BlogDogIt

After over twenty years, I finally did it...

It has been that long since the dial-up modem took me into the esoteric world of the Trader's Connection Bulletin Board system of Indianapolis, Indiana. That was the first hub connection to the internet I was able to access and set me back $4.95 every blessed month. Of course there was a freely available dial-up connection to the Indianapolis/Marion County public library but access to the world outside of their facility was mainly connections to other Libraries across the U.S.

T-CON (as the BBS came to be known) offered a portal to the upstart "world wide web" via the venerable, text only, internet browser known as "LYNX" and while websites were all the rage, it was GopherSpace that was "where the action is."

It was in that era when I learned the basics of internet page building. Not too many years later I was cutting my teeth on the LINUX operating system and hosting my own website servers. Through it all I was longing for the early days of inter-web exploration and vowing to build up a GopherSpace location in an effort to do my part toward keeping that means of communications viable. Without further ado... I am pleased to announce this long awaited dream of mine is now on-line:

 gopher://InfinitelyRemote.com 

Imagine a world where the internet does not track you with cookies. Imagine an internet without advertising (if you dare.) GopherSpace is that internet. GopherSpace stood as early predessor of the internet of today. This undeniable resurgence of the Gopher Protocol could possibly represent the roots of a brand new World Wide Web. And after all who ever said there could be only one? If this sounds like something that might interest you why wait... Get yourself a copy of LYNX browser installed on your system and "Gopher IT!"

    [----------------------------------------------------------------------]

      iIIIIIi       iIIIIIi     Welcome to the InfinitelyRemote GopherHole!
     IIIIIIIIIi    IIIIIIIII             How did you end up here?
     II     iIIi  iIIi    II
    IIi      iII IIi      iII     contact: gopher@InfinitelyRemote.com
    II         IIIi        II           (if you think you should.)
    II         IIIi        II
    IIi      iIIiIIi      iII    This service has been prepared as an edu-
    iII     III   III     IIi    cational exersize - much content has been
     IIIIIIIII     IIIIIIIII     assembled from questionable sources  ---
      iIIIIIi       iIIIIIi      browse accordingly. ;-)      & Enjoy!

    [----------------------------------------------------------------------]

A rare interview with some of the founders of Gopher:
Mark McCahilll and Farhad Anklesaria

Description -English: A rare interview with some of the founders of Gopher: Mark McCahilll and Farhad Anklesaria, also including some early screenshots.    Date     2 November 2013, 21:43:08    Source     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR76UI7aTvs    Author     Kevin Henninger, Mark McCahill, Farhad Anklesaria and John Goerzen (jgoerzen@complete.org)
 

 

Inay: mother
by Maria Christine Tankeh Asuncion (Author)

I promised a follow-up article to "The Truth About God" and although I know (pretty much) the ideas I wish to convey, the approach to doing so has been somewhat elusive. With today being officially "Freethought Day," I figured it best to simply begin the task and work my way toward the end. To wit...

A proposed discussion of God will probably elicit eye-rolls from the vast majority of potential readers while a minority might actually be intrigued. Those with long-held traditional beliefs may have zero desire to explore what others of differing ideals would have to say on the subject of a "Supreme Being."

Religion is big business. There seem to be more religious based institutions and houses-of-worship than coffee shops, which suggests to me that folks must need their God as much as (if not more than) their coffee. Like coffee, God seems to be available in several popular flavors: from the trendy to the traditional, chances are somebody, somewhere has a God for you.

It is this apparent discrepancy in God's identity that no doubt, turns many people away from a quest for the truth about God. With so many options on what to believe, many have determined the "safe bet" is to disregard the whole debate and live their lives like none of this matters. Others of course, will cling to their beliefs like nothing else matters. The fact of the matter is that God is Real whether we believe in Him or not .

Him. So many talk about God in the third person; like "He" is somehow apart from mankind. Big Bossman God, watching over his creation just waiting for someone to screw-up his hard work. "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake." Oh wait, that's Santa Clause... "meh, same difference," some would say. Me? I really don't think God is that cute or concise.

I say God is REAL. More properly God is Reality; God is the reason for Reality. So many believers speak of God as existing somewhere "out there" - separate from "His Creation" - This cannot be. For God to be the Supreme, "He" must encompass the outermost. (Now stick with me here...) If it were possible for God to create a dwelling place that existed apart from his own essence then the space which contains that place would be greater than He. Therefor, "Everything that exists does so within this Supreme Being." Any quest for truth must begin with this undeniable fact.

Another essential fact - often overlooked, surprisingly - is that our existence is a series of consecutive "NOW" moments in time. Nothing can ever be any different than it is in each moment. A recognition of expectation that the next moment "will be" is perhaps the quintessential, defining characteristic of humanity.

Science has made tremendous strides in defining the boundaries of our universal existence to the extent of our ability to perceive. Religious beliefs are a testament to many aspects of our reality which are beyond our ability to readily perceive. A recognition that we all exist within the Reality that is God will go a long way toward understanding the truth of human equality and should bolster the cause of "COEXIST" - as if it were even a choice.

     Do you believe in God?  Yes   No   Unsure

Regardless of how you answer this question, mankind has found it desirable for you to be identified with one of these labels:

• If you answer "Yes" you are considered a Theist.
• If you answer "No" you are an considered an Atheist.
• If you answer "Unsure" you are considered Agnostic.

Given this reality:

• Many theist will have the unwavering opinion that their beliefs are true and those who do not agree are somehow wrong (or at the very least misguided.)
• Many atheist will have the unwavering opinion that their beliefs are true and those who do not agree are somehow wrong (or at the very least misguided.)
• Many agnostics will have the unwavering opinion that their beliefs are true and those who do not agree are somehow wrong (or at the very least misguided.)

This may be the one religious "Trio" we can all agree on.

A realistic examination of a human being's existence will show that any one of these labels may well be applicable to an individual at any given moment. Labels can shift when the devout worshiper has a moment of doubt or a died-in-the-wool atheist is caused to wonder (if even for an instant,) when the agnostic feels a pull from one side to the other for instance. This is certainly a topic that has worked to shape human civilization throughout history and affects us all (for better or worse) on a daily basis.

One troubling aspect of the entire debate - if we can at least agree on the "debatability" of God's existence - are the great many defining characteristics ascribed to the role of a "Supreme Deity." Whether known as God, Allah, Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha, Vishnu, Yahweh, Zeus, Jupiter, Allah, Xavier, Waheguru, Jah, Ngai, Baal or countless other "handles", people around the world have found at least some benefit in the recognition of forces that permeate the universe which appear greater than what can be entirely comprehended by mere mortals. Even the unbelieving atheist is not generally willing to disregard the fact that science, in its attempts to explain all that is, falls short in a great many troubling ways.

Many folks simply take it on "faith" that their God is real. Many claim to be looking for signs or proof before they will subscribe to such notions. Still others will entirely turn away from any such thoughts, preferring to live their lives devoid of any and all fruitless struggles and attempts to know the unmistakably, unknowable. 

Another of those timeless human conundrums is embodied in the question, "Why are we here?" Any answer to this is undoubtedly going to be in "essay" form. In many ways the world's religious institutions owe their very existence to the persistence of humanity's desire for an answer to that very question. Whether the question is asked at the personal, internal level: "Why am I here?" or on a more cosmic scale: "What does it all mean?" any answer we are likely to come up with in our present situation - particularly if expressed in a global forum - is going to result in quintessentially unresolvable matters of opinion with an "agree to disagree" outcome at best. If only it were possible to actually and truly "agree" on our rights to "disagree" this world would be a far better place (of course you may disagree with this assessment.)

I believe in absolute Truth; that there is to be found a common, universal explanation for all that "was, is or ever will be." I intend to explore this reality from the standpoint that:

1. we cannot all be right (but what if we are?)
2. we cannot all be wrong (but what if we are?)
3. we are all in this together (whether we want to be or not.)
4. knowledge of Truth is a reasonable expectation (even if many of its aspects are ultimately, unknowable.)

Oh, and yes... God is Real.

To be continued...

 

Not one to let this internet fad get too far beyond my grasp, I have been obliged to explore the inner workings of the new HTML5 protocols for the construction of web pages. My studies have been mostly in the form of deconstructing some of the HTML5 games I have been installing over at the DeBurger Game Room online arcade.

It must have been within the confines of that more methodical - dare I say, logical - mode of thinking that my pet thought exercise - the previously revealed inspiration for my gravitar icon [see: Mathematical Obsession? ] - concerning geometry of circumscribed square inscribed with circle, returned once again to my center of consciousnesses. This simple geometric construct has always suggested, to my mind, some hidden, cosmic significance. Beckoning me  with those forces of the universe that can really only be explored through carefully administered mathematics.

Not one to let my inability to carefully administer mathematics hinder me in an attempt, I took it upon myself to create within the esoteric mechanics of the javascript programming language, a representation of this geometric abstraction/distraction that offered an added dimension to my usual 2 dimensional envisagement of form by the inclusion of the fourth with a suggestion of the third; an exercise I entered into with all the certainty of a theoretical physicist albeit without the typically manditory, prerequisite education.

Armed only with the preconceived notion of what I wanted to depict I - by way of the internet - became myself, a virtual cog in the machine with which the global, computational hive-mind works tirelessly to replicate itself through the dissemination of knowledge among the hairless apes in a way that stresses the inevitable futility of resistance.   

It was while immersed in the vagaries of determining the proper expansion rates of circles in comparison to squares that I happened upon a quite irrational little discovery that I have learned has been known since 1600 - 1800 B.C. Mesopotamia, as evidenced in the Babylonian clay tablet known as YBC 7289 (from the Yale Babylonian Collection. Image to the left †)  The required incantation invoked in order to bring to life my vision of the infinitely expanding, nested shapes was what is commonly referred to as "The Square Root of Two" or more precisely: "approximately 1.41421356237..."

The result of this exercise is presented within the "iFrame" below followed by the code required to draw the effect. Those who do not understand such things should stand in awe of my achievement. Those who can see quite clearly when they peer into the supplied code will rightly bust-a-gut at the hack chosen to render the desired effect. In either case, I hope that when you gaze upon this meager point-plot animation you will remember those early humanoids as well as this somewhat more recently developed model together in that same moment wherein you wonder, "what were they thinking?"

"CubeSphere" by masodo

The HTML5/javascript code to render the above animation:

† A black and white rendition of the Yale Babylonian Collection's Tablet YBC 7289 (c. 1800–1600 BCE), showing a Babylonian approximation to the square root of 2 (1 24 51 10 w: sexagesimal) in the context of Pythagoras' Theorem for an isosceles triangle. The tablet also gives an example where one side of the square is 30, and the resulting diagonal is 42 25 35 or 42.4263888... Source: Bill Casselman and the Yale Babylonian Collection.
 

 

It has long been my intent to continue running BlogDogIt.com on the Geeklog CMS platform; doing my best to utilize existing features and plug-ins to keep this place on the cutting edge. Not too long ago though, I waxed poetic over my wishing to do something with the platform that - to my knowledge - had never been done with Geeklog. (See:Getting Geeky With IT)

I am pleased to report that after having submitted my work to Geeklog.net, I was informed by them that my modification - which I have named "RSS Last Post" -  has been accepted and added to their official downloads section under the heading "Add-ons" subcategory "Hacks."

Get only the latest post from your favorite blogs.
Display in side block or static page.

A great deal of my blogging efforts revolve around promoting others' blogs. For many years I would use the Geeklog Portal Blocks to share their RSS feeds. I soon got the idea to attempt to extract a remote site's latest post and feature it in a static page or block and set about cobbling together this hack. In addition to showing the last post for the blog it also gets the website's logo and link if supplied to their feed (some do, some don't.)

Click the image above to visit the RSS Last Post download page and download the ZIP file - chocked full of tasty PHP Soup. Look around BlogDogIt for several examples of this hack in action.

Space may be the "final frontier" but that does not mean you have to be an astronaut to scratch your exploring itch. You can climb a mountain if you have one handy or tromp off into the woods and attempt to get lost in nature (if she'll have you.) But if exploration is what you crave, take a tip from Dorothy: "If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard..."

BlogDogIt is pleased to shine this (long-overdue) spotlight into the fascinating diversion of Urban Exploration and invite you to experience the Oblivion State. Oblivion State exists as an online forum for like-minded individuals to share their experiences in this most visually stimulating, awe inspiring, often melancholical quest for some really "big game" images.

Wherever humanity attempts to improve their condition the true impact of these endeavors is often best displayed in the urbanized areas their cities and towns. Begin your expedition here in the comfort of your internet browser (no tetanus shot required.) Think about those astounding sights you pass on a daily basis; those of which you have become numb to the beauty they possess. Open your eyes to the Oblivion State... 

Enjoy!

 Click On The Image To Visit Source Article

All images sourced from http://www.oblivionstate.com/ and remain copyrighted to the photographer with all rights reserved. Used Without Permission - I am hoping your visit to their website will get me off the hook.

Featured Explorers:

[] MiaroDigital [] Ferox [] Andy [] urbexosaurus []
[] The Amateur Wanderer  [] eyevolve [] jones-y-gog []
[] skeleton key [] hamtagger [] mookster []

 

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Be sure to catch my first contribution to Oblivion State:
Impressionists View: Riverside Amusement Park (circa 1979)

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The number of times a specified periodic phenomenon occurs within a specified interval is called its frequency.

Whether discussing the frequency with which the Earth revolves around the Sun (vise versa for our "Flat Earther" friends) or the waves of the various types of light emanating from that boring ol' Class G Star of ours there can be little doubt that frequencies are not only the spice of life, in many ways they are what give life to our reality. 

In String Theory of Theoretical Physics it is postulated that the smallest particles that make up everything (elementary particles) are nothing more than invisible one dimensional vibrating strings and that the only thing differentiating these various constituents of our very existence is their rate of vibration (or frequency.)

Differing frequencies in the waves of light is what gives us colors (eg. blue is higher frequency than red.) Vibrations of the air are responsible for the sounds we hear (eg. low notes are slow waves high notes are faster waves.) Electromagnetic waves are useful for all sorts of radio related activities (including television and cellular phones.) So it should be obvious that you don't have to be fascinated with frequencies to find yourself totally immersed in them.

There has been quite a bit of investigating by scientist as well as pseudo-scientist regarding the WSOGMM and how the various frequencies that surround us might be beneficial or detrimental if applied willingly to our person in some form or other. Michael Triggs over at Papercut Suicide has compiled a "listing of frequencies that various parties have claimed can affect the human mind or body in some way." See: Brainwave Frequency Listing for one of the Internet's best assemblage of information on this topic.

There are actually quite a lot of YouTube videos that offer "tone therapy/brainwave entertainment" of one form or another; I have decided to throw my hat into that ring.

The production highlighted in this article is a unique blend of audio and video and draws on an earlier discussion about freeviewing stereo image pairs. Since the act of 3D viewing (depth perception) is actually a mental construct whereby the brain blends information collected by each eye so as to present the consciousness with valuable information regarding the environment of this existence; it is hoped that by combining a few key frequencies and including an alternating stereophonic earth resonance pulse piggy-backed upon the stereo vision brain function that something interesting might manifest itself in the exercise. This approach has yielded an audio/visual experience like none other. Is this a good thing or is this a bad thing? You be the judge...

The video presented here features positive and negative images of the BlogDogIt signature 'God's Eye' avatar rendered in black and white and alternating left for right at a frequency of 33 cycles per second as the visual component. The legendary Schumann Resonance (normally inaudible) has been rendered by a saw-tooth waveform to serve as the metronome for the piece. The 7.83Hz (cycles per second) 'ticking' alternates between left and right channels in an attempt to force both hemispheres of the brain to take part in the entertainment. The sound track is further infused with pure sine-wave tones of the 9Hz, 33Hz and 108Hz frequency. The 108Hz being responsible for the audible tone and the other two detectable as impressions upon the available auditory sensation.

A One Second Sampling Of Raw Audio Tracks

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The Brain Frequency Listing by Michael Triggs had the following to say about these included frequencies (visit the page for complete details):

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7.83 - Earth Resonance, grounding [×], "Schumann Resonance." [TS, ESR+HSW, MAG]; anti-jetlag, anti-mind control, improved stress tolerance [SS]; psychic healing experiments [ESR]; pituitary stimulation to release growth hormone (helps develop muscle, recover from injuries, rejuvenation effects) [HSW]; Earth Resonance Frequency - 'leaves you feeling revitalized like you've spent a day in the country.' [PWM via DW]; reports of accelerated healing/enhanced learning - "the earth's natural brainwave" [MAG]

[HSW] notes that higher octaves of the 7.83 Schumann Resonance can also stimulate the pituitary in the same way that 7.83 HZ can - especially 31.32 HZ. (One needs to be careful to distinguish between octaves of the 7.83 Schumann Resonance, and the other six Schumann Resonances, which are not higher octaves of 7.83 HZ.)

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8.6-9.8 Induces sleep, tingling sensations [SS]

9.0, 11.0, 16.0 [bad] documented calcium ion migration (brain tissue) [SS]

There's some disagreement over whether these frequencies offer anything to fear when used for binaural beats. Here's the thread from the Brainwave Generator message board : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bwgen/message/4592

9.0 - 13.0 - Alpha Range (according to [VUG]) - relaxed, not thinking about anything in particular, sometimes a pleasurable feeling of "floating". Often dominant in certain kinds of meditation, alpha waves have for the past twenty years been associated with calm, lucid mental states (the "alpha state"). They're also often detected during dream sleep. This pattern typically occurs in daydreaming, relaxed awareness, guided or focused imagery & smoothly rhythmic athletic activity. There's often a euphoric, effortless feeling of "flow" as the doer is absorbed in activity and subject + object are felt to be united. [VUG via DW]

9.0 - 14.0 Alpha range (according to [AWI]) - Relaxed & detached awareness, visualization, sensory imagery, light reverie. Also, gateway to meditation - provides bridge between the conscious & subconscious mind. [AWI]

9.0 - Awareness of causes of body imbalance & means for balance[×] Blind person phantom touch reading (somatosensory cortex) [RA]; Associated with Sacral/Svadhisthana chakra (Color=Orange) (Body Parts=Gonads, Reproductive System) (Effects=Relationships/Sexuality) (Note=D) [OML]

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 33 Christ consciousness, hypersensitivity, Pyramid frequency (inside) ; Schumann Resonance (5th frequency of 7) [TS]

Funky coincidence it lines up with the Christ Consciousness & Pyramid frequency, eh? I've had some interesting results with this one -- particularly when I overlap waves at 9.0 HZ (pyramid outside frequency). The mind tends to wander in funny ways.

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 108 Total knowing

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It is very hard to say how this audio/visual presentation will effect you so understand that if you choose to experience this video you are doing so at your own risk. Headphones are recommended to make the most of the audio component just as stereo free-viewing is the suggested way to view. Parallel viewing of the native size video or crossed-eye viewing in full-screen mode seem to offer the same degree of stimulation.

 

 

Download the uncompressed  2 minute version in AVI format.
(The original 10 minute video is available upon request.)

 

Listen to full 10 minute presentation of the original WAV audio

 

Be sure to check out the BlogDogIt YouTube Channel
for some other variations on this theme.

 

 

The Matter | Faded Paper Images

For several years now, Faded Paper Figures has been one of the best kept secrets of indie-electronic music, delivering gorgeous melodies, complex harmonies, and pop-cultural brilliance to a small and devoted fanbase online. With the release of their third album, “The Matter,” the band’s sound has matured into something more powerful and intense. Alternately sparse and epic, harmonic and grinding, pensive and playful, "The Matter” takes FPF beyond their electro-pop beginnings to create something even more sincere, epic, and profound. There are moments in “The Matter” that echo the band’s previous albums “Dynamo” and “New Medium” (all the glorious synth-blips, glitched-out riffs, and heartbreaking harmonies are still there), but a new sound has clearly emerged, with breathtaking orchestral scores, thick, powerful guitars, and more energetic, concentrated synths. Like the previous two albums, the lyrics glide with effortless sophistication through references both ironic and obscure. But there are passages here more intense, immediate, and playful. One moment “The Matter” conjures up images of traffic lights and factories, the next, soaring questions on the vast distances between galaxies--and always the intimate, vivid possibilities of love and pain. Given how powerfully “The Matter” astonishes with its daring energies and thoughtful lyrics, this electro-pop secret is going to be hard to contain in the months ahead.

 

 

Source: http://www.fadedpaperfigures.com/