tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312188022024-03-13T15:15:33.220-07:00Chucks Tech WorldRandom discussions about what you'll find in technology, and on the web.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-21763618845569796442014-11-30T22:14:00.000-08:002015-08-31T15:32:57.319-07:00Cats And CoffeeMany people, as they surf the Internet, enjoy a nice cup of coffee. Some enjoy the companionship of a contented cat, in the lap.
<br />
<br />
Occasionally, one might read some disturbing or hilarious bit of content, in a blog, discussion, or website - and if not properly warned, might spit coffee and otherwise disturb the cat, while laughing or otherwise reacting.
<br />
<br />
Thoughtful blog / website owners, or discussion members, might <a href="http://www.catsandcoffee.org/" target="_blank">prefix a particularly disturbing or hilarious post</a> with the label [C & C], or [Cats And Coffee]. This label serves as a warning to the would be reader, that one should be careful with any cats and / or cup of coffee, while reading the labeled post.
<br />
<br />
This was a popular label, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News.admin.net-abuse.email" target="_blank">NANAE</a> discussions, many years ago.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-79993557510128501912010-02-04T08:09:00.000-08:002010-02-04T08:45:08.412-08:00Ass KickingTrolls, being of low self esteem, are generally of low physical ability too. They are cowardly, afraid of real people, and don't exercise a lot. They have 2 main physical activities - "ass kicking" (which they do with other trolls), and "playing with themselves" (and we all know what that activity consists of).<br /><br />Since trolls fear real people, they can only kick each other's asses. And the ones who get their asses kicked, when they are not getting their asses kicked, play with themselves. Some trolls play with themselves, a lot.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-10355589992596744252010-02-04T06:19:00.000-08:002010-02-26T11:10:32.483-08:00Schizophrenic TrollsThe "objective", if there is one, of <a href="http://techdict.nitecruzr.net/2009/11/my-first-troll-calling.html">trolling</a> is to argue, and to generate useless forum traffic. In other words, to make a nuisance of oneself. Trolls of skill can argue with regular members of any given forum, so deviously, that the real forum members have no idea that a troll is operating.<br /><br />The <a href="http://techdict.nitecruzr.net/2009/10/beer-and-puke.html">"beer and puke" rank trolls</a> know that they haven't enough technique to argue with a forum regular about anything that is of interest or relevance in the forum. In a techie forum, like <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/browse?hl=en" target="_blank">Blogger Help</a>, the subjects of discussion are technical. The trolls that want to operate there realise that they will be at a disadvantage, because they don't understand the issues there. So, they make up subjects to argue about.<br /><br />One favourite subject of a "beer and puke" troll is to argue that the other trolls are picking on him.<blockquote>I'm not doing anything wrong - the other guy is doing it!</blockquote><br /><br />Sometime ago, we had a "beer and puke" troll calling itself "Sooji". Sooji has spent a lot of time concocting external "evidence" that it exists. It has a blog, YouTube content, and supposedly membership in other forums. And, it posts in Blogger Help, periodically, waving its arms around screaming about impersonators, pedophiles, and stalkers. And, as soon as we see its screaming, we delete the screaming. And periodically, we delete the accounts that it uses, to post the screams.<br /><br />Go away, Sooji.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-89667550098264009342009-11-22T05:25:00.000-08:002011-08-04T12:42:18.237-07:00I Tell You Three TimesThe number three ("3") has had special significance to mankind, for a long time.<br />
<br />
Mainstream Christian religion observes the number three as the Trinity. The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost are specific objects in Christian religion.<br />
<br />
The famous English logician, mathematician, and novelist Lewis Carroll is known for having told us<blockquote>What I tell you three times is true.</blockquote><br />
<br />
One of my favourite science fiction authors, Robert Heinlein, referenced both Christian religion and Lewis Carroll, in his novel, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Number Of The Beast</span>.<blockquote>a neg scrub tells her to place item in perms three places. Redundancy safety factor.</blockquote><br />
<br />
In American sports, the game of baseball gives a player 3 specific chances to perform in an offensive role<blockquote>Three strikes, and you're out.</blockquote>before giving way to the next player, and the offensive team has 3 specific chances to perform<blockquote>Three outs in an inning.</blockquote>before changing places with the other team, and becoming the defensive team.<br />
<br />
When dealing with trolls and other disruptive characters, <a href="http://techdict.nitecruzr.net/2009/11/my-first-troll-calling.html">telling them 3 times</a> is again, a form of saying<blockquote>Listen to me very carefully, because what you hear may affect your future.</blockquote>It's an attention getter, similar to use of the legendary "Clue by four".<br />
<br />
In especially difficult situations, we might triple the effect, by telling not three times, but three times three times. This may be necessary in extreme circumstances.<blockquote>Joshua,<br />
<br />
Please, go away.<br />
</blockquote>Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-66726117341187251192009-11-08T12:17:00.001-08:002012-03-03T17:18:12.872-08:00My First Troll CallingA long ago, in a techie forum far, far away, was one very valiant techie helper. This helper, whom I will call "Steve", would write vague yet seemingly sincere technical advice, in a very incoherent and scattered format. But people in the forum put up with Steve, and even gave him props, because "Steve" was a recovering stroke victim.<br />
<br />
"Steve" would write, periodically, in his broken style that "he" was recovering from a recent stroke, and would people cut him some slack, as "he" knew that "his" writing wasn't up to forum standards. And people would reply how brave he was.<br />
<br />
One day, I was in an online chat with a casual acquaintance who was a doctor, and whose specialty was helping people recover from strokes. "Bill" was a nice guy, and I asked "Bill" if he could give "Steve" some advice. So "Bill" went into the forum, and chatted with "Steve". And "Bill" came back to the conversation with me, and the first thing that "Bill" said to me was<blockquote>That's not a stroke victim.</blockquote><br />
<br />
His professional opinion was that "Steve" was pulling everybody's legs. "Steve" was a troll. And when "Bill" told "Steve", openly, that he was a liar, and he was only making fun of stroke victims, "Steve" simply stopped posting.<br />
<br />
What "Bill" did was known, in The Troll Game, was "Call the troll". And since "Steve" was playing by the rules, he ceased posting.<br />
<br />
For any real player, that's above <a href="http://techdict.nitecruzr.net/2009/10/beer-and-puke.html">"Beer and Puke" rank</a>, that's <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=42323a960ce7298e&hl=en" target="_blank">all that you have to do</a>.<blockquote>Aditya / Bilal / Haseeb / I Will / Ice / Sooji,<br />
<br />
Enough. I'm calling this troll, now, three times three.</blockquote>Let's hope that "Haseeb" et al is well behaved, or eventually listens to everybody else in Blogger Help Forum, and takes a hike. I am now <a href="http://techdict.nitecruzr.net/2009/11/i-tell-you-three-times.html">telling him three times three</a>, to do so.<br />
<br />
So here are 3 web pages about trolls.<ul><li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html" target="_blank">NYTimes: The Trolls Among Us </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.searchlores.org/trolls.htm" target="_blank">SearchLores: Trolls</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.urban75.com/Mag/troll.html" target="_blank">Urban75: Trolling The Net</a></li>
</ul><br />
<br />
And here's a link to my lighthearted fable about <a href="http://musings.nitecruzr.net/2007/06/bridges-and-trolls.html" target="_blank">one type of troll</a>. That fable is dedicated to Wasted, of long ago Blogger Help Group. And a second link, to <a href="http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2009/11/coyotes-hyenas-and-turkeys.html">my latest canonical definition</a>, dedicated to Haseeb.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-83046799134165217152009-10-21T11:01:00.000-07:002011-08-04T13:56:57.793-07:00Beer And Puke RankEven trolls like to associate with other folks - though they generally hang with other trolls, since they have no real social skills.<br />
<br />
Some times, the various troll clans get together for parties, called in their lingo, "gatherings". Gatherings involve refreshments such as beer. Excessive consumption of beer, which is all that trolls can do since they are not capable of real human activity, leads to puking.<br />
<br />
In any troll clan, there are the relative morons and newbies, of real low esteem. Even trolls like to have somebody to look down upon. At the gatherings, the newbies get the jobs of carrying the beer to the real players, and of mopping up the puke.<br />
<br />
Thus, the "beer and puke" rank.<br />
<br />
So, what's different about the "beer and puke" ranked trolls?<br />
<br />
The real players play their troll games, aka "trolls", by rules. When the troll is called, the game ends. A real player stops posting, when the troll is called. A real player knows that he'll get an <a href="http://techdict.nitecruzr.net/2010/02/ass-kicking.html">ass kicking</a> at the next gathering, if he does not stop posting, immediately, when the troll is called.<br />
<br />
Trolls accumulate points, or "props", for how well they play the game. Since they are of low self esteem, they compete with each other, or play with themselves. Many trolls play with themselves, a lot.<br />
<br />
The <span style="font-weight:bold;">most common games</span> end with <a href="http://techdict.nitecruzr.net/2009/11/my-first-troll-calling.html">the calling of the troll</a> - and the trolls get props for the posts that they make before the troll is called.<br />
<br />
The <span style="font-weight:bold;">elite games</span>, aka "guts", end before the troll is called. The elite, highest ranked trolls, to score points, must quit posting without the troll being called. If the troll is called, during an elite game, he gets no points for the troll. An elite player, claiming props for a troll that was called, gets an ass kicking at the next gathering.<br />
<br />
The <span style="font-weight:bold;">adult games</span>, which are the most common ones in the troll world, end <span style="font-weight:bold;">when the troll is called</span>. Any troll who aspires to actually participate in a gathering, and let the beer and puke trolls bring him his beer, knows that he has to quit trolling, when the troll is called. Any "adult" troll knows that he will get several ass kickings, from the elite trolls, if he does not stop a troll when it is called.<br />
<br />
The <span style="font-weight:bold;">lamer games, aka "beer and puke"</span>, continue forever. They are like the games which a 5 year old child likes to play, until you tell him to go to bed. <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/user?userid=17512769095073647964&hl=en" target="_blank">Joshua aka Centralist</a> is, quite obviously, of the "beer and puke" rank. You can't kick Joshua's ass, he carries the beer and mops up the puke.<br />
<br />
The real players don't want Joshua spilling the beer, or splattering the mopped up puke, over them. So Joshua is given immunity during the gatherings, while he is working. And when Joshua has carried enough beer, and nobody is puking, he gets to sit on the floor near the tables, and <span style="font-weight:bold;">listen to the real trolls</span> poast of their feats. If he speaks up while not carrying beer or mopping puke, he gets an ass kicking.<br />
<br />
Sorry, Joshua. Somebody has to carry the beer and mop the puke. This fable is dedicated to you. See you around (if you must come back).Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-48925834541889886982008-06-13T14:11:00.001-07:002008-06-27T11:00:02.344-07:00Messing With Everybody's Email - A Broadcast StormI've seen this happen in real life, and it isn't pretty.<br /><br />Let's say that you have 100 friends, very few who know each other except through you. One day, you decide to send each of them the same bit of email. That's OK, except you forget to use BCC, and <a href="http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/please-use-bcc.html" target="_blank">that's not OK</a>.<br /><br />So now, you have 100 copies of your email, each copy with the email address of 100 mutual strangers, sitting in the Inbox of 100 mutual strangers. That's a potential broadcast storm.<br /><br />All that it takes is 1 of the 100 doing a "Reply To All", and you have a beginning storm.<blockquote>I don't want this. Please don't send any more to me.</blockquote> Out of the 99 recipents of that "Reply To All", 1 person then decides that he doesn't want any email from 99 strangers any more than the first guy did, so he too does a "Reply To All", and now you have an active storm.<blockquote>Well, I don't want it either. Don't bother me!!</blockquote>Now you have 300 copies of your email (100 recipients, with 3 copies each - 1 original and 2 replies) in the email system.<br /><br />As you add more active participants, the chances are increasingly greater that the increased amount of unwanted email will cause yet more people to become active. If even a third person becomes actively involved, the storm will likely go out of control.<blockquote>So why the ^%$@@ are you sending this *@%% to me? Knock it off!!</blockquote>then<blockquote>&*^% off, wanker! I don't want your &*%$ %#@!</blockquote>and you have an uncontrollable mess - 500 copies of unwanted email (100 recipients, with 5 copies each - 1 original and 4 replies).<br /><br />In a corporate environment, with all 100 recipients using the same corporate email system, the email server can be quickly overloaded. The only way to stop a storm is to bring the server down, and delete the email - all copies. Finding all copies won't be simple - with just 3 people doing "Reply To All", you have 300 copies. If just 1 person changes the email subject, on just 1 copy, before replying, the task of finding and deleting all copies becomes progressively more complex.<br /><br />In a corporate environment, with the email server techs being promptly involved, and with a single email server (or server cluster), this can be stopped. And with all participants being corporate employees, everybody can eventually be persuaded to not participate in the storm.<br /><br />Outside, in the real world, this becomes a much scarier situation. You'll have multiple email systems involved, and the participants won't be as easily persuaded to not participate. If you have just 1 person in the 100 who is mischievous, and has 2 or 3 friends like him, he can even hijack the storm, and truly cause chaos.<br /><br />An email broadcast storm, like a train wreck, is fascinating to watch. If you're a techie, and are intrigued by techie issues, it can be quite entertaining. But it can have casualties. Like a virus, once it starts spreading, it may be unstoppable.<br /><br />Don't do it. <a href="http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/please-use-bcc.html" target="_blank">Use BCC</a>.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1157955159968859082006-09-10T23:08:00.000-07:002013-05-16T09:26:06.407-07:00UsenetIf you are old, like I, you might remember life BI (Before Internet). Yes, life did exist then. ;)<br /><br />One day, someone with a computer and a collection of modems (you know, those things you attach to your computer and the phone line) setup a bulletin board. The bulletin board was for discussing things. Somebody else setup another bulletin board, for discussing other things.<br /><br />If you wanted to discuss in the first bulletin board, you'd connect your computer to that bulletin board ("dial in"). Then you would disconnect from the first, and dial in to the second. The dialing in process was not instantaneous. You (some of you) use dialup connectivity, and know about the noises - the hums, whistles, and screeches - that you hear when connecting. And the silence, and the suspense. With 9.6K connections, this would take a while.<br /><br />After a while, the folks in each bulletin board setup connections from one to another. You could dial in to board A, and discuss with folks dialed in to Boards B, C, and D.<br /><br />This evolved in to Usenet, with hundreds of servers all over the world. All interconnected, and using a common protocol so someone in one country could post to a local Usenet server, and that post would be relayed to a server in another country, and on another network.<br /><br />But the relaying was done by the servers, and still using dialup conversations. Dialup by the people, and by the server to server message relays.<br /><br />Then came the Internet, and the World Wide Web (and no the two are not the same). Both the person to bulletin board connections, and the bulletin board to bulletin board connections, were modified to use Internet connectivity. No more dialing up - instant connection. Wow.<br /><br />Eventually, the bulletin board system became known as Usenet. To participate in Usenet, you'd use a newsreader (not the same as a <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/08/syndication-feeds-and-newsreaders.html">syndication newsreader</a>), which would connect in to the Usenet network on the Internet.<br /><br />Then folks demanded more. And web portals were developed. Web sites were built, which would take a Usenet feed, and put it into a web page. One day, Google (the search engine) bought out Deja News (one of the bigger Usenet web portals), and made Google Groups. And now, you have web based discussions. Such as <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/alt.computer.security" target="_blank">alt.computer.security</a>, and <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/24hoursupport.helpdesk" target="_blank">alt.24hoursupport.helpdesk</a> (don't go there, and that's a story in itself), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News.admin.net-abuse.email" target="_blank">news.admin.net-abuse.email</a> (nanae), and <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web" target="_blank">microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web</a>, which is where I got involved, in Web based assistance in general.<br /><br />And you have private Google groups (not available on Usenet). Such as <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help">Google Blogger Help</a>.<br /><br />Anyway, both Usenet and Google Groups have their advantages - and disadvantages. But that's another post, coming later.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1157044015830162952006-08-31T09:39:00.000-07:002006-12-02T19:47:17.680-08:00WikiA Wiki is an online database, thats added to and updated <a href="http://www.wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki">by its users, thru the browser</a>. One well known (and a key reference for me, in <a href="http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/">PChuck's Network</a>) wiki is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki">Wikipedia</a>.<br /><br />A Wiki is an online example of democracy in action. One person can write anything, but if everybody else participating sees that something is bogus, they will correct as necessary. Since correcting a WiKi is done by hand, any single person trying to make bogus entries is generally outvoted by the other participants, and technical correctness prevails. This principle is similar to the ESP Game, as discussed by Luis Von Ahn: <a href="http://nitecruzrnews.blogspot.com/2006/12/captchas-and-online-games.html">July 26, 2006 <span style="font-style:italic;">Human Computation</span></a>, and to <a href="http://googolians.blogspot.com/2006/09/google-image-labeler.html">the Google Image Labeler</a>.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1156638968188684902006-08-26T17:22:00.000-07:002007-08-19T13:41:05.170-07:00Syndication Feeds and NewsreadersThere are millions of websites out there on the Web, and not all of them are updated regularly. Anybody who uses the web, with any regularity, has dozens of favourite websites, and checks each one periodically for updates. And anyone who uses the web, with any intensity, knows the frustration of either checking the same website repeatedly and seeing the same material, or checking a website one day and seeing some information several days old, that you would have benefited from greatly, if known sooner.<br /><br />So what to do? Originally, folks who ran websites that really wanted visitors would get an email address from each visitor. Periodically, or when they had written a particularly interesting article, they would email to all of their registered visitors<br /><blockquote>Check out the website, read this article.</blockquote><br />But the problem with most "Hey check out my website" email was myriad.<ul><li>Many folks wouldn't subscribe, for fear of spam.</li><li>Some email systems would treat the email, received as spam.</li><li>Folks even getting the email wouldn't read it promptly.</li><li>The email never went out often enough to suit everybody, or it went out too frequently to suit some folks.</li></ul><br /><br />So nowadays, properly designed web sites, and blogs, include a replica of each page, that you never see when viewing a page in your browser. This replica, called a news feed, can be read only by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_feed">newsreader</a>. You subscribe to a news feed by adding its URL to your newsreader. You read your newsreader when its convenient, your newsreader checks all subscribed web sites, and gives you a list of all feeds that have changes relevant to your needs.<br /><br />The web site is updated when convenient to the author, and you read the updates when convenient to you. Your newsreader tells you which sites have changed, and you only spend time reading the changes. Simple.<br /><br />You can view the news feeds that interest you using a newsreader, or other products.<ul><li>As a stand alone program. <a href="http://www.newsgator.com/">NewsGator</a> (not free) is well known.</li><li>As a browser add-in. If you have <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/">Firefox</a> (and I hope that you do), you can get <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/77/">Sage</a>, a free Firefox extension.</li><li>As a standalone reader, in a web page. <a href="http://www.bloglines.com/">Bloglines</a>, and <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/">Google Reader</a>, are two well known examples.</li><li>If your web site (blog) supports JavaScript, you can have your feed hosted on a server, with a JavaScript front end embedded in your web page. <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/">FeedBurner</a> and <a href="http://www.feeddigest.com/">Feed Digest</a> are two services that provide this possibility.</li><li>If you have a Blogger blog with a Layouts template (and possibly other blog products), you can add a Page Element, selected as a Feed.</li><li>You can find dozens of other possibilities in such websites as <a href="http://www.atomenabled.org/everyone/atomenabled/index.php?c=5&s=11">Atom Enabled</a>, and <a href="http://www.newsonfeeds.com/faq/aggregators">News On Feeds</a>.</li></ul>Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1156628357851177542006-08-26T14:07:00.000-07:002006-12-02T19:31:13.696-08:00InterRecord Chat aka IRCIRC is the original chatroom, a "virtual meeting place where people from all over the world can meet and talk". It's a totally separate protocol from the Web (aka HTTP).<br /><br />If you say that Usenet is a <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/#ManyToMany">Many to Many</a> communication, which operates In <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/07/time-and-space.html">Virtual Time / Virtual Space</a>, then IRC is a <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/#ManyToMany">Many To Many</a> communications which operates in <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/07/time-and-space.html">Real Time / Virtual Space</a>. Both IRC and <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/07/instant-messaging.html">Instant Messaging</a> offer <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/07/time-and-space.html">Real Time / Virtual Space</a> communications; though the latter started out as One - One, the two are converging somewhat.<br /><br />IRC communications are limited to text, with some rich text ability but nothing standard. It requires a specialised agent, such as <a href="http://www.mirc.co.uk/">mIRC</a>, which is installed on the computer, for full participation.<br /><br />There are dozens of IRC networks, each containing multiple servers in various world wide locations, and having their own separate rules and regulations. You can sign in to any server with an available connection, and have access to the chat rooms on that network (but only the ones on that network).<br /><br />Full participation in IRC gives you access to hundreds of chat rooms, aka channels. Each channel is started, and run, by anybody who connects to an IRC server and opens a channel with that name (assuming that name is not in use on that network). The channels can be moderated by the person starting a channel, or by the owners of a server on that network, or by anybody designated as a moderator by a current moderator.<br /><br />Some IRC channels are connected to Java front end scripts. You can participate in limited fashion by accessing a web site which is running an IRC front end script. The Midnightz channel, on the Blitzed network, is an example of limited particpation; that script appears to be packaged in <a href="http://www.googolians.net/forum/chatroom.php">forums like Googolians</a>, and many folks use this channel without realising what they are using.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1153261018241918952006-07-18T15:14:00.000-07:002006-08-10T09:51:51.586-07:00Time and SpaceIn the old days, we worked In Real Time, and In Real Space. The Internet, and other electronic technologies, have provided additional possibilities.<ul><li>In Real Space.<li>In Real Time.<li>In Virtual Space.<li>In Virtual Time.</ul><br /><br /><a name="IVPIRT"><span style="font-weight:bold;">In Virtual Space / In Real Time</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/07/instant-messaging.html">Instant Messaging</a> is an IVP / IRT application. You can converse with your friends at any time, from anywhere. If you can find a computer with Internet service, anywhere in the world, you can be online and chatting with your friends in seconds.<br /><br /><a name="IVPIVT"><span style="font-weight:bold;">In Virtual Space / In Virtual Time</span></a><br /><br />Discussion Groups / Forums is a IVP / IVT application. You post stuff as its convenient to you. Some folks might post once / day, others might post every few minutes. This makes for interesting discussions, as some folks post once and disappear. When they come back a day later, the discussion that they participated in (or started) may have moved on, far beyond where they left it.<br /><br />The dividing line between forums and Instant Messaging is not sharp. Some folks will use an IM platform as a forum, by inviting their friends in a group IM conversation, and keeping the forum open 7 x 24. Others will use a forum discussion practically in real time, by checking every minute for updates in a forum.<br /><br />I, personally, like to leave my IM clients open 7 x 24 (and my computers up and online at the same basis). If it occurs to me, I might change the status message (if available for a given IM client) to indicate that I'm out for any period of time (ie sleeping). Other times, I don't. Anyone who uses IM for any regular amount has experienced finding an attempted IM contact buried in a window underneath whatever they were working on at the time, 2 - 3 hours after the attempt was made by a friend. MSN and Yahoo Messengers have an alert tool (MSN: Nudge, Yahoo: Buzz) on their native clients, that you can use if supported by your client.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1153260848626814172006-07-18T15:02:00.000-07:002006-12-02T19:26:18.260-08:00Instant MessagingThis is my favourite application on the web. Even my mother uses this to contact me, and she now actually speaks to me (OK, IMs me). There was a time when she wouldn't do either (OK, Mom, my fault I know).<br /><br />There are 4 major IM networks that I'm aware of. I have nyms (accounts) on 3.<ul><li>AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).<li>Google (GTalk).<li>MSN / Windows Messenger.<li>Yahoo Messenger.</ul><br /><br />Instant Messaging started out as a computer to computer text conversation, <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/07/time-and-space.html">IVP / IRT</a>. The various networks have added possibilities, and not all networks offer the same possibilities.<ul><li>Alert tool (buzz or nudge your friend, if he's not paying attention to the conversation).<li>Audio (voice) conversation.<li>File transfer.<li>File sharing.<li>Music sharing.<li>Picture album sharing.<li>Video (webcam) conversation.</ul><br /><br />In the beginning, Instant Messaging required proprietary software, running on your computer (and installed with some formality). <a href="http://gaim.sourceforge.net/">GAIM</a>, a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client, changed that, though still requiring installation. Before GAIM, <a href="http://www.trillian.cc/">Trillian</a> fought the battle of multi-protocol instant messaging. Now, thanks to <a href="http://www.meebo.com/">Meebo</a>, you can IM from any computer with Internet access and Javascript enabled, with no installation of software.<br /><br />And soon, you'll be able to IM your friends on Yahoo Messenger, from <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/07/12/windows-live-yahoo-im-interoperability-begins-public-tests-today/">MSN / Windows Messenger</a>, and vice versa. And in another trend, <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/08/interrecord-chat-aka-irc.html">IRC</a> now allows one - one (or restricted many - many) private chats.<br /><br />As I said elsewhere, Instant Messaging started as a One To One relationship. It has evolved to Many To Many, and includes group chats, conferences, and whiteboards. IM group functionality further evolved into collaborative discussions and conferencing.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1153088654487750142006-07-16T15:14:00.000-07:002007-05-08T13:05:23.768-07:00Classifications and TerminologyNow, if any of you really know me, you'll know that I like to categorise stuff. That's how I figure stuff out - I break it down, figure out how it's like other stuff, then figure out how it's different from other stuff.<br /><br />Now there is a lot of stuff on the web, and each person would like to invent new stuff, and become the next <a href="http://www.google.com/">Google</a>. But how do you categorise it, so you can know what you might do?<br /><br />I'm going to start out by using mapping terms. Not geographically mapping terms - relational mapping, in terms of personal interaction ("conversations").<ul><li><a href="#OneToOne">One To One</a><li><a href="#OneToMany">One To Many</a>.<li><a href="#ManyToOne">Many To One</a>.<li><a href="#ManyToMany">Many To Many</a>.</ul><br /><br /><a name="OneToOne"><span style="font-weight:bold;">One To One</span></a><br /><br />Classical <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/07/instant-messaging.html">Instant Messaging</a> (IM) is a one to one conversation. One person (you) can instantly talk with one of your friends.<br /><br /><a href="#Top">>>Top</a><br /><br /><a name="OneToMany"><span style="font-weight:bold;">One To Many</span></a><br /><br />A blog, or any web site, is a one to many conversation. One person (you) creates a blog or website. Many of your friends read (view) your website. Like IMs, you can share text, sound, pictures, and files.<br /><br /><a href="#Top">>>Top</a><br /><br /><a name="ManyToOne"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Many To One</span></a><br /><br />If you attach a guestbook to your website, or if your blog allows comments, you have many to one conversations. Many people enter comments about how great your website is (or how lame it is), and you read the comments. Other folks can read the comments, but they are basically addressed to you.<br /><br /><a href="#Top">>>Top</a><br /><br /><a name="ManyToMany"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Many To Many</span></a><br /><br />A forum is a many to many conversation. The original forums were bulletin boards (before the web), and <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/2006/09/usenet.html">evolved into Usenet</a>. When the web became dominant, Usenet evolved into using web front ends, like <a href="http://groups.google.com/">Google Groups</a>.<br /><br />Nowadays, forums can be almost small (or large) communities, filled with your friends. One of my favourite forum communities is <a href="http://www.dslreports.com/">DSL Reports</a>. A smaller forum is <a href="http://www.forumfinder.net/">ForumFinder</a>, and a new forum which I helped to get started (and is now dead) was <a href="http://googolians.net/forum/index.php">Googolians</a>. Between these, and still larger and smaller, are hundreds of others.<br /><br />Online communities, like <a href="http://www.myspace.com/">MySpace</a> and <a href="http://360.yahoo.com">Yahoo 360</a>, are also many to many conversations. Online communities, though, differ in one major way - time relationship. That's a deep subject, so I'll save that for another article.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1153087810576603752006-07-16T15:02:00.000-07:002006-08-30T17:42:00.663-07:00Blogs and HypertextOne of the neatest stuff about blogs is that you can write what you're thinking, right now. Later, when you think of something else, you can write that. Or you can edit what you wrote previously. And you can link what you wrote last week with what you're writing now.<br /><br />Plus, whatever you know, your friends probably know too. And whatever <a href="http://www.owzone.org/">your friends</a> write about, <a href="http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/">you</a> can write about, from your perspective. Neither of you has to be better than the other, just different. If your friends write about something, you can <a href="http://forum-blog.blogspot.com/">link to that too</a>.<br /><br />And that's blogs, and hypertext.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1153086188329461202006-07-16T14:27:00.000-07:002009-10-23T12:02:14.838-07:00Who Am I And Why Am I Writing This?I'm not your <a href="https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=41D7EADF-C314-40B5-BAF2-567784BB365C">typical MySpace inhabitant</a>. But recently I setup a MySpace account. My nephew has one, and I thought it would be kewl to see what the kidz do with it. Mine <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=78890054">is pretty lame</a> right now (well, I can share my favourite music, and that's fun). My Yahoo 360 page, I think, <a href="http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-zXb.JJM_crI758ZhaJy.b14-?cq=1">is better</a> (no music there though).<br /><br />Now, I'm a <a href="http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/">Network and Security Consultant</a>, and one of my mottoes is about paranoia (the beneficial component of that, anyway). And I've been hearing about MySpace, and how dangerous it is for the youth who use it blindly. But recently, a friend sent me a link, which shows it to be far <a href="http://markforumsvb.com/showthread.php?p=19420#post19420">worse than I imagined</a>.<br /><br />So recently, in the process of helping a bud of mine figure out how to write a blog about setting up and running online forums (which is a subject that I'm just starting to approach, in my presence in the <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help?lnk=li">Google Blogger Help</a> forums), I had a 30 minute IM conversation with him, and at the end, I realised that rather than (in addition to) filling his head with ideas, I had just started writing a new blog. This one.<br /><br />Now don't expect a lot here immediately. Be patient with me, and come back occasionally. Use the <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target="_blank">Atom feed</a> , or the <a href="http://myspaceandmore.blogspot.com/rss.xml" target="_blank">RSS feed</a>, too.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31218802.post-1153085102721495002006-07-16T14:22:00.000-07:002006-07-16T15:57:34.830-07:00WelcomeWelcome to MySpace and More.<br /><br />One of the things I tell my friends is<br /><blockquote>If you think that the web is full of bad stuff, and <span style="font-weight:bold;">you</span> haven't written any good stuff, then it's <span style="font-weight:bold;">your</span> fault that there's nothing but bad stuff there.</blockquote><br /><br />And if you <span style="font-weight:bold;">have</span> put good stuff out there, <a href="http://bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com/2006/07/publicising-your-blog.html">publicise it</a>.<br /><br />This is my attempt to help you put some good stuff there.Nitecruzrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069634565746003311noreply@blogger.com0