Joe Ganley: Stupider than fiction

I have the outlines of two novels pretty well fleshed out in my head. All that's stopping me from writing them is a lack of time; well, that and the fact that I hate the way my creative writing sounds. A friend of mine tells me that all writers hate their own writing, but the fact is, I need a lot more practice at writing fiction.

Anyway, I have this written in a notebook from maybe five years ago: A plot point in one of them hinges on a fictional piece of legislation called the Digital Surveillance Privacy Act (DSPA), which (among other things) would mandate that all cameras must make an audible beep or click when they take a picture. I had intended this to be a sarcastic commentary on ludicrous security-theater legislation. As is typical of satire, I exaggerated it beyond anything I thought likely to really happen. Well, guess what is on the House floor? The Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, which specifies exactly what I imagined. As Bruce Schneier said, this is so silly it defies comment. They even gave the law a goofier name than I did.

Labels: camera, law, novel

Joe Ganley	I make software and sometimes other things.

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Stupider than fiction
I have the outlines of two novels pretty well fleshed out in my head. All that's stopping me from writing them is a lack of time; well, that and the fact that I hate the way my creative writing sounds. A friend of mine tells me that all writers hate their own writing, but the fact is, I need a lot more practice at writing fiction. Anyway, I have this written in a notebook from maybe five years ago: A plot point in one of them hinges on a fictional piece of legislation called the Digital Surveillance Privacy Act (DSPA), which (among other things) would mandate that all cameras must make an audible beep or click when they take a picture. I had intended this to be a sarcastic commentary on ludicrous security-theater legislation. As is typical of satire, I exaggerated it beyond anything I thought likely to really happen. Well, guess what is on the House floor? The Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, which specifies exactly what I imagined. As Bruce Schneier said, this is so silly it defies comment. They even gave the law a goofier name than I did. Labels: camera, law, novel 0 Comments: Post a Comment << Home