One man is offering up his own face to the public in a bid to keep us all out of the prying eyes of Big Brother. Chicago-based artist Leo Selvaggio is fighting the power by giving up his visage – but don’t worry, no costly and painful operations are necessary. Selvaggio’s anti-surveillance project consists of an eerily realistic rubber mask that you wear over your own face to fool every surveillance camera you may pass.

While it might sound like an elaborate plan for the artist to have a million alibis while he commits a crime somewhere, the project is all about privacy. In most cities, citizens’ faces are captured on surveillance equipment dozens if not hundreds of times a day – and we are quite often unaware that we are being watched. If simply existing in a public space makes you subject to spying, how closely are you being watched and tracked when you assemble in public places?

The URME project puts Selvaggio’s face onto your body, and it’s so realistic that it fools facial recognition software easily. In a world where our every movement and activity can easily be tracked without our knowledge, a solution that lets us hide in plain sight may just be the only way to protect our privacy. URME Surveillance has surpassed its funding goal on Indiegogo and will supply the rubber masks (or paper ones if you’re on a budget) at cost, meaning that Selvaggio won’t make any money from the project, which he sees as a public service.

The post Face Off: Wear This Man’s Face to Protect Your Own Privacy first appeared on Gajitz.

Brand new cars have all kinds of incredible “smart” features, but for those of us who can’t afford to upgrade our rides at the moment the Car Connection from Audiovox provides some of the same functions for a fraction of the cost of a new car. The little device plugs into the car’s OBD-II port, which is standard on all cars produced in 1996 and after. With it, you can keep track of your driving performance, stay on top of needed maintenance, and make your car into a no-phone zone.

The device can give you feedback on your driving via your smartphone or computer. It tracks data like fuel consumption and driver performance, then builds reports based on that data. This function is ideal for keeping track of how your newly-licensed teen is doing on the road without you, or monitoring an elderly relative’s safety on the streets. The device will give you tips on fuel economy and safe driving habits.

The Car Connection can do all sorts of other cool tricks, like blocking cell phone usage inside the car. It can set up a kind of virtual safety boundary of your choosing, so if Grandpa decides to take your car for a joyride across state lines the device will notify you. If your car is ever stolen (or if you forget where you parked it in a massive parking lot), you can look up the car’s exact location instantly.

You can even run reports on the car’s current health and necessary preventative maintenance like brakes and tire pressure. The price tag seems kind of reasonable when you compare it to the cost of buying a new car: $170 purchase price, $20 activation, and a monthly fee of $10 (or a $90 for a year).

The post Simple Gadget Plugs Into Car to Make it Instantly Smarter first appeared on Gajitz.