I had a blast at HOPE, and my presentation on implanted RFIDs went quite well. In between learning to pick locks and listening to Sellam Ismail describe the thousands of vintage computers he has in his collection, I managed to write a report for Wired about the subversive, world-changing hacks everywhere in evidence at this antiauthoritarian, pro-technology conference.

And now for something completely different. Harry Potter fans were the topic of my column last week. Specifically, I wrote about a conspiracy of infinitesmal proportions among a subculture of people called “shippers” (from “relationship”) who write online fan fiction (fanfic) about romances between the characters in the Harry Potter books. A woman calling herself Ms. Scribe insinuated herself into several shipper communities and eventually ripped them apart with gossip and flame wars. She did it by conspiring with several fake “sock puppet” identities of her own invention, who would start fights (especially with Ms. Scribe herself). The whole riveting story — and it is riveting — is chronicled in an e-book by Charlotte Lennox. Read my column to find out more (and then read Charlotte’s book!).

This entry was posted on Monday, July 24th, 2006 at 1:16 pm.
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