This is to both sides. Security minded experts and viral marketing hippies.

Knock it off.

First there was that idiotic stunt in Boston. Hey kids, let's strap wires and batteries to bridges. Then let's get all snarky when middle-aged Boston police don't laugh heartily at the obvious allusion to late night Cartoon Network programming watched exclusively by geeks and stoners. Douchebags.

Then there where the the CD players strapped to the to the bottom of church pews. Some insufferable little brat, infused with the kind of disaffection and smugness that only our best liberal arts colleges can infuse, hid obsenity-spewing CD players in a New Mexico church on Ash Wednesday. Then other snarky "the highest form of patriotism is dissent" geeks rushed to mock the police who called in the bomb squad to blow up the CD players. Maybe the cops over-reacted - but then again, maybe these cute little "pranksters" shouldn't have hidden what could have been bombs in a church on a major holiday. Because that's the kind of thing that, you know, terrorists might do.

Bonus frustration: if these CD players had been hidden in a mosque and not a church, this story would have (a) been in the New York Times not just tech blogs and (b) been about a "hate crime", not about a "prank"

And now we've got security officials leaving visibly leaving fake bombs out in the middle of malls:

The idea is to get people to be more aware of potential bombs. Except what it actually does is get people to ignore really obvious bombs. Now run a little thought experiment: what would happen if those bombs had been real bombs? Umm... nothing, because people would have thought that it's an asinine public safety stunt.

So here's our modest proposal: don't leave things that could be mistaken for bombs in public. Don't strap things with wires and batteries to bridges. Don't use hidden electronic devices to show your displeasure with religions that liberals are allowed to hate (hint: not Islam). And don't leave things with wires and timers in the middle of malls. That way people will be really suspicious every time they see anything with wires, battiers, or timers - which, we remind you, will be a good thing.

References:
* Roads closed amid Boston bomb probe [Breitbart]
* When Your Only Tool Is A Bomb Squad, Everything Looks Like A Bomb [Techdirt]
* RMall: It's this obvious if you are alert [Scary Ideas]

Previously:
* Los Angeles Times Dishonest about Pentagon-Funded Report, Recommends Israel Disarm
* Jihadists Hiding Bombs Among Pets, Children
* One Jerusalem Conference Call: Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu