I greatly edited a piece I did months ago…and I added some radical changes based on recent thoughts. enjoy this transmission for you who read in the post-modern fashion.

To: Brines Grey
From: Pearl Gray
Research Station: Pearl Monk

Re: Revisions to Organizational Control -
Project: Bolted Vine

Our original plan to inject the veil into the dominant operating system has changed. Analysts have determined this will link our project, now dubbed “Bolted Vine”, into a potential point of critical failure. We are unwilling to accept this risk thus “Abaddon” has been deleted. Armed with public capital, we will vault high a new star, a self-sustaining entity that will gather the information that will feed O/C using an array of self-spreading, cognizant technology bolted into the vine as they are formed. All designed to make existence easier- for comfort is the key. We are borrowing inspiration from the ancient panem et circenses* - bread and circuses. Is it cruel if we come bearing light?

We have based “Bolted Vine” upon this inspiration- The vast majority of consumers are willing to accept an exchange as long as they are able to make this trade-off in a currency they find of lesser value at that particular moment. We are the bringer, yes- of convenience, ease of use, and monetary benefit. It is vendible since it is only privacy.

We have new, albeit reluctant, partnerships that provide scalable, redundant, low-cost maintenance, and self-sustenaining systems. It should be relatively easy to realize our goals of broad spectrum, global penetration. We shall be the bringer, yes the bringer of an epic rage against the old media machine. We will give away all that is needed and further the cause of “The Grid”. Naturally the limitations of this project are substantial, encumbered by creative limits and hardware. The needed multi-terraflop speeds will not arrive until 2010 and we cannot wait. However, the project and dark fiber are here. It is only a matter of time before they are joined.

To achieve critical mass we have identified a strategy to evolve, to move like lichen into the underpinnings of every level of the grid and beyond. We will make use of two primary digital goods- online music and online video. We had planned to use known, popular artists to achieve our end goal and continue to grow our own stable of assets, but have found that the users themselves are enamored with their own reflection. They are willing to create what we need.

These goods are especially desired by a young audience who lack the ability to make careful decisions of their trade-offs, like two-liters of soda for a credit card on a college campus. Not that older generations show much ability to make these decisions either. Analysts at the Pearl Monk predict in no more than ONE generation, resistance will be minimal to non-existent- save for a few zealots that no one will heed or believe.

We are in negotiations with the needed distributors and believe we shall be able to strike amicable deals with the digital rights industry to assist them to better monetize their goods. This is especially true in light of the on-going impact of digital piracy eroding their bottom line. Add the threat of user-generated content they have no choice but to acquiesce or partake.

Also of note there have been several laws in Congress that could impact our forms of monitoring. These initiatives have stymied and Congress has taken no demonstrable action. Nor shall the FTC interfere any further except to punish token rogues. We have also made excellent inroads at putting insiders into key positions. It is evident how we must devote our time, so it is veiled and not bedeviled or vetoed by the ones beloved by the masses.

We can achieve critical mass and we will mine interactions on a meta and micro level and couple this with field intelligence. Most importantly, in unique situations, we can utilize customized routines to activate cams, microphones for ambient sound collection and other built-in surveillance equipment up to and including supplanting the means to apprehend problematic individuals before they harm themselves or The Vine. These tools are built into the machines as de facto tokens. This is not only efficacious, but far cheaper long-term.

End Transmission…
Sending Station: Pearl Monk

*Reference Reading for Readers on Bread and Circuses. Latin Term: panem et circenses.

Bread and circuses is a derogatory phrase which can describe either government policies to pacify the citizenry, or the shallow, decadent desires of that same citizenry. In both cases, it refers to low-cost, low-quality, high-availability food and entertainment, and to the exclusion of things which the speaker considers more important, such as art, public works projects, democracy, or human rights.

It originated as the Latin phrase “panem et circenses” (literally “bread and circuses”), and is thought to have been coined by Juvenal, a Roman satiric poet of the 1st century AD, to describe the practice of Roman Emperors who gave unlimited free wheat to the poor and costly circus games as a means of pacifying the populace with food and entertainment. Juvenal bemoaned that it was a deplorable apathy towards heroism.

In fact, the system of free or heavily subsidized food distribution was limited to a minority of Roman Citizens holding a special token (tessera) entitling them to a monthly supply of grain and olive oil from the reign of Septimus Severus. The rations were probably too small to feed a family and the receivers were not necessarily poor or in need of free food. This does not change the fact that the food supply to a city the size of Rome was of primary concern to the emperors in order to avoid popular unrest.

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