this is the narrative that goes along with my archive project.. it should explain a few things to those of you who are confused.. after you read it, check out the archive pics and it will make more sense. this is still a sort of first draft of the story, so bear with me.
ARCHIVE ONE
When the Archive went online in the middle of the 21st century its physical construction had already been complete for many years. The Founders had planned and executed a mammoth project whose scope was eclipsed only by the level of secrecy required to keep its location hidden. As far as the Archives average user was concerned, its physical location remained unknown and, in fact, irrelevant.
Initially conceived some 60 years earlier, the Archive was to be a permanent massing of mankinds knowledge, something more than a library, a sort of gnostic recording device which would outlast not only the Founders, but perhaps all of mankind as well. Working with the Rosetta Project, a group attempting to preserve the worlds disappearing languages, and the Long Now Foundation, who were dedicated to long-term thinking and construction of a 10,000 year clock, the Founders began laying the plans for their Archive.
It would begin with a free knowledge base for all people. An online archive would be created, one which belonged to everyone. Anyone could create an entry, anyone could edit one which they considered to be incorrect. Images and quotes could be added, and the entries of the online archive would all be cross-linked [slide] whenever they referenced each other. In this way, a network of knowledge would be created which would form the basis of the physical Archive--it would be an archive of mankinds ideas more than one of facts. Its first entry would be titled Archive One.
It became clear when the online archive went live that it would be several years before it became both stable and realistically useful. This allowed time for the acquisition of land and the construction of the physical Archive itself.
First, they debated the proper media for near-permanant information storage. Magnetic media, such as hard disks, were discounted immediately as their sensitivity made them too fragile for long term usage; the same was decided of optical devices. A new material presented itself: synthetic diamond. Inexpensive and easily produced, it was distinguishable from natural diamonds only in that it was perhaps too perfect. Synthetic or not, it was still the hardest substance known to man and could be engraved by laser on multiple layers at a tremendously high density. Large monoliths of this material could be created and used as the most robust information storage devices ever known. They could, moreover, be encoded and erased several times by the same laser with almost no loss of surface area.
These monoliths raised the issue of the space that would house them, and the apparatus by which they would operate. The Archive, first, would need a GUI which organized information with a linking system like the online archive. It would also need to be understandable regardless of what language the users spoke. The Founders decided to use a three dimensional interface based on Tamara Munzners hyperbolic module for navigating directory structures. With this system, the information in the Archive could be graphically represented and searched. All information would continue to be cross-linked and referenced.
When a particular piece of information was selected in the GUI, the monolith holding it would become active, and physically raise up above the other monoliths. Those around it containing relevant information would also partially raise, creating a hump in the archive that signals an active information node. Likewise, monoliths containing information that linked to the active node would become active as well. The user would then navigate the field of diamonds until he reached the active node. Any interesting information found along the way could also be activated manually, causing another hump, and another link structure. The analog information on the monolith could be actually read with a simple magnifying device, and the founders discovered that they could also manipulate the molecular structure of the monoliths to reveal even more information upon closer examination...perhaps even human genetic code.
The space around this machine, it was decided, would be something like a church of knowledge--sacred. The user and the GUI would be situated above the field of monoliths like a high priest over a congregation. The enclosure should imply sanctity and permanence. The Founders considered petitioning the U.S. Government for a space in the Cheyenne Mountain complex, but decided against it because it seemed unlikely that the mountain would survive a modern nuclear war if one should arise. They instead opted for their own, anonymous mountain in North Africa.
Construction lasted for many years. In the end, a space over 1,500 feet long and 150 wide was created to house the Archive. Beneath it, a machine room where the laser engraving devices would be busy uplinking to the online archive, entering new entries created by the end-users and editing ones that had been changed. The monoliths themselves would be operated by means of a hydraulic system, machined from corrosion resistant metals. These mechanisms were built to exacting standards, as they were expected to last a very long time.
At the end of the main space which contained the monoliths, it was decided that a large room should be created to house the Clock of the Long Now, a symbolic gesture towards the hope for the longevity of the project. More importantly, however, this room would also contain the Archives dissemination equipment.
Powerful transmitters would emit a constant stream of information outward--spreading the knowledge of mankind beyond the limits of their home. Between every piece of information transmitted, the entry which started the online archive would be sent outward as well. This entry described the Archive itself--its purpose, its construction, everything. No reason was given for this addition; the Founders were silent on the matter.
When the online archive had stabilized itself, the Founders set the physical Archive in motion, and it began encoding, editing, and encoding again. The hum of the engraving devices was constant for a period of several years. After the main body of information was inscribed on the monoliths, activity became intermittent. Still, the machine was often busy editing existing entries and entering new ones.
After some time, the Founders faded away and were replaced by the Caretakers. As long as users still referenced the online archive, the Caretakers remained. When the system known as internet became defunct, the archive ceased to be updated. After a number of years, feeling abandoned by the users, the Caretakers shut down the archive, sealed the doors, and left. The Archive was barely one-third full.
The world changed. Millennia passed before the Descendants discovered the Archive. The Descendants were Human, or, at least they shared many attributes with us: they were curious, intelligent, ambitious. At first they could not activate the archive, but eventually one of them discovered the solar arrays atop the mountain, covered with the detritus of thousands of years. After clearing them and repairing the cabling which had been somehow broken, they powered up the Archive.
It snapped to life, its GUI glowed like no time had passed; the monoliths however all slid into the inactive position, as they could not uplink to the nonexistent online archive.
Somewhere, the Founders were smiling. They had left a surprise for the Descendants--built in with the information transmission equipment was a receiver as well, an uplink to somewhere else.
It was then that Archive One began receiving information from Archives two through 17,428. The laser engraving devices began to hum as they powered up, preparing to encode something entirely new.
relevant links:
the rosetta project
the long now foundation
wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
gemesis cultured diamonds
tamara munzner
ARCHIVE ONE
When the Archive went online in the middle of the 21st century its physical construction had already been complete for many years. The Founders had planned and executed a mammoth project whose scope was eclipsed only by the level of secrecy required to keep its location hidden. As far as the Archives average user was concerned, its physical location remained unknown and, in fact, irrelevant.
Initially conceived some 60 years earlier, the Archive was to be a permanent massing of mankinds knowledge, something more than a library, a sort of gnostic recording device which would outlast not only the Founders, but perhaps all of mankind as well. Working with the Rosetta Project, a group attempting to preserve the worlds disappearing languages, and the Long Now Foundation, who were dedicated to long-term thinking and construction of a 10,000 year clock, the Founders began laying the plans for their Archive.
It would begin with a free knowledge base for all people. An online archive would be created, one which belonged to everyone. Anyone could create an entry, anyone could edit one which they considered to be incorrect. Images and quotes could be added, and the entries of the online archive would all be cross-linked [slide] whenever they referenced each other. In this way, a network of knowledge would be created which would form the basis of the physical Archive--it would be an archive of mankinds ideas more than one of facts. Its first entry would be titled Archive One.
It became clear when the online archive went live that it would be several years before it became both stable and realistically useful. This allowed time for the acquisition of land and the construction of the physical Archive itself.
First, they debated the proper media for near-permanant information storage. Magnetic media, such as hard disks, were discounted immediately as their sensitivity made them too fragile for long term usage; the same was decided of optical devices. A new material presented itself: synthetic diamond. Inexpensive and easily produced, it was distinguishable from natural diamonds only in that it was perhaps too perfect. Synthetic or not, it was still the hardest substance known to man and could be engraved by laser on multiple layers at a tremendously high density. Large monoliths of this material could be created and used as the most robust information storage devices ever known. They could, moreover, be encoded and erased several times by the same laser with almost no loss of surface area.
These monoliths raised the issue of the space that would house them, and the apparatus by which they would operate. The Archive, first, would need a GUI which organized information with a linking system like the online archive. It would also need to be understandable regardless of what language the users spoke. The Founders decided to use a three dimensional interface based on Tamara Munzners hyperbolic module for navigating directory structures. With this system, the information in the Archive could be graphically represented and searched. All information would continue to be cross-linked and referenced.
When a particular piece of information was selected in the GUI, the monolith holding it would become active, and physically raise up above the other monoliths. Those around it containing relevant information would also partially raise, creating a hump in the archive that signals an active information node. Likewise, monoliths containing information that linked to the active node would become active as well. The user would then navigate the field of diamonds until he reached the active node. Any interesting information found along the way could also be activated manually, causing another hump, and another link structure. The analog information on the monolith could be actually read with a simple magnifying device, and the founders discovered that they could also manipulate the molecular structure of the monoliths to reveal even more information upon closer examination...perhaps even human genetic code.
The space around this machine, it was decided, would be something like a church of knowledge--sacred. The user and the GUI would be situated above the field of monoliths like a high priest over a congregation. The enclosure should imply sanctity and permanence. The Founders considered petitioning the U.S. Government for a space in the Cheyenne Mountain complex, but decided against it because it seemed unlikely that the mountain would survive a modern nuclear war if one should arise. They instead opted for their own, anonymous mountain in North Africa.
Construction lasted for many years. In the end, a space over 1,500 feet long and 150 wide was created to house the Archive. Beneath it, a machine room where the laser engraving devices would be busy uplinking to the online archive, entering new entries created by the end-users and editing ones that had been changed. The monoliths themselves would be operated by means of a hydraulic system, machined from corrosion resistant metals. These mechanisms were built to exacting standards, as they were expected to last a very long time.
At the end of the main space which contained the monoliths, it was decided that a large room should be created to house the Clock of the Long Now, a symbolic gesture towards the hope for the longevity of the project. More importantly, however, this room would also contain the Archives dissemination equipment.
Powerful transmitters would emit a constant stream of information outward--spreading the knowledge of mankind beyond the limits of their home. Between every piece of information transmitted, the entry which started the online archive would be sent outward as well. This entry described the Archive itself--its purpose, its construction, everything. No reason was given for this addition; the Founders were silent on the matter.
When the online archive had stabilized itself, the Founders set the physical Archive in motion, and it began encoding, editing, and encoding again. The hum of the engraving devices was constant for a period of several years. After the main body of information was inscribed on the monoliths, activity became intermittent. Still, the machine was often busy editing existing entries and entering new ones.
After some time, the Founders faded away and were replaced by the Caretakers. As long as users still referenced the online archive, the Caretakers remained. When the system known as internet became defunct, the archive ceased to be updated. After a number of years, feeling abandoned by the users, the Caretakers shut down the archive, sealed the doors, and left. The Archive was barely one-third full.
The world changed. Millennia passed before the Descendants discovered the Archive. The Descendants were Human, or, at least they shared many attributes with us: they were curious, intelligent, ambitious. At first they could not activate the archive, but eventually one of them discovered the solar arrays atop the mountain, covered with the detritus of thousands of years. After clearing them and repairing the cabling which had been somehow broken, they powered up the Archive.
It snapped to life, its GUI glowed like no time had passed; the monoliths however all slid into the inactive position, as they could not uplink to the nonexistent online archive.
Somewhere, the Founders were smiling. They had left a surprise for the Descendants--built in with the information transmission equipment was a receiver as well, an uplink to somewhere else.
It was then that Archive One began receiving information from Archives two through 17,428. The laser engraving devices began to hum as they powered up, preparing to encode something entirely new.
relevant links:
the rosetta project
the long now foundation
wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
gemesis cultured diamonds
tamara munzner
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I just put in a request to start an Architecture group. I'll let you know if it gets the OK.