Spider trapped in ball-point pen maze

[Video Link] The man with the pen represents a totalitarian government. The pen markings represent the populace's diminishing freedom under totalitarian rule. The spider represents a repressed people who will rebel after being pushed too hard. (Via biotv)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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joeposts

Poor spidey just didn’t want his shiny new boots to get ink-stained. Humans are so cruel!
chupsahey

Oh, a wise guy, eh?

Well I’m going home.
http://twitter.com/leftnotracks Scott Falkner

I loved Qix!
Jerril

Ink finally dried out enough that he wouldn’t get stuck to it.
- awjt
  
  Exactly. Notice the spider jerk itself back every time it touched the line, then finally it just said fuck it, the sticky is negligible. That’s the real lesson. At what point do we just say FUCK THIS???
millie fink

Everything is a metaphor.

I thought of the spider as Julian Assange. Here’s hoping he does indeed escape.
- Andrew Wray
  
  Millie baby, you’re my everything.
  
  (edit: oops, posted that with only the 1st line of your message displaying on my screen. Sorry for crassness)
http://www.lightning-rose.com/ LightningRose

Am I the only one who felt sorry for the spider?
- awjt
  
  Hell no. Spider broke free. Spider is inspiration.
OakCliffClavin

It just wanted to get away from that terrible music.
jwkrk

Freedom! Horrible, horrible freedom!
Preston Sturges

I’m pretty sure that it’s not a spider but a red mite (like a “chigger”).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mite

Various species can be parasites of animals, poultry, and plants.
- http://aqfl.net Ant
  
  I agree. It looks like a red mite. :)
http://codeflow.org/ Florian Bösch

Far as I know a lot of arthropods have sensory organs for smell/taste on their feet. I’m just guessing here that ballpen ink doesn’t smell nice.
randyman

I have nothing witty to say; I just found that profoundly disturbing.

Why not be a bodhisattva instead?
- http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
  
  I found it instructively disturbing. The metaphor is good.
  
  Scale up the kind of fun the guy was having with the pen, and you have most of what’s worth fighting against.
asmodeus82

The spider isn’t a good rebel because he didn’t break the pen.
Get off the page man…
Kingazaz

Now that is pure courage.
jhertzli

Free at last, thank God almighty, free at last!