I Want - Mobile access to data, to interface with and track my personal data footprint
First, to the one of you who have mentioned that I do not post very often (often enough?), let me say that a)You are correct, yet b)I would hope that only when I have coherent, relevant, and original obervations to add to the interwebs, would I do so, as befits my new-found status as Person Of The Year.
Now, this has been kicking around in my head for a while...
Message in a bottle, tracking objects through meat-space
As we wade through meat-space, we leave a trail in our wake. If we were to put a tracking substance on ourselves (Something like Po210, maybe?) we would see that the breadth of our impact is much larger than we think. In lieu of radioactive tracking, think about using something like Where's George. All you need to do is get a little stamp or a pen and mark the cash that you get, and hope that someone else logs it back into the system. Not quite as efficient as tracking with radioactive material, but a decent start.
As more and more of our devices (cameras, phones, PDAs, laptops, objects with RFID tags, clothes, etc.) become location aware via GPS technologies, we will leave more and more visible trails through meat-space, trackable through meta-space. If every picture we post on Flickr has GPS coordinates with it, you would be able to reconstruct your path through the world. Assuming enough data points, you might even have a relatively decent resolution to the map as well. Beyond the entertainment value of this, might we also become more aware of the interconnected nature of our world in the process? This can only help reinforce the idea of "Think globally, act locally.".
As we traverse meta-space, we leave a lighter trace that may be able to be followed by people with server logs, but we can leave breadcrumbs as well. We call them bookmarks, and they help us not only return to specific ideas and locations, but like their fairy tale namesakes, return us to a path of thought.
Helping me, helps us
Introducing me not only to specific items that you have found, but rather to the meta-information of the way you found it might be more valuable. Even one level up could introduce me to a whole new channel of information that might end up more valuable to me than the specific article/item that caught your eye.
As an example, I regularly submit goofy articles to Porter's Goofyblog (And have even had a few of them published!). However, I usually send him the URL to the article or item that I found (Goofy article about Krispy Kreme Hamburgers), that actually lives online somewhere else. However, for sake of argument, let's say that I found the original reference on a blog/comic that I read daily called My Extra Life. If I were to preface the link I was sending, with the URL of the place that I found the reference, he would now have a whole new channel to watch for further Goofy information.
In this age of user contributed information, the original source of the information can get lost through several layers of "telephone"-like linked referencing. Take the time to find the original source and think of it as taking the time to wrap a present in a nice ribbon before giving it as a gift. Think of the URL to the location where you found the reference as the bow on top.
For a little more along these lines, see I Want - Data Packetization.
Follow my mind
I know that I have issues staying focused on one topic/idea/project for very long. If you have known me for any length of time, you are probably laughing and thinking "That's an understatement!" Reading through my del.icio.us links only reinforces that for me. However, looking trough them also gives a pretty good overview of the type of person I am via what kind of things am I interested in. These are my del.icio.us links, and how to add a list to your own blog. I would like to see more of my friends using this service, and posting their lists. It would be a great way to follow their "breadcumbs", get to know them a little better, and improve my own information sources at the same time.
Now, this has been kicking around in my head for a while...
Message in a bottle, tracking objects through meat-space
As we wade through meat-space, we leave a trail in our wake. If we were to put a tracking substance on ourselves (Something like Po210, maybe?) we would see that the breadth of our impact is much larger than we think. In lieu of radioactive tracking, think about using something like Where's George. All you need to do is get a little stamp or a pen and mark the cash that you get, and hope that someone else logs it back into the system. Not quite as efficient as tracking with radioactive material, but a decent start.
As more and more of our devices (cameras, phones, PDAs, laptops, objects with RFID tags, clothes, etc.) become location aware via GPS technologies, we will leave more and more visible trails through meat-space, trackable through meta-space. If every picture we post on Flickr has GPS coordinates with it, you would be able to reconstruct your path through the world. Assuming enough data points, you might even have a relatively decent resolution to the map as well. Beyond the entertainment value of this, might we also become more aware of the interconnected nature of our world in the process? This can only help reinforce the idea of "Think globally, act locally.".
As we traverse meta-space, we leave a lighter trace that may be able to be followed by people with server logs, but we can leave breadcrumbs as well. We call them bookmarks, and they help us not only return to specific ideas and locations, but like their fairy tale namesakes, return us to a path of thought.
Helping me, helps us
Introducing me not only to specific items that you have found, but rather to the meta-information of the way you found it might be more valuable. Even one level up could introduce me to a whole new channel of information that might end up more valuable to me than the specific article/item that caught your eye.
As an example, I regularly submit goofy articles to Porter's Goofyblog (And have even had a few of them published!). However, I usually send him the URL to the article or item that I found (Goofy article about Krispy Kreme Hamburgers), that actually lives online somewhere else. However, for sake of argument, let's say that I found the original reference on a blog/comic that I read daily called My Extra Life. If I were to preface the link I was sending, with the URL of the place that I found the reference, he would now have a whole new channel to watch for further Goofy information.
In this age of user contributed information, the original source of the information can get lost through several layers of "telephone"-like linked referencing. Take the time to find the original source and think of it as taking the time to wrap a present in a nice ribbon before giving it as a gift. Think of the URL to the location where you found the reference as the bow on top.
For a little more along these lines, see I Want - Data Packetization.
Follow my mind
I know that I have issues staying focused on one topic/idea/project for very long. If you have known me for any length of time, you are probably laughing and thinking "That's an understatement!" Reading through my del.icio.us links only reinforces that for me. However, looking trough them also gives a pretty good overview of the type of person I am via what kind of things am I interested in. These are my del.icio.us links, and how to add a list to your own blog. I would like to see more of my friends using this service, and posting their lists. It would be a great way to follow their "breadcumbs", get to know them a little better, and improve my own information sources at the same time.
posted by Graham at 16:21 | Permalink
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