Alexandria: Subscription-Based Lending Library?

The Pharos of Ptolemey at Alexandria

There's been this idea kicking around in my head for a couple weeks, and I wanted to throw it out there as a way of getting feedback and critique, because I honestly don't know what it would involve or whether copyright issues would preclude it. There are lots of different subscription-based services for music, audiobooks, movies, and TV shows, and I think that's done a lot to liberate culture in meaningful ways, but I think there's one area that's been left out (and perhaps for justifiable reasons like copyright). I call it Alexandria (or Xandria, for short). 

As you likely know, Alexandria was the site of the Great Library wherein the intellectual and spiritual wealth of the world was kept before it was sacked and burned. Xandira would play on that idea, providing unlimited access to the intellectual wealth of the ages through a subscription-based reading library. Rather than having a single or a few copies of books that people could check out, though (as is the case with most public libraries' online platforms), Xandria would provide access to any book in the archive at any time and to any number of users. Stewart Brand is credited with the digital culture mantra, "[I]nformation wants to be free," and while the intent is that information eventually be truly free--readily accessibly and at no cost--something like Xandria would be one step closer to opening the vaults of wisdom that have been if not shut then at least levied by modern publishing houses and copyright enforcers. 

Obviously, a lot of work would have to go into negotiating with copyright holders and looking into the legal plausibility of such an endeavor, but what are your thoughts on Xandria? Is this something in which you'd be interested? Have you heard of similar services? 

The Face Behind Emoticons

One of my deep dark secrets is that I overuse exclamation points when texting and emailing. The hardest part is, it's a conscious thing. I don't finish a text only to find that somehow T9 has changed every period to an exclamation point (though it does seem to enjoy turning my every instance of "happy" into "guppy"). Rather, I go through my texts and  substitute in exclamation points in place of any periods that might mistakenly convey disinterest or lack of excitement on my part.

It is almost certainly a neurosis. 

The thing is, I just worry that people will "read me" wrong, because there is so much more to communication than just words. Words are great--don't get me wrong--but in the end, they serve as only an approximation of the rich array of feelings and interactions that make up the human experience. There is an implicit loss in meaning and complexity as emotion and perception are distilled to concrete thoughts and and then reduced and quantified within the arbitrariness of words.

Interestingly, however, we have developed pretty interesting ways of putting humanity and meaning back into text-based communication through emoticons. Though in some sense text sterilizes human interactions, removing the verbal emotion that might be present, say, in a phone call or the visual communication implicit in a face-to-face conversation, we have found ways of inserting ourselves--or at least our faces--back into even the most restrictive or limiting textual environments. Combinations of otherwise independently meaningless punctuation marks have become, instead, textual extensions of the human body, reintroducing facial expression into a form that, because of physical separation, would otherwise be preclusive to such levels of communication. Through emoticons, we become capable of conveying a much broader range of emotion and expression, which provides in turn for a more pleasurable, more human interaction as a whole. Go ahead... tell me this isn't the case the next time you see a ;) in the King James Version of the Bible. I know I smile every time I see it. And okay, maybe "I'm sad" is a perfectly fine sentiment to express, but it can hardly compare to the simplicity and elegance of :(  I mean... look at that frown. That guy is really sad.

One class mate of mine remarked the other day, "Too bad there's not a font for sarcasm." The idea maybe sounds a little bit out of the ordinary, but maybe it's not too far-fetched. I mean, we have emoticons for emotion, italics and bold for emphasis, and all caps for people over 60 who text, so why not a font for sarcasm as well?

Pleasta Meecha

 Well, I was asked to write a blog post introducing myself for a class that I'm taking on John Milton, so I figured I would post it here as well just for fun. I am not a big guy on taking photos of myself, so any time I want to post one for a profile or whatever, I have to take one on the spot, so I've included an obligatory photo. I feel like when introducing themselves, most often people emphasize the same five or so things and then finish it all off with "something interesting" which invariably becomes nothing more than an extension of one of the first five things, so this time, I'm going to take a little bit of a different approach and share some things that not everyone might know. I hope you can get to know the everyday stuff about me from just regular interactions, here and in real life.

I am a technology enthusiast with reservations. I follow all sorts of cool new technologies, from transparent solar cells to 3D printers that can be used to print viable human tissue (to quote the oracle from Hercules, "...it's gonna be big"). I'm interested (though shamefully inexperienced) in lots of different forms of digital expression, from 2D art to filmmaking, and I'm really interested in reinterpretations of older forms, like spoken word poetry and the work of young and aspiring Youtube artists like Lindsey Stirling. It's secretly a dream to make a successful vlog or Youtube channel someday. I remain adamant, however, in my opinion that just because your phone is an egghead, mine doesn't have to be a "dumb phone" even though it's from 2005. I like a lot of the features of modern phones and stuff, but I know myself well enough to know that if I had a so-called "smart" phone, I would probably quickly get sucked into all the cool apps and other stuff. So, I stick with my museum-worthy RAZR. 

See, MSPaint isn't thaaaat bad...

Ever since I was 15 or so, I've wanted to develop a low-cost method of water purification for application in low-income areas. That's pretty much what made me want to study chemistry originally (that, and the prospect of going into food sciences and developing calorie-free Goldfish crackers so I could not feel bad about being practically addicted to them). I worked at a nature preserve for a summer and actually served on a municipal water council to raise awareness of water-born illness and to encourage "green" building techniques. Yep... closet hippie. Eventually, though, English called my name, so I can still be a hippie, just in different ways.