February 2011 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

Re: [P2P-F] Pay Pal Wars
by Michel Bauwens 08 Feb '11

08 Feb '11

forwarded Thomas, if youwrite anything on it, do let me know, Michel On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 3:19 PM, Thomas Greco <thg(a)mindspring.com> wrote: > Hey Michel, > > I've almost finished reading the book you loaned me. What a valuable > resource it is. > Here's what I just posted on the Skype dialog, Open Collective: > > Hey, I've been reading Pay Pal Wars by their former director of marketing, > Eric Jackson. I was not aware of the revolutionary vision of PayPal founder, > Peter Thiel. Jackson's book is a very engaging story and enlightening > document. See a big piece of it at Google Books. > > http://books.google.com/books?id=Jtr3ThHeTEMC&lpg=PP1&dq=paypal%20wars&pg=P… > I strongly encourage you to read at least Chapter 1, as well as the last > Chapter, "Sell Out" and the Epilog. > This book was published in 2004, shortly after Pay Pal sold out to eBay. > There are many lessons to be learned from the Pay Pal experience about what > it takes to bring a significant innovation to market and to scale. > We need to find news ways of doing that which do not depend upon > conventional business models or VC financing. > > Share it around if you wish. > Tom > > -- > Thomas H. Greco, Jr. > thg(a)mindspring.com > Mobile phone: +66 852 139 650 Thailand > Website: http://www.Reinventingmoney.com > Blogs: Beyond Money: http://beyondmoney.net > Tom's News and Views: http://tomazgreco.wordpress.com > Photo gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/tomazhg > Skype/Twitter name: tomazgreco > My latest book, "The End of Money and the Future of Civilization" from > Chelsea Green Publishers is now in print and can be ordered from Chelsea > Green Publishing or Amazon.com. > > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens Commons Strategies Group, http://www.commonsstrategies.org/

1 0

Fwd: reblog proposal for p2p blog
by Michel Bauwens 08 Feb '11

08 Feb '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Zoe Romano <zoekat(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 10:11 PM Subject: reblog proposal for p2p blog To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> Hi, shall i post this in the next days on the p2p blog ? http://www.opendemocracy.net/valery-alzaga/justice-for-janitors-campaign-op… -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens Commons Strategies Group, http://www.commonsstrategies.org/

1 0

Fwd: [OK] Creating a 'Dating Site' for the Climate Action Movement!... reviving Project Matching
by Michel Bauwens 08 Feb '11

08 Feb '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Suresh Fernando <suresh2323(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 11:06 PM Subject: [OK] Creating a 'Dating Site' for the Climate Action Movement!... reviving Project Matching To: openkollab(a)googlegroups.com Cc: Cooperationcommons(a)googlegroups.com, coalition(a)googlegroups.com Hi Everyone, I have some exciting news! I will be working with the Coalition of the Willing <http://cotw.cc/wiki/Coalition_of_the_Willing> project to create a *'dating site'* for the Climate Action Movement. The objective is to create a technology platform and associated processes to enable climate action projects to identify each other and align in a swarm like fashion. See Tim Rayner's description<https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1kLA1g58tMZbb0-4uqkZU5vDkMMoHpdziOW…>of the Coalition of the Willing Project! There are many projects with similar objectives that wold be better served if these projects connected with one another. By coordinating and converging on common goals, climate action projects could achieve the critical mass necessary to bring about massive social and systemic change. The theory underlying the 'dating site' was developed under the OpenKollab umbrella along with the contribution of many of you that are still on this list. The details can be found in this presentation <http://www.slideshare.net/sureshf/openkollab-project-matching>as well as here. <http://wiki.openkollab.com/wagn/ProjectMapping> I have also attached an executive summary describing the project. The stages in the development of this project can be found in the table below: * To get things going, we are scheduling a Skype chat session to discuss the project*, answer questions, and to identify those that might be interested in participating. *If you are interested in participating in the call, please provide your availability in this Doodle link. <http://doodle.com/3cnvhuixsqyz6sf2%20>* *IMPLEMENTATION PLAN* *Preparation Phase* This consists of two tracks that we can work on in parallel: *Technology/Platform Track* *Outreach Track* *Develop Project Ontology:* What information do we want to collect and why? We need to remember that the function of the information is to facilitate matching. *Develop Project Selection Criteria: *what sorts of projects do we want to approach and why? * * *Develop Supporting Collateral Material* · Executive Summary · Powerpoint Presentation · Short Video *Develop List of Suggested Projects: * · Develop central list to identify contacts we have that can assist us · What databases do we have and what projects have we been tracking? *Develop Web Platform* · Basic website · *Input form:* some custom fields based on project ontology that we develop as well as mechanism to solicit natural language input · Upload all associated collateral material · Ensure that project information that we collect is visible. This need not be complicated at this stage. Maybe a simple online spreadsheet is enough. *Identify Supports/Partners* · What organizations can we work with that can support our efforts? · Wiserearth, 350.org… etc. *Information Gathering Phase: *target information from 100 projects. More generally we need to develop an outreach strategy that might look something like the following: *Identify Information Gathering Team*: those within the COTW project that will commit to forwarding emails about the project to prospective projects and conducting follow up to solicit the required information. *Subdivide Database Amongst Information Gathering Team:* Clearly it makes most sense for those to contact people with whom they have an existing relationship. Those that we don’t have a relationship with can be divided up amongst the group *Send Out Information Gathering Emails*: the Outreach Team can forward emails to the various projects with a description of the process *Arrange Web Conferences: *Conduct weekly web presentation on PMS in order educate interested parties; partners, projects etc. *Conduct Follow Up:* actively solicit and engage projects in order obtain project information -- *Suresh Fernando * BLOG <http://sureshf.posterous.com/>, YOUTUBE<http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhum>, OK WEBSITE, <http://openkollab.com>OK FAN PAG <http://goog_1343289408>E<http://www.facebook.com/openkollab?ref=ts#%21/openkollab> , OK GROUP <http://groups.google.ca/group/openkollab>, OK-WE<http://www.wiserearth.org/group/openkollab>, PHILOSOPHY, <http://sureshfernando.wordpress.com> TWITTER, <http://twitter.com/sureshf> FACEBOOK, <http://facebook.com/suresh.fernando>WOTW FAN PAGE<http://www.facebook.com/tedxvancouver?v=wall#%21/pages/The-Way-Of-The-Warri…> LINKEDIN<http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=412718&authType=name&authToken=GrUl…>, SLIDESHARE <http://www.slideshare.net/sureshf> * **'The counter cultural revolution was a rhizomatic meshwork of loosely-coordinated, loosely-affiliated struggles. The goals of these struggles weren’t always complimentary, but the struggles were aligned and together they staged a mass offensive to shatter the status quo'*. - from The Coalition of the Willing -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens Commons Strategies Group, http://www.commonsstrategies.org/

1 0

Re: [P2P-F] Towards a Peer-to-Peer Strategy for Social Change
by Michel Bauwens 08 Feb '11

08 Feb '11

thank you so much Paul and Sam, this article below gets a lot of attention ... my feeling is that some combination of distribution and political efficiency, must be attempted, though I'm not sure what the 'vehicle' for this might be, I'm guessing it will be (re-)invented .. Tiberius has an idea, but not really developed, which I think is important and promising, i.e. 'pre-programmed mass movements' this involves thinking ahead of contingencies such as : what do we do when the internet is shut down, what do we do when we are physically attacked .. this is why I think that next to the quick time of spontaneous mobilizations, the long time of small groups of thinkers-doers is a necessity .. this does not mean a centralized hierarchical organisation but rather a credible (as the french would say): "force de proposition" when the greek crisis was on the agenda a few months back, my idea was that we need a force of rapid intervention, that could have made the right proposals at the right time (in this case, Ellen Woods of Web of Debt had the most cogent, immediately applicable proposals) My dream/intention is to be able to describe such a few teams ... (ellen did not reply to my emails on this however <g>) Michel On Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 12:42 AM, Paul B. Hartzog <paulbhartzog(a)gmail.com>wrote: > David, > I was just reading > > http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/2011/02/04/gladwell-proves-too-much/ > > And saw this > > Activism requires not just strong ties, but also strong, centralized, > hierarchical organization. Not networks. You need a hierarchy “if > you’re taking on a powerful and organized establishment…” > > which ties in with this post Sam Rose and I just published this morning: > > Towards a Peer-to-Peer Strategy for Social Change > > http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/towards-a-peer-to-peer-strategy-for-social-ch… > > (see also Michel Bauwens') > > http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/social-media-and-social-revolutions-what-is-t… > > Glad to see all the good conversation around this topic of late. > > -p > > -------------------------------------------------------- > The Forward Foundation > http://www.ForwardFound.org > paul.b.hartzog(a)forwardfound.org > -------------------------------------------------------- > http://www.PaulBHartzog.org > PaulBHartzog(a)PaulBHartzog.org > -------------------------------------------------------- > http://www.panarchy.com > PaulBHartzog(a)panarchy.com > -------------------------------------------------------- > University of Michigan > PHartzog(a)umich.edu > -------------------------------------------------------- > The Universe is made up of stories, not atoms. > --Muriel Rukeyser > > Perceive differently, then you will act differently. > --Paul B. Hartzog > -------------------------------------------------------- > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

2 2

Re: [P2P-F] An update on BIBO, financial stability standards, and the debt-virus hypothesis
by Michel Bauwens 08 Feb '11

08 Feb '11

didn't know that one! will definitely check out and add to http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Money, Michel On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 12:29 PM, olivier auber <olivierauber2(a)gmail.com>wrote: > Ok! > > J'oubliais, La Théorie Relative de la Monnaie (TRM) est la base du > développement du > Open-Universal Digital Currency project http://www.open-udc.org/en/start > > Et ça c'est en anglais, entre autres... > > > Olivier > > 2011/2/8 Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> > >> thanks a lot Olivier, if you hear from the english translation at some >> point, thanks for letting me know! >> >> >> On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 12:19 PM, olivier auber <olivierauber2(a)gmail.com>wrote: >> >>> Bonjour matinal Michel, >>> >>> Sur ce sujet, j'attire ton attention sur un auteur français à l'origine >>> d'une très intéressante "théorie relative de la monnaie" qui permet de >>> calculer très exactement différentes choses, notamment l'expansion de la >>> masse monétaire conduisant à une économie durable, ainsi que le montant du >>> Dividende Universel qui serait le vecteur de cette expansion. >>> >>> Il s'appelle Stéphane Laborde. >>> >>> Le livre est ici : >>> http://www.creationmonetaire.info/2010/11/theorie-relative-de-la-monnaie-10… >>> Le blog là : http://www.creationmonetaire.info/ >>> >>> Malheureusement, tout cela n'existe qu'en français pour le moment. >>> Un traduction en anglais est en cours, je crois. >>> >>> Amicalement >>> >>> Olivier >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> 2011/2/8 Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> >>> >>>> >>>> Dear Sepp, >>>> >>>> because the discussion is largely technical, this is all I can do, but >>>> perhaps you can add an extra comment? >>>> >>>> also, if you are in contact with Marc, please give him a chance to say >>>> something about the evolution of the bibo project since december 2009, >>>> >>>> Michel >>>> >>>> >>>> <http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/understanding-the-logic-of-intervallic-period…> >>>> >>>> >>>> <http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=13869> >>>> [image: photo of Michel Bauwens] >>>> Michel Bauwens >>>> 16th February 2011 >>>> >>>> In December 2009, Sepp Hasslberger introduced to us Bibo, a proposed >>>> standard for stable currencies, that would replace the current inherently >>>> unstable banking money system. >>>> >>>> This article has become our most comment rich article, in particular >>>> through a recurring debate between one of the Bibo co-authors Marc, and >>>> Ardeshir Mehta. >>>> >>>> Ardeshir has written an article that challenges one of the main points >>>> of monetary reformers, i.e. that the current system leads to the infinite >>>> creation of debt through compound interest. >>>> >>>> You can find it here<http://homepage.mac.com/ardeshir/DebunkingTheDebt-VirusHypothesis.html> >>>> . >>>> >>>> The context: >>>> >>>> *“Currently, most if not all money is loaned into existence by banks, >>>> and is thus based on interest-bearing debt. There is no question that >>>> neither interest nor debt-based money are good for society, and I have >>>> written denouncing both debt and interest elsewhere. However, there is a >>>> fairly common thesis, based on the fact that money is loaned into existence >>>> as interest-bearing debt, that if new loans are not continually being issued >>>> in ever-increasing amounts, enough money will not be created to pay the >>>> interest on existing loans; and as a result, at least some those loans will >>>> be defaulted upon, resulting in inevitable foreclosures. “* >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - >>>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >>>> >>>> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: >>>> http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation >>>> >>>> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; >>>> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >>>> >>>> Commons Strategies Group, http://www.commonsstrategies.org/ >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> P2P Foundation - Mailing list >>>> http://www.p2pfoundation.net >>>> https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Olivier Auber >>> 0675038880 >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >> >> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: >> http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation >> >> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; >> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >> >> Commons Strategies Group, http://www.commonsstrategies.org/ >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > -- > Olivier Auber > 0675038880 > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens Commons Strategies Group, http://www.commonsstrategies.org/

1 0

Re: [P2P-F] An update on BIBO, financial stability standards, and the debt-virus hypothesis
by Michel Bauwens 08 Feb '11

08 Feb '11

thanks a lot Olivier, if you hear from the english translation at some point, thanks for letting me know! On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 12:19 PM, olivier auber <olivierauber2(a)gmail.com>wrote: > Bonjour matinal Michel, > > Sur ce sujet, j'attire ton attention sur un auteur français à l'origine > d'une très intéressante "théorie relative de la monnaie" qui permet de > calculer très exactement différentes choses, notamment l'expansion de la > masse monétaire conduisant à une économie durable, ainsi que le montant du > Dividende Universel qui serait le vecteur de cette expansion. > > Il s'appelle Stéphane Laborde. > > Le livre est ici : > http://www.creationmonetaire.info/2010/11/theorie-relative-de-la-monnaie-10… > Le blog là : http://www.creationmonetaire.info/ > > Malheureusement, tout cela n'existe qu'en français pour le moment. > Un traduction en anglais est en cours, je crois. > > Amicalement > > Olivier > > > > > > 2011/2/8 Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> > >> >> Dear Sepp, >> >> because the discussion is largely technical, this is all I can do, but >> perhaps you can add an extra comment? >> >> also, if you are in contact with Marc, please give him a chance to say >> something about the evolution of the bibo project since december 2009, >> >> Michel >> >> >> <http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/understanding-the-logic-of-intervallic-period…> >> >> >> <http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=13869> >> [image: photo of Michel Bauwens] >> Michel Bauwens >> 16th February 2011 >> >> In December 2009, Sepp Hasslberger introduced to us Bibo, a proposed >> standard for stable currencies, that would replace the current inherently >> unstable banking money system. >> >> This article has become our most comment rich article, in particular >> through a recurring debate between one of the Bibo co-authors Marc, and >> Ardeshir Mehta. >> >> Ardeshir has written an article that challenges one of the main points of >> monetary reformers, i.e. that the current system leads to the infinite >> creation of debt through compound interest. >> >> You can find it here<http://homepage.mac.com/ardeshir/DebunkingTheDebt-VirusHypothesis.html> >> . >> >> The context: >> >> *“Currently, most if not all money is loaned into existence by banks, and >> is thus based on interest-bearing debt. There is no question that neither >> interest nor debt-based money are good for society, and I have written >> denouncing both debt and interest elsewhere. However, there is a fairly >> common thesis, based on the fact that money is loaned into existence as >> interest-bearing debt, that if new loans are not continually being issued in >> ever-increasing amounts, enough money will not be created to pay the >> interest on existing loans; and as a result, at least some those loans will >> be defaulted upon, resulting in inevitable foreclosures. “* >> >> >> -- >> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >> >> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: >> http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation >> >> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; >> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >> >> Commons Strategies Group, http://www.commonsstrategies.org/ >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> P2P Foundation - Mailing list >> http://www.p2pfoundation.net >> https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation >> >> > > > -- > Olivier Auber > 0675038880 > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens Commons Strategies Group, http://www.commonsstrategies.org/

1 0

PhD in "Open Source" Urbanism Solutions for Bucharest (Romania)
by Geo Scripcariu 08 Feb '11

08 Feb '11

Hi All, Considerably influenced by the work "Situated Technologies Pamphlets 2: Urban Versioning System 1.0", I started a PhD last Autumn (2010) at the "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest (UAIUM), Romania, concentrating on the concept of "Open Source" Urbanism and its potential practical solutions to the various problems of Bucharest, the capital city of my country. Let me briefly introduce myself: I graduated Software Engineering at the Computer Science faculty of the Politehnica University of Bucharest, and I studied Japanese language and Culture at The Jesuit School in Tokyo, Japan. I hold a MA in the Management of Cultural Assets from the Faculty of History at the University of Bucharest, and in 2009 I was accepted by the EMBA program in Creative Leadership with Steinbeis University in Berlin. To my surprise my research topic was accepted, but I realized I need more guidance from the true visionaries of the field, persons like you. My intention is to start very practical applications of the theory of "Open Source" Urbanism as soon as possible, in parallel with the theoretical work. Moreover, if you will be interested to participate I would be most glad to arrange either your attendance to specialized functions dealing with "New" Urbanism and scheduled to take place in Bucharest or elsewhere in Romania, or even stand alone events on "Open Source" Urbanism where you could be the main speakers. If you allow, I have right now one urgent question, if I may: what architecture research methods are relevant for "Open Source" Urbanism? I discovered recently an academic paper dealing with this issue, but not specifically with Open Surce / P2P Urbanism ( http://api.ning.com/files/dOPtu7qbGChsnM--aFoeTEckKuRQs3JhqURFuQhG4xMTx1kQl… ). At my school there is a preference for philosophy as main research tool, with a lot of phenomenology (mostly Heidegger), hermeneutics, aesthetics and semiotics (with a clear accent on U. Eco). Would you kindly accept to provide me some advice and / or feedback? Sincerely, Geo Scripcariu -- Geo Scripcariu PhD Student / "Open Source" Urbanism "Ion Mincu" Architecture and Urbanism University of Bucharest Mobile: +40745-09.61.91 Direct: +4031-401.29.42 Phone/Fax: +4021-410.54.15 E-mail: geo.scripcariu(a)gmail.com Str.Sabinelor 123 Bl. 119 Suite 16 Bucuresti-5 050854

3 2

Fwd: Automenta : How to Develop Automatic Intelligence (AI)
by Michel Bauwens 08 Feb '11

08 Feb '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 8:51 AM Subject: Fwd: Automenta : How to Develop Automatic Intelligence (AI) To: econowmix(a)googlegroups.com, sustainable_solidarity(a)yahoogroups.com, hc_ecology(a)yahoogroups.com http://blog.automenta.com/2011/02/how-to-develop-automatic-intelligence.html <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mWGkAr1Xo5Y/TVCK9OiJX7I/AAAAAAAAAzU/MHgvCcX19sM/s…> Consider and improve the human-computer interaction ergonomics of all software tools involved in development, in order to result in a completely integrated code/data editor and visualizer, rendering the entire system reflectively transparent to both humans and software agents within itself for maximally productive development processes. <http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mWGkAr1Xo5Y/TVCLuCW67cI/AAAAAAAAAzY/PEXoDjiCvVM/s…> It consists of, and can access a representation of its design as a virtual semantic graph, which interlinks and cross-references: - a syntactical abstraction of the project’s source code syntax - documentation - relevant Wikipedia material - up-to-date metadata about the project’s development and developers <http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mWGkAr1Xo5Y/TVCLxXVkaZI/AAAAAAAAAzc/q1ufCKK_W7o/s…> It utilizes and analyzes a software library and its dependencies, to an arbitrary stack depth, including: - all available “AI” algorithms, including but not limited to: - streaming graph data structures and graph algorithms, including interfaces that expose peripheral data sources and sensors as graph data - evolutionary search - high-dimensional and spatiotemporal learning and belief networks - probabilistic logic and inference - graph and N-dimensional pathfinding - dimensional embedding and graph drawing - natural language parsing and generation - user-interface systems - and other components and utilities <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mWGkAr1Xo5Y/TVCL4MhN4rI/AAAAAAAAAzg/xhz_0CluCiE/s…> A networked 2D/3D zooming user-interface with 3D physics simulation features interactively represents arbitrary information detail in seamless virtual environments containing embodied agents that operate independently of humans. It can embody itself within representations of its own structure, allowing it to fluidly enter its own imagined reality models. The resulting “operating system” simultaneously serves as a web browser, communication tool, software development tool, simulation modeler, videogame engine, and controller for arbitrary real-world machines and devices -- within a spectrum between fully automatic, semi-automatic, or manual modes. <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mWGkAr1Xo5Y/TVCMiJ2denI/AAAAAAAAAzk/_HAgifgcBXI/s…> Distribute the software and its source-code with an open-source license allowing anyone to freely experiment with it and share results with the system. Since the system is fully self reflective, any improvements that an individual contributes can potentially improve everyone else’s instances of it. Each instance of each system component will have multiple configuration options and parameter, maximizing design diversity across the planetary software eco-system. The system implements a global feedback and education system, allowing users to suggest improvements, report problems, ask questions, and receive answers about the software. <http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mWGkAr1Xo5Y/TVCMyx3BrVI/AAAAAAAAAzo/eLF7upkoN3w/s…> Developing intelligent cognitive agents will primarily involve 3D physics simulation of a virtual body operating in a virtual world. Simulated agents have precise control of robotic body parts and sensors that perceive, among other signals, streams of virtual optical and acoustic phenomena. This constitutes a robot design system that simultaneously evolves both hardware and software aspects of virtual and real robots (resulting in potentially unusual designs, for example: embedding cameras in robot finger-tips) - including instructions for manufacturing them. Also remember that nanomachines, vehicles, and buildings, can also be thought of as robots in this same way. This is also capable of developing virtual machinery that operates as intelligent “avatars” or “cursors” inside the virtual reality user-interface, actively operating in cooperation with human-computer interaction. *seeAlso:* - http://wiki.syncleus.com/index.php/dANN - http://critterding.sourceforge.net - http://wiki.opencog.org - http://www.opengl.org - http://bulletphysics.org - http://sites.google.com/site/narswang/home/nars-introduction - http://neuroph.sourceforge.net/ -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens Commons Strategies Group, http://www.commonsstrategies.org/

1 0

Re: [P2P-F] New release Zeitgeist movie big success
by Eric Hunting 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

I generally agree with you but would offer some suggestions as to possible reasons for the state of things with the Venus Project. As I've gathered in following his work myself, Fresco considers himself chiefly a designer and inventor and has long had this notion that the role of the designer/inventor is no more than to design and invent while implementation is someone else's department. But he's never had partners that could assume that implementation role. As brilliant as he is, most of his inventions have never gotten past concept stages because he's never been willing to get his own hands dirty in implementation and business development when no one else would. And this same thinking is reflected in the history of the Venus Project. For most of the, possibly, 50 years Fresco has been cultivating the Venus Project, he's been evangelizing its concepts through his designs. In other words, he has been trying to sell its concepts to a general public that is not sophisticated enough to comprehend them directly by using an idyllic visual image of the future that contrasts the squalor of contemporary life and cultivates a desire for a higher standard of living only this new cultural paradigm can deliver. The basic idea here is to cultivate collective desire through the appeal of a design such that people will be compelled to pick up the tools -intellectual and physical- to make it real. This is exactly the strategy you would expect from an industrial designer. That's how they normally sell ideas. But can you actually sell a whole society on a whole new cultural paradigm using pictures of its possible artifacts and visual impressions of its lifestyle? That's basically what the Venus Project has been trying to do for decades -before Zeitgeist. (which is now more directly trying to sell the theory, in the context of an explanation for why everything now sucks, because the middle-class zeitgeist itself has changed. They were very comfortable and complacent when Fresco started. Now they are under threat worldwide and looking for answers) I think you can usefully communicate many things this way, but it's got limits. It can only be part of a larger strategy that seems to have eluded Fresco for much of his life. We certainly live in a visual culture and you can communicate a great deal about the nature of a culture through architecture and industrial design. Though a lot of contemporary designers seem oblivious to this, any given design is a reflection of production technology, economic paradigms, and common community aesthetics, which in turn are reflections of culture. You don't have to be an anthropologist to get this. Humans have an innate ability to reverse engineer things, relative to their inherent understanding of physics and materials, by looking at, touching, and using them. This is how we perceive the value of many goods -and which corporations often try to trick through aspects of design to create a false perception of value. So we can, potentially, come to understand certain aspects of a proposed new culture through the nature of speculative designs of artifacts suggested to be products of it. This is the purpose of futurist visualization. When I've tried to find artists/illustrators to collaborate with -and this is often the point where I scare the hell out of them...- I will say to them that, in the real world, there are very specific reasons why anything looks the way it it does. And when you're doing futurist or technical visualization, as opposed to just SciFi, you are very deliberately trying to showcase those reasons through design because its those things that communicate the plausibility of the ideas you're trying to get across. For instance, if you understand that the overriding logistical limitation of manufacturing on orbit is that you can't precision-fabricate anything that can't fit through a pressure hatch of some kind, well, suddenly 90% of all the spacecraft and space stations you've ever seen portrayed in the media look like nonsense! So we see in Fresco's design work an attempt to communicate through it an impression of how his imagined future culture works. How it makes things and the aspects of design that reflect its culture's values. (there is no chrome, fishtails, and Swarovski crystals in the Fresco future) Unfortunately, his understanding of technology and design theory seems to have gotten stuck somewhere in the late 1960s or early 1970s, making some of his designs both stylistically anachronistic and also contradictory to how to we commonly envision many current and near-future 21st century production technologies to work. His concepts for things like space structures and nanotechnology in particular remain way off the mark and his greatest anachronism is Big Machine fabrication. My guess is that, due to an assumption that he was very far ahead of the curve to begin with and because at that point he started being more concerned with cultural theory, he hasn't kept up with the industrial and technological trends so his general design theory has not evolved -or, as with many architects, he just assumed he had achieved some kind of perfection and just never reviewed it later. But there's a more critical missing piece here; functional example. It's quite logical for the Venus Project to be very concerned with building a research city. That's the next step. Our society is so disillusioned, so hard-boiled, that we're now compulsively skeptical about any notion of the future that isn't dystopian. The best production value visuals can't make a strong argument for the future when, culturally, we just don't believe in the future anymore. (every spin-off of Star Trek ended in total war. Every other recent SciFi TV series has been about war. Every current SciFi computer game is a war game. Says a lot about what the culture thinks of the future) So, like flat earthers, we need to be led by the hand one way around the globe and then the other before we can get it. And the logical approach to that is to try to compete with the dominant cultural paradigms where it counts; a direct competition in demonstrable standard of living and quality of life based on actual working systems. This really may call for a Colonial Williamsburg of Tomorrow. Unfortunately, Fresco has left his followers with no functional plans for how to do this -because, again, implementation was someone else's department. His model city cannot be bootstrapped. Its monolithic design doesn't account for it to be built in the absence of the new systems it embodies, and there just aren't enough guilt-ridden trillionaires in the world. It's a catch-22 by design. They are going to have to move beyond Fresco to figure out how to do this. It's like building the first RepRap. You can't actually do it literally. You have to start with a 'RepStrap' built using other tools. Then that builds true RepRaps as its children. That's where we all are, strategically, in the larger general Post-Industrial/P2P cultural movement. The future can only be developed in-situ. But the Venus Project movement may not yet be attracting people with the wherewithal for that since, as you pointed out, it's picking up a lot of young people with more aspiration than knowledge and skills and who get frustrated when there are no plans at-hand to build anything specific right now. I would agree that Fresco and the Venus project have been operating in a vacuum to some degree, which may have a lot to do with coming out of the US where this field of study has been, sort of, underground since the 70s and where you do have to account for the Great American Reality Distortion Field. I'm hoping this movie is some sign of change in all this, but we'll see. Eric Hunting erichunting(a)gmail.com > From: Karl Robillard <krobillard(a)san.rr.com> > Date: February 6, 2011 2:43:34 AM MST > To: P2P Foundation mailing list <p2p-foundation(a)lists.ourproject.org> > Subject: Re: [P2P-F] New release Zeitgeist movie big success > Reply-To: P2P Foundation mailing list <p2p-foundation(a)lists.ourproject.org> > > > On Saturday, February 05, 2011 12:07:43 pm Eric Hunting wrote: >> Still, overall this movie seems like real progress for this movement. > > > I've watched this movement for a couple years now. It has no legs because > they are entirely committed to the specific goal of building a research city. > > Mr. Fresco repeatedly makes the point that the Venus Project is about changing > culture more than building cities, but he then goes and places his designs > front and center in all of their media. During a talk in Slovenia > (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TwVs2nlUb0) Jacque told his audience to go > solicit corporations for the means to build his city. I have never once heard > him make reference to any of the existing commons movements, and Peter Merola > only talks about them dismissively. > > There are a lot of younger males attracted to the movement. When they find the > leadership unreceptive to thier ideas, they start their own organizations > (http://rbose.org/, http://rbefoundation.com/, > http://www.atlasinitiativegroup.org/) where they flounder about looking for > direction. > > It would be great if we could organize to build some of these cool arcologies, > but I suspect this will only be possible after a few generations of people > have lived immersed in an open, P2P world. > > > -Karl

2 1

R: PhD in "Open Source" Urbanism Solutions for Bucharest (Romania)
by Bertram Maria Niessen 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

1 0