from the New Scientist “Teams of robots that can remotely tap into each other’s sensors and computers in order to perform tricky tasks have been developed by researchers in Sweden. The robots can, for example, negotiate their way past awkward obstacles by relaying different viewpoints to one another. Robert Lundh, who developed the bots at… Continue reading
Date archives "August 2006"
The ABC of social innovation
In July, we guest-blogged for the Belgian These Days Blogs, creating a dictionary of terms related to the process of social innovation, which now increasingly takes place, ‘outside the corporate form’. It was published in 3 parts: one, two, and three. For more information, and more concepts, see our P2P Business section. A useful add-on… Continue reading
Using community-based tools in science
There is a very interesting overview of the use of peer-based tools in scientific research, in the always excellent Communities Dominate Brands blog, written by Thomas Sharpton. He introduces the topic as follows: “An online revolution is changing the way we think about obtaining information. By facilitating interaction between users in an online community, new… Continue reading
What is an integral approach?
Here’s an excerpt of the essay I recently posted on the Integral World site. “The concept of integral is an umbrella term that can encompass different interpretations, though I believe that they share a commonality: that they are multi-perspectival, i.e. aim to combine not just one worldview, but several, or meta-paradigmatical, incorporating more than one… Continue reading
Are there any science fiction books on p2p issues out there?
We are starting a brand new section dedicated to (science) fiction books focalising on p2p/open/free/commons related topics. Like Vernor Vinge’s Rainbow’s End or Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Suggestions would be very welcome!
We’re still indexing podcasts and webcasts
Have you recently seen or heard a recommended podcast or webcast on P2P-related topics? Let us know, we are still indexing them in our directories. Here’s a selection of the latest add-ons: Kevin Rose on Web Video trends From Pamphlet to Blog Time Banking Video What Public Broadcasters are Doing with the Internet James Boyle… Continue reading
New essay on P2P
I have a new version of the basic P2P essay out, published at the Integral World site, which I wrote for the Critical Realism conference mentioned here before. Regarding P2P, there is not so much new material in it, but it might be of interest for 2 extra features: 1) it explains the integral framework… Continue reading
Awe and Shock with Critical Realism: is it compatible with P2P?
Faithful readers of this blog will know that one of its main editors (Michel Bauwens) participated at the annual conference of the International Association of Critical Realism in Tromso, Norway. The Awe It was a rather small gathering of about 50 people, nearly all from the academic and research communities. The reason I attended was… Continue reading
Swarming in Lebanon
There is a fascinating analysis of the Israeli tactics in Lebanon, which were inspired, as confirmed by interview military officers, by the swarming ideas of Deleuze and Guattari. Read more here in Mute magazine. We are also monitoring articles of this type through our Delicious tag on P2P-Warfare. Here is a selection of relevant abstracts:… Continue reading
Electric Mobs
Reblogged from Paul Hartzog at Smart Mobs, this is a really interesting development. For context, see also our entries on the P2P Energy Grid and the webcast on Decentralized Energy. “Last week, JR East, one of the regional subdivisions of the national Japanese railway network, completed a pilot study looking into ways that parts of… Continue reading
Can Collective Action Stop Spam From Ruining The Internet?
[via Social Synergy Weblog] [bliki] Steve Rubel has a great little article on micropersuasion about how previewing an upcoming Wired magazine piece about how “sploggers“, blogs created to tap into contextualized ad services like Google AdSense, are ruining the blogosphere. Steve writes: The [wired magazine] article, written by Charles C. Mann, exposes the underworld of… Continue reading
The disatisfied consumer
This video about a dissatisfied consumer shows some of the challenges contemporary companies are facing. From the excellent blog on consumer-generated media
The War Tapes documentary: first documentary directed through instant messaging
The War Tapes is a documentary on the war in Iraq, shot by the soldiers themselves and directed remotely through instant messaging and the internet. Information and trailer on the movie is here, while the director presents his project through a podcast and webcast at the Beyond Broadcast conference. From a blog summary of a… Continue reading
The Wikitruth project: challenging weaknesses in Wikipedia’s governance
Every project needs checks and balances and democratic control, and that includes peer production and peer governance processes such as the Wikipedia. Wiki Truth is an interesting project to monitor abuses inside the Wikipedia process, and it does not seem welcomed by the Wikipedia leadership itself, which seems unfortunate. “Wikitruth is a website dedicated to… Continue reading
What kind of value is created in networks: symbolic value
symbolic value’ = a form of value that is produced by immaterial labour and not measured in forms of money, but can be appropriated and capitalized as well.This concept is discussed by Christopher Spehr “The symbolic value of virtual and global networking consists in recognition, centrality and representation. Recognition means that others positively acknowledge what… Continue reading
Are open source licenses obsolete? – Tim O’Reilly
This is not new, but it is a debate which I missed and some readers may be equally unaware off. With web 2.0, software is becoming a global application, and no longer something that needs distribution. So the original motivation for open source sharing is falling away. This is the argument of Tim O’Reilly in… Continue reading