d30c7e7: add actual date in log/2025-visualizing-image-compression/index.md
Photograph of a beach that no longer exists shows an image of a beach near Barcelona which is now gone due to the effects of climate change. This post describes the sketching for Photograph in more detail.
47f54b3: correctly spell name in log/2023-rebuilding-a-solar-powered-website/index.md
After five years of running it we rebuilt solar.lowtechmagazine.com to work with hugo.
47f54b3: correctly spell name in log/2023-how-to-build-a-low-tech-internet/index.md
Low-tech Magazine launched a thematic publication on digital technology
02e3c39: consolidate tags in projects/wttf/index.md
Welcome To The � Federation was a research project that sought to understand how knowledge and skills from communities in the arts and design can contribute to the creation of alternative digital ecosystems based on open standards …
02e3c39: consolidate tags in log/2023-critical-infrastructure-lab/index.md
In April 2023, the opening conference of the Critical Infastructure Lab took place at the UVA. The lab is focused on the study of media infrastructures and has three strands of research; geopolitics, standards, and environment. …
793a914: add projects in projects/opendrugs/index.md
Open Drugs is a database intervention, concluding an investigation into what people might find to be the ’limits’ of open-sourcing. If knowledge becomes freely distributed and accessible, at what point do people become …
793a914: add projects in projects/ethernetspot/index.md
Ethernet spot in portrait mode, the CAT5 cables sticking out make it look like an octopus GIF animation showing a rotating model of the ethernet spot The Free Ethernet spot is a site specific public internet service located in …
793a914: add projects in projects/infrastructours/index.md
Invitation for the Infrastructour INFRASTRUCTOURS was a guided bus tour to internet infrastructure in the north of the Netherlands.
In September 2014 Google announced that it would extend its cloud by building a new data center in …
44f82c6: move static files around and fix download links in projects/packetradio/index.md
a zine on how to make internet connections with walkie-talkies
f57a7c8: more x-links in projects/rd/index.md
Part showcase, part recipebook, this publication is a blog-like overview of works by Dennis de Bel and Roel Roscam Abbing. In the almost 200 pages of R&D: a low-end rich media publication their prototypes, try-outs and …
793a914: add projects in projects/solar.lowtechmagazine.com/index.md
A redesign of Low-Tech Magazine blog to imagine what a ‘Low-Tech Website’ could be. The site runs on off-grid solar power and the website can go off-line after a few days of bad weather. Rather than overprovisioning …
44f82c6: move static files around and fix download links in projects/telewar/index.md
Telewar zine An artistic research project done in collaboration with Micha Prinsen and Dave Young that took place during a three week residency at Upominki Rotterdam. During this period, then emerging traces of ‘drone …
793a914: add projects in projects/bibliotecha/index.md
Bibliotecha is a framework to facilitate the local distribution of digital publications within a small community. It relies on a microcomputer running open-source software to serve books over a local wifi hotspot.
7bff76d: add drone flights project in log/2015-dutch-drone-flights/index.md
Using public sources to map and the use of military technology over the Netherlands
07755dd: add pages archive in pages/contact/index.md
hmu @
☞ roel at roelroscamabbing dot nl for mail
☞ blabla at roelof dot info for xmpp
☞ rra at post.lurk.org for fediverse, click here
☞ rscmbbng at twitter dot com for tweets
2bbb39d: add mirror of Spheres of Identity in log/2024-digid-metagov/index.md
Shared preliminary findings from Digital Identity research project at MetaGovernance seminar
8405960: add PDC2024 paper in log/2024-pdc24-make-friends-not-art/index.md
On the topologies of digital identity systems and how thinking derived from topological determinism obscures how digital identity systems operate in practice.
479ccae: Artists Running Data Centers feature in log/2024-artists-running-data-centers/index.md
the expression ARTIST RUN DATA CENTER (ARDC) refers to a server cluster that artists and collectives use as an experimental production space
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2015-fiber-interview/index.md
in the context of workshop that never happened, Dennis and me got interviewed about our radio experiments
672d5ea: spell check and fix broken links in log/2015-double-dutch-irish-sandwich/index.md
A simple recipe to make your own Double-Irish-Dutch Sandwich, a yummy Dutch accounting classic!
6f07eff: spelling, grammar fixes and additional refs in log/2016-REND-Vapourtrail/index.md
An semi-naive business trip to manufacture an impossible phone in China becomes an exploration of material culture and informal tech economies.
6caec87: formatting changes in log/2017-net-o-nets-machine-research/index.md
a simple example of the short diversions one can take from the uniformed experience of internetworked telecommunications, to remind ourselves of the material conditions and the power relations that are implicated in each and every …
65c950e: consolidating tags in log/2018-automated-landscapes-tour/index.md
Lecture on the energy and data infrastructure in Eemshaven for a group of architecture researchers
024631c: add link to video documentation in log/2024-back-to-the-future-of-the-internet/index.md
Fresh ideas from the Internet’s past against stale techological futures
2bbb39d: add mirror of Spheres of Identity in log/2024-digid-spheres-of-id/index.md
On the topologies of digital identity systems and how thinking derived from topological determinism obscures how digital identity systems operate in practice.
5301c6b: clean tags in log/2015-packet-radio-at-radical-networks-nyu/index.md
a practical workshop on doing TCP/IP over UHF and what those acronyms mean
65c950e: consolidating tags in log/2015-infrastructours-a-guided-bus-tour-of-network-infrastructure/index.md
A guided bustour of internet infrastructure in Eemshaven
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2016-transmediale-off-the-cloud/index.md
packet radio setup Together with Dennis de Bel I was invited to join the Off The Cloud Zone, a gathering of practicioners and researesearchers engaged with different networks during Transmediale 2016. For this event we sat joined …
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2016-teletype43/index.md
crop from an original TTY43 Manual The Teletype Model 43 is a so-called teleprinter or dumb terminal. It can be used as an interface to various other machines to provide a terminal interface. Yes, there is a direct relation …
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2016-unicode-poster-executions/index.md
A script that generates all Unicode code points and prints them to stdout. Can be used to generate HTML pages which can be printed out into posters. This work was made as part of Modifiying The Universal a workshop and …
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2016-immaterial-labor-union/index.md
image from TR52 The comment on Unicode’s Technical Report 52, which was the result of a workshop in Arhus with Femke Snelting and Peggy Pierrot got republished in the 7th Immaterial Labor Union Zine.
The Immaterial Labor …
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2016-the-largest-experiment/index.md
A practical workshop reflecting on the relation between the infrastructure, the protocols and the narratives of the internet.
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2016-modifying-the-universal/index.md
A close reading of the process of implementing emoji modifiers in 2015, published in Data Browser 6
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2017-materialising-the-internet-exhibition/index.md
Pretty Fly For A Wi-Fi was exhibited at the exhibition “Materialising the Internet” in MU Eindhoven.
Here is a report on the show at …
65c950e: consolidating tags in log/2017-cantenna-crafting-ws/index.md
On the 27th and 28th of October Dennis de Bel and me organized a cantenna crafting workshop.
Some introductory antenna theory Some introductory antenna theory, followed by design and building.
Building Straightening a solid-core …
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2018-libre-graphics-meeting/index.md
overview of the presentation The Libre Graphics Meeting (LGM) is an annual international convention for the discussion of F/LOSS used with graphics. After having participated once in 2016 I felt it was time to take part again, as …
65c950e: consolidating tags in log/2018-nooo1-etherbox/index.md
I was invited by Constant VZW to help document the “etherbox” and its legacy of shared experimental network and publishing practices.
This resulted in both a Raspberry Pi image for Etherbox and a manual for that image …
65c950e: consolidating tags in log/2019-xpub-the-network-we-de-served/index.md
From January to April 2019 on behalf of Varia, Manetta Berends and me taught a thematic course at the Experimental Publishing Master’s programme at the Piet Zwart Institute. Responding to new developments in federated social …
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2019-solar-media-links/index.md
List of media and projects referencing solar.lowtechmagazine.com
In English: “Can the Internet Survive Climate Change?”, Kevin Lozano, The New Republic, 2019
“The future of web design is less, not more”, …
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2019-post-design-festival/index.md
https://postdesignfestival.org/speaker/low-tech-magazine
Low-tech Magazine questions the blind belief in technological progress, and talks about the potential of past and often forgotten knowledge and technologies when it comes to …
1ede09f: add a linkback reference in log/2020-seven-theses/index.md
Cover of The Eternal Network Together with Aymeric Mansoux I co-authored an essay that looks at the interrelation between Free/Libre Open Source Software(F/LOSS) and the Fediverse, an alternative social media network. Through …
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2020-transmediale-fediverse/index.md
Photo during talk Seven Theses On the Fediverse Photo by Adam Berry (CC BY-SA 4.0)
As part of Transmediale 2020: End-To-End I’ve participated in a talk, a panel and three workshops.
a talk The talk was a high-speed 20 minute …
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2020-redirecting-networks/index.md
Spread of Neural Magazine showing some of the work that is part of R&D Projects part of R&D were featured in Neural #65, a special issue edited by Rachel O’Dwyer.
Get it here: …
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2020-portable-libraries/index.md
screenshot of the calibre interface Tools like Calibre make it possible to organize digital publications into meaningful collections by adding a wealth of metadata to files. This makes it possible to organize and search …
44f82c6: move static files around and fix download links in log/2021-limits-21-this-is-a-solar-powered-website/index.md
On the 14th of june I presented ‘This is a solar-powered website, which means it sometimes goes offline’: a design inquiry into degrowth and ICT at Computing Within Limits. LIMITS is a yearly workshop concerning the role of …
65c950e: consolidating tags in log/2021-one-click-install-to-autonomy/index.md
Very scientific graph of fleeting interest in alternatives infrastructural practices by cultural practitioners and institutions vs ongoing groundwork done by subcultural practices On the 30th of June and 1st of July 2021 Aymeric …
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2021-disegno-feature/index.md
The work on solar.lowtechmagazine.com, and the opinions of yours truly, were featured in “The Biggest Machine On Earth”. In this article in Disengo Journal, Oli Stratford explores the material side of the internet, …
a779429: update toolmaking entry with photos, details and outcomes in log/2023-toolmaking-for-a-human-sized-agriculture-ws/index.md
This workshop focuses on the relationship between tool design, the human body and the land.
65c950e: consolidating tags in log/2023-a-transversal-network-of-feminist-servers/index.md
a collaborative project formed around intersectional, feminist, ecological servers whose communities travelled between each other in 2022
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2023-toot-indexable/index.md
Mastodon 4.2 introduced a general opt-in for indexing public posts. Is this the beginning of an opt-in mechanism for computational academic research?
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2023-duurzaamheid-webdesign/index.md
Het energieverbruik van ICT is een complexe kwestie. Naast een sociaal en technisch vraagstuk is het ook een ontwerpvraagstuk. Hoe kan je de energievoetafdruk van je werk minimaliseren?
907e2bb: backlink to netonets in log/2018-maps-is-not/index.md
When it comes to the internet, geoip won’t help us really understand where we are, or help us understand where in the diagram of the power relations we are.
838cbaf: publish calibre prototype draft in log/2024-federating-community-libraries/index.md
a prototype to interconnect digital community libraries and their publications using existing standards
6fa0e96: fix article slug in log/2015-giant-corn-brew/index.md
an attempt to brew something using a corn variety cultivated for its size not its flavour
3708beb: change image in projects/prettyfly/index.md
Pretty Fly For A Wifi revisits the histories, origins and uses of self-made Wi-fi antennas. The project was about rebuilding, testing and documenting these folkloric parts of network infrastructure. The designs for these antennas …
a6f1955: spelling in log/2016-spectrum-scanning-at-kik/index.md
a two-day intensive workshop at KiK to introduce and open up a relatively new set of open-source tools; SDR (Software defined radio) to new audiences.
5d2522e: organize tags better in log/2023-impromptu-museum-of-obsolete-devices/index.md
Discussed the design behind solar.lowtechmagazine.com at an introductory event of Malmö Degrowth Studies group
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2023-bno-sustainability-webdesign/index.md
I discuss the sustainability of ICT and what one can do within web design in an article for the magazine of the Professional Association for Dutch Designers
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2022-konfluks/index.md
a tool that brings together small and dispersed streams of web content from different applications and websites together in a single large stream.
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2023-infrstructuring-alternatives/index.md
The workshop introduces the question of alternative social media and how a software like Mastodon, based on its federated topology, allows for different relationships between user communities and their infrastructures.
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2014-unitary-networking/index.md
Combining OpenWRT, Unitary Urbanism, TP-LINK routers, Silicone, Maizena, Gouache, 9V Batteries, Fake Rock Solar Panels as its unlikely ingredients, Unitary Networking looks at the relationship between power and infrastructures, …
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2019-PWB/index.md
Tracing the genealogy of a single emoji from map historic map icon, to ethnicized and gendered representation
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2019-nooo2-three-takes-on-taking-care/index.md
A periodic para-nodal publication documenting networks of practices, tools and experiences that is itself collectively written within a network
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2013-ramsomnote-py/index.md
a script that uses favicons to create ransome notes, readable by humans, less so by machines
65c950e: consolidating tags in log/2021-digital-solidarity-networks/index.md
What are lessons learned from alternative, decentralised or federated infrastructures?
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2022-how-to-run-asmall-social-network-with-friends/index.md
A workshop on organizing and maintaining a Mastodon server
8036c41: consolidate tags in log/2022-PDC-installable-base/index.md
This paper argues that technically-inclined PD practices that wish ”to matter” are well predisposed to significantly contribute to public repositories of computational alternatives.
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2016-the-stupid-network/index.md
This text is an offshoot of a period of research on an obsolete network protocol, X.25, which was taken as a technical object of comparison to study the ways in which contemporary Internetworking works. Being informed by …
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2016-software-as-a-critique/index.md
On the 14th of February 2016 I partook in the discussion Software as a Critique organized by the good folks at laglab.org. The discussion in particular was about the practice of critique of software through software and its …
65c950e: consolidating tags in log/2019-networks-with-an-attitude/index.md
Networks do not tell all stories equally. Networks, like all entities with stories, tell most readily those stories in whose reflection they see themselves. Eleanor Saitta, 2012
f7c827e: add archive of 2010s in log/2019-the-social-in-the-media/index.md
Varia at ODD, photo by Florian Cramer In June 2019 I joined a delegation of Varia to Bucharest Romania to meet and exchange with ODD and present our (Varia) media & software ecosystem during a presentation.
A detailed write up …
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2023-towards-a-minor-tech/index.md
Following a process of open exchanges and a three-day research workshop in London, this publication brings together researchers who address the problems of technological scale.
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2021-semipad/index.md
This article describes how to modify calibre-web to allow for collaborative annotations on publications
2fb920f: add archive of 2020s posts in log/2021-capslock-feature/index.md
CAPS LOCK by Ruben Pater is a book that explores the ways in which (graphic) design is interwoven with capitalism and the ways that designers attempt to resist that. The book does so by giving the reader a rich overview of cases, …
a3d273a: update bio in pages/about/index.md
Roel Roscam Abbing (1990, NL) a researcher in arts and design. He has a highly collaborative practice and is interested in sociotechnical systems, DIY/DIWO, self-organization and alternative technological trajectories. He is …
793a914: add projects in projects/spacekeet/index.md
The spacekeet (“space shack”, in Dutch, pronounced something like “space kate”) was a mobile DIY satellite ground station located on the campus of the Utrecht Science Park.
Between May and June 2017 the …