100% greybook

nik (nik@websciences.org)
Tue, 2 Sep 1997 10:15:12 -0700

Johannes:

Sorry, for delayed response - been programming. The update ulitity,
alt.dance.news, something called "project artsvote" and a dancer journal
utility and a feedback utility are all very close - maybe tomorrow maybe
the end of the week? But my focus has been there, perdone.

>thanks for the info on the way you constructed the archive (why is it called
>"blackbook"?),

it started as "a little blackbook" - then grew to about 8000 addresses.

>the data base you used algorithmically; and actually this is an
>interesting way to build an information archive that is becoming a hypertext
>that will change with the input of those who use it, thus it will not remain
>what the algorithms composed.

it will change in a number of ways not only will the info become more
comphrehensive and accurate - as u noticed Houston had nothing and there
are certainly quite a few dance companies in a city the size of Houston -
but how people use it will allow me the create more 'intelligent' searches.
even to the point of setting up 'collaborative' (i.e. 'firefly' - like )
filters for dance.

>(cf. earlier discussion on "universal access" to
webbed feats).

half - 50% plus of the internet traffic (not users - but traffic) comes out
of california ... so for most the web is an address they see on a TV
commerical or read about in newsweek, but the web is growing tremendously

a friend of mine here is German - and he says that it costs money for local
calls in Germany and Europe, mostly the web is used at night - something or
other to do with business paying prime rates for phones during the day -
don't know

i'd be curious as to your thoughts and any others about the access to the
web/internet in europe or outside the US. if it costs $$$$ for local phone
lines in country x but not country y - my hunch is that country y will have
a much faster web growth since expense will inhibit 'playing' on the web
and one needs to play to learn

>I am using the word 'algorithm' without actually knowing what this
>mathematical
>term exactly does for us. Is it about calculation, a calculating curve? Is it
>etymologically linked to rhythm? Does it bend? When composers like Richard
>work
>with interactive design programming, do you use algorithms, and how?

an algorithm is just a recipe ... do this, then that, then this .... it be
proven to be correct or not ... in computer science, these often take the
form of logical expressions -if this, then that and heuristics... a
heuristic is a 'comman sense' 'what seems reseonable' type approach to
narrowing computationally large or intractable problems

>I have problems with
>unreflexively borrowing a term from the Mandinka

i don't know what "unreflexively" borrowing means; but my dance experience
is west african - here at UCLA we teach the spirit of the bantaba in all
the west african classes. the emphasis is as much on dancing with the group
and the spiritual aspects of dance - as it is on technique

it not just a 'word,' it something that we experience in this small (UCLA
west african dance) community, it's an experience that i wish all people
would have at sometime in their lives and so i use the word as i understand
it.

i would use 'les misrables' and unrflexively borrow a term from the
'french' if that was what the site was about.

saludos,

nik

p.s. " I am seeing one ot their co-ordinators later today and will try to
get a full contact list for Nik's 100%greybook."

thanx.

the update ultilty will be up soon, but this is intended for those dance
orgs to maintain their own data.

if anyone has lists of addresses - they know of , but aren't responsible
for - you're welcome to contact them and get them to input their data
(preferably) or e-mail me the list.

~ voices

http://www.yes.ucla.edu/voices/

UCLA Youth Enhancement Service's political and media
databases/index.

~ the dnc project - dance, networks, computing

http://www.websciences.org/dnc/

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