Global search vs Friend recommendations

Our suburb was hit with a power-cut while I was writing this, I'm putting it up so I don't forget I was thinking about this stuff


Search:
Pull, not push.
If the over-abundance of information in our lives continues to grow (and the trends point to 'hell, yes'), will my unique tastes be lost in the noise? Or will Google come to know me better than any individual ever will?
Already I see a degradation in the signal to noise ratio in my search results compared to when I first started using Google years ago. Considering that Google has only gotten better at search, the conclusion I must draw is that there is simply more noise (or perhaps my tastes have become more niche, but I doubt it).
Google can compare my past search topics, but can it reliably extrapolate into the future as I learn to like new things? Now I'm not just talking about tightly semantically related topics ('turkey dinner' - 'roast duck' 'cranberry sauce suppliers'), but linkages that are unique to me ('turkey dinner' - 'turducken' 'smallpox blanket' 'agricultural eugenics trends'), and links that I would not think of myself, yet that I would like. Things that are unique to me now, or tomorrow; but differ from most people of my demographic, or different *

Friends:
Push, not pull.
How well do your friends know your tastes? "No Mum, I would not look good in that tie"
Potentially less of a privacy hurdle - you expect your friends to know you very well, Google, not so nice, just a little creepy perhaps.

* The power-cut strikes! For extra points, tell me what I was about to write, cos I forgot.

QRcode 100trilliongooeyrobots

QRlove

A better advertising paradigm - buy something for a nice stranger. This could be used on a web page easily enough, just suggest they explain why they're doing it and who/where they are 'paying back' for free content they value. Formalised word-of-mouth.

Maybe provide a QRcode, for places* where it's easier than spelling your silly url.

*Japan (where they used? to be popular) is moving to RFID, and New Zealand hasn't even heard of them.

Stolen from:
http://www.janchipchase.com/blog/archives/2008/07/digital_herpes_1.html

sneaky ubuntu

I just ssh'd* into my laptop and found a bunch of common stats about the computer (System Load, Temp, % of /home used, &c) and an ad/link for a new service from Canonical called Landscape that lets you manage lots of machines. I guess Canonical are going for the server market next.


*ssh -X is full of win. now I have live webcam from the laptop displayed on the desktop :), and motion-sensing photo-taking... still plumbing the possibilities of the wee thing, it might even be a wearable one day.

Guy Fawkes

teh sparkler

gun emplacements

light switch?

gun emplacements

door detail, generator building