N.O.D.E.S. (tm) ---- Bookmark Project
Copyright (c) 1996 by Steve Moyer
Executive Summary
We need a way of finding information and individuals without personally
evaluating vast amounts of material. We also need a way of being actively
brought together with people who we are seeking for various purposes in
our lives. NODES provides a means for using the judgements of others to
find the information and individuals without searching.
In order to "jump-start" the NODES system we will collect and process
browser bookmark files for several thousand individuals. This information
will become public domain, so edit your bookmark files before you send
them in. Surfers on the Web will be able to see and rate your bookmarked
resources.
A trial site of NODES is under development on the New Civilization
Network at http://newciv.org/solutions/index.html
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Problem: There is too MUCH information on the Internet and
too LITTLE time to explore it all. How can you find the
information and the individuals who will really make a positive
difference in your life?
Solution: See the Internet through the eyes of others. Let them
be the judge of what is worth your time. Find the people who
share your values and "bookmark" them. Let a program notify you
of what THEY see as valuable.
Software is needed that will collect, store, organize and process
this "quality" data into meaningful information. That software is
named "NODES," which is an acronymn for "Network Operation and Design
Engineering System." I have been developing this software in my
mind and on paper for over ten years. I refer to it as a
"meta-operating system." I belive NODES will become the primary user
interface to the World Wide Web and Electronic Mail. Not only
will WWW resources be filtered and organized for you automatically,
but so will your email. NODES will be one simple, elegant,
seamless interface to the Internet. It will also be friendly
and intelligent.
NODES will deliver to you the information you really need based
upon your own judgements of what is important in your life. NODES
will build associations between your judgements and the judgements
of others, informing you of who shares your values. Just like you
currently "bookmark" sites on the World Wide Web, you will add some
individuals to your "Personal Assistants" list. Whenever any
one of these people find a new resource that interests them, you
can be automatically notified. They don't have to send you mail.
They don't have to FAX you. The next time you log into the NODES
system you will be told what is new and interesting FOR YOU!
This includes resources from USENET, WWW and individual email addresses.
The information will be prioritized and filtered in an intelligent
manner. You will be able to rate the "rightness" of NODES'
results, making it ever better at fitting resources to your needs.
Essentially each user will have a "knowbot" searching the NODES system.
Your knowbot will interface with other knowbots to form
synergistic results. The ability to give you enlightened guidance
will come from these interactions between knowbots and the
algorithms which create them. Enough said for now.
NODES is not artificial intelligence, but rather "machine-enhanced
human intelligence." It is the next step in our collective evolution
through the Internet.
Of course, the larger the database the better NODES will perform.
We need a way of "jump-starting" NODES by quickly building a large
database.
The NODES database must be in the public domain. In an ironic
twist of fate that the best way to compete with those who hold
proprietary databases of user preferences is to make the NODES
database available to all. The strength of NODES lies in the
ability of any user to obtain the NODES data for any other user.
The more users, the better the results. This is why the databases
must be maintained at the server level rather than the browser
level. The NODES database will be a "virtual database" which will
probably evolve in parallel fashion to the USENET virtual
database. Nobody will own it; everyone will decide which parts of
it they wish to retrieve and store.
So what I am asking is that you send in your browser bookmark files.
What you may wish to do is copy the file, which if you are using
Netscape is called "bookmark.htm" and is located in the
Netscape directory, and edit the copy. You can use any editor to
edit the copy, but do NOT edit the original. Edit it for relevance.
Ask yourself "Does this site really represent my interests?" for each item.
If in doubt, delete it.
Then attach the copy to a message that you will send to
"bookmarks@solutions.entrepreneurs.net" (without the quotes)
Please include a Subject line of: "NODES Bookmark File"
Your file will be processed into a NODES document and placed
on the World Wide Web. You will be able to "evaluate" your
bookmark file on the Web, as will others. You can include an
opening paragraph describing yourself and your interests. You can
either type this as the message and attach the bookmark file, or
put this information at the TOP of the bookmark file. Leave a
blank line between your introduction and the bookmarks.
If you have a WWW site, include it in this brief personal
introduction.
The bookmark file will have your email address associated with it.
If you don't want to use your regular email address, I suggest you
obtain another one. I sell them for $10/month and it includes an
autoresponder if you like.
The "Bookmark Project" will be able to "jump-start" us into the
NODES environment where we will no longer depend on search engines
and random chance to find what we are looking for. We will depend
on each other.
Honesty is a big plus. Be sure the bookmarks you send in
represent YOU and not a bunch of people. NODES is going to try and
"understand you" and bookmarks from other people may only create
unwanted noise in the results.
What's it cost? Nothing, right now. I believe it will be soon
become a value-added service. I'm doing it because I see a need
and I'm going to do my best to fill it. As a programmer, I don't
actually have to read your files in order to process them. Once
they are up on the WEB other programmers can gather the data and
process it as well. (Zipped files will be available).
If you want to donate to the cause, please send your donation to:
Steve Moyer, 742 E. Montebello Ave., #9 , Phoenix, AZ 85014
Thanks, and send in your bookmark files as soon as you can.
I'll process them and let you know where to find the NODES version
of your bookmark file.
Steve Moyer
Synergy Solutions
http://newciv.org/solutions/
602-678-0338 ext. 255
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