Friday, January 30, 2009

Zombies! Run!!!

Austin, TX drivers making their morning commute were in for a surprise when two road signs on a busy stretch of road were taken over by hackers. The signs usually warn drivers about upcoming construction, but Monday morning they warned of "zombies ahead."

A city spokesperson said the hacked messages were only up for a few hours, until the construction project manager saw them during his morning commute and immediately ordered them to be changed back. "Even though this may seem amusing to a lot of people, this is really serious, and it is a crime," said Austin Public Works spokesperson Sara Hartley. "And you can be indicted for it, and we want to make sure our traffic on the roadways stays safe." She said the city will discuss more secure safety measures with the manufacturer of the signs.

Personally I think that it's a good thing that folk are reminded that the Zombocalypse could come upon us at any time. Hollywood and it's ilk have damaged the perception of zombie and all undead-related threats by branding movies in which they feature, as "fiction" and bestowing them fictional abilities such as "running" which was denounced by zombie expert Simon Pegg when writing about the British series Dead Set - "You cannot kill a vampire with an MDF stake; werewolves can't fly; zombies do not run."

The threat is real folks, don't end up unprepared like the poor folk in Pittsburgh, PA. I have weapons ready for removing the head and destroying the brain - do you?


Source: Bruce Russell, ABC, The Guardian, The Onion, Wikipedia

4 comments:

Bruce Russell said...

I hear the the default password on these signs is DOT, and is hardly ever changed by crews.

I'm just saying.

Anonymous said...

Now who has suspicious knowledge? Hmm?

Anonymous said...

What I'd like to know is, was the Zombie threat dealth with?

Anonymous said...

I cannot comment on a zombie threat. All I can do is confirm that the library has very sturdy steel doors.