Cosmic Backups
Dan demonstrated how Kiwix can be used to create offline mirrors of useful websites, books e.t.c. He is hoping to set up an e-ink tablet which can interface to self-hosted copies of torrented content. Kiwix also has all the TED Talks, and we questioned their usefullness in a disaster recovery scenario. Wikipedia is available as a single 90GB compressed archive. We discussed limitations and options for users with low power and connectivity. Dan explained that a major power waster in the internet infrastructure is the CPU overhead of NAT, something that could be removed if we fully transitioned from IPv4 to IPv6. We talked about wikipedia markdown, and thought it would be fun to write a renderer for it that runs on old hardware (such as the Minitel). Dan explained how solar flares could wipe out computer infrastructure, in a 21st-century repeat of 1859's Carrington Event. iFixit and the Whole Earth Index got some praise.
Video Processing
Margo presented us with a mysterious IP address to visit. She has built an image processor using cables.gl, and created a tool for playing with the user's webcam. We all admired cables.gl, Ana admitted she was surpised that a 3D graphics tool could succesfully embody permacomputing practices. Margo showed us some experiments she has been making with film archives and interactions. She is going to use what she has learned to teach an introductory course.
Personal Home Page
Ana has been rebuilding london.permacomputing.net, partly because the are.na API feels too mismatched & centralised, partly to reduce reliance on javascript. She's been using kiki, which is a javascript-free site builder developed by a member of the permacomputing community. It has a relatively tiny footprint, and uses markdown and PHP.
Ent-tennae
Delfos has been using the SOMA ETHER to record radio transmissions as they are received by trees. She's curious as to why trees seem to strongly receive BBC Radio 4, but is hoping to capture signals generated by the trees themselves, around 200Hz. She thinks she might have managed to record some static from a Hawthorne, going about its day. Unlike most modern radio receivers, the ETHER does not use filters to isolate a particular frequency band - all emissions received are heard at their respective strengths. Some of us tried the device on our foreheads, and found each of us produced different sounds. We discussed perhaps attempting to isolate frequencies relevant to trees, but agreed that the lack of filtering is refreshing. "We still put labels on negative space, even when we don't know whats there".
...and my laptop died here. I missed the project about london property & APIs?