mostly research stuff
thanks to valdis for turning me on this amazing application of technology which (further) proves that many universities have nada mucho to do with their research budgets (and time) and allow students to basically do whatever they want when they’re not busy getting high or getting laid…this is about the amazing “social networking in fur” project put together by a group of folks at the mit physical language lab (as in, “let’s get physical, ” like olivia newton-john …)
snif is “a system that allows pet owners to interact through their pets’ social networks. SNiF comprises inexpensive hardware that can be unobtrusively and transparently affixed to pet collars and paraphernalia in order to augment pet-to-pet, pet-to-owner, and owner-to-owner interactions“….wired also did a nice write-up on this project, “When out for a walk, the canine’s collar flashes a unique “collar tone” that provides its social network ID to other doggies’ SNIF collars. Then a secure ID transfer takes place. Owners can record their dog’s reactions to each other by pressing “negative” or “positive” buttons on the leash. When released to play with a group, the dog’s collar records the IDs of pets that it has spent the most time with, along with the corresponding activity level. The collar relays the data to the leash when reattached. The leash then uploads the information to a SNIF server. On the website, pet owners can learn about their dogs’ new friends through profiles created by their owners.”
…okay, what the shit? you mean that with all of the problems in the world (btw, most anchor to sex, war and money), the erudition of a top university’s lab is all about the symbiotic relationship between the nose and the bum? no offense snif team, you folks are certainly smart, but hey, i’ve got dogs, and i can honestly tell you that predicting “dog density” within my community is of far less importance than staying on top of more mundane local issues like crime (and those other old-school problems….)
this blog is mostly safe for work, though i sometimes throw around a 'fuck' or two. you'll find a bunch of my articles from CI Magazine, SCIP online, other research pieces and some other crap. enjoy. there's lost of content here related to getting information about, around, from and through people and organizations...
Lon Scow
April 30th, 2005 at 6:26 pm
Sometimes I wonder about the state of post-secondary education in the United States. How on earth can this type of research be justified???