Big Berlin Blinkenlichten

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Posted by Hemos on Monday December 10, 2001 @01:35AM from the looking-pretty dept.

karm13 writes "The Chaos Computer Club has made a huge display using the 8 top floors of a house in Berlin with 18 windows each as a present to themselves and Berlin for their 20th birthday. You can submit animations on the Blinkenlights project page, and even play pong with a mobile phone!"

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Already slashdotted... by _14k4 · 2001-12-10 01:40 · Score: 3, Informative

May want to check out Google's cache of the page. :)
Cool, but ...been there, done that by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-10 01:41 · Score: 2, Informative

12 years ago in Sausalito...used 36 homes on the hillside. Not nearly as high-tech, however.

Nice to see the spirit lives on.
Similar projects by YKnot · 2001-12-10 01:52 · Score: 5, Informative

Tetris for big-thinking people:
La Bastille: A Tech House Art Installation
That installation was up only a few days, though.
1. Re:Similar projects by YKnot · 2001-12-10 06:28 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I gathered similar projects into a single comment. I know that this is redundant, strictly speaking, but I'll post anyway. It's much more accessible this way. I'm knocking on the karma cap anyway, so no, this isn't whoring, just risking to get modded down for redundancy. Enough blabber, here we go:
  
  Chaos Computer Club Blinkenlights, Berlin, Germany
  18 x 8 matrix of white lights
  Links:
  http://www.blinkenlights.de/
  
  KPN Building, Rotterdam, Netherlands
  22 x 44 matrix of green lights
  Links:
  http://home.wanadoo.nl/makiueda/climbman/index-e.h tml
  http://www.blezer2.myweb.nl/rotterdam2000/building s/kpn.html
  
  La Bastille: A Tech House Installation, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
  10 x 10 matrix of white lights
  Links:
  http://bastilleweb.techhouse.org/
  http://slashdot.org/articles/00/04/16/2148245.shtm l
  
  Marnix 2001, Brussels, Belgium
  52 x 7 matrix of RGB lights
  Links:
  http://marnix2001.bbl.be/
  
  TU-Delft Electro Technology SMS-Display, Delft, Netherlands
  264 lights (unknown configuration), displayed mobile phone short messages
  Links:
  http://etv.its.tudelft.nl/commissies/lustrum/stunt .php
  
  TU-Delft Electro Technology Tetris, Delft, Netherlands
  10 x 15 matrix of white lights
  Links:
  http://etv.et.tudelft.nl/commissies/lustrum/90/eng lish.html
  
  MIT's Green Building Sound (VU) Meter, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
  9 x 1 matrix of red lights
  Links:
  http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1993/green_bldg _vu_meter/green_bldg_vu_meter.html
  
  Clickscape 98, Linz, Austria
  13 x 8 matrix of white lights
  Links:
  http://www.servus.at/clickscape98/
  
  Poli-uni students dorm, Warsaw, Poland
  14 x 16 matrix of white lights
  Links:
  http://www.astercity.net/~kvas/riviera.jpg
Re:Blinkenlights by Emil+Brink · 2001-12-10 01:57 · Score: 3, Informative

You might want to read up on your jargon, then. Here's a relevant entry. This is also linked to, btw, by the CCC page in the main article.

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main(O){10<putchar(4^--O?77-(15&5128 >>4*O):10)&&main(2+O);}
Re:been done by Weh · 2001-12-10 02:01 · Score: 3, Informative

some pics (text in dutch)
TU-Delft by Fuzzums · 2001-12-10 02:30 · Score: 3, Informative

The TU-Delft did the same thing in feb. this year as a stunt. Only they used a 23 floor building to display messages and to play snake :)
Sorry, I coundn't find pictures and the text is in dutch
http://etv.its.tudelft.nl/commissies/lustrum/stu nt .php

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Privacy is terrorism.
Re:yeah, but... NOT offtopic by jridley · 2001-12-10 03:18 · Score: 2, Informative

He's referring to a similar project a couple of years ago where you could play tetris on a building using a controller attached to the lights in the building.
how it is done... by psych031337 · 2001-12-10 04:01 · Score: 5, Informative

Here is a quick summary of the tech behing the buzz for all those who don`t want dig through "fishy" translations:

8 stories with 18 windows each

each windows is illuminated by a pretty standard contruction lamp with 150W

each lamp is connected to a relais (sp?)

the "Blinkenlights Chaos Control Center" is located in the top story

each relais is connected to the control machine with a simple amplifying circuit

5000m of cable were used (about 5500yards)

3 networked machines are used for central switching control, playing console and remote control

to ensure even illumination all windows have been covered with white paint

The entire setup took less than 4 weeks from idea to realization

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+++ath0
Re:Cool Project, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-10 04:07 · Score: 2, Informative

X-10 would take to long. It takes .63 seconds to send 1 command.
Live cam of the setup here. by Bender+Unit+22 · 2001-12-10 05:45 · Score: 1, Informative

http://berlin.ccc.de/~hans/cam2.jpg

Also see the site dedicated to the event here.
Re:Blinkenlights by netsharc · 2001-12-10 06:00 · Score: 1, Informative

Well, here's the history of that sign from the Jargon File

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What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
Featured in a video of the Toten Hosen by he-sk · 2001-12-10 07:36 · Score: 2, Informative

Also, when Blinkenlights are taken down (hopefully not to soon, but hey!, I just live ten minutes away), you can always enjoy part of the performance in the new video by the Toten Hosen, a German punk-band (from Hamburg, that is).

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Free Manning, jail Obama.