Panphage Pangenitor

So I’ve been playing in Second Life a bit lately again, and I’ve decided to revisit my Munje project. Below is a stream of consciousness unedited, so it’s a bit rambly.

Munje is basically a thin virtual world server which you can run on any device, and a relatively thin agregator system, with a viewer which connects to the agregator and allows you to interact with the world. It’s sort of like a 3d MOO, sort of like Second Life, sort of like a gibsonian cyberspace environment. The key bit, though, is that it is thin enough to run on any computer, server or device to provide an interactive environment that is not much more heavy than a shell session.

I’m much older since the last time I dug this stuff up, and so my view has radically changed as to how this must work. I realize now that the platform is the important bit, the API. I realize that while Second Life is really amazing, and a pretty cool platform, it’s also extremely limited because it implements the world as a sort of self contained game world, not as an environment. All apps are contained within the world, and integration with ‘outside’ is very spare.

Munje must be a defined platform, with an API. Not a heavy system like a sort of X windows for 3d, but an environment for interaction, light on the browser side, light on the server side, with the power coming from the apps written below them. Providing a local API so that the practicality of things like server management, data visualization and every day usage is very high, with no emphasis on game, world-like realism, or any of that. This is truly the Metaverse, a cyberspace environment.

How this should work

Multi-layering. A viewer/browser which contains a local virtual world server in it. Applications can expose interfaces to the server as a stream of bidirectional commands. The viewer provides an API for local applications to expose VR interfaces. Applications like terminal programs, browser surfaces, etc could be provided. Could act as an X window manager to also seamlessly integrate X apps. A protocol stack exists to ‘stitch’ remote VR servers into the local one. They may also be stitched multiple remote resources. This provides a continuous bidirectional environment. Remote viewers could enter the local computer through the stitchings if allowed. The browser can handle rendering any way it wants. Generally it would recieve a geometry list with meshes, textures, CSG/parametric objects and cache them in a local file, letting the user interact with them. Each object would be composed of a set of such items, and would have a home address so that updates and interactions would be subscribed to. For example, if an application has a cube which changes color based on server load, the browser could subscribe to the updates at which point any time an active connection exists to the object, it would transmit updates to any subscribed clients. Intermediate VR servers/reflectors could aggregate this to reduce origin load.

I suppose that servers could provide static geometry / internally scripted objects as easily as API-based objects. Should probably have some sort of pull method of grabbing large files like complex non-parametric geometry and textures (HTTP) so that browser-caching etc. would work exactly like web browsing.

The viewer protocol would need to support a sort of game-like connection to a server. The servers would handle interserver comms, caching, etc. Similar to how an IRC channel exists on multiple servers simultaneously, the virtual environment would be stitched from many confederated servers, all passing events around. We could support non-confederated operation as easily, simply point your viewer at the server and it works. Confederation vs. nonconfederation just a matter of stitching.

Organ ism

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 23:55:58 -0400

Mind buffers only moments thoughts buffet concept buffet all you can eat what a treat to sidle up and snack but it’s pretty whack what flows through like blood in a flood of points bright and shining like stars above my head warm sweet bread organ meat squishy home of my I the only Eye with which I see.

rusnov.net reborn

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:12:08 -0500

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of my own mama chao, rusnov.net is now a superkeen cyberpunk crazytown, awesome! The classic rusnov.net posts will return eventually but for now it’s all my tumblr posts because I moved to tumblr. Coming soon, project pages and cool animated widgets.

This is a track by a friend of mine which is experimental.

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:55:06 -0500

This is a track by a friend of mine which is experimental.

Body Code (Drew Berry, 2003) (via H4K16Ac) this is a really...

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:18:39 -0500

Body Code (Drew Berry, 2003) (via H4K16Ac)

this is a really amazing animation which I can’t believe that I missed until now. I especially like the transcription machine, really beautiful nanotech when selection occurs at the molecular level.

Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine - The Long Now

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 11:15:29 -0500

Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine - The Long Now

Shot through a quantifying spectroscope. Only $9 on Amazon,...

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:35:16 -0500

Shot through a quantifying spectroscope. Only $9 on Amazon, totally worth it since I found out that the RGB color model is a scam perpetrated by our nervous system. This is of course for Pykxil project, but also fun for, in this case, checking out just how True Color the True Color CFL lamps I have are (there are still noticeable peaks in the spectrum but a lot of the gaps are full, it’s actually pretty flat compared to other CFLs - except for that huge gap between green and red).

Biodiesel for the Dissopunk Era (Chemistry is Awesome!)

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:05:32 -0500

So you’re in a post apocalyptic environment and you really want some diesel fuel for your souped up pursuit car. Well, the easiest thing would be to modify the motor to run off of SVO (straight vegetable oil), but if you really want to stick to the diesel toolchain, here’s some useful tidbits.

First and foremost, you will need a source of wood, seashells or limestone, water and salt (NaCl). You will also need a pure alcohol (produced easily from many sugar sources and yeast, with a distillation step) and of course vegetable oil (olive, corn, or my favorite Jatropha curcas).

Now produce a strong base (Potassium Hydroxide). First produce potash (potassium carbonate) by baking wood ashes in a kiln. Next, produce calcium hydroxide by heating limestone or seashells in excess of 825 °C until the calcium oxide is liberated and mixing with water. KOH is then produced by mixing the two above reagents in water and boiling until calcium carbonate (a useful byproduct) precipitates. You now have a solution of KOH which needs to be evaporated and dried thoroughly.

With KOH in hand, you have everything you need to produce biodiesel. The KOH and alcohol are mixed, then added to the vegetable oil and heated. After a while all of the lipids are transesterificated, and you have some dirty, wet and soapy biodiesel with glycerin (another useful byproduct) precipitating out of it and settling to the bottom of the reaction vessel. At this point it is generally recommened that the product be reacted with an acid (bonus reagent, see below for production) to remove any excess base (I believe this helps remove any soaponified fats also). The extra alcohol is removed by distillation. The soap and other impurities can be washed out with water (diesel is lighter than water, so the water will dissolve the soap, and sink to the bottom).

Bonus reagent! To produce a strong acid from nothing, you will need a source of salty water and a source of electricity (solar, wind, thermoelectric or biodiesel generator). Electrolizing the salty water gives you access to hydrogen and chlorine gas (and sodium hydroxide), which will form hydrogen chloride when combined in an exothermic reaction. The NaOH byproduct could be used instead of the KOH above.

All of the above is based on a shallow research. There may be easier/more sustainable (we’re talking a process in which access to very limited technology isn’t a huge issue) processes for many parts of this (for example, I know that potassium carbonate is alcohol insoluable so it can’t be used for the biodiesel transensterfication, but what about calcium hydroxide? would save some steps). I’ve only limited chemistry experience but I find it terribly interesting. If you have any corrections or suggestions for the racecar-driving desert dweller with a lot of glassware and kilns feel free to comment. This post was inspired by the Universal Nut Sheller which was partially designed to shell the Jatropha curcas nut for oil production and got me thinking about how you could give them full biodiesel production with very little equipment and resources. It was also inspired by the awesome book Caveman Chemistry. Incidentally I’m to believe that the production of polyester is similar to that of biodiesel, and the above could be adapted to produce plastics in a dissopunk way too.

sky and ground the same dark, pale and dreary light cast silent, the winter morn.

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:38:30 -0500

sky and ground the same dark, pale and dreary light cast silent, the winter morn.

My architectural style in Minecraft has thus far been what I...

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:41:17 -0500

My architectural style in Minecraft has thus far been what I would describe as “Evil Wizard”.

Saturn's North Pole Hexagon Mystery Solved? : Discovery News

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:05:06 -0500

Saturn's North Pole Hexagon Mystery Solved? : Discovery News:

This is old but it’s so fucking pretty. I looooove fluid dynamics and that we can see this eternal consistency in the universe. SCINCE IS AWESOME.

Thankskilling trip report: Delicious failure

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:06:54 -0500

Only a few things worked out the way we expected, but in the end it was delicious enough to overcome any true disappointment. The life of a gourmand demands that one enjoy what is offered despite expectations!

First and foremost, we actually watched the movie ThanksKilling, which was a success. This little gem has ONE STAR on Netflix to my astonishment: even the most horribly boring home movie-esque bullshit movies have at least two, generally; what is even more astonishing is that it’s actually pretty good. It’s one of those bad movies that knows its bad and doesn’t make an effort to appear to be serious or good, kind of like if Hobgoblins had been actually funny. Also unnecessary nudity, unnecessary turkey sex, and while the one-liners were super cheesy, they were milieu-appropriate.

Next failure started with the ritual poultry killing. For some reason I decided that Cornish hens would be the way to go, so we brined them and roasted them in accordance with what little discussion we could find on this technique (and based on a perfect,-absolutely-perfect chicken roast earlier in the week). When they were done they looked delicious and the potatoes were perfect. Initial tastes were positive, but as we ate them we relized that they were WAY overbrined, and super salty. Still edible and good, but too salty.

The stuffing posed another layer of failure, as we had not made the particular brand that we made this time. Expecting a stuffing that did not require actually being stuffed, we made it in a pan, and added extra water so it would be the right texture. Unfortunately, but somewhat predictably, it tasted like wet bread. Fortunately, and unpredictably, slathering it with pan drippings and eating it with onions and bird meat made it taste almost exactly correct. Who’da thought it.

The dessert was a new and interesting experience. We decided that povitica would be a good dessert to make as I had strong associations with it and family situations on my much-estranged dad’s side. Bonnie decided that a cinemon roll dough would be easier than an egg (something we’ve failed in the past) or yeast (time consuming) dough. Seemed reasonable. The filling was made with hazel nuts and tasted perfect, dough rolled, barely fit in pan, no problem: except that dough rises, cooking things expand and escape, and the oven is very hot around the elements, sugary syrups burn with black choking smoke. It was right before nap time too, but thankfully the monsters survived just fine. We eventually cleaned out the oven, recooked the povitica in separate containers, and it came out without further incident. The dough isn’t right though, it tastes jus like biscuits, when really it’s supposed to be almost a smooth bready cake. Tastes really good though. A worthy cooking experiment.

In the end we all passed out various times, slept for most of the day and night after wards, punctated by activity. Most things seemed to have gotten put away, the kids seemed to have gotten put to bed, everybody seems OK now. Success.

GOOCH in progress attempt 1billion. (AVR based MIDI sequencer)....

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 10:11:00 -0500

GOOCH in progress attempt 1billion. (AVR based MIDI sequencer). Recreational circuit routing!

Code Style: Font stack builder:

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:14:02 -0500

Code Style: Font stack builder::

This is seriously useful for building up font stacks (includes info about which fonts are supported and such too! awesome)

These are my favorite plants ever. Romanesco (full) (by Nick...

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 13:05:47 -0400

These are my favorite plants ever.

Romanesco (full) (by Nick Rusnov)

Awaked!

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:56:48 -0400

So I started reading The Forgotten Genius about one of my heroes, Robert Hooke, a rather amazing polymathic scientist from the 17th century (look him up!). The book is excellently written, and only $4 in the nook store! (My other heroes include Richard P. Feynman, Greg Graffin and Adam Savage [totally not a nerd]).

In lieu of sleeping

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:42:40 -0400

During an alpha-wave spaceout during naptime yesterday, I started composing a, well it’s sort of a grandiose techno song. ALso it seems depressing but it’s supposed to be uplifting. Lyrics:

You are going to die.

YOU are going to DIE.

You are going to die and all your stuff will still be here.

You are going tho die and no one will remember you.

You are going to die, and so will everyone you know.

You are going to die and nothing will be left of you.

You are going to die and the very concept of your life will be bizarre and meaningless to those who come later.

You are going to die and someday in the blink of the universe’s eye, every atom that once made you will return to the center of a star.

You exist because billions of years ago a star exploded.

You exist because billions of years ago a star was born.

You exist because for billions of years, minute swirls of complex chemical reactions have been born and died.

You are a minute, meaningless chemical reaction, like a cinder in a raging fire.

You are going to die. What will you do before then?