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Cellphedia, a SMS Social Network Service

Posted by timothy on Sat May 21, 2005 06:56 PM
from the this-sounds-deeply-dumb dept.
Communications Wireless Networking Hardware
Roland Piquepaille writes "Based on ideas taken from Wikipedia and dodgeball, Cellphedia allows its members to broadcast questions to its community and receive answers, using SMS text messaging on cell phones. Here is how it works, according to "Cellphedia Melds Facts with Mobile Smart Mobs" from E-Commerce Times. First, you register for free on the site and you indicate your subjects of interest. If you want to ask a question, it is sent to all the members who expressed interest in this particular subject. Finally, the first answer received by Cellphedia is sent back to you. This means that later answers, which could have been more accurate, are discarded. But this service is still very young and its creator is working hard to improve it. Read more for some examples of questions and answers stored on the Cellphedia central server."
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  • I'm violating your copyright, Roland! SUCK IT! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2005, @06:57PM (#12601930)
    Cellphedia, a SMS Social Network Service

    Based on ideas taken from Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] and dodgeball [dodgeball.com], Cellphedia [cellphedia.com] allows its members to broadcast questions to its community and receive answers, using SMS text messaging on cell phones. Here is how it works, according to " Cellphedia Melds Facts with Mobile Smart Mobs [ecommercetimes.com]" from E-Commerce Times. First, you register for free on the site and you indicate what are your subjects of interest. If you want to ask a question, it is sent to all the members who expressed interest in this particular subject. Finally, the first answer received by Cellphedia is sent back to you. This means that later answers, which could have been more accurate, are discarded. But this service is still very young and its creator is working hard to improve it. Read more...

    Here is a general description of this service, created by Limor Garcia as part of her thesis while at New York University.

    Inspired by Wikipedia, the all-volunteer, online community encyclopedia, and Dodgeball, a cell phone-based social networking service, Cellphedia allows its members to broadcast questions to its community and receive answers, all through a mobile phone.

    Registration for the service is free at the Cellphedia Web site. After registering, members choose areas that they're interested in -- art, architecture, food, music, etc. A member can ask a question in any area, but the questions go to people who have chosen the area as one that interests them.

    Questions and answers are sent and received using SMS on your cell phone. And as I wrote above, only the first answer received by CellPhedia is sent back to the person who asked a question.

    Unlike Wikipedia, answers to questions via Cellphedia aren't subjected to community review to assess their accuracy. And while multiple members might answer a question, only the first answer received by the system is forwarded to an inquirer.

    Garcia noted that group editing of answers is her next priority for the service. "I'm going to open it up for people to correct answers as well," she said.

    Interviewed for this article, Howard Rheingold, from Smart Mobs [smartmobs.com], said that Cellphedia was another example of the convergence between technologies such as cell phone, computers and Internet.

    "The phone gives you instant communication wherever you are," he explained. "And the Internet enables you to connect with people who share an interest. Combining that gives you the ability to create something like Wikipedia with a social network."

    "It remains a question about whether she's going to get a sufficient critical mass," he noted. "Wikipedia works because there's a sufficient number of people working on it."

    Now, let's look at some examples of questions and answers stored on the Cellphedia central server. As you can see, there are all kinds of requests.

    • Short question, short answer
      Q: age new pope
      A: 78
    • Short question, long answer
      Q: what's a phreak
      A: a phreak is someone who is highly skilled in the use of phone systems. phreaksare considered a subset of hackers.
    • Long question, short answer
      Q: does someone know how to install osx tiger on to an ipod for later installation on an ibook?
      A: not possible
    • A question without answer
      Q: where can i find info on time travel?

    For another point of view about this service, you can read this article from Wired News, "

  • Answers... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Hogwash McFly (678207) on Saturday May 21 2005, @06:58PM (#12601939)
    Answers to questions, eh?

    Such as, 'How does Roland Piquepaille sleep at night'?

  • Go to hell! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by CypherXero (798440) on Saturday May 21 2005, @07:00PM (#12601951) Homepage
    Roland Piquepaille, go to hell!
      • Speaking of Jeopardy, you just gave me a really cool idea. What if there were another version of Cellphedia where you gave it an answer and it responded with a question, like on Jeopardy? Just give it one question to start it off, then the two systems could talk to each other...

        Q: How old is the Pope?
        A: 78.
        Q: How many friends do I have to refer to get a free iPod?
        A: Get free iPods at freeipodsource.com.
        Q: What is spam?
        A: A processed meat product.
        Q: What are hotdogs?
        A: Get Viagra for just $5.99 at
  • This message was immediately received by Cellphedia by SMS:

    who iz rolex pickapal n y iz he on slashdot lol lmao
  • suck .. this entire idea is a joke. Someone should be beaten repeatedly with the cluestick.
  • Ignoring the general hatred that seems to be around for Roland Piquepaille (DISCLAIMER: I have no opinion on the guy), is this something people would use?
    Maybe I'm missing something, but in the time it takes to ask the question and get an answer through your cell phone, I would think that you could find a computer and Google the inquirey. What could you possibly ask of a cell phone encyclopedia that you couldn't find on the internet?

    Wait! I don't think I want an answer to that.

  • Great idea (Score:5, Funny)

    by Mensa Babe (675349) on Saturday May 21 2005, @07:16PM (#12602055) Homepage Journal
    It's just like Wikipedia only with one-sentence articles with no punctuation, every query costs you arm and leg and reading with 2-point font makes you blind in the process. I expect it to be a great success. Cellphones are truly amazing.

  • effing a (Score:3, Funny)

    by Valar (167606) on Saturday May 21 2005, @07:22PM (#12602087)
    just make roland an editor so we can block his stories and get on with it.

  • No, really... that's what it says.

    With all the advances in KM over the years [ibm.com], maybe a more interesting approach would be to have the system aggregate/rate responses over a period of time and respond with the top 3 or so. As planned, I would think the system described is less than useful, it would be downright obnoxious once it hit critical mass (go read every first post [slashdot.org] on /. for a preview).

  • spam? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ErichTheWebGuy (745925) on Saturday May 21 2005, @07:27PM (#12602115) Homepage
    I see a massive potential for spam.

    1. Setup a SMS bridge
    2. Register for all topics of interest
    3. write a script that replies almost instantly with "I hear that all the time, here is an in-depth article on my website" that points to whatever porn/free ipod/whatever spam site
    4. profit!!!

  • Accuracy and reliability? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by britneys 9th husband (741556) on Saturday May 21 2005, @07:27PM (#12602119) Homepage Journal
    If you use this, how do you have any assurance that the answers you get are actually accurate? Given the number of uninformed people walking around, not to mention people who think it's funny to hand out deliberate misinformation, wouldn't this be practically useless? And you can completely forget about any questions that would attract commercially motivated answers (e.g. Where is the nearest gas station?)
  • the only reply that you ever get is "First Post!!!"
  • children. As soon as you've got children who can easily get in touch with you, via SMS or other means, you'll find yourself fielding all sorts of stupid questions.

    This cellpodiatry thing ought to be a great introduction for couples contemplating kids. With some experience they may change their minds.

    Son, "Dad, the cars out of gas, what do I do."

    Dad, "You walk to a gas station, borrow a can, buy some gas, walk back to the car, put it in, drive back to the gas station, return the can, and buy more gas. Don

  • Brilliant (Score:3, Interesting)

    by kent_eh (543303) on Saturday May 21 2005, @08:26PM (#12602429)
    I wonder which cell phone provider came up with this idea.
    Some cell companies charge as much as $0.15 per SMS message.
    If this thing catches on, they'll be rolling in cash (even more than they are now).
      • Most carriers in the US are charging a one time monthly fee for sms/mms messaging. I don't think comments that sms/mms charges cost an arm and and a leg are relevant in this day and age.

        Nevertheless, cellphone providers are making LOTS of money from text/sms messages.

        From an article [enquirer.com] on pizza coupons on your cellphone:
        "In April, [Cincinnati}Bell's system handled 115 million text messages, or an average of about 278 per subscriber. The national average is about 30 per subscriber per month. And data such

  • So, I'll take a test and just whip out my cell phone and send a question I'm having problem on to this service and get back an answer. Awesome!
  • At least "wikipedia" is a funky pigeon of Hawaiian and English, which is kinda natural for any combo with a Hawaiian word.

    But cellphedia sounds more like a social disease than a social network. They need a new name.
  • for all the reasons noted elsewhere, this probably isn't going anywhere.

    But, human behavior, particularly human social behavior is complex. Many a sure thing has foundered on human complexity, and many a ridiculous idea has become the next big thing because of it. After all, the idea of a world class operating system being created and maintained by a worldwide network of volunteers (and people paid to contribute to a free, public work by their employers) would have seemed absurd to nearly anybody with any
    • He goes out and looks for interesting articles about new and emerging technologies. He provides a very brief overview of the articles, then copies a few choice paragraphs and the occasional picture from each article and puts them up on his web page. Finally, he adds a minimal amount of original content between the copied-and-pasted text in an effort to make the journal entry coherent and appear to add value to the original articles. Nothing more, nothing less.

      Sounds almost like what I use Slashdot for.
      • This...use...for Slashdot:
        Can you please expand on that point?
        • Slashdot has users go out and find stories. They then copy and paste a part of the story and link to it. They then add a comments section so that people can earn karma by either stating restating public opinion on the matter or by finding fault in it, even if it requires going to ridiculous extremes. The whole time this is happening, Slashdot is posting ads. The more people comment, the more ads get served, the more ads Slashdot can sell.

          What I find so ridiculously funny about this whole Roland deal
    • I don't see any ads on Roland's site anymore. Of course, it helps that I just added proxy.blogads.com to my hosts file. :)
    • (I refuse to use the word "blog")


      You just did.

    • MOD PARENT DOWN! REASON: SPAM (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21 2005, @07:42PM (#12602196)
      Moderators, parent is nothing more but SPAM! Look carefully and you'll see that the link in "Visit BlogAds to check the following facts for yourself" is NOT a direct link to www.blogads.com but a redirect from other domain to hide the fact that it points to a referer link to blogads! Read carefully and see that the poster actually promotes blogads saying how much anyone having a blog can earn and posts it on slashdot where many people want to earn money that way. Then the link is a paid link and the poster will get a percentage of money generated by all of us who sign up with that program after following that link. Briliant, isn't it? But it is SPAM and should be moderated as such. Instead this offtopic SPAM is moderated as Score:5! Moderators, are you blind or stupid? MOD IT DOWN!
      • Aye. Good catch. If i had points, i'd mod it down
      • as far as I can tell, http://www.thedarkcitadel.com/ [thedarkcitadel.com] is just a blog, and he is linking from auto-generated links made by the blog software.

        now he does appear to have a couple text advertisement links on his blog to help pay hosting costs (maybe these links drive up his traffic and make him more money like he says about roland), but otherwise it seems rather innocent.

        though it is fairly odd that he just doesn't directly link

        • Re:maybe you don't check deep enough (Score:2, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          as far as I can tell, http://www.thedarkcitadel.com/ [thedarkcitadel.com] is just a blog, and he is linking from auto-generated links made by the blog software.

          Yes, auto-generated links to affiliate URLs.

          though it is fairly odd that he just doesn't directly link

          He does it to obscure the fact that he posts links to click.example.com/?ref=his_id instead of just www.example.com. There's a double redirect.

          Please read granparent post more carefully...
    • The real question is, why does Slashdot continue to accept every single one of his submissions when many of the readers see through the scam and whole-heartedly object to what he is doing?

      Theory: he splits his profits with slashdot editors. He uses slashdot's users to gain money and pays a little commission in order to do that. What other explanation exists?
      • "What other explanation exists?"

        His stories generates a lot of negative comments so Slashdot's ad-serv counter starts spinning.
      • Theory: He subbmits 14 times as many articals and goes by the law of averages ! perhaps?
        Its just an odd coincidence that Timothy always seems to be the editor to OK them , it hapens .. a simmilar freak occurance of this magnitutde also started life on earth
        • That was not ment to be taken seriously... ;) incase you were wondering.
          I do belive he probably does subbmit about 80 storys a month though and if you have levels like that then you are bound to get some through , If as the origional post states he ears 640 or so a month from this then i doubt its much insentive to pay off the editors and is just enough to pay for rent and food barely much else.
          or its a nice bonus to the paycheque.
          Perhaps Roland is just the victum of one amazingly large complex troll ;) has
    • I thought we were rid of this bozo.
    • Let's talk about the service that Roland Piquepaille provides in his journal. He goes out and looks for interesting articles about new and emerging technologies. He provides a very brief overview of the articles, then copies a few choice paragraphs and the occasional picture from each article and puts them up on his web page.


      And this is different from /., how?

      -David

    • You know, in reading your lengthly response even more, it almost appears as if you're advertising for this BlogAds service that you claim to despise so much.

      You list specific pricing and a business plan that sounds rather fantastic. You make it sound so easy and beneficial for someone to start doing what Roland is doing.

      I have to wonder what your intentions really are.

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