Slate.com is featuring a five part series on how the US military captured the Iraqi dictator which you can read here. Apparently it took a fat man, a resourceful soldier and Facebook to pull it all off. I know it sounds a bit oversimplified. But essentially with the leadership of Colonel Hickey (resourceful soldier) the military decided to shift their approach in searching for Saddam Hussein by taking into account his personal relationships, charting it out (ala Facebook) and then pinpointing a particular connection (the fat man) that eventually led them to him.
It seems that their previous approach of mapping out Saddam's connections were similar to that of an organizational chart. They were going after people who he worked with in the past like government allies or ranking officials. However, Iraq has a strong tribal structure such that most of Hussein's top men were those that had strong personal connections with him and most are even related to him.
Now here is where the social networking theory or...err...more of the metaphor of social networking sites like Facebook come in. You see much of them work in the same mechanics as tribes do. In fact, social networking on the internet is more or less a centralized platform for tribal behavior rendered into modern format. If you actually visualize your connections on Facebook you will find that commonalities between you and your friends are often derived from shared interests and groups that you belong too. (Read Write Web features a nice app for this called Nexus here) Of course, you also have connections that are little on the fringe and may not make a lot of sense to your other friends at first look. Nonetheless they are as meaningful to you for reasons that, well sometimes, may only be known to you (it's ok we all have our little secrets).
This just makes it so fascinating to examine how online tribes work. Think about how powerful and easy online sites can be for building and growing anything from your own little empire to a large global movement. Seth Godin, popular author talks about this concept at TED on this video:
On the other hand, it's also scary to think that this sort of information- your personal connections and the activities revolving around them or between them- can get so exposed. I mean it really isn't a coincidence when you see targeted ads appearing on the sidebars of your Facebook or Gmail account. These sites actually collect information on your profile or on your activities in order to serve you micro-targeted ads (Read Majority Uncomfortable with Websites Customizing Content Based Visitors Personal Profiles). As Chris Matyszczyk expresses:
"However, perhaps one other thought might already have crossed your mind. If U.S. soldiers could construct a Facebook-like page of Hussein's relationships three months before Facebook was even launched, what kind of information is now laid bare for much less sophisticated minds to enjoy? Information about you, I mean."
Social Networking Theory led to Saddam Hussein's capture
Exercise balls and hot geeks
Photo Credit: Glamour
The idea for this blog post started with an exercise ball. I spend a LOT time in front of the computer and as a result have been experiencing a lot of back pain. My company issued ergonomic chair was useless so I was searching my head for an alternative. I then randomly remembered seeing Jessica Biel in the movie Stealth sitting on an exercise ball while typing on the computer (yes my mind works in weird mysterious ways). So I thought: Why not try it for myself? At this point, I also remembered reading somewhere that people do use it in place of a work chair (read: 10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair). My co-worker conveniently had a ball stashed in her cube (don't ask me why I just work there) and instantly felt relief the first few minutes I sat on it. (Bear with me...I am almost getting to why it had prompted me to write this post)
So unable to contain my joy at this discovery, I felt the urge to share it to world through Facebook/Twitter. To make my update a little more interesting I thought of linking a photo of some famous person. One of the most sexiest geeks immediately popped into my head. Marissa Mayer- Google's VP of Search Product and User Experience. Here she is as one of Glamour's women of the year for 2009 looking elegant on top of an exercise ball. Money quote from this article: “I do code all night! I am the stereotype, but I also break the stereotype.” Among her goals: to bring more women into technology and teach them to take chances. “Get in a bit over your head,” she says. “That’s how you grow and learn and stretch yourself.”
I just love it! Women who don't look like geeks but are not afraid to be geeks. They truly rock the world by breaking stereotypes. Here are some more featured in Wired.com's 2009’s Sexiest Geeks and Kotaku's Ten Most Influential Women In Games Of The Past Decade.
Most creative use of technology goes to Imogen Heap
This woman's creativity knows no bounds. The way she creates and crafts her music is amazing. Have you seen how she perfoms a capella? She can also play the piano, cello, clarinet, guitar, drums and oh a couple of otherworldly instruments while engineering her own tracks. If you saw last Sunday's Grammy Awards night you would have seen her debut her "TwitDress". It was designed by former Philips research scientist Moritz Waldemeyer. He writes on his blog:
Say hello to our new creation: after video dresses and laser dresses here is one that connects Imogen to her fans directly via Twitter. When Imogen walked the red carpet to collect her Grammy, fans could send messages and photographs directly to her dress. The messages scrolled across the collar while the images were displayed on her Fendi handbag.
How does it work? The Fendi bag contains an iPod Touch that receives the messages (thanks to Memo Akten for programming this). It displays the pictures and passes the text on to a flexible LED display in the collar.
Imogen is a big fan of technology and social media. In fact, she used online auditorium Vokle.com to audition cello players for her on going Ellipse Tour.
