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INTRODUCTION

A Postmodern Journey through Globalization in the Digital Age Powered by the World Modeling Engine 8W8

8W8 – Global Space Tribes is a new way to see the world. It is written for everyone who uses the Internet and mobile technologies, travels and is interested in any aspect of the world in the 21st century.

The Golden Sky is a community comprised of 16 charismatic Internet activists from the worlds of: business, finance, media, government and non-governmental agencies, bio sciences, medicine, social and religious activists and environmentalists, and one metaphysician-philosopher. They came together from the four corners of the world to meet in Hawaii in the fantastically beautiful mountain home dubbed the EA-RA, by Winston Chee, a Chinese Internet billionaire. It was there, in the EA-RA, often referred to as the Golden Dome, where they develop a new world modeling engine, ultimately named, ‘8W8’, which would find the invisible digital elements, i.e. the online population and its digital activities, and render them visible to the dynamic world stake holding factors they define.

Global Space Tribes are the Internet users that the Golden Sky is able to identify with 8W8. They exist out of elements that come together in streams and interconnect both locally and globally with other streams around the world. They also can be visualized and volumized from the cockpit of the 8W8 world modeling engine, which the Golden Skyers dubbed the 8W8 Helicopter, or Heli, for the purpose of entering virtual rides. The pilot of the 8W8 Helicopter, albeit, an Internet or mobile user, a marketer, a traveler or political candidate or simply “You” of any background, could virtually ride over the flattened but fragmented world identifying subjectively or objectively new virtual structures, tracking the flow and concentrations of criteria such as: the presence or lack of wealth; trade, interconnectivity, religious or social beliefs, age and gender, environmental conditions, peace record, happiness and enlightenment, and any other factors that are normally invisible for the naked eye.

When BridgeMan, a business partner of Winston Chee from San Francisco, joined the EA-RA and learned about 8W8, he saw an immediate benefit for himself and the world in general. He extolled the concept as a way of making the invisibilities of the 21st century visible and of improving the state of the world. However, to do this, they created a communication device that allowed them to, not only connect to personal, but, also, governmental computers. The device they used was labeled ‘Inraxx’, but years later when they met on EZ 128 to save the world from a biological threat, called the ‘FaSloV’, they needed an upgrade to their device the ‘InraxxB’. Enjoy!

PROLOGUE

Before the world was flattened and digitalized, we depended on ancient forms of communication, TV, Radio, and the telephone to see around the corners of our global neighborhoods. Even now, with always-on Broadband and 5G high definition Star Trek-like communication devices, we are still unable to catch more than a marginal peek of the developments occurring beneath the surface of the earth and beyond the sky.

Diverse perspectives and background nuance our view of the world. Yet, as in international business traveler, former Internet executive turned entrepreneur, I was still left with a sense of discomfort because I could never see more than what my five senses allowed me to perceive, knowing all along that there was so much more going on below the wings of the aircraft. Although living in the post digital world, I could not see how the world had become integrated, nor, could I see how others see what I could and could not see.

Since I could not find a tool that would allow me to make visible those things that had remained invisible to my senses and since I could conceptualize what it was that was needed, I decided to develop the tool, myself. I knew that I wanted to render, dynamically, the world stake holding factors, and to ascertain the digital impact on a global and local level. As a believer that knowledge improves the state of the world I developed an out-of-the box approach that facilitates my ability to communicate my thoughts and ideas in an innovative and entertaining way: The novel 8W8 – Global Space Tribes. I hope that it inspires and that you enjoy and can us it.

Ralf Hirt
New York City
July, 2020

NAME AND LOGO

8W8 is the name of the world modeling engine developed by the Internet think tank The Golden Sky in the fiction work 8W8 – Global Space Tribes. It is also a way of seeing and perceiving the world. It was released in 2008 in print and already in 2007 on Amazon Kindle, where it was ranked #1 in Globalization in several months throughout 2008.

The executive summary is that the two eighths symbolize prosperity and good fortune. In the fiction work, those are being seen as the rotators of a helicopter powering the world modeling engine allowing to experience virtual flights visualizing the world of the Global Space Tribes based on their own criteria set. The symbol in the middle stands for the key elements of our lives: the world and people. If you take off the two strings on the left and the right you end up with the Chinese character for people. Therefore the symbol in the middle stands for WorldPeople. Welcome to 8W8.

THE GOLDEN SKY

The Golden Sky, as they are formally known, is a community comprised of Internet activists from the worlds of: business, finance, media, government and non governmental agencies, bio science, medicine, music, social and religious activists and environmentalists.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ralf Hirt accumulated more than two decades of global Internet and mobile industry experience. Originally from Germany, he these days lives in New York City. Hirt also lived and worked for many years in Hong Kong, Sydney (Australia) and London (UK). He has held executive roles at DoubleClick (Google), MODE, TUNE and Harri. Hirt served as a director of DoubleClick Japan listed in Tokyo and the Asian Digital Marketing Association.

The combination of working with web publishers, advertisers, tech giants and start-ups from all over the world as well as circling the globe innumerable times by air and camel back and all forms of conveyance, in between, he developed a desire to make the invisible global and local developments visible and to maximize that knowledge, putting it into perspective and understandable context. The result is 8W8, the New World Modeling Engine, which he introduces in his novel 8W8 - Global Space Tribes. 8W8 was also an inspiration to found 8W8 Global Business Builders empowering entrepreneurs to deliver the full potential of their purposes.

For more information please visit www.8W8.com