Mischief Theory and Practise Part Two: ‘Deconstruction’
September 29, 2009
“Encouraging Destructiveness
It should be pointed out to the saboteur where the circumstances are suitable, that he is acting in self-defense against the enemy, or retaliating against the enemy for other acts of destruction. A reasonable amount of humor in the presentation of suggestions for simple sabotage will relax tensions of fear.”‘SIMPLE SABOTAGE FIELD MANUAL’
Office of Strategic Services
Washington, D. C.
17 January 1944
Existing within the urban environment necessitates an escalating war of resistance over un-requested invasive messages – the high science of communication or the blunt hammer of advertising: billboards, subway lcd screens, street advertising, point of sale, free papers, guerilla marketing, the subliminal, the liminal and the blatantly overt. ‘Everything that is made can be unmade’ – in this spirit we explore the tactical opportunities to degrade, disrupt and ultimately reclaim our space.
This video illustrates how advertising on the side of a NYC public phone box can be easily removed (or replaced with more interesting material) using readily available tools; a small cordless drill, a set of tamper-proof security bits and a healthy dose of bravado. The same tactics can be employed internationally against other types of apparatus; security cameras, police equipment, street advertising and commercial targets which all rely on ‘tamper proof’ construction to maintain integrity in a public space ( ‘tamper proof’ in reality means ’slightly harder to undo’). Tamper proof bolts can easily be removed if you have the correct non-standard bits, available here and elsewhere. As the video suggests, for extra mischievous effect, replace the bolts with a dab of superglue.
Image:’Tamper-Proof’ security bit head set (USA).
Traffic Hacking
The vulnerability of road traffic has long been a powerful tool for those planning maximum urban disruption. In London, the ecological cyclist group ‘critical mass’ challenge the tyranny of the internal combustion engine and bring the city of London to a regular standstill through mass cycle rallies. During the ‘Stop The City’ anti-capitalist protests of the mid 1980s traffic light cables were cut with bolt cutters during the night and bridges blocked by immobilised buses slowing down the arrival of the riot cops…
Back in the days of the ambulance station we were able to manually remotely control the traffic light signals on the Old Kent Rd – originally to allow the ambulances clear access to the street – a novel feature that gave hours of pleasure disrupting traffic on London’s main southern artery and allowing us to hold off police raids for a precious few minutes. Now you can accomplish the same effects by using a ‘MIRT’ – Moble InfraRed Transmitter Mirt “ a dashboard mounted device that gives an infrared strobe burst at 10-14hz designed to allow emergency vehicles to pass through Infra-red controlled lights:
image: BEECos MIRT
“A breakthrough technology in traffic light pre-emption. For the first time, a traffic light preemption emitter that is compact, mobile, and practical. “MIRT” can be securely positioned on the dash or inside windshield and moved from vehicle to vehicle with no installation required. Just plug it in and go! Its infrared technology emits no visible light, making it discrete and eliminating any distraction to the driver.”
Image: DIrtY MIRT LED Array
…or for around $20 you can build your own ‘DIrtY MIRT’ from a selection of parts available at Maplins. Comprehensive DIY instructions are here. An even cheaper, less subtle but proven method involves pointing flashing LED cycle lamps at the MIRT receiver or simply rapidly flashing car headlights while approaching the junction at high speed…
“Again, please do not use or abuse this. These Pre-Emptive systems were designed to save lives, not to get you to work earlier. Imagine if you and an ambulance were to approach the same intersection at the same time from perpendicular directions…”
Other traffic control systems are often vulnerable to mischievous intent. Famously those jokers at ihacked.com show how easily electronic traffic messaging displays can be edited ending up as national news across the states – just a shame the message wasn’t more targeted.
Shopping with barcodes
The ubiquitous barcode provides a physical link between objects and digital systems. They are used indiscriminately and insecurely for multiple purposes; entry systems, delivery tracking, pricing, ticketing, boarding passes and so-on often with little connection or checking between systems; a perfect target for those with mischievous intent. Barcodes can be simply copied (using a digital camera) and reproduced or read using a barcode scanner, edited and reproduced. barcode mayhem is a perfect way of disrupting the systems of your favourite supermarket (Tesco for example…) simply copy and print out low priced codes and replace them on multiple products or create a DIY BOGOF (‘buy one, get one free’) and help yourself safely to the single malt – if you do get caught, feign innocence and blame it on the system further introducing doubt and expense. FX from Phenoelit in this video tells you everything you need to know about barcode exploitation with some handy real-world examples:
Links:
——-
Mirts: http://www.themirt.com/
ihacked.com various hardware hacking prokects
NYC public ad campaign ‘New and Old Ad Takeovers’
the complete works of Shakespeare encoded as barcodes
Mischief: theory and practice. Part One; Jamming
September 8, 2009
“Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision”
Salvador Dali
Mischief: ‘playfulness that is intended to tease, mock, or create trouble’ is an effective disruptive tactic. Use freely as a technique to reclaim your surroundings, neutralise the constant assault of the banal and eliminate unwanted messages from broadcasters, advertisers and corporations. In short mischief is an ongoing method of attrition, the low resolution cousin of direct action.
Mischief introduces doubt into a world of certainty, a playful way of introducing unexpected surrealism to the commonplace; a creative therapeutic act that confirms life and maintains sanity, civil disobedience in miniature, granular sabotage.
A Mischief Toolbox
Jamming
RX9000 Cell phone jammer
Phones in general are unpleasant devices and seem to generate a twitter like craving to be constantly ‘in touch’ . Induce phone withdrawal symptoms with this handy (but expensive and highly illegal) portable device. The RX9000 “Still a top performer in a class of its own and highly recommended” is a handheld mobile/cell phone jammer, which will disrupt any mobile phone signal from all global system within a 30metre radius. Perfect for public transport, office etc.
Personal cellphone jammer
This cheaper version is available here on Amazon.com – of all places. “Cellock-brand time-proven build quality and reliability – Creates enough interference to block all cell phone signals around you (GSM 930Mhz~960Mhz/CDMA 870Mhz~880Mhz/DCS 1805Mhz~1920Mhz) – Fully metal construction – creates a solid and techie feel – Creates a 0.5M ~ 15M (about 2 to 40 feet) radius of cell phone signal black out area – Built-in 1500mAh battery lasts 3 to 4 hours, also works and charges on AC and Car 12V power with including adaptors – Light (6oz) weight, fits-in-a-pocket size”
The TV; a notorious instrument of mass control, why not turn it off? The TV-B-Gone “Make every day a “TV-free” day!” will turn of pretty much every TV from a range of up to 150 ft. Great for annoying the family but especially useful in turning of advertising displays, street LCDs and so-on
TV jammer circuit board
Go one step further and help your neighbours de-programme by jamming their signal! Here is a guide to building your own TV Jammer or even better, here’s an ascii art circuit diagram:
Art Materials:
TTL Hex Inverter 7404 I.C.
14-pin Wire Wrap DIP I.C. Socket
Trimmer Capacitor, 3.5-20 picofarad
3′ of flexible wire (half of a lamp cord is fine)
2-3″ of stiff wire (with insulation)
9-volt battery
9-volt battery clip
Mercury tilt-switch
“As I recall, so long ago, when it seemed okay to play with radiation spewed upon us by ten thousand TV & radio transmitters, this device got a little warm — since it was made to work on 5 volts, and could burn out after several weeks of continuous operation. But the I.C. only cost 50 cents, so no big deal. You had to tune the capacitor (with your thumb nail) for each target-channel, and actual operating range was only about 30-40 feet — but that was spectacular enough.”
Similar techniques can be used to jam radio frequencies and WIFI signals. Here is a link to an ultra low cost DIY FM signal jammer that swamps out FM radios with a 100Mhz signal; “…So yeah a crystal hooked up to a piece of wire will silence a radio for a surprisingly good distance, and through thick walls. The interesting thing is that although it is supposed to be a crystal accurate to 100.000etc Mhz it blanked out the entire FM band! Btw this is illegal to do so don’t do it. I didn’t.“
…or this device from Wave Bubble, a self-tuning, wide-bandwidth portable RF jammer disguised as a pack of fags will enforce radio silence within a 20 metre radius
Similarly WIFI and Bluetooth signals and wireless security cameras can also be blocked or disrupted. Among many products available online, The WBj01 is yet another portable small black box with an aerial that “…helps you cut off wifi bluetooth connections in defined working area and avoid leak out security data” within a 5metre range. Or consider the ‘High powered 4 watt video camera jammer’ a “professional high powered video camera jammer. It produces a powerful 4 watts of jamming power to disable just about all video cameras up to a distance of 70 metres and covers all frequencies between 900Mhz – 2.5Ghz. This device will jam the signal for any wireless video camera, wireless lans and bluetooth”
Coming soon: Part Two; Deconstruction
____________
Links
———
Cell phone jammers: http://www.globalgadgetuk.com/rx9000.htm
http://www.cacophony.org/
hackers catalogue: http://www.hackerscatalog.com/Products/PlanPackage/CellularGPSJammers/Index.html
TV-B-Gone http://www.ladyada.net/make/tvbgone/
video jammers: http://www.spymodex.com/video.htm
