A while back, when I asked my personal tech guru what new software and networking developments I should be aware of, he recommended that I take a look at Ning. I was impressed. Combining a widget-based structure reminiscent of WordPress, with social networking (a bit like a grown-up version of Facebook), an easy-to-use blogging platform, photo and video sharing, and many other options, it’s a great choice for the savvy person looking to create an online community.

Being a devoted and near lifelong fan of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the first thing I thought of, obviously, was a ningy, which Douglas Adams described as “a triangular rubber coin 6,800 miles along each side.” The ningy was used, briefly, in one of his original radio episodes to make fun of money and galactic currencies. No, unfortunately, the Ning social networking service doesn’t have anything to with HHG, at least not that I’m aware of, but it did remind me of Neuromancer author William Gibson—another visionary science fiction writer.

Kathryn Bigelow’s Wild Palms (1993), a puzzling, intriguing, and very thinly-veiled poke at scientology and the extremely weird L. Ron Hubbard, includes a short but delightful cameo by Gibson, playing himself. At a chic party, Kim Cattrall introduces Gibson as “the man who coined the word ‘cyberspace,’” to which he sardonically replies: “And they won’t let me forget it.” And they haven’t.

In addition to his almost prescient science fiction novels, set in a future that seems to be literally around the corner, Gibson made a remarkable prediction during the early days of the Internet. He realized that when information becomes freely and readily available to anyone, at any time, the value of that information is determined by how reliable it is. In other words, can you believe what you read in Wikipedia?

I once had the pleasure of socializing with Mr. Gibson at a party in New York. Packed with beautiful and overly accomplished people, it was actually quite a bit like the party in Wild Palms. He is a very charming man, tall and perhaps slightly awkward physically, but friendly, sincere, and encouraging. I insisted on ordering a drink for him, as a “thank you” for giving the world such a great read with Neuromancer—still easily my favorite Gibson work.

I suppose once you’ve made spot-on predictions about what could be, or will be—with no mirrors attached—everyone then relentlessly asks for more and better predictions. It must get very tiresome. I hate to be predictable, so instead of asking him to reveal a glimpse of possible futures I bent Mr. Gibson’s ear with tales of my own writing and science work. He seemed relieved not to have to produce another virtual rabbit out of the hat. Or maybe I was just a little giddy on vodka and the company of a favorite science fiction writer. It matters not; it was a fine evening.

So, I was reminded of the fascinating William Gibson today because I became interested in the meaning of the word Ning. Wikipedia claims it is Chinese for “peace,” but that comes to you from an “informational site” compiled by anyone who has an opinion and spare time on their hands. I do not consider it the most reliable of resources. WikiAnswers states with great authority that Ning means “peaceful” in Chinese. Gili’s blog at avirtualexit.com delved considerably deeper and came up with a link to, of all things, a website that helps people name babies. Do parents really need help with such tasks? I thought we all had a few favorite names tucked away in case somebody accidentally gets knocked up (mine are Rachel, Dawn, Sam, Zack, and Evelyn if anyone cares). Anyway, I digress. The baby name site—with the rather silly title of yeahbaby.com—and doubtless a repository of the most authoritative information available anywhere, has the following wisdom to dispense:

Baby names – the name Ning.
Baby names info for Ning:
• Gender: a boy or girl name
• Pronounciation: not available
We know of no common nicknames for the name Ning

What about Ningy?

Further research suggested that Ning is actually a Chinese surname. At that point I became bored and thought I might rather be re-reading Neuromancer or learning more about the real Ning and its alluring CEO, Ms. Gina Bianchini.

William Gibson was right. Our worlds are rife with cheap information. We can ferret out the most obscure and arcane details with just a few seconds of typing. But when almost anyone can put up a website on any subject, with no checks or balances, how do we acquire reliable information? I’ll take the Encyclopedia Britannica over Wikipedia any day. You get what you pay for.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 7:55 pm and is filed under A-List (Best of the Lizard), Computers & Internet, Science Fiction, Technology, Writers and Writing. Tags for this post: Douglas Adams, Gina Bianchini, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Kathryn Bigelow, Kim Catrall, L. Ron Hubbard, Neuromancer, Ning, science, Science Fiction, social networking, Wikipedia, Wild Palms, William Gibson, WordPress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.