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Sun, 28 Dec 2003
If relationships were internet protocols
In the shower, I was pondering relationships. As happens too frequently, I started pondering them in terms of other things, and this case - in terms of internet protocols. Yeah, I swear I'm not addicted to computers.
- One night stands
- This one's simple: UDP. It's an unreliable protocol where no permanent connection is established. You aren't even guaranteed a reply at all.
- Relationship (significant other)
- TCP/IP. You go through a bit of a dance to establish a connection (lots of hand shaking) and once you do, you've got a reliable connection. Even over long distances and through harsh networks you can have a reliable connection, although they're more apt to disconnect that way. When you're done with the connection, you say a few magic words and it's over; the port you reserved for it is then freed.
- Polyamory
- Multicasting. It's not widely supported, but some use it on a daily basis. Some think it's the future, while others think it has too much overhead. Some will try it out and realize that it's not for them, while others get very into it and often get swept away by it.
- Flirting
- nmap ;-)
Comments
Re: relationship protocols
"Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free open source utility for network exploration or security auditing. It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, although it works fine against single hosts. Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) they are offering, what operating system (and OS version) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics." - Taken from the Nmap website
Basically, it's a program that doesn't really establish a connection, just sort of tests to see what's out there. And the other person might not even know it happened. And you can do it with a lot of others at the same time as well. :)
Re: If relationships were internet protocols
You are such a dork :) I must say, sounds pretty acurate. How about trying to classify "casual dating" - less serious than SO, more than one night stand or flirting, can either be poly-ish (casually dating many) or not (casual dating, but just one)?
Re:
That's a bit of a higher level protocol. That's sorta what Realplayer does: it fundamentally uses UDP, but tries to make a more reliable connection layered on top of that. There's a lot of flexibility in that sort of protocol.
Re: If relationships were internet protocols
would very sexually active one night stand people be bang paths? ;)
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nmap?
Care to explain nmap for a newbie like myself? :-)
-Alex