Wired writer Evan Ratliff decided to do his best to disappear, no small feat in today's heavily connected world. He publicized his debit and credit card information to the Wired readership, as well as his Twitter name, e-mail accounts, and of course, his physical stats. The magazine offered $5,000 to the person who was able to track down Ratliff despite his efforts live anonymously.
Well, the contest came to an end on Tuesday evening, only a few days shy of its September 15 deadline. NewsCloud founder Jeff Reifman and the Naked Pizza team, headed by owner Jeff Leach, managed to nab the writer on the lam in New Orleans. Most of the dirty work was done by Reifman; he identified Ratliff's aliases and secret Facebook, Twitter, andTumblr accounts.
Reifman conspired with a Hawaiian Realtor, a vegan pizza parlor, and wrote a Facebook app to trap the writer in this modern game of digital cat and mouse. On Twitter, Ratliff's secret account began following Naked Pizza in New Orleans, and Reifman contacted the pizza joint (and several other local restaurants) to be on the lookout for the writer. Some of the finer details are a little tough to follow, but if you're interested in the nitty-gritty, head on over to NewsCloud to read about how Reifman uncovered Ratliff's IP addresses and online aliases.
No comments:
Post a Comment