To be a Machine - Week 4

We began todays lecture examining the historical evolution of data storage, from ancient methods like Quipu - knotted strings on a necklace used to record information - to modern cloud computing. While intriguing, Quipu was completely impractical, the strings could become excessively long and their meanings forgotten. Nowadays, most commonly people use cloud storage for their files which proves to be highly convenient with its accessibility across a range of devises. However, ever cloud storage is not always completely reliable.

The issue of emails

During the second half of our lecture, we spoke about the carbon footprint of emails which is something hardly ever brought up. According to one estimate, sending 65 emails produces about as much carbon dioxide as driving 1 kilometre in a car. Over the course of a year, the average person in the world contributes roughly 136 kilograms of carbon dioxide to their environmental footprint just from the emails they send and receive. This is the equivalent of driving an additional 320 kilometres in a car. This really got me thinking how I can decrease my own contribution (definitively will be cleaning my emails).

Being invisible can be deadly - Hito Steyerl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKAKgrZZ_ww

In her film 'How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File', the German artist Hito Steyerl examines how digital images are generated, distributed, and stored. Adopting a humorous educational video format, the film toggles between real-world footage and digital simulations. I have extremely enjoyed Steyerl's presentation of her work as it is quite captivating to watch.