Friday, April 07, 2006
darker and darker
I've been following with some interest the development of Darknet technologies over the last year or so.
It's good to know that geeks are already thinking of ways of building free and secure networks on top of the internet.
At some point I'd like to set up a WASTE network just to know that I (and a few
accomplices) own a little piece of the on-line everything where we can do as we please.
I suppose it's is also strongly tied to The Crying of Lot 49 - which is still one of my favourite books of all time[1].
Also, autumn has now truly arrived in Cape Town, the leaves are turning and many days are wafted along by a warm, mild breeze. And naturally (unstoppably) it is getting darker earlier - we're headed for June 22.
[1] The Crying of Lot 49 is in many ways a futurist's prophecy and kicks ass.
It deals in part with an underground network of geeks and revolutionaries who actively work to build an independent infrastructure on top of (underneath?) the state/corporate-controlled.
Written in 1965 it also describes two unheard of concepts that have in recent years (late-70's/80's/90's) become a reality.
:: Electronic Music ::
Much of the book's underground action takes place in a bar named The Scope (oscilloscope) which enforces a strict policy on only playing electronic music - music made entirely by circuitry rather than analogue instruments[2].
:: The W.A.S.T.E. Underground mail system ::
Central to the book is a secret mail system that has developed as a remnant from a pony express-type outfit of the 18th century.
We're only now starting to see this in the form of darknets.
Waste (above) is named for it[4].
[2] Quoted from the book:
A sudden chorus of whoops and yibbles burst from a kind of juke box at the far end of the room. Everybody quit talking. The bartender tiptoed back, with the drinks.
"What's happening?" Oedipa whispered.
"That's by Stockhausen," the hip graybeard informed her, "the early crowd tends to dig your Radio Cologne sound. Later on we really swing. We're the only bar in the area, you know, has a strictly electronic music policy. Come on around Saturdays, starting midnight we have your Sinewave Session, that's a live get-together, fellas come in just to jam from all over the state, San Jose, Santa Barbara, San Diego"
"Live?" Metzger said, "electronic music, live?"
"They put it on the tape, here, live, fella. We got a whole back room full of your audio oscillators, gunshot machines, contact mikes, everything man. That's for if you didn't bring your ax, see, but you got the feeling and you want to swing with the rest of the cats, there's always something available."
[3] From wikipedia:
After being defeated by Thurn und Taxis in the 1700s, the Tristero organization goes underground and continues to exist, with its mailboxes in the least suspected places, often appearing under their slogan W.A.S.T.E., an acronym for We Await Silent Tristero's Empire, and also a smart way of hiding their post-boxes disguised as regular waste-bins.
[4] Another triviality to buzz your mind is that Radiohead named their fan-club W.A.S.T.E.
Check out the booklet of any Radiohead CD.
It's good to know that geeks are already thinking of ways of building free and secure networks on top of the internet.
At some point I'd like to set up a WASTE network just to know that I (and a few
accomplices) own a little piece of the on-line everything where we can do as we please.
I suppose it's is also strongly tied to The Crying of Lot 49 - which is still one of my favourite books of all time[1].
Also, autumn has now truly arrived in Cape Town, the leaves are turning and many days are wafted along by a warm, mild breeze. And naturally (unstoppably) it is getting darker earlier - we're headed for June 22.
[1] The Crying of Lot 49 is in many ways a futurist's prophecy and kicks ass.
It deals in part with an underground network of geeks and revolutionaries who actively work to build an independent infrastructure on top of (underneath?) the state/corporate-controlled.
Written in 1965 it also describes two unheard of concepts that have in recent years (late-70's/80's/90's) become a reality.
:: Electronic Music ::
Much of the book's underground action takes place in a bar named The Scope (oscilloscope) which enforces a strict policy on only playing electronic music - music made entirely by circuitry rather than analogue instruments[2].
:: The W.A.S.T.E. Underground mail system ::
Central to the book is a secret mail system that has developed as a remnant from a pony express-type outfit of the 18th century.
We're only now starting to see this in the form of darknets.
Waste (above) is named for it[4].
[2] Quoted from the book:
A sudden chorus of whoops and yibbles burst from a kind of juke box at the far end of the room. Everybody quit talking. The bartender tiptoed back, with the drinks.
"What's happening?" Oedipa whispered.
"That's by Stockhausen," the hip graybeard informed her, "the early crowd tends to dig your Radio Cologne sound. Later on we really swing. We're the only bar in the area, you know, has a strictly electronic music policy. Come on around Saturdays, starting midnight we have your Sinewave Session, that's a live get-together, fellas come in just to jam from all over the state, San Jose, Santa Barbara, San Diego"
"Live?" Metzger said, "electronic music, live?"
"They put it on the tape, here, live, fella. We got a whole back room full of your audio oscillators, gunshot machines, contact mikes, everything man. That's for if you didn't bring your ax, see, but you got the feeling and you want to swing with the rest of the cats, there's always something available."
[3] From wikipedia:
After being defeated by Thurn und Taxis in the 1700s, the Tristero organization goes underground and continues to exist, with its mailboxes in the least suspected places, often appearing under their slogan W.A.S.T.E., an acronym for We Await Silent Tristero's Empire, and also a smart way of hiding their post-boxes disguised as regular waste-bins.
[4] Another triviality to buzz your mind is that Radiohead named their fan-club W.A.S.T.E.
Check out the booklet of any Radiohead CD.
// posted by werner @ 2:39:00 pm 
