I Found Some of Your Life
“Double Accidental Excellence / Awesomeness”A few times a year, you find something new on the web which you just know is going to get contagious. Today, via Phillip Torrone, I discovered such a thing.
Here it is in a nutshell: A few months ago, someone found a memory card in the back seat of a New York taxicab. The memory card was filled with 227 photos of some frat boy’s life over the last year. Trips to Amsterdam, keggers, ridiculous mugshots… the whole bit. Rather than just deleting the memory card, this extraordinarily creative (and a bit diabolical) person started a blog and is posting one photo per day from the reel. This, by itself, would not be so entertaining, but in addition to posting the photos, the blogger narrates each photo pretending it is his own life with his own friends. What a great premise for a blog. Seriously, it’s hilarious.
You could say that this is a mean thing to do, but really, can you think of a better way to get this person’s photos back to them? I can’t.
Check it out at: ifoundsomeofyourlife.blogspot.com.
UPDATE: On September 20th, the creator of this site pulled all content offline. I can only guess the cause was a scary e-mail from an armchair lawyer because the original memory card’s owner doesn’t seem to have stepped forward yet.
That is classic. Too funny, thanks for the tip Mike.
It seems I’m gonna be hooked on this one. Thanks for link!
*Somebody* should expect the visit of some pretty pissed frat boys! ;-)
Sorry but this just seems unethical. Useing private property to generate hits on your own blog with no or little attempt to find the owners. Glad they didnt find his wallet.
For some Frat kid, I am really surprised at how tame some of these photos are… I mean if these were photos of me when I was in my early twenties there might have been a question of ethics involved. Unfortunately my wife deleted, or trashed my memories from this period of my life.
John you say this is unethical and that there is little attempt to find the owners.
First, lets revert back to the most important rule of life – “Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers.” This timeless rule is based on the concept that possesion is nine-tenths the law. Therefore, I see no wrong in this. Besides it is interesting how an individual would interpret anothers life without knowing one ioda about them. Unethical would be selling shots of Sheri and Rachel to some e-pornographer.
Second, how would you propose finding the true owner. Drop the memory card off to the local NYPD station so they can enjoy pictures of Lauren and Pam in their pleated skirt and the fictional stories and not us? Get real. At least this way, Frat Boy stands a shot of seeing his pics, and can make a rightful claim.
I think it would be interesting to see how someone would interpret my life if the situation were switched. How close to the truth would they be, or how far off are they. I sure hope Frat boy finds his memory card!
Ha! That is awesome. Probably not more important than the “breathe in, breathe out” rule, but important nonetheless.
I agree that if this reel contained really explicit pictures or if the commentary was really hateful, then maybe this would be a bit unethical, but really… it seems quite harmless to me, and when the dude gets his memory card back, it will be considered a good thing.
I am really amazed at how many baseball caps there are in those pictures. I was in a frat too but I’d like to think I didn’t dress exactly like all my buddies!
Honestly, I think I would do something similar. If not posting these pictures on Blogger, I’d come up with fabricated stories to piece together the photos and make sense of why they were taken, within what context, etc. and share them with friends and family.
In this situation, the blogger is sharing them with a much wider audience and in this day and age it doesn’t surprise me.
For what it’s worth, there’s an offence of “Stealing by Finding” in UK law. I wonder if there’s anything similar in NY…
You beat Slashdot.
I make sure to keep naked pictures of myself on every memory stick I own to prevent things like this from happening.
It’s not like he’s using the images and their stories to drive hits at some ad-filled website, it’s just a site on Blogger with no links to any other sites by the owner. So the “private property to generate hits on your own blog” argument doesn’t really hold.
Geez you psychos, stop debating this non-existant ethical dilemma. If the photographer finds the site and for some reason wants the blogger to stop, he need simply to say so, and we all move on with our lives. Otherwise, the blogger is merely creating art out of what would otherwise have been… nothing! Absolutely nothing! Some jock’s lost memory card! Honestly, people… I think we’ll be okay.
(Thanks for the head’s up, Mike! Best blog find since The Dullest Blog in the World)
I wish I could join in the debate, but seems I’m too late. The site is gone. All that’s left is an apology to those who found the site offensive.
*sigh*
Always arriving at the gate after the plane has pulled away.
US law states:
One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him
knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who
appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another
person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just
efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is
guilty of theft.