The Deliverator and The Pizza Mafia

Getting through the book "Snow Crash" is turning out to be a lot easier than I had anticipated. After the first few pages it gets a lot easier to understand and has turned out to be really interesting. I wonder if life will eventually be like the author describes. The "Metaverse" sounds really interesting and the way that we are advancing I can definitely see something similar to it being created. It's just like the internet but actually being able to walk around in it. That kind of reminds me of an episode of Futurama where the internet is very much like the Metaverse. People can walk around and actually visit a bunch of different places. Instead of writing the codes themselves, however, it's all there ready to be viewed.



That's for all you people who don't know what i'm talking about. Anyway the book is getting interesting and i'm wondering what's going to happen with Y.T. in the book. She's in jail the last time I read about her.

Facespace

Myspace and Facebook are creating a whole new generation of computer users. These networking sites have already made a whole online community full of people that can stay in contact or just make friends over the internet. Personally I never got into the whole Myspace craze. Plenty of my friends have got accounts and are on it everyday, but I never really saw the point. I did sign up on facebook as a freshman because it was a good way to get to know people or just find out information about events, but that was back when facebook was only for college students. They've since opened the doors to the public so now it's just another peer network that anyone can join.
There are positives and negatives of this transition. On one hand, they are probably trying to be more like Myspace because of the popularity that has grown out of the site. The creators of myspace recently sold the rights for a butt-load of cash and I can understand that Facebook creators might want to get in on that action. When you get to thinking about the potential dangers of allowing anyone and everyone to have contact with young adults and teenagers then you start to see a negative aspect of these online communities.Anyway, i'll be doing a NeoVox article on these sites in the near future and i'll try to cover most of the issues.

Crashing in the Snow

What an appropriate time to begin reading the book Snow Crash. I'm glad we got the day off from school (SUNY Cortland finally canceled classes!) so I could get a jump start on the reading. Like i've heard from some people...it was a little confusing at first but I enjoyed it. It's pretty cool reading about "The Deliverator" and all his tools and environments. They also make some pretty cool notes about life in America in the future. I'm still trying to get a hold of it all....there were so many things being introduced like the mafia. I really thought it was clever to have the mafia using all different types of technology in this representation of the future. It seems to make sense to me.

I'm really looking forward to getting further in....it seems interesting so far. Hopefully it gets a little easier to understand as I go.

The End of Smart Mobs

No....I'm not talking about smart mobs ceasing to exist. Instead i'm referring to finishing the book "Smart Mobs" by Howard Rheingold. It turned out to be very interesting and i'm surprised how easy the reading went. It was cool to learn all about the different types of technology and how close we are to some really revolutionary stuff. Innovations that stick out in my mind are the attentive billboards and e-squirting devices that were discussed in one of the chapters.

The idea of a billboard knowing who is next in line and getting an item or type or merchandise that they'd possibly interested in ready to advertise is amazing. I've been thinking a lot about that....just how close we are to the future. It's like something out of the movie Minority Report. Anyway the whole digital culture could really benefit from things like e-squirting. Just imagine when whole cities are digital and you can connect with anything in the area. It boggles my mind.

That said.....i'm really looking forward to our next book. It should be a nice change of pace reading a science fiction book. As much as I enjoyed Smart Mobs.....I think i'll like Snow Crash. It sounds pretty interesting from what i've read about it. Better get started on that.

Digital Polaroids?

In two different classes this semester i've learned about a new type of technology that has amazed me. A new type of digital camera that is also a printer. It's like the old polaroids that would spit out the picture and you'd have to shake and blow on it to get it to develop. With this new technology we'll see special paper that has color crystals on it and the camera just instructs what colors to show.......or something like that. Either way, it's pretty interesting and I thought i'd share it. Check it out.

You can find more info here:

http://www.phonemag.com/index.php/weblog/read_more/20070204zink_imaging_unveils_zero_ink_printing_technology_at_demo_07/

Stupid Lars Ulrich

When I read through the third chapter of Rheingold's book "Smart Mobs" it was like I was travelling back in time. I remember a few years ago sitting in front of my computer and downloading song after song after song. Napster was huge and everyone (or at least I thought) knew about it. I can't recall exactly how I found out about it....but I definitely remember when all the debate and controversey began.

Peer to Peer networks are a good thing, in my opinion at least. They allowed me to discover new music and find out how a band sounds before buying the CD. I understand why most people would be against these programs....but that doesn't change my view of the topic. When Rheingold talks about "killer apps" I completely agree that Napster WAS the killer app for p2p software. It was the number one. Napster was a household name.

They (Lars Ulrich & others) complained enough to get the courts to make Napster change and become a pay service with limited songs.....instead of free and limitless. After Napster was being forgotten about, multiple similar programs began to takeover. Morpheus, Kazaa, BearShare. They all had unique names but all had the same purpose. To allow people to share. With every technology there are problems.....but Napster was something that should have stayed free.

Technologies of Cooperation

This chapter (ch. 2) was actually more interesting then I anticipated. I enjoyed learning about game theory (a word which i've heard before but never knew what it actually was). The different games that were created after WWII were cool and I never knew that the game of "chicken" was actually something that had been discussed by some top scientists and theorists. It's amazing to learn how some people act and react in certain siutations.

Prisoner's dilemma was something that stood out most to me. I've seen plenty of cop movies and television shows to understand the concept. Police separate two alleged criminals and try to get one to turn on the other by offering prizes or threatening punishment. It really makes for some good entertainment....but I never thought that it would apply to technology in any way.

There was also talk about social networks.....which were very popular in the early internet days. Now it's starting to make a comeback (in a way) with Facebook and Myspace. Social networks like these that allow people to connect, chat, interact, and keep in touch are becoming more and more popular with time. It's something that we should keep an eye on for the future