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Welcome to Virtual Entity
Use this utility to set metadata and license of your digital files online.

Create: initiate metadata set (Soul) for FILE/URL and select license
Scan: check if a FILE/URL has a Soul and display it
Edit: edit the Soul of a FILE/URL
Expand: expand soul of FILE/URL with aura annotation
Parentize: write in AURA a genetic relation, FILE1/URL1 is ancestor of FILE2/URL2
Aura: Insert genetic and semantic relations and additional annotations

DISCLAIMER: this is viral archive, the net will never be the same.
This software is GPL.

License

If you chose to license your files with Virtual Entity you agree on the following:

• the author of a digital work online (virtual entity) is intended as the creator of the file
• virtual entities are the inhabitants of the Net and cannot be possessed
• a creator is not a owner
  

This license reflects and is based on few facts:

• the concept of ownership does not apply to the digital world
  
• any copy of a file is identical to its master
  
• there is no original in the digital world
  
• digital identity is not unique but manifold and distributed
  

Dictionary

Virtual Entity’s terminology:

soul = metadata set of a file
aura = space around the soul where file’s relations and user’s annotations are stored
substance = if a file is an ‘audio’, ‘video’, ‘text’ or ‘image’ file
twin = two files are twins when they have the same content in a different format or compression
parent = a file which was used in another file (also called ‘ancestor’)
child = a file which uses another file is a ‘child’ (or a descendent) of it
natural born digital = a file which was created inside a computer using material created inside a computer
natural born analogue = a file which was made using material that has an analogue relation with the real world, and a carrier
native file = the first copy (or original, it’s the same) of a file which reaches the Net

Theory

Virtual Entity is a research project (and a work of art) starting from the assumption that the concepts of authenticity, ownership, uniqueness and seriality are, within the digital domain, no longer valid. In fact there is no substantial difference between copy and original on the Web, and these two categories are not relevant. Since any file can generate an infinite number of entities identical to itself, there is no scarcity on the Net, and any resource is indefinitely available. Assuming possession is related to the numerical proportion between resources (objects) and potential owners (subjects), then, whereas resources are not limited, the concept of ownership and the idea of property become superfluous.

The practical method to achieve such result is this simple application specifically developed to release, license, and catalogue digital files. This system, transforming the traditional approach towards metadata, which are here stored on a database online (and not in the file’s header), is based on the idea that any file is an independent creation living its own life and experiencing various levels of transformation and progressive generation (of meaning, shape, and entities) in the course of its virtual existence. This way digital resources, interpreted as cultural units, are considered the main actors of the web.

If this didn’t confuse you enough, please visit http://virtualentity.org/

Application Functions

create

Create soul of <FILE>

scan

Scan directory or visualize soul of <FILE>

twin

Twins FILE1/URL1 to Soul of FILE2/URL2 [ex foo.mov, foo.ogg]
two files are twins when they have the same content in a different format or compression

edit

Add metadata or edit soul metadata of FILE/URL

expand

Expand soul of FILE/URL with aura annotation

parentize

Genetic relation, FILE1/URL1 is ancestor of FILE2/URL2

aura

Insert genetic and semantic relations and additional annotations

Metadata Sets

AUDIO

Title
Author
Year (of creation)
Date (of upload)
Place (of creation)
Subject
keywords
Language (main)
Publisher
Collection
Duration
Type/Genre
Natural Born (digital or analogue)
Carrier (if analogue)
Digitisation process (if analogue)
Creation Software (if digital)
Short Content
Sound (stereo/mono)
Related URL
Suggestions
Future Plans
Virtual Entity Status
License (if not VE)

VIDEO

Title
Author
Year (of creation)
Date (of upload)
Place (of creation)
Subject
keywords
Language (main)
Publisher
Collection
Duration
Type/Genre
Format (original carrier. ex, dv, beta)
Natural Born (digital or analogue)
Carrier (if analogue)
Digitisation process (if analogue)
Creation Software (if digital)
System (original=PAL, NTSC)
Short Content
Sound
Color/bw
Titles
Credits
Related URL
Suggestions
Future Plans
Virtual Entity Status
License (if not VE)

TEXT

Title
Author
Year (of creation)
Date (of upload)
Place (of creation)
Subject
keywords
Language (main)
Publisher
Collection
Pages
First Edition Year
ISBN
Type/Genre
Format (original)
Natural Born (digital or analogue)
Carrier (if analogue)
Digitisation Process (if analogue)
Creation Software (if digital)
Related URL
Suggestions
Future Plans
Virtual Entity Status
License (if not VE)

IMAGE

Title
Author
Year (of creation)
Date (of upload)
Place (of creation)
Filename
Subject
Keywords
Publisher
Collection
Size
Type
Genre
Format
Natural Born (digital or analog)
Digitization Process (if born analog)
Carrier (if born analog)
Creation Software (if born digital)
Related URL
Suggestions
Future Plans
Virtual Entity Status
License (if not VE)