voiceofthewhirlwind's Journal: Smart Mobs and Swarm Tech

Bruce Sterling on SF protestors:

"This must be the coolest piece of hippie-hokum handwaving Situationist antiwar emergent psychogeographic smart-mob cybergoofball blather that I've ever seen."

Also check out Howard Rheingolds Smart Mobs site.

I tried submitting a real /. story about it, but I guess the editors are trying to avoid the hassle of war-related stuff even if it really is 'news for nerds.' Or it's been done and I missed the (low-profile) story.

Smart Mobs site

[voiceofthewhirlwind]

I responded to a "the protestors are costing the city money, and hurting the poor" troll on the website by basically saying the cities should send the bills to the Whitehouse, since the cost is miniscule compared to the war, and the protests would not exist without the war.

I'm thinking maintaining high terrorist alerts (also due to war) is pretty costly as well...

Actually RE Fictitious times

[freejung]

Hi voice, I actually want to respond to your other journal entry about the Fictitious Times speech (I love that phrase), but I can't figure out how. This may have something to do with the fact that I've been up all night, and am totally exhausted. This was probably a mistake, but I felt I had to craft a good response to this post [slashdot.org], otherwise people might actually swallow the load of crap this guy was pushing. This flame war over the war is really something, eh? It's exhausting, I feel like a soldier just in

Re:Actually RE Fictitious times

[voiceofthewhirlwind]

I feel like a soldier just in from the front lines

I wouldn't say that too publicly, there's real soldiers fighting and dying out there, and people in the streets getting thrown in jail and developing extensive FBI profiles- but to each their own.

I may do a big JE on the rationale and debateable worth of engaging in long few-participant arguments on slashdot (I think I saw your JE on the topic from a few days ago)- my bottom line may be that however self-gratifying it is, bumping up against opposition her

Re:Actually RE Fictitious times

[freejung]

I wouldn't say that too publicly, there's real soldiers fighting and dying out there, and people in the streets getting thrown in jail and developing extensive FBI profiles- but to each their own.

Aw, jeeze, man, you're right, of course. I'm sorry. Please cut me some slack, I'm kind of tired. Or don't, because I probably don't deserve it. That was admittedly uncalled for.

The combative nature and vocabulary of your 'call-to-arms' is a little divisive for my tastes, but I can appreciate where you're comin

Re:Actually RE Fictitious times

[voiceofthewhirlwind]

I wouldn't say that too publicly, there's real soldiers fighting and dying out there, and people in the streets getting thrown in jail and developing extensive FBI profiles- but to each their own.

...

I'm really sorry if I offended you, that was not my intention.

Just take it at face value- it's off-the-cuff advice with no insinuation or sarcasm (I'm not offended in other words). Speaking of good advice... what you really need to do is get some sleep!

Re:Actually RE Fictitious times

[freejung]

Thanks, man, I'll do that. And I'm glad I didn't offend you. Let's talk about this stuff in the morning, shall we?

RAND, Swarm Tactics and Critical Mass

[stefanlasiewski]

Here's [google.com] a bunch of links talking about how John Arquilla from the RAND Institution has been researching the Critical Mass bike ride (among other movements) regarding their use of what John Arquilla calls "Swarm Tactics" and "netwar".

Here [rand.org] is one paper that talks alot about Critical Mass.

My wife was watching the news the other day, and apparently some RAND folks have been filming the ride, interviewing participants, and even participating in the bike ride themselves.

As a frequent Critical Mass'er, I was in