Yub.com - Meet. Hang. Shop. - unless the linguistic associations are just all wrong!

Yub.com - Meet. Hang. Shop. - is a new social network site powered by Buy.com. Not to be too inventive, the authors simply spelled the word "buy" backwards and came up with the word "yub"... The authors, by the way, live in Orange County, CA - an area that actually is pretty close to the third largest russian-speaking population in the US. Why is that important? Well... you see... the word.. "yub" means "fuck" in Russian. So then, all the other words with that root - "yubbing" and "yubbers" - put a ridiculous grin on my face (I happen to be Russian afterall). At first, I wondered - is this for real? is this a joke? No, it's not a joke. They have subscribers, they have ads (saying "yub" on national television).

The vision itself makes all the sense in the world - it's a virtual mall - making shopping online a social experience (and there we were afraid that Internet commerce was making shopping asocial). On "Yub"... umm right, well on "that site" there is a large map of a regular US mall, something you might see in any reasonably sized city in the US - with the big boxes, like Target and Linens'n'things taking up the big corners and the smaller retailers, like iTunes (separate from the big box of Apple), wine.com or Fossil in the spaces in between. It sort of does not really make that much sense - but I am assuming that the size of things reflects the amount of money a spot costs on the map - size, after all, matters even here.

the profile page of a regular "yubber".... ah... yeah regular "subscriber" (or fucker if you are russian), includes a space to share personal photos, information about things recently bought or wish lists, a "blog column" and other social-networky things that look like an odd cross between Friendster and myspace. It is also, supposedly a "safe" place where teens under 18 can hang out without being inundated by unsavory material (whatever this means). As someone interested in these kinds of affairs, I should get an account on this thing, explore it, see what it's about. Except I can't. There is something in me that protests very loudly to my voluntarily announcing myself a "yubber"...

Thailand Registers Prepaid Cards to Prevent Bombings

"Thailand has asked telecommunications agencies and wireless carriers to register all prepaid wireless phone users to prevent militants from using the devices to trigger bombs. All wireless carriers had agreed in principle to register SIM card purchasers' information, allowing the government to trace them. Since January 2004, more than 640 people have been killed, mostly from bomb blasts. (Source: AFP via CTIA newswire)"

I am not familiar with the process of obtaining a SIM card in Europe but in the UK, I remember having to register for the SIM card (not the phone). However, I have borrowed phones from my friends previously and charged them up with phone cards in different parts of Europe, without having to identify myself. I wonder whether this measure would actually do anything more than simply track the law-obiding citizens some more.

Kenyans Find Jobs Via Text Message

"In rural parts of Kenya, jobseekers travel long distances and pay expensive fees to access the Internet at cyber cafes. Kenyan company OneWorld International is offering a new text messaging service that advertise jobs and allows candidates to apply from their wireless phones. Wireless users with a Safaricom connection can receive text messages alerting them of job openings for 4 U.S. cents. (Source: Reuters)"

More and more examples of interesting wireless phone use has been cropping up in places where basic infrastructure of information spread and management is lacking. Wireless phones have been able to provide infrastructure that is more agile than it's wireline counterparts (and cheaper). What is even more interesting here, is the little susbtitution effect of SMS for ... Internet use! as long as the Internet is tied to wires, it is still less agile than SMS. Even wireless versions of the Internet have to be accessed using expensive, relatively fragile hardware. Phones win there too.

Indonesia Plans Alert System Via Text Messages

"Indonesia plans to use text messages to alert people of impending disasters predicted by early warning systems. The system would allow more than 80% of wireless users in a given area to be quickly informed of any impending natural disasters and would generate a rapid response from government officials. The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency will run the early warning system, as well as liaise with the media to ensure the messages are sent out as quickly as possible. (Source: AFP)"

Right after the recent tsunami disaster, there were a number of calls from technologists for the failure to produce technology that would have been able to avert this kind of disaster in countries that can not afford robust notification systems because of lack of infrastructure. Of course, such technology already exists in the form of wireless phones and instant messaging and could simply be piggy-backed for these purposes. Here is a first example of such an attempt. However, I remember seeing a while back that mobile phone penetration in Indonesia is about 8% of the population. Although before the tsunami disaster Research and Markets reported expectations of high growth of adoption and use it is unclear what the patterns are like now. While an SMS alert system is nice, it is important to keep in mind that at the moment it is likely to reach only about 8% of the population. However, if high growth in adoption and use of the phones is sustained (and this will depend on supporting rapid growth of wireless infrastructure), this is a reasonable approach. I wonder though, just how much information can be packed in to 128 characters? "tsunami coming, run?" In order to be useful, this kind of system would also need a hefty amount of education for the end users. Using this system for government officials may be a better solution but just how much time would a system like this provide for regular methods of notification in a given region?

Tetris Leads Wireless Game Charts

"According to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), Tetris has led as the most popular game for the past year. ELSPA compiled wireless game data for the months March 2004 through February 2005. Tetris led the charts for eight months, other popular games were Namco's Pac-Man and Iomo's Pub Pool. (Source: BBC News)"

In 1985, Alexey Pazhitnov from Moscow created Tetris... and the rest is history. The tenacity of this game, the strength with which it holds on to "the most popular" monicker, is impressive. It's simple and yet incredibly complex and it is a wonderful brain teaser. Tetris rules again, now in a wireless world (phones are perfect for something this simple and entertaining). heheh go Russians!

Vatican Scrambles Wireless Phones for Conclave

"The Vatican announced a system has been set up to scramble any wireless communications between the Sistine Chapel and the outside world during the secret conclave that will elect the next pope. The step is an extra precaution, since cardinals as well as Vatican personnel, medical staff and others, have been sworn to secrecy ahead of the conclave. (Source: AFP)"

Although this is somewhat amusing, I think it brings up an interesting question of trust when barriers to some types of behaviors are lowered or largerly removed. The key, I think, is that although all of the Vatican personnel and the cardinals are sworn to secrecy, the scrambling is seen as an "extra layer" of protection (or paranoia). On the other hand, sending a short text message at the right moment can be done with little or no detection even in a process as stylized as the conclave. So... the very ability to do that makes the stakes rather different - with the risk of detection lower, natural tendencies towards self-preservation are easier to overcome and it seems that the Vatican is sending an implicit message (which I do not think they intended to send): principles and promises only go so far even among the men of the cloth and those that serve them. Of course, there is always the fear of using cell phones as recording and transmitting devices with the carriers of the phones themselves unawares of such function... conspiracy theories abound.

Email Regarding Telemarketers Contacting Wireless Phones is a Hoax

"According to regulators and consumer groups, emails warning consumers that telemarketers will soon start calling wireless phones are either part of a hoax or a misunderstanding by those who sent the messages. It is illegal to make sales pitches to wireless phones using automatic dialers, which is how telemarketing calls are placed. The emails appear to stem from plans by wireless carriers to launch a wireless 411 service for wireless phone numbers. The wireless 411 service would only include the phone numbers of subscribers who opt-in to the service and those phone numbers would not be shared with telemarketers. (Source: USA Today)"

The New York Times > Arts > Art & Design > A Graffiti Legend Is Back on the Street

The New York Times > Arts > Art & Design > A Graffiti Legend Is Back on the Street - Graffiti artist Revs is back, but in metal now. This is really impressive, both for the tenacity with which he has held on to both his art and his relative obscurity in the world outside his art. It's an odd combination of artistic integrity and a virtual finger to the corruption and weirdness of the art-world. I wonder, however, as technology proliferates - camera-phones, sensors, surveillance cameras, can art of the kind Revs creates and covert "vandalism" - the kind that created him - survive? Will it have to mutate and morph into something different? Can it stay on subways and city streets?

Wireless Phones Aid Doctors

"In the U.K., wireless phones are being used by doctors at the Bristol Royal Infirmary to treat patients suffering from Cystic Fibrosis. The trial allows patients to monitor conditions at home and automatically send data to the hospital via wireless phones. Doctors hope the effort will lead to early diagnosis of chest infections and reduce the need for hospital treatment. Additionally, doctors believe the system may be used to treat other conditions. (Source: BBC News) "

More medical use of wireless phones. This is very interesting. Being unfamiliar with most things medical, I wonder why these trials happen only with very specific diseases (HVI, Cystic Fibrosis) andhow this selection is done. I also suspect that these kinds of uses of the technology are a bit far off in the US for fear of malpractice law suits (open to interpretation).

America's Youth are Top Wireless Phone Spenders

"According to research by U.K. based technology consortium Wireless World Forum, America's young people lead the world in spending on wireless phones. In the U.S. 50 million wireless phone users are younger than 25 and will collectively spend $20 billion on their wireless phones in 2005. Young American wireless subscribers spend more on wireless phone downloads, such as ringtones, music and games, than any other country, according to the research. (Source: Chicago Tribune)"

Although with some delay, US youth has caught up with the ultra-wireless europeans. Not only that though, they have surpassed the rest of the world in their spending on auxillary services such as ringontes, music, games, etc. Part of it may have to do with the incessant drive to individualize accesssoiries - that is stronger in this country than in most others. Part may have to do with the general level of tech-savvyness - american teenagers are ahead of teenagers in most other countries in the level of adoption and breadth of use of the Internet and other technology services. I am curious however, about the fact that they are not actually "calling" or "communicating" more, they spend more on individual services. There ought to be a story there somewhere I think...

Text Messaging Helps Monitor HIV Patients

"Cape Town University is using wireless phone text messaging to help South African HIV patients. The Cell Life project, run by researchers at the University of Cape Town, allows counselors to monitor HIV patients and send their information securely to researchers to track patients' progress. The service is quick, reliable and, most important for the cash-strapped, cheap. Each message costs only four cents to send. (Source: BBC News) "

Although this is an interesting use of technology (and aligns well with oodles of paper-proposals i just reviewed that have to do with health-related use of information communication technologies) I can't help but wonder how this may isolate the poorer populations of South Africa who are much more likely to share a phone with the rest of the family (or several families) rather than owning them individually (how many do not own cell phones either? although in South Africa penetration is far higher than in most other parts of Africa). Nevertheless, this is an interesting use of the technology and I wonder whether it will have a detectible impact on these patients and the progression of the disease.

GSS ProA - GSM Interceptor

GSS ProA - GSM Interceptor - but if you really want to intercept someone's communications, there is always a way. Sadly enough, a 15 minute Google search reveals technology for interception of both voice and text communications. However, these communications have to have occured between the two TARGETED mobiles in order for them to be "collected" by the GSM Interceptor. I still wonder whether there is a way to collect all SMS messages sent during a particular period of time in a region/country and go through them with something similar to what is used on e-mail communications. I wonder what the success hit-rate of such process be (and false positive/negatives) and how cost efficient it is. It seems that in a lot of countries with free-speech unfriendly regimes (that would be most of the current "developed" world I think) a lot of leverage has been gained by the underground movements through the use of SMS. To an extent this is surprising, but it does suggest a lack of tracking. I wonder whether this is realted to ability to track or simply oversight?

Short Message Service: What, How, and Where?

Short Message Service: What, How, and Where? This little page from about the year 2000 explains the basic process of SMS on a GSM network. The most interesting thing is that SMS is not a packet-based service (so you can't use a packet-sniffer to intercept the messages), it does however have an SMC (short message center) where all the messages are routed before delivery. So interception of SMS would require cooperaton of the wireless provider and a damn good text-recognition system which can deal with inherent irregularities of 180 character-limit of pure text. SMS uses a signalling channel rather than a dedicated channel to transmit the messages, which makes it possible to be sent/received simultaneously with other services (voice/data) on the same phone. Return receipts can track message sending. I still have to find out if there is a system out there to track SMS propagation for law enforcement purposes, however, this information suggests that it wouldn't be as easy as email for example.

The New York Times > Arts > Dance > A Dance and Its Digitized Echoes

The New York Times > Arts > Dance > A Dance and Its Digitized Echoes - This is so cool that my only regret is for not being able to actually see the work first hand. I have been a big fan of Trisha Brown's work and the idea of her collaborating with a bunch of techy's to create a "digitally-enhanced" performance is awesome. The idea of actually adding sensors on dancer's costumes and creating an artificial intelligence program that will respond to the input from the censors and create its own images dancing along the stage in response, sounds spectacular. It is also one of the bolder ways of using the new technology in an art that has been so profoundly human for ages. Incidentally, the humanness of the art is not lessened by the augmentations, but lifted to a new level, a new dimension. I want to see this!

Little pieces of text making revolutions

"Political Candidates Use Text Messaging to Spread Word
In some Arab countries, wireless text messaging has become a powerful underground channel of free speech. Many demonstrators use text messaging to mobilize followers, avoid authorities and move quickly to protest sites. Candidates in the region's limited elections use text messaging as a means to call supporters to the polls or secretly bash opposing candidates in countries that ban political groupings. (Source: Dow Jones Newswire) "

There is something to those 128 characters that seem virtually untraceable and so much more private than any other form of text-based communications (just remember to hit erase after reading a particular message). Are they? I do not know (although I should find out), but there is something to the instanteneity, convenience, low opportunity costs, that make text messaging such an asset in cultures where thunbs are fast and you don't need two hands for driving everywhere.

Are Wireless Phones Annoying or the People Using Them?

This was the vitally important quiestion CBS news asked today:
"According to a recent survey, eight out of ten people say wireless phones improve their lives. However, six in ten people view wireless phones as a major irritation. CBS News' The Early Show series Cellular Nation takes a look at wireless phone etiquette and questions whether it is the wireless phone that drives people crazy or the people using the phones. Topping the list of offenses are persistent ringing, loud conversations and the shock of all-too-personal information. (Source: CBS News):

A few years back there was a paper presented at Ubicomp (missing a reference right now) that illustrated that people's perceptions of what was and was not appropriate cell phone use changed dramatically as they adopted cell phones. In fact, things they abhorred earlier seemed perfectly normal to them when they go to do it. Of course you can talk in public, on a bus or in a cafe. Ring tones are actually cute, not annoying! It's the old story of changes in expectations. It is not the devices that are annoying, it is the people that are using them. However, these devices do create a set of affordances that change the way we navigate the world and balance our expectations of it with our needs. It is these changes that end up encroaching on our personal social spaces demanding adjustment. It is not, of course, all the people that are using these devices that are annoying. Only those people who are not us... There is no remedy for this one, unfortunately.