PatternSmithing Alliance Blogs

The Thingk.com private beta will open up in May 2010.  Here are some details surrounding the private beta:

• This will be an invitation only beta, which means:
  • Some colleagues and friends will be asked directly to join – please feel no obligation but your feedback will be greatly appreciated if you can assist.
  • Throughout the last few years, I have been looking at interesting individuals who may be interested in patternsmithing and Thingk persistence – you will be receiving a hand-crafted email as a personal invitation – once again, no obligation please – only do this if it brings you value but if you do your feedback is greatly appreciated.
  • As expressed on this blog, if interested feel free to contact me at the contact form http://xri.net/=joel.kotarski and I will be able to accomodate you.  Also if you think you know someone who would be interested from the category above, please contact me here as well.
  • We’ll probably have limited invitations to spread around among private beta users – these will probably only be on a request-only basis, however, to control capacity initially.
• For those in town, we will most likely host an in-person meeting where we will go over some details about the site and what is being accomplished – for out-of-towners we may also host a teleconference as a separate event.
• Since we will be testing privacy and security (with potential bugs to be found), I ask that you put the kind of ideas you may spontaneously work on but not your actual work and certainly not anything you would consider intellectual property at this point.  Much of the data from the private beta will be wiped clean on launch so that we can fully test; however, I am planning to make an easy mechanism to tag content you wish to transition over to the full system – also, I will be soliciting feedback on making this process as painless as possible for those generally interested in getting value from the work they do in beta testing.
• As always, being asked to participate should not imply obligation to participate, and participating should not imply obligation to give detailed feedback.  Anything you do is greatly appreciated and will be rewarded in some manner.

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The user interface will be central to the success of the Thingk.com site.  We’ve gone through several iterations of user interface in an attempt to simplify how our users will persist their Thingks.  After several iterations, I believe we have reached a concept that will achieve all the goals we set out to accomplish – I am codenaming it “Polymeric” – a nod to combinatorial chemistry (more on this later).  This label may or may not make it beyond the source code and this blog/design meetings, but it usefully describes what is going on: I  want the user interface to not only assist those who have a Thingk ready to persist without getting in their way, but also those who are searching for a solution in a combinatorial manner (where the site becomes a source of information, components, and inspiration as well as a persistence mechanism).

Polymeric finally admits that the user interface should get out of the way of the user – that the best expression comes out of the user if they are guided and prompted along but in a non-intrusive way.  At the core of Polymeric is the ContextProvider – the context is used to provide suggested components, prompted questions, and directions for exploration.  The ContextProvider works at three levels : what the user has done before (what Thin(g)(k)s* they have created, what Thin(g)(k)s have inspired them, as well as the components of each), what they are doing right now (the current word they may be trying to type, what question they are answering), and where the engine can infer they are going (via pattern matching of current text we can infer related directions for exploration).

*: Thin(g)(k)s means Things, Thinks, and/or Thingks (or any combination thereof).

At the center is the Polyermic edit box – a text editor (with optional rich editing functionality but this is hidden away and only appears under certain circumstances) which is fed by and feeds the ContextProvider.  At the moment, we are planning to have users use WikiWord format to denote Thin(g)(k)s across the entire site – it is just a format that works well.  The ContextProvider loads several layers of information, but the first layer of information is a static list of WikiWords (that is, pointers to Thin(g)(k)s) which the user has had contact with (either by creating, being inspired by, or using as components in their other creations), primed for usage in this context.  Let’s look at the post I am writing currently on this blog – four WikiWords are at play and only three are Thin(g)(k)s.  The Thin(g)(k) WikiWords are : “ContextProvider”, “Polymeric”, and “Thin(g)(k)”.  I’ve repeatedly typed all three manually throughout this post, but if I was editing this post in Polymeric in the actual Thingk.com web site, these words would have been suggested to me.  This due to the first and second layers of information: “Polymeric” and “Thin(g)(k)” would have been loaded in context in the first layer (as my creations and/or creations I collaborated with others on), but the moment “Polymeric” was suggested to me and I picked it, the ContextProvider would have loaded all the components of the Thingk “Polyermic” into context, including (but not limited to) the “ContextProvider”.  And one of the other Thin(g)(k)s that would have been loaded is a reference to a project which inspired context suggestions and must be payed homage to: GoogleSuggest.  GoogleSuggest inspired many people as an autocomplete mechanism to use Ajax to give suggestions based on user inputs, but this is in the context of one singular input, whereas we will suggest individual parts of a larger body of text – this is of course nothing revolutionary – you can see the same feature on your cell phone.  The difference here is that a Thingk, behind the scenes, will be a RDF resource that follows the ontology defined for Thin(g)(k)s at the PatternSmithing Alliance, including linkages between Thin(g)(k)s at the RDF level.  Like most semantic web applications, we would never dream of having our users manually hand-type RDF; however, by choosing one of these WikiWords, the text of the Thin(g)(k) is not the only persisted but also the relationship/link to the Thin(g)(k) itself.  This was the crucial problem to solve – to give the user an intuitive mechanism for forging these relationships.

The Polymeric user interface has an additional set of features which are fed by the ContextProvider.  Several of these are based off the usage of WikiWords – for instance, it is possible to use a WikiWord for a Thin(g)(k) not currently on the site (for instance, my mention of GoogleSuggest would have started the process of creating an authorative reference on the site to Google’s project, pending Google’s permission to create such a thing) as well as suggestions to the user to turn a repeated pattern of text into a WikiWord and therefore a Thin(g)(k) on the site.  Additionally, the outer borders of the user interface will have bits of context floating in based on what is going on inside the editing area: a cloud of moving WikiWords that can be grabbed and dragged onto the editing surface that changes over time, and prompting questions that fade in and fade out  to guide the user to starting or evolving their work.

Once we open up the private beta, we will be soliciting feedback from some of you, so please contact me at http://xri.net/=joel.kotarski if interested.

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NOTE: This is a preface post (formerly called Stub post) which gives an intro on upcoming content.

As I continue to work on the upcoming volume to be published, one of the opening chapters that has emerged concerns seeing the world in terms of patterns.  This thesis (that the world can be perceived, modeled, and treated as an intermeshed collection of patterns) is central to establishing the entire field of static pattern engineering as well as orienting individuals toward the activities (patternsmithing, pattern engineering, and architecting) that arise from it.

One of the problems I have struggled with is that the term Pattern has a lot of connotations surrounding it and most of them are seemingly purposefully and annoyingly vague.  For current examples across the web, see the following google query.  In a future post, I will reveal the formalization of the term pattern that underlies static pattern engineering (intuitive hints have been spread throughout this blog) and  with this formal definition I will give plenty of exercises of seeing the world (including that which is formed, that which is forming, and that which is yet to be formed) in terms of patterns.

Once patterns are defined and examples are identified, it will be important to introduce how forces are operating on this pattern and the terms static pattern, dynamic pattern, and active pattern will come into focus.  At that point, it is hoped it will become clear how and why individuals work on creating, transforming, and operating on patterns in their daily lives and why we need a field and set of activities for working with these patterns directly.  Once this post is published, I’d welcome feedback on it, as I am hoping this will be an intriguing opening for the book and ultimately an introduction to the field for many.

Also, on another note, as a reader please begin registering your interest levels (via the polls available) which topics you would be most interested in reading next, as the frequency of posting on this blog is fairly low, I want to make sure you have a voice and that I am made aware of what you are looking to discover.  As always, contact me at http://xri.net/=joel.kotarski with any questions or feedback.

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Work has been progressing on entirely different aspects surrounding static pattern engineering outside the current scope of this site – hence this site hasn’t had much activity. Today, I want to annouce the following partner sites, activities, and organizations that as a whole comprise the current activities surrounding this emerging field:

• The PatternSmithing Alliance (http://patternsmithing.com/) is being established as a centralized organizing and guiding body for the core activities, knowledge, and applications of static pattern engineering technologies.  This site and my activities (including the book under construction) will be considered contributions to the body of work of the Alliance.
• The “ThingK” company (I am finalizing the company name so will just call it that for now) will work on several products and services that not only apply static pattern engineering technologies but also advance the field as a whole.  After research and development, I’ve seen that several viable technologies exist that can enhance people’s lives as well as the field itself – a commercial vehicle will serve the projects well throughout their lifetime to keep their growth and maintenance sustainable.
• The research and development activities on Static Pattern Engineering will still continue by interested members of the Alliance, either as a voluntary effort, projects commissioned/funded by the Alliance or government grants, and/or activities commissioned under the commercial ventures of the “ThingK” company or other participating partners.  This site will continue to track these activities that fall under the first two categories, whilst the commercial aspects will continue to drift away toward channels created by the “ThingK” company.

I wanted to make this sort of a last post that outlines the whole field (as it stands today), because  many of these aspects grew out of this research and development activity.  This blog’s posts, as well as many other posts related to these separate aspects of the field on other sites (where I’ve been busy recently), are now syndicated together at the PatternSmithing Alliance blogs at http://blogs.patternsmithing.com/.   If you are interested in monitoring the entire field and all activities —  not just the research and development aspects, I encourage you to relocate your attention there – these posts will continue to make their way there.

Also, if you are interested in the body of knowledge surrounding Static Pattern Engineering, while waiting for the publication of the first volume, you can visit the PatternSmithing Alliance wiki (link withheld until it fills up more – just created recently) which will continue to reflect the growing body of knowledge and technologies.  From the research and development side, at times the blog will preceed the wiki in terms of knowledge while at other times the wiki will preceed the blog in terms of knowledge.

To begin involvement in the activities of the field, you are encouraged to submit your information at http://patternsmithing.com/.

Finally, I want to briefly discuss the products and services of the “ThingK” company, which started as research projects here and are now in active development:

• The thingk.com web site is the site alluded to earlier surrounding the notion of ‘thingk’ as expressing a more easily graspable term for ’static pattern’.  This will be a free community web site, with a revenue model based on enhancements, that allows any person to begin working with the core tenets of static pattern engineering without any knowledge of the underlying science, research, or activities surrounding it – this was always one of my goals from the beginning.  The PatternSmithing Alliance will recommend the core standards this site will use so that user’s content will always be reusable, expandable, and exportable by them for collaboration with non-commercial interests.  This site is very central to strategy for all of the groups:
  • The research and development activities of the PatternSmithing Alliance (which this site represents) will be interested in expanding the technology and studying how user content and collaboration progresses as case studies in the state of the art of the field.
  • After creators (the users of the site) begin to see the power of persisting and ultimately creating their Thingks, the PatternSmithing Alliance may be a natural avenue for them to continue their progression into learning about the core of the field, first by simple PatternSmithing activities, and then maybe even vocationally as a PatternSmith, StaticPattern Architect, or StaticPattern Engineer.
  • The initial activities of creators (users) are hoped to lead them toward more advanced applications of Static Pattern Engineering : fluxpoints and spawned dreams.
• Whereas thingk.com is a product aimed at people already engaged in the act of creating (even if it prods them to do so) where the target is clearly identified, the DreamSpawn service works with a more nebulous concept – the dreams that begin to fascinate people but often a clearcut direction does not always manifest (sometimes for years).  By leveraging the concept of Thingks (static patterns) and the activities surrouding PatternSmithing, the service purposely guides its clients through training around the technology (and its goals) and the knowledge of PatternSmithing with the clear dedication to watching their dreams become a reality.  This is a very rational process and is only embarked on once a proper analysis and evaluation has been done.
• The FluxPoints project will eventually become a commercial product and service, but is the most advanced merging of static pattern engineering research with computer technology.  Therefore, it will be a joint venture between the research and development activity, the PatternSmithing Alliance, and the “ThingK” company for quite some time.  Essentially, it allows any Thingk (or collection of Thingks) to virtualize further by leveraging an advanced technological infrastructure for collaboration.  This ‘engine’ will be leveraged by the research and development group, the PatternSmithing Alliance, and the “ThingK” company to drive innovations and collaborations.  You can read more about it at any time at the FluxPoints blog (or via the PatternSmithing Alliance blogs which syndicate it).

Thanks.

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