Margaret Atwood to develop Author Recognition App

Atwood; Mobile App; Author Recognition; Doug Ford
This is not Margaret Atwood, in case you weren’t sure.

Newsiestuff – June 21, 2012 – Lost in the media buzz around Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s development of a mobile app called Fanado, designed to connect artists and fans, is the news that she is also seeking to develop an author recognition app to allow bellicose politicians, such as Toronto City Councillor Doug Ford, to recogonize her and other authors and artists in the street. The app is provisionally called Farrago.

Kiki Rodriguez-Chang,  a mobile developer close to the Farrago project, indicated that, while she is pleased with attention the other app is getting, her app is of greater importance.

“I mean, look, it’s way more important to have an app to connect artists and authors with politicians and other decision makers or frankly the person in the street – instead of to people who already read literary magazines and listen to public radio. I mean, who cares about them? We need market penetration into Philistines and illiterates. Everyone thought it was outrageous when Doug Ford said he wouldn’t recgnize Atwood in the street – the truth is most people wouldn’t.”

But how would such an work, you might ask. Well, we did anyway.

“With this app we’re thinking of somehow inciting people into downloading it by reframing it as something to do with Tim Horton’s donut shop, or maybe with that ridiculous guy in the loud suits, Bob Melon or Huckleberry, whatever his name is. You know maybe you get a free cruller or the vial of blood from a Canadian soldier or stay-at-home scrappy defenceman when you dowload the app. Real patriotic stuff. We need people like this to know that authors and artists are national heroes too and that, like a donut, they go great with coffeee.”

Presuming Ms. Rodriguez-Chang meant Don Cherry the hockey commentator, we contacted him for a comment.

“Mobile phones? Apps? Commie stuff!” said the person who picked up the phone before angrily hanging up.

Some commentatators have expressed reservations not only about the deceptive tactics planned for Farrago but even for the idea of having politicians being able to recognize them at all.

One Canadian author said upon condition of anonymity, “Yeah, not sure I really want (Canadian Prime Minister Stephen) Harper or (Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim) Hudak knowing who I am or what I look like. Not comfortable with what they might do with that info.”