>Hello Virions,
>
>I came across this in the last issue of Extropians-Digest. Considering
>that it is a summary of a publically-available article, it should be
>all right to cross-post:
>
>From: Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se>
>Subject: Re: Public Relations? (a memetic view)
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
>This suggests that a widespread use of banner graphics or similar
>advertisements may be counterproductive, *unless* they are restricted
>to sites which target a specific type of host. Perhaps we could set up
>(if possible with the systems we Virions have access to) a cookie-based
>advertisement vector, working on how many times individuals visit
>members' sites. The idea that I mentioned in an earlier post (ref.
>"virus: neurological contagion and 'Virtual plague(tm)'") could be
>applied here: when a person visits a certain number of times, or a
I was very impressed with the execution of the Virtual Plague site.
The graphical layout was very well done. I sent myself a plague
(Anthrax) from one of my e-mail addresses to another. When you go
to pick up your plague, the site invites you to seek retribution
by returning the favour. You can also get a virtual antidote for
the small price of your immortal soul. Most insiduous!
>certain variety of sites, they would receive a notification of a
>"Virtual Meme" or some such (the title would have to have some
>advertising flair). They would then have to go to the CoV site to pick
>it up -- probably not through the main page, but a subsidiary.
I think we can actually do better. The (only) problem with the
Virtual Plague site is that it is frivolous, for entertainment only.
We don't have to send virtual memes, we can send *actual memes*!
How about a site where you can design your own meme to send to
another person by selecting a bait, hook and threat from lists
along with your own message? You could also send a "pre-designed"
meme such as Christianity, Extropianism, Eco-terrorism or
Church of Virus. Of course, whichever meme the target picks
up, they'll be exposed to the CoV meme-complex because they'll
retrieve it at our site.
>contagion than those of the General Population(tm). It'll be a while
>before I have the resources to do this, otherwise my pages wouldn't be
>on Geocities... anyone have the available resources and interest?
I'll need help with the content, but I have the expertise and tech
to do the rest (I'm thinking of an ASP app running on IIS server
with an Access db back end.)
David