Join our mailing list
Wilderland has two websites, one always-on, higher resolution website that is heavier to run, and one experimental, situated site, that is solar powered, and in the Nephin Park
The solar site might not always be on or available, it also has other quirks, and will be slower. Adjust your expectactions for this Permacomputing + Small Web alternative.
A blend of the words permaculture and computing, permacomputing is a potential field of convergence between technology, cultural work, environmental research, and activism. In essence it aims to promote and experiment with a more sustainable relationship with computer and network technology.^Mansoux et al., 2023
with:
The switch at the top right of this page proposes to view a different version of this site. When you access https://remote.materialsmatter.ie you are connecting to a mini web-server (a recycled Android smartphone), hosted in the Wild Nephin Park, powered by solar panels.
The aim of this remote website is firstly to demonstrate the infrastructure of web-hosting and solar power generation, and secondly to situate some of Wilderlands digital underpinnings in the Wild Nephin Park itself.
Research into what it means to take responsability for this projects’ digital infrastructure is ongoing; the solar setup at Ballycroy is the current version, see images of previous attempts, using wind power, in the image gallery below.
The digital world we live in is full of excesses. We have come to expect fast speeds, 100% up-time, high resolution and always accessible digital media. The primary version of this website reluctlantly aims to meet those expectations, while highlighting some these issues.
The main version of this site is accessible at all times of the day, but is housed on a self-hosted server, made from recycled, consumer-grade computer parts, on a domestic internet connection, and domestic electricity connection.
The remote website is most precarious, relying on solar power and cellular network, the main version of the website is slightly less precarious.
This way of doing the website(s) wants to stand in direct opposition to the maximalist, excessive and hyperscale of modern computing. Overhyped developments in AI, are a recent example of how the potential ecological benefits of the nearby Oweninny Wind Farm, might be directly taken up by ever-growing, ever resource-intensive Data Centers like the proposed Killala Data Hub by AVIAO Digital.
Topics and issues raised by the this permacomputing aproach are the object of ongoing research. Please see the events below to connect with Wilderland’s Permacomputing project, where Colm will be running workshops to share ideas and some preliminary findings, as well as gather experiences and thoughts from local and interested communities.