Re: [xanadu] flecks ?????

[Andrew Pam <xanni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Oct 10, 2000 at 06:16:29PM +0200, ____Textpert Alert____ wrote:
> On 00-09-02 17:40 -0400 sez Jack Seay:
> 
> > "Flecks" is a shorter word than "nanobucks". Snapier, too. 
> > Maybe he's onto something. I think it is marketable. Better 
> > than beanz or flooz.
> 
>   Yeah, but what about its etymology, where did it come from?

From "flecks of gold", since Hypergold / Hypercoin was originally
intended to be denominated in fractions of a gram of gold.
(Similar to e-gold, for example).

>   Nolo contendere to first sentence. As for the second:
>   nowhere and probably staying that way. Don't bet on the
>   third, it's a beautiful, logick idea, but crippled by its
>   requirement of a proprietary network. The experience of
>   past ten years' chaotic, multifaceted, multithreaded,
>   multistandard and, most important, _multiplayer_ WWW
>   development tells us all that the Xanadu was a beautiful
>   dream, too perfect and singularly integrated for its
>   own good.
> 
>   Xanadu had its moment _before_ the emergence of the WWW,
>   and for a while, after being acquired by AutoDesk, Inc.
>   in 1990?, it looked like it had a shot at it. But it
>   never realized that potential, and now it's long past
>   its sell-by date. Maybe, in a couple decades, when the
>   Internet is truly global and mature, the enfiladas have
>   been ironed out, and a new digital-access paradigm shift
>   is approaching, maybe then... but not otherwise.
> 
> __Ian

I'm disappointed in you, Ian!  As a long-time Xanadu follower, you should
well know that the Xanadu design evolved beyond the idea of a proprietary
network since at least 1993-94.  The present design has been based on a
set of individually specified but integratable modules, some of which
already have open-source prototype implementations, for some years now.

Things like XNS and Mojo Nation not only demonstrate the gradual
acceptance or rediscovery of the Xanadu ideas, but indeed could in some
cases potentially serve as part of a Xanadu system if compliant with
the requirements.

Cheers,
	Andrew
-- 
mailto:xanni@xxxxxxxxxx                         Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/                       Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/                   Technology Manager, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/sc/                   Manager, Serious Cybernetics
P.O. Box 477, Blackburn VIC 3130 Australia	Phone +61 401 258 915