Great idea. We'll just hand out megaphones to everybody, and instantly our city streets will be brimming with useful communication. It'll be a social revolution, with everyone coming together to communicate and share their hopes, dreams, and once-in-a-lifetime offers. Just like back in the 60s, but with less tear gas.
Why do people fuss with these new-fangled gadgets rather than relying on tried and true technologies?
Depending on the range of the devices, it might be possible to simply ignore all messages from more than n hops away. That would cut way down on the number of generalized messages you received.
The article also mentions a sort of "trusting system" that might be useful in filtering out the noise. For example, if the broadcaster had a cryptographically signed certificate verifying that he/she had actually used this method to find a dozen dates or so, your "assistant" would be much more likely to accept the message as being worth your time, and bringing it to your attention.
The certificate could be even more detailed, so that it was possible to verify any piece of information they were broadcasting. It would be nice if I had a digital certificate from the DMV saying that I was over 21, and didn't need to be carded. [1] Or a certificate from the community college attesting to my education. In case I'm ever called upon to mediate a dispute over the implications of Godel's Incompleteness Theorem. [2]
It would be interesting to live in a world where these devices were commonplace. These sound like one of those ideas where nobody's sure how they'll work exactly, but it seems likely that they will be useful for more things than we could imagine.
1) Actually, it might take a while to work out the kinks so that it could be used for legal purposes. In the mean time, I'd suddenly find myself having to show evidence that it's really *my* PDA.
Okay, after further thought. . .
Depending on the range of the devices, it might be possible to simply ignore all messages from more than n hops away. That would cut way down on the number of generalized messages you received.
The article also mentions a sort of "trusting system" that might be useful in filtering out the noise. For example, if the broadcaster had a cryptographically signed certificate verifying that he/she had actually used this method to find a dozen dates or so, your "assistant" would be much more likely to accept the message as being worth your time, and bringing it to your attention.
The certificate could be even more detailed, so that it was possible to verify any piece of information they were broadcasting. It would be nice if I had a digital certificate from the DMV saying that I was over 21, and didn't need to be carded. [1] Or a certificate from the community college attesting to my education. In case I'm ever called upon to mediate a dispute over the implications of Godel's Incompleteness Theorem. [2]
It would be interesting to live in a world where these devices were commonplace. These sound like one of those ideas where nobody's sure how they'll work exactly, but it seems likely that they will be useful for more things than we could imagine.
1) Actually, it might take a while to work out the kinks so that it could be used for legal purposes. In the mean time, I'd suddenly find myself having to show evidence that it's really *my* PDA.
2) It could happen.
I'm waiting for the day when my bloody computer can go online and play by itself, so I can refamiliarize myself with real life. What would be real nice is if I could tell the computer, "I'm feeling obnoxious today," and it will go out and mock those it humiliates.
At that point, I can have a fulfilling online experience in ten minutes a day. Maybe I'll read a book or something.
Slashdot Mirror
Great idea. We'll just hand out megaphones to everybody, and instantly our city streets will be brimming with useful communication. It'll be a social revolution, with everyone coming together to communicate and share their hopes, dreams, and once-in-a-lifetime offers. Just like back in the 60s, but with less tear gas.
Why do people fuss with these new-fangled gadgets rather than relying on tried and true technologies?
[AC: Thanks. I laughed my butt off.]
Okay, after further thought. . .
Depending on the range of the devices, it might be possible to simply ignore all messages from more than n hops away. That would cut way down on the number of generalized messages you received.
The article also mentions a sort of "trusting system" that might be useful in filtering out the noise. For example, if the broadcaster had a cryptographically signed certificate verifying that he/she had actually used this method to find a dozen dates or so, your "assistant" would be much more likely to accept the message as being worth your time, and bringing it to your attention.
The certificate could be even more detailed, so that it was possible to verify any piece of information they were broadcasting. It would be nice if I had a digital certificate from the DMV saying that I was over 21, and didn't need to be carded. [1] Or a certificate from the community college attesting to my education. In case I'm ever called upon to mediate a dispute over the implications of Godel's Incompleteness Theorem. [2]
It would be interesting to live in a world where these devices were commonplace. These sound like one of those ideas where nobody's sure how they'll work exactly, but it seems likely that they will be useful for more things than we could imagine.
1) Actually, it might take a while to work out the kinks so that it could be used for legal purposes. In the mean time, I'd suddenly find myself having to show evidence that it's really *my* PDA.
2) It could happen.
Okay, after further thought. . . Depending on the range of the devices, it might be possible to simply ignore all messages from more than n hops away. That would cut way down on the number of generalized messages you received. The article also mentions a sort of "trusting system" that might be useful in filtering out the noise. For example, if the broadcaster had a cryptographically signed certificate verifying that he/she had actually used this method to find a dozen dates or so, your "assistant" would be much more likely to accept the message as being worth your time, and bringing it to your attention. The certificate could be even more detailed, so that it was possible to verify any piece of information they were broadcasting. It would be nice if I had a digital certificate from the DMV saying that I was over 21, and didn't need to be carded. [1] Or a certificate from the community college attesting to my education. In case I'm ever called upon to mediate a dispute over the implications of Godel's Incompleteness Theorem. [2] It would be interesting to live in a world where these devices were commonplace. These sound like one of those ideas where nobody's sure how they'll work exactly, but it seems likely that they will be useful for more things than we could imagine. 1) Actually, it might take a while to work out the kinks so that it could be used for legal purposes. In the mean time, I'd suddenly find myself having to show evidence that it's really *my* PDA. 2) It could happen.
I'm waiting for the day when my bloody computer can go online and play by itself, so I can refamiliarize myself with real life. What would be real nice is if I could tell the computer, "I'm feeling obnoxious today," and it will go out and mock those it humiliates.
At that point, I can have a fulfilling online experience in ten minutes a day. Maybe I'll read a book or something.
:: spins the Wheel of Karma ::
fturnonlylfutrnnolyfunntrollyfuntrollfunnytrollf unny.troll.funny..troll...funny....troll.....funny .....troll.......f.....TROLL
Damn. Oh well, some days, I can't tell myself.
Bayesian filtering?