… is the world’s first platform capable of collecting and analyzing massive amounts of anonymous, aggregate location data in real-time.

At the heart of Macrosense are powerful machine learning algorithms that process time-stamped location data and metadata streams from heterogeneous sources – GPS, WiFi positioning, cell tower triangulation, RFID and other sensors – and empower companies and investors to better understand and predict human behavior on a macro scale.

Sense Networks

This is very powerful technology so the potential is high for both abuse and empowerment. However, the bottle has been uncorked and there’s no putting it back. See also on the MJ Power to the Prosumer and Location Oriented Software

“Look at Minority Report,” Kapor said. “I’m here to say that (technology is) going to be real in the next (few) years.”In fact, he said, he predicted that 3D cameras, which would be built into computers much like regular 2D cameras are today, will be available in as little as 12 months.

Basically, 3D cameras would allow the virtual world software to interpret how users are moving in the real-world and to translate that movement into the software. That could mean, then, that if the user raises his or her hand, so too does their avatar.

Kapor said he wasn’t clear on what the interface would be like, but he suggested it could be based on something like that of the Segway, in which users move their body forward and the Segway goes forward, backward to go backward, and so forth.

“So, if I look to the left in the real world, I just want my avatar to look to the left,” Kapor said. “If I smile, I just want my avatar to smile. The cameras should be good enough to pick that up. I think we’re going to see an amazing jump in the sense of presence.”

Mitch Kapor: 3D cameras will make virtual worlds easier to use | Geek Gestalt - A blog by Daniel Terdiman - CNET News.com

3D is a universal language that will impact all aspects of computing and communications. Just in time for the coming boom

Related Links

Touching the Meshverse

Hacking Reality

Lego Mesh

The 3D Experience - Resistance is Futile

In a clear attempt to protect the party establishment, this undemocratic infrastructure was created following George McGovern’s landslide defeat in 1972. It was designed to prevent a nominee who was “out of sync with the rest of the party,” Northeastern University political scientist William Mayer told MSNBC. Democratic National Committee member Elaine Kamarck called it a “sort of safety valve.”

In 1988, Reverend Jesse Jackson challenged the notion that these appointed delegates be permitted to vote for the candidate of their choosing rather than the winner of the state’s caucus or primary. He was right to do so. Twenty years later, when the word “change” is being bandied about, isn’t it time for the Democratic Party to give real meaning to the word? Strengthen our democracy by reforming the super-delegate system so that the people, not the party establishment, choose their candidate.

CommonDreams.org: Tyranny of Super-Delegates

Still, most folk figure it’s manageable or at least part of the system that isn’t gonna get changed in one election cycle. However, listening to Howard Dean emphatically say that a brokered convention would be bad for everyone was a real eye opener - I mean why is it so bad? After watching the pundits all over shudder when someone(usually a field reporter) mentioned that “pledged” delegates aren’t bound to vote for a particular candidate, I decided to see for myself. While CNN’s mashup of video and web media is biased and manipulative at times, at least they’re leveraging a little bit of the potential - most of the others seem stuck a decade ago. In any case, they provide a nice summary of the relevant rules:

A pledged delegate is elected or chosen on the state and local level with the understanding that they will support a particular candidate at the convention.

However, pledged delegates are not actually bound to vote for the candidate. Consequently, candidates are allowed on a state-by-state basis to review lists of delegates who have pledged their support and can delete anyone whose support they consider unreliable.

CNN’s Delegate Explainer

Wikipedia also has a short and comprehensible explanation:

Pledged delegates reflect the preferences of the voters, but are not actually legally bound to vote for the candidate they are pledged for. However, since candidates may remove delegates who they feel may be disloyal, pledged delegates generally vote for the candidate they represent.

Neither of these explain just how or when delegates get deleted though so I continued on to the horse’s mouth. It appears to be potentially very messy. According to the Delegate Selection Rules and Regulations Of The Rules and Bylaws Committee documents found on the official Democratic Convention site,

C. Delegate or alternate candidates removed by a presidential candidate from the list of bona fide supporters at one level may file to run at another level pledged to that candidate, another candidate, or uncommitted.

Moreover, delegates who aren’t deleted still aren’t bound to vote for a particular candidate! Nor do there appear to be any anti-tampering rules that would prevent a candidate from attempting to sway delegates supposedly “pledged” to the opposing candidate. I said “appear” because I read those two documents(60 pages)really quickly and maybe there are other governing documents not listed(not a good sign) but that leads back to the opening premise - if the rules are that complicated, something’s wrong. One thing is crystal clear to me though - Howard Dean’s name is on the cover of both documents and he’s saying “let’s not go there”. Can you imagine a delegate-by-delegate fight on the convention floor? There needs to be a national initiative to get all of this clearly articulated and online. Some of the mega-millions being raised ought to be mandated to making sure the people can get unambiguous information about the candidates and the processes.

Out of the box, the OpenSim can be used to create a Second Life like environment, able to run in a standalone mode or connected to other OpenSim instances through built in grid technology. It can also easily be extended to produce more specialized 3D interactive applications.Main Page - OpenSim

It’s early, but there are operational grids,  at least one of which is already advertising virtual property for sale. This supports my assertion that Second Life will be around for a while and is more evidence of the coming boom.

“In a Google search of five keywords or phrases representing the top five news stories of 02007, weblogs will rank higher than the ‘New York Times‘ Web site”.

The Long Now

This isn’t shocking to many who’ve been following the trends - people were saying that a decade ago. Though it’s harder to pinpoint the timeframe precisely from a decade out, given the assertion that it’s 1994 again, MJ readers ought not be surprised when the coming boom arrives. Toffler has been painting broad brush strokes for nearly 40 years and Kurzweil is sketching the next 40. Scenario thinking can help you at least prevent big surprises and position yourself to take advantage of the coming changes. One highly recommended book is:

Their idea of a VCAM (Viewer Created Advertising Message) where their sponsors invite viewers to create and submit ads that pay$1k if they’re aired and up to $60k if the advertiser uses the ad outside current TV, is particularly interesting to me. I think this bears a bit more investigating.

OneMind | Dan Shafer’s Home on the Web

… seems like more evidence of the transition to new business models. Typically, entrenched players(Google, Yahoo, Microsoft) rarely drive this transition.