Slashdot Mirror
Evolving the Social Network
arantius writes "An article on BottomQuark points to a new development: Here's a story about a new start-up Huminity, referred to as the technology of the year. The software they produce combines instant messaging, chat, and social networking. After burning through over $30k of personal funds, the team has now raised millions for their company. We've heard about Friendster recently, but somehow this seems more interesting."
Jamie adds:
Social networking was
in the news
recently because
this patent
apparently covers much of it. It was bought for $700K by the two underdogs and may be used to beat up on Friendster. Don't worry, the guy who wrote
Slashdot's friend-of-friend code
doesn't think we're affected :)
Comment removed based on user account deletion
And, for /.ers, we'll have anti-social networking (esp. for the gnaa, goatse.cx, penisbird, and tubgirl trolls :-)
Apparently, the only social network they recognize is the one amongst windows users. Well, I guess there's always slashdot...
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
If Huminity can beat the performance (or lack of it) for services like Friendster, I'd give it my vote. I think I have 14 people in my "friends" list on Friendster, and a Personal Network of nearly 400,000, and it is almost entirely impossible to do just about anything within the service. Sometimes, I can't even login without a browser timeout. Huminity might be able to do really well if they can get decent performance, or even just perceived performance through the use of caching tricks, saved data, etc.
With cell phones more available to teenagers, and the teenagers that get em being cool... The number of people a single person has contact with is greater.
People have a larger pool of people to interact with now than say 20 years ago. Especially with population growth.
The cultures that exist are more conforming, and reach more people across a larger area.
You can totally become a statistics nerd charting the reasons that there are skateboarding chicks now, but 10 years ago, skateboarders were skatefags.
How does knowing whose friend is whose help me make friends? Really, it is just a complicated, expensive way of saying, "here are some people. Maybe you'll get along, maybe you won't, but your friend knows them."
In reality, if I don't have many friends, I won't have many friends of friends, and if I have a lot of friends, why would I need this service? Therefore, it will end up a network of 1:1 connections.
stuff |
The Huminity team
Nice, sites now have Slashdot protection.
isn't the friend of friend code just a single SQL query?
restricting access to data reports based on patents as a business model is dumb. actually, i think i'm going to go patent that now.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
I really don't think Friendster is going to have a problem, as it is virtually the same product as Sixdegrees was in 1997, except Sixdegrees didn't have the dating angle.
2. Even if it is just for fun, why are they charging you to search through it?
3. If they can't even create a website that can be viewed in anything other than the latest M$ browser [ditto for their DEMO], I don't think I'd trust their software running on my computer anways.
Karma: NaN
"Navigating 6 degrees of communication with Huminity's Technology of the Year represents a complete paradigm shift regarding the nature of the net and human social interaction. Exploding the boundaries of what we've know as 'community' thus far in human evolution..."
Admit it, you miss Katz, just a little bit.
:]
Operator, give me the number for 911!
I like it that they're asking us to get naked with them. I guess that's a fast way to get to know new people.
The thing I like about Friendster is that there is no download and it is accessible from anywhere - doesn't matter what software you have, what browser you use, what OS you are using, or most importantly where you are when you want to check your friends list. If Huminity could have it all on the web (with Java chat clients like all the other chat services provide), they would get my vote. Until then, I will stick to the service for which I don't have to do anything to use but sign up.
Z
2+2=5 for extremely large values of 2
Quote from their website: " We believe the Internet's greatness is the interaction it brings between people " Spend a few days browsing forums, and even post to a few, and you quickly realize there are a lot of people out there you have no need to get to know better. If you need the processing power of a gigahertz processor to make friends, you are in a world of trouble once you step away from your computer. Just MHO.
This very same story was posted to Kuro5hin's queue about a week ago -- right down to the ridiculous "social networking has evolved" meme -- and voted down as a blatant advertising plug. Below is a copy of my post to the topic while it was still in the voting queue; it's still appropriate today:
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
Drug dealing has followed this protocol ever since the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914. The diference is that the database is decentralized and either committed to human memory or stored in an encrypted form.
Basically, to form a new hookup you must be introduced to a dealer by someone whom the dealer already trusts. The edges of the networks are called "runners", and can be found on streetcorners and in dance clubs. Retail and wholesale distribution follows a similar pattern.
When the protocol breaks down, particularly due to personnel security issues, bullets fly. Otherwise it works pretty well!
I've known about (and used, once or twice) Huminity for well over a year. The basic idea rocks. However: 0. No chatroom. 1. Useless info on most people 2. Doesn't have the critical mass of users to truly be useful. Finding paths to groups of users can be a pain. 3. Windoze only, last I looked. That said, I'd love to see a OSS version of this. Perhaps built around GnuPG so that messages could be encrypted and your web of trust shows up as your "network." This kind of graphical display of webs of trust would go far in promoting better webs of trust. It would likely avoid patent issues, too, since if they do have a patent, it would cover using databases, not encryption keys. Also, Having users show up as interconnected stars in an 3D OpenGL starfield would be very cool, with very connected users being galaxy centers. All in all, though, Huminity could be very useful, if the userbase ever got big enough, and they managed to squash a few glaring flaws.
Drop me a line at:
Key ID: 0x54D1D809
is internet liquor, something that makes you and other people seem wittier and more atractive online than you or they are in real life. You could call it eGoggles, and make it like a forum, only allow people to select questions and responses from a list of quotes by really witty people, and avatars of really attractive people. Then you might have something.
No download, runs anywhere. Kinda simplistic, users stop logging in.
Tribe
No download, runs anywhere. More nerdy, uemphasis on freedom of use, discussion groups. Supports lots of pictures.
MySpace
No download, runs anywhere. Supports restricted blogs, popularity contests, 10 pics. Does not emphasize actual RL friendship dynamics.
Friend of a Friend
Open standard for creting friendster-like network apps. Used by PeepAgg to build OSS system.
There are more, and I'd love to see replies with links to this rapidly growing class of services/apps, with brief descriptions attached. Thanks
Looks good for your age..
(I can't take credit for this. My brother wrote it)
I think I've come up with a system which will
solve Friendster's database problems:
First you get 2500 chimpanzees, and arrange them
in a 50x50 grid. Each monkey is sitting in front
of a chute which dispenses ripe bananas. Whenever
the Friendster server needs to retrieve a piece
of data, bananas will be dispensed across the
grid in a pattern that represents the parameters
of that database query. Monkeys who do not get
bananas will begin flinging feces at the monkeys
who do get them, and an array of overhead
cameras, connected to an advanced video analysis
system, will extrapolate the vectors and
distribution of said feces.
In another room, these vectors are fed directly
into the cerebral cortex of a stoned teenager in
a Slipknot T-shirt, who is playing Excitebike.
His NES, which has been augmented with
sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms
and has achieved consciousness, uses the input
from the game controller to infer the appropriate
response to the database query, and
telepathically transmits this information to Miss
Cleo.
At this point the user will be prompted to call
Miss Cleo, who will tell them the answer in
highly inauthentic Jamaican patois. This will
cost $2.99 per minute, but there will be several
Kingston rude bwoys standing by Miss Cleo who
will roll 3d6 every time someone calls. If the
result is less than Miss Cleo's saving throw, the
rude bwoys will gang-rape her at knifepoint.
I think this will be a much more efficient system
than whatever the fuck they're doing now.