Web site of the day: Noise Between Stations. This particular link points to an introduction on human-computer interface design called "Virtual Reality vs. Immersive Environments: Choosing the Right Computer Interface for the Future".

Here is a standard rule for business.

Profit = Revenue - Expenses

Profit = f(Revenue, Expenses)

The right people, with the right knowledge, the right product for a given market will be able to reduce the cost of: marketing, advertising, research, development, selling, general, administrative, inventory, rent, lease, etc. To make this repeatable the revenue needs to be derived from a consumable; like an ASP, web hosting service, etc. The customer base needs to be as wide as possible and have some redeeming social, technical, and/or economical value. Customer acquisition costs should be small while the customer's perceived cost of a leaving is high.

Web site of the day: theyrule.net

Required reading for the day, http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/gelernter/gelernter_p1.html because down on page 5 is the following...

36. File cabinets and human minds are information-storage systems. We could model computerized information-storage on the mind instead of the file cabinet if we wanted to.

Ponderable(s):

"If everything you did in life were recorded on a digital record that only you could write to and you could only write the truth, would you want others to read it?"

I've been pondering how your mind can compel you to change your environment and what you sense. Also, your senses can compel you to change your thoughts. Picture your five senses as writing to a continuous journal like an EKG tape. Then add another recording for what your mind is thinking. There is definite interplay between each. How would a computer's UI emulate this, or should it?

e.g. The smell of freshly cut grass wafts to your sense of smell. Your mind recalls that you need to pay the grass cutting service their monthly bill. You dig through a pile of papers in your briefcase, feeling around for your checkbook. Once you find it you see the available balance and make a mental reminder to push some of the extra cash over into your savings account. Now you write up a check, address an envelope and seal it by licking/tasting the mint flavored flap. Suddenly, you hear the sound of mail hitting your entryway as the mailman drops mail through the slot in your front door.

"Everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation. Between us and everybody else on this planet. The president of the United States. A gondolier in Venice... It's not just the big names. It's anyone. A native in a rain forest. A Tierra del Fuegan. An Eskimo. I am bound to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people. It's a profound thought... How every person is a new door opening up into other worlds."