Invisible Algorithms, Invisible Politics

February 18, 2018 by kris de decker Filed Under: Technology

We have been enticed into a world in which computing has faded into the background of everyday life, effectively becoming invisible. At the same time, we have actively concealed the ways in which these networked systems of software, data, technologies, and infrastructures “have politics”. And, with promises that computers are impartial, we have removed them from the public eye, making them difficult to expose and critique.

Yet these systems can only be understood as the flawed extensions of human creation. They act on our biases by replicating them and distributing them into the background of everyday life, thereby reinforcing and even exacerbating existing structural inequalities… Rather than letting these systems fade into the background, a deeper engagement with the material realities of digital technologies is necessary.

Read more: Invisible algorithms, invisible politics, Laura Forland. Via SF Sutcliffe.

Mobile Clothes Washer

February 16, 2018 by kris de decker Filed Under: Human power, Laundry, Random, Washing machines

The Breathing Mobile Washer was designed so that manually plunging, the washer forces water through clothing. Compared to friction washing with hands, washboards and rocks, the mobile washer is easier to use, much less abrasive, reduces wear on clothes, and provides a superior clean. Review.

 

A Good Life For All Within Planetary Boundaries

February 16, 2018 by kris de decker Filed Under: Low-tech living

“No country in the world currently meets the basic needs of its citizens at a globally sustainable level of resource use. Our research, recently published in Nature Sustainability (and summarised in The Conversation) is the first to quantify the national resource use associated with achieving a good life for over 150 countries. It shows that meeting the basic needs of all people on the planet would result in humanity transgressing multiple environmental limits, based on current relationships between resource use and human well-being.”

“The purpose of this interactive website is to foster discussions about the meaning of a good life for all, and what it would mean for nations to thrive within planetary boundaries. Explore the challenge using the chart below, check out a World Map with our results, or select individual Countries to see their environmental and social performance relative to a ‘safe and just’ development space.”

More: A Good Life For All Within Planetary Boundaries, University of Leeds. Related: How Much Energy Do We Need?

No Tech Reader #15

December 27, 2017 by kris de decker Filed Under: No Tech Readers

From the new world, Yang Yongliang.

Slow Travel: Crossing Europe with a Giant Land Ship

November 28, 2017 by kris de decker Filed Under: Animal power, Art, Chariots, Human power, Public transport, Random, Travel, Walking, Wheelbarrows

Belgian art collective Time Circus built their first prototype of a giant Land Ship that will travel through Europe. Like a modern-day galley, the land ship will be propelled by the muscle power of the participating travelers. The journey is understood as a 21st century pilgrimage and will take an estimated 10 years. [Read more…]

Low tech? Wild tech!

November 28, 2017 by kris de decker Filed Under: Books, Random, Technology

The French scientific magazine Techniques et Culture has published an entire volume about alternative forms of technology: “Low-tech? Wild tech!“. The 300-page issue explores the differences and conflicts between high-tech and low-tech, with a focus on all the forms of technology which are in between these extremes.

The authors argue for a more sophisticated view of technological evolution, which is now usually seen as linear progress towards ever increasing complexity and perfection. The contributions show that reality is much more complicated, and much more interesting.

The issue is the fruit of a three-day discussion in Paris in 2012, in which I participated. The volume features a translated article from Low-tech Magazine: “How to build a low-tech Internet?”. “Low tech? Wild tech!” will be presented and discussed in Paris on December 9, 2017.