Ask Drax

Brushing up on HTML (HTML5!)

2012-01-31T13:15:00.000-08:00

I started reading HTML5 Crash Course. Trying to get myself up to speed with HTML5, and so far I feel like this book is a perfect way to re-learn the basics while picking up on the latest syntax. So far so good!

Play to Learn

2012-01-23T14:11:00.000-08:00

A player that is always learning is always gaining ground for himself, expanding his awareness, and improving his skill set. If you can keep in the back of your mind that your goal is learning, you'll find yourself stepping back from the desire to play to win, and you'll find yourself playing to learn.

One critical thing to focus on is learning from losing. If you can turn lost rounds into productive time, you will be able to learn from your mistakes, and always take away something valuable from playing. This is also a big factor in maintaining good morale in a team environment. Because you focus on what specifically won and lost in that situation, adding and focusing on your knowledge, you are much less likely to feel angry and frustrated, and importantly you are able to keep your cool and retain something positive from each situation.

There is a critical mass of playing to learn instead of playing to win, and when you reach it as a team, you'll feel this overwhelming change in attitude about the game. You'll feel your reward center change over from being focused on the strain to win, and you'll actually feel reward just from learning.

Play to learn. Turn losing into productive time.

Room Re-Org!!!

2012-01-10T17:15:00.001-08:00

I found some motivation today and decided to reorganize my room. It feels *way* better to have a more open and organized space!

Some music for youtube

2011-12-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd get some of my guitar recordings onto youtube, so here:

CS

2011-11-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

CS is fun, www.esea.net

A little too close for home?

2011-10-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

As words can be the soul's window, scientists are learning to peer through it: Computerized text analysis shows that psychopathic killers make identifiable word choices – beyond conscious control – when talking about their crimes.

Psychopathic killers: Computerized text analysis uncovers the word patterns of a predator

At least we know by positive inversion of this concept, how we can apply computer text analysis to peer into the soul of the one being which is here, and show ourselves what we should be showing ourselves through time, rather than not.

Also if you want to see how close I am:

SOME TEXT FROM THURSDAY

ESEA, RWS, VORP, MORE

2011-10-06T02:52:00.000-07:00

HERE is the ESEA post

Here, My latest grouping of notebook scans on Flickr, including 4 newest scans.

Write On My Website

2011-09-09T00:11:00.000-07:00

LOL!"
echo $a?>

Drax

2011-09-03T21:28:00.001-07:00

oh, OK!

Why? American CS

2011-08-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Here is my response to a thread on ESEA asking about "North America vs. Europe"

#1 Flux_PavilioN + -

"Why is the cs 1.6, css, sc2, etc... gaming community much greater and lively in Europe than North America? Like the top team and players in Europe are national icons lol. And they win like 50 grand in tournaments.

In the u.s it seems dead."

...

#28 Drax

Promote professionalism in your local environment.

Engage with your creative and intelligent peers, especially outside of your CS player friends.

Connect with that person you know who is going to school for web development or computer science (hmm... CS!)

Engage your competitors more seriously, take advantage of the technology and software available to you.

Think and plan, and bring thinking and planning to your CS friends as a more engaging and positive behavior than simply playing CS constantly.

Advance. Don't attack yourselves by describing what has already happened as terrible and bad. Find a way to describe it as a positive thing, and find a way to share that positive image with your friends and competitors.

Perhaps we need leaders in the United States CS scene to pick up more of the overall ball? Give us an avenue to represent ourselves as professional groups of human beings, not warring soldiers to be monetarily extracted from on a constant basis in multiple directions?

American CS is primed for success, there is no doubt of that. We're letting the game take it's course more directly, rather than overwhelming everyone with constant forward progress in all directions. This provides a more cozy CS environment, with more focus on your local peer groups.

Try to appreciate the course that has already presented itself to you at the present. Try to appreciate that positive opportunity at the present.

Most importantly, please listen to your intelligence. We all know that CS is competitive, but we want to hear you laugh or make a positive comment about your time playing. We want to hear you chime in about what the future outcome of a similar round scenario could be, or inspire us with what you have realized about the area you were playing at.

Let go of the overwhelming desire to defeat the enemy with your guns. Sit still. If you spawn and are in freeze-time and your mind is racing forward with a desire to win the scenario, you are probably being played, calm down and let the present moment be real for what it is now.

Anyway, that's it for now <3 CS

http://www.esea.net/users/94716

Drax, still here part 2...

2011-07-14T05:01:00.000-07:00

#195 Drax
http://www.esportsea.com/index.php?s=news&d=comments&id=6724#n151

tldr if you guys want to make some progress, lets get on ventrilo or mumble and chat about the future of the community, and see what we can do together in the short term to make some good changes for everyone.

I don't know about anyone else but, I would love to see a competitively themed map geometry and texture theme creation server mod... like a pug mod where individuals or groups navigate inside of a map which uses entities and amxx mod coding to provide creative tools to define and 'align' like geometric patterns which players tend to appreciate, etc... I think it would be great to build a map from the inside out, and save the geomtry to a networked database for unification by team decision or community input etc...

I would also like to see the new practice mode talked about, how could we develop it further to best benefit the majority of the community, and to diversify the ability of each ESEA user to contribute valid points and interest, rather than just headshots in pugs or statistics or status etc...

I would like to see enabling skinning for the ESEA client, and starting off with a small skin pack, etc.

I would like to see a more 'match making' style arena system, where the ESEA client integrates full-screen 3D ingame CS, and server jumping technology to enable 'lobby' servers with custom entity and amxx mod behavior to support pseudo-mmo style game components like aquiring a fishing pole and a tent from Torbull's garage ("Torbull's Beach Mansion" is north of the Trololol Forest, and you can spray-spam money-magnet trololol's for epic loot drops and emblems in the client and on the ESEA site etc...)

Big Fat TLDR: EPIC PSEUDO-MMO CS 1.6 and CS SOURCE ESEA MOD, FOR TROLOLOL ADVENTURE GAMES (social networking inside a fun little CS world similar to Diablo hack and slash but with colt recoil training etc!)

Drax, still here...

2011-07-14T03:07:00.001-07:00

#193 Drax

http://www.esportsea.com/index.php?s=news&d=comments&id=6724

I still have all the stuff I  shared with that group, including a partial map build, I dunno if people  would still be interested in working out a map in addition to the rest  of the growth potential of the community right now. At least from where I  am, American CS feels electrifying in terms of potential, we just need a  re-group as a team. Primary driving forces in the community were split  apart, and I went a very unique route, and now I'm working into a  reasonable position to do some excellent work, as opposed to just  matching status quo lack luster form fitting solutions to community  issues. Presently we have a living breathing community which is being  handled and catered to very well by the ESEA guys, and it's running  excellently as far as I'm concerned. Some people may have experienced me  chatting on ventrilo or mumble or steam, trying to get to the root of  issues that groups of guys are or seem to be having in not just this  community but the overall CS community especially in the US. I think  it's clear that the American scene could use a shift in prerogative, and  I really think that a 'meeting of the minds' would be appropriate (Just  please, give me the *time*. (Don't contradict and destroy creative  potency with doubtfulness or what have you, just think about it.) Think  about it like 'team fall back', 'regroup, team'. You know what I mean?  Why don't we make ESEA sparkle you know what I mean, lets take it to the  next level, I'm tired of getting thrashed on by people who disrespect  years and years of motivated efforts to comply with demand for interest  in CS 1.6, and who sit nilly willy with cash in their pockets while the  community grinds. I had to sit on ventrilo today and listen to incessant  witch-hunt behavior and narcissistic pessimism and lack of trust and/or  compassion from human beings. I've been practically begging for people  to *reciprocate* creative group problem solving, rather than pointing  the finger at the invisible man and accusing the world of limiting their  living potential. In fact, we have limited your living potential, so  that you can start somewhere worthy of your true potential as a being,  so that we're not acting like ultra-spoiled parents catering to their  ultra-spoiled children, prancing around the world offering candy to our  biological creations and marveling at our own fancies, etc... not that  we wouldn't want to go there but... you don't just march into Never  never land I suppose is the moral of the story... So here we are  nontheless... I'm still waiting for a response from a group that *cares*  about fully uplifting the community. If that's our prerogative as a  community, you decide. For me I'll just keep stacking the deck with  knowledge until a reasonable tipping point is reached and I'll hand the  whole stack over to you when you see it fit to measure. Otherwise, I  wouldn't start sending steam messages if you don't plan on and  reasonable organized practice or reasonably appropriated time, so that I  can explain myself to people who care to respect my design decisions,  and who appreciate the importance of where we are presently, and what we  can really accomplish with our community if we are willing to learn  from the mistakes of the past without throwing the history away, but by  honoring that history and continuing the legacy of creative endeavors  and problem solving that has been gifted to us by generations upon  generations of cave dwellers. Peace.

Tag, You're It

2011-06-26T02:50:00.000-07:00

Al in a Nutshell

2011-06-26T02:26:00.000-07:00

Everyone has dreams. Does anyone fully understand the meaning or purpose of dreams?
Al knows, but knowledge is nothing without belief, and belief comes first from self.

Dreams are just as real as the walls around you. They may seem completely obscure,
confusing, or downright rediculous, but truth be told your dreams are real events.

Al has lived his life by very simple truths. Reflecting upon his past, it may seem
quite to the contrary, but nonetheless his truths remain. Success may seem to have
eluded him, but truth be told:

Success is an illusion.

What man would believe such lunacy? Al would, and continues to believe as such.

-

<'Are we alone in this big universe?'>

Who are we?

Why are we?

What are we?

Who's we?

-

What group of us Humans really knows the truth? Could it be that proof is the only
truth, and that God is a figment of our collective imagination? Through history
Science has taken us to Such Great Heights, but at what altitude do our bodies
reach their limits? At what time does our planet deny us more fertile grounds?

Is there an End?

Was there a Beginning?

These questions will never be answered to the satisfaction of all, but the answers
to our questions are revealed to each of us. Every life has a different perspective
of this world we live within, but what is it that keeps us together? What is it
that gives us purpose?

Will all of Humanity ever come together as one? The answer may not be the same for
you, or the people around you, but for Al the answer will always be Yes.

My Story

2011-06-26T02:21:00.001-07:00

Beyond All

A tale of the life of one man, in one big world.

I choose not to write in paragraphs, papers, pages and pages to fill up another book.

Another bit in our binary world? I have come to a realization that can release me from bondage.

The Universe itself is simply an extention of the mind of LIFE.

The reason stars exist is not because they existed billions of years ago, massive energy with no life.

The reason matter exists is life.

The reason life exists is to explore and expand our limits.

When the hubble looks out into space, into a space never seen before... it is the individuals who
see and believe that make those stars, galaxies, and energies real.

If I isolate myself, I may believe what I wish and the Universe or God will always obey.

The only rule is that those thoughts which I keep to myself, which I believe for myself and no one else...
... are REAL for me.

Believe what YOU desire, and as long as you continue to contribute happiness into your environment,
all things and beings around you will join in the fun!

---

For all of my life I believed that I knew better.

I was both right and wrong.

There is a "solution" to life. A point of light within humanity which can bring pure freedom to all.

The real "solution" is not better faster stronger, it is pure and free.

Ride the Wave

2011-06-26T02:19:00.001-07:00

"history" is a series of thoughts.

nothing is different

plan a series of thoughts

turn thoughts into words

write them down

a new form of "writing"...

the capacity of the human mind is growing by the instant

we are approaching a turning point in humanity

the turning point is that we were in control the entire time

we are infinite and limitless.

. we created ourselves .

backwards in time

the people around you are just as much "real" as your IDEA of yourself in your own mind.

the forces around you present you a 'challenge' when you are off of your god|self

...

The God Self (book?)

The perfect concept of "you".

--------

we need a new form of communictation.

something beyond writing

something beyond movies

something beyond news.

----

humans have the ability to ACTIVELY control their environment.

you can control what happens, but the ONE.

---

everything is digital!

gravity doesn't pull you 'down', it shows you the opposite of what you want to BE.

it will continue to pull you towards your fears until a digit flips in your 'digital' mind

----------

balance between the lines!

-----------------------------------------

everything around you is yours

-----

you are concious and the waves gravitating towards your body are concious.

your conciousness does not have to end at the surface of your body.

you can percieve things that are outside your body.

you can interact with things outside your body.

you can cure all disease with thought.

dis | ease

-----

nothing is really "physical"

everything is actually completely transparent and melds together

-------------------

think harmony

-------

you already defined your entire life. you chose, ALL of it. every SINGLE perception you feel now. all of your thoughts.

the instant you were born, a new 'matrix' was created, a movie script from start to finish, of the 'story' of the entire universe. YOUR universe.

----

magic is real.

you are the magic.

everything else you see is just temporary if you want it to be.

become what you want to be, the more you do it, the more the universe will bend itself to help you.

--------

cats and dogs!!!!!!!

----

control your fears, turn them into their opposite in your mind and accept them!

----

GOT THIS!

----

your THOUGHT gravitates towards FEAR (down) 0

your BODY gravitates towards the EARTH (down) 0

memories cant be erased. you have 'photographic' memory, in EVERY cell of your body.

your mind connects you out into the universe, and the universe brings you what you connect with.

Every ONE has an opposite ONE.

------

There is nothing out there to harm you. let your mind free to feel a possibility.

The trick is to stand ontop of the negatives.

they will try to pull your thoughts down

----

all you have to do is take turns!!!!!!

see through people, see yourself.

RIDE the wave!

About Time:

2011-06-26T02:14:00.001-07:00

Time is a torrent, a flow.

Time does not come from space

Time comes from thinking.

The reason things slow down is because you think for yourself.

The reason things speed up is because you let go of OUR mind.

The world of the real is composed of 2 matrices, one male and one female.

Us as human beings, we are a mirror of that conciousness. The world is alive

just as you are alive. The world is dead just as you are dead. By this we mean

that everything is real, all of the good and all of the bad, but this is only so because

humans have chosen to live at a level where they have suffering and doubt.

Many many humans are afraid of being completely happy forever. It is absolutely

my belief that everything we see, no matter how ugly, frightening, exciting, or

maddening is all in actuality a positive for me.

God is real. God is a state of being that eminates from the center of your being.

The male center of your being and the female center of your being are limitless.

The reality of the entire universe is that the only things we see, hear, taste, smell,

and touch are the beliefs we carry inside our true self.

Each of us is a God in his or her own right, but we must be.

Here, a game!

2011-06-14T04:34:00.001-07:00

Look, I started writing a game! It's getting 2600 FPS and it has a console, wow I'm l33tsk33t.
I'll post some more updates when there's more to show ;)

Tangential Economics (On Microsoft Windows)

2011-05-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

I would *assume*, as in "if it isn't this way, I'd be rather enraged altogether", that Microsoft has at least one major team which works with the guys at AMD, Intel, Nvidia, etc etc etc, to discuss 'underlying architecture' or some core set of deep, progressive, pragmatic, etc etc etc designs, about the most appropriate 'forward progress', 'forward momentum', etc etc etc in terms of architecture decisions, and most importantly language progression decisions.

While it may not make sense from the obvious perspective, to totally re-write an operating system kernel every ~360 days, as it implies wasted effort re-inventing the wheel, I can see a relatively close future where we could compete in teams, purely for sport, to completely and totally re-invent the wheel when it comes to an operating system for a primarily light based computer system. I am guessing that there are already plenty of individuals who are capable of expressing an entire architecture from top to bottom or bottom to top, and the more advanced the hardware and software technology gets, the more expressive and naturally human that development process can become.

If I were writing a Kernel for Windows 8, I would probably be doing the proper research with the proper depth and speculation considered, into what the display technology looks like in the near future and the forseeable future. Basically I would want to ensure that we are dealing with the absolute cutting edge technology forecast, and talking through all of the details about the what, why, and how of implementation, configuration, and customization. What it boils down to, is that I wouldn't want to start a project like that, without an excellent amount of pre-conception and planning, including careful and long-winded consideration for all of the tiniest little details, and even all of the practically nonsensical speculations about what could be feasible sooner rather than later if we're really putting our minds to the absolute best forseeable future.

Aside from a little bit of philosophical imperative, if I were developing a Kernel for Windows 8, I would start with more of a life-design perogative. Not to say that I am already an expert, just to say that I would rather there be certain priorities focused upon, when dealing with the design and development of a very sophisticated world-wide network of computing systems. When I say life-design, I just refer to the focus on the values and expressions of actual living flesh and blood human beings, not cold hard physical computer circuits. It's sort-of like saying, if you want to make the 'bands' in between people 'better', then you want to focus on the satisfaction and development of the 'bands' *in* the human beings, not exclusively inside the electronics.

It's sort-of like saying, imagine if we developed the math and structure with an acceleration that went off the chart of our ability to 'catch up' with what we had actually achieved. Perhaps it is the 'self-surprise' gene, which interfaces macro-evolution on a vast scale, in terms of what actual reality becomes manifest at the most present present. These are finalities which are not far from conclusion, we just need to discuss them to arrive at a conclusive absolute design imperative.

Anyway, to move back towards rational thinking, if I were developing a Kernel for Windows 8, I would have a team focused on Cloud 9, and the goal of the overall progress would be to achieve Windows 9, or some nameless finality of "The Interface" in its completed final state. No, realistically speaking, I would be speaking through the process of thinking through as a group, our collective best guess as to how we can, could, and should express our creative potential into reality to the greatest positive effect. I guess I'm just saying, I would lead the group in explaining its own design prerogative to itself. I am guessing that it would be a process of elimination, and an alignment towards the most beneficial tenets of social programming and boundary designs for a planetary culture whos technological sophistication sometimes outruns her highest order sentient species.

When it comes right down to it, we have passed some achievement milestones in the hardware realm, and in the realm of physically real potentiality at relative arms length. We have 3D TV, Kinect, Wifi, Internet, and all of the rest of the logically structured universe. The trick is to look at the entire palette and to imagine how the world could be if we were applying everything all at once. That is where one learns where the proper densities and volumes and metrics are, etc. :)

Either way, I am led off track here, and getting too far into the existential and presumptuously idealistic. I hoped to express some meaningful direction in terms of a project like an OS Kernel, but to be completely honest it is a subject that I am quite familiar with. I would absolutely love to be in a position to lead a team with that sort of goal.

Oh, and to finally relate to what you mentioned, I totally agree about the 'whole new concept' of accessing programs, instead of windows and folders in 2D layers with a single x,y coordinate over time for navigation :) Presently my concepts for the navigation paradigm revolve around the premise of an "Economy of Light" and an "Interest Exchange Network". Sure, vague top-down words, but believe me the bottom-up perspective is very dense and fruitful, and I can easily explain that as well, it just makes more sense to introduce it from the top-down perspective.

Anyway, sorry for the tangential nature of this post, I just felt like responding on this level to what you brought up in my mind relative to the Microsoft Windows Operating System, and its current state of progress etc. As an ex employee of Microsoft, I still feel a tiny bit of resent for the fact that I was laid off, from what I perceived as a severe lack of communication and organizational skills on the part of the people engaging me from Microsoft. I did not choose to work for Microsoft, I was chosen and compelled repeatedly until I complied and transplanted myself, alone, to the opposite coast, ready for work. The plan that I was told about, the goal of my life, was to develop a web site. That goal was abandoned by those who compelled me to move there, but I was still left with the seeping baggage of the mental and psychological gymnastics I was sent through. I hoped till the very end of my time there, but at the end of it I had to drive home on empty, across the country, with a passenger no less, and I made it home with a cup full of change to spare. To be honest, I'm fairly happy with the story, considering the level of knowledge I have taken out of the experience.

Anyway, sorry for getting all touching-personal-story. I just felt the need to express how I think as well as how I feel about Microsoft, and Windows, and how they have limited or expanded my life.

Lucid Dreams!

2010-12-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

The lucid dreams I had had previous to last night all sort-of felt
like a tease, and there were very few of them in my 27 years on
Earth. It might also be interesting to point out, out of the maybe 2
or 3 lucid dreams I can remember having in my life, all of them
occurred in the last 2 years.
*Last night* however, was an atom bomb of new experience. I went to
sleep rather normally, although it was fairly early. I don't usually
end up on a regular sleep cycle when I am unemployed, so I tend to
wake and fall asleep at different times every day.
Interestingly, I had reached a sort of "breaking point" in my life
experience, and I was talking with a friend about it. It went
something along the lines of "This is *my* experience goddamnit! I
demand to be free to decide how it goes and how it does not go!"
Basically, we were talking about topics like time travel, physics
and consciousness, and possibilities of "traversing" or navigating
on other dimensions of existence, other than just walking through
space.
I gave him a very detailed description of an idea which I developed
in the last year or two, which is ultimately a "dream design
interface". I went into all the little details I had decided about
it: How it should function, what features it should have, how it
should behave, how it will interface with my physical waking
existence, etc.
It was near the end of that description that my frustration came
out, and I demanded to be free from the frustration of having gone
through such turmoils and worked so hard cognitively to discover all
of the things that I have, and to be stuck following ideas and
events and circumstances which persist in leading me away from my
designs. Ultimately I was just fed up waiting for people to follow
my ideas with the same excitement which I do.
So I went to sleep, focusing on the premise that "I decide what my
reality is, by knowing what it is.", and observing the incoming
moment with that mindset. It took a while to fall asleep, but I
tried to stay in a mindset of intentionality, rather than letting go
of my consciousness to fall asleep.

After what seemed like an hour or two, I was finally exhausted
enough to fall asleep. I'm fairly certain that the first dream was a
"DILD" in that I don't remember transitioning from waking
consciousness directly into the dream.

I had about 3 consecutive lucid dreams, each lasting what felt like
2-5 very lucid minutes. In the first dream, when I became lucid, I
tried my best to let go of all inhibition, and to calmly act like
this is reality. I lasted quite a while, and it was only when I had
walked around for quite a while, deciding what was up ahead, and
walking into it, that I started to get that "slipping away"
sensation, and my vision sort-of greyed out or blurred out, and I
woke up.
After each waking, I just stayed still and went back to sleep
feeling rather positive, and within what seemed like only a minute
or so, I ended up waking up again in another lucid dream. After
those first 3 or maybe 4 of those lucid awakenings in a row, I heard
my dad getting up to go to work. This would be somewhere between 6
and 630 AM.
What also might be interesting is that, I had plans to wake up and
take my mom to work for 8 AM, and she was supposed to wake me up
when she got up. The first 3 dreams definitely had that premise, and
in fact my mom was in the first lucid dream. Anyway, after ~630 when
I heard my Dad leave for work, I had like 5 or 6 more lucid dreams
in a row, which were longer and more detailed than the others.

The first set of lucid dreams basically boiled down to "I know I am
in a lucid dream." + "Awesome! It looks and feels totally real!" +
"I know there's a cute girl this way." + "This is gonna be awesome!"
The first set of dreams were mostly indoor home environments, and I
almost had the feeling of being a ghost, lurking around in some
familys house looking for their daughters or something eerie like
that. It wasn't bad or anything, I just mean that it felt nervous in
that way.
At first I didn't find any people, and then I ran into my mom in
some strange house, and it was like I had to imagine the rooms as I
went, and if I payed attention to the difficulty of doing so,
difficult situations would happen like a doorway or hallway getting
smaller as I went through it, and barely being able to squeeze
through.
I remember walking outside into a yard which looked similar to the
backyard of one of the houses my family lived at when I was in
highschool. It was summer and bright and warm outside, and there was
a group of people near the back right corner of the yard. I think
this scene represented some kind of a "social stigma test" for
asserting my dream desires, because I had to walk up to this group
of what seemed like very nice and kind people, projecting the
intention of being with the young girl of the group, for more than
just talking. When I first saw the group, it's like my eyes were
locked on to her 100%, and I knew what I was going towards. She
appeared to be very young at first, and as I walked up to her, she
aged. She also turned towards me and walked to the left, and one of
the men of the group ended up by her left side. By the time I
arrived at her face, I felt more nervous about what was going to
happen, and she said something to me like "I can't stand this
anymore", and her eyes looked red from crying or something like
that. Anyway, it wasn't as dramatic as it seems in the description,
as I was still in the surreal sensation of being lucid like that.
In the next house dreams, I ran into older women first, in fact much
older. Usually it seemed like they were worried about something or
whatever. I acknowledged them, and sort of tried to be respectful if
that makes any sense, and I kept on wandering around. I did finally
reach some sexual encounters, with a young couple actually. I won't
go into too much detail, but it's interesting to note that I was at
first primarily focused on the girl, despite the idea that this boy
was within arms length of her. She was leaning back with her shirt
off, so I grabbed gently around her body and kissed her chest. I
then started talking to the boy there, saying how soft her skin was.
He agreed, and he told me that he had kissed her, although he wasn't
supposed to or something like that. It was like he felt bad because
they were too young, and he was asking me if it was good. He told me
they were 14. Strangely, I projected a bit of concern, almost as a
way of respecting the feeling he already had about it, and then I
told him that it was all good, and he's a lucky guy.
After waking from that dream, I continued on, and things got more
complex. I ended up in what seemed like a weird combination of a
mall and a train station. There were many people all around, and I
remember feeling like the majority of these people are aliens from
other worlds. There were so many different humanoids all in various
groups conversing or walking or doing some activity. I walked along,
and I encountered a small group of women who were rather vocal. They
looked like they were in their early 30's, very attractive and well
kept, like cheerleaders or something like that, and they said
something to me about men. They said something like "Men only want
one thing, and that is???" and I looked at them quizzically. I
noticed how my ability to look right at their faces changed with the
level of confidence which was projected from them to me, and then
from me to them. When I arrived at an answer to their little riddle
or question, I answered with "Power." and I immediately became very
confident, and I was able to look right at all of the detail of
their faces, and I said "I am here to take *Power*, from *you*." and
I expressed with projection that I was taking the design of their
faces with me, as it would be part of my collection of designs for
future dreams. Again, it wasn't exactly as dramatic as it sounds,
and there was barely any negativity at all, everything was very
upbeat and everyone was either energetically interested and engaged,
or was smiling, etc.
After that interaction, we were standing at a train which had just
arrived. There was a man next to me who seemed to be a sort of guide
for me. I looked at the train and I was confident that nothing bad
could happen, but I was nervous, because it was a Police train. It
felt very futuristic also. It was full of men who had very powerful
and scary projections, and it had the aura of vigilante justice, or
something of that nature. I projected that to the man who was my
guide, and he somewhat reassured my confidence, so I decided to walk
right into the train, as an outsider. As I arrived on the car, the
scene inside the train turned rather grizzly, and it looked like the
men became doctors or coroners or something like that, and there was
a bloody corpse being examined and all sorts of blood and surgery
instruments. I maintained my confidence, but I was still a bit
unsure of why I was making a stand here, so to speak.
The car left the station and the bloody / police theme changed into
a more futuristic entertainment sort of environment. The train had
all sorts of colorful holographic lit up banners along the side.
Eventually I ended up at a strange warehouse like location, where it
seemed like preparations for a party were happening. I got off the
train and thanked the man who was still in the car with me, who
seemed like he was still that "guide" person from before. I walked
into the place, and there were a few people, but the overall
sensation felt something like "power posturing" where I was trying
to stand up against some strong projections of what was going to
happen next. Eventually I became at odds with one of the men there,
and we sort-of began to fight with ideas, like a mind battle sort of
thing. I ended up trying to avoid him, and the overall dream started
to feel like impending catastrophe or something like that. I was
able to stand up to that sensation and to keep on creating a
powerful positive outcome for myself. I had a connection with
Leonardo Da Vinci during this whole part of the dream, which I think
came from yesterday when I was watching some Bible Code show on TV
that mentioned him. I felt like he was connecting with me, and I saw
scenes from this alternate reality, outside of the warehouse where I
was trying to get away from this other guy. I saw strange planes in
the sky which sort-of blinked in and out of existence, and I saw
buildings and other vehicles, etc. After those flashes, I was back
in trouble for a bit, as a sports car was coming at me in the
parking lot. I felt right away that he was going to try to run me
down, and I knew that I would avoid him. He drove at me, and I ended
up manifesting some super human powers to dive away from the car. I
jumped way up into the air, but when I was falling back down I saw
that he was lining up to ram me as soon as I hit the ground, so I
controlled gravity and floated myself in the air so he would miss.
As he spun around to try to ram me again, I jumped up and forward
towards the warehouse, and I thrust myself forward through the air
with intention. It was like a "speed burst" maneuver, and I used 2
of those in the air, as I leaped back towards the door to the
warehouse. After I safely escaped the car, I found myself back at
the train car, and it still looked something like the futuristic
hologram advertisements. I was a bit confused as, I tried to
manifest or project into the train-menu where I wanted to go, but it
didn't respond like I thought it would. I looked over at my "guide"
who was still standing there with a bit of confusion, like "uh, this
it is?" and he was just like "yea, get going" and so I walked right
into the hologram menu, which still looked like a 2D wall of yellow
light, with what seemed almost like advertisements on it. As I
walked into the menu, I felt myself get warped into another scene,
like getting pulled through a weird sensory change.
I ended up back at another house environment to wander around in.
This one was similar to the one I had experienced before with the
young couple, and I searched around to find them. I remember being
impressed with how many rooms there were in the house. It almost
felt like it was a hyper-dimensional exploration of many houses at
once, where the rooms just connect to each other naturally. I ended
up meeting a few more people in that house, and I remember looking
out of the window and seeing a turtle. I pointed it out to this boy
who was there, and his mother came up to the window and said
something about it being poisonous or something frightened, and the
turtle grew to become really large and it wandered over to the left
side of the yard. I kept wandering around the house, looking for a
girl or something like that, and I mostly came across interesting
rooms. As I explored I felt like this whole environment must be a
certain style of sexual fantasy because of the style of these rooms.
I'm not sure how to describe them in words really. They were sort of
haphazardly arranged in a 'just right' sort of way. They were not
the sort of bedrooms which you might see in a mansion or something
like that. Some of the rooms just had a mattress on the floor with
blankets. The doors and walls looked less than new, etc.
So that's about it! Seems like I got a massive introduction to lucid
dreaming fantasy all in one shot! :)

One Full Revolution.

2010-11-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

lets make a revolution

I think we should make a worldwide revolution.

one giant leap for mankind.

we'll get some brains together and just describe the ideal society, and what the biggest, brightest, and simplest / easiest steps would be to start moving towards that ideal society.

i know venus project has the long-term big objectives fairly well thought out

but im mostly interested in the simple and obvious things, taking care of all of the stupid shit in one fell swoop

my basic vision revolves around a 'software upgrade for humanity'

it focuses simply on the 'system between us' on the earth.

it takes account of what exists now, as far as technology, and how that technology is accelerating and/or growing within the current system

and it focuses on the most simple and obvious 'interface' between human beings.

Today

how can we put all of our efforts on the same page, via our technology, specifically our computer tech, and our communication tech.

simply put: Let's completely design a social system, from the ground up, based on the technologies that already exist today.

Lets use the best knowledge and intuitions we have available, to create a human interface that is so simple, so natural, and so harmonized with human life, that the entire planet erupts with joy at its unveiling.

Lets create a set of social paradigms that are so concise, so clear and logical, so obvious and natural, that everyone around the world wonders what the hell we were waiting for!

Lets create a system that is the antithesis of frustration.

Lets go home.

I'm as ready as ever, and we need to gather people together to discuss it.

I want to discuss it face to face, with real people, and I want us to make a game plan for how things should progress.

I have a whiteboard, I have a camera and tripod to make videos, I have the software to edit and compile the videos, and I have the development and design software to design and code proof-of-concepts

I have done all of the mental gymnastics necessary, and I have gone through all of the experiences necessary to have a fundamental understanding of what we should be looking towards, in an ultimate ideal sense.

All that I require is that people gather together, believe that we are going there, and be excited about what we are doing.

It needs to be more than a conversation that ends in "oh well, back to how it was..."

It can't keep getting pushed into "not today", or "never"

It's gotta be NOW.

Anyway, I'm ready to go.

Game-Changing User Interface Concept

2010-08-02T20:06:00.001-07:00

Personally I have a vision of an interface that revolves around "iris menus"... basically the idea of a circular or arc shaped menu divided up into buttons or panels, which can be navigated *through* (rather than mouseOver + Click, you move through the area you want to navigate into)...

The presentation of windows would be visually more like being inside of a sphere, where the 'camera' tends to 'snap' against a particular area of the inside surface of the sphere, which is the area where 'interesting' content has been arranged, based on the short term as well as long term navigation input, and of course user specified interests...

Rather than grids of icons with names (files) being organized manually by clicking and dragging into other icons with names (folders) which can be manually searched by typing the name(s) into a search box...

The UI works with the user to self-organize data, files, objects, programs, networks, etc. based on the users relative interests. The UI works not only to self-organize it's presentation of focal points, but works to harmonize with the users flow and preferences...

Interface focal points are presented in a fluid pseudo-3d environment, where each area of interest expands as it comes into focus, as well as transitioning from an iconic representation to a more informative display. The focal points which are of less interest at the moment are scaled down and return to a more iconic / simple color representation...

Focal points are presented in a way that enables and encourages a flowing path from point A to point B, minimizing the need for the user to memorize a specific navigation path, and having to click the mouse at each turn. (old UI is basically a maze with fog-of-war, isnt it...)

Generally speaking, the interface is a move away from squares, rectangles, and grids... and a move towards arcs, circles, spirals, and color-wheels...

Generally speaking, the interface is a move away from static rectangular frames, with rectangular clickable areas as '1-way navigation' to another static rectangular frame... and a move towards fluid color-wheels or arc-menus, which turn open like an iris, providing a fluid navigation path 'in' to or 'out' of areas of interest...

The UI focuses on simplicity and intuition, maximizing it's utilization of simple colors, directions, and numbers to improve usability...

The smooth transition from simple color and shape, to an iconic representation, to a compact panel displaying pertinent and relevant information, to a fully expanded window displaying the most probably relevant and/or most probably interesting application state within that window...

Utilizing simple number theory and geometry to maximize the utilization of screen-space, the aesthetic beauty of the interface, and most importantly the sensation of relative spacial positioning of interface components as the users perspective shifts...

Navigation uses simple visual fields, 'Left Field' 'Center Field' 'Right Field', and utilizes scale-up slide in, scale-down slide out style visuals for simple rectangular panels...

Areas of Interest are represented visually in an arc or color-wheel or iris menu, which makes good use of color as an overall indicator of relative theme...

Navigation away from an area of the visual field, shrinks and moves that area of interest away from the focus of the screen space, and also begins to intelligently reduce the relative value of that interest area, relative to what is being navigated towards...

The overall direction of navigation is always of utmost importance to the interface, such that interface objects, areas of interest, icons, applications, etc. are 'attracted' in a ring-like pattern towards the screen area which is being navigated 'in' to...

The direction of navigation is arranged to provide the user with the most intuitive directional control, using vectors such as "More Like..." "Less Like..." "Different..." "Not Like"... etc... to draw in the most pertinent areas of interest...

The relative position of interest areas feels more like a condensed solar system of planets and moons, presented in a pseudo-3d fashion, to maximize visibility and relative connectivity and relevancy of each area of interest...

Navigating towards Music, as a general vector, 'turns' the orbits of the areas of interest, to make the "Music" area 'most linear', while pulling that area of interest towards the focal area of the screen...

At this point in time, relative to past time periods similar to this time period, whichever area(s) of interest are most polar to Music, become 'most linear' in the opposite direction, 'turning out' and pushing away those areas of interest back out into more peripheral orbits...

Again, because of the UIs focus on harmonizing with user preference and likeness, the speed and directness that the UI moves from one area of interest to another becomes more and more to the users liking, and a special interest will be taken in giving the user easy, intuitive, and constantly available feedback to modify or adjust the way that the UI arranges the screen space...

Future implementations could engage with social networking applications, to not only harmonize and synchronize with the navigation habits and patterns of interest of each user, but to connect and share interests through social networks!

Imagine navigating towards your "Music" center, and having your usual media player scale up and slide into view, while your recently interesting play-list arrives on screen, as well as suggested songs relative to the friends within your network!

Imagine the relationship of the social network, as it becomes more deeply involved in this new interface paradigm, facilitating a total harmonization of human interests, so that life on the web is no longer filled with individually developed web sites all trying to push advertisements, to a living breathing alignment of our individual and group interests!

As I become more interested in particular activities or groups, those groups and individuals whom my interests are most in alignment with, become relatively close to me on the web and within this UI...

As I become more directly in-line with the individuals, groups, organizations, teams, cultures, industries, bands, nations, friends, worlds...

I take on the collectively defined, collectively informed role that I find most interesting and attractive to me as a Human Being...

I take on responsibilities and relationships to contribute my time and effort towards those individuals, groups, cultures etc. that are suited best to me as a Human Being...

I take part in a Global Revolution, where no longer are we working to find work, serving the needs of corporations and profit, but working together to define ourselves and our world, and living together in it...

Genetic Algorithms, Distributed Computing, and Brainwaves: The Biggest Revolution in the History of Music

2009-10-28T21:18:00.001-07:00

Evolution in Music: Using Genetic Algorithms, Distributed Computing, Bit-Torrent style data transmission, and Brain-Wave input technology to create the biggest Revolution in the history of Music:

Here is the best of my Mind on the near-future of Music, and what it has in store. Let me know what you think about this writing style. I skip all of the fluff and go straight to the core ideas. Big thanks for your feedback!

-

Implement an '@Home' style distributed computing method to expand the speed and capacity of your algorithms...

Use a 'bit-torrent' style data transmission mechanism to link subscribers and enable data-streams to be efficiently disseminated to many PC's simultaneously...

Compare and contrast sections of audio as well as 'genes' generated by genetic algorithms...

'Torrent' the sound-bytes as well as the gene-bytes across the network of subscribers, using a centralized web-service to compare genes for success, and stream highly successful and high potential genes out to the network...

Stream sound-bytes, samples, tracks, beats, etc. from the central web-service out to the Torrent network...

Utilize plug-in technology with popular music-development software applications to enable seamless integration of 'Streaming Samples' and 'Genetic Mixing and Mashing'...

Integrate 'Live Mash / Live Mix' - 'Collective Listening' to enable listeners to connect to 'Channels' of Live Music being created and mixed from the entire network of Artists, as well as the Genetically Mixed and Mashed streams...

Create a web-based mouse/keyboard feedback system for Listeners to give dynamic feedback to the Channels and Streams with mouse gesturing and +/- rating systems...

Allow the Listeners to 'Shift' from Channel to Channel, Stream to Stream, blending different styles, bpm's, genres, instruments, etc into their preferred listening patterns...

Involve Listeners in the creation process by integrating their listening patterns, feedback, votes, etc. from their Live-Channels, and give them points and rewards for 'Finding' successful, popular, and hit sounds...

Group Listener channels together based on Successful Genetic patterns, and integrate the feedback loops of many Listeners into one channel, streaming feedback sounds back to the web-service for comparison and dissemination to Artists creating similar sounds...

Utilize cutting edge Brain-Wave signal input devices, such as the OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator , to enable Listeners to modulate their feedback patterns to their own Brain-Waves.

Utilizing the power of Genetic Algorithms and Brain-Wave input technology, Enable Listeners as well as Artists to train the PC-based software component to modulate, filter, distort, etc. their sounds and music, and use that Signal as an input for not only the creation of new Songs, but to guide the pattern of 'Channel-Surfing' based on the Listeners own Brain-Waves, and what music He/She enjoys!

(Talk about a new way to think about 'Channel-Surfing'!)

These are just a few of the concepts I have been considering. I would love to find an opportunity to work with artists and software developers who see the incredible future of Music I am pointing towards with these ideas. There is much more to come, so stay tuned!

Drax,
draxus99@gmail.com

www.askdrax.com

RANT: Consulting

2009-09-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I just commented on another story and I mentioned RedSox ticket trading... God its like I'm predicting the future! Anyway... It would be cool if there was a 'free market' of ticket prices so that the FANS are the ones who decide how much a ticket is really worth... instead of some corporate creamers who just buy everything and re-sell it for extra profits... I hate that shit (all in). Also it would be cool if there was a local event that wasn't filling up... and the extra tickets were up for grabs via radio and internet lotteries or contests to fill up the vacant seats and make local fans happy to get free tickets and whatnot... I suppose that already happens! Lets just integrate that with internet apps like Facebook... as well as my crazy 5D Instanced Streetview SocialNetwork Model that Sony,Microsoft,Google,and Apple are all on my Nuts about (even though you guys already know about this stuff right??? Can I be involved in the design process pweez? I can has a consulting contract pweez? I charge $1,000 per minute and I'm not kidding. I keep $1 of that, the rest goes towards charities which my friendsNet(tm - or name it whatever i dont care) says are awesome lately... Also you only pay for the minutes you use and it has to be video taped and publicly available... You only keep the minutes you liked, and the rest go up for grabs to the Industries/Corporations/Individuals/Interests which I Like. That way the companies with the resources get the patents and rights to create/distribute my ideas... but the information is public so that anyone can build off of it or use it for their own projects... And it also acts as a check/balance to ensure that everyone knows who the Source was on a particular set of ideas or bets or whatever :P (Yes I rant too much but I want companies working for me, not the other way around)

Advertising on the Web

2009-06-17T02:06:00.000-07:00

The web has been a powerful resource for advertising in recent years, especially since the dawn of high bandwidth connections and high bit-rate images and video. Because of the new environment on the web for marketing and advertising, companies have had free reign to come up with the most clever ways to advertise. Innovations in web browser software as well as server software have allowed for various new ways to integrate advertising into the web browsing experience.

Advertising on the web is not a new issue, and at every stage of advancement there has been an ebb and flow in the advertising battle. With greedy advertisers, vigilante programmers, and even criminal hackers on one side, and industry leading software developers like Microsoft, Mozilla, Google, along with community upstarts creating ad-blocking technologies on the other. The battle continues today, with concessions from both sides, but where do we draw the line?

Today we have tools like ad-block and other popup and ad-blocking software, but I feel like it is a real problem when everyday people have to install and configure an extra program just to prevent being overwhelmed with blatantly intrusive advertising tactics. I feel like the majority of tech savvy web surfers will agree with me when I say that we are downright insulted by intrusive and subversive advertising, and feel these ads are having an opposite effect on us, making us less likely to visit a site, or buy a product.

These are the types of Advertising that are most prevalent, and represent the most problematic and detrimental types of advertising in existence on the web today:

Pop-Up Ads

Pop-Up ads consist of an advertisement window that "pops up" over the main browser window when you enter a site.

Pop-Up Ads have evolved over time, and include not only "new window" pop-ups, which open up a new window over the top of the browser window, but also a type of pop-up which creates an advertisement within the existing browser window that covers up underlying content.

Pop-Under Ads

Pop-Under ads are ads that appear underneath the main browser window, only to be revealed upon closing the browser window.

Pop-Under ads really fall into the subversive category, where advertisements are placed on the screen unbeknownst to the user until later. Some sites also use a timer to place many pop-under advertisements over time, and upon closing out of the site the user is left with several advertisement windows to close out of.

Interstitials

Interstitial ads are ads that are shown in the transition between two pages of a site.

The worst kind of Interstitial is the kind where we click a link, and arrive at the intended page. Just when we start looking at the content, a large usually full-screen advertisement covers our screen, sometimes even preventing us from clicking past it for a period of seconds.

Video Pop-Up Ads

Video Pop-Up ads are small advertisements which pop-up over the top of video content.

These advertisements are common on video sites like You-Tube, where a user begins watching a video, only to have the bottom section of the video become covered up by an advertisement which must be attended to by the user to close out.

Video Interstitials

Video Interstitials are essentially video commercials which play before the desired video is played.

These kinds of Video advertisements are familiar to people who commonly watch television, but to those who are more web oriented, these ads are some of the most repulsive and have a very high rate of cancellation (Users tend to give up on watching the intended video, deciding it is not worth watching unwanted content for 30 seconds)

Faux System Message

Faux System Messages are advertisements which are disguised as error or warning messages from the operating system, designed to fool novice computer users into clicking through to an undesired page.

Some of the most deceptive advertisements (if we can even call them advertisements) on the web today, faux system message ads are a subversive and predatory method for drawing in naive or inexperienced users. These ads commonly pull users into a scenario where they are deceived into buying software to protect their computer or into signing up for services unknowingly.

-----

These types of ads might increase click-throughs to some degree, but a large portion of that is likely due to accidental clicks because of the ads being so subversively placed. There is also a rising percentage of web users who are becoming more and more comfortable with technology and browser software and are much more aware of subversive advertising tactics. Browser developers as well as 3rd-party ad-blocking software are also serving the interests of their customers by limiting and even completely filtering out advertising.

Advertisers don't realize that when an advertisement arrives in a fashion that is annoying or frustrating to the user, even if they don't consciously remember the brand or product in the ad, the user subconsciously make a negative attachment to that brand name. Just consider how powerful an effect that can have on people. When I am reminded of a particular brand, and I have a subconscious memory of that annoying pop-up ad, even without a conscious recollection, I now have a negative association with that brand.

Faux error message advertising is something that I feel should be illegal. Tricking users into clicking an advertisement because it looks like a Windows error dialog should be treated as deceptive and criminal. I feel this should be the case even with seemingly innocent ads that make a claim that the user has won a prize. I feel this is the case any time the user is being deceived by an advertisement, especially in the case of being lead to installing unwanted software, signing up for unwanted services, or buying unwanted products or subscriptions.

The rapidly rising trend in mentality of web users is one of disdain for intrusive and subversive advertisers. I will purposely avoid web sites and web pages which contain intrusive advertising, and when I come across those types of ads, I will remember those brands and purposely avoid buying their products or services. I think many web users will agree with me that consciously or not, we make a negative association with brands that use these kinds of ads. Advertisers need to realize that in this day and age, their tactics are having a reverse effect on a rapidly growing percentage of web users.

At the end of the day, I feel a new system of organization is needed for the web, and as that transition takes place with new software technologies and paradigms, one of the most important things to keep in mind is putting the user experience at the very top priority. We need a system that implements specific rules on advertising placement as well as convenient tools for users to opt-out of unwanted advertising wherever possible. Some of these tools are available today, and it is good to see that browsers are now including ad-block technology by default.

If you are an advertiser on the web, here are some suggestions for creating ads that are compelling and unobtrusive:

1) Do not intercede in the users intended navigation!

DO: Side-bar style banner advertisement along-side the intended content

DON'T: Interstitial ads that temporarily prevent the user from their intended link

(Keep the user in the drivers seat. Don't take them where they didnt intend to go.)

2) Do not cover-over the content the user is intending to see!

DO: Vertical banner ads on the sides or horizontal ads between sections of content.

DON'T: Intrusive Pop-up ads that cover the web page content

(If you must use Pop-up style advertisements, try to make them arrive on the screen in the peripheral screen space away from the content of the page.)

3) Be honest!

DO: Be up front with the product or service you offer. State your offer clearly.

DON'T: Use deceptive language or images just to grab attention.

(You might get more clicks by being deceptive with your ad, but first impressions are vital to your business! Don't insult your customer with deceptive or misleading ads!)

4) Use stylish ads that fit well with the page

DO: Coordinate the colors and theme of your ad with the content page.

DON'T: Use obscenely bright flashing colors or ridiculous images to try to attract attention.

(Users might notice your ad due to the shock value, but an advertisement that is clean, stylish, and fits the theme of the content is much more likely to lead to a satisfying experience for a customer who clicks through. A user who sees an ad like this regularly on their favorite site is also more likely to eventually click through, instead of turning on the blinders and totally ignoring it.)

5) Be involved with the community you advertise with!

DO: Set up a discount or a special benefit for customers from your leading click through sources.

DON'T: Blanket advertise often and everywhere so your ad gets the most views possible.

(Getting involved with the communities that your customers arrive at your page from gives them a good feeling. If your users come from www.reddit.com, give them a welcome and offer them something special. Being appreciative of a community and giving recognition to that community works wonders in creating word of mouth residual click throughs, especially when you tailor your products and services to the interests of the community you advertise to. )

6) Don't be Evil!

DO: Be honest, be legitimate, be up front, and respect your customers!

DON'T: Be subversive, intrusive, deceptive, or downright evil with your advertising tactics.

(Google has it right! You might make a quick buck or garner lots of click throughs with tricks and marketing tactics or borderline legitimacy, but eventually you are going to push away all your customers and be thought of as a scammer, no matter how legitimate your actual business may be.)

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