Think back to the days before the internet existed. Think back to a world before “google” became a verb, before a user-generated encyclopedia called Wikipedia turned human knowledge into an exercise in public relations and propaganda, and before eBay turned the planet into one big peer to peer junk exchange.

It’s easy to forget that as little as a decade ago all these innovations that are part of daily life had yet to be dreamed of. The effect can scarcely be overstated and there appears to be no slowing in the number of new ways that are being invented to use this new connectedness.

What follows is a list of websites, services, concepts and gadgets that at first glance seem to have little to do with each other but which taken together give a picture of where our brave new networked world may be heading.

THE CHUMBY
The creators of this bizarre little device have generated a huge buzz over the past few months - and it’s not even due to be launched until early in the year. The Chumby is a wireless internet device about the size of a rugby ball. It has no keyboard or mouse but instead uses software called widgets to display pretty much anything you want it to - all the time. For instance, it will act as an alarm clock, play your music, show you constantly updated news or track an eBay auction.

And the really interesting thing is that it is designed to be hacked - everything from the software code to the specifications for the case are freely available. No one, including the manufacturers, knows what owners will make Chumbys do once they are released. I personally think this one will crash and burn, it doesn’t do anything that the average PDA isn’t capable of, and I find “widgets” annoying. But then, what do I know?
http://www.chumby.com

MICROBLOGGING
This involves sharing short messages among a group. Messages are typically posted from mobile phones via SMS or instant messaging. True microblogging obsessives will dispatch messages to the group dozens of times daily, updating their peers on even the most inconsequential details of their lives.

The best-known microblogging service is called Twitter and its best-known user is US presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Twitter has also spawned a host of imitators such as Pownce and Jaiku. Microblogging fans claim that, at their best, the mini-messages are almost haiku-like, while detractors question the usefulness of being bombarded with messages such as “Just made cup of tea”. I agree with the detractors, it sounds more like spam than useful information, and yet a large group of people are interested in it, all hail the mob.
http://www.pownce.com; http://www.jaiku.com.

EVERYBLOCK
EveryBlock will create “hyperlocal” news, which includes the results of house sales, scores from youngsters’ sports events, local crime figures and stories written by local people. Actually seems like a useful service for the larger metropolitan areas.http://www.chicagocrime.org; http://www.everyblock.com.

23ANDME
With the tagline “genetics just got personal”, 23AndMe allows anyone to unlock their own genetic history - and likely future. For $1000 the service (named after the 23 pairs of human chromosomes) will reveal whether you have a predisposition to arthritis or Alzheimer’s or, more frivolously, why you can’t stand tomatoes.

23AndMe customers provide a sample of saliva from which technicians extract the DNA for analysis. When the results are in, customers are given a secure login that allows them to explore their own genome at their leisure, revealing their genetic “family” around the world as well as their likely future health. It might even become a part of the employment and dating scene (visions of Gattaca?).
http://www.23andme.com.

PEER-TO-PEER LENDING
Whether you’re distributing music or books, auctioning off unwanted household items, wanting to bet on a horse race or looking for a soulmate, the internet can put you in touch with someone who is interested in what you have or are.

Kiva takes that idea and applies it to the established concept of microfinance - making small loans to the (allegedley) working poor to help them establish or expand businesses.

So, instead of giving a donation to an organisation such as Oxfam to distribute, peer-to-peer lending lets you invest small amounts directly in a particular entrepreneur - such as Mohamad Marah in Kabala, Sierra Leone. With his $200 loan, Marah has been able to expand his garment business, buying three extra sewing machines. The claim is that so far he has repaid half the loan. More than $15 million has already been lent through Kiva - and the default rate is claimed to be just .23 per cent.
Can you say money pit?
http://www.kiva.org

MOB RULES
The concept of a “mob” of networked citizens forming an irresistible force has been proposed and developed by, among others, futurist Harold Rheingold and Sydney web theorist and author Mark Pesce. Pesce has pointed out that in about the middle of this year every second person on Earth will have a mobile phone.

“In just a decade, we’ll have gone from half the world never having made a telephone call to half the world owning a phone,” he said recently. In effect, he reckons, the people are the network and when that mob of people get together and decide to go in a particular direction they are virtually unstoppable. Just ask the record companies that have battled in vain for years to stop people sharing music or former Philippines president Joseph Estrada, who was forced from office in 2001 by mass protests co-ordinated by waves of SMS messages.

According to Pesce, the mob is “faster, smarter and stronger than you are”.

Just as importantly, the mob is unpredictable, and vicious - so expect a wild ride in coming years. blog.futurestreetconsulting.com; http://www.rheingold.com.

GUERILLA WI-FI
Having a wireless internet system set up at home is becoming increasingly common. However, tapping into the internet while out and about is still very hit and miss - and where it is available is often expensive.

Meraki is an internet start-up that aims to change all that by providing cheap - or free - wireless networks. Meraki sells a remarkable device call the Meraki Mini for $49. Plug it in to your internet connection and it will instantly provide shared access to other users up to 150 feet away.

Put several Merakis together in a neighborhood (and perhaps include a few of the more powerful versions that cover up to 1200 feet) and they will instantly form a “mesh” network, giving internet access to anyone in the area. These “guerilla” networks are beginning to spring up in cities around the world, driven by people for whom internet access is a social-equity issue. I imagine the criminal underclass will appreciate the anonymous connectivity. Do internet service providers like this Robin Hood-style behaviour? Not at all. Can they do much about it? No.
http://www.meraki.com.

WORLD COMMUNITY GRID
The World Community Grid project is one of the latest examples of a concept called distributed computing. The idea, though not new, involves harnessing the computing power of many thousands of idle PCs around the world to try to crack complex scientific challenges.

Distributed computing first came to prominence with the Seti@home project, which uses participants’ computers to analyse radio telescope data in the search for extra-terrestrial life. World Community Grid takes the concept one stage further and aims to establish “the world’s largest public computing grid to tackle projects that benefit humanity”.

So far 343,000 members have donated a total of 128,000 years of computing time. Projects include one aimed at giving scientists a better understanding of cancer and another that is modelling the effects of climate change in Africa.
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org.

LOOPT
One of many social networking services that capitalize on the global positioning software now standard on many mobile phones.

Loopt members register with the site and then, when one of their friends is nearby, their location is shown on a map plus a note about what they are doing at that time.

You might not want your location to be always visible - so, thankfully, users can turn off the service.
http://www.loopt.com.

ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD
When marvelling at the potential of the networked world it’s easy to forget the 2 billion youngsters in the developing world who don’t have the tools to connect.

The One Laptop per Child program is a bid to help bridge this digital divide with a machine called the XO Laptop that sells for just $US200. OLPC is a non-profit group established by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte and supported by companies including News Corp, Intel and Google.

Under a “Give One Get One” scheme, donors give $399 and they receive a child-sized XO machine and another will be sent on their behalf to a youngster in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, Mongolia or Rwanda.
One shudders at the possibilities.
http://www.laptop.org.

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