Aku Aku

flash mob sf

Photos from the first San Francisco flashmob. At least the first one since they were called "flash mobs", as the Cacophony Society has been doing this similar mobbish culture jamming stuff for years (and others before them).

The activity is crossing Market Street repeatedly while spinning arms outstretched......for 10 minutes.....

a guy just asked "why are you doing that?" and a participant replied "it's a fertility ritual."
"It increases fertility?"
"No, it decreases it."

--Dav via Danger Hiptop
http://AkuAku.org/

bathroom artistry

These are some photos of the men's room at the 1st International Moblogging Conference that I took with Mie's cell phone camera. Pictured, Justin Hall took some time away for his moderator duties to appreciate the bathroom gallery. I liked the assortment of photographs printed out and hung on the walls and ceiling, and the serpentine ink illustration that was a repeated motif around the room. But the first thing that caught my eye was the handwritten aphorism EVERYBODY WILL REMEMBER GARY COLEMAN. You just can't argue with that.

rarotonga sheraton

While looking dreamily through the Fam Frauenfelder's Rarotonga island life web journal I read that there is an 80% completed Sheraton resort there which was abandoned in the early 90s and is now slowly returning to nature. I find modern ruins inveterately compelling, perhaps because of the John Crhistopher books I devoured in my pree-teen years which seemed always to portray a post-apocalyptic landscape consisting of decaying Industrial Age ruins.

I quickly emailed Mr Fraunfelder requesting he take a photo of the hotel for his online gallery, and then thought to do a google search in the meantime, coming up with one photo amongst a good quality travel album.

I wish I had a midi file of Talking Head's Nothing But Flowers to embed with this post as a soundtrack :)

association of the living dead

I just had one of those Drive Way Moments, where I sit in my car outside of my house unable to kill the engine because I'd briefly lose power to the radio (which is why I always donate to my local NPR station). This one was about a man from the Indian province of Uttar Pradesh who had been dead for eighteen years and was getting really tired of it.

The man, Lal Behari, was declared dead unbeknownst to him by relatives who used the scheme to obtain deeds to his land. Mr Behari only learned of his demise much later when trying to file some official governmental forms and was refused because of his lack of living status. "But you know me, and I am standing right before you," he said to the bureaucrat who happened to be an old acquaintance. "That may be," was the reply, "but the Lal Behari in this paperwork is deceased.

Behari tried many things to fight his death, including attempting to claim widow benefits for his wife and running for a seat on parliment to gain attention. He also organized a group called the Association of the Dead consisting of nearly 100 other citizens who were falsely bereft of their mortal coils. In the end it took nearly twenty years to be resurrected and cast away the shroud of red tape.

AkuAku makeover

For some reason I felt inspired to change the look of this blog, I hope you like the new color scheme. It's sort of springtime-ish, like young bamboo, ne? Perhaps it is a celebration of Mie and I coming out of our winter of long distance love (or enkakurenai, Joi tells me).

I also finally registered a new home for it in DNS land. Welcome to http://AkuAku.org/

I suppose the green-on-black geeky color scheme and the rambling http://www.danger-island.com/~dav/writeon/ URL had both grown tedious :)

And finally, inspired by Joi's mp3 of Cory saying "Boing Boing", I recorded an AkuAku.wav which should play once when you load the main page. If I weren't lazy, I'd whip up a cookie-based java script so it would only play the first time you load the main page on each browser session. But I am lazy. Let me know if it gets tedious.

contextual network graphing moveable type

When I was at the Emerging Technology conference back in April, one of the sessions that got me all hot and bothered was Maciej Ceglowski's presentation on semantic mapping. Specifically the Contextual Network Graph system which he described and released into the public domain. The CNG system is able to handle a keyword search and bring up documents that are similar even though they don't contain the keyword. One example Maciej gave was that you could do a search on 'photosynthesis' and have documents returned that contained only the phrase 'plants get their energy from sunlight.' It is able to do this by noting which words might be shared between documents that contain the keyword and documents that don't, and their relative importance.

I could see many uses for a generalized version of this system, including using it in my day job for doing searches in the chemistry space. Unfortunately Maciej didn't release any code for the CNG at the time, and the code he did release (for a patented system called LSI) was written in C++ and I got over C++ a long time ago. So I had been meaning to implement CNG in Java ever since but just didn't get around to it.

Last night I discovered that Anselm, my collegue in the Headmap Collective, has been working with CNG for a couple of weeks now and just completed a working alpha level implementation in C# (he also has a detailed explanation of CNG at that previous link). Since C# is based on Java, it was trivial to port it, so it is now available in the headmap cvs tree.

After porting it over I wanted to be able to pull in some external documents to play around with it. I wrote a quick system that reads an export file from a Moveable Type blog, stores it as a CNG where each blog posting is a separate document, and then lets you interactively specify a post and get back a list of the other posts sorted by similarity.

If you want to play around with it yourself, you can download the headmap-cng.jar jar file and an export file (obtain that from your MT blog menu), then run the utility from the command line like this:

java -classpath headmap-cng.jar org.headmap.cng.util.SemanticMT myblog.txt

You'll need Java 1.4 installed on your system.

It's not very useful yet; the algorithm needs to be tweaked and a better utility needs to be written. But it has some promise and interesting applications. Download the source code (headmap-cng-src.zip) and explore it!

mobster

My housemate Sean, who has become one of the voices of the recent 'flash mob' craze via his coverage on flashmobs.com was quoted in today's Chicago Tribune: All in a flash: Meet, mob and move on (requires login, you may use akuakusf as both user and password).

I've had mixed feelings about this recent interest in flash mobbing. From one point of view I like the idea of smart mob behavior mediated through technology which is how it was first presented to me, but upon inspection it turns out that technology plays very little role in these events. From another point of view I appreciate the situationist humor of the gatherings. This sort of thing coincides nicely with the Cacophony Society events that I love so dearly. Again though, on closer inspection the flash mob events so far pale in comparison, seeming more like a watered down knock-off that's been homogenized for the masses.

The best thing about these events are the 'flash' part which they do adhere to nicely. The mobs appear in the target location with relative suddenness, stay for only a minute or two, and then disperse just as quickly. I do like that.

Last night over dinner at Sam Wo Restaurant in Chinatown, Sean and I discussed plans for a San Francisco flash mob event he wants to hold. This one will add in some of the cacophony flavor, but still no facilitation via technology.

What I'd like to see is a smart mob enabled with wireless communication devices. I suppose the device distribution should be at least 1 per 5 participants. This will allow the mob to be coordinated on-the-fly in real time during an event, or even the spontaneous creation of an event (you get a message on your device that says "If you're near Union Square right now and wish to participate in a mob event...."). Anyone in the network could suggest/control an event. Sean suggested also having a reputation system to filter whom you will receive participation requests from. This is a good idea, as some people may be more interested in politically-minded mob events (of a certain bent even) and others may be more interested in the more absurdist flash mobs.

It sounds like a lot of effort for a silly thing, but silly things make life worth living.

giant unix terrorist geeks

Before leaving for japan I ordered a Practical UNIX Terrorism Tshirt. I selected Large since the choices were Large and Extra Large. My perfect size normally is somewhere between medium and large ...but apparently it's all relative and when you order a geek t-shirt Large is assumed to mean a standard Extra Large because what arrived is the largest damn Large I've ever seen. It's like a tent. Any giant geeks want to buy a never-worn tshirt?

summer trip to tokyo

So I just (this AM) got in from Japan. It's been over a month since I've been back in San Francisco (except for about 40 hours in between the NC and Japan trips) so it feels very good to be back with all my STUFF!

I missed you, stuff!
*Dav hugs his stuff

Ahem, seriously though...

I had a great time with Mie as usual. In fact because we always seem to have such a great together we decided to obtain more of it. The big news is Mie will be moving to San Francisco by the end of the year. Possibly as soon as mid august when she will be coming for Burning Man anyhow.

Briefly, here's my summer trip to Tokyo in a nutshell:

• Ate some fantastic meals.
  
• Had a party.
  
• Conducted the First International Love Hotel Moblogging Conference
  
• went to the First International Moblogging Conference (coverage [1 2 3])
  
• Met lots of cool people (links forthcoming after I collect them all)
  
• Got kicked out of a skatepark.
  
• Rode on a hydrofoil ferry to Niijima (New Island), a surfing island off the coast of Japan. Rented a surfboard but the ocean was flat the whole time :(
  
• Got to hang out with Mie's parents twice, and met her grandparents. She's got a fun and talented family.
  

My Kodak digital camera, an old friend, passed away in its sleep at the beginning of the trip. It has been showing signs of ill health for well over a year now, physically broken in several places and held together by neon green zip ties. It will be missed. So the only photos from the trip are from Mie's cell phone (which are posted on her website) and a roll of film that is being developed right now. Anyone have suggestions for a new digital camera model?

love hotel mobloggin'

Tonight's the night, and here's the blog: Love Hotel Moblogging Conference. Mucho thanks to MJ for the splendid last minute design work!

Designed By a Tree

I love this concept of creating a font which is carved into a tree and then updated yearly by capturing how the tree has modified it by growing.

 

 

 

Food Delivery 2021

Ran across an interesting project which at initial glance is about food delivery called Free Food. As I explain below, that's free as in speech not beer.

The creator of it, Noah Levenson, has a pretty good intro video:

Given the project name, at first I thought it was about getting food that would be thrown out distributed to hungry folks, but watching the video, it became clear that this is more about being able to order food directly from verified local restaurants on a decentralized trust network and avoiding the (almost criminally) inefficient middle man services like DoorDash, GrubHub, UberEats, etc. The README for the project explains the goals well and has a quick run down on why the middle man food "delivery" apps/services are so bad.

Using a decentralized network (think BitTorrent more than BitCoin) it allows for restaurants owners to verify their ownership of a particular local restaurant and publish their menus. This protects against the type of unauthorized listings and other fakery that the middle man services engage in, so you know you're dealing with the real restaurant. Hungry people can find the menus of nearby restaurants and place orders. Reference implementations of the diner and restaurant clients are shown, although I didn't see the source for them available. Presumably the restaurant uses its existing delivery staff for the delivery, or you can pick up.

This is an interesting project, particularly because it's potential goes well beyond just restaurant delivery. Really any resource that can benefit from decentralized (no valueless middle man required) localized (relevant to you, where you are now) discovery can benefit from this type of system. In theory a delivery drivers could advertise themselves as resources and the system could do the matchmaking. Since the network is decentralized this would mean they wouldn't have to share their fee with a middle man network provider.

I'd definitely give this a shot if it started up in my area. In the meantime there is a better sort of food delivery service that I've been using lately and have been quite happy with. It is called Club Feast (use my referral code dav1 if you try it out!). While it still is a middle man service, they have a twist on it that should benefit both the restaurants and the delivery drivers. It requires you to order your meals hours in advance (it used to be the previous day but in the past month they have been able to move it up to same day). This allows the restaurant and delivery network time to optimize the food preparation and the routes. It is a subscription service, which means you sign up for a certain number of meals a week and pre-pay for them as credits. It lets unused credits stack up and you can pause, so it is fair to the subscriber. The meal credits themselves are $7 each, so the meals are inexpensive although limited to what the restaurant decides to make available for $7. There are tons of options though so that has not been a problem for me in San Francisco. It seems like a great win-win-win compromise for the restaurants, drivers and customers, although I would love for a journalist to investigate and report on the actual outcomes.

Would a robust Free Food network be better than Club Feast? Perhaps? CF optimizes a somewhat different problem, but perhaps that could be layered into FF as well? Is there additional value CF could bring that benefits from its centralization? Not really sure. Some things I am sure about are that both of these are better than the dominant centralized apps, and that Free Food really needs to change its name, and the paltry amount of tests in `libfood` is scary 😂.

 

An Ode to Roblox as a Gathering Place

I haven't spent a lot of time in Roblox, even though both of my kids have spent significant amounts of their time and my money there, but this essay about how it compares to those places where teenagers hang out and create their own space away from the rest of the world really resonates. It makes me want to give it a try again.

Some choice excerpts:

On his first experience in Roblox:

In one of the very first games we played together (a work-in-progress safari game, the link to which I have since lost), V became a zebra, and I was a lioness. We ran around a broad plain populated by other animals, trees in the distance, low clouds overhead, and the buzzing of insects on a 2-minute loop. The chat was full of messages from prey to prey, predator to predator. V was almost immediately killed by a cheetah who then got in the chat to say, “Overyone come to pr,” “theres meat.” Summoned, I did so, and as I ate the still-living digital body of my friend in the company of a stranger in the shape of a wild dog, I thought, “Oh. This is special.”

On the game creation tools:

But perhaps the most interesting thing about Roblox Studio is the Toolbox. Other game engines have assets stores, but none of them feel like this: a rollicking, copyright-fucked, messy, virus-filled, unsortable pile of labor and of love.

On the long tail of forgotten worlds (games) waiting to be stumbled upon:

But the things I am making in Roblox are not what are unique or compelling about Roblox, and the same could be said for most of the big games that populate the platform’s front page. Instead, what is so special here are the millions of bizarre little worlds, all networked together and waiting (mostly empty, sometimes for over a decade) to be dropped into and explored with friends.

On the "brutal" monetization situation:

As a developer, you can monetize your own games in a variety of ways, from the above-board (tip jars! cosmetics!) to the scammy. Developers earn 70% of Robux spent in their games, which is a pretty standard cut for an app store/developer split. However, getting USD back out of Robux is a different story. The payout exchange rate drops to $0.0035 USD per 1 Robux, meaning the takeaway in real world currency is roughly 24.5% of any in-game commerce—a brutally extractive exchange rate.

Fighting Date Rape With Nail Polish

Now that Bill Cosby got an early release from prison, my friend Paul brought my attention to the company Undercover Colors that developed a clear nail polish that allows you to check a drink for drugs by dipping a fingernail into the drink. The nail polish changes colors if drugs are encountered.

Brilliant! And love that it was founded by NC State students (didn't to school there, but did participate in their rugby club as a townie).

 

It looks like the product has evolved slightly to a more typical strip test kit though. I supposed the manufacturing costs proved too high? Hopefully they are still working on the more subtle version.

Post Pandemic Predictions

I started compiling this list before George Floyd was murdered, and its triteness bothers me now so I'm just going to post it and move on.

In no particular order:

• Masks largely stay culturally accepted in flu and allergy seasons from now on in the USA, but will always carry a political connotation so some groups will never wear them and mock those that do, but like punk rockers have always mocked people in suits.
• 15 years from now, a common trope will be determining how old some young adult is by what basic K-12 subject they seemed to have completely missed. "How old is Alexandra? Well she can never remember what a gerund is, she must be 27-28."
• It'll be seen as the inflection point for polyamory going mainstream when the released masses just can't get enough of each other 😂.
• 2021: long hair on dudes is back in fashion.
• The artist live stream phenomenon is too beloved to simply disappear, but outdoor live music venues are going to see a boom. There might even be a combination of the two.