post-prism.net reflects on recent discussions on internet surveillance and the user’s privacy with a set of speculative and experimental online tools.

Each of these tools transforms a well-known everyday online activity into an experience of irritation and subversion illustrating what different modes of publishing, production and sharing could look and feel like.

By chosing the form of pseudo-productive online tools post-prism.net suggests that change on how we and others deal with our data has to start with the user’s everyday behavior.

h0110w compost public space


      :::    :::  ::::::::  :::        :::        ::::::::  :::       ::: 
     :+:    :+: :+:    :+: :+:        :+:       :+:    :+: :+:       :+:  
    +:+    +:+ +:+    +:+ +:+        +:+       +:+    +:+ +:+       +:+   
   +#++:++#++ +#+    +:+ +#+        +#+       +#+    +:+ +#+  +:+  +#+    
  +#+    +#+ +#+    +#+ +#+        +#+       +#+    +#+ +#+ +#+#+ +#+     
 #+#    #+# #+#    #+# #+#        #+#       #+#    #+#  #+#+# #+#+#       
###    ###  ########  ########## ########## ########    ###   ###         
            

h0110w is a self-hosted open source publishing app for texts, meant to be censorship-resistant and allowing anonymous authoring.

Texts written in h0110w are neither stored on any server nor in your browser, but instead saved in the unique URL of the document itself. Wherever you post a link to the text, the whole document itself is (re)stored. These positive features are contrasted by some rather absurd side effects: Every single change of the document’s content produces a new URL, obfuscating the document’s history and questioning both concepts of the entity of “the document” and “the author”.

start code@github


                        ___                                
                       /\  \                               
                      /::\  \                              
                     /:/\:\  \                            
                    /:/  \:\  \                         
                   /:/__/ \:\__\                        
                   \:\  \  \/__/                        
                    \:\  \                              
               ___   \:\  \     ___                             
              /\  \   \:\__\   /\  \                            
             /::\  \   \/__/  /::\  \                        
            /:/\:\  \        /:/\:\  \  
           /::\~\:\  \      /:/  \:\  \                                                                             
          /:/\:\ \:\__\    /:/__/ \:\__\
          \/__\:\/:/  /    \:\  \ /:/  /
               \::/  /      \:\  /:/  / 
                \/__/  ___   \:\/:/  /  ___ 
                      /\  \   \::/  /  /\__\       
                     /::\  \   \/__/  /::|  |      
                    /:/\:\  \        /:|:|  |   
                   /:/  \:\  \      /:/|:|__|__ 
                  /:/__/ \:\__\    /:/ |::::\__\
                  \:\  \ /:/  /    \/__/~~/:/  /
                   \:\  /:/  /           /:/  / 
                    \:\/:/  /  ___      /:/  /   
                     \::/  /  /\  \    /:/  /   
                      \/__/  /::\  \   \/__/     
                            /:/\ \  \         
                           _\:\~\ \  \      
                          /\ \:\ \ \__\            
                          \:\ \:\ \/__/            
                           \:\ \:\__\              
                            \:\/:/  /  ___         
                             \::/  /  /\  \       
                              \/__/   \:\  \      
                                       \:\  \                                
                                       /::\  \ 
                                      /:/\:\__\                                         
                                     /:/  \/__/                                           
                                    /:/  /                                               
                                    \/__/        
            

compost contrasts current modes of publishing and sharing with the concept of destruction.

The self-hosted open source app offers easy-to-use interface to upload and share photos online just like any other blog system. Unlike other solutions all uploaded images are given a maximum number of possible views with every view slowly degenerating the image thus preventing unwanted appropriation and commodification of the shared content.

start code@github

                              
   @@@@@@@    @@@  @@@   @@@@@@@    @@@        @@@    @@@@@@@  
   @@@@@@@@   @@@  @@@   @@@@@@@@   @@@        @@@   @@@@@@@@  
   @@!  @@@   @@!  @@@   @@!  @@@   @@!        @@!   !@@       
   !@!  @!@   !@!  @!@   !@   @!@   !@!        !@!   !@!       
   @!@@!@!    @!@  !@!   @!@!@!@    @!!        !!@   !@!       
   !!@!!!     !@!  !!!   !!!@!!!!   !!!        !!!   !!!       
   !!:        !!:  !!!   !!:  !!!   !!:        !!:   :!!       
   :!:        :!:  !:!   :!:  !:!   :!:        :!:   :!:       
    ::        ::::: ::   :: ::::    :: ::::    ::    ::: :::  
    :          : :  :    :: : ::    : :: : :   :      :: :: :  
                                                           
                                                          
       @@@@@@    @@@@@@@     @@@@@@     @@@@@@@   @@@@@@@@       
      @@@@@@@    @@@@@@@@   @@@@@@@@   @@@@@@@@   @@@@@@@@       
      !@@        @@!  @@@   @@!  @@@   !@@        @@!            
      !@!        !@!  @!@   !@!  @!@   !@!        !@!            
      !!@@!!     @!@@!@!    @!@!@!@!   !@!        @!!!:!         
       !!@!!!    !!@!!!     !!!@!!!!   !!!        !!!!!:         
           !:!   !!:        !!:  !!!   :!!        !!:            
          !:!    :!:        :!:  !:!   :!:        :!:            
      :::: ::    ::         ::   :::    ::: :::   :: ::::       
      :: : :     :           :   : :    :: :: :   : :: ::        
            

public space is a WiFi hack that brings the fragility and vulnerability of the web’s infrastructure from its invisible backends to the user’s screens.

The app installs a public open WiFi at a given location. All users surfing the web using this particular network become connected when the app transmits all their actions to every other user’s device. By visualizing these actions right in every user’s browser window public space tries to deconstruct the concept of safe private networks and the comfort zone of your own device. By that it also illustrates the common deal of “free access for personal data”.

code@github

post-prism.net is built by Martin Wecke in 2014.