Digital Topology & Economic Power

The autonomous file, once the basic unit of user agency in personal computing, was first hollowed out through proprietary formats and data internalization, then abolished entirely by cloud platforms, relocating control toward incumbents at each stage. Enclosure succeeds not by offering users less, but by bundling genuine capability gains with topological restructuring, so that the user cannot accept the improvement without accepting the new relationship of power.

Understanding new Cloud Storage hierarchical namespace | Google Cloud Blog

The new hierarchical namespace capabilities bring file system optimizations to Cloud Storage buckets.

Microsoft storing Israeli intelligence trove used to attack Palestinians

Microsoft developed a customized version of its cloud platform for Israel’s Unit 8200, which is housing audio files of millions of calls by Palestinians.

ShareCenter 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure

The D-Link 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure (DNS-323)enables you to share documents, files, and digital media such as music, photos, and video with everyone on your home or office network. With the built-in FTP server, you can access your files remotely over the Internet from anywhere in the world and keep data safe by only giving rights to specific users or groups.

Ejectable Apps

An important requirement to ensure you can fully access your data in cloud apps forever is making the backend sync server available for local self-hosting. That's what EJECTABLE apps are about.

Designing a multi-sided data platform: findings from the International Data Spaces case

The paper presents the findings from a 3-year single-case study conducted in connection with the International Data Spaces (IDS) initiative. The IDS represents a multi-sided platform (MSP) for secure and trusted data exchange, which is governed by an institutionalized alliance of different stakeholder organizations. The paper delivers insights gained during the early stages of the platform’s lifecycle (i.e. the platform design process). More specifically, it provides answers to three research questions, namely how alliance-driven MSPs come into existence and evolve, how different stakeholder groups use certain governance mechanisms during the platform design process, and how this process is influenced by regulatory instruments. By contrasting the case of an alliance-driven MSP with the more common approach of the keystone-driven MSP, the results of the case study suggest that different evolutionary paths can be pursued during the early stages of an MSP’s lifecycle. Furthermore, the IDS initiative considers trust and data sovereignty more relevant regulatory instruments compared to pricing, for example. Finally, the study advances the body of scientific knowledge with regard to data being a boundary resource on MSPs.

Permissioned Data: Space Access - Nick's Blog

Stepping outside the shapes series for a deep dive: how space configuration decides which people and which apps get credentials. Here be dragons.

Cloudflare acquires Outerbase to expand database and agent developer experience capabilities

Cloudflare has acquired Outerbase, expanding our database and agent developer experience capabilities.

COS goes FOSS The sorry state of scientific publishing and how we could move to an open and resilient infrastructure

“The data files remains our property and are not deposited for free access.”

Hippius – Decentralized Cloud Storage

Decentralized and transparent storage. Cloud solutions. Storage, virtual machines, apps backed by a blockchain for unmatched transparency and trust.

Malleable software: Restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps

The original promise of personal computing was a new kind of clay. Instead, we got appliances: built far away, sealed, unchangeable. In this essay, we envision malleable software: tools that users can reshape with minimal friction to suit their unique needs.

Malleable software: Restoring user agency in a world of locked-down apps

The original promise of personal computing was a new kind of clay. Instead, we got appliances: built far away, sealed, unchangeable. In this essay, we envision malleable software: tools that users can reshape with minimal friction to suit their unique needs.

The Epic Story of Dropbox's Exodus From the Amazon Cloud Empire

Half-a-billion people stored files on Dropbox. Well, sort of. Really, the files were in Amazon’s cloud. Until Dropbox built its own. And threw the switch.