First Sensor - Goo::Sensor::MailFolder

I'm spending two hours a day implementing the next part of The Goo: perceptrons and actitrons.

I've decided on the layout of the interface and remarkably it works in the "links" console-based browser - no AJAX here!

Today I wrote my first "sensor" that captures perceptrons from email folders. Implementation options included:

• scraping user email in webmin
• fetchmail handler
• .procmail forwarding

But each of these introduce another prerequisite and configuration complexity. CPAN came to the rescue with two handy modules: Mail::Box and Schedule::Cron.

Currently a sensor POSTS perceptrons to a Goo::Server where they are recorded in a database. Each Goo::Sensor has a scan() method for searching its environment.

The next sensors to come are: tasks, chat and RSS...

I'll post a screen shot soon!

Modelling Perceptrons and Actirons

I use a hybrid database modelling methodology of ORM and E-R and over the weekend I started to model what a Perceptron and an Actitron is and how they relate to the Trail.

Here are some of the points that came out of it:

• A "perceptron" is a unit of perception that is picked up by a "sensor".
• A sensor is a software device for capturing perceptrons.
• The sensor must send where the perceptron was captured, when and who the sensor operates for.
  
• The perceptron may be observed but is not seen unless it goes via someone's short term memory buffer (7 +/- 2).
• A sensor passes perceptrons to a user or group of users or another sensor.
• An "actitron" is a unit of action which may be performed by a person or a sensor.
• An action performed by a person is always "seen" - but this may not be the case for a sensor.
• Over time a user's trail is filled with seen perceptrons and seen actitrons.
• Actitrons can happen on Things.
• A Thing is an object in your perceptual environment.

So what does this mean? Well by creating sensors your potential perceptual environment can be expanded (i.e., see more). Your own actions are remembered and can then be temporally associated with other Things which means you can make lighter context switches as time goes by (i.e., juggle more). It means you can also add future events into your trail by putting something in front of a sensor at the right time.

Actitrons + Perceptrons = Ying + Yang

I started writing a SciFi novel where in the future there are two types of things: Perceptrons and Actitrons. A perceptron is a unit of perception that somebody perceives (apologies to AI guru, Marvin Minsky for pinching his term) and actitrons are units of action.

My SciFi novel is on the back burner but I think these ideas could be useful in designing the next part of The Goo. When we work we perceive things and then perform actions as a result. A lot of time is spent moving from perceiving to acting and going back again.

Hopefully this diagram will help explain: