Crank the Web is a browser that allows people to physically crank their bandwidth in order to see a website. Simply enter a URL, start cranking, and text and images appear in the browser window. The idea behind Crank the Web is to combine ancient forms of automation with today’s digital telecommunications technology. All bandwidth should be free and everyone should have access to the fastest speed connection. It is up to you to physically crank your bandwidth so that your internet connection will rely on your personal strength, not personal wealth.[1]

For Zombie & Mummy, Lialina and Espenschied are creating weekly episodes of a comic strip featuring the two title characters. Each episode is embedded in a colorful environment. Drawn on a Palm pilot, the cartoons themselves have a low-tech look, with no shades of gray and only 160x146 pixels per frame. They can be viewed online or downloaded for a palm device.[1]

From Rhizome:

Globalmove.us implements a combination of the Google Maps API and subversive javascript written by the artists to create frenetic drawings (earthworks even) built of Google Maps UI elements. The ability for JODI's hand crafted javascript to accomplish this feat is explicitly allowed and defined by code that is written, hosted and provided by Google. Were this work to be preserved by a collecting institution, how would one ensure that changes made by Google to their Maps API does not destroy the functions implemented by the artist's code?

Super Mario Movie is a reprogrammed 8-bit Nintendo game cartridge revolving around the famed Italian plumber Mario who first made his appearance in 1981 as a character in the videogame ‘Donkey Kong’. Since Mario’s rise to fame he has become the main character in approximately 200 different videogames, making him somewhat of a pop-culture icon. In this work Arcangel hacks the game cartridge to produce a 15-minute movie showing how Mario’s life has spiralled out of control as a result of the gradual decay of his outdated technology. In the opening scene we read the following text; “as a video game grows old its content and internal logic deteriorate. For a character caught in this breakdown problems affect every area of life.” Whilst being partly satirical, Arcangel is also describing the natural degradation process that eventually affects all information storage devices and the short life-span that these technologies experience. This is partly due to the rapidly evolving pace of technological advancement and as such can be read as a comment on our insatiable hunger for constantly new and updated technology. [1]