computer science

Meatspace Chat

Meatspace Chat is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Meatspace Chat rather than just read about it. In short: Meatspace Chat is a web-based online chat system created by Edna Piranha where users submit 250 character messages, combined with instantly created animated GIFs of themselves taken by a webcam. Overview Meatspace differentiates itself from other chat systems by eschewing usernames, user registration and chat channels.

Key takeaways

Meatspace Chat belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Meatspace Chat to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Meatspace Chat from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Meatspace Chat is a web-based online chat system created by Edna Piranha where users submit 250 character messages, combined with instantly created animated GIFs of themselves taken by a webcam.

Overview Meatspace differentiates itself from other chat systems by eschewing usernames, user registration and chat channels. Instead, Meatspace embraces ephemerality by limiting the exposure of a single message to a limited number of minutes; after the time elapses, the message does not appear again. Ephemeral content is an increasingly important form of Internet communication because it allows people to communicate spontaneously, without concern for whether that communication will be recorded. This is the idea of the "Forever Internet" versus the "Erasible Internet". The Erasible Internet allows for all the interactivity, but also allows users to control and erase their content.

Technology Meatspace uses HTML5 technologies such as WebRTC for its capture of user videos and an animated GIF library by Sole Penadés for its client, and Node.js for its server. Meatspace is open-source, available in a number of versions that use different database backends. There are also a number of third-party interfaces to Meatspace for providing mobile versions for Android and iOS; there is also a bot that responds to commands. People can host their own meatspace chat server, or use one of a number of public servers. There is a public server at chat.meatspac.es, which is used by Web Developers such as Paul Irish and Tom Dale. Writer and Internet technology professor Clay Shirky has stated that Meatspace Chat "feels like Old Internet, Weird in a good way, good in a weird way".

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Meatspace Chat

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Meatspace Chat claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Meatspace Chat before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Meatspace Chat ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Meatspace Chat

In research: Meatspace Chat appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Meatspace Chat in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Meatspace Chat is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Android (operating system) software, Cross-platform software, IOS software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Meatspace Chat outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Meatspace Chat in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Meatspace Chat means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Meatspace Chat out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Meatspace Chat in simple terms?

Meatspace Chat is a web-based online chat system created by Edna Piranha where users submit 250 character messages, combined with instantly created animated GIFs of themselves taken by a webcam. Overview Meatspace differentiates itself from other chat systems by eschewing usernames, user registrati…

Why does Meatspace Chat matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Meatspace Chat?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Meatspace Chat.