J.Ko's liveblogging of Pop!Tech is very cool, and this tidbit caught my eye:
Hasan Elahi, during his ordeal being mistaken for -- what's the term these days? -- an enemy combatant, learned that language translates easier than culture. That is, you can learn how to speak a language fluently way easier than to have the cultural fluency necessary to convince someone you're a native. In his interrogations, Hasan liberally sprinkled pop culture references in his answers to questions posed by the FBI to help convince them that he was a native. Workers at call centers in India for American companies are not only taught to speak English with an American accent, they also receive training in American geography, history, and pop culture so as to better fool/serve American callers.
The first bit reminds me of a great This American Life story from last year about a different case of mistaken identity.
The second part reminds me of something that happened last week: I was calling to activate my new credit card that I'd gotten in the mail. Instead of a machine giving me prompts to enter in stuff like my social security number, I was immediately connected to a woman who asked me to verify my identity. Then, she said she was calling from Provo, Utah and where was I calling from? And tried to make conversation, saying that it was raining in Provo but had lightened up a bit and how was the weather in New York blah blah blah. How very strange. After a minute or so or chit-chat we went ahead and activated my card and all that jazz.
It wasn't until right after I hung up that I realized, Discover Card was either very sneaky or very smart. In light of all of the outsourcing of call centers, they wanted to make sure I was (or I thought I was) speaking to someone in Utah and not India or Thailand.
Clever.
Juan Maclean, Wilco, Two Gallants...nobody is safe. Of all of the weirdest bands to associate with violence! What next, a riot at a Decemberists show? Fighting at Sujan Stevens?
Says Pitchfork:
Seriously, WTF? Jeff Tweedy's decking rowdy fans, cops are Tasering innocent 14-year-old kids, and now this? National Rock Club Violence Week continues with this latest report of live gig fisticuffs: according to numerous posts on the DFA message board and confirmed by a representative from the label, DJ Juan Maclean leapt down from the stage at last Friday's DFA gig (October 13) at the Earl in Atlanta to lay the proverbial smack down on a drunk-ass fan who messed with his gear.
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