All Tomorrow's Parties

Andy Warhol's quip about everybody in future having fifteen minutes of fame no longer applies. None of the old rules do.

The internet, the World Wide Web, cyberspace: it's already the global commons, and it's time to believe the hype.

If you don't believe it, check out John Battelle's book at left (2005). It's packed with all sorts of useful information.

Now and in future, everyone can have a lasting legacy. The Mormons must be very happy, because people can be remembered merely by naming them (baptising them is another matter entirely).

Anything we post to the web can endure as a ghost in the machine for as long as humanity and the power grid exist. It's no longer science fiction -- it's scientific fact. Obviously, it's time for new thinking to percolate through every conceivable social network.

Google now owns about half of the global search market share, and it's expanding. This blog is hosted by Google, which also has its own blog search engine that -- for now -- is distinct from its basic search engine. With it, you can specifically search blogs for keywords and key ideas using the advanced features: http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch/advanced_blog_search

For general searches, it's most efficient to use their advanced features, too:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

I was surprised to read in Battelle's The Search that only about five percent of searches take advantage of the refined advance features -- that's crazy!

Is your time precious? Advanced searching is a many times more efficient way of finding what you're looking for. A high speed internet connection is helpful.

Take, for example, trying to locate an author. You can refine your search by date and other relevent factors. If you are an author yourself and want to be immediately accessible, I suggest using your full name. That way, if people want to see your online publications and use the exact phrase feature of advanced search, it is far more likely that all of your work will line up nicely into an index or bibliography, especially if you arrange by date. When I type in my full name on Google Blog Search, every one of my postings lines up, filtering out other people with my first name, or France the country.

Artists (especially entertainers) have a long history of using stage names or tinkering with their given names. This is something to consider for anyone who wants to put themselves out there, especially if they have a name like David Jones (David Bowie's "real" name) or James Osterberg (Iggy Pop). A name like Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard is so unusual that the man who had it, a Confederate general, could afford to go by "G.T. Beauregard." A nom de plume, full name, or stage name can help in developing personae, which will become increasingly important as time goes by. In Biblical and Medieval days, there were a lot of people running around with only a first name, or a name used in conjunction with a father, mother or occupation, or geographical feature. We have considerably more room --and need -- for finessing our names in cyberworld. Even protecting our private identities will depend on it.

Google is now into just about everything conceivable relating to web searches and marketing. The are in the process of launching a free web-hosting service, or so it would seem. If that succeeds, anybody with access to a computer (at a public library if not at home) will be able to have their own website. Machine translation will cultivate international correspondence and inspire new cultural exchanges. Differently abled people, shut-ins, phobics -- will have plenty of new opportunities, too. Schools, workplaces and most other "industrial" social spaces will be entirely redesigned. And for the first time in history, the common person can actively participate -- bypassing entrenched authorities and other obstacles.

Dear readers, go for it! Or, perhaps, enjoy the show from your bunkers.

Ciao.