Saturday, January 31, 2009

Praxis: "Nazi Zombies" -- Guerrilla Marketing Communications in Austin, Texas

“Nazi Zombies! Run!!!”

These are Nazi Zombies.


No, wait, THIS is a Nazi Zombie.

At least that is what one looks like in Dead Snow, the Norwegain zombie movie/horror flick/dark comedy about Nazi zombies that have their sights set on a team of young medical students vacationing in the mountains. It made quite a splash at the Sundance Film Festival this year.


THIS is a sign warning Austin, Texas motorists about a Nazi Zombie Attack.

This story covers how it happened that someone reprogrammed road warning signs to warn about Nazi Zombies. There are all sorts of applications and permutations of this guerrilla marking communications scheme that I can think of. The story says that someone has posted instructions on the Net about how to hack these signs. A cursory search of Google this morning turned up nothing to me, but perhaps there is a talented Three Percenter out there willing to dig it up?

Sign hacker broadcasts zombie warnings

By Katie Petroski | Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 04:10 PM

Someone reprogrammed two city construction road signs near the University of Texas early Monday morning in an attempt to warn Austin of an imminent zombie attack.
Messages that typically alert Lamar Boulevard drivers to a detour for Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard splashed several warnings like “Caution! Zombies Ahead!” and “Nazi Zombies! Run!!!”

As he drove south on Lamar, traffic controller Bruce Jones saw the first sign flash the Nazi zombies message at 6 a.m. and wheeled his truck around for another look. Then he said he noticed that the second sign, directed at northbound drivers, had also been tampered with

Jones, who has one of only two keys to the locked access panels on the portable signs, said that the hacker broke into the panels on each sign and bypassed the passwords before leaving five different zombie messages and even changing one of the passwords. Jones said he had to wait until 8 a.m. to call the manufacturing company to figure out how to override the hacker’s work. He speculated that the hacker could be a computer genius from UT.

The biggest safety hazard came from drivers slowing down or stopping their car to take pictures, Jones said.

The hacking occurred within weeks of various articles appearing online with descriptions of how to hack into these road signs — which point out that such an act is illegal.

Dennis Crabill, project manager with the Public Works Department, said the access panels are always locked and are not programmed with the default passwords these sites suggest. Short of having a watchman on duty around the clock, he said there is little more the city can do to prevent such vandalism.
“It’s a pretty childish prank,” he said.

Crabill said he is optimistic that MLK Boulevard will be open to two-way traffic again by this weekend, and the detour will no longer be necessary.

No zombies have been seen in the area, and with any luck, Tuesday night’s cold front killed off any undead with ghoulish plans to invade the city.


Here is the link to the Dead Snow trailer.

I would have preferred a message like: "Nazi Zombies Ahead. Designated Marksmen Up." Or, Nazi Zombie Crossing Ahead. Do You Have Enough Ammo?"

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Programming instructions can be found here: http://www.i-hacked.com/content/view/274/48/

Anonymous said...

Here you go Mike. http://www.i-hacked.com/content/view/274/1/

III

Farm.Dad said...

There are two ways this can be done . Like Cat equipment if you have the key to one you have the key to all ( to access the sign controls , which usually have the default pass. Other than that you can call it if you have the cell no for the sign and the cell is enabled . Way back when in my various jobs some on " traffic control " figured out that to put " DRUG CHECKPOINT 1/4 MILE " on the sign could result in comedy .

Anonymous said...

What they said.

My understanding is that opening up the enclosure where the electronics are stored is the hardest part, although that same source said that it's rare that the Highway Department folks bother to lock it.

There's a keypad that's attached to the works via a coiled cable, not unlike a phone cord, and once you have that in your hot little hands, you're good to go.

Brian K Miller said...

Personally, I don't find it funny at all. These signs are meant to keep drivers informed, not to entertain bored college students.

threepers creeper said...

Just remember shoot 'em in the head!!! Since zombies feed on brains and most if not all libs have none...well you get the idea.

Anonymous said...

Greyhawk, just remember that those bored college students are going to be as integral to our fight for liberty as are those that hold rifles.

Luke (alias "Lines With Chrome") said...

"Good job, Mike V.! You killed that fascist zombie!"

Mike V.: "He was a zombie?" [shrugs]

tjbbpgobIII said...

Wsomeone please tell me why that Nazi Zombie in the first picture needs Three (3) magazines for that weapon.

Chaplain Tim said...

Another source:
http://twinturbo.org/hacks/howto-reprogram-road-signs/

Don't use Google- find a "good" search engine, one that doesn't track your every search and then bend over backwards to help the government find you.

Just think of all the bumper stickers someone could load into one of these signs, let alone the huge over-both-lanes versions that are popular around here.

ranamacar

Anonymous said...

Doctor Saywhut, the famous zombie and goblin fighter, says that in the top photo, the careful observer will note that faces and legs are the most easily accessed points of vulnerability.

Anonymous said...

QUOTE: Doctor Saywhut, the famous zombie and goblin fighter, says that in the top photo, the careful observer will note that faces and legs are the most easily accessed points of vulnerability. QUOTE

Just like during the battle of Crecy and Agincourt. The French knights and Swiss mercenaries do look tough and unbeatable, at first. But once their most vulnerable points are hit, they are NOTHING. The English footsoldiers didn't even encounter any resistance as they swept the battlefield afterward like a tidal wave of Clorox.

Anonymous said...

QUOTE Wsomeone please tell me why that Nazi Zombie in the first picture needs Three (3) magazines for that weapon. QUOTE

Why? Because in his line of work, there are a lot of unarmed innocent women and children like Vicky Weaver that he likes to kill for fun.

tjbbpgobIII said...

Qi Ji Guang said...
QUOTE Wsomeone please tell me why that Nazi Zombie in the first picture needs Three (3) magazines for that weapon. QUOTE

Why? Because in his line of work, there are a lot of unarmed innocent women and children like Vicky Weaver that he likes to kill for fun.

February 1, 2009 12:21 PM

NOT TO MENTION ALL THE DOGS!!! wHY CAN'T THEY KILL CATS INSTEAD?

Anonymous said...

Overheard at my university gym recently:

Guy 1 - "What are you thinking of going into?"

Guy 2 - "I wanna be on the SWAT team. You know - kicking down doors, beating people's heads in, that kind of thing."

Guy 1 - "Yeah, that'd be pretty sweet."

Me, in my head - "I'll meet you at the door anytime, friend, and you can be damn sure I'm not going to make it fair for you."

Anonymous said...

You can have a little fun without creating a hazard. For instance, how about alternating messages: "right lane closed ahead" "Sheriff Raines is a thief"

Anonymous said...

The FLANKS are always terribly exposed in these raids...frontal assaults are a fools errand - it plays to their strengths. Think of FIRE from above - general Molotov was truly a genius! These nazi's may believe they are bullet proof, but they are certainly not flame proof.

LauraB said...

One wouldn't be far wrong to subscribe to the following.
http://store.2600.com/winter20082009.html

Interesting bits of info that might be helpful.

Anonymous said...

QUOTE Doctor Saywhut, the famous zombie and goblin fighter, says that in the top photo, the careful observer will note that faces and legs are the most easily accessed points of vulnerability. QUOTE

Wow. Dr. Saywhut? He was an observer at Crecy. He said that the top photo is completely identical to what he saw at Crecy. He said that you may Use your Projectyle and Weapones of Fyre against the creature's Arms, Legs, and Faces to incapacitate them. After they are Incapacitated and Immobilised, they may be then dealt with Using the Stake or Pike or Sworde. I don't think he was at Agincourt though. In 1342 he was at Constantinople helping the Greek wizards perfect their "Liquide Fyre" against the Ottoman hordes. :D

Anonymous said...

QUOTE NOT TO MENTION ALL THE DOGS!!! wHY CAN'T THEY KILL CATS INSTEAD? QUOTE

Oh they do that too. They love stomping little kittens to death, especially. Nothing gives them bigger hard-ons than stomping small, furry pets into blood jelly. Google Pennsylvania ATF gunshow promoter raid.