense of full anonymity any more without being totally unplugged from the net? What are the things people can/ought to do now to have more awareness of their tracks across the net?
I think if I can pull together some ideas, not strictly answers, but an expansion of the issue, I might get one step closer to the center of the Internet.
I am counting on all of you, especially ds106 students, to explore these ideas. You cannot be totally naive to the amount of information of what you do is shared– but should we always be sure it is for nefarious purposes?
Tracking your responses….
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