Pixelular Assault

[saavedra77]

Last weekend, hackers exploited a security hole in the Epilepsy Foundation's website to embed "hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images" in the site's support forums. The hackers' surprise lightshows were enough to trigger severe migraines and near-seizures in some photosensitive and pattern-sensitive viewers. Wired magazine describes it as "possibly the first computer attack to inflict physical harm on the victims."

The offline metaphor that comes to mind is that scene in Kiss of Death where a giggling Richard Widmark pushes a wheelchair-bound woman down the stairs.

Comments

[morganminstrel.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm not much of an absolutist, but that? That's evil. Pure evil.

[delerium69.livejournal.com]

What kind of sicko does something so reprehensible?

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Man, if I ever find those guys... I hope someone can find them. Those flashy things just give me migraines; seizures are worse.

[waysofseeing.livejournal.com]

I suspect this is part maliciousness, part ignorance.

When I was an accessibility PM at Microsoft, I used to regularly explain to devs that they had to fix strobing/flashing bugs, because they were the only kind of bugs that could cause physical damage. It was amazing to me the number of intelligent, educated developers I talked to who not only had never heard of this idea, but flat out didn't believe me. I had a developer tell me bluntly that I was lying: there was no possible way that flashing pixels on a computer screen could cause any real harm, so stop acting like such a goddamned drama queen, wouldja?

Most people have no real idea what a seizure is, and no way to comprehend what it's like to have one. To them, epilepsy feels like ridiculous hypochondria, like the guys who wear tinfoil hats to keep the cell phone transmissions from giving them brain cancer.

[dlasky.livejournal.com]

That's totally cruel.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

Hackers do annoying fucked up things all the time, but this is the first time I've seen them target someone's disability.

That is incredibly, incredibly shitty.

*angry*

[umbo.livejournal.com]

That really, really sucks.