Ming the Mechanic:
Beacon Postings

The NewsLog of Flemming Funch
 Beacon Postings2005-08-16 14:00
17 comments
by Flemming Funch

One weird thing with blog postings and google power is that sometimes one individual post becomes, like, THE place to go for a certain subject. Just because Google has made it show on the first page for that search term. I've had a few of those, where one post over many months attracted hundreds and hundreds of people, who think that this somehow is one of THE authoritative places to go. And they leave lots of comments, and a whole little community forms.

I did a post two years ago, which was just a few paragraphs about my own experience about almost falling for a Romanian e-bay scam in buying a non-existent computer. Still, today, if you search in Google for ebay scams, my article is number 5. And there are 255 comments so far. Lots of people have shared their experiences and tips there. Even the Romanian scammers have shown up, to occasionally taunt their victims, in Romanian.

And if you search for Yamashita Treasure, you'll see my post as number 2. Which was just a mention of a review of a book. But, there too, a whole little community has formed. 167 comments. Every day treasure hunters are sharing their tips, asking for help, etc. You know, they've found some interesting underground spot in the Philippines, and they need somebody with a ground radar, or explosives expertise, or whatever. And, hey, it was just one of my thousands of blog postings. I'm not even participating. Intriguing.

A blog posting is not particularly suited to this, even though it kind of works. The comments are one long thread, and it is easy to find out how to add a new comment. But, I mean, if one had known that that posting was going to be a central gathering place for that subject, maybe one would have put some more facilities there. Like, on my ebay scam page, it would make sense to list other resources that could be helpful. So, should I go back and change my original posting? Doesn't quite make sense to me either.

But maybe one could have some additional features available that might spring into action when a certain post transforms from being just a note written at some point in time into being a *place* that people go to as a resource. A beacon that gathers people around a certain subject. If it really is a gathering place then maybe it should be linked with more of a forum, or a wiki, or a bookmarking feature, and maybe it should display resources from other places on the same subject.

It is a little odd. Meeting in an old blog post is kind of like meeting on page 207 of "Moby Dick". Maybe everything ought to be a potential meeting place.


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17 comments

16 Aug 2005 @ 14:20 by jstarrs : I think everything IS a potential...
..meeting place.
I like the idea/name of a 'beacon' that would automatically create a conducive environment if a certain number of people group around a posting.
By the way, just for fun, I googled 'page 207 of Moby Dick.'
Here it is: http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/adventure/MobyDick/chap45.html  



16 Aug 2005 @ 16:11 by ming : Moby Dick
Hah, that is great! ...[reading]...hm, don't know if any mysterious synchronicity emerged from that, but it is still fun.

"In our way thither, he says, about four o'clock in the morning, when we were about one hundred and fifty leagues from the Main of America, our ship felt a terrible shock, which put our men in such consternation that they could hardly tell where they were or what to think; but every one began to prepare for death. And, indeed, the shock was so sudden and violent, that we took it for granted the ship had struck against a rock; but when the amazement was a little over, we cast the lead, and sounded, but found no ground. The suddenness of the shock made the guns leap in their carriages, and several of the men were shaken out of their hammocks. Captain Davis, who lay with his head on a gun, was thrown out of his cabin! Lionel then goes on to impute the shock to an earthquake, and seems to substantiate the imputation by stating that a great earthquake, somewhere about that time, did actually do great mischief along the spanish land. but i should not much wonder if, in the darkness of that early hour of the morning, the shock was after all caused by an unseen whale vertically bumping the hull from beneath."

But, now, the technicalities of how something can be a meeting place gets me thinking. Well, a webpage can be a place people can hang out. There have been several attempts of making programs that will overlay a chat or comment space on any arbitrary webpage, whether its owner agrees or not. None of them really caught on as any lasting thing, as far as I know.

And, also, there would probably be multiple places you'd find the same thing, like page 207 of Moby Dick. So, another approach could be that one references it more abstractly. Like a tag. To make it simple, various people might go around attaching the tag "Moby Dick" to items. Including webpages. And maybe there could be a meeting/chat space attached to the tag. So that even if you come from a number of different starting points, you might still "hang out" at the "Moby Dick" tag.

Also, to make good meeting places, one might need to have a way of knowing what kind of activity is happening in different places. Like, where are people swarming to, for whatever reason. I shouldn't have to wait on page 207, wondering why nobody else comes by, if there's a very stimulating dicussion going on on page 202. I'd need to be able to sense it somehow.  



10 May 2007 @ 21:58 by ming : Treasure hunters
I'm glad that it is working for you guys. It certainly seems to be a very popular and busy place.  


11 May 2007 @ 21:21 by GenerSumilang @86.62.250.3 : MING
Certainly its popular and busy place and im really terrified of whats going on in there. im not actually in the philippines but i can feel that my presence is just there! treasure sites which actually not known to many could be shared in ming thought they had openess and feel free to ask help. organizations for treasure hunters were already formed which never in my imagination that that will actually happen. so their resources and movement will be more freely and wider for them to be succesful to their common dreams, someday that someone will get successful and they can remember the big help for them from ming forum, i know very much the heart of most filipinos, they wont forget you and they will do everything to find you to get a share......at least.  


23 Jan 2008 @ 06:59 by George @121.54.107.38 : In need of a financer
we have a potential hidden tunnel measuring about 5 feet by 150meters, more or less between 50-60 feet below the ground. Can be detected the cement of the 12 compartments in the tunnel. No moey to operate we need help either a financer.  


1 May 2008 @ 00:44 by Manny Calimba aka Lemurian Guard @63.169.186.5 : Its Positve Site for Treasure!
I have been treasure hunting for 20 years and the common marker for Philippines treasure sites are the words "UMAAPOY NA BURAT" if you find this its surely a treasure in it but very little amount. The very rare site with big finds has the words "Pambansang Tanga". This is only applicable in the Philippines ok  


20 May 2008 @ 19:10 by lyn @154.20.25.51 : Manny Calimba
Hi Manny,

Those are tagalog words (maybe applicable in Luzon), what about those treasure sites in Mindanao and Visayas?  



9 Aug 2008 @ 05:37 by LadyJ @125.60.240.204 : Samal Island
Meron kaming lupa na ipinagbibili sa Samal Island ng Davao City. Positive po talaga. Meron pa pong parang groto ng mga hapon. Dati itong kampo nila. Kung sino po interested buyer, email nyo lang ako sa bojinggai@yahoo.com.  


18 Apr 2009 @ 09:20 by lover boy @124.105.105.18 : san ung dati na th furom
san na kaya dati th furom  


25 Apr 2009 @ 14:58 by jose nicor @58.69.72.12 : marker
may nahukay kami na mga pile na bato abou 6ft below.halos parepareho nag mga sizes ng mga bato tapos sa taas sa gitna may halos oval na bato na may naka ukit na sword na may naka cross na arrow. may mga japanese words din tapos may 1944 na na ukit din.Ang problem hindi namin na pansin kung saan nakaturo ang arrow,kasi hindi kaagad namin napansin ito.kaya pinag patuloy namin ang hukay mag 4 ft, pa.pero masyado na malambot ang lupa sa ilalim na halos kusa nalang bumabaon ang bara.At sabi ng nasa ilalim na prang may butas daw pakiramdam niya kaya natakot siya baka mahulog siya kaya umakyat nalang.Pinatabunan uli ng mama niya kasi natakot siya baka daw may kukunin sa mga anak niya.Sa loob pala ng lote nila ang hukay namin.kaya kami nag hukay kasi gusto ng hapon bilhin ang lugar.may bahay na nga pala ang area.hingi ako ng advise  


2 Jun 2009 @ 07:29 by JOE @121.97.238.53 : needed!!
URGENT need of financier for final stage of digging! sure gold. pls contact me 09291404433.  


3 Jun 2009 @ 10:10 by unknown @124.105.105.18 : jose
pwd rin tignan m pare kung saan nakaturo ung end ng sword.. or, ung mga bato, pwd rin senyales yan n nasa baba nya ang hinahanap! huwag u masyado padalos dalos, atleast maglaan k ng mga 2 to 3 months for research and observation.  


19 Jan 2010 @ 23:47 by fdsa @219.56.0.50 : fd
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8 Feb 2010 @ 12:15 by Ruby @119.94.200.171 : Re: helping to buy tunnel
kung gusto niyo patulong na mabili ang lupa na may ginto o treasure. Contact niyo lang ako +639216248260. ruby  


6 Apr 2011 @ 08:48 by hunters2000 @125.60.227.200 : ALL TREASURE HUNTERS
any businessman came from japan pls. contact about the treasure hunting project in the philippines so we help you i got the letter from TETSUNOSUKE YAMAMOTO i have instructed about japanese good hidden in a secret place operation project..
heres my mobile no. 09197546517 im in iloilo city..  



19 Dec 2014 @ 16:30 by Arthur @162.222.181.105 : aoDfMuebuubpx
Woman age seventeen and older can buy it at a drug store wtuohit a prescription. Federal officials wanted to approve a request by Strategy B's maker to also let girls under seventeen buy it wtuohit a prescription.But President Obama's secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebilius, intervened to block that approval. She stated there was not enough study on the use of Strategy B in younger girls.Critics stated the Obama administration was just trying to avoid what could have been a politically hot issue within the presidential campaign. They stated producing Strategy B available wtuohit a doctor's order could assist a great deal more teenagers prevent pregnancy. But supporters of your decision say younger teens who are worried about being pregnant should have to talk to an adult for guidance.  


23 Dec 2014 @ 16:13 by Tamara @190.200.24.116 : yvzWknXZUCAD
I produce Mijiah wine you may email me At . The prcudot container is handmade stoneware with the dents of my palm. The fruits are gathered from the wilds, except for the mango ,by cultural minorities in the Philippines. These mountain dwellers survive by charcoal making. There is one cluster we are helping with 10 communities , each community comprises 71 families who does nothing but chop 6n to 8 year old trees for firewood and charcoal. Since we started buying wild berries from them did they realize the destruction they are doing. This cluster chops 8,520 trees per year. Now they are our forest guardian , realizing the value of protecting the environment.Thanks and email me.Elbert Pigtain  


Other stories in
2012-01-24 00:50: Intellectual Property
2011-11-03 16:51: Seeing the world through the Internet
2009-06-11 18:53: Blogging/Microblogging and work
2008-02-23 17:19: Web 1, 2, 3 and 4
2008-02-22 11:07: Illusion
2008-01-09 22:45: A Communication Model
2007-12-02 20:41: Give One Get One
2007-10-25 21:47: Static or dynamic web metaphors
2007-09-18 22:54: Rethinking blogs
2007-07-04 23:59: Scrutiny of Information



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