Research interests
I started life as a theoretical physicist, working on Kaluza Klein theories, then geometrical quantum field theory, topological quantum field theory, finite temperature field theory, anyons, Chern-Simon theory etc. Then I flipped to study computers as dynamical systems, and dabbled in Machine Learning, control systems, etc. I now work within mainly computing disciplines, with some occasional forays into theoretical social science and economics.
I no longer publish in scientific journals, unless a collaborator wishes to do so. I refuse to write quota publications, and I will not support journals that maintain publication cliques and preferred editorial partners. I seek my own peer reviews and publish only on the Arxiv or researchgate.
The broad theme of my work is the desription of dynamical systems on all scales.
- Arxiv papers
- Researchgate profile
- Knowledge representations and semantic reasoning
- Promise Theory and Autonomous Agents
- Promise Theory Video Channel
- Trust in a network society (NLnet project)
- System patterns and resilience
- Semantic spacetimes - smart spaces, smart cities, knowledge representation, and artificial reasoning.
Promise Theory spinoff projects
I've written about the presumed route to `intelligence' at the system level in terms of these principles (see my popular books In Search of Certainty and Smart Spacetime).
Further developments of promise theory:
- Promise theory of money
- Authority (I): A Promise Theoretic Formalization (also at SocArxiv)
- Notes on Trust As A Causal Basis For Social Science
- Virtual motion (Motion of the Third Kind)
Other work
The main theme of my work, since 1998 has been the understanding and scaling of human-computer systems, in particular the idea of self-maintaining, `smart' functional infrastructure, using embedded information technology.
- Some contributions to IT Infrastructure and IT-Operations
- Some contributions to machine learning, anomaly detection, and MONITORING
- Promise Theory
- Knowledge Representation
- Internet of Things
- Workspaces
Data pipeline design (unfinished project)
- Introduction to Aljabr: Pipelines and Workflows
- Storytelling in the Dataverse
- #1: Introduction to Aljabr: Pipelines and Workflows
- #2: The point of departure is not to return
- #3: Desired outcomes
- #4: Race to the finish: cache or check?
- #5: Configuring on all cylinders
- #6: Steering the cloud simply and predictably
- #7: Data in, story out
- #8: Clutching at pipelines
- #9: Data, data, everywhere…
- #10: Swallow the spider to catch the fly
- #11: Say Cheese!
- 12# One step forwards, two steps backwards
- 13# The 4 R’s
- 14# From wireframe to fully rendered
- 15# Beyond data pipelines
Paper on Koaljr
Business driven IT
In the overlap between Promises and Knowledge, I got interested in BDIM "Business Driven IT Management", or what it means to make IT business relevant (thanks for Claudio Bartolini). Following talks by Claudio, Jacques Sauve and John Wilkes in 2006, I drafted this sketch (DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1080.0800) was used as an outline of a keynote held at NOMS in Brasil in 2008, which was the start of using Promise Theory to describe this business alignment, and later DevOps.
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain of its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innnovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old scheme and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new..."
(Machiavelli, The Prince)
"Perhaps the greatest discovery of all this research is that we no longer can separate basic from applied science The disciplines are connected in ways they have never been before..."
(Vice President Al Gore)
"There is no use in looking to scientific `papers', for they do not merely conceal but actively misrepresent the reasoning which goes into the work they describe."
(Sir Peter Medawar)