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|=-----------=[ The Feed Is Ours: A Case for Custom Clients ]=-----------=|
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|=--------------------=[ by tgr <tgr@tgrcode.com> ]=---------------------=|
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--< Table of Contents
0 - Introduction
1 - A Worrying Trend
2 - Super Mario Maker 2
2.0 - Removed Features
2.1 - Prior Research
2.2 - NEX
2.3 - Opening A Public API
2.4 - The Scene Adapts
2.5 - The Scrape
2.6 - Opening A Public Server
2.7 - A New Era in SMM2
2.8 - A Bitter Reminder
3 - A Fragile State of Affairs
4 - References
/=================\
| 0. Introduction |
\=================/
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In 1995, when the World Wide Web was less than 2 years old and SSL 2.0 had
only been released earlier that month, Neal Stephenson published a book
hypothesizing a greatly advanced version of his society. Drawing from
scientific, not fictional, ideas growing in the late 20th century from books
like "Engines of Creation (1986)" and "Nanosystems (1992)", this book
proposed a striking kind of post-scarcity that remains to be seen even in
the bounty of today.
"The Diamond Age" proposed a type of nanomaterial distribution network
capable of providing dependable streams of basic atoms like carbon, sulfer,
oxygen and hydrogen. The "Feed", as it was called, was capable of providing
"boxes of water and nutri-broth, envelopes of sushi made from nanosurimi and
rice, candy bars" [0] from free matter compilers dotted throughout the urban
landscape. Paid MCs are capable of creating much more complex structures,
like the Primer, of which much has been said in regards to the development
of Large Language Models.
The Feed is not purely altruistic, however. It is capable of reporting what
is created and by whom to its operators. And unfortunately neo-Victorians
do not have the best interests of other phyles at heart. In order to instill
subversiveness in his daughter Fiona the secondary protagonist John Percival
Hackworth secretly commissions the creation of a second Primer, which had
only been intended for his employer. The engineer behind this second Primer,
who operated his own private, untraceable Feed, called himself a
"Reverse Engineer" [1].
Stephenson made sure to stress in interviews that he saw Science Fiction as
more than a medium to deliver a prophetic message: "The science fiction
approach doesn't mean it's always about the future; it's an awareness that
this is different" [2]. Whether or not he intended it, I see parallels in
"The Diamond Age" to technology that was beginning to infiltrate the daily
lives of many: The Internet.
Back in 1996 it was theorized that the Feed was a metaphor for information
technology, where the neo-Victorian operated Feed represented centralized
content providers and the Seed represented the decentralized promise of free
information transfer across the internet [3]. An admirable promise that is
beginning to wane.
The World Wide Web, TLS, large search engines - all of which started for the
purposes of ensuring security and the continued proliferation of information
freely, now serve to pull the internet back into its centralized origins.
The world needs new hackers, like the reverse engineer Dr. X. and his custom
Feed, to open the internet back up and free information once again.
/=====================\
| 1. A Worrying Trend |
\=====================/