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posted by
curators
on Friday April 26, @08:49PM
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Cue P. Doll is an open source alternativeware programmer. Her parodyware project CueJack made the in-home marketing barcode scanner :CueCat more user-friendly by enabling consumers to learn about corporate abuses instead of viewing ads.
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CueJack is a parody of the :CueCat barcode reader, which caused controversy because it captured personal information about its users’ activities. :CueCat was designed by Digital Convergence to enable readers to scan Web addresses printed in magazines and newspapers directly into their computers. It also directed readers to other "relevant" addresses. For example, if a reader scanned in the barcode of a VCR, the :CueCat might refer her to other home audio suppliers. At the same time, with every product "scanned," :CueJack would relay its unique serial number to Digital Convergence, seen by some as a form of "consumer surveillance."
CueJack effectively "hacks" into this closed system by using it in another way. With CueJack, visitors can similarly scan a product (for example, health and beauty aids) made available to them on a special shelf next to the computer pod in the Media Z Lounge. However, what CueJack searches for and reveals is "alternative" information about a manufacturer—-for example, any history of corporate abuse or boycotts against it. While the visitor waits for these pages to be found and displayed, CueJack reveals the page to which they would usually have been directed through the Digital Convergence database.
Cue P. Doll is an open source alternativeware programmer. Her parodyware project CueJack made the in-home marketing barcode scanner :CueCat more user-friendly by enabling consumers to learn about corporate abuses instead of viewing ads. More recently, she has been part of software collective developing "Reamweaver," automatic web-parody software released by The Yes Men. Reamweaver enables the public to repair lies in corporate websites by substituting key words and phrases of their choice to create real-time "funhouse-mirror" sites. Cue P. is currently doing R&D on the user-friendly utilities of the future. Her soft/art has appeared in Kunstraum "Female Takeover" at Ars Electronica 2001, Slashdot, Wired, Linux Gazette, The Net Economy, Viridian Notes and other sites.
Project Web Site: http://www.cuejack.com/
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