this.edgeofforever.netJekyll2016-06-08T00:23:34-04:00http://this.edgeofforever.net/RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.net/this@edgeofforever.nethttp://this.edgeofforever.net/tribeca2016-04-28T00:00:00-04:002016-04-28T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<h2 id="enter-the-triangle-below-canal">enter the triangle below canal</h2>
<p>last year, i had a splendid time attending an all-day event hosted by <a href="https://tribecafilminstitute.org/programs/detail/tfi_interactive">tribeca interactive</a>, but sadly had to miss due to its simultaneity with <a href="/ttw2016/">#ttw2016</a>. so i did the next best thing and stopped by for the <a href="https://tribecafilm.com/festival/virtual-arcade">virtual arcade</a>, a selection of 13 innovative vr experiences.</p>
<p>one enters the arcade, a long room filled to the brim with unearthly purple light. ultraviolet and magenta tones to play chords on the retinal cones. all around are lines for the more immersive experiences (<a href="https://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/crystal-reef-interactive-2016">the crystal reef</a>, <a href="https://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/dragonflight-2016">dragonflight</a>). arranged in the middle of the hall are futuristic-yet-inviting swivel chairs in which one might sample the delights of full headset + headphone virtual reality.</p>
<p>my time was limited so i only was able to submerge myself in a few pieces. the two that stood out were:</p>
<h2 id="the-misdemeanorhttpstribecafilmcomfilmguideperspective-2-the-misdemeanor-2016"><a href="https://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/perspective-2-the-misdemeanor-2016">the misdemeanor</a></h2>
<p>the modern murder mystery, told through the eyes of the four involved: two young black men and two police officers. the short film brings the viewer directly into the issue of police brutality. this film from <a href="http://www.speculartheory.com/perspective-2/">specular theory</a> uses the point-of-view perspective as a storytelling device. in turns, the viewer is obligated to see each side of the story. the technique is quite effective, as it becomes difficult to squarely assign blame when the issue is presented in totality. this approach also highlights the systemic issues at work. punishing an individual does nothing to solve the overall problem of excessive force, gross miscommunication, and threat escalation endemic to so many urban social interactions. <em>misdemeanor</em> disturbs, but also provokes questions and holistic thinking.</p>
<h2 id="asheshttpstribecafilmcomfilmguideashes-2016"><a href="https://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/ashes-2016">ashes</a></h2>
<p>a tragic love story, also a bit of a mystery. this short vr film from jessica kantor and <a href="https://www.vrideo.com/">vrideo</a> tells the classic story of love and tragedy through dance, in 360 virtual reality. this film innovates on the medium with a single timeline play out in three parts, simultaneously. the narrative is divided, with a scene to the left, center, and right showing different segments of a linear narrative. at once, one can watch the grace of two lovers dancing together, a horrific discovery, and its aftermath. the use of simultaneity lends the subject matter a feeling of predestination. while in reality, the story arc is no less inevitable than any other screen-based narrative and yet it is rare that the audience sees the threads of fate so directly.</p>
<p>i’m sure that i missed many amazing projects, and look forward to the offerings at next year’s festival.</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/tribeca/">tribeca 2016</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on April 28, 2016.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/ttw20162016-04-23T00:00:00-04:002016-04-23T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<figure>
<a href="/images/posts/2016/ttw2016_chilltheory.jpeg"><img src="/images/posts/2016/ttw2016_chilltheory.jpeg" alt="#TtW2016 #K1 Chill Theory" /></a>
</figure>
<h2 id="the-utopia-has-become-overgrown">the utopia has become overgrown</h2>
<p>welcome to <a href="http://theorizingtheweb.tumblr.com/">theorizing the web</a>, in which rooms full of people with beautifully diverse and interdisciplinary backgrounds have the pleasure of taking a weekend to converse with each other about <strong>the internet</strong>.</p>
<p>what brought me to this conference? as a non-academic, i had no research to present, nor was i in the right place for professional networking.</p>
<p>i came to communicate, to hear the thoughts of people who take the internet seriously (as i do) - and not due to marketing conversion rates or bottom lines. online interactions mediate so much of our lives, it seems only fitting to give them the same thoughtfulness as the rest of sociality. i came for inspiration and grounding for my own professional and artistic practices and i found plenty of both.</p>
<h2 id="legitimization-via-authenticity">legitimization via authenticity</h2>
<p>online, as in the rest of life, certain elements become mainstream, or brought into <em>canon</em> - a term most used in the fan fiction world but with broad reaching cultural implications. the development of <em>taste</em> reflects contemporary values of what is considered pleasing, enjoyable, and (more recently) authentic. it is a zero-sum game, with the latest trends inevitably being judged by their predecessors. each new generation of social media platform re-invents the bounds of taste and authenticity. the new is more <em>authentic</em>, the mainstream is most <em>tasteful</em>.</p>
<h2 id="hows-our-performance">how’s our performance?</h2>
<p>#ttw2016 calls no one to action. as the scientific method begins with observation, it follows that theories must develop before we discover the best ways forward. the subtext: what kind of web do we wish to inhabit?</p>
<p>after the conference, i am left to examine my own performances. what pop culture am i canonizing through social media shares? what social privileges do my own selfies (or lack thereof) evoke?</p>
<h2 id="and-thenthere-were-bots">and then…there were bots</h2>
<p>the most intriguing thought that i encountered at #ttw2016 originated during the ‘automated personality’ keynote panel, while <a href="http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/judith/">judith donath</a> spoke of artificial intelligence and biological signaling.</p>
<p>she noted that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test">turing test</a> marks the turning point beyond which we can no longer reliably judge ai, as at that point they have become like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batesian_mimicry">monarch and viceroy butterflies</a> mimicking the warning signals against predation.</p>
<p>i wondered, will the processes of natural selection work on these entities as well? how will their accelerated selective pressures optimize them? and will we ever be able to comprehend?</p>
<h2 id="i-developer">i, developer</h2>
<p>we craft the web, whether it’s eating itself, or <a href="https://medium.com/@sgreenwood/software-is-eating-up-the-world-part-ii-f272a6635765">eating whoppers</a>. it is impossible to do so without bias. #ttw2016 sheds light on how these biases manifest, through focusing on vernacular use of web platforms.</p>
<p>the biggest take away from an industry perspective is that people will find ways to use the web and play out the drama of sociality in ways that designers and developers don’t always anticipate. ‘the user is not you’ becomes a poignant directive; we must build systems with enough flexibility for end-user innovations. modularity, openness, and remixability are the social currency in culture online.</p>
<p><em>if you’re interested in watching the archives from #ttw2016 panels, you can find them on the <a href="http://theorizingtheweb.tumblr.com/2016/livestream">official livestream</a>.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/ttw2016/">#ttw2016</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on April 23, 2016.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/timesig2015-11-11T00:00:00-05:002015-11-11T00:00:00-05:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>“what time is it?”</p>
<p>an innocuous question, but for the peculiarities of the date. tonight is our designated windfall.</p>
<p>“it feels later than 1:30!”</p>
<p>i comment to a fellow party-goer upon checking the time on my phone.</p>
<p>while we were chatting, dancing, drinking, and celebrating, our devices auto-updated. our attention was elsewhere and at the government-appointed moment, a fundamental measure of our lives was altered.</p>
<p>precise time-keeping is a relatively recent phenomenon, too recent to be affected by any but the mildest selective cultural pressures. and yet our lives are ruled by it. we hoard time and spend it wisely. we waste time on pleasurable and frivolous pursuits and judge selfworth in busy-ness. we are what we make time for.</p>
<p>back in the club, my friend notices my wrist watch. i am a cyborg but not uncynical about my technological agency. is anyone qa testing the human api for physical dimension?</p>
<p>“we can fact check this!”</p>
<p>indeed the second opinion reveals that our timelines have diverged with our selves of half-hour passed.</p>
<p>day light savings strikes again.</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/timesig/">time signatures</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on November 11, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/citygrowth2015-11-06T00:00:00-05:002015-11-06T00:00:00-05:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<figure>
<a href="/images/posts/citygrowth_pixel.png"><img src="/images/posts/citygrowth_pixel.png" alt="" /></a>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/citygrowth/">citygrowth</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on November 06, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/contexts2015-10-25T00:00:00-04:002015-10-25T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>what are we trying to accomplish, leaving the city behind, watching the lights recede into the sacred dark of nature.</p>
<p>what is natural. what did we discuss. living the high life on the edge of apocalypse we feed each other information and satisfy primordial desires.</p>
<p>yet we all agree, things fall apart.</p>
<p>yet when have they not.</p>
<p>the orbit of the earth is a slow process of falling into the sun, and missing.</p>
<p>we share what we can, tossing word salads.</p>
<p>i spent two days without technology, chatting about technology. i am a cyborg.</p>
<p>so the environment grows up around us, and we tend it and prune it to our liking. or let it grow. the blossoming colors of the gowanus canal speak loudly of our uniquely suited abilities to appreciate our anthropocene context.</p>
<p>living on the brink of a new world, do we stop to ponder too often where we’ve come and spend less time appreciating where we’re going?</p>
<p>radical networks, we form amongst ourselves. an amazing talk by edward vielmetti on emergent network architecture that parasitizes and then proliferates on existing systems. is it necessary that we reuse older methods? memetic network evolution propels us forward faster than the past can provide security.</p>
<p>paige peterson spoke on the insecurities of a networked existence and design ideas to consider as our networks grow, as we train them to shield our privacy and work for us rather than the other.</p>
<p>other network-based projects demonstrate how worlds are shared - <a href="http://bibliotecha.info">digital libraries</a>, <a href="http://nycmesh.net">digital infrastructure</a>, <a href="http://www.signalstrengthproject.com">digital resistance</a>, while networked neighbors ask <a href="https://github.com/justpitbulls/hwyd-radnetworks">how was your day</a>.</p>
<p>post_humans look forward to the future, and repurpose the infrastructure of the present to meet our needs. our rate of expanding knowledge and capacities overtakes our abilities to predict the near-term needs of anyone who is not exactly us. or, brings the limitations of our attempts at prediction into stark focus.</p>
<p>compare our <a href="http://www.october212015.com/">future day</a> with 1985. the singularity: are we there yet?</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/contexts/">contexts, digital, juice</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on October 25, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/premium2015-10-11T00:00:00-04:002015-10-11T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>leaving home, post_human preflight check:</p>
<ul>
<li>google maps’ suggested route</li>
<li>review bike map</li>
<li>charged phone with google map left open (location disabled)</li>
<li>tire pump, tire patches, charged front & rear lights</li>
<li>gloves, hat, helmet, bandana, blob-enhancing sunglasses</li>
<li>layers for evening</li>
<li>half-filled water bottle</li>
<li>plastic bag (for seat cover or sweaty clothes)</li>
</ul>
<figure>
<img src="/images/posts/bikeride_20151011.png" alt="" />
<figcaption>bike route through three boroughs</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>seeing an estimated 12+ miles to your destination can be discouraging. the raw number belies the invigoration of biking the urban jungle.</p>
<p>gradients of people rush by to the sound of wind. traffic patterns emerge, merge, submerge, but staying afloat is easy as keeping toes on the pedals and pushing.</p>
<p>what more could be desired from this sacred union with the city infrastructure?</p>
<p>minimal minimap.</p>
<p>soundtrack.</p>
<p>image capture.</p>
<p>chroma-expressiveness.</p>
<p>handsfree pov.</p>
<p>[for an artistic rendering of the authentic nyc biking experience, the author recommends viewing <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1547234/">premium rush</a>, but does not endorse throwing away your brakes.]</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/premium/">re-enacting premium rush</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on October 11, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/wayfinding2015-10-07T00:00:00-04:002015-10-07T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>leaving home, post_human preflight check:</p>
<ul>
<li>google maps’ suggested route</li>
<li>check official subway map to confirm that its the best route</li>
<li>leave a destination map open on phone’s map app (with location disabled for privacy)</li>
<li>saved image of the graphical subway map</li>
</ul>
<figure>
<img src="/images/posts/orange_parkdtc_0_notch_reverb.png" alt="" />
<figcaption>on the train -- underground -- no service</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>rerouting due to delays, “does the q train go anywhere relevant to this expedition?”</p>
<p>check saved subway map image to confirm.</p>
<p>ask other passengers? only if battery is dead / no time to calculate</p>
<p>above ground - check google map app / station maps to reorient</p>
<p>confirm using directionality / antidirectionality of streets</p>
<p>wonder, would a wayfinding service help? why not use gps navigation instructions for pedestrian routing?</p>
<p>the process of wayfinding involves inefficiencies, mistakes, problem-solving and critical thinking. one is not delivered to the destination as an empty package - one has an idea of how we got here, even if it’s not the “here” we were expecting.</p>
<p>are these cognitive connections and inefficiencies only necessary for a world of imperfect connectivity?</p>
<p>is wayfinding a noble pursuit or acculturated behavioral relic?</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/wayfinding/">wayfinding in the urban jungle</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on October 07, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/sherlockiot2015-09-28T00:00:00-04:002015-09-28T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>twitter is the ultimate source of socially-sourced information for the contemporary post_human. a carefully curated selection of individuals and organizations enables one to stay current on events, thoughts, and themes across digital media, journalism, privacy, education, and myriad related topics. it was through my twitter grapevine - specifically from <a href="https://twitter.com/storycodeorg">storycode</a> - that i discovered the transmedia happening / generative tale-telling / massive online classroom / murder mystery known as <a href="http://sherlockholmes.io/">sherlock holmes and the internet of things</a>, produced by <a href="http://www.digitalstorytellinglab.com/">columbia university’s digital storytelling lab</a>.</p>
<p>the crew staged this iteration of sh+iot at the iconic <a href="http://www.lincolncenter.org/">lincoln center for performing arts</a>. the crisp autumn day perfectly complimented the outdoor activities of staging a crime scene, sleuthing clues, and deducing the culprit. the director, <a href="http://www.digitalstorytellinglab.com/staff/lance-weiler/">lance weiler</a>, briefed our group on the motivation driving the experience: to utilize new idioms emerging from the internet of things to intentionally transfigure narratives, much like arthur conan doyle’s applications of the nascent field of forensic science in the original sherlock holmes stories.</p>
<p>after introductions, we were split into groups of 3-4 folks and assigned a “body,” a silent improvisational actor who was the cornerstone to the interactive narrative experience. given certain tasks involving the body and “clues” (descriptions of items on pieces of paper), we engaged in a paper-prototyping collaboration. the “killer” watched us via <a href="https://www.periscope.tv/">periscope</a> and occasionally provided clues and commentary.</p>
<p>post_humans crave connection, both raw and meditated, and in this way sh+iot was quite edifying. our team of three connected with each other, discussing the story as we worked to solve / create the murder plot. we were connected to the other groups from our shared pool of clues, and connected to the remote team via the periscope application.</p>
<p>this unique experience merged elements of improv with immersive theater. perhaps in the next iteration the paper “clues” might be replaced with net-connected objects (since there wasn’t a iot element apparent in the version i experienced). a number of points of confusion arose due to the lack of precedent experience; it wasn’t clear at first that the narrative was open-ended. once my group fully understood that our outcome would be our own invention, the experience seemed more playful and fluid. it was quite gratifying to leave lincoln center with a story, a piece of co-created culture all our own. this was much more satisfying, to watch this story enacted and appreciated, than a pre-scripted “big reveal” so typical of arthur conan doyle’s original work.</p>
<p>the future of amusement eschews passivity in favor of active co-creation. investment, empowerment, cooperation - these are the best of all possible entertainments.</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/sherlockiot/">sherlock holmes and the internet of things</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on September 28, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/yummy2015-09-21T00:00:00-04:002015-09-21T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>a few weeks ago i was surfing around the interwebs and decided to check in on <a href="http://www.yummyinternational.com/">yummy international</a>, the food blog of the traveling post_human chef jerica green. always eager to learn more ways to sustain my meat-space existence, i was intrigued by her cooking tips, and enjoyed re-learning <a href="http://www.yummyinternational.com/2015/06/cooking-tip-8-how-to-properly-hold-chef.html]">how to hold a chef knife</a>.</p>
<p>then i surfed onward, and for all intents and purposes, forgot what i had read.</p>
<p>time passed, life moved on, i read more cool articles about countless other things that i have similarly submerged in my sea of thoughts in the wake of the living present instant.</p>
<p>but today, i started to chop garlic and noticed that i was using the technique without conscious effort, without ruminating over the blog post in the intervening time.</p>
<p>i’m not sure what it was about this meme in particular that took root in my barely-conscious layers. was it the first-person photos? was it because i had encountered the information before? some confluence of events have lead to a real change in my behavior - muscle-memory practically - without conscious effort.</p>
<p>post_human props to jerica, for hacking my brain so effectively, with such useful information :)</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/yummy/">the meme you feed</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on September 21, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/yaminyc2015-09-19T00:00:00-04:002015-09-19T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>last weekend a glitch occurred in the matrix of new york: the back alleys of the internet took physical form at the knockdown center in queens at the <a href="http://yami-ichi.biz/nyc/">internet yami-ichi</a>.</p>
<p>as a curious post_human i felt practically <em>called</em> to attend this event. these were my people. or bots. or bot-people. the only way to find out was to show up – or find a <a href="https://www.periscope.tv/">periscope</a>.</p>
<p>i ventured forth in my best #weatherpunk garb as part of the delegation from <a href="http://weatherishappening.com/">WEATHER IS HAPPENING</a>, boston’s premier weather service. we spent the day ogling what the net has wrought, and urging all to REPENT.</p>
<figure>
<img src="/images/posts/weatherteam_yaminyc.jpg" alt="" />
<figcaption>the weatherteam and portable weather desk (photo by chris romero)</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>what does weather have to do with the internet, you might wonder? much like the internet itself, emergent atmospheric phenomena are at once global and local. changing temps are something that we can all relate to, and find solace in sharing on the social avenues available.</p>
<p>WEATHER IS HAPPENING embodies a glorious tradition of merging of virtual and real that precedes the internet of things: the internet of weird.</p>
<figure>
<img src="/images/posts/annotatar_yaminyc_20150912_4.png" alt="" />
<figcaption>real U virtual at yaminyc</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>post_humans crave connection, and guard our attention. how many online weather services exist to sell our most precious resource? not so at WEATHER IS HAPPENING. your dignity is respected, and in fact your personal relationship with the weatherlords is all but monetizable.</p>
<p>WEATHER IS HAPPENING adhesive emblems and sky-blob enhancing glasses were hot items at the black market - though no substitute for actual intimate connection with the weatherlords’ eye.</p>
<p>when i wasn’t hawking repentance, i wandered around bashfully admiring the world’s largest in-joke, <a href="http://arebe.github.io/annotatar/2015/09/14/week3a/">annotating</a> as i ambled. the <a href="http://twinhead.org/iyithch2033/">thch meme traders</a> spoke to me in the language of the future: obscure imagery and ideas at affordable prices. and also megaphones.</p>
<p>post_humans crave novelty, and the internet yami-ichi had quite a concentration; however certain patterns emerged: the lab coat of authority.</p>
<p>post_humans crave lab coats - at least 4 booths presented in full scientist regalia, two of which were internet-related medical services, more evidence that the healthcare industry is prime to be disrupted.</p>
<p>as some wise guy in the christian bible once quipped, there is no new thing under the sun. it can be easy to forget that all memes have their roots in, at least the parameters of biological function. but internet enthusiasts revel in remixing projects like mike richison’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPeJMA8xVD0">16 step social</a> instagram video sequencer. does this lead to memetic bloating, like a poorly-maintained code base cobbled together by anyone with a keyboard? or just a really good time?</p>
<p>post_humans are self-deprecatingly aware of our dependence on memetic substance. the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nophone-usa/the-new-and-unimproved-nophone">no phone</a> is a kick-started brick of plastic that serves as a luddite prosthesis. <a href="http://www.decostick.cc/">deconditioning stickers</a> quietly comment on our attention’s mismanagement - a cry for moderation, a whisper of empowerment.</p>
<p>and yet even in the black markets, art persists. expression ranges from of pixelated anatomical pillows of <a href="http://www.thedis4design.tumblr.com/">dani leggard</a>, to the twitter bot chapbook from <a href="https://twitter.com/the_ephemerides">the ephemerides</a> of allison parrish, to <a href="http://nycityofmike.blogspot.com/">analog instagram filters</a>. post_humans crave beauty that washes ashore among the digital flotsam, polished smooth by contact with many minds, and comforting in its intellectual ergonomicity.</p>
<p>we project our visions onto everything, even screens that are projecting light onto our fevered brains.</p>
<p>post_humans reject linearity and the dichotomies it imposes - in favor of networks and dissonance. the post_human world is grand and beautiful; it is petty and frantic; it is connected and isolating. it must be experienced to be understood.</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/yaminyc/">internet yami-ichi in new york</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on September 19, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/nycmesh2015-09-16T00:00:00-04:002015-09-16T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>i’ve been cultivating a fascination with grassroots network infrastructure ever since i had the pleasure of reading <a href="http://craphound.com/unwirer/">unwirer</a> by <a href="http://www.antipope.org/charlie/">charles stross</a> and <a href="http://craphound.com/">cory doctrow</a>.</p>
<p>a walking tour of copley square in boston inspired me to consider what <a href="http://slides.com/arebe/sanctuary#/">sanctuary</a> might be like for post_humans – certainly connectivity is high on the list of essential post_human rights.</p>
<p>it was with great delight that i had the chance to catch up with new york’s own band of unwirers, the <a href="https://nycmesh.net/">nyc mesh</a> crew.</p>
<p>nyc mesh is enabling the usa to join in the international movement for free and community-owned internet connectivity; <a href="https://guifi.net/en">guifi.net</a> in spain is the world’s largest such network, with 27,000+ nodes that provide internet coverage to catalonia and other parts of spain. <a href="http://freifunk.net/en/">freifunk.net</a> is another large network, in germany, whose community has been instrumental in developing the batman node firmware that is deployed on many such mesh networks.</p>
<p><img src="/images/posts/20150915_networks.png" alt="connecting to nycmesh node at dba" /></p>
<p>i connected to the nyc mesh on my smartphone, right there on the spot. once connected, i could surf the web as normal – and i also had access to content that is available only on the mesh servers, such as wiki.mesh.</p>
<p><img src="/images/posts/20150915_wikimesh.png" alt="nyc mesh wiki" /></p>
<p>we brainstormed about content that might be helpful to serve up on the local mesh. i’d like to use a collaborative wordsmithing tool, such as <a href="http://etherpad.org/">etherpad</a> or an expressive web chat client like <a href="https://github.com/meatspaces/meatspace-chat-v2">meatspac.es</a> – something that might simulate the feeling of sitting on the front porch, chatting with your post_human neighbors.</p>
<p>i was a bit dubious about my own ability to start hosting content on the mesh, but i was assured that i could easily configure a <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/remote-access/web-server/apache.md">raspberry pi to be a perfectly functional web server</a> – and start contributing to the growing mesh community in nyc.</p>
<p>i’m still doing a bit of research before installing a node of my own – and clearing it with my flat mates who own the “roof access” that would be valuable real estate for the router – and i look forward to linking up soon!</p>
<p>this rad cadre of post_human network evangelists <a href="http://www.meetup.com/nycmesh/">meets weekly</a> at d.b.a. in the east village.</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/nycmesh/">nyc mesh</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on September 16, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/puzzlewear2015-09-15T00:00:00-04:002015-09-15T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>today’s idea for #post_human fashion:</p>
<p>puzzlewear.</p>
<p>shirts with subtle geometric patterns that might entertain fellow metro-travelers with spatial puzzles to solve.</p>
<p>sounds like: <a href="http://beesandbombs.tumblr.com/">bees and bombs</a> manifested on a screen print.</p>
<p>fashion for social good. post_human performative social gifting.</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/puzzlewear/">puzzlewear</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on September 15, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/first2015-09-11T00:00:00-04:002015-09-11T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>post_humans prefer to organize procrastination as intricate cascading tasks of increasing complexity.</p>
<p>hi new york. i’ve been here for about two weeks, lying low and getting a feel for the landscapes.</p>
<p>tomorrow is the much-anticipated <a href="http://yami-ichi.biz/nyc/">internet yami-ichi nyc</a>. i’ll be there, as an ex-pat member of the <a href="http://weatherishappening.com/">weather is happening</a> weather team. so <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23weatherpunk">#weatherpunk</a>.</p>
<p>i have much to share with you, and even more as the timewave collapses to zero.</p>
<p>as ever,</p>
<p>RB</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/first/">first words</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on September 11, 2015.</p>
http://this.edgeofforever.net/init2015-08-22T00:00:00-04:002015-08-22T00:00:00-04:00RBhttp://this.edgeofforever.netthis@edgeofforever.net
<p>Hello. So nice of you to join us.</p>
<p><a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net/init/">init</a> was originally published by RB at <a href="http://this.edgeofforever.net">this.edgeofforever.net</a> on August 22, 2015.</p>