The Network we (de)Served, Part 1: Mapping network topologies[edit]
paul baran diagrams[edit]
We started with a reading of a text on centralised, decentralised, and distributed networks that included a diagram made by Paul Baran for the RAND corporation. This diagram displays classic ways to visualise these networks.
dependency mapping task[edit]
As part of the Infrastuctour, when we set up our homeservers, I worked with Artemis to create a visualisation of the dependencies involved setting them up.
physical map in XPUB studio[edit]
I made a map of the location of homeservers and routers, including the other (non-XPUB) network users as well as situations where it was not possible for XPUB students to connect their server to their home router, and so had to depend on others. Manetta introduced me to Inca Quipu, a way that the Inca recorded numbers by tying knots in strings.
I connected a piece of string I'd tied knots in to represent my external IP address for my home server, as a way to visualise the idea of connecting and also the route that a client follows when connecting to my website, which is in reverse from the way I would display my IP.
collection of texts[edit]
I began collecting relevant texts to my research and creating html pages to store them on my website. This has been a useful way to develop my web design knowledge and skills as well as provide theoretical basis for the research I'm undertaking into network topologies.
Tung-Hui Hu: Truckstops on the Information Superhighway
https://issue.xpub.nl/08/Research/b-e-e-t.r-o-o-t.net/truckstops_on_the_information_superhighway.html
Paul Rand: Cybernetic Guerilla Warfare (Radical Software 1.3)
https://issue.xpub.nl/08/Research/b-e-e-t.r-o-o-t.net/cybernetic_guerilla_warfare.html
R. Buckminster Fuller: Software (Radical Software 1.1)
https://issue.xpub.nl/08/Research/b-e-e-t.r-o-o-t.net/buckminster_fuller_software.html
These texts introduced me to alternative models for mapping topologies such as "klein worms", referred to in both Hui (2015) and Rand's (1970) texts. Klien worms are based on the klein bottle, which falls into the category of "topologically impossible" objects (such as moebius strips etc.).
Paranodal activity[edit]
The concept of paranode (as suggested in Constant's Feminist Server Manifesto, and further explored by Zach Blas) was intriguing, and I resolved to keep this in mind when mapping network topologies. I see the paranode as both a disruptive concept (the thing that isn't there?), also not related to physical devices (established as nodes, but instead on social and conceptual relations between people and the world). I took initial references from the SI concept of the derive as a way to rethink autonomy in public space.
On further reading I found this article:
http://www.christydena.com/2007/08/new-network-theory-the-tyranny-of-nodes/
The author defines the paranodal in this way: the space between nodes; the space that is not dead, but very much alive.
The author also uses Ranciere's terminology, saying: the paranodal is "the part of those who have no part", where we experience what it is to be outside of the network while still being related to it.
maps and autonomy[edit]
I began recording some of my thoughts around the concept of contingent autonomy and how it relates to mapping. These refer to the map/territory problem, which sees a 1:1 map as redundant (and therefore useless) and also Hakim Bey's Temporary Autonomous Zone concept (introduced to me by Tancre), where the 1:1 map is the only possible way for someone to have autonomy.
https://pad.xpub.nl/p/map_thoughts