Account -> Axle?

Kudos for my good friend Christopher Gal.

The name's perhaps a bit techno... the name's a bit GnR - yes, I know it's Axl - but its a reference, not plagiarism... the name's utilitarian... the name's uncluttered by cultural baggage (except possibly the GnR reference which could shroud the whole Clique Space(TM) thing in an attractive cloak of wiliness, but then again maybe not)... the name's a bit absurd... a bit Deus ex Machina... a bit Terminator... a bit Arnie (hopefully not too much)... a bit full circle to being a bit GnR...a bit Cyberdine Systems... a bit Skynet... a bit mwohahahahaha!... a bit bullshit... a lot bullshit, but this one's growing on me anyway.

Other words considered less than completely attractive are: Axis - Axis of evil (possibly a good Metallica counter-reference); Fulcrum and Pivot - good but do not start with the same letter as Account; Anchor - good, but possibly too nautical (nothing wrong in principle, just not as good as perhaps the more contemporary GnR reference even if the latter might date quicker than the former) for my liking; Hub - used a lot already in talk of computer networks.

Other suggestions perhaps?

Anyway, an Axle (an Account by another name in this blog entry) is the central support of the Client Device: Axles support individuals' Identities, Connections, and Affiliations: one Axle representing one individual. A single Axle represents a single individual behind every Participant; Participants indicate which of any connected or unconnected device is (or, indeed, which of any connected or unconnected devices taken together are) participating in a collaboration with other devices; modelled as a Clique. A Client Device pivots around one Axle in a way analogous to the way a wheel rotates around its axle. The Client Device's purpose is to collect, record, coordinate, and model every one of the connected devices' activity, and channel this activity, as though it were torque, through the Axle Element so all this activity can be presented to the real-world individual the Axle exists to represent. Hence, the term "Axle" provides perhaps an essential explanatory cue for the purpose of Clique Space.

The intent is that the Axle is kept known only to the individual it represents. One creates Identities from the Axle on the Agent Device they possess and transmits these Identities to other Agent Devices it knows of by virtue of the fact that the individual's Agent Device has engaged with others and shares knowledge if not membership of at least one common Clique Space. Connections and Affiliations which refer to to the Identities thus transmitted can be created on other Agent Devices. Although the Connections and Affiliations must necessarily refer to the Axle as a component because a Connection is an association between one individual and one or more devices and an Affiliation is an association between one individual and one or more roles, this property need never be disclosed beyond a single Agent Device; such an Agent Device as is operated exclusively by and in the exclusive possession of the individual to which the Axle represents.

All this is possible because the Axle, Connection, Affiliation, Identity and Participant are all Clique Space Elements, and hence can be created on any Agent Device and transmitted to any other Agent Device. When a Connection is attempted on one Agent Device, it can be associated with an Identity. A bipartite serving Agent Device's Clique is then created with the new Connection, and the two Participants and the new Connection are then transmitted across the Agent Collaboration aether (... a bit matrix... stop it!), eventually to the Agent Device which created the Identity - known as the "originator". This originator Agent Device would also know the value of the Axle to which the Identity refers, and hence, on receipt of an action to add the Participant referring to an Identity for which the Axle is known, determine the validity of the underlying Connection; an action to remove the Participant and the Connection would be re-transmitted over the Agent Collaboration either 1. automatically by the originator when validity cannot be determined or the Axle given in the Participant or Connection (or both) has been determined not to refer to the same Axle as given in the Identity, or 2. when the individual operator disbands the serving Agent Device's Clique because the individual does not like the activity.

Axle... Hmmm...