geekosystem

The Image Fulgurator, brainchild of one Julius von Bismark, is a device that is as cool as it is awesome. It does amazing things amazingly and gets me really excited. Also, it allows a user to photobomb other people's pictures by essentially regurgitating an image onto the photographed object for the split second the photobombee is taking the picture. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. So the way a traditional camera works is that light reflected off the object being photographed travels into the lens which projects it onto the film. Bam, a picture. Digital cameras don't have film, but the principle is the same. The Image Fulgurator works the opposite way. You start with a picture and the Fulgurator uses its flash to project the light from the film onto the object being photographed via the lens. Basically a split second projection. An anti-photograph. If a camera sucks an image down onto film, Ghostbusters style, the Fulgurator pukes it back up. Now how does this all tie into photobombing?

Using a couple of neat programs, laser cut stencils and a can of spray chalk, you can start a revolution and begin leaving QR hobo codes with secret messages for your smartphone-carrying brethren. If that sounds kind of cool, but doesn't immediately make sense to you, here's a little history. First off, hobo codes were glyphs originally used back in the pre-internet Stone Age as a way for hobos to communicate important information to each other, but not non-hobo squares like you (presumably) and me. One seemingly random symbol would mean "this underpass is a safe place to sleep" and another might mean "talk about religion here and get a free meal." This kind of communication eventually inspired a guy named Matt Jones to propose a thing called warchalking. Warchalking, a combination between hobo signs and wardriving (well, warwalking really) consisted of hobo sign-esque chalk symbols that told travelers about things like insecure wifi networks. While QR hobo coding isn't directly related to warchalking (as far as I can tell) it's sort of a spiritual successor. QR hobo codes don't necessarily pertain to tech information, but they're inherently tech-y by virtue of being QR codes and they still have that "this is our little secret" vibe, while being common knowledge enough that they might catch on big time. But that's enough of a history lesson. How do you make these things?

While we don't condone the defacement of public or private property, one must at least acknowledge the obsessive dedication of whoever wrote the text of the entire first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on a bathroom stall. See also: Street artist converses with the police in graffiti and whitewash. (RentHarryPotter via TDW via Flavorwire)

As the Corridor Digital guys have shown before, they kind of know what the deal is when it comes to making pretty videos. This time around, they decided fighting in real life isn't pretty enough, so they hop into walls and become graffiti. Like you do.

(Corridor Digital via reddit)

Street artist mobstr. had the ensuing conversation with the local authorities using graffiti. Judging by all of their white-washings, they were not fans of any of the several shades of grey he proposed.