By Katie Greene
The answering
machine picks up on the third ring. You don`t want to leave yet
another voice mail message, so you slam down the phone and stare
morosely at your address book. Pager, cell phone, work phone,
e-mail - which should you try next?
There`s hope
for the frustrated. Researchers in the lab of Mary Baker are figuring
out how to ferry messages directly between people by using a computer
program that determines the right way to deliver the information
to the recipient.
``My mom used
to complain all the time, `I have your home phone, your work phone,
your cell phone. You`ve given me all these numbers, but how do
I get a hold of you?``` said Baker, assistant professor of computer
science and electrical engineering.
To single
out the most efficient way to contact someone, Baker`s research
group designed a ``personal proxy`` - a software butler that takes
incoming messages, figures out where you are and sends the message
to your actual location by the appropriate medium, be it phone,
e-mail or pager.
Baker became
interested in the idea of communication between mobile people
after completing a wireless notebook project in 1997. The group
had developed software that allows laptop computers to switch
between regional wireless and wired networks and still remain
plugged into the Internet.
``We solved
the problem we set out to solve,`` Baker said, ``but we decided
that it`s really the people who are the endpoints, not the devices.``
Information might reach a computer on a boat or in a cow pasture,
but that doesn`t mean the recipient was tapping away at the keyboard
when the message arrived.
Ideally, you`d
want the proxy to pick up your location automatically. The group`s
prototype notices when a laptop wakes up or when an office PC`s
screensaver switches off. Cell phones present a trickier problem
- at the moment, you need to tell the proxy when your phone is
on. ``We`re in the process of adding more features and getting
ready to deploy [the proxy] on a small scale,`` Baker said.
All this access
seems to call up a specter of privacy invasion. But Baker counters
that this isn`t the case - one of the primary goals of the project
is to increase the user`s privacy. Normally, the message-sender
is the one who calls the shots - he or she decides when to pick
up the phone or dash off the e-mail.
``We want
to give the recipients more control than they`ve had in the past,``
Baker said. People could program the proxy to put messages through
at designated times. Coffee can be savored interruption-free or,
Baker said, ``you can define a rule that says, `I don`t want to
hear from my boss after two.```
Critical messages
still can get through, Baker said. ``I might create a rule that
only sends stuff to my pager if it`s from the daycare. If my daughter`s
fallen off the jungle gym, I need to be there.``
Security also
can be a concern. A personal proxy ``knows`` a lot about your
location and habits. The information could be exploited; for example,
an abusive husband might hack into the proxy and retrieve information
on where his wife had flown.
To minimize
this possibility, the proxy software is first installed in a trusted
location, either the Internet service provider or the user`s home
computer, if that`s secure enough. Passwords and other authentication
are required to change the rules for the proxy.
Right now,
Baker`s group is focused on creating a novel identification system
anyone could use to contact your personal proxy. Forget handing
out e-mail addresses and phone numbers - why not just give a new
friend an easy-to-remember and unique name?
Baker and
her group found that a set of five words - something like ``Snow
White, Tidy Dwarf Groupie`` - would provide enough unique word
sets to serve many people.
But there`s
a hidden problem in this mix: How do you know that a particular
set of words corresponds to the person you think it does? Identity
is fluid in the constantly shifting Internet, where e-mail aliases
and addresses pop in and out of existence. Somehow, the word sets
need to be authenticated and updated.
Baker`s group
members think they`ve found the answer. They suspect the solution
is a history server, a reference database that tracks online personalities
through time. ``The history service would provide authentication,``
Baker said. ``It`s a time-stamp - nobody else could claim to be
so-and-so during a certain time.``
Lose track
of a friend? If you have his or her old e-mail address and a date
when it was active, Baker`s technology could retrieve his or her
word set and build a bridge to the past.
Relevant Web
URLs: Baker research group: http://mosquitonet.stanford.edu/index.html
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