I Want One #316

I have spotted a technology that I want to play with. The Make Blog points to a plan by AS220 Labs to debut a new tool at the Maker Faire in Austin, Texas, later this month: The Hair and Balanced TV Filter.

The technology is simple.

The Hair and Balanced TV Filter taps into the composite video input to your TV, detects whether you are watching talking head pundits or newscasters, then draws mustaches on the faces on the screen. The TV filter is a new kind of hardware shield that helps users take control of their screen.

I love it. It reminds me of a novel I read some 34 years ago. I cannot remember what the title was, but it was about someone who developed a tool that let him add graffiti to live television broadcasts. I remember the novel following the consequences of that and the uproar it caused. It was a counter-culture novel. The Nixon people were the bad guys.

I do remember that I finished that book a few days before we learned that Nixon would resign the Presidency. It was an exciting time.