23 September 1993 - Cdn.oreilly.com

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18 What role for Telescript? General Magic's Telescript is likely to play a more important role in setting PDI standards. In part, the market size of the companies that have licensed Telescript should force its broad adoption. More importantly, though, Telescript is a way for applications (and people) to ask better questions when they conduct activity with other entities on the net (just o: cross-platform calendaring, with standards is is what today's scheduling technology might be like if it were extended to provide interoperability. Zoe would like to book a meeting with Phil, Juan and Alice. She looks at her calendar, picks a few promising times for the meeting, then launches a network request for their free/busy hours over the times in question. (She might do this by filling out an electronic form, or by pointing to the participants in an address book and blocking out time slots in a calendar, then hitting a button.) The request goes over the net to Phil and Juan's server (they share the same scheduling server), makes the request, and returns their free/busy hours. Similarly, the'request goes to Alice's machine over e-mail (she's a consultant, runs all her appointments from a portable computer, and has no separate server). When she next logs in, her system automatically detects a mail message for the scheduler, processes the query, and replies. (Were she using a RadioHail-equipped wireless unit, the entire process could take place in minutes.) Zoe's computer notifies her as the responses come in, and brings up her calendar, showing the times in question, overlaid with the different schedules. If the preferred time is available, it is highlighted; if not, alternate times are highlighted. If the process has found a workable time, she can initiate another network transaction that actually requests the meeting with each participant. So Phil, Juan and Alice get messages (perhaps directly to their screen, perhaps in e-mail, perhaps as pager signals that they must respond to via e-mail or telephone) asking if they want to participate in the meeting. Phil has no new schedule conflicts and would like to attend, so he says yes. His software automatically posts the meeting to his personal and shared calendars. Alice was away from her office and had scheduled an appointment in her HP 100LX, but the new appointment wasn't posted to the group schedule until after Zoe's request. So she has to say no, and ask for a new time. Juan replies that he will attend, but only if Alice is there. She is his business partner, and is responsible for making the purchase de cision -- without her the meeting has no point. So he sends a tentative yes, and types in a caveat that Zoe has to read and deal with. He also suggests that Cleo be included in the meeting. Zoe reads Juan's message and starts the process again. Release 1.0 23 September 1993
what net that is, we leave as an exercise for the reader). The argument is compelling. If Telescript doesn't make it, the same functions will. Inspiration hit Jim White, Telescript's architect, in the late 1980s as he and others elaborated elements of the X.400 messaging and X.500 directoryservices standards. As they refined the protocols, White noticed that they might be answering the wrong question. Planning for all permutations was leading to a system with very smart (and complex) servers, and very specific (and limited) client/server interfaces. Why not instead make the questions (and the messages they are carried in) a lot smarter? That would balance the system's intelligence between servers and clients. Take, for example, two hypothetical calendaring scenarios: one that includes new interoperability standards, but no Telescript (opposite), and another with Telescript-enabled services (below). Telescript is built around Agents and Places. The agents go places, and act on their creator's behalf. Telescript-enabled stationery is smart. Messages can include layout hints (portrait or landscape? where are the elements?), music or animation (imagine a line of animated greeting cards). Automatic RSVP buttons can post meetings to your calendar. Telescript messages also have authentication and permission to spend a certain budget on their owner's behalf. Telescript: Agent savant As denizens of ;Telescript-enabled platforms, Zoe, Phil, Juan and Alice have defined software agents that reflect their preferences and status, and are authorized do simple negotiations or spend a little money for approved purposes without consulting their owners directly. These agents inhabit a message center in the so-called network cloud. (Zoe and Juan have other agents that hang out in classified-ad markets, looking for good deals on antiques and collectibles; Phil has similar agents looking for parts for his 1954 Vincent Rapide motorcycle; Alice is living a life of voluntary simplicity and doesn't want anyone or anything helping her spend money -- her agent filters her mail.) To compose her meeting request, Zoe converses with her "Let's Meet" agent, which is already aware of some of her preferences, but needs more details on this particular meeting. This agent was expensive (Zoe manages meetings for a living), so it knows a lot about meetings, and asks about, alternate times up front in case the first choice is unavailable. It also asks who the key participants are, and a few other questions. It doesn't put Zoe through every possible combination, though; that would be bothersome and inefficient. Zoe sends her agent off to rendezvous with the other agents representing other potential participants. Much, perhaps not all, of the negotiating can occur right away, between the agents. Note that Zoe's smart agent can talk to other, dumber agents (as in real life). Also, the network (public or enterprise) is no longer just a pipe; it becomes a platform for distributed, communicating applications. Release 1.0 19 23 September 1993
Page 1 and 2: 9-93 A MONTHLY REPORT BY ESTHER DYS
Page 3 and 4: A tug-of-war that has just begun wi
Page 5 and 6: Any device with enough memory to st
Page 7 and 8: The top half of the chart is rife w
Page 9 and 10: CuneiForm optionally uses greyscale
Page 11 and 12: Excuse me, do you have an eCard? Pr
Page 13 and 14: in charge of defining Interplatform
Page 15 and 16: IntelliLink is moving in many compl
Page 17: True, XAPIA has an e-mail bias and
Page 21 and 22: Two infrared protocols are particul
Page 23 and 24: Bell Labs. After leaving the Labs i
Page 25 and 26: RESOURCES & PHONE NUMBERS9 James Jo
Page 27 and 28: October 17-20 October 17-21 October

23 September 1993 - Cdn.oreilly.com

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