There is no discrete computer. Broadcast television, radio, and more
recently, the Internet have redefined the notion of "public",
necessitating that architectonic views be complimented by the infomatic.
Every computer is a mirror of every other computer and every computer is
capable of emulating any other computer or computer network, but the
distinction between interiority and exteriority is arbitrary.
Nevertheless, the ontology of organization as system often creates the
semiotic illusion of a distinct computer: what is contained within the
plastic shell as commodity. But every networked computer is by necessity
a continuum and must therefore be considered as public.

SoftSub is a free software application that probes the organizational
structure of a computer, resulting in a summary of the interrelations
between files, folders, system, and desktop configurations. The
application generates a small numerical representation, detailing the
organizational structure of the client computer while running as a
screen saver, which provides for dynamic mapping of the directory
structure and organizational methods. On completion, SoftSub opens a
socket connection, transferring the data representation into a C5 data
bank. C5 knowledge representation and mapping algorithms are applied,
creating a profile represented as an iconographic sign, which is
integrated into a nearest neighbor profile mesh and cluster map
presented on the C5 web site, allowing for comparisons of organizational
traits. Each profile depicts an ontology of organization enabled by the
user.

A significant need exists for a new generation of techniques and tools
with the ability to intelligently, automatically and interactively
assist humans in analyzing complex forms of data to discover useful
information. Knowledge discovery and data mining require presumptive
notions, inclusive of a "model" (predicative or descriptive), against
which pattern recognition and iterative algorithmic processes involving
machine learning, pattern recognition, statistics, and artificial
intelligence are employed. Although these are well developed
disciplines, emergence of knowledge from complex data structures may
also include non-model based strategies.

By creating SoftSub, C5 emphasizes the idea of non-causal, non-model
knowledge representation. Our key focus is to describe the notion of
public as, that which blurs the distinction between interior and
exterior. The public thus becomes the membrane between inside and
outside.