The breadcrumbs were eaten
In the previous incarnation of opengard.in (in development, formerly imm.victusmedia.com) you could see what your friends (or a lists) main topics discussed were in a moment by typing in the URL /users/twitterusername. Now with the expansion of potential information streams being “the web”, there’s no guarantee or meaning in /users/victusfate being me (unless I claim that identity on our site). We’ve had to rethink the way we handle flowing information, and how best to connect that to a user identity.
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written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: design theory, social media, victus media, web/tech
Recently I picked up a new living room computer (Acer Aspire Revo, named “Ouroborus”) and a pretty juiced up LCD*. I decided it was time for an upgrade from the 10 year old projector tv, which hasn’t been able to stream web content since the XBOX 360 red ringed (died).
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written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: design theory, DRM, open design, web/tech
There’s a flurry of startup interest and social location apps that are working to glue the web to our physical locations. Tech enthusiast Robert Scoble prompted a Buzz discussion (another location capable media) to determine which was the best service, with varied opinions weighing in. Physical location and orientation is but one piece of the puzzle to seemlessly weave the web within our physical world and social lives. Augmented Reality is the channel of opportunity that will enable a rich blending of mobile web, location/orientation, and most importantly social discovery and connectivity.
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written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: design theory, far out, inspiration, web/tech
Founder of SocialToo Jesse Stay says the web is no longer open. He states that only a few large entities own the flow of information through both social and searchable web. DeWitt Clinton a Google software engineer responded with an eloquent description of what open means to him, and how even small budget businesses could construct a highly functional search engine (I keep bugging DeWitt and others about open semantic processing tools and interfaces).
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written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: design theory, distributed design, open design, search, social media
I’d like to make a bold wager. None of the big social web communities that are popular today will be so just ten years from now. My hypothesis is that massive improvements to network speed will reduce the pressure to colocate data. The traction we see to such tools is in communication, availability and connection to friends and those we seek to befriend. This functionality can be fascillatated better by moving away from the client/server model tied to RESTful design (how HTTP or the web is setup), and embracing peer to peer communication technologies. Federated network communications can take place without intermediary databases. There will always be a role for dedicated servers, but their dominance of attention in the future will wane as (mobile) Net participation skyrockets.
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written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: design theory, leadership, social media, web/tech
The concept of ownership is going through a transformation, as it has for thousands of years. A clear example of this shift is evident in the fundamental resource, land. We instinctively defend territory from outsiders, so it is little surprise that land and ownership are integrally connected. Cultural meaning for owning land has drifted between civilizations. Nomadic people defended huge tracts of land, which were tribally owned. In contrast, modern day title searches and local databases have become a bureacratic rat’s nest. Nearly all land is taxed annually, only specific religious entities escape paying property taxes. Taxation goes hand in hand with to ownership exchange.
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written by Mark Essel
\\ tags: coding, design theory, investment/finance, open, social design, startups
