technology

Home Page — Centre for Internet and Society

Since December 2009, CIS has been coordinating and nurturing the Maps for Making Change project, or gan ised in collaboration with Tactical Tech.

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World’s Most Stunning Data Centers


Who says technology can’t be art? Taking a break from our typical hacks and mods, we bring you the most impressive data centers of the world. Pictured above and below, Microsoft seems to have their top-secret data center organization down to an art. As you can see, the final results are just breath taking.

Sweeden’s Largest ISP:




**Update** – See a video tour
This thing looks like a secret lair! On a truly epic scale, above is a newly opened high security data center run by one of Sweden’s largest ISPs. It’s located in an old nuclear bunker deep below the bedrock of Stockholm city and sealed off from the world by entrance doors 16 inches thick. Some data center’s have discovered how to turn those troublesome cables into something beautiful:
Data Center Cable Art:




As you can see, some data centers know how to properly organize their setups. The above are some of the best looking cable setups we’ve seen, but wait until you see the world’s worst cable messes.
Similar Posts:

Images via 1, 2, 3.


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Popular Science archives, online and free

Popscitititit

Videophoneeeeee
Popular Science, in partnership with Google, just put its 137-year archive online, for free. You can't yet browse by issue; rather, the entry point is a keyword search box. But yes, the ads are all there too. At left, Chatroulette, er, I mean "You See Your Party On New Video Phone" (September, 1950). Ah, the history of the future never gets old. Search the PopSci Archives


See original: Anu's shared items in Google Reader Popular Science archives, online and free

Concept for swarming "display blocks"

Last week, I posted about Flyfire, an MIT research project to explore whether a swarm of tiny illuminated helicopters could form into a flying display screen. In a similar vein is Julia Yu Tsao's Curious Displays, her graduate thesis project last fall at Art Center College of Design. The video she made to demonstrate her vision is lovely and provocative. From the project page:

Curious Displays is a product proposal for a new platform for display technology. Instead of a fixed form factor screen, the display surface is instead broken up into hundreds of ½ inch display blocks. Each block operates independently as a self-contained unit, and has full mobility, allowing movement across any physical surface. The blocks operate independently of one another, but are aware of the position and role relative to the rest of the system. With this awareness, the blocks are able to coordinate with the other blocks to reconfigure their positioning to form larger display surfaces and forms depending on purpose and function. In this way, the blocks become a physical embodiment of digital media, and act as a vehicle for the physical manifestation of what typically exists only in the virtual space of the screen.

Curious Displays

Previously:


See original: Anu's shared items in Google Reader Concept for swarming "display blocks"