Who wants to play Hide and Seek? USB dead drops

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We were once used to white, puffy clouds passing in the sky – then THE cloud came in, and the whole thing got less poetic. Cloud computing is a technology that allows to access data and services from a shared, internet based and wireless database. As the clouds, it is intangible, at times invisible. Your files are there – yet you can never see them. But what we’ll talk about here is not the cloud, actually, it’s the complete opposite – something tangible and quite popular too.

Aram Batholl, a Berlin-based artist, started his personal rebellion against Clouds in 2010, by creating an off-line file sharing tool. It probably sounds much more complicated than it actually is, so here’s a picture of what we’re talking about.

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Yes, a USB key, and yes, it’s embedded in a brick wall.

As a response to the ever-growing spreading of the clouds, Aram wanted people to start using an accessible sharing device that allowed everyone to anonymously drop whatever file they wanted, making it accessible for anyone coming across the tiny silver plug sticking out of a random wall.

And these USB are really accessible to everyone: no need to install any device or bring cables, just plug it in your computer and you’re ready to start. And not only is accessible to everyone, but everyone can make their own: once you submit the location on the website, your dead drop adds up to the other countless ones across the world.

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What you’re going to find in the mysterious USB, however, it’s impossible to know. Since everyone can use them, you are never 100% sure of what it’s going to be in it – but as Aran says, “that’s part of the game”. And maybe that’s actually what makes them so interesting ad appealing, if you’re willing to run the “risk”.

The first ever dead drop can be found in Brooklyn (NYC), but if you don’t feel like travelling to the other side of the world to see it, you can go exploring London – 6 of them are hidden somewhere across the city. But if you’re not in the mood for a treasure hunt, you can find them all here -> https://deaddrops.com/dead-drops/db-map/

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