Grafedia - Combining Graffiti, Photography, and the Web
Grafedia is neat because it's essentially a vehicle for artistic expression that combines the online and "real" worlds.
Here's how Grafedia works. Someone with a camera cell phone takes a picture and uploads the image to the Grafedia server, associated with an email address, for example, myflower@grafedia.net. From a cell phone, this upload is accomplished simply by emailing the picture to the address @ grafedia.net you choose.
By its very nature, Grafedia is largely a mobile, cell phone kind of thing -- but you can also upload a photo or sound from your computer to Grafedia, and associate it with a Grafedia email address.
Bear with me, there are three more steps to this before the point of Grafedia beginds to emerge.
First, once your image or sound (but they are mostly photos) has been uploaded, anyone on either a computer or cell phone (or any other image/sound capable device) can download your image simply by sending an email to the designated address at Grafedia. The email should have no subject line. For example, I uploaded a photograph to myflower@grafedia.net; you can retrieve it by sending an email to that address.
Next, the point of Grafedia is to combine the world there with the world in here. People put "grafedia" up in the real world to tell others they can download the relevant picture. The grafedia address, e.g., myflower@grafedia.com, is by convention underlined in blue. Since myflower, my picture of a flower, is of my garden, I put a blue underlined sign for myflower@grafedia.net near the entrance to my garden. When the weather is better (it is raining here in Berkeley), I'll take a picture of the grafedia for the Sightings Gallery, explained below.
Finally, if you see a grafedia graffiti, you can take a picture of it. (Once again, probably using your cell phone camera, although there's nothing stopping you from using a "real" digital camera connected to your computer.) Download the relevant grafedia - by sending your email to myflower@grafedia.com, for example, if you see my sign outside my garden. You can now upload your picture of grafedia graffiti back to the Grafedia Sightings Gallery by replying to the download email and attaching your photo of the graffiti itself.
I'm not sure that Grafedia is actually useful for anything at this point, but it is certainly fun, cool, and creative - and an example of technologies and environments coming together on the Web. This one is special because it brings the outer world into the technology stew.
Posted by Harold Davis at May 4, 2005 6:45 PM
