Re: ProjectPM

Information flow is fundamental to the success of every manner of human collaboration. Nonetheless, the processes by which information is gathered, handled, transferred, and acted upon receive far less attention than is warranted. The purpose of Project PM is to change this dynamic by developing new techniques with which to more efficiently conduct information.
Because the great preponderance of information crucial to the success of a representative government is transferred through the media, Project PM focuses primarily on media reform. Our first and foremost effort has been to establish a distributed media cartel made up of bloggers as well as journalists who work at least in part through online media. Rather than simply assembling this group of exceptional media professionals into an online outlet similar to those currently in existence, we are instead organizing our participants into a network which itself operates under a unique schematic designed to take best advantage of the internet as a medium while simultaneously avoiding the drawbacks common to even the best online communities.

In order to seed the network, we have recruited around two dozen bloggers and journalists whom we have identified as particularly competent and intellectually honest. Each of these individuals is encouraged to bring other bloggers into the network based on their own judgment; these new participants are then connected to the blogger who has brought them in and may likewise bring others into the network,and so on . As such, the network grows perpetually while maintaining a high average quality in terms of its participants, as is explained further below.
Upon the launch of our network, each of the initial bloggers will be connected to each other via a widget which is embedded on their respective blogs, as well as connected to those whom theyve recruited. When a particular individual composes a piece of work that he considers to be of particular merit, the individual pushes a single button which causes the article in question to be sent to all of the bloggers to whom he is connected. Each of those bloggers in turn then decides whether or not they agree that the article is worthy of greater attention; if so, they push the button and thereby send it along to every blogger to whom they themselves are connected. Thus it is that information deemed worthy of attention by some great number of erudite and honest individuals from a variety of backgrounds will tend to perpetuate through the system and gain a larger audience than they might otherwise receive.

As the network expands by way of the process described above, it is inevitable that there will be failures of judgement on the part of participants when choosing additional bloggers to bring into the network. Let us say that Blogger X, who is rather competent, brings in Blogger Y, who is only moderately so, and who in turn brings in Blogger Z, who is a giant douchebag. Blogger Z begins composing and pushing forward posts to the effect that Barack Obama was born in Tehran or that ethanol subsidies are awesome or some such thing but these posts only initially go to Blogger Y and whatever horrid bloggers Blogger Z has brought in himself, assuming he has brough in any. Blogger Y may or may not be inclined to push forward these nonsense posts, but Blogger X will almost certainly delete them immediately and is quite likely to disolve his connection to Blogger Y for displaying such poor judgement. Thus it is that the system is defended from deterioration by the high competence of the initial round of bloggers and consequently comparable competence of those brought in gradually afterwards, coupled with the nature of the schematic itself. No supervision is necessary for the network to expand while maintaining a high level of quality.

A few other characteristics bear noting. Any participant may connect to any other participant who agrees to the connection, no matter where each participant resides in the network, and thus the network is likely to evolve from the shape of a pyramid to that of a web, which is advantageous in terms of ensuring that good information does not become overly regionalized. All participants are equal regardless of the order in which they joined. Participants are free to bring on as many other bloggers as they would like, although they will find that it is to their own advantage to be selective in this regard.

The system is capped off with another widget distinct from that used by the bloggers the reader widget, a downloadable application which displays those posts which have been pushed forward a certain number of times (as set by the individual reader). The end result should be the best system of news and information filtration that has ever existed.

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Programs

--Website help for Enlighten the Vote
   What kind of help does she need? Additional content? Site design?

--See if we have people who want to work with Rauhauser (I might myself, although I have distaste for the Democratic Party in this state)
   We need to find out more about what hes doing -- I will follow up with him

--Design a structure that will connect journalists and scientists for assistance in preparing individual articles
   Libin?

--Come up with a replacement for the Workshop blog, which is inert and uninteresting and will break down when we have a large number of participants, which could occur overnight
  See if Lawson-Duck is interested in this--I think it needs a younger person to create something more lively, maybe White or Breslin?

--Write up the specs for the widget software, so it can be programmed. (Scott and I will take a stab at this, but some experts would do better.)
   Technical advice: Catalano, Davidson, Joe Neal
   Specs/Requirements: Robinson, Mintz, Ellis

--Write a constitution for the governing network (need to define that entity more broadly, I think we have concluded)
   White, Breslin?

--Assume leadership of the Africa Project
     Commu? Also, there are a couple of people in the Lancaster/Fulton family who have relevant experience, yes? One of them might be more likely leader than Commu?

--Membership coordination
   Kari Havoth, J. Plavier?

On Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 6:04 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:

Matt-

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you further. Let me know if you still have questions or if you need links to our online documentation regarding what we're doing.

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 9:59 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:

Matt-

Thanks for getting in touch again. We are now working in a couple of different formats, including shared Google documents and a blog which I believe is still set on private but which my associate Clark Robinson can invite you to; I have cc'd him on this e-mail. I am travelling at the moment with very sporadic internet access but will be stationary on Friday and will reply to you at greater length at that point.

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 5:49 PM, <palmershel@netscape.net> wrote:

Hello again, Barret Brown. This is Matt Palmer e-mailing to you again. Could you tell me if I should go to a specific site, or should I receive regular updates from the Project PM? Sorry, this is all new to me. Please advise, instruct. I will be glad to help and participate as best I can. (Elsewise, I noticed your area code was a bit familiar, then I remembered that it is Austin,Texas. That is where my own ma moved to.)
Anyway, thanks for responding, sincerely, Matt Palmer.

--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302

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Regards,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302

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Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302