Re: Barrett told me to e-mail you
Subject: Re: Barrett told me to e-mail you
From: Clark Robinson <robinsonchicago@gmail.com>
Date: 3/6/11, 17:31
To: "David G." <kawphy@gmail.com>
CC: "Vertesi, Campbell" <campbell@vertesi.com>, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>

Hello, David:

Until recently Barrett Brown was leading an online group called Project PM.
Project PM has been a collective of individuals interested in improving how information is shared via the internet.
Many participants are also interested in science and journalism.
 
The group’s projects are described at http://www.projectpm.org/. These are now going forward under the general leadership of Campbell Vertesi. (If you Google Vertesi you will find an opera singer and a web developer--he is both.)
Brown handed off leadership to Vertesi because Brown has more recently been busy with Anonymous, as you know.

Project PM attracted a diverse group of participants, most of whom used their names, some of whom had or were working toward professional licenses and did not want to be associated with Anonymous.

The projects (information network, science/journalism project, Africa charity) will probably soon be pursued under a name other than Project PM, to avoid confusion with Brown‘s other activities.

Here is a link to a video of Brown discussing the information-sharing network currently being built under the leadership of Vertesi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wl88VHg_UA 

Here is Vertesi's succinct description of the network:

The ProjectPM Newswire is intended to be like a widget-centered version of Twitter, with accounts by invite only.  The practice of "retweeting" is rebranded "pushing", and is the central mechanic of sending information around.  Inviting someone to the network automatically sets you up to follow them.

The idea is to build a human filter based on the quality of output on a per-person basis, rather than a per-post basis.  It's a simple concept, with some interesting consequences when you think it through.  Have a look at Barrett's video for a primer on it.


The group formerly called Project PM has been non-partisan and does
not have any defined set of views, but tended to be readers or followers of these internet figures:
 
Allison Kilkenny, blogger and co-host of Citizen Radio: see http://allisonkilkenny.com/, see also http://twitter.com/#!/allisonkilkenny
Sebastian Gillen, blogger about technological innovation: http://www.weareinthefuture.com/
Mano Singham, scientist and educator: http://blog.case.edu/singham/
John Knefel, comedian and writer: he generally puts links to his appearances and shows on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/johnknefel
Michael Hastings: journalist: http://twitter.com/#!/mmhastings
Jeremy Sapienza: writer and editor: http://twitter.com/#!/JeremySapienza
Barry Eisler, novelist: http://twitter.com/#!/barryeisler, see also http://www.barryeisler.com/
Emma Allan: skeptic and activist: http://twitter.com/#!/Emma_A
Todd Essig, psychologist: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/over-simulated
Mark Adomanis, writer, primary interest is Russia: http://twitter.com/#!/MarkAdomanis

plus such widely known writers as:

Juan Cole http://www.juancole.com/
Glenn Greenwald http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/index.html
Matt Taibbi http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/matt-taibbi

As you surely know, you can follow Brown’s ongoing activities on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/BarrettBrownLOL

I am a retired guy from Chicago who shares Brown's and Vertesi's interest in information dynamics, and I will continue to work with Vertesi on the soon-to-be-renamed project and I will send more information to you as it develops..

Also, since you have a Gmail account, I can easily share information from my file of Google docs with you, so if you have questions, by all means let me know.  For instance, I can send you links to Brown's older writings laying out the theory of his views on information networks, or earlier planning documents relating to the Newswire.

Clark Robinson
Chicago 


On Sat, Mar 5, 2011 at 5:54 PM, David G. <kawphy@gmail.com> wrote:
My name's - well, I've got a few.  David, Uglycat, Kawphy... in
Anonymous (specifically Chanology), I'm known as Consensus.

I was a founding moderator at Enturbulation.org, which was a forum
created by SA Goons to support Anonymous' war on Scientology.  I was
eventually made admin (despite a complete lack of technical skill),
and was also recruited by Gregg into Marblecake.  I came up with the
idea of a master media e-mail list, crowd-sourced the idea, and got
the info to Gregg, who was able to create the integrated database and
the e-mail server to get around spam blockers.  I've remained in
contact with Gregg since then.  I convinced him to create
'economicturningpoint.com' when the economy crashed - though the
effort was a total failure.  We worked together to form
iran.whyweprotest.net.  I've been pushing from the beginning for
Anonymous to become something global, revolutionary, and historically
significant.

My background gave me the foresight to push towards that aim.  I have
a bachelor's degree, where I double majored in philosophy and
psychology (with minors in cognitive science and history).  I entered
college after the local catholic bishop declined my application for
seminary, and my goal was to prove the existence of god.  I decided to
pursue consciousness, as (at the time) I felt that consciousness was
the one 'supernatural' event I had direct access to.  I focused on
philosophy of mind and consciousness studies, picking up a second
major in psychology and a minor in cognitive science along the way.  I
also become a strong atheist.

My beliefs shifted as much through participation in online debate as
it did through study and attending lectures.  I believe absolutely in
the power of the internet to foster consensus-building (thus my choice
of name when Tamphax created enturbulation.org).

I believe I have a strong understanding of the underlying foundations
of Science, Mathematics, Consciousness, and so on.  I have an intimate
understanding of what Anonymous is and how it operates.  I have grand
ideas for what it can become - and I've been expressing those ideas
before Anonymous ever emerged as a significant player on the
international stage.

I think I can be of service to you.  Write me back.

-David