RedM Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 http://www.wired.com/vanish/2009/11/ff_vanish2/#more-859 Author Evan Ratliff Is on the Lam. Locate Him and Win $5,000.” — wired.com/vanish, August 14, 2009 5:38 pm Officially it will be another 24 hours before the manhunt begins. That’s when Wired’s announcement of my disappearance will be posted online. It coincides with the arrival on newsstands of the September issue of the magazine, which contains a page of mugshot-like photos of me, eyes slightly vacant. The premise is simple: I will try to vanish for a month and start over under a new identity. Wired readers, or whoever else happens upon the chase, will try to find me. The idea for the contest started with a series of questions, foremost among them: How hard is it to vanish in the digital age? Long fascinated by stories of faked deaths, sudden disappearances, and cat-and-mouse games between investigators and fugitives, I signed on to write a story for Wired about people who’ve tried to end one life and start another. People fret about privacy, but what are the consequences of giving it all up, I wondered. What can investigators glean from all the digital fingerprints we leave behind? You can be anybody you want online, sure, but can you reinvent yourself in real life? It’s one thing to report on the phenomenon of people disappearing. But to really understand it, I figured that I had to try it myself. So I decided to vanish. I would leave behind my loved ones, my home, and my name. I wasn’t going off the grid, dropping out to live in a cabin. Rather, I would actually try to drop my life and pick up another. This is a very long but thoroughly good read about a writer, Evan Ratliff, who attempts to 'vanish'. It is eye-opening for sure and makes you think how hard it would be to do a Reggie Perrin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benkei Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 This looks very interesting, and I've often wondered about this kind of thing. I shall give it a read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benkei Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I wonder if he would have done better having not turned it into a game and doing challenges for Wired? This is my initial thought, I'll let it sink a little more first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 My attention span is not up to reading 8 pages today, did he "win"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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