Dispatch From Internet Week Europe: Murder and Mayhem in London
Internet Week Europe had a laid-back London vibe this week, with events including a Jack the Ripper tour and a coding session for local schoolchildren, as well as a #nointernetweek ban on the digital life of five internet addicts. Almost all the events were held in the “Silicon Roundabout” area east of the city, a hub for U.K. digital entrepreneurs and tech firms.
The “Night of the Living Dead” tour, hosted by digital product and design agency Made by Many, took participants on an after-dark tour of 19th century serial killer Jack the Ripper’s most bloody crime scenes, accompanied by Victorian undertakers carrying lanterns, and three speakers on the digital afterlife.
Stacey Pitsillides, who is doing a PhD in digital death, digital afterlife and digital heritage at the University of London, spoke about the creative possibilities of tagging the streets in which you live, work and play with digital graffiti that records your memories, leaving an “information rich” environment for historians and archaeologists to find.
