From: Matthew K. Cowherd <mattcowherd@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 4:22 PM
Subject: Re: Learn about Reforming Judicial Selection in Brooklyn - Wed, Feb 3rd
To: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Thanks Barrett! I'm def still interested. I'm on the road right now but should have time to take a look and respond by tomorrow or sunday. I hope that will be timely enough. Take care, Matt
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:39:38 -0400
To: Matthew Cowherd<mattcowherd@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Learn about Reforming Judicial Selection in Brooklyn - Wed, Feb
3rd
Barrett Brown here; we exchanged some e-mails briefly back in early February regarding the media reform project. I've managed to get backing from True/Slant, a new media firm for which I and a couple of the other bloggers that are involved thus far write for; they want to help promote the project as well as implement certain of its aspects across their existing system. I also met yesterday with the editor of The New York Observer, who wants me to write a series of articles attacking various incompetent media figures and who has also expressed interest in assisting; at any rate, I'll be able to promote the project further by way of the articles I do for them. Meanwhile, we're getting closer to being able to launch as the associated software is nearing completion. As things are going quite a bit better than I expected with this, I've decided to expand the scope of the project a bit.
Below, I've pasted a rough draft of the network summary which details the advantages of the project. I'll be composing another segment later regarding some of the more fundamental goals of the project and the dynamics by which we hope to reach those goals, but this should provide you with a sense of how we're going to be operating. Please take a look and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions, and if you would, get back to me when you have a moment and tell me if you're still interested in getting involved.
Thanks,
Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302
Project PM Network Summary
The institutions and structures that have developed over the past two decades of accelerating public internet use have had what we reasonably describe as a wholesome effect on information flow. But the information age is a work in progress, and thus there are potential improvements to be made. More importantly, there are improvements that can be made by an initially small number of influential participants working in coordination. The purpose of Project PM is to implement these solutions to the extent that participants are collectively able to do so, as well as to demonstrate the beneficial effects of these solutions to others that they might be spurred to recreate or even build upon them independently of our own efforts.
The Problems
Project PM is intended to address the following inefficiencies:
By way of a network designed to take better advantage of the existing informational environment, Project PM can help to remedy the problems described above without significant effort on the part of participants, yet with potentially dramatic results on the efficiency of information flow.
(a) Watering down of contributor quality within participatory networks: Open institutions such as reddit.com tend to peak in terms of the erudition of the content conveyed a few years after coming about, with this being due to the particular dynamics of network growth. By definition, early users are early adapters, who themselves tend to be better-informed and otherwise relatively capable in terms of the value they bring to the network. To even know of such networks early in their existence is to pass a certain sort of test regarding the potential quality of one's contributions; as knowledge of the network expands, this "test" becomes easier, and to the extent that it does, the network is less "protected" from those who did not pass such a test by virtue of the fact that they did not know of the network until knowledge became more common. Obviously, failing to be aware of some particular institution does not come anywhere near precluding one from being intelligent and knowledgable in general and thus of value to the institution, but the influx of valuable participants versus damaging participants appears to decrease after a certain level of notoriety is reached. Again, the decline in the intellectual relevance of content at reddit.com is a good example of this.
(b) Data overflow: The watering down process described above does not only result in one coming across information of relatively low quality, but also in having to contend with more of it. On reddit.com, for instance, a user who scans new submissions will find not only a certain amount of potentially useful information, but also some amount of almost certainly useless information. The watering down of contributor quality also contributes to the extent to which the latter is perpetuated within the network itself insomuch as that lesser contributors are more likely to vote up useless information, thus helping to ensure that the barriers built into the network in order to facilitate the viewing of important rather than unimportant content - in this case, a pre-established threshold of up votes necessary to bring something to the front page - will thereby lose their effectiveness.
(c) Barriers to obtaining raw data: The obvious fact of data overflow - that some data is more useful than other data - is dealt with by means of selecting certain sources of information which one has identified as being a provider of quality output relative to other sources. Bloggers and others who require a steady stream of data in order to operate have certain methods of obtaining that data, and there is of course no reason to believe that any of these methods could not be improved upon to an extent that these improvements would be worth adapting. One has RSS feeds flowing from sources one has selected (and by virtue of having been selected, the sources must have been necessarily known to the blogger in the first place); one has algorithm-based sites like Memorandum.com (which merely shows what bloggers are talking about rather than necessarily providing any insight into what they should be talking about); one has democratic or pseudo-democratic sites such as reddit.com and digg.com; and one has the fundamentally one-way outlets of television and newspapers, the content of which is decided upon by a handful of producers or editors (who themselves are working within an incidental structure that does not appear to be of much value relative to what may now be found among the better portions of the blogosphere). A means of obtaining data that improves upon these and all other methods would be of great utility insomuch as that the quality of data is of course one major limiting factor with regards to the quality of output..
The Solutions
By way of a network designed to take better advantage of the existing informational environment, Project PM can help to remedy the problems described above without significant effort on the part of participants, yet with potentially dramatic results on the efficiency of information flow.
(a) Watering down of contributor quality within participatory networks: Project PM will greatly reduce the accumulation of low-value contributors by way of the method by which contributors are brought it. The network will be established with a handful of contributors who have been selected by virtue of intellectual honesty, proven expertise in certain topics, and journalistic competence in general. Each of these contributors has the option of inviting into the network any number of other bloggers, each of whom will initially be connected only to the contributor who brought him in. Each of these new participants also has the option of bringing others into the network in the same fashion as well as offering a connection to any other participant, as will anyone they bring in, and so on. To the extent that the original participants are of value in terms of their judgement, they may be expected to bring in participants of similarly high value, and so on; meanwhile, as the network expands, participants will be likely to form new direct connections to others whom they have determined to be of particular value relative to other participants, and conversely, to disestablish any direct connections they might have established to those whose output they find to be below par. Of course, none of this precludes the network from eventually encompassing participants of low desirability relative to that of the average participant, but to the extent that such a thing occurs, its effect are largely neutralized by way of the dynamic described below.
(b) Data overflow: Information flows through the Project PM network by way of a single button accessible to each participant. When a participant either writes or receives a blog post or other informational element, the participant may "push" the item, thus sending it to all of those with whom he is directly connected in the network. In such a case as a participant pushes forward items that others may determine to be of little merit, the resulting clutter is only seen by the participant who brought such a low-value blogger into the network in the first place, as well as those whom the low-value blogger has to this point brought in himself along with those who have agreed to connect with him from elsewhere in the network. To the extent that a given participant exercises good judgment in establishing connections, then, he will only receive informational elements of value while also being able to quickly transmit them to contributors who will be able to make best use of such information. Meanwhile, below-average participants will have only very limited means by which to clutter the network, as informational elements become less likely to be pushed forward as they approach above-average participants within the network, who themselves are "buffered" from such things by way of the competent participants with whom they surround themselves by way of their connections and who, by virtue of their competence, are unlikely to push forward low-value information.
(c) Barriers to obtaining raw data: The dynamics described in (a) and (b) collectively provide for a means of information inflow that should theoretically be superior to any other medium currently in existence in terms of overall quality, both by virtue of the network's improved organizational methods as well as the relatively high competence of participating bloggers relative to members of the traditional media outlets as a whole. Accessibility to particularly valuable items of information will be enhanced further by the option to set one's widget in such a way as to display any piece of information from the network, regardless of "proximity," if such information is pushed forward (which is to say, approved of other participants) a certain number of times. This should help to ensure that, as the network expands, particularly valuable information does not become unduly "regionalized." A variant on the widget for use by readers (as opposed to network participants) displaying information that meets similar thresholds of popularity within the network would likewise provide those readers with a source of information above and beyond other existing mediums.
On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 6:29 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Hey, Matthew-heThanks for getting in touch. I'm familiar with your efforts to fight machine politics in Brooklyn; your inclinations are perfect for this project, and I'd be honored to have you involved in whatever capacities you'd like. Give me a ring when you have a moment, if you would.Thanks,Barrett BrownBrooklyn, NY512-560-2302On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 2:58 PM, Matthew Cowherd <mattcowherd@gmail.com> wrote:
Barrett,Your project sounds really interesting, please keep me posted on how I can possibly get involved. Below is more info on a political project I've been working on for the last 2 years. -Matt
In this Issue Brooklyn Political Calendar NKD in the NEWS You Should Run for Office (yes, you!)
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February 1st, 2010
Dear friends,
A quick reminder about the special event at our monthly meeting this Wednesday, February 3rd. Come learn more about the Brooklyn Democratic Party's notoriously corrupt judicial selection process and what we can do to reform it! We will also discuss how you can help effect change in Brooklyn by running for office in September.New Kings DemocratsAlso, NKD is collecting our annual dues for 2010. For $25, you can qualify as a voting member on NKD endorsements, election of officers, and key strategic decisions. Your contribution goes towards helping to bring about real change in Brooklyn by supporting our progressive members and allies who are running for office in September. NKD Treasurer, Alex Low, will be collecting dues at the meeting.
How to Reform the Judicial Selection Process in Brooklyn
Brooklyn Political Calendar NKD has created a Brooklyn Political Calendar.
The purpose of this calendar is to be a publicly accessible repository that will list political and civic events in the borough. Although New Kings Democrats has created the calendar and we plan to list our club's events, we intend for this to be a joint calendar to be shared by political clubs, CBO's, OFA, elected officials, activists, etc.. to list events that people across the borough can attend. The link can be posted to websites, blogs and be easily e-mailed (you don't need a Gmail account to view but it can be easily added to personal calendars by those who do have one).
This is a work in progress and we are in the process of adding recurring monthly meetings. To add any events to the calendar, simply send details to: BrooklynPoliticalCalendar@gmail.com and we will be upload it the same day.
NKD in the NEWS
Queens Young Democrats Hope to Lead Revival from the Inside
- City Hall, January 27, 2010
Brooklyn's Old Guard political fixers will have to answer to the New Guard
- NY Daily News, January 14, 2010
Judgeship Protest Leads to Arrest
- Boro Politics, January 14, 2010
New Kings Plot Future while Levin is Crowned
- New York Post online, December 9, 2009
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