WRD

Latest steps to prepare the sponsored EX Networks server so it’s ready for exploration of blockchain scraping techniques have been successful. The DDBC project now features it’s own version of MFTM and BlockSci, both provide tools to unpack individual block transactions to further evaluate the contents in our search for human reviewable materials.

Next we must improve on these techniques to unpack clustered transactions that we expect contain more complex data types, images, sounds, code as well as more lengthy texts and patterns. Time has got away from us these recent months, so we are now under pressure to engage developer assistance for extraction and representation of discoveries. Experimental Nodejs, C++ and Python code drive this process , all skills in high demand. All this toward a spring 2019 Collusion commissions exhibition.

As the MAZI Creeknet pilot draws to a close, SPC has been negotiating with contributors and connection suppliers in the local area. Together we will synchronize with existing mesh network hosts in SE8 to bring latest infrastructure elements into play in conclusion of the three year pilot process.  An additional set of Ubiquiti mesh radios are being installed during October to extend fast network access along Deptford Creek for the use of all, not least so that the distributed spaces along the creek enabled by the Mazi toolkit can link up to share outcomes.

Next generation Internet will feature crypto-enhanced distribution and retrival forms of peer exchange. Popular media resources, specialist interests and social services all seek the continuity and open accountability blockchain technologies offer but there is a long way to go before widespread understanding and adoption.

Meanwhile attention has turned again to WWW innovator Tim Berners-Lee and recent launch of Solid – social linked data, for building decentralized social applications – check the public page for uniform. YT still favours Sandstorm for day to day ease of deployment, hands off maintenance and great adaptability, perfect for slackers – but lets stay open minded eh..

Edinburgh is altogether atop of Arthur’s Seat!

The recent MAZI visit to Edinburgh concluded with an all day Symposium: Do-It-Yourself Technologies for Action and Empowerment – Thursday 18th October in the old Veterinary School, Summer Hall.

We welcomed many friends, guest speakers and local networkers to celebrate a most productive and pleasurable week of workshops, review MAZI toolkit development and acknowledge collaborative progress.

Our week began with a workshop session co-ordinated with the Unmonastery pilot group to host an all day testlab in the old Coop store on Pennywell Street in Muirhouse. A mix of resident artist, visiting engineers and local academics shared in Raspberry Pi unboxing, software exploration and collaborative configuration sprint, to establish a dozen fresh ‘Mazizones using the MAZI toolkit.

Some of us met again after lunch on Sunday at Skylight bar inside Tolbooti Market off the Royal Mile. We were introduced to the partners of a new co-working space in one of a set of rooms, around a courtyard, being reconfigured as food market and social club. They were very keen to investigate network publishing and membership co-ordination options to encourage data sharing, creative collaboration and improved sense of involvement in the new venture.
On 16th and 17th October, MAZI consortium hosted two days of public workshops in the Summer Hall, where everyone had time to work through the options for setting up and customising the toolkit to suit their particular project or method of working.

We were all stretched to feed the needs of such an energetic and enthused group each day. So many ideas and interventions underway the air was thick with brainwaves and network intensity!

Some also took time out to personalise their Raspberry Pi cases and hear more from award winning artist entrepreneur Denise Allan of Wee Replicators pioneering use of recycled plastics for 3D drawing pens and printers.

Over all over 60 happy researchers took up the offer to continue working with a Mazi zone of their own, which we look forward to hearing more about in the months ahead.

A harvest festival finale’ event for MAZI is scheduled in Edinburgh for October 18th. It will be preceded by Unmonastery testlab days in Muirhouse on 13th, 14th with Mazi workshops at Summerhall on 16th and 17th .

All are invited to participate in the MAZI making and to share in the information bounty in collective celebration of offline and complimentary networks. The network publishing toolkit runs on a Raspberry Pi and allows for flexible installation, customisation and innovative application of your activities. Contact the organisers at Napier and grab your selves a ticket to ride the waves with us all for a few days.

If you are already familiar with these small computers you might be pleased to hear about how to utilise the space on those pesky micro SD cards without handling them more than necessary. We use the Berryboot PI bootloader to swap between retro gaming, media jukebox and the Mazi toolkit. Alex has built up a definitive Pi OS repository of squashFS images to test out and deploy where you also will find the latest Mazi version awaiting you.

The collaborative and DIY working culture is very much the theme as those with shared studios increasingly feel under pressure to meet rising rents or move on out of town. So it was great to make a return visit to DIY space for London on the New Cross / Bermondsey boundary to pick up the PITPNXD T-shirts to discover new residents 1831 who have set up their custom embroidery machine in the old vinyl store. 

On a road trip back from visiting mum in a Surrey hospital, Google routed YT through Croydon (really), traffic then slowed me just around the corner from a new project space by David Panos where I was well overdue a visit, wow!

Conditions is a new one-year studio programme for 12 artists each year. It gives 24/7 access to studio space and structured critical conversations to develop artist’s work, as well as encouraging collaboration and collective work on exhibitions and events. All held in a custom conceived workhouse lovingly prepared by David and his collaborator Mathew Noel-Todd, Brighton Uni escapee. We all missed the August application deadline for this years intake, though I recommend a visit next time you are passing through.

This Antifamily LP he co wrote and produced over a decade ago is one of my favorites!

Uniform 80M-110M |100k | 1m

During the last few months of Bitspace, RF veteran Tom, media engineer Roman and YT met on a few occasions to discuss activation of some practical radio experiments. The plan is to use low cost RTL-SDR (software defined radio) integral to DVB-TV adapters to record local radio space. So it was great to get them together again this week and set up of some basic frequency scanning and heatmap rendering of the environment up at Uniform. Red areas show higher energy frequency use and blue/green the lower levels. We utilised a new tool rtl_power which improves on previously available software.

Tom was kind enough to review some of the principals and pitfalls of such work as well as guide us in the set up and use of some great RTL tools for linux that drive the SDR to output CSV files. These records were uploaded to a web service to visualise spectrum.

After a bit of orientation it was easy to focus in on interesting regions of intensive and sparse RF landscapes. The top image shows a middle range of 80Mhz through 110Mhz we know as the FM band where legacy commercial and pirate analogue broadcasts live. Radio enthusiasts may be familiar with these graphics but it’s fascinating to hear more and experiment with options. So many great resources exist to support research not least at the Radio Society website.

Uniform | 24M-1766M | 100k | 1m

This image shows a 1 minute scan of the full range of the DVB SDR capability between 24Mhz and 1766Mhz at 100k intervals. Click on it to see more detail as it’s wideband!

Our intention is to build a series of RF listening posts to install along Deptford Creek as part of MAZI pilot ‘Creeknet‘ that continually scan the environment and publish a comparative record of radio activity from end to end.

Further research into available equipment revealed just how much interest and activity is in play. A sub $100 device for wider spectrum research is the Adalm-Pluto so we ordered one to test that should arrive for next weeks session! Come up to Uniform on a Thursday to find out more and help us out!

The first day of September was celebrated is grand style at the Party in the Park for New Cross and Deptford with a variety of local music, arts and campaign stalls sharing their creative energies and enthusiasm for the area with over a thousand revelers and partymakers enjoying the refreshments and great food on offer. A few T-shirts (S, M and L) are still available for those who missed out, just £8 from the website.. funds for next years Party are already rolling it, thanks so much to everyone who donated.. and if you haven’t yet please check out the website!

The core PITPNXD group have been organising for months and somewhat against the odds, funded and facilitated a great day out for all with over 25 bands and performers, dozens of community stalls, a wellbeing area as well as ‘Tent City‘, the focus for this year, in conference to discuss local housing concerns and promote co-ordination between cooperative and association groups.

Plenty more images and video material can be found at this shared image library, so if you have a selection of images to share there please upload some of yours and enjoy the growing collection.

It’s been a busy week for Creeknet MAZI pilot as we welcomed friends to try out some of the new species monitoring and environmental reporting tools at CDC on Deptford Creek.

The impact workshop was a day of reflections and activity around future development and uses for MAZI toolkit as the 3 year project plan and local pilot reaches it’s conclusion.

Throughout, we have been actively engaging with groups outside as well as in the local pilot in Deptford and Greenwich. Many attending have already had a taste for how they may like to continue working together.  Others visiting have taken the time now to find out more and meet-up to get a first hand experience and the opportunity to set up and operate a MAZI toolkit, to work on in their own time.

We were so pleased to welcome friends from Reverso who have now been working with YT for a year to support use of the Mazi tools in ‘Distributed Spaces’ of Sao Paulo and with their 3D students at Central St Martins.

Some 20 people in all joined us for a fabulous day of open conversation, introduction to the range of work in progress and low tide walking. Some OU colleagues traveled from Scotland, others came early from MK to help prepare for the days activities, so many thanks to all who made it.

Much interest is now springing out from the installation, testing and reporting of how a portable networking toolkit can offer effective alternatives to challenge preconceptions of how we work collectively and creatively together.

Visitors to the Creekside Discovery Centre will soon also be able to track tidal temperatures at comparative depths in the river alongside the species logging and analysis processes for secondary school students.

An array of temperature sensors have been installed on the river bank and fitted to a customised MAZI toolkit by engineers at Open University. The equipment has been fitted on the back of the creek at the end of 80m of toughened conduit to protect against the elements and rodent attention. Previous installations were short lived and frustrating to maintain because of these issues, so we are now hopeful of collecting some useful data over much longer period.

Book yourself in at CDC for a Lowtide Walk and experience the delights of kick sampling and species appreciation whilst helping to increase the collective data and awareness of Deptford Creek.

At the end of June YT attended a Safe Havens session at the Centre for Postdigital Cultures in Coventry, where invitees from across the spectrum of free research,  social activist and cultural fringe, gathered to discuss experiences of collaboration and action.

There was much talk of where existing data is stored and who pays the Amazon bill, then how better meta data annotation practices and understanding of how resources can be distributed and protected for future access.

Our blockchain research group proposed a crypto ‘data sludge‘ that is pumped between network peers and reassembled on demand for those hosting a data torrent wallet.

The slip from operational independence to corporate homogeneity has to be reviewed, not least to ensure greater transparency on how essential environmental science data is afforded and resources orchestrated.

Workers at the Van Pelt Library, Pennsylvania reacted quickly to the spectre of Trumps administration, driving climate change-motivated take-down of Environmental Protection Agency’s data. Their attempts to create a safe haven for the data were rapidly overwhelmed by requests from scientific community, the extent of fragility and huge scale of the task. Works still goes on but with sights realigned toward improving on accessibility and signposting within data silos!

The socialising of information and refinement of it’s form and accessibility, formed part of the agenda at Mazi Summer School in Volos Greece.

The Mazi group met over three days at the Brick Factory Museum building to pull together some of the vital information about our experiences operating regional pilot projects, public engagement and network development, into a handbook for toolkit users. Great effort is now being focused on how to co-ordinate the MAZI project resources, personal anecdotes and practical guidelines together in a series of booklets using Onmibook

This open source project began a decade ago as Booktype by Adam Hyde. Today the Source Fabric group included it in a suite of great collaborative tools. Adam was also key in establishment of the Floss Manuals publishing missing manuals for leading open source software projects.

The stand alone features of the MAZI toolkit hint at how communities can operate while offline, using local resources to co-ordinate and collaborate rather than reaching out to cloud based corporate solutions by default.

We heard great presentations from visiting researcher Chris Elsden currently exploring the implications of blockchain technologies in the context of international development for non-profit organisations, and from Jude Mukundane of GrassRoots Radio project about their excellent telecom based FM broadcast system which adopts the RootIO radio system..

Down at the Volos city beach we were pleased to discover these floating data mines, collecting information from a set of onboard sensors to measure temperature, humidity and motion, much as we have in prepared for installation along Deptford Creek as part of the Creeknet pilot.

Weekly Mazi meetups restart after the summer break in September with a focus on extending the senses to monitor environmental conditions and reporting on resulting data streams. If you live and work in the SE8 area please contact Make@spc.org to get more involved.

The Mazi consortium met at the Zurich pilot location during May, to pick up on the process of engagement and research that concludes at the end of 2018. Our hosts, Nethood.org have been busy, both working to accommodate us for a few days but to co-ordinate some training and testing of the Mazi Toolkit with local groups and in a variety of situations.

The first day of discussion and debate took place at the newly appointed L200 social space in the heart of the latest gentrification area in the city. Traditionally home to immigrant workers and shopkeepers, it’s an area that has escaped earlier waves of regeneration and retains a human scale and international flavour in contrast to much of the city.

In the morning, we gathered at Kraftwerk1 to tour the 80’s housing coop complex and hear from some of it’s pioneer members about it’s origins and collaborative living ambitions. There is such a strong sense of achievement and continuity here that is strangely contrasted by complacency in the process which so many rely on.

Fresh ideas and a commitment to reinvigorate cooperative living processes are being explored not least as the population ages and some re-configuration and adjustment will be needed. Youngsters who have grown up here may be key to understanding what steps could be taken to improve on levels of involvement and understanding. A photographic exhibition in the main social cafe featuring the keystone elements of the coops establishment and development was compiled and presented using the toolkit. When the next exhibition takes it’s place, the Mazi Zone containing all the materials will remain accessible there for all to continue contributing to.

We then crossed the road to visit the Stadionbrache garden project in occupation of hotly contested city football stadium grounds. It then made perfect sense to bake pizza at their famous outdoor ovens! The appeal of cooperation in the dough shaping, topping and baking was compulsive. We sheltered from the strong sunshine amidst timber canopies and acacia shade, to discuss our public work, networking MAZI and bread breaking!

Our tour moved on to Kalkbreite where the latest generation of cooperative householders show us around the very impressive enviable living conditions. The secluded spaces and street accessibility make light of the complexities at play here.

The spectacle of its success coincides with an upsurge of interest and enthusiasm for cooperative housing. Zurich has set about increasing the level of state and cooperative housing from 25 to 33% by 2030. Much of the capital investment required beyond the community fund raising, will be be supplied by the Banking sector who will continue hold the bulk ownership in many of these projects, a reciprocal arrangement that seems to be widely accepted and understood.

Zurich like so many european cities lives for the river where in this case, great effort has been made to provide safe swimming access to its very clean waters which were a joy to swim in at the end of a very busy and warm day. Sorry no pics!

The 3d Pathway staff at CSM Fine art department set first year students a challenge, to utilise the ‘street’ area of the Kings Cross campus building as studio for a week whilst theirs was unavailable.

The task was to work in four groups to construct alternative working space using the MAZI offline network toolkit to express their impression of the street, experiences working in public and responses to the collaborative brief.

YT attended a briefing session with all students and department staff the week before to introduce MAZI and explain use of the many existing options for it’s use, as well as suggest ways of bending it into new shapes. We prepared a guide MAZI called ‘Kimchi’ loaded with support materials and a set of digitised sketchbooks from Four Corners as inspiration.

Work at each corner had to be decicive and inclusive of the group members. Their agenda, is much like our own, to research how to plan and operate in public, express network presence and communicate it’s existence, offer publishing options, promote engagement and document outcomes.

A week later we all gathered in the street to hear from each groups about their experiences and reflections on using the toolkit. Their responses were eccentric, exploratory and defiant, so that went as well as we could have expected!

For some, just working outside of the studio challenged their preconceptions of 3D study, others were annoyed to be diverted from other interests or bored by the investigation. For many it was stimulating and introduced ideas we hope they will continue to work with again.  We spent a few hours hearing outcomes and shared thoughts about the publishing purpose, sharing of information and definition of public space. It was a useful reminder of how perceptions of the development work differs. MAZI training and support material needs a lot more attention before final project delivery at end of 2018.

Over at Creekside Discovery Centre in Deptford work continues on development of a water based sensor array for installation at the Ha’penny Hatch so that tidal variations of temperature, salinity and turbidity can be recorded and published to their local data systems for use by visitors and students.

A species monitoring system is already configured for testing and will soon be in daily use. Low tide walkers carry iPad tablets to in waterproof holsters to the river, collecting data, counting species types and capturing images. This is part of a longer term initiative within the Creeknet pilot project, to explore environment sensing options and how the demands of different systems can be integrated into the MAZI toolkit.

Passing by the Borough Hall yesterday, YT was amused to see the modest banner drop and massive section 144 notice alongside the Gentrification n definition, attracting much attention from passers by!

RBG have been slow to respond to the changes they themselves brought about by abrupt closing the hall at end of May, without any public plan for it’s future use or protection.

Now, those of us previously excluded so nonchalantly can watch on as a little wrestle of power commences. Our old keys are no use as entrances front a rear are well sitexed barricaded so let’s hope those inside have a longer term plan and resolve to hold out to have their fun.  The new residents will begin offering building tours for those bringing food and drink to share. Try knocking the door or singing “The Thieving Magpie” !

The 1938 ‘deco structure has many extraordinary features and failings but few will survive the next stage of it’s transformation, planned or otherwise so take a look. An occupation MAZI has been established for configuration by occupants so that passers by can now add their comments, voice opinions and express frustrations!

Over at the office building squat adjacent to the the Anchor and Hope Pub, the TAA show, has mostly packed up after a storming couple of weeks exhibition and events, despite police disruption of their modest plans for DIY entertainments.

Meanwhile we have become regulars at Coopepys the community arts space at the foot of Daubeny Tower. There will soon be a fresh timetable of print and publishing sessions to add to the weekly Monday and Wednesday painting club and high speed broadband has been switched on so that MAZI work interrupted during the transition can resume. Contact make@spc.org for information or check the SPC event timetable.

An initiative to record all the community artworks produced, is underway for compilation into a printed catalogue. Your painting, printwork or fabrication should be included if you made it at Coopepys anytime in it’s history, even if you keep it at home! Please bring it along one Monday or Wednesday evening or email make@spc.org.

Just as we felt a sense of recovery from the shock of loss at the closure of Deckspace, we now hear from outgoing Greenwich Dance director that ‘news just in’ from their board of trustees (or was it RBG) setting a very short timetable for closure of the building and evacuation of all activities, not least our place of recent retreat, Bitspace.

We have until May 2018 (now just two weeks) to distill all the materials, machines and mayhem of SPC into shape for, well am not sure quite what just yet!

Over the last 17 years of our Greenwich operation, so much has changed for us all, it would take more than the pages of this blog to represent. Before any such indulgence, the practical process to gather ourselves and identify suitable next steps must get going.

When asked about the meaning of SPC the preferred response is that it’s ‘abbreviated space’. We have successfully held space open for creative use and experimentation but when circumstances change, we must respond with an expectation that each turn exposes fresh opportunities.

Coopepys faces similar issues as it’s ‘life long’ community lease at Daubeny Tower in Pepys estate is being contested by Lewisham Homes. Six spaces for painters, photographers, fabricators and community organisers are well loved but under threat. We have a long term relationship with the space and will certainly take up their kind offer to migrate some of the many SPC projects and subscriber activities.

Pepys Community Library is open 5 days a week thanks to the initiative of community activists from the estate who have taken on the responsibility and made a strong commitment to residents there. As part of its ongoing development SPC now host the weekly wireless workshop and will open the Library there each Wednesday from 10am till 6pm.

Investigations are already underway for new project HOLD at the other end of the Deptford foreshore building on the edge of Pepys Estate, though this is still less than certain. The old storehouse was built in 1780 and is between the desolated plot of Convoys Wharf and the Southwalk border. It’s currently a very serene corner of Deptford with small park and presents a sweeping Thames panorama overlooking the financial stew on the Isle of Dogs. The river along this stretch was home to the Tudor Docks and used to build British Navy ships for 350 years.

On another tack, the Glasshouse Trust are offering visual artist groups 12 months share of offices and exhibition space at Ravens Row in Artillery Street, Spitalfields. This invitation closes today so I hope they will look kindly on our appeal.

During the recent Exploding Cinema show at the spectacular Cinema Museum we were reminded how precariously their future swings in the balance in the dash for cash and release of responsibility that all local authorities lust for.

Central st Martins 3d students will be spending the first few weeks of their summer term out on the street as they explore the making of space opportunities offered by Mazi toolkit. They will be shaping up how best to configure options and set out public access to four separate offline initiatives that should accommodate examples of their working practices, initiatives to engage with each other, trade, test and contest concepts of public and private, direct action and consent.

Let’s hope they have time to pause and consider why we find ourselves in these situations and how to understand and tackle difficulties presented. I find Dmytri explanations inspiring and instructive and perhaps you will get something of value from this blast of oxygen!

counterantidisintermediation for venture communism

This week DDBC visited Cambridge for the project launch of Collusion Commissions at the start of a year long development process.

DD|BC is a collaborative project to audit public blockchains and discover published materials, traces of experimentation, civic records, an uncovering and account of lives lived in the first age of crypto currency.

  “How will the 21st century be remembered? Beyond the financial hype, people around the world are embedding messages and memorials in blockchains to preserve them forever. Like the Domesday Book, the Doomsday Blockchain is the first project to carry out a systematic survey that treats this data as a historical and cultural medium. We are are excited to work with Collusion to create a system that allows people to participate in turning these technologies into a public medium for us all.”

We joined the four other commissioned artiststo meet with Ruskin fine arts, Cambridge Consultants and chip developers ARM to introduce each project plan. Collusion have commissioned development of five research projects for an exhibition in Cambridge spring 2019.

Each project expressed very different responses to the commission call and we spent a very enjoyable afternoon talking over some of the proposals for work and plans to exhibit the outcomes a year from now. We toured the superb facilities at Cambridge Junction and heard about the ongoing project activities at Collusion Lab, took turns to plunge into virtual 3D and Augmented Reality constructs, submit to the propaganda machine and discuss some of the finer points of each others plans.

Work now commences for us all to prepare and develop first stage research and production. In preparation YT spent a few hours setting up a Mazi Toolkit for offline use whilst in the session to start the annotation process.

During the train journey tutorial Daniella had a first look at the tools and our discussion was overheard and enjoyed by self confessed technophobe Alison, who was very keen to hear if these tools could improve on north sea communications and help her grok up on Raspberry Pi lore to impress her grandchildren.