Unlike traditional peer-to-peer systems which are primarily end-user applications, Ideapool will have a large component which is server-to-server nodes.

Developers will create web applications based on the aggregation of XML documents and the data model will, in turn, be used to supplement the information available in the pool.

No technological innovation, no matter how well-conceived, is going to propagate unless it is at least as easy to use as the existing tools.

The Templ system will focus on creating efficient data modeling and presentation tools using the Ideapool as storage.

The Ideapool is a peer-to-peer network for the distribution of cryptographically signed XML documents.

Documents are inserted into the pool and clients can search for documents based on their semantic characteristics. A blog aggregator might search for blog posts signed by a particular author or organization. Comments on the blog post need not be entered on the author’s site, they can be inserted into the pool and retrieved by interested readers.

Information is easy to create, but difficult to suppress. Unlike Freenet which focuses on anonymity, Ideapool focuses on allowing the identity verification of the creator of information.

Ideapool is also the Masters thesis topic of Will Holcomb, the founder of the Department of Happiness, and the first step in his plan to save the world.

The dominant distribution method for distributing XML documents on the web currently is the HTTP client/server.

The entrepreneur needs some reward for developing their ideas and the consumer needs to be able trust that the information they are consuming is reliable. The creation of reliable branded endpoints allows for both of these things to happen.

There are a couple disadvantages, however, that a peer-to-peer network would address:

• Innovation — The web currently relies of third party companies search control the discovery of information in the network. This extremely valuable service is the domain of a few companies which collect huge amounts of data that improves their systems and which they are competitively disinclined to share. A peer-to-peer system where users specify a release on their data means that companies can provide useful aggregates, but the basic information is open for further innovation.
• Efficiency — In a client/server model, the more popular a particular piece of content is the more resources are required to provide access to it. In a distributed system, caching through the system, such as those employed by Freenet, can be used to remove resource strains for popular items.
• Decentralized — Centralized systems have centralized points of weakness. Algorithms can be developed to attempt to recognize the activities of compromised of malicious nodes in a peer-to-peer network and steps taken to mitigate the effects.
• Push Model — The web is inherently a pull model where information is made available and consumers access the information. A properly constructed peer-to-peer system could allow the distribution of information delivered to consumers based on their published interests rather than requiring them to poll the sources.

Metadata is simply information about information. Consider the statement: “A cat is a mammal.” Metadata for this statement might include:

• The statement is a complete English sentence.
• The statement is a fact — it is verifiable as true of false.
• The statement is a part of a biological taxonomy.
• The statement is used in an example of metadata in the DoH FAQ.

A popular method of representing metadata in modern computer science is extensible markup language (XML). This page, for example, is marked-up with a language that describes the display semantics so that <i>italic text</i> is displayed as italic text.

Ontologies are simply systems of metadata that focus on contextualizing data within a particular domain. It describes how information relates to other pieces of information. For example, to say that “A cat is a mammal” is a complete English sentence relates it to a set of known rules for constructing English sentences.

There is quite a bit of interest currently is generating a complex semantic web of ontological documents. The Ideapool project doesn’t focus on the distribution of any particular structure of documents beyond XML.

A cryptographic signature, much like its ink-based counterpart, is simply a computational method for verifying identity.

If, for example, with a contract cryptographically signed by Bob, it is possible to verify both that Bob specifically was the signer of the document, and that the document signed by Bob identical to the document being read.

The method, public-key cryptography, relies on the computational complexity of factoring extremely large numbers. There is a number in Bob’s possession that he can use to perform calculations that would take centuries to perform by brute force. Calculations can be performed which reveal that Bob knows the number without revealing the number itself, and so long as Bob keeps the number secret he is therefore able to verify his identity.

The current plan draws from several disciplines. Some of these, in very broad strokes are:

• Market Capitalism — Demand-driven markets are better methods for the efficient distribution of resources in chaotic systems than command-economies.
• Developmental Ethics — Cognitive development includes not only transitions of knowledge of the world, but also transitions in the paradigms for comprehending identity.
• Humanist Psychology — Individuals do not focus on issues of psychological development until such time as more basic needs such as food, shelter and companionship are considered dealt with.
• Evolutionary Psychology — The primary function of the brain is the preservation of the organism and psychological characteristics will propagate only to the extent that they provide a concrete survival benefit.

The basic principle is to make peaceful action as advantageous as possible. The goal at this stage is not to come up with an overarching plan for peace, but to create the tools and incentives to both generate interest and provide productive activities to interested parties.

To provide the resources — intellectual, financial, psychological and otherwise — necessary for completing projects designed at increasing maximal happiness increases for the population of the world.

The initial project plan focuses on the development of internet-based research methods for analyzing DoH projects and establishing profit-donation businesses for generating venture capital.

I remember getting ready to join the Peace Corps and one the things that scared me the most was knowing that I would be coming back well on my way to 30.

I was 24 when going into the Peace Corps and at 24 it seemed like that first quarter century passes without my noticing. I was pretty sure that I would hit 30 with that same sense of “where has all the time gone?”

Peace Crops really helped with that. It helped put me well outside an area where I felt comfortable and in doing so helped me to start to realize the importance of being uncompromising in doing what I want out of life.

My main worry was about having kids and that since I’d have them so late that I’d be too physically decrepit to do things with them as adults. My dad had me at 33 and he wasn’t able to go with my mom and I to Peru or Canada because his knees are shot. The fear of that happening to me is still sufficient to get me into the gym three times a week.

In assessing my life at 30 I feel the most fortunate for my relationships — my wife, my friends, my parents, my peers, my God. All of them.

The area I think still needs the most work is my professional life. I’ve been spoiled working for the Peace Corps and the Marijuana Policy Project. I had jobs that weren’t always the best fit to my skills, but that I really believed in. If grad school has served no other purpose for me, it has shown me that I absolutely abhor work that I don’t believe in.

It takes these moments that, one way or another, will go flying by and it wastes them.

So, my goal is to find a job that is both technically and spiritually satisfying.

I have a five year plan that is the best idea I have currently for finding that mythic job. All it requires is restructuring the internet, subverting the university system and replacing capitalism. ☺ (I couldn’t really come up for a way for me to have this job without making it possible for lots of people to have this job, so that’s how the plan works.)

Since it’s a big plan, and I very likely haven’t got all the details worked out, I am going to try and run it by Slashdot in a couple days. I’m building a FAQ so it makes more sense.

The FAQ entries will be blog posts so there is a separate comment area for each. So, you might ignore this blog for a bit since there’s going to be at least a couple dozen entries. At the end of adding the FAQ, it’ll go back to normal.