The BCO Message Board

is apparently a byproduct of an http://www.darpa.mil/ funded program. It works as a covert communication network under the guise of an open one. It may be only one of other such networks, including vlv. It pretends to be a portal for “scenesters and hipsters” moderated by Ian Meyer.

At heart, it’s membership roles are closed to the outside public, although outsiders aren’t meant to understand that. It is Sui genesis, and as such, begs the question. Its current 180,211 topics are organized under no guiding principle, thus are not a form of probable reasoning. It is no longer indexed in search engines consequent to robots.txt, and nothing external aids entry or movement. These limitations are thus its defining characteristics.

Why would anyone want to go there in the first place? On the surface, it is mostly a simple recreational exercise among friends, although some intense bits are obvious, only limited meaning can be derived without a foundational context. Should someone stumble in—it is an open forum, recall—myriad methods are employed to affect a pointlessness to the participation— including ostensible participation.

Codified behaviors and thought processes long established in covert life are here given modern digital expression, as clandestine hierarchical organizations carry on business without seeming too. The mostly banter and slang is not so much small talk, as smalled talk, a self-conscious background soup in which the meat and potatoes float. Only rarely having to resort to the use of what may be actual coded language communications employed on the surface, much fun is had in playing games to trigger Echelon, at least when the topic is the topic.

None of this disguises the lines of power as expressed in the giving and receiving of direction, encouragement, and chastisement, as distinct from mere reportage.

Actually, I said it better in a blog last year, on March 6.