Comments on: Speckle

By: Nick B. Steves

Nick B. Steves — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 20:36:23 +0000

2^80 ~= 1.2×10^24 should be more than enough different possible messages. If any sort of selection for those who can communicate this way, we’ll eventually develop a master race of humans who can store very large codebooks in their heads for quick access.

By: Manjusri

Manjusri — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 21:02:03 +0000

14 characters? That’s plenty if your specks are in hanzhi.

By: VXXC

VXXC — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 01:23:36 +0000

How about Spackled Historical Moments? As in – Foggy Bottom – “Fuck Them”

1941 – British Gold – Fuck them.
1943 – George Wallace to USSR [off ticket]. Fuck Him
1961 -Still – Congo – George Ball “Fuck Them”
1963 – after finishing his round of Golf, George Ball pronounces Death Sentence: Fuck the Diems.
1963-1975 – Vietnam. Fuck them
Still — Vietnam Vets – Fuck them.

2003 – Procounsul not named: Iraqi Army&Baath Party – Fuck them.
2003-2007 They Fuck Back
2013 – Urkraine. “Fuck The Eu”

I’ve got your Speckle: Fuck*.*

By: Bryce Laliberte

Bryce Laliberte — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 23:20:49 +0000

I’m seriously considering it. Or at least seriously considering proposing the idea to a programmer friend.

Speckle would not replace all other forms of social interaction, but as used by a very specific community *coughs* it could facilitate very rapid language development *coughs again*.

It would never replace Twitter, but then Twitter never replaced Facebook.

By: spandrell

spandrell — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 10:56:47 +0000

The vast majority of Twitter users aren’t using it to communicate, but to follow celebrities or advertise something. People communicate with chat applications and you’d be amazed how non-micro their utterances get to be there.

Weibo used to be quite social, in that people actually used it to follow their friends and talk to each other, yet it’s dying all the same, with wechat picking up the rests. Also many Chinese prefer to use voice chat than typing, and obviously voice is more information-dense that text.

So yes, message compression has peaked and public display I think has also peaked. People are leaving Twitter and Facebook and will only chat in private. People have seen the internet mob and they don’t like it.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 10:50:18 +0000

“Half-crazed” as that idea might be, I think it’s good. Long laws are bad laws.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 10:48:42 +0000

That makes perfect sense, but it isn’t what we’re seeing. (Or do you really think micromedia message compression has peaked?)

By: spandrell

spandrell — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 08:25:34 +0000

Language meaning is context dependent. The smaller the language input, the more shared context you need to make sense of it.
As far as I can see, urbanization, smartphones and the increasing variety in entertainment options means that on average we are getting less shared context than in the past, so we need longer utterances to make ourselves understood, as we can’t rely on shared context for people to get a reference.

By: pseudo-chrysostom

pseudo-chrysostom — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 06:26:51 +0000

this reminds me of a half crazed idea i once had one potential aberrations language might have gone through if the constitution had included a page limit on bill drafts.

just how much can be crammed into a small space, and how? i imagine it would be highly initiatory in style (like all language to some degree though), using alot of metaphor in the sub-text.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 01:34:23 +0000

Both are indeed true (although the latter part is a re-wording I wouldn’t have chosen myself).

Speckle isn’t for discussion, but for an emerging dominant language practice we are still only hazily glimpsing.