19 January 2004|
Blogs win youth vote in the political race From the washingtonpost, an article says what we already know:
Via smartmobs 12:04:58 AM  Say it loud [] Trackback []
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Do we need social software? Martin at Telepocalypse argues we don't need better social software; instead, what we need is anti-social software.
I can't say he's entirely wrong although he intentionally downplays many areas where 'connecting people' via the help of that awful indeed term - social software - could work wonders. i'm sure he agress that Skype - the p2p telephony thing - which many people see as being part of the wider social software scene, is a disruption to the industry's revenue models, makes great sense, and holds much promise for turning the telecom landscape upside down (if incumbent forces and corupt governments don't suceed in criminalising its use). for instance, say i'm in manchester for the weekend and i fancy going to one of the famous freeraves. freeraves are class, but they're also illegal since most freeraves don't have permission (they don't ask for any) to use the premises where the party is held. anyway, say i get the news from a friend about where exactly the party will take place by 9 o'clock on saturday night. i put my gear on, fill my bag with cans of stella, get my wifi-enabled laptop, and hit the road. as said, freeraves are illegal. so, on my way to the party i keep an eye for cops and anything that could possibly ruin my saturday night. i've finally arrived. the party takes place out in the open and there's an old derelict building some hundred meters away. fortunately, the entire place is equipped with wifi, access points, etc. , so everyone attending and having a laptop can get online. and also fortunately, many people attending are on my Jabber's 'buddies list' with whom i share a FOAF file. the party is a blast and it's not even 1 in the morning. some people haven't even shown up yet. the DJ is frantically handling the dancing crowd, and has a laptop right next to her. All in the sudden, she shouts "cops' re coming! shut everything down!" how could she know? well, one of her friends on his way to the party noticed a conspicuous vehicle moving around jerkily as if trying to make out what's going on in the area of the party. and so it begun. the dj's friend sent a message via jabber to notify his friends whose FOAF file indicated partying, drugs, freerave, rave, house, trance, jungle, psychedelic, freeraving as a hobbie that danger is approaching. the dj got the message, and so did many people, some of them already at the party, some others not yet arrived. the lights and the volume are turned down low, so the danger of the dodgy-looking car remains only that -a danger - and nothing more. however, the cops have contained many areas nearby where the party is, and many of the streets leading to the party are being closely guarded by the cops in suspicion of something going on, and thus, many of the various routes leading to the fun are unsafe. as said, many people are still on their way to the party. so, how to they evade the cops? how do they know which of the alternative routes are safe and which not? well, combine a IM client like Jabber, and a FOAF-like technology with a semantic web, (could also be said to be a social software) app that runs on top of them and feeds off of them like MudLondon. That way, they get relevant and timely information about which streets are safe from people they trust (or from people whom people they trust trust) or from people whose FOAF properties indicate potential overlap in hobbies and activities (ie. clubbing, freerave, etc). it's 5 in the morning. everything went smooth. no one got grassed, but everyone got lashed. time to go to bed. isn't that a huge contribution that social software could make to the chemical generation? or is it just me longing for the pulse of a freerave? 12:00:55 AM Say it loud [] Trackback []
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Last update: 28/01/2004; 17:58:17 .
