http://wearcam.org/decon/decon2001apr1/prior_art.htm
" Mann describes with hilarious deadpan irony a number of devices he has actually patented." -- Department of Philosophy Professor Ronald de Sousa (after having been stripped, scrubbed, and placed in a white Tyvek jumpsuit having no pockets in which to conceal contraband).
Foucault once said that authority loves the plague. Had he been alive today, he might have written, instead, that "covernment loves anthrax".
In response to Foucault's writings on Bentham's Panopticon, I decided to explore a modern "panopoticon" through the writing of a patent for an anthrax-ready mailroom facility, or the like, having a central guard tower, to which citizens might be evacuated, herded, and around which citizens might be required to strip completely and be washed down, all under the guise of bioterror.
At the time it seemed way-out. Now it seems merely dead-serious.
Here is the abstract page (as retrieved from the patent office):
Here is the drawing page (as retrieved from the patent office):
SeatSale 2325569 REALITY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES AND METHOD OF DOING BUSINESS IN REALITY LICENSES TO MAKE REALITY AFFORDABLE OR MORE PRACTICAL 2354113 INTELLIGENT BATHROOM FIXTURES AND SYSTEMS. SafeBath: 2280420 SELECTIVE VITRIONIC VIEWING CONCEALED BY MATERIAL SUCH AS POLYMER DIFFUSER decon: april 1, 2000 2303611 PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY SYSTEM 77% 2349389 SYSTEM OR ARCHITECTURE FOR SECURE MAIL TRANSPORT AND VERIFIABLE DELIVERY GriefCase: 2267877 MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR COLLEGIAL IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONS SUCH AS OFFICIALS ASKING FOR IDENTIFICATION 2323153 BUSINESS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENSURING THE SAFETY AND PROTECTI0N OF PERSONAL OR INFORMATIC PROPERTY OR FOR ENSURING PERSONAL SAFETY OR RESPECT BY ARTICULABLY EXTERNAL SITUATIONS 2295378 POINT OF PURCHASE (POP) TERMINAL 2295448 REALITY MEDIATOR FOR THE PREVENTION OF THEFT OF VISUAL ATTENTION OR THEFT OF MENTAL VISUAL PROCESSING RESOURCES