Archive for the ‘Networks’ Category

A sufficiently large cubicle farm induces selective routing stupidity

Here’s how it works:
The organizing principle of cube farms is to place people with related tasks in close proximity to each other. At human scales, this will make the inhabitants of approximately 3 to 5 cubes in any direction (restricted to the horizontal plane) relevant to the average cube-dweller, who will then internalise the most [...]

The zen of complexity

A lot of systems theoretic disciplines have seemed wholly useless because we took them as a set of tools with which we could rule over nature. Now I’m wondering if the insights from these sciences are just revelations FROM nature to teach us about our very tiny place in the grand scheme of things…
If so, [...]

Thoughts on Enterprise Social Media : Part I

In a short series of 3 nibble-sized posts, I’m going write about some of the things I’m learning about a rapidly expanding field: Enterprise intranets – specifically the inclusion of social media platforms with the attendant folksonomies and enterprise search functionality.
First off, I should declare my stance: I am a social media luddite. I am [...]

virulent clouds: crimeware-as-a-service

Another telling example of how the battle continues to rage between regular apps and… well, not-so-regular apps. The one-upmanship continues into the stratospheric realms of computing:
http://malwareint.blogspot.com/2010/01/crimeware-as-service-and-antivirus.html
And it makes sense, doesn’t it? Line up the current vanguard of antivir sniffer dogs in the cloud, toss up evil binaries to see which sniffers pick up the scent. [...]

Complex accounting is routing strategy. It’s here to stay.

[updated : 2009-12-19]
The only thing that’s interesting about the copenhagen climate summit is the strategies that nations employ to wriggle out of real and tangible cuts in emissions.
The interconnectedness of environmental and other systems on our planet has made us turn, naturally, to network theory for gaining useful insights. This is becoming more so with [...]

utility socialising : the future of social media?

Technology extends the reach of the average human being. Sometimes almost literally (eg the way a car kinda ‘makes your legs longer’  since it allows you to cover more ground).
In the same way, social media extends our reach in terms of our ability to connect with more people. What I hadn’t banked on, or expected, [...]

Not so fast, little internet…

Imagine that the ever-densifying network of devices that we know and love as the internet becomes sentient. Ish. Or aware or whatever:
Dangling upside down via an umbilicus to its humbler origins, and having its ass spanked by Lady The Phenomenon of Emergence herself, will the quasi-conscious intelligence that gulps down it’s first breath be a [...]

Power Laws and Life

Network theory. Power law distributions. I won’t digress into explanations (for that try going here briefly then come back).
Now let’s talk about life. What does the power law say about life? It says that life isn’t fair.
How, you might ask, can a class of polynomial equations possibly have anything to say about the Master Plan [...]

Utility computing vs the electricity grid

I was watching Steve Paikin’s Agenda the other day and they had a panel discussing ‘the cloud’ which seemed to the buzzword for what the internet presumably becomes once utility computing becomes the norm. They had several panelists on the show – Jesse Hirsh, Nicholas Carr, Shane Shick and Mathew Ingram.
Adoption of ‘The Cloud’ was [...]

Evolution, Stability and the sweet spot inbetween

When I met the idea of NK* Boolean networks, I immediately started to wonder if they could ever be a simplistic model for people and processes. In short, what would you get if you swapped the gates with people, the inputs with instructions, and the outputs with tasks that people carry out?