A website called “DoublePlusHuman.com” – based on the notion that by being real self thinking, inquisitive, exploratory humans we can overt any threat of dystopian future. The name is a reference to 1984′s Newspeak and translates as Super Human. The intended message is “Be as human as possible and you’ll be free.”

“1984″ was a bit of a mind chow (or mind f*ck for a more technical term), but what was obvious to me was that the whole point of the totalitarian regime that ruled the fictional Oceania in the book was dehumanization. It occurred to me that the root cause of all tyranny in the real world, all loss of liberty and all oppression is dehumanization. It is the idea that a human individual must repress his or her urges, must sacrifice himself for the society, the so called greater good. It is this idea that has humans in constant fear of each other and consequential constant desire to control each other, as absolutely as possible.

I felt defiant as I was reading through the end of the book, as the tyranny of illusion and repression of humanity was winning. Being enamored by the book’s “NewSpeak” a hack of its own language came to my mind as a pronouncement of protest: DoublePlusHuman!. DoublePlusHuman, not the compromised, self repressed and self sacrificed human, but a human in all its glory, in its “full bloom”, pursuing the maximum of potential and letting nobody, NOBODY, control him or her against his or her will.

I immediately registered a domain name, DoublePlusHuman.com, and put it aside. Year and a half passed as I was exploring myself and evolving my ideas. I became a staunch support of voluntary interaction as opposed to coercive governance. I strived to rediscover myself, to find what I truly love to do, what I can do that would make me happiest and provide most value.

I went through this process twice. First time I seemed to have reached wrong conclusions. I went through it too fast and too keenly and as a consequence I ended up trying to jumpstart two projects that went nowhere (Site2Review.com and Gamelapse.com) all the while knowing somewhere in the back of my head that it was really DoublePlusHuman.com which I was supposed to be doing.

So I redid the process, but this time I used a whole book on the topic, “How To Finally Find What You Love To Do And Get Paid For Doing It” by Brian Kim (long title, short but brilliant book). I gave myself weeks of almost aimless floating about, doing only what I had to do and otherwise just exploring, reading what I want, doing what I want and trying to answer the dozens of questions I was supposed to answer and wanted to answer about my talents and interests. I deliberately, prior to finishing this process, read Stefan Molynex’ “Real Time Relationships”, another brilliant book which helped deepen my introspection and further enticed me to trust my feelings and senses.

And prior to all that I was already armed with ideas and encouragement from Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” as well as the simplified “The Hidden Secret in Think and Grow Rich” by Brian Kim.

And I ultimately, and not to a too big surprise found my way. It wasn’t so far off from prior conclusions in that I again concluded that what I really love to do is web publishing, but doing it my way, as a one man show envisioning something in its entirety and then creating it from the beginning to the end. I do the conceptualization, web design and finally write most of the content. As I was approaching this conclusion it became more and more obvious that what most embodied what I love to do at this point in time was exactly everything I hoped DoublePlusHuman.com could be.

And so I ditched everything else, put the more important projects (Nuxified.org and Libervis.com) into a maintenance mode (in which they were for some time anyway), and made DoublePlusHuman my main project. Couple of months passed and here she is.

I personally believe that it is the best web site I ever made and the best project I ever started. It most perfectly fits who I am and it fits a grander plan that I now finally have for my life. I’ve never felt the kind of sense of direction I do now. My puzzles are finally being put together. DoublePlusHuman.com is a start of a new era for me.

The site is made to be accessible to the widest possible audiences, complies with standards, is compatible with screen reading devices, has a mobile version and allows people to switch width to short or wide depending on the size of their screens. It will contain original content and links to content published elsewhere categorized in the same way. Forms of content are articles and media (video, audio and images) and main categories are “philosophy”, “technology” and “culture” representing the means to the ends that are the goal of the site: self improvement, personal freedom and social change.

I plan, for the first time, to be producing original inspiring and moving video infotainment on a semi-regular basis to attract and inspire the readers and build a community. And of course there is a business aspect to it that is also better worked out from the beginning than with any project I did before. Hence the unobtrusive neatly positioned sidebar ad and the amazon store. I am not ashamed of this. I will be able to monetize this site only if I provide enough people with enough value! I aim to provide value, not to make money! Money must be a mere side effect. And since I love what I’m doing here this shouldn’t be a problem. I no longer see failure as failure, but useful information for success. (And needless to say, money will be necessary for the achievement of the mentioned grander plan. )

All this said, there is no official launch announcement. I simply start with publishing articles and the first is a series of articles defining the key terms of the site: “self improvement”, “personal freedom” and “social change”. The first one is already published: “Defining Self Improvement”.

This seems like a good beginning, defining the key terms, setting up the basic paradigm.

In a nutshell, the site is like digg.com for machinima, except different in ways necessary for machinima movies and to ensure that more quality gets on top than is sometimes the case with digg. So it enables voting up or down (which would mostly reflect popularity or likes/dislikes) and 1 to 5 ratings given as part of reviews (comments) to specific movies (which should reflect quality). The front page displays the top movies based on popularity vote, but prominently displayed on the right is a top reviewed chart showing best rated stuff.

Check it out! I’ve also made an overview of places where machinima can be found and watched so you can easily find and check out some machinima and then submit it to GameLapse.com for voting and rating.

Cheers

The site is Yaybot.com, asking you what makes you happy. If you like the idea, you can help spread it by digging it. Of course, if you feel happy right now, don’t hesitate to tell yaybot!

Thank you

GameLapse.com allows its users to submit a link to machinima from any of these sites (and any other site) and get it voted, reviewed and rated. It is therefore a good additional opportunity for machinima movie makers to promote their videos and at the same time a great, simple way for anyone looking for some machinima style entertainment to find what’s hot and best rated. You can also browse by category and by tags. I explain more on the about page.

Of course, all of the above will mean far more once there are more submissions, more people making them, voting, reviewing etc. This blog entry marks the first word about this site anywhere on the web and further announcements and promotional campaign are to follow.

This project is my current major project. It was selected among a few candidates with higher commercial potential than my current involvements are (Nuxified.org, Libervis.com etc.). It reflects my ongoing interest in the gaming world and a recognition of an opportunity in the growing phenomenon of machinima. The project will also nicely tie in with Freedomware Gamefest Reloaded (born out of the past freedomware gamefest), which is also in the cards as not only an event but possibly a gaming community as well, one in which the first freedomware-based machinima scene may be given birth.

“Where machines sing” could be a nice alternative slogan.. Currently it is just “the machinima link”. Well, if anyone has an opinion on that feel free to comment.

I was searching for ideas myself, before I make a final call on the next venture of my own, and since it took so little time overall, this particular idea seemed worth executing. It could very well pay for itself by, if nothing, then adsense revenue it might generate. If it doesn’t work and nobody is interested then, oh well, it’s just 7 bucks for a tiny lesson learned.

But something tells me it might be useful to some people, especially if I decide to go with it and add some additional resources to it, like perhaps the ability to submit the ideas directly from the search results into the special voting queue and then vote them up or down, sort of like digg or reddit news stories.

Afterall, everything starts with an idea, no matter how small or big it is.

It presents a human standing at the top of a cold stone or iron made structure with his/her hands risen up into the night sky.

Nothing can stop a human who is free and the site will be dedicated to helping people free their minds and avoid being dehumanized in the coming times.

Cosmicall.net is actually just one of the little mini-sites that I am planning to launch in the coming weeks/months. The reason why I didn’t dive into the larger work of revising Libervis.com and Nuxified.org as planned is because the Gamefest is still on my neck and I don’t feel ready to commit to any such larger undertakings with confidence in finishing it off swiftly and efficiently, so I am keeping the status quo for the moment while trying to get the gamefest to the end and maintaining the routine works plus some additional little undertakings like Cosmicall.net, and one which I should really be doing tomorrow, writing an article for the Linux+ magazine.

Anyway, Cosmicall.net is a simple, but hopefully cool looking page which offers free downloads of some of my older music tracks under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license. I plan on adding OGG versions for download as well. It is possible that I might in the future add some music from my old music partner, Dalibor Arizanovic, once I get a hold of him and perhaps ask for permission (including licensing it under such an open license). It is also possible that I will at some point, perhaps when Free Software for it becomes better, make some completely new tracks and also offer them for download there.

Aside from that, any other updates may be minor, like adding some useful links to my old music profiles on the web. Also, if anyone has any ideas about doing something more significant with this mini site feel free to say.

Oh and btw, I do consider Cosmicall.net a part of Libervis Network. It will not be linked from the network bar, but that will be redesigned anyway. Not too long from now I should be updating Libervis.net when I will add a map of the whole Libervis Network. Counting these small sites, planet.libervis.net and some planned projects for which domains already exist you’ll see Libervis Network is truly becoming more than just Libervis.com and Nuxified.org.

Cheers

1. What do I want for the world?

2. What do I want for myself?

Of course, most if not all answers could fit both, but this is still a way to make answers more clear.

WHAT DO I WANT FOR THE WORLD?

Freedomware must rule! – Literally, it must be a standard, a social norm, ultimately perhaps even a rule. Software distributed under terms which deny most basic property rights (by way of denying full control over your own computer devices) should be remembered as merely a relic of the past, a dark age in the software industry. Real innovation and real world changing empowerment is in Freedomware. I want all proprietary software businesses to be replaced by those running a model around Freedomware, models you might today know by the moniker of “Open Source”.

RIAA and MPAA as we know them must die – These worldwide (no, not just american) organizations are today doing more for the oppression of creativity than their promotion. Simultaneously the copyright law which they helped turn into an utter dystopian joke criminalizes most people in the western world for *gasp* sharing! This just has to change, as soon as possible. If they don’t intend to loosen up and reform themselves into organizations which would encourage sharing in a digital world, then they simply must move along, for the future then has no place for them. All digital culture must be free for, at the very least, non-commercial sharing.

I want rampant technological evolution to accelerate even more, but more responsibly! – Yes, it is already accelerating, and we’re all impressed by how fast we’re progressing. But who is to say this is fast enough? There are no alien planets that we know of which could serve as a reference. With so many world problems to solve, some of which really starting to strangle our necks, we need more, better and efficient tools than ever.
BUT, technology should not be developed in a way that worsens these problems. In other words, it should not be used to pollute the Earth even more or to restrict people’s freedoms and privacy even further beyond their control. Green tech, responsible and sustainable development and free access (to knowledge and technology) are the key words!

Furthermore, I wish scientists and developers to have a fully open mind. In that name, I would like to add another key phrase: Anything is possible! Nano replicators? Warping to the stars? Teleportation? Strong AI? Artificial gravity? Yes! Natural universe has the elements. We have the intelligence. All we have to do is connect the dots. If we’re not “smart” enough today, there is no guarantee we wont be smart enough in the future.

I want us to go to space! – I want as many people as possible to see Earth from orbit, within my life time. I will go too. I want space stations in orbit and around moon. I want us to colonize Moon and Mars. I want us to, eventually, warp to the stars. I believe that humans, if they have any future, it is in space as much as on the Earth. I want us to continue exploring beyond Earth and I believe this to be a natural, even inevitable, course of our continued evolution.

I want people to be less indifferent, more aware and open minded. – Basically, there’s more to fun than what is commonly considered as fun. Nowadays it is unfortunately a very common occurrence for people to be stamped out as “geeks”, “wackos” etc. and subsequently ridiculed just for being different and thinking in different ways. When you talk about philosophy a lot, the “deep stuff”, you end up feeling like you have to apologize for being so enthused about it. Ever had that feeling when you tried to express your enthusiasm about something not-so-mainstream and felt like nobody gives a rats ass? While it may simply be that they just aren’t personally genuinely interested in what you have to say, I believe this phenomenon goes much further – some things are just too taboo, for whatever reason, for anyone to really feel free to express themselves without totally getting dissociated.

We have to be more open minded, accepting and overall aware. Being different is common to all of us, so why escape those differences? Let’s embrace them, and learn from them.

WHAT DO I WANT FOR MYSELF:

Successfully continue a personal self improvement process. – This simply means not giving up or giving in to the flow at any point in time, or at least until the “flow” becomes the good life I want to build. It starts with keeping up to my new schedule and new habits I’m trying to develop and keeping the positive mentality I want to maintain.

A nice, futuristic, off-the-grid, environmentalist medium sized house with a terrace and a telescope on top. – Here is one materialist desire. I would love to live in such a house. It would feel like living in a space ship, totally futuristic, cool looking yet genially simple. I would have a remote control for various functions in the house. The terrace on top would be great for star gazing or just relaxing on the sun or fresh air. The telescope could ideally be both portable and possible to “plug in” to be controlled remotely from inside the house, displaying the image on a computer screen below if I wish so (which makes it very easy to instantaneously record or even stream live over the internet).

Off the grid means that it would have to be fully powered without dependence on the standard electricity grids. A combination of solar panels and some other renewable source (if even necessary) would do.

This may seem like a million dollar kind of dream, but considering that technology actually exists for all of this and that for each expensive way of accomplishing it there is at least one cheaper alternative that can be found on the internet (heck, darn it, you can build a solar panel out of the old TV set, save up on electricity until you buy a real panel, for just one example). It is not necessarily such a luxury anymore. One just has to be determined. I’m not going to pursue this dream immediately, but once the business is good and financials healthy I see no reason not to pursue this gradually. It is also a good example setter for others – a green yet high tech life.

A zero-emitions, sustainable energy powered car. – It just adds to the picture above. Air car, water car or electric car? Shall I say more? I already pledged not to buy a car until it can be the one of this kind.

Find someone…. – Well.. let’s just say I’m single, and I don’t plan on staying one forever. Everybody needs someone closes to share this phenomenal life with.

So this is it. The reason I asked myself these questions is because it seemed helpful for finding a most accurate answer to this question: “Given the things I love to do (including my skills and interests) and my overall purpose, what do I want to achieve next?” The answer will give me a pointer towards the proper goals I need to set in front of Libervis Network in the future.

I hope to find this answer VERY soon now. And once I do, some exciting things might be getting done around Libervis Net, because I’ll be getting down to it right away! What’s to stop me? I have the goal, it is the right goal, I believe in it and I have the skills and interests to achieve it. All it needs is doing!

So you see, this “wishful thinking” is actually about things that will happen, as far as I’m concerned! Wooohoo!

Cheers

The rules, to be more specific, are not necessarily laws here, but rather those stupid social norms that often develop among people. I think a lot of them may be just stupid. There are such norms pretty much wherever you turn, in every community of any kind about any topic or profession. From web building to marketing to software development to various facets of culture… there are some norms to break.

What fuels this kind of thinking is pretty much a mixture of dissatisfaction with what I’ve done so far, a bit of anger about unmet expectations and a bit of rebellion towards.. the world.. who care what. Sometimes I feel it all sucks so I might as well plot a way to, one by one, ATTACK those freaking suckages.

And what better way to do it, maybe, than to go break some rules SHAMELESSLY and IN YOUR FACE, but in a domain of my own, where people can either join me or decline and remain in their precious status quo. We move along. They stay and lose. Haha!

There’s a meme for you.

Cheers