Technology

Introduction

Technology describes context, not content, so for someone to say that they're "into technology" is far less descriptive than someone saying that they're "into words". Sadly, you can probably conclude that the modern tech enthusiast does not enjoy studying Native American technological innovations, or trying to optimize image compression algorithms. You can safely conclude that person is proclaiming their identity as a consumer.

I could reference plenty of other evils that motivate me to improve my level of technological independence: avoiding subscription models, monopolies, survelliance capitalism, consumerism, gameified addiction cycles, identity theft, poor design / ugliness, spiritual poison, and more. But, I am an optimist and my spirit cannot be crushed. I'm mostly interested in it because it's just so fun.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the potential to permissionlessly implement and cheaply replicate my ideas at mass scale is one of my reasons for living.

Engineering Opportunities

Data Management - Is there system or application that will enable me maintain my data even after I die? If not, how can I build it? Ideally, it is something that is built on core technologies (i.e., once functioning, does not require constant upkeep, like HTML documents), self-hosted, accessible via internet-enabled devices, and secure.
Notebooks - what sustainable ecosystem exists for note taking? (i.e., private, cross-compatiable, perhaps accessible from any internet-connected system, not reliant on proprietary technology, safe enough to maintain personal documentation like passports, birth certificates, ssns, and ids) Seriously, why the fuck can't you make folders on Google Docs? Why don't popular OS's come with hypertext-enabled text editors?
Noise Pollution - As I believe that a proper auditory diet is necessary to human flourishing, I believe that noise pollution is wielded as a spiritual weapon by devilish individuals. Public transportation used to be a meditative experience. Search up "1970s Grocery Store Music" to see just how impoverished we are today. Keeping a pair of noise-cancelling headphones on me feels like a wildly inelegant solution (although probably the best idea I've had thus far), because they are generally unfashionable, weighty, and expensive. The solution feels unscaleable and also charging electronic devices is annoying.
Make Cryptocurrency Work for Normal People - I believe that the design underlying Monero forms better solutions to many economic problems than Central Banking does. (really, it disables the ability to cause problems.) The problem, though, is that at present it only works if you're a massive nerd. Monero's Windows GUI installer file, for example, is automatically flagged, quarantined, and deleted by Windows Security. No regular person is going to turn off an anti-virus, let alone learn what SHA 256 is, how to verify files, etc. Anyone who seriously believes in the potential of these technologies cannot ignore what a great impediment this is. Your Grandma couldn't use it (yet).
The "This is an External Link" Symbol isn't Unicode - Literally why not? We have this one, though: ⍼. It's called "Angzarr", and nobody knows why it exists. 𐩕 - Tell me when you'd use this? Japanese also has "妛" & "彁", ghost characters that literally have no meaning. I think some people have fought for the external link character to be included, but nothing really came of it.

Projects

I've only created two projects but they are non-trivial by my design standards.

Machinepack Research & Development - the website that you're currently viewing
Readable Web - a browser extension that edits website typography for a better screen reading experience.

Additional Links

Tech Independence

https://sive.rs/ti - achieving technological independence

https://landchad.net - non-bloated web-hosting tutorials

https://www.vultr.com/ - cheaply purchase some space in server farm. access it remotely and host your own files.

Cryptocurrency / Monero

https://github.com/monero-project/research-lab/blob/master/whitepaper/whitepaper.pdf - monero white paper