McKenzie Wark on 8 Aug 2000 15:01:15 -0000 |
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[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> Internet in Cambodian village |
If a network comes to a Cambodian village, and the New York Times is not there to cover it, does it make a sound? One of the ironies of the internet's supposedly decentralising effects is how much the metropolian media shapes perceptions of decentralisation itself. many thanks to Andrew for the memory... k __________________________________________ "We no longer have roots, we have aerials." http://www.mcs.mq.edu.au/~mwark -- McKenzie Wark On Tue, 8 Aug 2000, andrew garton [c2o] wrote: > >From the net-archives: > > A email and conferencing network hub was up and running in Cambodia as > early as 1994. There were no press releases, no international > spokespersons, no newspapers, no television. > > The hub utilised the rigorous features of FidoNet, which I believe is > still popular in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe. > > This humble computer polled another computer in Sydney a couple of times a > day. The Sydney hub (Pactok) would then transfer email and news postings > to another computer in Brisbane (Pegasus Networks) which in turn sent the > message out to their respective destinations on the Internet. > > An even earlier email hub, using WAFFLE, was performing remarkably well in > Phnom Penh. This was established sometime around 93. This same hub is > still operational, although no longer based on WAFFLE, and is almost > exclusively used by NGOs and not-for-profits in Phnom Penh. > > Of course, the UN had an exceptional network established throughout > Cambodia when it monitored the elections there quite some years back now. > I recall this being an optical network which, despite its physical > presence, could not and has not been made available for public use. > > -andrew. > > c2o > - Community Communications Online | Andrew Garton > - PO Box 304 | agarton@c2o.org > - Richmond 3121 Victoria AUSTRALIA | http://www.c2o.org > > > > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body > # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net > _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold