Last night I had a dream.
In it, there's a community of people who deal with public emergencies using the methods of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and networking strategies.
In my dream, I was with a few dozen unknown people of this unknown society who were dealing with some sort of unknown emergency. It didn't seem to be too tragic; maybe it was a minor disease epidemic or perhaps it was a large-scale accident with minor injuries. Regardless, many of these people needed help, but many people came there to provide help, and most everyone had some way they could help the people in need. So, let's pick one injured person out: they're hurt, needing a little bit of specialized medical treatment, but also some nursing and other small favors and support that can be provided by the average person. So, a crowd of helpers swarms the injured person, and almost instantly (somehow) sums up the different bits of help that person needs, as well as compares what skills each helper has. From that, the helpers each pick a way they can help, based on their unique skills and avoiding duplication of effort. The unneeded helpers then move on to the next injured person, and the process repeats.
Peer-to-peer file sharing works by allowing a person who's in need of data by arranging a swam of peers, or helpers. Some peers have more or better data than others. They coordinate what data the person needs and swarm them with the different bits of data, avoiding duplication of effort. When the person has the data he wants, the swarm of peers moves on to the next data-needy person, and the process repeats.
This post is my first here in a year, but don't expect much change in frequency. I know I said this last time, but right now I truly am really redesigning The ECC website, which I hope to expand with a bit of a personal area and blogging action which will mean I'll all but abandon this place. So, keep your eyes trained on:
http://evolution-control.comOh, I went to Burning Man (as usual) -- but this year I not only ran their radio station, but also was asked to create the main sound installation that the burning man stood in the middle of. I also took
some pictures and video.
- TradeMark G.