September 2010

There were 3 posts published in September 2010 (this is page 1 of 1).

Budding open source alternatives to Facebook

A few days ago Diaspora, the venture by four programmers to build an opensource, federated social network that would compete with Facebook, released its code to developers, having reached a phase where minimal implementation was already possible. The group promised, from the beginning, to set up a site that would be similar to WordPress.com or identi.ca for non-technical people. Even more technical people will not at this stage be able to implement Diaspora on shared hosting, simply because the database chosen is not compatible with most web hosts.

Most tech writers on Diaspora fail to mention, or do not know, that long before Diaspora there was already an opensource, federated social network in the works – not identi.ca – which resembles Twitter – but Appleseed – which, like Diaspora, is of the Facebook mould. Its code is already more advanced than Diaspora, though it hasn’t been as well funded, and it uses a standard LAMP setup. But, as with Diaspora, it doesn’t make too much sense to set up one’s personal social network, or even a “node” of a larger network, unless there are lots of friends.

So while we wait for alternatives to Facebook, we are stuck with it for the time being. There are other networks, but only on Facebook are we likely to find many of our real world friends. But as Facebook grows, so does the discontent of its user base, who come to regard the network as a necessary evil. Many treat it with extreme caution. They are dead right.

The web: from democracy to tyranny

Today brought the news that the developers of the Haystack project – which sought to enable Iranian citizens to use the web anonymously, have had to halt the project due to a security review. It appears from news reports that the project was never safe in the first place and may have placed Iranians more at risk for using it than if they had not used it at all.

In Britain, a 17 year old who launched an abusive email to President Obama after a night of drinking, was tracked down by police, photographed and informed by the US government that he is barred from setting foot on US soil for life.

Without noticing, we have moved from a period in which we regarded the internet as the ultimate tool of democracy, allowing anyone anywhere to read and make the news, to a period in which the internet seems like the ultimate tool of totalitarianism.It keeps an indelible and unforgiving record of what we are doing and thinking. This record is available to just about anyone, while governments and security forces are able also to trace us through IP addresses and scrutinize internet traffic. Some countries demand complete access to all information, including cellular telephone records, as came out in the recent fracas between RIM (makers of the Blackberry) and the Indian government.

We have come accustomed to surrendering information that is used by companies in order to make us more suitable targets for their marketing. We provide the tools for social network analysts to measure our level of influence based on the number of followers and friends. New location technologies and simple social network updates announcing our whereabouts add another level to the way our privacy is compromised.

The end result is that while the internet indeed allows us to read and express almost anything, the consequences are dire, and not only in countries with repressive regimes. We expose ourselves not just to the whims of government officials but to potential employers, insurers, lenders, landlords – anyone with an interest in learning all about us. Every petition we sign, every blog post we write, every link we share, every forum discussion we take part in, every political or religious opinion we express, every status update we unthinkingly splurt out, every compromising or unflattering photo in which we are tagged, shows up in search engines and remains there for years. The end result is that if we value our personal freedom, the internet has become a dangerous place to hang out. And this only stands to get worse.

Auroville as comma, exclamation point, question mark…

Whatever it was, Auroville was interesting. Three weeks in a place which presents itself as an alternative to so many of the negative currents in our world throws up a personal challenge. Now I wonder to what extent it is possible or desirable to make it a part of my consciousness and my life. I’ve a lazy attitude to big ideas, and inbuilt dampers on enthusiasm towards them. Lazy in adoption, but then fairly faithful and tenacious . So I will probably continue to mull the ideas that I received from Auroville, and Auroville itself, and see if electricity is generated.

If I were age 20 again, I’d already be making plans to move to Auroville permanently, as the best and most sane alternative to the material mainstream culture that is destroying our spirits and the planet. Now, at 54, there are family, work ties and the engagement in another radical community experiment with value in its own right.

If the proverbial Jesus, Moses or the Dalai Lama encounter us on the street, gaze into our eyes and say “follow me!”, what do you say? At age 20 you pick up and go. At 35 you ask for a few weeks to settle your affairs. At 50, you say wait, that isn’t practical at all. But then again, according to the sanatana dharma, that’s exactly the right time to head for the jungle.