Making Things Talk

340 MAKING THINGS TALK

Conclusion

The boundary between physical identity

and network identity always introduces

the possibility for confusion and mis-

communication. No system for moving

information across that boundary is

foolproof. Establishing identity, capabil-

ity, and activity are all complex tasks, and

the more that you can incorporate human

input into the situation, the better your

results will be.

Security is essential when you’re transmitting identifying

characteristics, in order to maintain the trust of the people

using what you make and to keep them and yourself safe.

Once you’re connected to the Internet, nothing’s truly

private, and nothing’s truly closed, so learning to work

with the openness makes your life easier. In the end, keep

in mind that clear, simple ways of marking identity are

the most effective, whether they’re universal or not. Many

beginners and experienced network professionals often

get caught on this point, because they feel that identity

has to be absolute, and clear to the whole world. Don’t get

caught up in how comprehensively you can identify things

at first. It doesn’t matter if you can identify someone or

something to the whole world — it only matters that you

can identify them for your own purposes. Once that’s

established, you’ve got a foundation on which to build.

When you start to develop projects that use location

systems, you usually find ...