An introduction to Forward Inverse Backcasting Service (FIBS)
Introducing the FIB Wire blog, Network World’s version of The Onion. We know our readers like to smile and so we bring you a blog filled with network industry humor to tickle your funny bone.
Welcome to my blog. Factoids From the Future covers networking- and technology-related topics from 2036, the year when Network World turns 50. All articles are delivered weekly using Forward Inverse Backcasting Service (FIBS), a technology from the future that enables posting of digital content to any date or time in the past.
First a disclaimer: this blog contains no facts, truths, or intelligence of any kind. Please see my biography (posted right) for full disclosure.
Developed in the early 2030s, Forward Inverse Backcasting Service (FIBS) is an open source platform for posting digital media from the future to user-selectable dates and times in the past. Conceptually, it is the inverse of archiving, which enables media created in the past to be viewed at a later time in the future.
The Origins of FIBS
The inspiration for FIBS came from late 20th and early 21st century communications events known as amplitude modulation broadcasting forums (also called AM radio talk shows). These forums were extremely popular and successful because they enabled communication of unfiltered facts at very high volumes and speeds, unencumbered by inefficient verification and error correction.
On the back end, these forums relied on bi-directional, dual-mode communications with AM radio for mass transmission in one direction and telephony links for receiving individual real-time responses in the other direction.
The real-time telephonic responses created an effective feedback loop that fortified both the frequency and amplitude of the core messages with added fact enhancements. This behavioral model transferred successfully to other broadcast mediums including cable television and online “news” channels.
Many critics of this medium, including major proponents from the aging newspaper industry, cited the lack of fact checking and multiple viewpoints as a potential threat to societal stability and personal freedom.
Newspapers were eventually phased out due to economic downturns. The issue of accuracy was made irrelevant after the success of the Chinese model demonstrated that balanced reporting was not a requirement for financial growth. Meanwhile, the electronic messaging model leading to the development of FIBS continued to flourish.
Additional History
FIBS was originally intended to support a much larger and more ambitious time-based-architecture initiative, code named REWRITE, that was designed to modify pre-existing information as a means for historical correction, prediction enhancement, and future conditioning.
During a routine development review, a panel of five ethicists and metaphysicists voted 3 to 2 to halt the REWRITE project stating that it could be used to violate universal law and might also be used to illegally affect public policy such as rewriting the U.S. Constitution or the birth certificates of presidential candidates. The panel also cited a video presentation from the mid-20th century philosopher D. Day as sound reasoning for its decision.
Note: Day’s landmark presentation can be viewed here (2:05 min)
Although the REWRITE project was cancelled, the two dissenting panel members convinced the other members to allow continuation of further research and development of the FIBS component stating that it did not change the past nor predict the future. It could only report what actually happened in one time period and post it to another.
How FIBS Works
A network server/router equipped for FIBS file transmission is required. Before it can be transmitted to the past, an individual document, image, video, or podcast must be converted to a specially formatted file called a FIB. FIB processing consists of three functional steps – Create a FIB, Tell a FIB, and Get a FIB.
Step 1. Create a FIB
FIBS processing can be applied to most digital media including text, PDF, audio, video, and holography. The latter is rarely used due to the lack of holographic players in the early 21st century.
To create a FIB, users must first convert the content to an appropriate format for the time period. Currently translators are available to generate text, PDF, JPG, TIF, WAV, MP3 and QuickTime files. More translators are currently under development and testing.
Creating a FIB in Windows
For Windows 2030 and 2035 users, applying a translator is fairly straightforward and similar to using the conventional “Save As” or “Print To” File menu commands.
The user first selects the source file and then specifies a destination file name, target format, and file resolution. The translator then saves a new FIB file in a location specified by the user. At this point the file is ready for sharing or “Telling.”
Creating a FIB on a Mac
FIB files cannot be created on a Mac because the Mac OS100 operating system has no file structure. Steve Jobs banned the use of multiple files and the Finder in 2023 stating that they were functionally irrelevant because all content is interconnected and should never be isolated as discrete entities.
By keeping all information in just one file, no one would ever have to worry about which file to open nor would they have to see a cluttered desktop ever again. However Mac users connected to the cloud can control a virtual Windows PC that handles FIB processing and storage.
Step 2. Tell a FIB
Once a FIB file is created, users can apply a FIB teller to post it to compatible information sharing services located in the past. There are numerous FIB tellers available including the open source VLC FIBrelator and Microsoft’s PowerFIB. Adobe Acrobat includes a built-in teller and even Apple has an iTeleFIB app for its iGlass 3-D eyewear movie player.
Telling a FIB file requires a compatible receptor site, preferably a Facebook page or YouTube channel. Once a suitable receptor has been located, the user assigns a title, description, and posting date to the FIB file and uses the “Tell FIB” button or command to send it back in time.
Note: To actually reach the past, a FIB file must pass through a compatible FIBS server/router.
Step 3. Get a FIB
Getting a FIB file in the past is identical to receiving a conventional real-time post. In some cases, if the file format is too advanced for the receptor service and the server may either hold the file for later viewing or simply discard it.
Viewers can reply to any FIB post. The future party will receive the reply in delayed real time (DRT), which is the difference between the date and time in the future the post was sent and the date and time in the past when it was received.
A reply may take up to 25 years or more to reach the future depending on the DRT factor. However, the perceived time delay (PTD) is negligible because a response to a reply from the past can be posted within seconds of the time the original reply was sent. Although technically possible, the FIBS standard does not allow posting responses out of sequence to prevent users from receiving replies that haven’t been sent out yet.
Known Issues
Authentication
Because a FIB and a conventional real-time post can share identical formats, it is difficult to determine if a post is actually from the future or simply a spoof from the present time. To counter this, the FIBS standards committee will soon make FIBS authentication available to all major social networking sites so viewers can tell if the post was actually from someone in the future who is telling a FIB vs. an imposter in their own time pretending to tell a FIB. FIB authentication from vendors such as Symantec and McAfee will also be available for local and virtual clients.
Telespam
A potentially serious legal issue with FIB is telespamming since perpetrators can only be charged for crimes committed in the past—not in the future. Even after years of collecting hard evidence, with FIBS, the statute of limitations typically expires long before the crime is actually committed making it impossible to prosecute. With this loophole, telespammers can operate with impunity and send posts to the past without fear of prosecution.
Is it Predestination or the Time Traveler’s Paradox?
Can you change the outcome of history if you happen to know what will happen in the future? This question is sometimes called the “Time Traveler’s Paradox” or “Grandfather’s Paradox.” Safeguards were introduced when the REWRITE project was shut down to prevent the abuse of historical fact. However the truth is, no one really knows. Perhaps the legendary gambler and notorious gunslinger Stagger Lee explained it best when he said “The man I run from ain’t been born and his mother’s long gone dead!” If you know the answer, please let us know.
