If you’re the least bit curious about how the Internet shapes urban form (or even what physically constitutes the Internet), don’t miss this lecture with Andrew Blum, author of Tubes:
NEW FREE LECTURE
Tubes and Exchanges: Discovering the Real Places of the Internet
May 2, 7 pm
SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street.
Admission is free, but reservations are required. Reserve at www.sfu.ca/reserve
When a squirrel chewed through a cable and knocked him offline, journalist Andrew Blum started wondering what the Internet was really made of. So he set out to go see it — the underwater cables, secret switches and other physical bits that make up the net. Blum’s talk will take you on a journey through this network of networks. 
He will explore its evolution over time and how centralized hubs called Internet Exchanges (there are 350 in the world) are making the Internet faster and more affordable for everyone in the cities where they operate. He will highlight Vancouver’s Internet Exchange, operated by BCNET and located at SFU Harbour Centre, and what it means for the city’s businesses, public post-secondary institutions and future economic development.
Lecture details here.
Andrew Blum is the author of Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet, the first book-length look at the physical heart of the Internet itself. When not immersed in the Internet’s depths, Blum writes about architecture, design, technology, urbanism, art, and travel.
Sponsored by BCNET, British Columbia Internet Exchanges, and SFU Continuing Studies (City Program)
