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Technology

Clothes Make the Network 179

Posted by timothy from the wait-for-the-dirty-clothes dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "Howard Rheingold is looking at how "wearable computers create ad-hoc wireless communities." Here is the main idea, introduced by Gerd Kortuem, a 38-year-old assistant professor, who recently moved to Lancaster University in England from the University of Oregon's Wearable Computing Lab. "As he sees it, the crowds who surround us every day constitute a huge waste of social capital. If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a ride home, buy an item you're trying to sell, or consider you as dating material. Dynamic networking makes it possible to tap those resources through a momentary alliance among transient interest groups." Check this column for a summary or the full article if you have more time."
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Clothes Make the Network More

Clothes Make the Network

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  • Sun's next slogan (Score:3, Funny)

    by JessLeah ( 625838 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:14PM (#4833956)
    Sun: The Panties are the Computer

  • will work for food (Score:3, Funny)

    by buttahead ( 266220 ) <tscanlan@so[ ]th.org ['sai' in gap]> on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:14PM (#4833958) Homepage
    great, now not looking in the eye of a drunk on the corner doesn't excuse me for not offering him a few buck. now his software will spam me until i pay for his next drink.
    • Yeah... I can't count the number of homeless people I've met with state of the art networking and computer equipment.
      • "If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a ride home, buy an item you're trying to sell..."

        So, I wouldn't worry about virtual panhandlers spamming. I'd worry about targeted spam from vendors you'd rather not have other people know you frequent. Imagine walking past a bar with your AA friends and you're beamed a frequent customer perk. You're with your ladyfriend (who think's she's the only lady friend) when Victoria Secrets sends you a frequent customer discount - but those sexy undies you got were all intended for a diffrent lady friend (or worse, yourself!)

        Reading targted spam (or junk mailings) can let you know alot about the target of said spam/mailings. (You'll find gun stuff, camera stuff, computer stuff, and aviation junkmail all over my mailbox and e-mail box for example.)
        • Yeah, after all, all those penis enlargement ads do mean I have a small penis.

          In fact, it's so small, it's completely inside out... us women call it a "vagina."

          Targeted spam hasn't really gotten all that targeted yet, I'm afraid. (I wish it would hurry up!)
    • Subject: Brother, My Cup is Empty

      ...and I haven't got a penny
      for to buy no more whiskey
      I'll have to go on home

      --
      j.wokky

      Attachment: jabberwokky-brother_my_cup_is_empty.ogg

  • Obsolete before it starts (Score:3, Funny)

    by SiliconEntity ( 448450 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:15PM (#4833968)
    The physical world is so 20th century. The future is virtual.

  • Why 'wearable'? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by GMOL ( 122258 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:16PM (#4833980)
    The thing I really don't get with all the wearable computer baloney is, what can you not accomplish with a small computer that you have in your pocket (i.e. a cell phone computer) as opposed to a "wearable" one?
    • I hate when my cell phone or pager pinch me at my belt line when I sit down. wearable computers would hopefully keep this from happening.

      a heads up display could be very helpful when you need both hands for driving, or shopping.

      a hands free data entry system -- perhaps sub-vocal sound interpreter could let you change the destination on your GPS heads up display.

      going the wearable route is the same as trying to make computing less conspicuous, less cumbersome, and easier.
      • Yeah a HUD will work great when driving. Trying to read an email and drive 65mph at the same time? People can barely drive without distractions as it is, much less talk on a phone.

        • Re:driving? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by Subcarrier ( 262294 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:51PM (#4834139)
          Yeah a HUD will work great when driving. Trying to read an email and drive 65mph at the same time?

          Who says you have to read emails while driving? Think new applications. You could receive audiovisual driving instructions, alerts, traffic updates, etc. Traffic signs could broadcast a wireless signal so you see them a mile away no matter if they are covered in snow or grime.

          In general, the main thing about about wearable computing is about improving the user interfaces. A T9 keypad and an LCD display the size of your thumb just don't cut it.

    • Re:Why 'wearable'? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Lemmy Caution ( 8378 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @05:12PM (#4834473) Homepage
      Do you realize that the underpants gnomes are suddenly a lot closer to a revenue model?

  • Damn (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:17PM (#4833982)
    I hate people. Now I'll have to keep some around so I can get decent bandwidth.
    • Seems that you have to in some sense anyway . . . . I mean farmer Joe out in Nebraska most likely doesn't have DSL.
  • Just what I've always wanted: something that broadcasts personal information to everybody who passes within 100 feet of me!

    Dumbest..Idea...Ever...
    • Why would you be wearing a computer that broedcasts your personal information? Sure, they'll be commercial things that do this, but not all will, and if nothing else, carry a linux install (or whatever) in your pocket.
    • Only the information you put into it. GIGO. Besides, like any new technology, what's your profile gonna say anyway? SWM, 24 . . . .
      • If you put "SWM, 24" into your profile and walk around broadcasting it, imagine all of the "matches" you'd receive that turn out to be ads for porn or dating services... At least maybe it would filter out the Viagra ads.

  • Finally! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Quaoar ( 614366 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:18PM (#4833987)
    This new solution will take the work out of driving, dating, and purchases.

    ...shit, I'll have nothing to do!
    • Now my friends can't bug me with things like "She'll never talk to you if you dont do anything but stare at her from accross the room!"
  • great! now maybe the waitress will bring the katsup i asked her for. just advertise her tip-meter every few seconds to show the rapid decrease in funds.
  • how long before we become walking talking spamvertising billboards. Computers are great, but there are times when we all need a break from the wire.
  • Awright! I'll finally be able to cancel my Adult Friendfinder [adultfriendfinder.com] membership!

  • ...Dynamic networking makes it possible to tap those resources through a momentary alliance among transient interest groups...

    You are not like the others. You can be assimilated.

  • Dont they have something like this. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Cyno01 ( 573917 ) <Cyno01@hotmail.com> on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:20PM (#4833997) Homepage
    I remember seeing ads for some little keychain thingy you programmed your intrests into and when you passed near someone with similar intrests both persons devices would go off. They didn't really catch on here, but i think they were popular in japan. Here i think so few people had them that if you fond someone with one you could pretty much gaurantee you had some similar intrests *cough*geeks*cough*.
    • I remember hearing about this too. My impression was they weren't released here(US), only in Japan. I've been trying to find a link for a couple minutes, so far with no success. Anyone have more info?
    • Well, there was this [bcs.org.uk] one (scroll down a bit)... The relevant excerpt:

      Comverse customer EMI will soon unveil Keychain, a hand-held device for m-commerce, likely to fit on a keyring.

      Jay Samit, new media senior vice-president at EMI Recorded Music in Hollywood, explains how it works: 'You're listening to the radio in your car, you love the song but you don't know who it's by. Flick the Keychain and it instantly knows which radio station you're tuned into, and where you are on the planet. It connects to the station, finds out about the track and sends you an e-mail to tell you where you can buy it.

      'In a restaurant you find you love a bottle of wine. You could scan the barcode into the Keychain and it will e-mail you where you can buy that wine, on-line or in the physical world.'

      Jay Samit says the Keychain will be given away free to listeners by radio stations. The feedback they will get on people's personal preferences as they use it to get details of broadcast songs will be invaluable as well as anonymous, safeguarding personal privacy. Advertisers will benefit from extra marketing data and sales.
      Not quite the same thing, but equally frightening.
      • Jay Samit, new media senior vice-president at EMI Recorded Music in Hollywood, explains how it works: 'You're listening to the radio in your car, you love the song but you don't know who it's by. Flick the Keychain and it instantly knows which radio station you're tuned into, and where you are on the planet. It connects to the station, finds out about the track and sends you an e-mail to tell you where you can buy it.
        The Sony eMarker [emarker.com], RIP September 2001.

        A good description of them with some background and an explanation of how they worked is here [bricklin.com]. They were never given away but sold for ~US$20 and just didn't catch on, at least never enough to recoup their support costs.

        Now gone the way of the iTag [edgereview.com], the CueCat [slashdot.org] and the Modo [techtv.com].

      • finds out about the track and sends you an e-mail to tell you where you can buy it.

        Right Here [kazaalite.com]

        it will e-mail you where you can buy that wine, on-line

        Right Here [winehq.com]

    • Not Exactly the same, but similer. here [usatoday.com]
    • Wasn't there something like this for gay people? I don't remember if it was called Gaydar or not, but the concept was similar. :)
    • There was a device in Japan called the love-getty that matches your description.

    • Why do these wireless comunities need to be on clothing?
      our most mobile and intimate technology
      So that you can sell each user a unit for every day of the week? I suppose it would be more conveniant if my PDA was my pants instead of just being in them, but friends tell me I need more than one pair of pants, and I can't afford to have eight PDAs.

      Mark my words, wearable computing is a doomed industry.

  • Hookers (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dagg ( 153577 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:20PM (#4834000) Journal
    This will be a boon for hookers. Here's a quote that was lost:

    As he sees it, the crowds who surround us every day constitute a huge waste of johns and hookers. If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a blow job, hand job, or kick in the jimmy (the fun way).

    --

    Find yer sex remotely [tilegarden.com]

  • Ad hoc drug dealing (Score:5, Funny)

    by GigsVT ( 208848 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:21PM (#4834005) Journal
    If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a ride home, buy an item you're trying to sell,

    No longer will drug dealers have to stand suspiciously on corners or in parks!

  • hrm (Score:3, Funny)

    by carpe_noctem ( 457178 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:21PM (#4834008) Homepage Journal
    -sniff-...my network needs to be washed.
  • ...that this guy was the one at home watching Trek on prom night.

  • Um... (Score:2, Funny)

    by sirfuzz ( 233361 )
    or consider you as dating material

    Um... This is Slashdot - will that many people consider us geeks as dating material??

    (Obligatory smilie here). :-P
    • Especially when, being close to the other person, our putting "6'4", looks like Brad Pitt" on the device won't work any more...

  • Obligatory... (Score:2, Informative)

    by sl inferis ( 627411 )
    A beowolf cluster of people???
  • a beowulf cluster of these! but seriously, doesn't it add a new dimension to all those jokes that end with "Hey, wanna guess what I'm wearing?"
    • Intel Pentium III, 3.0Ghz CPU, 256KB second level cache
      256MB SDRAM, PC133 onboard
      20GB IDE Hard Disk Drive, 2.5" Internal, High Shock
      24X CD-Rom, IDE, Slim style installed
      Chipset Intel® 815EG North, I/O: Intel® Hub 2 (South)
      Video On Board (DB15) SVGA, 2D/3D
      1x -Serial RS-232,
      2x -PS/2 for Keyboard and Mouse
      3x -USB Ports, 1-front, 2-rear
      1x -Firewire, IEEE-1394, Lucent FW323 Chipset, 400Mb transfer rate
      1x -Ethernet Port, Intel 82562ET 10/ 100 LAN controller, RJ-45 connector
      1x -Parallel Port
      Power on, reset buttons with power On and HDD LED's
      Audio Software AC 97 Audio CODEC, 1-line-in, 1-Mic-out, 1-Earphone
      With the blue cords and white trim

  • So when... (Score:4, Funny)

    by sielwolf ( 246764 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:28PM (#4834048) Homepage Journal
    Is the first War-Pantsing going to occur?

    "Woah, I sure hope that's a 802.11b antenna poking into my backside!"

  • Rogue elements ... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by LL ( 20038 )
    ... create levels of distrust ... it takes just a couple of hitchdrivers going whacko (admittedly probably overdramaticsed by media) that people be hesitant to stop and pick up strangers. Often our preception (of fears) is stronger than reality (esp crime statistics). It's a good idea encouraging social capital ... I just wonder how easy it is in a big anonymous city where people don't give a damn.

    LL

  • Or the people who: (Score:5, Funny)

    by iamwoodyjones ( 562550 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:31PM (#4834062) Journal
    1) Want to stuff you into a barrell.
    2) Want to rip you off.
    3) Put you in their basement forever.
    4) Want to spam you constantly for deals. Can't wait for the first Nigerian coat spam scam.
    5) Trolls who will be constantly broadcasting that, "In Russia, you are the wearable computer...Searching for girls named Natilie and grits...First Shirt Post...Hey is this a first of a beowulf of cloths!"
  • so many victims, so little time.

    -You too huh?

  • A justification for technology, not a reason (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mickwd ( 196449 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:33PM (#4834070)
    From the article: "If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a ride home, buy an item you're trying to sell, or consider you as dating material."

    So why not open your mouth and talk to some of them ?
    • Why waste time doing that since most likely there's something about them that's gonna piss me off anyway? At least w/a device like this I've got the basics out of the way.

      Turn Ons: X, Y, Z.

      Turn Offs: A, B, C.

      If there's a reasonable percentage hit burn the energy into em, if not, blow.
    • What, ask everyone on the sidewalk if they want to buy your old network cards/computer parts and if they like long, moonlit walks on the beach? Seems silly to me. I don't think it's a justification at all, and it seems to me that this technology *would* get people talking!

    • How about because you don't know them? If you're looking for a ride home for instance, are you going to ask any and every stranger on the street if they are going in the same direction? Or if they're selling exactly the thing you're looking for? of course not. I think this would be a very good thing since it will definately open up communication between strangers.
    • So why not open your mouth and talk to some of them ?

      Because your wearable computer (AKA cellphone) can talk to EVERYONE in a 100 yard radius INSTANTLY and determine for you which will be likely to be the most interesting for a voice-based chat.

  • incidentally, that article is the exact same one (Score:5, Interesting)

    by deft ( 253558 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:39PM (#4834092) Homepage
    that the "borg weekly" ran 250 years ago.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Do we really want to meet anymore people? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by c13v3rm0nk3y ( 189767 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:42PM (#4834105) Homepage
    Speaking as someone who has lived and worked in some of the busiest urban areas in the world, my feelings are that most of us have already made all the "connections" we need.

    Most of us spend our time deliberately ignoring each other, as even the smallest new interpersonal relationship can only offer so much in exchange for the necessary work.

    Perhaps the article is meant to be more of a projection based on how the internet has change how we build relationships. Speaking only for myself, when I'm on my way home or to the office, the last thing I need is yet another social interaction with a stranger. Especially if this interaction is some banal eBay exchange or "hi want to chat?" ping. I already have enough places to meet people for commerce and dating, thank you very much.

    Maybe the same folks who use IRC or instant messenging 24 hours a day will like this kind of anonymous mobile communication. Perhaps they will build fluid and mobile communities that move from area to area.

    I just don't it fitting into my life, or anyone I spend time with.

    • Then you can set yours to "fuck off, I don't want to meet people." Then maybe fewer people would bother you. See, you get benefits, too. I mean, really, isn't the wedding ring kind of the most primitive version of this, by indicating that you're not available for dating? I don't see this as the primary use for wireless computers, but it certainly would be a neat feature.
      • Then you can set yours to "fuck off, I don't want to meet people."

        Fair enough, though my initial reaction is "oh great, yet another place I have to filter out the noise to get to any kind of signal."

        The wedding ring analogy is interesting, but no longer so accurate. Like any tradition it waxes and wanes over time. Many of my married friends didn't exchange rings. I certainly will not automatically do the ring thing if/when I get "married". Heck, even if I do get married, I probably won't be "married" (if you know what I mean).

        Likewise, how this technology adds and changes to interpersonal traditions remains to be seen. Maybe it's because I work in the tech industry, but the less time I spend "connected" lately, the better I feel.

        In that respect, I am certainly not "Joe IRC" (though admittedly an early adopter of most tech) so my opinion is just that.

    • Nobody said you had to leave your pants turned on.
      • Nobody said you had to leave your pants turned on.

        True. But then what is the point? The whole point of communication devices like this is that they are instant, pervasive and always-on. In fact, this was one of the salient points in the article. The intention is for computer-IM-cellphone tech to be ubiquitous and transparent.

        And always enabled.

        • The point is that just because one tech-obsessed innovator thinks that a system like this must be ubiquitous and transparent does not mean that a system like this would not work any other way. Imagine if instead of your cellphone or underwear asking everyone around you for a lift to the Bronx, you did it by speaking with everyone, old-fashioned. You will get some responses of "I'm not heading that way". You will also get some responses of "No, leave me alone". You might even get "go F yourself, ya mook". There's no reason that they system can't do the same thing.

          Turn your pants off, the guy looking for a ride won't get a response and will move on. In the meantime, you're also not an open node waiting to get pinged or spammed or make new aquaintances all the time from someone else's skivvies...which was what you were railing against in the first place.

          You still have the network available to you this way when you are interested. It's like using your ethernet cable's plugability to be the ultimate firewall. All up to you.
          • It's like using your ethernet cable's plugability to be the ultimate firewall

            While I appreciate the implication of such connectivity (some might say convergence), this statement is what I disagree with. There is, and can never be, anything as tight as the "ultimate firewall". Near ultimate/perfect maybe, but not perfect. It will always be hackable (which was not my main contention anyway) but, more seriously, pervasive tech like this never has a use until one is found for it.

            Again, since I would never ask complete strangers for a ride uptown (regardless of the answers I may get) I don't see yet another device helping me much in that regard. Most urban dwellers spend a large part of their time avoiding interpersonal exchanges of any sort with strangers, no matter who depersonalized those exchanges may be. We ritualize these exchanges to the point of abstraction in most cases. I'm talking about how many meaningless and rote exchanges one makes taking a subway to work, getting a coffee and paper on the way, and greeting coworkers you don't actually work directly with on your way to the your cube.

            If I was an investor being courted for such a device or system, I might invest some capital, but would remain solidly skeptical until a real application was demonstrated. I don't see a killer app for this technology right now (except maybe for porn or sex parties), and do not believe that being able to sell bootleg copies of CDs or asking for rides uptown (or whatever -- I'm being deliberately obtuse about the application) are that killer app.

            Sorry, but I do not share any amount of enthusiasm for the possibilities. It's cool "geek chic" tech, to be sure, but it has to demonstrate it's ability.

            Ironically, the best use will probably only be found once the tech becomes universally used by a chunk of the population. My beef was that I don't see any of the projections in the article as valid.

  • If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a ride home, buy an item you're trying to sell, or consider you as dating material.

    Do you really need the computer for this? If the people are right there next to you, couldn't you... gasp... try actually talking to them? Regarding the dating thing, I would think that the fact that you are wearing a wearable computer would kinda decrease your chances of being considered dating material since the fact that you feel compelled to wear a computer clearly labels you as a dork.
  • Circuitry in my undies.
  • 1. Wear computers
    2. Send spam to everyone
    3. ????
    4. Profit.

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:46PM (#4834123)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Yet another spam delivery vehicle? (Score:5, Funny)

    by VenTatsu ( 24306 ) <ventatsu@noSPaM.gmail.com> on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:47PM (#4834125) Homepage
    I can't wait till I walk down the street, my wearable stating that I'm single, and I receive a message like "Looking for a guy like you, check out my live web cam and chat at TeenCollegeSluts.com" every ten steps.
    • "Oh no! I spammed my shorts again!"
  • I'm not really a no-holds-barred forward looking kind of guy when it comes to technology (which may be surprising to those who know how much I love the stuff), but this idea, implemented properly would be a gas.

    I would personally be interested in altering my social interactions with humans by reworking a small Perl script which would inevitably grow to suit my needs exactly. Those who say "just talk to people" are missing the point entirely. This is about the situations where you wouldn't normally talk to someone, and to me, especially about situations where you wouldn't talk to EVERYONE to see what the best fit for your problem-solution is. There are social limitations and time constraints that this could defeat.

    I'm looking forward to the day when/if this becomes commercially viable. This technology will be used by a large number of businesses which have to organise things efficiently - such as businesses which put on events or need to set stages.

    I think I'm going to look into following this technology on my own. Thanks /.

  • Each time agents exchange information about a transaction, they can also exchange data about past transactions, like a decentralized version of the reputation system on eBay.
    So your gas station attendant can know which adult novelty stores to find you at...

  • Virus (Score:3, Funny)

    by Gudlyf ( 544445 ) <<gudlyf> <at> <realistek.com>> on Saturday December 07, 2002 @03:54PM (#4834152) Homepage Journal
    Now when someone says, "stay away from him -- he's got some kind of virus," it won't just mean someone's got the flu.
  • baby.
    -SLAP!-

    No, geeks never get any and broadcasting personal preferences in public may get us less.

  • Reminds me of Sun's old moniker "The network is the computer". Makes me wonder if Sun bought out a clothing manufacturer.. "We put the 'Sun' in 'Alfred Sung'..."
  • We all know what the *real* benefit of such technology would be.
  • Do you really want your keychain or watch or belt buckle deciding who shares yours music tastes, hobbies, or sexual preferences?

    Before you answer, be sure to read the article When personalization runs amok [slashdot.org]

  • 100 comments and nothing about networking with Natalie Portman's clothes? Have I been away too long and the trolls have left, or have they just picked a new topic? I've noticed the Soviet Russia posts (you guys need to move on - you've run out of jokes) but I can't believe the trolling community has unanimously voted on a defunct political entity as their grist for the month.
  • If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a ride home, buy an item you're trying to sell, or consider you as dating material.
    This is sort of what the Cybiko [cybikoextreme.com] tried to do. Yes, it was marked at teenagers and not adults, but if somebody came near you with one who had programmed in similar interests, it would alert you ...

    What this article is proposing is basically just an extension of this ...

  • or consider you as dating material.
    Why do some technologist delight in subordinating themselves to the logic of the computer? It's like Asimov's Susan Calvin, with her austere detachment from other humans. Shouldn't we be looking at more ways of humanising technology, rather than trying to get technology to reaplce what few human things we have left in life? What's wrong with just talking to people in bars, meeting people through friends, at the workplace, hobby groups, etc? Why can't we just sell things by placing ads - why are we so obsessed with making life easier when all we're doing is taking more of the basic pleasures of life away, leaving us with a vacuum which seems to just be filled by work?
  • Here is the main idea, introduced by Gerd Kortuem, a 38-year-old assistant professor

    No, it wasn't "introduced" by him. The idea has been kicking around for many, many years. It's found its way into numerous science fiction stories. There have been a number of experiments and demonstrations already as well.

  • Actually, society has already advanced much further than that. Many people rely on "instant optical networking". Availability, social status, hobbies, religious affiliation, sexual interests, profession, and personality are encoded in a wide variety of wearable shapes, patterns, and accessories. It allows them to scan a crowd of hundreds or thousands and instantly pick out potential mates, friends, or colleagues.

    Such broadcasting and recognition is followed by point-to-point communications, commonly referred to as "flirting" (if optical) or small talk (if verbal). Various other optical signaling devices are used and selectively made accessible to the other party in order indicate other interests for point-to-point communications, like "books", "newspapers", "wedding rings previously invisible under clothing", etc.

    Over the years, the signaling system has changed somewhat. For example, a near-perfect association between actual social status or wealth and clothing used to be assured, but today, many people advertise more of their inner attitudes and desires than actual status using clothing.

    What has also deteriorated somewhat is the ability of some people to read and respond to these cues. For example, some people can't tell the difference between "flirting" and "solicitation". That is perhaps while some people are looking for rule-based electronic alternatives. But where is the fun in that? That's like playing chess by having a chess computer tell you all the moves.

  • A bar scene... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Sayjack ( 181286 ) on Saturday December 07, 2002 @05:56PM (#4834648) Homepage
    As I scan the bar....

    nmap girl.in.corner.of.bar


    Starting nmap V. 3.00 ( www.insecure.org/nmap/ )
    Interesting ports on girl.in.corner.of.bar (192.168.1.23):
    (The 1596 ports scanned but not shown below are in state: closed)
    Port State Service
    13/tcp open daytime
    517/udb open talk


    Muttering to myself...damn, port 79 is closed...
    Did I just post this? Gawd I'm a geek....

  • Isnt it kinda Clumsy? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Zone-MR ( 631588 )
    It's a novel concept, but I see limited future for it. Most worthwhile conversations originate spontaneously.

    It is just not possible to have a computer choose for you who you want to talk with. If it misjudges, false alarms will cause clumsy and/or embarrasing situations.

    What if you just dont feel like talking and forget to turn it off? Or perhaps it suggests a perfect personallity match, but when you look at the selected person you want to throw up?

    Imagine the most likely common scenario that you walk past someone, your device goes off, their device goes off, but for whatever reason you just arent interested to make conversation. Itll be clumsy just ignoring it, or making up excuses.

    And even when both sides are willing just to meet random people and talk. It's clumsy and hardly romantic trying to initiate a conversation "hey babe, my beeper just went off, turns out we have a lot in common, wanna f*ck?"

    The only use for personal ad-hoc networking technology is in exams ;)

    Saying that, widespread use of WLAN devices carried around your person would have one major use - if it supported routing and dynamic route calculation. It could become a free wireless internet. If you wanted to call someone accross the other end of the town, imagine the decice finding a route from person to person, to whomever you are calling... or to the nearest internet gateway...
  • Although this idea is technologically interesting, it seems to me that a more effective system would be simply to walk around wearing signs like, "Motorcycle for sale," or, "I want to get laid." Then you wouldn't limit yourself to only the people in the crowd who are carrying wireless LAN equipment.

    So why aren't people already doing that?

    A) Nobody thought of it yet.
    B) It's equivalent to shouting, "I'm a dork!"

    I'm gonna go with B.
  • In light of the FBI's claim that wireless networks are terrorist tools.

    This type of mesh networking is the the ultimate in P2P networking. The FBI can't install their Carnivore network sniffer in a prevasively meaningful way in such a system.

    I think, therefore, ken_i_m
  • Having recently read large chunks of The Logic of Collective Action [amazon.com] for an econ paper, I find the idea of an automated interest-sharing system fascinating. My ears pricked up at the use of the term "cooperate" in the article. See, one of the biggest problems we face in society (particularly market-driven society) is that, since we can't count on anyone else to act in our interests, we are constantly compelled to act in our own interests with the assumption that others will act against them. This leads us to situations where people who could collectively get much more satisfactory results end up working separately and getting sub-optimal results.

    A system where you could express your interests to the network and search for others who share them would have the potential to reduce or eliminate this problem. Say, for example, you're in a crowded parking lot, trying to leave after a show. You try to get through as best you can, not sure if you should let that other guy in or if it's just going to start a flood that's going to hang you up for days. Tempers get short, people jockey for position, and it all becomes a tangled mess.

    What if you could somehow communicate with all of those people and decide you were going to go about things in an orderly fashion? Then have the computers instruct you on what to do to follow the "plan." Everyone gets out of the parking lot faster and goes on their way.

    That's a pretty hokey example, but it does kind of work. These kinds of situations come up all the time, usually on a more permanent scale (the public goods problem). But it has potential to revolutionize the way we collaborate. Yeah, it will take 50-100 years to get that far, I'm sure, but I plan to still be around!

  • Maybe you could enter a list of interests, gender and availibility into your wearable, and have it select a partner for you walking around. I know this has been discussed elsewhere earlier, but not while working as ad-hoc proxies.

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