May I pick your brains?

[3rdragon]

My really-not-at-all-boss (who nevertheless is the person with the clearest ideas for what I'm supposed to be doing here) has told me that he wants the Network Operations Center to look futuristic, science-fictional, like a space ship. Because what LinkNet, what Macha Works, is doing here is as much about the idea of what technology can be in Zambia, as any of the actual implementations.

So my question to you is, what does the future look like right now? If you had a huge budget, how would you build something that looks like a space ship? What about a modest budget?

Comments

[phantomcranefly.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Going for sci-fi spaceship, my favorites tend to be more on the space-opera side than the realism side. I suppose the question is whether it's "what do you think the immediate future will look like" versus "what do you think the distant future should look like".

Generally speaking, I'd go for sliding interior doors rather than swinging, depending on cost/maintenance effectiveness, to give the feel of airtight compartments. I'd say white and silver with interesting curves, but I have nostalgic tastes in sci-fi. If we're going for more realistic/near future, keep things in cupboards/fastened to things so they wouldn't go flying around under sudden acceleration. (I realize that's a lost cause as soon as people move in.)

For anything more specific, I'd really want to know what exactly the Network Operations Center is doing. I figure either way, spaceships are going to be designed for a purpose, and mass is precious so everything needs to be doing its job.

[3rdragon]

Good point. I think we're going for what the future should look like.

Unfortunately, the doors are already in place, and I don't think that mud-brick walls leave much leeway for sliding doors, anyway. (They don't look like mud-bricks; they're sort of attractive brown bricks with varnish on them, but I'm told that they're made out of very squished dirt.)

Neatness is certainly a goal. I'm not sure how realistic a goal, but it's a goal.

The Network Operations Center is basically the helpdesk and monitoring center (This is part of the reason the not-really-at-all boss wants it to look futuristic; if it's the most awesome tech thing in Zambia, maybe the poor folks running it will get a little more respect when the internet's out because the satellite is grumpy). Discussions at the moment include a large projection on one wall monitoring the status of . . . stuff. (He told me what stuff he wanted to monitor, but at this point I've forgotten what it was.)