Surya Mattu
Surya Mattu is an artist and engineer critical of the public perception and access to wireless spectrums. He is a 2015 Data and Society fellow where his research is focused on the technology and politics surrounding the radio frequency spectrum
Presenting
SDR-101 : The Hitchhiker's Guide to the RF Spectrum
Radio waves have been harnessed for communication for over a century. Until a few years ago the high cost of entry to this field limited the avenues of non-commercial exploration and research. As the price of software defined radios (SDRs) has decreased the quantity (and quality) of open source software and tools that support this hardware has increased tremendously.
Using these devices it is possible to explore communication networks that were previously off limits. These include air traffic control, weather satellites, GSM, and many more! This talk hopes to make SDRs exciting for the uninitiated with an explanation of what they are, how they work, and how they can be used for creative purposes . We will use the FCC allocated radio spectrum as our playground and explore the waves!
... and presenting with Ingrid Burrington
Workshop: I Think Therefore ICANN: An RPG about TLDs
No experience necessary, no extra materials needed.
Domain names are where the politics, poetics, and peculiarities of the web express themselves in often the most direct and clever ways. But even the most active domain name hoarder might not really understand how the Domain Name System works, why certain TLDs exist, and how they at times become an arena where real-world geopolitical conflicts play out online.
This is a workshop about understanding the technical structures behind the weird and deeply political world of domain names via a live-action roleplaying game. We'll begin with an overview of DNS, ICANN, the TLD creation process, engage in some roleplaying scenarios based on real-world incidents in ICANN history, and brainstorm alternative models to the current model for network naming conventions. Somewhere between Risk, D&D, Model UN, and TRON.
