In this case, I'm 'hunting' for some namesakes. These are people who
have nothing to do with me, or as far as I know, with each other, other
than 2 traits:
1. In the metadata that describes each of these people, a random string
apparently shows up in each of their <name> tags; the string "Resnick".
As far as I know this is purely coincidence, and none of these people
have any greater Interconnectedness other than this curiosity.
2. Each of these people apparently is exploring some aspect or other of
the unity of the great bitspace in the sky. I've repeatedly run across each
of these individuals in some form or other in the last year or so, as I "hunt
down the bits".
I do note it odd that I am aware of exactly one instance only of each of
the strings
"Khare", "Rifkin", "Irlam" , "Barrera" in the set of <name> tags of the world
at large who happen to possess trait 2. Why is this so? Where is the cosmic
explanation?
Dunno. "Resnick" would hardly seem to be that interesting or common a string.
"Smith" I could understand. But "Resnick"?? I was told as a kid the origin is
Russian (or Slavic generally) and means "butcher". Ok. That explains a lot.
My namesakes include:
Rosalind Resnick -- http://www.netcreations.com/rosalind/index.html
Paul Resnick -- http://www.si.umich.edu/~presnick/
Mitchel Resnick -- http://mres.www.media.mit.edu/people/mres/
Lauren Resnick -- http://www.lrdc.pitt.edu/page/ResnickPage.html
and me! Ron Resnick -- http://www.interlog.com/~resnick/ron.html
Of the lot (including me), I think Rosalind is probably the coolest.
If any of you other Resnicks ever find this page in a bout of egosurfing,
you've
reached the archives of a mailing list called FoRK. More info on this list
is available at
http://csvax.cs.caltech.edu/~adam/LOCAL/faq-fork.html
Without knowing any of you firsthand, but knowing a little about all of you
from
web references etc., I suspect you might each find something of interest and
commonality here. If you do ever read these words, I'd appreciate a quick
"hello" email sent to resnick@interlog.com so I can tabulate the success (or
otherwise) of my experiment ;-).
Here's a little more info about each of us:
Rosalind Resnick
-------------------------
Hi! I'm Rosalind Resnick, co-author of The Internet Business Guide, editor
and publisher of Interactive Publishing Alert, online business columnist for
Internet World magazine, and president of NetCreations, Inc., a hot, little
Web design and Internet business consulting firm that I run with my
partner, the
very talented Ryan Scott. And, yes, I used to be the host of the NetGirl
Forum on America Online, but recently I left to create my own content sites
on the
Web. Check out LoveSearch.com, House of Psychics, and Contest Central!
Paul Resnick
-------------------
Paul Resnick is Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of
Information. He previously worked as a researcher at AT&T Labs and AT&T
Bell Labs, and as
an Assistant Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He received
the master's and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science from MIT,
and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan.
Professor Resnick's research focuses on reviews, recommendations,
reputations, and other mechanisms that make it safe, fun, and profitable
for people to interact with
strangers, especially through electronic media. He has employed a range of
research methods, including application design space analysis, user
interface evaluation,
protocol design, and economic game theory.
Resnick was a pioneer in the field of recommender systems (sometimes called
collaborative filtering or social filtering). Recommender systems guide
people to interesting
materials based on recommendations from other people. He chairs the PICS
Interest Group at MIT's World Wide Web Consortium and was one of the main
authors of the
PICS technical specifications. PICS, the Platform for Internet Content
Selection, provides a common infrastructure for the creation of labeling
systems, and filtering
software based on those labels.
Network Computing Magazine named Resnick one of its 25 Network Technology
Drivers for 1996 (September 1996, issue). His articles have appeared in
Scientific
American, Wired, Communications of the ACM, and many other publications.
Mitchel Resnick
-----------------------
I am a professor in the Epistemology and Learning Group at the Media
Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In my research, I
study how the role of
technological tools in thinking and learning, and I develop new
computational tools that help people (particularly children) learn new
things in new ways. My research
interests include:
Decentralized Systems and Decentralized Thinking. I developed StarLogo as a
modeling environment to help people explore and learn about decentralized
systems
and emergent phenomena. This research is described in my book Turtles,
Termites, and Traffic Jams. I am currently involved in the development of a
museum exhibit,
called The Virtual Fishtank that aims to engage a broader audience in
thinking about these ideas.
Learning Through Design. I am studying how people learn through design
activities. As part of this research, I helped develop LEGO/Logo, a
computer-controlled
construction kit for kids. Our research group is currently experimenting
with a new generation of "programmable bricks" called Crickets. In an
NSF-funded project called
Beyond Black Boxes, children are using Crickets to design their own
instruments for scientific investigations.
Technological Fluency. I helped start the Computer Clubhouse, an
after-school learning center where youth from under-served communities work
together on
computer-related projects. The goal is for youth to become fluent with new
computational media, becoming creators (not just consumers) of
computer-based projects.
Distributed Constructionism. This research explores how activities that
combine construction and community can make possible new types of learning
opportunities. As
part of this research, we are creating Bongo as a "Java for kids," so that
everyone (even kids) can create and share dynamic, interactive artifacts on
the Web. One of my
graduate students, Amy Bruckman, has developed an online virtual world
called MOOSE Crossing, where kids collaboratively contruct the virtual
world in which they
interact.
Lauren Resnick
----------------------
Lauren Resnick Director and Senior Scientist
Ed.D., Research in Instruction Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Cambridge, MA, 1962.
Research interests: cognitive science of learning and instruction, assessment.
(Well, since her bio doesn't say much, let me just add a bit: I repeatedly
ran across her
name in the context of learning: learning of children, learning of
technology, learning *by*
technology. Ron.)
Ron Resnick
------------------
Hmm. Ok. So what is my bio anyway? dist-objer. FoRKer. Currently at IBM.
Probably
can't stand it much longer ;-). Possessed by visions of networked bits in
my kids' diapers.
Of networked bits in my cereal boxes, in my shoes, and in my beach towels.
Nethead (as opposed to Bellhead). Die ATM die. Live Active Networks live.
Into metadata & multicast. Virtual synchrony and object groups. Composition.
Halpern & Moses.
Turing. Godel. Used to love Unix & sockets. Grew up. Skipped RPCs. Grew up.
Used to love CORBA. Grew up. Used to love OpenDoc. Grew up. Loving Java.
Loving Beans.
Growing up. May come to love karma (aka the web as seen by the 3%, in its
XML, PEP,
PICS etc. form).
Who knows what comes after that? Love my wife. Love my kids. Need my
friends to survive the horror of life without friends. Excellent
procrastinator.
--------------
Obligatory "help" for the bots:
RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK
PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL
ROSALIND ROSALIND ROSALIND ROSALIND ROSALIND ROSALIND ROSALIND
LAUREN LAUREN LAUREN LAUREN LAUREN LAUREN LAUREN LAUREN LAUREN
MITCHEL MITCHEL MITCHEL MITCHEL MITCHEL MITCHEL MITCHEL MITCHEL MITCHEL
RON RON RON RON RON RON RON RON RON RON RON RON RON RON RON RON
RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK RESNICK