[Pdmtl] The Party at the Center of the Universe

[Pall Thayer]

Hi,
The project I showed at the end of my talk at the last meeting is now  
complete with downloadable source, here's the info:

New work:

http://pallit.lhi.is/tpcu/

The Party at the Center of the Universe is an attempt at using data  
generated by the public to generate a spatial construct on the  
internet. This spatial construct takes into consideration the user's  
position in space, orientation in space and identity. Each of these  
factors will affect the way a person is represented in the  
constructed space. A user's position is determined by reading the  
strength of their wireless network connection. A user's orientation  
is determined by reading the values of the accelerometer (Sudden  
Motion Sensor) built in to their laptop. A user's identity is  
determined by reading the username of the user currently logged on to  
the laptop. The readings are made by a downloadable Dashboard widget  
and does not depend on the user's concious interaction. It runs in  
the background, transmitting the necessary information to the party  
at 5 second intervals. It does not interfere with normal use of the  
computer and the user is free to shutdown the widget at any time if  
they wish (but it's more fun to know that even though you're in the  
middle of an important board meeting or giving a presentation to  
people who hold your destiny in the palms of their wallets... er...  
hands, you're also the life of The Party at the Center of the Universe).

Hubbles law describes how every point in space sees itself as the  
center of the Universe. Due to an effect similar to the Doppler  
effect experienced when an ambulance speeds past, the Universe  
appears to be expanding away from every point in space, in all  
directions. So a space that has the potential to be a single locative  
indicator of every point in space, must be the embodiment of the  
Center of the Universe... and we're throwing a party! BYOB, good  
company and music is provided.

Due to the hardware requirements, the currently available client  
program will only run on recent models of Apple PowerBooks and  
iBooks. There are some laptops from other manufacturers with built in  
accelerometers, such as some of the IBM Thinkpads, but as I don't  
have one, I can't create the client. Anyone who does have one, is  
free to download the source material and make one. However, anyone  
can observe the infinitely expanding, curved spacetime of the Center  
of the Universe.



--
Pall Thayer
palli at pallit.lhi.is
http://www.this.is/pallit