I have been doing an art project about life on a space colony where the sky is a screen (sorry we can't afford enough nitrogen to fill up huge airspaces.)
I was looking at the possibility of turning the sky into a kaleidoscope with multiple laser projectors under conditions where there is a cloud layer within (say) 1000ft of the ground. I'm pretty sure I could get a permit from the FDA/FAA to do a scale test but I don't know if you could make a real show or art installation of it because whether or not it works depends on the weather, air traffic, etc.
That drone array is another attack on the same problem.
Ugh this is so Shanghai and not in a good way. I lived in Shanghai for about 2 years. Certain 'design decisions' that they make are like Times Square with Chinese Characteristics. It feels like a pop-up ad in real life that you physically can't close. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not some architectural taste curmudgeon. I actually like the garish lighting and weirdly shaped vanity projects like the Bottle Opener. I just hate the buildings that literally become building-sized billboards when you look at the skyline at night.
You would hate my view from Hong Kong, where I finally got a sea view from a high rise floor, and I can see the entire city lighting up at night with huge ads and stuff.
It feels so Ghost in the Shell, I reached my goal :D
The Bund is like that but not all of Shanghai is so garish. French district for example - though I agree the city Shanghai feels most like is NYC (just not all copies of Times Square).
There's very little overarching design in the new development, and I grew to like the patchwork quilt-like mismatch of elements. Shanghai is a beautiful city, though if you said "this is so the Bund" then I'd agree with everything you said.
I was in Shanghai for a couple of days, and I really loved the night, in a Blade Runneresque sort of way. Even watching the smog-filled sky filtering the sun at dawn was mesmerizing, thank you jet lag... but I understand why living there full time couldn't be the best experience.
Please help me understand how this could be considered anything but dystopian? The night sky is a commons and a natural wonder that humans have communed with for millennia, and this pollutes it with an obnoxious and un-ignorable visual display that nobody asked for or wanted and that benefits virtually nobody besides its creators. What upside could there possibly be?
It depends on the culture of the person experiencing it. We don't all share the same cultural values. So, there is no reason this is not dystopian for many many people.
"We have different cultural values" is not carte blanche to say anything you want. That's like not calling Nazi and Soviet governments oppressive just because they valued social order in a different way than Allied powers did. Cultures can be dumb in ways that even they don't understand.
In this case the night sky has been a part of the heritage of almost every culture in the world, except modern ones. Through selfish commercialism we've polluted it for the marginal gains of advertisers.
From Cambridge dictionary: relating to a very bad or unfair society in which there is a lot of suffering, especially an imaginary society in the future, or to the description of such a society.
I fail to see how one can derive "a very bad or unfair society" and "a lot of suffering" from a QR code in night sky.
Absolutely. They take a common good that we have and use it for commercial purpose, Starlink should not be allowed to exist as a product, full stop. It pollutes the view of the sky for the entire Earth, even over countries which do not have access to the service, and for people who aren't happy to have their lives intruded by yet another American corporation.
Yes, the way these orbits work, in order to cover one area, they orbits cover the entire globe up at least to that latitude. A geostationary orbit can "fly" above one specific spot, but that's limited to being above equator and very, very far compared to these orbits (~35000 km vs ~1000 km) which makes it worse for communications.
Seems to me that some people use dystopian to mean “bad and like something you would see in a dystopian novel/movie.” Which in most cases cashes out to ‘bad and high-tech’
That sure takes a positive view of light pollution! I have never seen a "brilliant night sky" in my life and I don't live in a city. Maybe it's 95% if you count the sea but in the west it is more like 5% max.
This is same feeling I have at the beach and having to see a plane pull a banner over the ocean for Coors Light or the plethora of weed/casino billboards I see driving on public roads. We are forced into ads all around us. I'm not saying this to defend the drones, but to show the ubiquity of ads and how desensitized we've become to their invasion into our lives whether we like it or not.
It's not any more or less dystopian than a plane pulling a Coors Light ad.
However, I've noticed the negativity around anything China related, and it just triggers memories of the kind of double standards my family was subjected to when growing up as a minority in the US.
It's the same pattern as British news coverage of the two princesses, whether we like it or not.
Nobody on this site, I repeat nobody, has any animosity towards a random Chinese citizen for simply being Chinese in China.
What you call „negativity around anything China related“ is people raised in fairly free societies (most of HN) having a gut wrench reaction to whatever overstep-du-jour the Chinese communist elites (the CCP) have committed this week.
It's painfully gimmicky if it's just a product ad.
Potentially very interesting as a way to find out how many IoT cameras in an entire region automatically and insecurely decode qr codes and have line of sight in a specific direction...
its cool? common you don't have to take everything so serious. Yes oh my that marvelous night sky... in the center of Shanghai. Better stay clear of Vegas.
I mean isn't it kinda magical we're having coordinated drones form bits and bytes made of light in the sky, that people can scan using ubiquitous carry on computers?
I think the big thing that will determine if this is brilliant or dystopian is whether it gets repeated. As a one-off stunt to show off the ability to do it, it's awesome.
If it now means the sky will be an advertising billboard every night, then it's very much dystopian.
There are lots of people here worried about starlink, if you looked at any of the articles on starlink. No one brought it up here because that's not what this article is about.
> "....During the COVID-19 pandemic, local governments assigned citizens colored QR code images that indicate their risk of exposure to the coronavirus in order to manage the public health crisis. Residents need to show the code on their smartphones before entering public venues. ..."
My mom lives in Shanghai, and yes, that's how automated contact tracing works. You have to show that you're not in the "potentially exposed" category before potentially being a super spreader in a crowded place.
It makes me not worry about her safety from over here in Texas where, sadly, half the people walking out and about don't know how to wear a mask correctly.
I just saw a police show from some part of Philadelphia where young people are banned from being outside after 22:00 (younger than 16). It's bad everywhere just in different forms.
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[ 5.7 ms ] story [ 118 ms ] threadI was looking at the possibility of turning the sky into a kaleidoscope with multiple laser projectors under conditions where there is a cloud layer within (say) 1000ft of the ground. I'm pretty sure I could get a permit from the FDA/FAA to do a scale test but I don't know if you could make a real show or art installation of it because whether or not it works depends on the weather, air traffic, etc.
That drone array is another attack on the same problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV4jNWZlmEU
> 1,500 illuminated drones formed into the game’s logo and characters before transforming into a floating QR code that links to its homepage.
> (Caption) THE FLOATING QR CODE LINKS TO A VIDEO GAME'S WEBSITE. PHOTO: BILIBILI
It feels so Ghost in the Shell, I reached my goal :D
There's very little overarching design in the new development, and I grew to like the patchwork quilt-like mismatch of elements. Shanghai is a beautiful city, though if you said "this is so the Bund" then I'd agree with everything you said.
Please help me understand how this could be considered anything but dystopian? The night sky is a commons and a natural wonder that humans have communed with for millennia, and this pollutes it with an obnoxious and un-ignorable visual display that nobody asked for or wanted and that benefits virtually nobody besides its creators. What upside could there possibly be?
In this case the night sky has been a part of the heritage of almost every culture in the world, except modern ones. Through selfish commercialism we've polluted it for the marginal gains of advertisers.
Do you consider a plane flying by with a banner behind it dystopian? Isn't this more or less the same kind of thing?
Dystopian has a very specific meaning though.
From Cambridge dictionary: relating to a very bad or unfair society in which there is a lot of suffering, especially an imaginary society in the future, or to the description of such a society.
I fail to see how one can derive "a very bad or unfair society" and "a lot of suffering" from a QR code in night sky.
I don't know or care what flavor of bad the dictionary would call it. Dystopian works fine for me. Sorry it doesn't for you I guess.
I kinda wish all other ads were like that, tbh.
https://satellitemap.space/
Here's an illustration of the coverage - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#/media/File:Starlink_...
Think you'll be fine here, suggest travelling outside of the city for better views.
However, I've noticed the negativity around anything China related, and it just triggers memories of the kind of double standards my family was subjected to when growing up as a minority in the US.
It's the same pattern as British news coverage of the two princesses, whether we like it or not.
What you call „negativity around anything China related“ is people raised in fairly free societies (most of HN) having a gut wrench reaction to whatever overstep-du-jour the Chinese communist elites (the CCP) have committed this week.
Potentially very interesting as a way to find out how many IoT cameras in an entire region automatically and insecurely decode qr codes and have line of sight in a specific direction...
I mean isn't it kinda magical we're having coordinated drones form bits and bytes made of light in the sky, that people can scan using ubiquitous carry on computers?
What night sky are you talking about?
If it now means the sky will be an advertising billboard every night, then it's very much dystopian.
In the middle of a big city?
And with a QR code I can't even 'hover' to inspect the link
This bit is utterly disturbing.
It makes me not worry about her safety from over here in Texas where, sadly, half the people walking out and about don't know how to wear a mask correctly.