Tuesday, September 18th
4:30 - 6:00 pm
Charles Hotel
1 Bennett Street
Harvard Square, Cambridge
When you meet someone on the Internet, how do you know what they are really like? Are they trustworthy? Knowledgeable? Also, how do you share your impressions of them with everybody else? You could go to Facebook and MySpace and LinkedIn and any number of other social networking sites, Google their name and so on. But that's a lot of work! Couldn't there be an easier way? Wouldn't it be nice if you could get to know people right away, right when you encounter them, and with no conversations or clicks required?
On September 18th Josh Shortlidge will present a new technology designed to "catalog and share the character of internet users in real time".
Ethos Profiles are comprised of pointers to documentation on all internet locations. For instance a person's Ethos Profile can include pointers to articles they authored in a local newspaper, to web pages documenting their membership activities in certain activist groups, to their MMOG gaming standings, to their good standing as an EBay seller, to their Myers Briggs personality profile, to their profile on CouchSurfing.com, etc.
These Ethos Profiles will be stored in a shared "ethos" data layer, which will be accessible by everyone, from everywhere on the net, with no clicks, and at zero cost. Ethos profiles will be created for all users, and by all users. We will share our spirit and passions more seamlessly, and thereby more easily forge life-changing relationships.
The basic concept of InterEthos is that whenever you meet a new person via the internet, then you should be able to instantly learn that person's core character, or ethos. Getting to know someone shouldn't require hours of face-to-face conversation or extensive internet searches. Rather, you should be able to glean their ethos at the exact place and instant that you meet them.
For more details please visit the InterEthos wiki. The wiki is public, so you can add your ideas to any page by clicking the "Edit This Page" button. Also, if the topic grabs you, then please click "Join this Space."
Josh Shortlidge's contact information (and old-style profile) can be found on the wiki.
