Building Real, Transparent Reputation Profiles

If you haven’t heard of Connect.Me yet, it’s a socially-verified reputation network. That means users of popular social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (and soon Google+) can vouch for each other’s skills, expertise, and passions. Each vouch is specific to a tag that describes the person you are vouching for. Here’s an example of my own Connect.Me card:

I can choose my own tags, or others can suggest tags for me — ultimately I decide which ones appear on my card. Anyone who knows me can vouch for one of my tags with one click — the number after each tag shows the total for that tag.

Data Transparency

In fact, once you’ve connected your Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter account(s), vouching on Connect.Me is so easy that one of main questions we get is, “How do I know vouches are for real — why don’t people just vouch for everyone in the hope of receiving vouches back?”

The first answer is transparency. All vouches are public — for both the voucher and the vouchee — so it is easy to spot when someone is vouching indiscriminately. They will have a high number of outgoing vouches and a much lower number of incoming vouches. We’ve already seen this with a handful of users of the private beta.

The second answer is credibility. Whenever you want to see who is behind a vouch count, you can just click on a tag. For example, below is what you would see if you click on my “digital identity” tag:

The +numbers below each voucher show the number of vouches they have received on that same tag (in this case, “digital identity”). For example the first person, Rohan Pinto, worked in digital identity at Sun for years. The second, Eve Maler, is the main force behind the UMA (User Managed Access) protocol for user-controlled data sharing. The third and fourth are Phil Windley and Kaliya (Identitywoman), who together put on the Internet Identity Workshop.

Gaming-Resistant

The point is that if you vouch indiscriminately, your vouches will carry very little credibility. Still, overvouching — or even worse, actual dishonest vouching to try to game the system — erodes credibility and diminishes the value of a vouch.

The strongest way to protect against this is to use the single best judge of human behavior: other people. This is exactly how Wikipedia manages the world’s largest all-volunteer encyclopedia. To quote from Wikipedia’s own article on The Reliability of Wikipedia:

The Wikipedia model allows anyone to edit, and relies on a large number of well-intentioned editors to overcome issues raised by a smaller number of problematic editors. It is inherent in Wikipedia’s editing model that misleading information can be added, but over time quality is anticipated to improve in a form of group learning as editors reach consensus, so that substandard edits will very rapidly be removed.

Connect.Me is applying the Wikipedia model to building a scalable peer-to-peer reputation network. Just as the quality of Wikipedia articles kept improving as the number of editors grows, the quality of Connect.Me vouches will keep improving as the number of vouchers grows.

So who are the “Wikipedia admins” of this reputation network? They are called trust anchors. The special role they play is defined in a legal document called the Respect Trust Framework, which won the Privacy Award at the European Identity Conference last May. It defines four trust levels that all vouchers progress through:

1. Unverified – you have registered using a social networking account and agreed to the Respect Trust Framework
2. Verified – you have verified your social networking acount(s), given at least 10 vouches and received at least 3
3. Trusted – you have given and received at least 25 vouches.
4. Anchor – you have received a special trust anchor vouch from at least 3 other trust anchors

This last requirement is crucial for creating the highest level of trust. As explained in our paper, Building Lasting Trust: The Game Dynamics of the Respect Trust Framework, trust anchor vouching forms a special chain of trust that begins with a known set of people, called the Founding Trust Anchors. These are individuals whose identity is publicly verifiable and who explicit agree to help administer the principles and rules of the Respect Trust Framework.

Many of the Founding Trust Anchors are members of the Internet identity, security, and privacy communities who believe in the power of a peer-to-peer, socially-verified reputation network. Others are early users of the Connect.Me private beta (like Saul) who see the power of social vouching and want to help the trust network grow. And others are people exactly like you who are reading about this for the first time and thinking, “Hey, if Wikipedia could build one of the world’s greatest knowledge resources using a volunteer wiki, maybe that could also work for building a worldwide social vouching network.”

If so, we’d love to have you. As readers of Saul’s OsakaBentures blog, here are two insider tips:

1. If you haven’t been vouched for by a Connect.Me user yet (which automatically qualifies you to join the private beta), here’s how you can still get an invitation: go to Connect.Me, register your username, then email it to us at requests — at — connect — dot — me and mention this blog post.
2. If you are interested in becoming a Founding Trust Anchor and believe you are qualified (please read the description of the trust levels first), you can submit an application using this short form.

Today I was given the honor of becoming one of the hundred Founding Trust Anchors at Connect.me.

 

You are probably asking yourself, what is that?

 

I took this from our website to let Connect.me explain themselves to you.

 

Connect.Me was founded with a simple mission: make the social web a better place for real people.

With over 1 billion of us online, finding people you can trust from babysitters to science bloggers has become a real problem. That's where Connect.Me comes in. We're developing powerful ways for you to discover trusted people in your extended networks and across the social web.

Connect.Me turns your existing social networks into your personal reputation network.

You can also control your online identity and reputation with your very own social business card. Unlike other tools, Connect.Me uses peer-to-peer vouching to build your reputation instead of algorithms to calculate influence.

Connect.Me is an early-stage startup based in San Francisco. We are financed by an outstanding group of investors, founded by a team from startup and Internet identity backgrounds, and working on a big problem that will help shape the future of the social web.

 

I vouched for many of you today. I hope when you get the email stating you were vounched,  you will not throw it in trash, but read it and come join this growing community.

 

If you would like to join, please click on  Connect.me

LOCATED IN ALPINE, NJ, IS A LOCAL LEGEND known as The Devil’s Tower. On a recent drive-by, the stone clock tower looked to be unassuming enough to us, but the Devil does work in mysterious ways. There seem to be several different, yet similar, tales of the evil edifice, and just how to conjure up its spirits. Here are just a few of the dozens of stories that our readers have told us about this unholy place: The big stone tower at one time housed evil rituals by Satanists early in the century. Some evil tragedy happened, and after the group’s demise, there have been several attempts to tear it down, but to no avail. Some say work crews have died in the attempt. As with most sites like this, it became a popular destination for teens in the ’70s and friends of mine who have been inside reported encountering mysterious gusts of cold wind that sent them screaming for their cars. Another reader e-mailed us a slightly different version of the tower’s legend: As you approach it, you can almost see people in the windows of the tower. When you get there, according to what I have heard, witnessed and attempted myself, you are to drive your car around the tower in reverse three times. After the third, when you come to a full circle, turn off your car and headlights and the ghost of a woman should approach you. This hasn't happened yet, but I and others have seen a mist start to form. After that, I don't know what is supposed to happen, and what isn't. Still others say six times around the tower is the magic number which will raise the dead: The Devil’s Tower was owned by a rich married man. He built the tower so his wife could see New York without really going to New York. One night, his wife was looking out of the top of the tower and she saw her husband with another woman, so she jumped right down the center of the tower. The husband was so upset that he stopped all the work on the tower because it was for his wife and now his wife was dead. There was once an underground tunnel that led to the tower, and he closed it off because of stories of his wife's ghost. Now if you drive around the tower backwards six times, the ghost of the wife is supposed to control your car and drive it straight in to a tree. This happened to a group of teens. They were drinking all night and when they went around it the sixth time, something controlled their car and drove it into a tree, killing a girl. – Nick Grillo One person told us that if you walk around it backwards six times at midnight, the Devil himself will appear. There is satanic graffiti on the inside walls, but the tower is now gated and locked. The doors and windows have also been sealed, leaving no entrance to the tower. According to the Alpine Historical Society, the "Devil’s Tower" was the centerpiece of an estate called "Rio Vista," which was owned by Manuel Rionda in the first half of the 1900s. Rionda was a Spaniard who made his fortune from sugar cane plantations in Cuba. His mansion was on the cliffs where the present day Alpine Lookout is located. His property was the largest estate owner on the Palisades. Rionda used to delight in taking guests up to the top for the view (there was an elevator). It was built some time around WWI. Just off to one side of the tower was a chapel and ornately decorated mausoleum. Rionda’s wife and sister were both interred there at one time, though their bodies were removed when Rionda died in 1943. The entire estate was subdivided years ago, and was mostly just woodlands through the 1970s. The name "Devil’s Tower" probably came about around that time, and kids used to break into it and party and leave graffiti, sometimes of a "Satanic" nature. Eventually the tower was sealed up, and large houses were built on Rionda’s former property (the development is called "Rio Vista"). The tower is on a public road called The Esplanade, which is accessible from Route 9W, maybe a mile north of the Tenafly-Alpine border.

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45 Oxford Drive

East Windsor, New Jersey 08520

$279,900 PRICE REDUCTION

 

Attractive expanded ranch situated on a desirable half acre lot. This property borders Lees Turkey Farm, a 100 acre farm that is housed under the Preserved Farmland Act. Neighborhood is a family community this home offers enough room to get your family started. Family Room is 14x28 with a Vermont Casting wood/coal burning stove. Three bedrooms, the master bedroom offers a full bath, there is a forth bonus room this can be used as an additional bedroom, or a personal home office for either mom or dad. Well maintained, newer siding, all windows and doors have been replaced, brand new stove top, newly installed neutral carpeting,and freshly painted. You can just move right in East Windsor Township is a growing, suburban community offering an ideal environment in which families can grow and prosper. The area boasts an excellent, highly rated public school system and first-rate recreational facilities including beautiful parks, lakes, picnic areas, basketball courts, athletic fields, jogging paths and tennis courts. East Windsor Township is less than an hour away from the Jersey Shore, New York City and Philadelphia. Additionally, nearby Princeton, Trenton and New Brunswick offer a wide array of cultural, historical and recreational events.

Came across this, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

On the north end of Long Beach Island, is Barnegat Light. Not a large town, but it has the largest icon on the island, "Old Barney".

Old Barney is a red and white lighthouse that was designed by General George Meade. It is the second largest lighthouse in the United States standing 172 tall.  Old Barney sits on the Barnegat Lighthouse State park. The lighthouse is a favorite of photographers and artists.

The state park offers fishing fans a perfect place to go and bird watchers enjoy all the flocks of migrating shorebirds.

So the next time you come "down the shore" don't forget to stop at Old Barney and climb to the top. It's a favorite past time of the young and the old.

For more information:  Barnegat State Lighthouse Park

 

 

GCR Greater Coastal Realty, Inc. is a full-service Real Estate brokerage company serving Southern Ocean County, providing residential and commercial Real Estate services.  Directed by founder and CEO, Philip J. Savarese for over 25 years, GCR Greater Coastal Realty offers professional marketing, sales, rentals, and property management services.  Clients and customers are assisted in buying, selling, and renting waterfront vacation homes, adult community and luxury retirement homes, first-time and move-up homes, custom and semi-custom homes, and new construction, both on wooded and waterfront lots. 

The Commercial division manages prime office and retail space for sale and lease, as well as many other investment opportunities, including multi-family income properties, buildable lots, and subdivisions, maintenance, and property management.   

The dedicated staff of licensed and talented real estate professionals brings a variety of backgrounds into each transaction including engineering, legal, accounting, sales, management, and insurance, and administration, thereby effectively fulfilling the needs of clients and customers, and assuring smooth closings.   

GCR Greater Coastal Realty’s mission to be First in Service and First in Results has achieved a solid reputation for delivering.  Building upon referrals from past clients and customers, GCR Greater Coastal Realty continues to expand its client base.   

Creative marketing programs, like our Guaranteed Sales Plan, a GCR Exclusive, assures the client that if their House Doesn’t Sell, GCR Will Buy It.* Other targeted marketing campaigns include Three Multiple Listing Systems, Internet Web Sites, Virtual Tours, Direct Mail, Custom Flyers and Property Brochures, and our highly recognizable Yard Sign, as well as Buyer/Seller Protection Plans insuring that all systems and appliances are working*.   

GCR Greater Coastal Realty, Inc. Corporate Offices are in Executive Campus, at the “Gateway to Long Beach Island”, 703 Mill Creek Road, Manahawkin, NJ  08050.  We can be reached by telephone (609) 597-SOLD (7653), by fax (609) 597-7415

*Certain limitations and restrictions apply.

 

Some good information that we all need to know, where is the Handicap Beach Access on Long Beach Island, Ocean County, New Jersey.

For information regarding handicap Beachwheels Program or to make a reservation, please contact the Long Beach Township Beach Patrol at 609-361-1200.

Brant Beach

37th, 39th, 47th, 59th, 63rd, 66th, and 68th Streets

Beach HavenCrest

78th Street

Brighton Beach

82nd and 84th Streets

Peahala Park

88th and 94th Streets

Beach Haven Park

100th and 103rd Streets

The Dunes

121st, and 127th Streets

Beach Haven Terrace

128th, 129th, 130th, and 133rd Streets

North Beach Haven

14th, 17th, 18th and 20th Streets

 

"The blue crab is known to scientists as Callinectes sapidus (kal i nek' tes sap' i dus). The literal translation of this Latin name is the beautiful (calli) swimmer (nectes) that is savory (sapidus). The blue crab certainly lives up to its name with brilliant blends of olive-green, blue and red, the ability to dart swiftly through the water and a body of delicate, white meat"..as so stated NJDEP of Fish & Wildlife.

This is the crab that lives in the waters of New Jersey. You can find them in lagoons, under bridges, off your boat, almost anywere there is tidal waters. Some of the best areas are the Barnaget Bay, Tuckerton and Toms River.

You do not need a licease if it is for recreational crabbing and not for commerical. Remember if you are renting a boat in the state of NJ, you must have a valid NJ Boating License.

This is a great activity for all, for both the young and the old. My in laws, use to take my children out on a Platoon boat in Barnegat Bay near the LBI Causeway to go crabbing and years later my children still talk about how much fun they had and how they want their Grandfather and I to take their children.

Enjoy your crabbing, and you just might see me around Barnaget Bay, not crabbing, but snapping some pictures as the children are so excited when they catch their first crab.