Blogging the plaNetwork conference in San Francisco.

Mention that you can get the ASN whitepaper at the Internet bookmobile outside the building here. I visited the Internet bookmobile at lunch and got a full tour. It is way cool (I used to be a librarian trying to get rare books reprinted on demand, so the bookmobile is like something out of my dreams.)

Ken Jordan is starting to speak about ASN and LinkTank. Jan Hauser and Steve Foster have been shaping ideas into a technical architecture that is achievable. Not just blue-sky, actually practical thing that can happen.

Vision for Internet supporting the creation of new economic models and individuals being citizens of the planet. Reading now from the ASN whitepaper.

Since he is reading (part 1 of the paper), I won't try to summarize much. But, he is talking about online identity. What will your persistent identity say about you? Power of social networks. Englebart's idea that digital technology can augment human intelligence.

Digital tools to augment human intelligence created what we have today. So, the idea is considering digital tools to augment social connections. The technology necessary already exists for the ASN. Online community already exists, consider how to expand it. Self-organizing communities based on trust. Different approach than what is being pursed by commercial enterprises.

Start with notion that a person online is a citizen, rather than a consumer. Three objectives: 1) Internet system for better info sharing. 2) establish form of persistent online identity for the good of public commons. 3) connect people together for shared efforts and democratic governance.

Since he is reading, folks are having an interesting discussion on the IRC about how all the online communities for social connection kind of suck. I asked on the chat: are you meeting more people through communities than through blogs and people who link to you or whom you link to? Seems like yes, plus mailing lists and wikis.

This chat is quite good and interesting. It is being archived here: http://planetwork.blueoxen.net/irclog/irclog-20030606.html#nid074.

Jan is speaking now about realizing the persistent identity was missing on the Internet. Someone's phone just rang with some groovy beat. Sorry, but it was more interesting then the presentation in that moment.