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Sunday, February 19, 2006 |
Dungeons & Deals -- Virtual Worlds as Social-Business Networks.
Could an online game displace traditional in-person sports as social hubs for movers-and-shakers?
An article this week in C|Net suggests that online multiplayer games like World of Warcraft -- now counting over five million players -- could become the new socialization spot for executives and business leaders, citing a guild (player association) which includes tech heavyweights like Socialtext's Ross Mayfield, ICANN's John Crane, and uberblogger Joi Ito as members. Although the guild was formed simply as a way for friends to play the game together, members admit that some industry talk happens in between raids.
"Most of the time, we're talking about things that are more social, or talking about the game, and the game is really more of a social bonding experience," Ito said. "There are a lot of people making connections and talking about working with each other or bringing in their friends from work."
It wasn't too long ago that business guidebooks counseled up-and-coming executive types to learn how to play golf if they wanted to get involved in high-level business decisions. Anecdotally, it seemed in the 1990s that numerous major technology decisions were made by corporate officers golfing over the weekend with buddies from other companies (and sometimes suppliers). Executive golf course membership restrictions that prevented women or minorities from joining may be largely gone, but there's no question that the emphasis on golf as a business-socialization activity has made it more difficult for non-traditional corporate leaders from joining the informal networks where decisions often get made.
If games like WoW come to serve as a medium for similar informal networks, is it at all an improvement? Arguably, the demographics of online multiplayer games skews in a way that doesn't include many women; while there are no formal restrictions preventing anyone from joining the game, it's likely that some people will feel out of place and clumsy in an unfamiliar virtual environment. At the same time, the use of avatars that need not have any visual relationship to one's own appearance can mitigate many of the social cues that lead to unintended biases based on age, ethnicity or gender.
World of Warcraft (and its heirs) would likely remain a side-note to traditional business socialization activities, except for a few potentially important drivers:
The increased virtualization of organizations. Although the entirely virtual corporation -- a hallmark of 1990s business futurism -- remains vanishingly rare, many companies do have far-flung offices and offsite workers; virtual environments offer a way to maintain social connections among employees and excecutives without having to fly people around.
The rising costs of energy. Peak oil, carbon taxes and other near-term issues would make the cost of physical travel, whether by plane or auto, a much greater consideration; it's entirely possible that virtual world interactions would become more commonplace simply as an alternative to travel. The formal business is handled with videoconferencing, and the informal relationships are built by killing digital dragons together.
Health risks associated with travel. Pandemics and terrorism both pose potential industry-killing threats to air travel; it's possible that in the near future, people are unlikely to visit distant locations simply out of concern about their own well-being, regardless of price.
Any of these three drivers would push greater use of online/virtual worlds as an alternative to in-person social interaction, and a combination would make it almost inevitable. If I were advising people running or building virtual environments, I would suggest the following: make "private" spaces available to groups that allow for exchange of data without having to drop out of the game environment (making ad hoc meetings possible); create movements and behaviors for avatars that indicate that a person is talking (typing) even before the words become visible -- and, if possible, indicate that a person is talking over one of the various in-game voice chat systems; and work out an industry-wide opt-in "ID" system, so that someone who has built up a name and reputation in (say) Second Life can transfer that identity to (say) World of Warcraft.
Steps like these would go a long way to making virtual environments more usable for people who want to do more than just the in-game activities -- but don't want to lose access to dragon hunts and the like along the way.
[WorldChanging: Another World Is Here]
3:14:39 PM 
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Algreba reprised.
A friend of mine told me that they thought my comment on Richard Cohen's infamous algebra column was pretty lame and lightweight. I had to plead that time was at a premium when I threw that up there, and a lot of the ground had been covered. But, as someone who writes posts titled 8th grade math for the rest us, I figure I should add a bit more, and that bit is this: knowledge of algebra is sufficient to balance the "two sides" to every issue phenomenon. Algebra allows one to swim out of the sea of noise and impute a sense of proportionationality to various alternative defensible statements. To generate a net calculus when presented with a sequence of alternative options it is necessary to consider the relations of unknown variables to known variables. To assess questions as to the "speed of evolution" it is important to consider the output generated by parameters, presented in algebraic form. Algebra ties together disparate distinct facts in various nests of relations and allows us to model higher order structures in our minds' eye. Is that a skill that a widely read general interest columnist should have? I would hope so, but I won't hold my breath....
And, also: The invention of algebra & the modern mind.
Janet Stemwedel has a long post which elucidates various angles of the Cohen & algebra story. I agree with many of Janet's points, and I tend to believe that knowing algebra is an important necessary precondition for being a well rounded modern intellect. But I want to emphasize modern, I've mentioned before that John Derbyshire is writing a history of algebra, Unknown Quantity. Derb mentioned to me that though the Greek mathematician Diophantus lurched toward symbolic algebra 2,000 years ago, his work did not lay the seeds for any further developments because a scientific culture did not exist which could make the next leap. The ancient Greeks were not unintelligent, so the fact that many of us (rightly I believe) take symbolic algebra for granted as a necessary feature of our cognitive landscape is something to reflect upon. Maths that we assume to be fundamental elements of our mental toolkits would have been beyond the very conception of the most brilliant minds of our species over one thousand years ago. I am somewhat skeptical that the solid majority of American students could not pass algebra I, the very basics, with proper instruction. Nevertheless I do suspect a minority of humans (not subject to pathological cognitive impairment) might never be able to grasp algebra. I do not know if "Gabriella" or Richard Cohen is in that minority, and they would be no less worthy of respect if it was truely so that they lacked an aptitude for abstract mathematics. 18th century mathematics is necessary for the modern life of the mind, but we should recall that 8th century genius (eg., the Venerable Bede) did well without it, and moderns whose focus in life is less reflective and cognitive will do fine as well.
[Gene Expression]
12:24:55 PM
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Manna for linguists.
This NPR story says "if you use instant messaging on your computer,you may be familiar with the acronym LOL (Laughing Out Loud).But what about BRB,TTYL or ROFL?Especially among teenagers,you're just as likely to encounter IM-speak in the real world as you are on your desktop.Instant Messaging (IM) technology was popularized by AOL during its rocketing rise in the 1990s.Now,it has spread to other systems such as Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and Google Talk.The phenomenon of written IM slang crossing over into speech is manna for linguists.Professor David Crystal, who has written extensively on language and the Internet, observes: "I see a brand new variety of language evolving,invented really by young people... within five years! It's extraordinary."
OMG:IM Slang Is Invading Everyday English
[Smart Mobs]
Uh, yeah. Really cool. Except for: being no surprise, having roots rather than having been invented wholesale, and not having happened in JUST ... FIVE ... YEARS!!!!! OMG!!!!
12:24:12 PM
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Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau's Internet Surveillance Centre.
The Financial Times says "the role played by Jingjing and Chacha, the animated online icons recently introduced by police in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen,is entirely serious.The cartoon couple patrol the city's news and discussion websites to scare off anyone who might be tempted to use online anonymity to break China's laws,says Chen Minli,director of the Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau's Internet Surveillance Centre."Now internet users know the police are watching them,"Ms Chen says in an interview at the Bureau's gleaming new 28-storey building in central Shenzhen.Such official online oversight is highly controversial elsewhere.Human rights activists fiercely condemn the efforts of China's ruling Communist party to stifle online political debate.In recent weeks, moves by Yahoo,Microsoft and Google to bow to varying degrees to Beijing's party censors have exposed them to fierce criticism from both customers and members of the US Congress.But the no-nonsense Ms Chen and her comrades in the Surveillance Centre are proud of the online enforcement role played by Jingjing and Chacha (whose names are made up of the Chinese characters for "police")."All around the world there are internet police, but they always operate backstage. . . No other internet police have stepped to the front of the stage," she says. "We really feel that this is a historic breakthrough."Jingjing and Chacha operate by appearing as clickable adverts on local websites and as virtual users of the hugely popular QQ instant messaging system operated by Nasdaq-listed Tencent.In a demonstration at the Surveillance Centre, part of an internet division that has seen its staff more than double to 100 in less than a year, officer Xu Qian shows how the Jingjing icon keeps pace whenever a user of a local discussion website scrolls down a page."He is just like a policeman, interactively moving along with you. Wherever you go, he is watching you,"Mr Xu says.By clicking on the icons,users can report crimes or learn about the rules on online conduct.Jingjing and Chacha also have their own websites with a selection of music including the "Song of the People's Police".
China's virtual cops pinpoint web dissent [Smart Mobs]
12:22:52 PM
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The click that broke the grip.
The top front page headline in this morning's Washinton Post spotlights the "click" impact of the Internet in China. Phillip P. Pan, a foreign service writer for the Post, describes the events of recent months -- an unfolding story of the challenge Communist Party media control brought on by the Internet.
Although just a fraction of all Chinese go online -- and most who do play games, download music or gossip with friends -- widespread Internet use in the nation's largest cities and among the educated is changing the way Chinese learn about the world and weakening the Communist Party's monopoly on the media. Studies show China's Internet users spend more time online than they do with television and newspapers, and they are increasingly turning to the Web for news instead of traditional state outlets.
The government has sought to control what people read and write on the Web, employing a bureaucracy of censors and one of the world's most technologically sophisticated system of filters. But the success of those measures has been mixed. As a catalyst that amplifies voices and accelerates events, the Internet presents a formidable challenge to China's authoritarian political system. Again and again, ordinary Chinese have used it to challenge the government, force their opinions to be heard and alter political outcomes.
[Smart Mobs]
12:22:18 PM
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Some of Roland's Sunday Smart Trends #98.
CDC Upgrading IT to Gather Data From Hundreds of Hospitals
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has quietly begun working with 31 hospitals in 10 large cities to create a system that can send real-time data feeds from emergency rooms to the CDC. The program, which aims to help officials prepare for and respond to a pandemic of avian flu or a bioterrorist attack, will add 350 hospitals to the list this year.
Source: Heather Havenstein, Computerworld, February 13, 2006
Upgrading the airplane seatmate
The French businessman flying in China wants his airplane seatmate to be a woman who will escort him during his "lonely afterwork evening". The 32-year-old American woman wouldn't mind finding her "soul mate" in her plane trip to South America. Thanks to the Internet, these travelers might get to choose their ideal travel partners in their next voyage. [Note: check AirTroductions.com for details.]
Source: AFP, via PhysOrg.com, February 16, 2006
Flying car ready for takeoff?
This summer, graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will try to get an idea aloft that has intrigued people for decades: the flying car.
Terrafugia, a start-up created by Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winner Carl Dietrich and colleagues at MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, is aiming to show off what it calls the Transition Personal Air Vehicle, an SUV with retractable wings, to the EAA AirVenture Conference in Oshkosh, Wis., at the end of July.
Source: Michael Kanellos, CNET News.com, February 15, 2006
Twilight of the Blogs - Are they over as a business?
As a cultural phenomenon, blogs are in their gangly adolescence. Every day, thousands of people around the world launch their blogs on LiveJournal or the Iranian equivalent. But as businesses, blogs may have peaked. There are troubling signs -- akin to the 1999 warnings about the Internet bubble -- that suggest blogs have just hit their top.
Source: Daniel Gross, Slate, February 16, 2006
[Smart Mobs]
12:22:03 PM
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