The Personal Status Board (PSB™)

PSB

The Free Personal Status Board (PSB™) is our contribution to social connectedness, parenting, and ultimately social evolution.

The simplest way to grasp the significance of the social networking technology called the Personal Status Board (PSB™) is to consider the analogy that follows below. There is a kind of software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader", or "aggregator." Examples: FeedDemon, Feedreader, Google Reader, or the readers built into browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. Why are they significant technological advances? They leverage your time by being efficiency multipliers. Think of the time it takes to go to 2 dozen different websites or blogs to check up on the latest news from your favorite news, entertainment, or special interest sites. Now compare this to a feed reader. You simply go to ONE site—the feed reader—and listed conveniently in one place is ALL the newest info from ALL these sites. This assumes these sites and blogs have "RSS" feed reader buttons (all significant, worthwhile sites do, these days) that you can click on and subscribe to, and that you do so. Once you subscribe, YOU no longer go to THEM. Now THEY come to YOU. It might take an hour or more to surf around to all these 24 sites/blogs and catch up on the latest info. But it takes only a couple of minutes to peruse a feed reader, see which of the feed headlines seem worth reading more about, and read through them. You've just done the same thing you used to do in an hour only it took you only a couple of minutes to accomplish it. That's a 2000% to 4000% efficiency increase. A similar type of efficiency increase can be experienced with a PSB™ as compared to usual social networking technology.

Comparison of Various Social Communication Methods
Method	Communicates Current Status	Communicates Current Comment	Customizable Status Codes	See All Friends' Statuses at Once
Personal Status Board (PSB™)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, etc.	Rarely	Rarely	Only Emoticons	No
Twitter	Rarely	Rarely	No	No
Phone (voice)	Yes	Yes	No	No
Texting	Yes	Yes	Only Emoticons	No
IMing	Yes	Yes	Only Emoticons	No
Emailing	Rarely	Rarely	Only Emoticons	No

As you can clearly see, if you can see all friends' statuses (plus comments) at once, you needn't contact each individually by texting or email or IM (or go to their MySpace or Facebook page where the info is usually far from current) to find out what they are currently into. Simply peruse the PSB™. (You'll find at least a couple whose current status is such that you want to help them, talk with them, go with them somewhere, or share some news or gossip. But it will take you under a minute to "catch up"—which means learn their current status— with dozens of friends or family at once!) Once you and a few of your friends experience the quantum leap of efficiency a PSB™ offers, you'll all tell all your friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances about it and you'll have 20 to 30 members in your PSB™ enjoying the first truly efficient social networking ever devised.

So the analogy here is now obvious:

The Standard Personal Status Board (PSB™) is a 1-page website that functions as a communications center that can inform any/all of the group members about the personal statuses of each of the group members, and any group member can update/edit status codes and comments of anyone once s/he logs in (trust is implied) although normally members would update only their own status and comment. It can allow children to get their needs met better, parents to meet their kids' and their own needs better, caregivers to find out which kids want a different nurturer currently, group members to declare their need to be alone (do not disturb), etc. There are 100 customizable status codes in which general feelings, needs, wants, desires, and openness can be expressed to the group, and coordination of activities can be greatly facilitated due to the fact that any group members can consult it (keeping it open as a window on their computer screen) and instantly learn what everyone else is into. Along with this new level of social connectedness, a calendar program for groups would be a great way to see specific schedule details to coordinate activities. For larger groups, Office Calendar for Outlook or AirSet Cloud Computers is good, and for smaller groups, Cozi Family Calendar is good.

Returning to the subject of PSB™s: Think about it—how often do you, your kids, or your friends simply plop down in front of the boob tube or play video games or check out YouTube videos simply because trying to deal with the logistics of getting together with one or more friends for real, old fashioned direct social contact seems like too much of a bother? How many parents, or adults in general, say they're too busy to pursue friendships? How many kids are too busy playing video games or watching TV or texting or updating their MySpace page to pursue f2f (face to face), irl (in real life) relationships and how many of their parents are seriously concerned about this social opt-out? And yet if socializing irl and f2f was easy and effortless, would your answer be the same? Now contrast a quick glance at a PSB™ with the time and effort it takes to call all your friends and mostly get voicemail or "sorry, I'm too busy now" responses. They were disturbed to no avail and you were left singing the blues. See why PSB™s are super empowering for the entire relationship context of any families or group of families (like MCs—see below), groups of close friends, or members of closeknit organizations where members are often interacting?

What Is An MC? MC stands for microcommunity. It refers to an intentional subcommunity whose setting is a normally-structured block-house neighborhood (or partial neighborhood; e.g., six homes) or apartment neighborhood (e.g., one floor or one partial floor) that contains from 10 to 40 people who’ve intentionally computer-selected their members for great compatibility and relocated to this MC (a few may already have lived at this location, but the odds against many of them already living there are great, due to compatibility probabilities), and who’ve adopted certain proven modes of considering each other (who are or will become best friends) as social resources for child care, eldercare, and other nonsuperficial levels of communication that, when appropriate, is facilitated by P.E.T. (Parent Effectiveness Training), or one of the other authoritative parenting styles, and by PSB™s.

How Are MCs Different From Other Lifestyles? MCs are not random aggregations of people. MC people have intentionally selected one another and become best friends and therefore trust fellow members with child care and eldercare—and in other ways. So they’re not stuck with putting kids into day care centers with strangers who don’t care about their kids—their MC contains only people who care about them and their kids. Care is given by MC members, not strangers. And care is flat-gradient nurturance (more caregiver choices) rather than steep-gradient nurturance, which is forcing kids to have one or two caretakers when they prefer a situation of several choices since sometimes parents don't feel like being around their kids and when they do it anyway, low quality care results. With steep-gradient nurturance, parents choose who will care for kids, and when, regardless of the kids' wants and needs, but in MCs the flat-gradient nurturance allows kids to choose their caregivers. (This is in keeping with the tenets of Attachment Parenting in which kids needs are filled when the kids manifest them and how kids want them filled, where possible, and this applies to caregiver choice as much as when to nurse them, feed them, comfort them, etc. If kids usually choose to be cared for by parents, that's fine, but the critical issue here is the kids need to be able to CHOOSE.) Reitterating: kids choose whom to be with, to the largest degree possible. And abuse becomes nearly impossible, since there are other nurturers in whom the kids confide, and because kids would not choose to be with an abuser. And the communication and parenting style in an MC is P.E.T. (Parent Effectiveness Training) or one of the other authoritative parenting styles. However, not just parents but all relationships in the MC use this style, as it is the most effective for nurturing, conflict resolution, sensitivity to feelings, etc.

MC families live in normal houses and apartments as normal nuclear, single parent, extended, and mixed types of families. MCs are free to choose, if they prefer, only certain types of people, certain races, certain religions, all two-parent nuclear families, all singles, or whatever—people that choose each other really like each other and respect each other’s values and interests. The wrong way to maximize social resources is via communes, socialism, communism, fascism, gurus, cults, etc. They give the very idea of maximal resources a bad name. The right way to maximize social resources is to empower democracy and responsible independence and leave people’s physical living modes and family styles alone. Instead, concentrate on making the relationships work optimally between spouses, parents and children, friends, committed neighbors, and committed relatives, so that they produce happiness, optimal childcare, fulfillment, and self-actualization, not symptoms and dysfunctional lifestyles.

PSB™s help grease the relationship wheels!

There are actually six types of PSB™s: The first is the Standard PSB™ and we refer to it as an MC PSB™, where there is implied trust in a close group so that everyone can share one password and user name and anyone can change anyone's status or comment—a must for childcare situations where there are caregivers updating statuses of children too young to do it themselves. If an MC finds out that a few members find the temptation of shenanigans too great to resist, so they play pranks with each other's statuses and comments, the MC is free to upgrade to the Social PSB™, where people all have their own user names and passwords and they can change only their own statuses and comments. Even though few people would know passwords and user names except their own, parents would need the passwords and user names of their young children who are too young to update their codes. MC PSB™s empower holistic social networking that is more EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE than usual social networking methods, and they take many of the headaches out of the childcare area—with which so many Americans are now struggling.

So the first and second types of PSB™s are the Standard version and the Pro version. The Standard version is described on this page, and it requires more file edits as well as having to type the people data into a MySQL database (which is free on all reputable sites) on your website's server via the control panel. This data entry is fast and easy but needed. Unlike the Pro version and all other PSB™s, it has no "front end"—so anything you want to edit (except for statuses and comments, which users will change by simply using the PSB™), you type into your MySQL database on your website's server via the control panel. The Pro version has a front end for administrator hosts to use for all editing of membership or user data. It's a complete application, as are the Social and Business PSB™s. A front end refers to the administrator webpage which has a menu that serves as an easy way for administrators to edit usernames, passwords, emails, status code meanings, administrator data, and add or delete users, etc. All PSB™s except the Standard version have this front end. The Pro version is the only other MC-type PSB™ beside the Standard version and this means there is implied trust in a close group so that everyone can share one password and user name and anyone can change anyone's status or comment.

ALL types of PSB™s require MySQL and a host (your website's host) to host the PSB™ files, as well as "creating" a database (simply name a MySQL database), and adding at least one user with one password, with permissions, that pertain to the database. It's easy and there are this site and/or this site to guide you—they have tutorials on doing this. (For all PSB™'s EXCEPT the Standard one: Once the database is ready and you edit and upload the configure.php file we'll send you along with the application files, that's it. Register as a member and enter your PSB™'s user names. There will be a readme.txt to guide you. Your register.php file will have been uploaded by you to your site at http://yoursite.com/PSB/register.php so save it as a Favorites link.)

Standard PSB™ users will not register—they will simply "create" (simply name it) a MySQL database (free), enter a user and password and permissions (all), use phpMyAdmin on the server control panel to enter data, and upload the files we send them. To use the Standard PSB™, go to http://yoursite.com/PSB/test-db-WORKS-GOOD.php or http://yoursite.com/test-db-WORKS-GOOD.php depending on whether you put the 6 files we send you in a folder or not. Once you get to this page, login and type your status and comment into the PSB™ and click the "Update PSB" button. This changes the PSB™ table in the database. Any other member of this PSB™ can log in and see this new status and comment as well as everyone else's, and they too will be able to change statuses and comments. There are 100 different status codes to use, and there's a chart of all the status codes and their meanings right after the status/comments display table. It looks like this.

The third and fourth types of PSB™s are the Social PSB™, and the Social PSB™ Plus (with Email), where there is a group of friends or acquaintances or even relatives where trust, although sometimes present, is not implied, so each member gets his or her own password and user name and no one can change anyone's status or comment except his or her own. It's probably obvious that if everyone could change anyone's statuses and comments, for most groups of people this would be an open invitation to chaos and pranks. It's believed that a loving, trusting MC group would not misuse their PSB™s. Of course, if an MC finds out that a few members find the temptation of shenanigans too great to resist, they are free to upgrade to the Social PSB™. Social PSB™s empower holistic social networking that is more EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE than usual social networking methods.

The fifth and sixth types of PSB™s are the Business PSB™, and the Business PSB™ Plus (with Email), where there is a group of employees or managers or even projects whose status changes often, or where frequent communication is required and there is a need for a holistic overview of the person statuses or project statuses OF many persons or projects BY many persons or projects. As with general Social PSB™s, trust, although sometimes present, is not implied, so each member gets his or her own password and user name and no one can change anyone's status or comment except his or her own. Business PSB™s empower holistic intra-business or inter-business communication and networking that is more EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE than usual business networking methods. It may also be used to monitor telecommuting associates or remote contract workers or employees who work from home, temporarily or permanently.

Except for the Pro version, the MC PSB™ is not for sale (but both the Social PSB™ and the Business PSB™ are), but the source codes for the Standard version are right here in the zip file which clicking the button below will allow you to download. (See a demo of the PSB™ here on our PSB™ demo page.) You may copy the files and use the PSB™ yourself for your family, group, MC, local group of families, babysitting co-op, or whatever—any legal, legitimate group that is not about violence or hate or crime or treason or porn may use our PSB™ software. This site and the files we let you copy are all copyrighted material and you may NEVER sell any of them in any way (except if you paid us for them by buying a PSB™, in which case you may sell them as long as you delete all these files from all computers, servers, or any other storage device that you put them on). You may not change or omit the words PSB™ or Personal Status Board anywhere on your site or in the code or metatags. The Personal Status Board (PSB™) is our name for this software, which was invented as a concept by M.C. Smith in 1988, and created as an electronic device in 1988 as well (see photo below), although software on the Internet is a more viable form, now. There just wasn't much of an Internet in 1988! Anyway, MCs are our name for microcommunities, although you're free to use the term however you like (but we'd prefer people use it in the sense presented on this website). PSB™s, however, are intellectual property and software copyrighted and trademarked by no one except MCS Investments, Inc., and any use of these materials not complying with the above terms will result in legal action. So please honor the above terms of use—it's really not too much to ask!

Need more? Explanations of the entire main PSB™ page are here PHP Info and here More PHP Info.

Two PSB™s Connected by Wire (©1988 by M. C. Smith)