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Neighbornode Explained How Neighbornode works:
When you log on wirelessly to Neighbornode from your computer, the wireless router you connect to recognizes you as a new log-on and directs you to your local bulletin board before sending you on your way to the Internet. Everyone who logs on through a given node goes through that node's bulletin board once per day. This means that everyone on your street sees the same bulletin board as you daily - you can post a message to the board and know that all residents of your street who use Neighbornode will come across the message sometime during the day. Each street has its own bulletin board, so residents of the street next to yours see their own bulletin board daily in the same way. You can forward your messages to these neighboring bulletin boards, and users there can then forward those messages on to the next board, and so on, the entire length of the Neighbornode network. On Neighbornode you're not posting to enormous numbers of random people, as you might on more general message boards, but you are reaching the people in your immediate vicinity, and you are sure that these people will see your message. And if they think that message is important, they'll send it on to their neighbors, and those neighbors will send it on to THEIR neighbors. Why Neighbornode:
Neigbornode was developed because the Internet, while really good at connecting people half-way around the world, is really bad at connecting people who live across the street from each other (or a block from each other, or two blocks from each other). This can be liberating on one hand, but there are still lots of advantages to be gained by sharing information locally and opening lines of communication with others in your immediate area. The Internet for the most part has not cashed in on these advantages. Neighbornode addresses this issue by creating spaces for people in the same area to communicate easily with one another via the Internet, and by then building these separate spaces into a network, so that information can travel between locales as residents of those areas see fit. In this way, Neighbornode bridges the gap between the Internet and the neighborhood. It's also a good way for people who don't know each other to organize and chip in to get a joint wireless connection. How to Use It:
Post anything you like to your Neighbornode bulletin board - there are no right or wrong posts. Say 'hi' to a neighbor, tell people on your street about a stoop sale, rant about something, post a room for rent... whatever you like. There are different sections to the bulletin area, like the Barter Board or the Events & Happenings section, to give the board some general guidelines, but feel free to say whatever you like at any time. The more you use it, the more it works. Where was it developed and where are we going with it:
Neighbornode was developed by John Geraci at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, with assistance and input from many people, including Dustin Goodwin, Dana Spiegel, Mohit SantRam, Amanda Marchand, Margaret Maile and others. We are presently beginning Phase Two of the project, which will include creating a CD-ROM that allows you to configure any old PC as a Neighbornode instantly, as well as allowing individual nodes to grow dynamically with the use of mesh networking. Phase three, scheduled to begin in 2005, will involve trying out new social uses for this infrastructure, including art projects, political activism, gaming, file sharing, and so forth. Etc:
Neighbornode aims to be wholly extensible - anyone who wants should be able to create a new node and add it to the node network at any time, without assistance. In addition to creating a network of local message boards in Manhattan, we want to encourage people in cities all over to create Neighbornodes of their own. To this end, everything we do will be with the aim of facilitating the growth of Neighbornodes in New York as well as in other cities around the world. If you would like help getting a Neighbornode network started in your city, please send us a note and we will be glad to assist. | |
Introduction
Put a Neighbornode on your street
See locations of current Neighbornodes
FAQ
Neighbornode Explained
In the Press
To your bulletin board
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