left lacking the full range of cognition derived facilities to separate fact from illusion. We are bereft the capability to establish an adequate trust infrastructure on which to establish a comprehensive policy infrastructure through which to engage in the necessary interactions to, in fact, obtain the sustenance demanded by our appetites.

When we speak about the projection of the existence of sustenance, in general we are speaking of the availability of information about sustenance; information that, in some cases, comprises sustenance and in others merely points the way. This concept of information is grounded in the cognitive realization of the sensori-motor experience; memories and understanding if you will. The Web comprises an interaction medium through which this information is conveyed from producer to consumer. While the Internet provided for the interconnection of diverse networks first among governments, companies and other entities around the world, these networks merely provided the fabric for the interconnection and interaction of diverse producers and consumers of information. It required the emergence of a common sensori-motor experience across these networks to truly enable an interaction environment that began to merge with the human social ecosystems through which the needs hierarchy is addressed.

The detection and acquisition of information proceeds through interactions that can be modeled with the approaches we discussed in Chapter 3. Specifically, the Open Systems Interconnection reference model describes for us the basic protocol stack necessary to allow two dissimilar entities to interact. The ubiquitous access to information through the Internet derives from a convergence in the standardization of two distinct layers within this generic stack. First, in an effort to enable the basic exchange of information, the early development of electronic mail facilities within the context of the original Arpanet incarnation of the Internet stimulated the creation of a family of specifications for representing information to be conveyed. This evoked the development of a series of standards addressing the presentation layer of the general protocol stack. This is the layer where presentation formats are defined. A family picture has a different format than, say, a legal document. However, the actual conveyance of information required the standardization of the next lower protocol level; that of the session layer. Whether I send a family picture or legal document, I can use the same means to get them to the desired addressee. Once a standard way of conveying content is established, I can send all sorts of content besides just family pictures or legal documents. For example, I can send out my Christmas Cards.

Electronic mail evolved according to the paradigm of state provided postal services such as is elaborated as a prerogative of the federal government within the United States Constitution. The concept involves the conveyance of messages across time and space and allows for the pursuance of an extended interaction with another entity across both domains. I write a letter to John. I place it in an envelope on which I write John’s address. I put a stamp on the envelope to pay for the conveyance and I enter it into the postal system by dropping it in a mailbox. The postal system then conveys the letter to the destination specified by the address on the envelope where it is then delivered by a person. To receive mail, all one must do is place a qualified mailbox at a standard address, which can be essentially anywhere. Within the United States, the postal service is required by law to deliver mail appropriately addressed and funded with a stamp.

To establish an electronic analog to the postal system, two specifications were developed for use in tandem to transfer messages from the original sender to the final receiver. These were the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) and the Post Office Protocol (POP). The first is used to convey messages from the sender to a persistent server that provides a continuously available mail drop for the receiver, while the second is used to allow the receiver to retrieve messages on

Book available at Midori Press (regular)
Book available at Midori Press (signed)
Book available at Amazon (regular)