VoxPoints, NeoReQuest, and PatternSmithing Alliance
FluxPoints fits into a larger set of projects and the plan has been to add its technology in after some of the other layers have been built in. This was always due to its complexity, and to avoid any tight-coupling to the fluxpoints framework; however, some recent work on static pattern engineering and the Thingk framework have prompted the need to inject the underlying concepts in FluxPoints into all of the projects. The developments are quite exciting and I expect tremendous momentum on all projects over the next few months, so there will be plenty of opportunity for those who would like to contribute.
I can’t talk about detailed specifics on two core components of the FluxPoints framework; however, after working with their consequences, I believe they can bring about a transformation of how we use the web. Both are geared around the goal of bringing flux to endpoints that wrap around static patterns or Thingks (that is, fluxpoints). There will be several mechanisms for bringing flux to these endpoints, but these two additions, it is hoped, will change the nature of how people respond to information on the web.
The first, and oldest, mechanism is the NeoReQuest framework, and changes the way we look at the standard web request and the way we frame a sequence of interactions with the web. The notions of context, intention, and most importantly, autotelic behavior surround this longer running transaction we frame as a new form of web request. Eventually, NeoReQuest will be a standalone site as the value this way of walking the web will bring will far outgrow the fluxpoints project; however, the fluxpoints framework will frame the activities on partner sites (thingk.com, dreamspawn.net) as NeoReQuests. This serves a two-fold purpose: to bring flux from the partner sites to these activated endpoints and to evolve the neorequest framework so that it can be effortlessly incorporated into future partner sites when it is time to go public.
The second project focuses on one of the best forms of analog flux that carries meaning that we have encountered and has been completely overlooked on the web. Armed with the technological platform we are arranging and some basic concepts, this form of flux provides us some of the best measurements and provisioning of flux from the human mind than we could ever hope to achieve without it. To be honest, since this idea came to me I have not been able to tuck it away for future work. This is probably the most active Thingk in my mind at the moment and the energy of it will drive all of the other initiatives forward (except it will probably slow work on the book I am writing). Of course, I’m being purposely vague, but those who work with the beta testing of Thingk.com will be able to experience early stages of this technology.
Finally, the PatternSmithing Alliance is the “centralized organizing and guiding body for the core activities, knowledge, and applications of static pattern engineering technologies”, and these are three such technologies (that is, fluxpoints, neorequests, and voxpoints). All three are semantic web technologies at root (that is, they both expose and consume data using the semantic web framework) and the Alliance will maintain the specifications for the ontologies and schemas used for all three. This is also an invitation – I am interested in collaborating with individuals who are interested in any of these technologies.
As a last note, I want to pay homage to Dr Stephen Thayer, whose series of Thingks and experiments he performed with Imagination Engines, and his generous sharing of information to the web community all along and my subsequent exposure to them, gave the initial inspiration for the FluxPoints project. Although I am not using any of Dr Thayer’s technology in this site, the spirit of his ideas and the results he obtained live inside this project – I have no doubt exposure to his ideas directly transformed my own conceptions of SPE technology back in early 2001. This sort of attribution (the “inspiredBy” attribute in the Thingk-related ontologies) is essential to track. Thank you, Dr Thayer.