[Update: I wrote more about all of this]
Following up on my RSS to Fortune script I created the Waxy Links Via Metaaggregator.
Basically, Matt King created Waxy.org ‘Via’ Links Aggregator, which tracks what sites Andy gets his links from for his linkblog. I thought it was an interesting idea (and I was annoyed with the window.open()s because it screws with Cmd-clicks for tabs) but I wanted to get more information about the sites.
I took Matt’s code and shoehorned it into Feed on Feed’s update-quiet.php in an ugly, ugly way.
The whole via concept is interesting to me, there’s been some research into link propagation in the blogosphere but I’m interested in finding out who influences the people that influence me.
It also raises the issue of the linkblogger as a deterministic system. Given input x do I return output y?
Or maybe I’m just talking out of my ass and need to stop thinking about via links so much.
5 responses to “The Cult-of-Waxy continues”
So when will del.icio.us/revgeorge be replaced by an AI? For starters, bloglines has keyword feeds made from feeds it watches. Hey, a ‘via’ mechanism could help prevent feedback loops introduced by automated input/output feeds. Has anyone created a feedback loop on bloglines yet?
Are you also concerned that having a publicly available blogroll increases the chances of you being manipulated by some unknown power?
Along the same lines, FOAF data can be dangerous- it provides a quick list of people for the gestapo to question/round-up.
The scary thing is that you could right a business plan on studying via links. If you were able to discern what makes something link worthy, marketers would be eating up your research.
Cult of Waxy
Waxy [via] links meta-aggregator [via, amusingly] Now see, this is interesting. What I want is the same thing, but 4 or 5 levels deep, and I want to wander around in a Doom3-engine environment where the 3-d space is dynamically…
Not the only one to wonder who influences the people who influence me. I find a lot of the time I’m more interested in where they got their information from.
My personal favourite is my own
Not the only one to wonder who influences the people who influence me. I find a lot of the time I’m more interested in where they got their information from.
My personal favourite is output y