A good link to Singularity links and resources …
This is a very good site that links to numerous Singularity resources. A lot of good reading for anyone interested!
Singularitarian FAQ [Nanodot: Nanodot: News and Discussion of Coming Technologies]
Interesting “virus-free” Internet Cafe solution …
I was thinking of various solutions for securing Internet Cafe computers from viruses and trojan-horses. This is an issue for both the owner of the computer and the customer using it.
When a customer walks in to use the computer, they are expecting a system that is ready to use, and one that does not contain any viruses or software which might compromise their security. The issue is that viruses and trojan-horses can be installed by other customers – either by accident or by malicious intent.
What would happen, however, if I took my own operating system on my own CD-ROM into the cafe and booted it? I could then be reasonably assured that the entire computer would be running my OS and applications … on a storage medium that can not be infected. If my data is all stored out in the net, I would be able to access all of it.
Of course, this does not take into account the possibility of a ‘hacked’ keyboard or BIOS … but it’s getting much better!
Lnx Bootable Business Card 1.618 (development). A bootable rescue CD cut to the size and shape of a business card. [freshmeat.net]
And so Gattica begins …
For anyone who has not seen the movie Gattica, I can only suggest they they rent it and watch. It includes a wide range of very interesting perspectives on the implications of our advances in understanding genetics, and some of the social and community issues that will develop. One of the core conflicts is that of unstoppable genetic discrimination …
We are on the verge of having some of the technology to create many of the scenarios that are shown in Gattica … at one point in the movie they even show a “corner store” that provides instant genetic analysis. Although this seems sophisticated and a ways off, the ability of a corporation to do this type of analysis – even if it takes days – is just around the corner. The article below shows that this is something coming quickly … and Gattica explains why these types of laws are going to be difficult to enforce. Go rent the movie …
Insurers barred from using genetic tests. The Times Oct 23 2001 6:32PM ET [Genetics news]
It’s all about replication … genetics is a good example!
When looking at the classic argument about centralized control and storage vs. distributed approaches, it’s easy to fall into the “trap” about the supposed benefits of the centralized approach. People will often talk about the “single copy” and “only one play to go for access”. They will also talk about “having to manage all of those copies” as though this is an issue.
What is interesting is that there are many lessons around us that show the disadvantages of centralized approaches … from the former Soviet Union to stories about the companies that centralized all of there computer data in the World Trade Center … backing it up to the other tower.
In looking at this situation I often reflect on the biological evolved systems all around us … and I have to say that one of the most sophisticated of these indicates that replication and copies is a valuable implementation … the Human Body!
Where does your body store the “blueprint” for the body? In one centralized place? No … it stores this in the genetic material in every single cell. Storing a copy of this critical information in every cell in the body could be looked at as inefficient, wasteful, and potentially dangerous. Another way to look at this is that it offers the most effective way to empower any cell to become anything that contributes to the whole. It prevents the cells from having to reference some “central authority” to determine their purpose.
To me … synchronization and replication are the way to go … and some folks at MIT seem to agree that the net is mirroring this direction.
MIT Technology Review: Super Sync. Instead of ubiquitous connectivity to centralized databanks, we are instead building an infrastructure that’s optimized for data replication. The same information is getting copied to dozens, hundreds or even thousands of places throughout the world… [Tomalak’s Realm]
Amazing vision! An Identity Management solution that is well thought out …
This is a very cool find … it appears that Mr. McCandless was working on the same ideas at the same time as our team at Novell! When we were working on digitalme we realized that identity was something that had to be collected in a “Personal Directory” (e.g. Novell’s Personal Directory – Leading Edge Downloads #138) to be an effective solution. Although Novell has not done anything with this since, we now have a new project that will demo in January. We will be releasing our “FreeID” agent as a tool for automating the collection, distribution, and coordination of identity information.
I’ll have to get in touch with Mr. McCandless to see what he thinks!
Nice Jabber IM Programmers Overview …
Jabber is a open source solution for Presence and Instant Messaging. I am still a big fan of Jabber … I believe that it is still looking for some big visibility, and I’m thinking that it will get this through a killer-app that will support Jabber. Here is a good start for developers to write support for Jabber into their code.
Jens Alfke: Jabber Client Developer’s Cheat Sheet. [Scripting News]
Very cool declaration for Cyberspace …
I have to admit that I am a fan of John Perry Barlow after hearing him speak at conferences a couple of times. This is a very good beginning of a new declaration … describing new times.
We have all been living through a “survival of the fittest” community/government era, and the Internet now begins to transcend the physical limits of these battles. The the Internet creates a whole new substrate … a new medium … for societal and cultural development.
This is a very good beginning …
A handheld Linux machine for point applications …
This is a very good start on a whole new class of mobile and (potentially) wearable computers. It appears to be a Linux machine with a huge hard drive and some basic applications. It is also a MP3 player, and seems to have quite a bit of extensibility. I am determined to see if they have a booth at Comdex coming up in Las Vegas next month! I really want to take a look …
Linux handheld device holds 10GB. A Singapore company unveils the Terapin Mine, a handheld device that stores up to 10GB of data and multimedia files. [CNET Tech News]
The continuing evolution of Instant Messaging … as people learn …
This is a good article that outlines the continuation of the learning process about Instant Messaging. One of the things that I learned while working in this area of research is that there is considerable confusion about exactly what we are talking about when we say “Instant Messaging”.
While working on the digitalme project at Novell, I had created a foundation framework for identity, community, and communications. Within this framework I quickly realized that it is not about “instant messaging”, but instead we are seeing a number of human behaviors and interactions collapsed. There is being, community, identity, and communications … and all of these are collapsed in our current conversations about “instant messaging.”
Being … that is who we are … who we are being. We then create relationships … which generates and creates community. Community then can give us identity … indicating who we are being repeatedly in that community. We then can indicate who we are being at any point in time (presence), and allow for various forms of communications at any particular time.
So what we really have is a way to organize the communities that we are a part of, and the members of the communities that we communicate with. We can then “see” their status and who they are “being” at that moment (presence)… and then we can choose the way that we (and they) wish to communicate. The aspects of building our “buddy list” and the indication of “presence” are some of the most critical components, but tend to be lost in these articles.
The next wave of instant messaging. Who needs e-mail, or even the phone? New tech plans to take IM far beyond the simple text message. [CNET Tech News]
Open Source finding out about directories …
This is a very interesting project since it begins to explore the uses of directories for valuable end-user solutions. I like the demo, and it begins to explore the storage of users, multiple address books, etc. Cool stuff.
Directories, IMHO, are fundamental to the digital identity of the future. They can provide the facilities to create powerful identity storage … and this application starts to deal with some of these ideas and implications.
Rolodap 0.94 (Default). Multiuser contacts managment system based on LDAP and PHP. [freshmeat.net]