About Desert Glass
Technology for the basin, owned by the basin.
Desert Glass Media runs free, public internet services for Alamogordo and Otero County on hardware we own, using free and open source software. No ads, no tracking and no lock-in.
Why we exist
Most of what people in rural New Mexico use online lives on someone else's servers, under someone else's rules, built to keep you scrolling. When a platform changes its terms, raises its prices or shuts down, a community loses what it built there.
Desert Glass works the other way around: a radio station, a chat server, a library, a search engine and an arcade, run from here, by people from here, on software anyone can inspect and host themselves. It started with a few services on one repurposed server and grows as the community does.
How we work
Free software, all the way down
Every service runs on open source code you could host yourself.
Hosted here
Our servers live in Otero County, not in a distant data center.
No ads, no tracking
We don't sell attention or data. Read exactly what we collect in our privacy policy.
What we run
Airwaves
Community radio from Alamogordo, live and on demand.
CHAT.DESERTGLASS.MEDIAChat
The community chat for Alamogordo and Otero County. Text, voice and video.
ZINE.DESERTGLASS.MEDIAThe Desert High
A quarterly magazine about the people building cool things in southern New Mexico. Starting January 2027.
LIBRARY.DESERTGLASS.MEDIALibrary
A free offline library of Wikipedia, books and guides.
SEARCH.DESERTGLASS.MEDIASearch
Private web search that puts local results first.
PLAY.DESERTGLASS.MEDIAArcade
Free browser games, our game servers and games to play together.
Who's behind it
Desert Glass Media is my social and community work: the radio, the chat, the games, the library, the magazine and everything else here that brings the basin together. I'm Spencer Bond, a longtime math and computer science tutor in Alamogordo, and I believe technology should make communities more independent, not more dependent.
Desert Glass is one part of Bond Enterprises LLC, the company I run. The rest of it covers education, tech and security.
Desert Glass Media
Community media and free public services for Otero County.
Sol Rising
Tutoring and STEM education, from math and computer science to homeschool support.
Bond Security
Security camera installation and cybersecurity for homes and businesses.
Respawn Forge
Device repair, custom software, automation, IT help and websites.
Respawn
A gaming lounge and hangout space, planned for Alamogordo.