The potential I see is for Burning Man Earth is breathtaking. Burning Man is a training ground for disaster-relief. WiFi works, but sucks at Burning Man. Connectivity is transient. People are disoriented, and trying to reconnect, or find nuggets of information. The same problems exist when disaster hits, and the grid breaks. People loose each other, and they revert to the simpliest way to spread information. For example:
http://images.burningman.com/gallery/fjallstamt.16097.jpg http://www.katrinadestruction.com/images/d/1116-4/katrina_message_board The first image is what PlayaInfo at Burning Man started as, a message board for people to find each other. The second is a message board for people to find "friends and loved ones at the Reliant Center.", a shelter used after Hurricaine Katrina hit New Orleans. Will it change the experience of Burning Man? I don't doubt it. I hope it changes much more than just that. nym Written last year after Burning Man to Mikel Maron: ---- As Burning Man evolves, our world evolves. Just as Burning Man builds itself on top of the harsh Black Rock Desert, Burning Man Earth is about building a new platform for media, communication, and the new language of our world. The Internet brings us together, but what if the single link holding us in place breaks? What if what we learn in the harsh environment of the playa could be reapplied for those in crisis, instead of artistic indulgence? The same tools Burning Man Earth builds to disseminate information, map our surroundings, and connect each other are exactly the same tools disaster hit regions could use to pull themselves up in dire times. The act of building new structures and systems on top of old ones has allowed us to survive in the past, and as super-threats endanger our society, and our entire way of life, our new tools will allow us the leverage to pull ourselves up from the ashes and build ourselves anew. Burning Man Earth is more than just an attempt at radial self-expression, self-reliance, and community building. It is a tool for tomorrow. --- On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 5:38 PM, Dav Yaginuma <[email protected]> wrote: > > Well, I'm just being cheeky, but the inevitable result of giving people > reasons to bring their iPhones to the playa is more people on the playa > staring down at their iPhones. > > I had this fantasy a few years ago to create and release schematics for a > simple locative device that you could buy as a kit for around $100. We'd set > up a few towers around the playa and the device could find itself and > communicate the location to a server. Each device could have a dipswitch id, > and you could code in other device's ids, and then make a query "find me > device 4A3B". The device would have a compass and 5 red LEDs on it, you > would turn around and when you were pointing the device in the direction of > the other device, the LEDs would light up. > > Some reasons I liked this: > > - every device would look different. It would be a great opportunity for > creativity. > - there was no communication, you still had to wonder some unknown distance > through the playa to find your friends and keep checking the direction, > making it more of an adventure. > - camps, the man and art cars could promote their device ids making them > easier to find. > > Btw, I didn't know much about the technologies involved, but when I talked > to people more knowledgeable of the necessary circuit design, they all said > the cost would be way over $100, not to mention the towers, so I never > really worked on this. > > I guess my concern with an iPhone app is that it will lead to more > playa-oriented iPhone apps. Eventually someone will find a way to get most > of the city on reliable wifi, and people will be face down all over the city > IMing. I'd probably do it myself. I just find that depressing. And with the > ability to know exactly where people are, you lose some of the randomness > that makes BM fun. > > But you know, go for it, someone's going to do it eventually I guess. But I > encourage you to think of ways to design in things that preserve the > beneficial limitations of the playa. > > Sincerely, > Cranky old man > > p.s. hey you kids, get out of my yard! > > > On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 5:14 PM, Rich Gibson <[email protected]> wrote: > >> you are bringing babylon into the temple, ja. >> >> On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 5:10 PM, Jeffrey Johnson <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > I wrote it, that's Danger Ranger (Burning Man BOD member) pimping it. >> > >> > Hastening the demise? Hows that? >> > >> > On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 4:50 PM, Dav Yaginuma <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> >> >> Ok, so which ones of you are pimping GPS iPhone apps on the Playa? >> >> >> >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/10111/3324385784/ >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Dav Yaginuma >> >> http://AkuAku.org/ >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Geowanking mailing list >> >> [email protected] >> >> http://geowanking.org/mailman/listinfo/geowanking_geowanking.org >> >> >> >> >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Geowanking mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://geowanking.org/mailman/listinfo/geowanking_geowanking.org >> > >> > > > > -- > Dav Yaginuma > http://AkuAku.org/ > > _______________________________________________ > Geowanking mailing list > [email protected] > http://geowanking.org/mailman/listinfo/geowanking_geowanking.org > >
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