Lots of people out there write lots of stuff. Some of it is good. Some of it isn't. We generally like finding good stuff, and would prefer to ignore the crap. Of course there is too much crap for any human to wade through to find even a small fraction of the good stuff.

Can we get computers help? The problem is that computers can't tell what is good. However computers can look at lots of easy choices that people make, and guess what lots of people think about it. Odds are good that you will agree with other people.

For instance [link|http://www.google.com/|http://www.google.com/] ranks pages based on others linking to it - the theory being that I am going to post a link to something because I like it, and if I like it then it is probably good. And people like good stuff. [link|http://www.kuro5hin.org/|http://www.kuro5hin.org/] is a discussion forum that lets passing people easily pass judgements. The aggregate judgement becomes a rating system - highly rated stuff probably is good.

For most people this is a great thing for someone else to have thought about. All that they need to know is that they type their search into Google and get back quality results on virtually anything. They no more care how it works than they care what holds airplanes up - it is enough that it does. But Karsten is fascinated by how to get computers to do this, and what those algorithms mean for community dynamics. (Also what it means for Karsten's ability to find good stuff.)

Cheers,
Ben