-
+ {% include "components/svg/stack.svg" %}
check out the source code
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/_includes/components/landing/support.njk b/src/_includes/components/landing/support.njk
index 79d9fc2..8c2437b 100644
--- a/src/_includes/components/landing/support.njk
+++ b/src/_includes/components/landing/support.njk
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-
+
- {% for group in menu|selectattr("onHeader")|sort(false, false, 'order') %}
+ {% for group in menu|selectattr("inFlyout")|sort(false, false, 'order') %}
{{group.name}}
diff --git a/src/_includes/components/svg/big-tech-network-diagram.svg b/src/_includes/components/svg/big-tech-network-diagram.svg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b467231
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/_includes/components/svg/big-tech-network-diagram.svg
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+
diff --git a/src/_includes/components/svg/embassyos-network-diagram.svg b/src/_includes/components/svg/embassyos-network-diagram.svg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3aec546
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/_includes/components/svg/embassyos-network-diagram.svg
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+
diff --git a/src/_includes/components/svg/stack.svg b/src/_includes/components/svg/stack.svg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..38af720
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/_includes/components/svg/stack.svg
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+
diff --git a/src/_includes/components/svg/start9_basis.svg b/src/_includes/components/svg/start9_basis.svg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..edde344
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/_includes/components/svg/start9_basis.svg
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+
diff --git a/src/_includes/layouts/peripheral.njk b/src/_includes/layouts/peripheral.njk
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba02af3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/_includes/layouts/peripheral.njk
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+layout: layouts/base.njk
+---
+
+
+
+{{ content | safe }}
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/about.njk b/src/about.njk
index 0adbfbe..9373bb4 100644
--- a/src/about.njk
+++ b/src/about.njk
@@ -1,161 +1,184 @@
---
title: About | Start9
-layout: layouts/base.njk
+layout: layouts/peripheral.njk
---
{# #}
-
-
-
Privacy and
- free speech are fundamental human rights and essential ingredients for a free society.
-
Human history demonstrates that, when entrusted to others, these rights are invariably denied, resulting in great
- suffering. As such, it is necessary for individuals to protect their own privacy and right to speak freely.
-
-
Fortunately, modern technologies, in the form of personal computers, encryption, and open, decentralized network
- protocols such as the Internet and Bitcoin, make this a real possibility.
-
-
What is needed is a revolution in personal computing away from the current, hosted, custodial model that breeds
- dependency and corruption, towards a decentralized model, where individuals have absolute control over their data and
- communications.
-
-
-
mission
-
To eliminate the need for trusted third parties in the human/computer relationship.
-
-
-
values
-
-
- This list of values is not comprehensive. It does not encapsulate all the values of all the members of Start9.
- Instead, we attempt to enumerate those values which represent the fulfillment of our mission and which are practically
- within our ability to achieve.
-
-
decentralization
-
Centralized systems act as single points of failure and are susceptible to corruption. Decentralized systems afford
- greater robustness and soundness guarantees.
-
openness
-
Everyone should have permissionless access to computing resources and tools, unrestricted by geography, ethnicity, or
- belief.
-
community
-
The human experience is richest when shared amongst individuals who possessing common beliefs, values, and
- activities, and that computers should facilitate the formation of communities.
-
privacy
-
There are four reasons that privacy is necessary for a free society and proper human existence: privacy (1) promotes
- creativity and experimentation by minimizing the risk of embarrassment; (2) protects valuable information from theft and
- extortion; (3) enables the diffusion of contrarian ideals and ideas; (4) serves as an insurance policy against the
- future, in the event that what is acceptable today becomes unacceptable tomorrow.
-
independence
-
Being dependent means being unable to survive on your own. Like a child, it means needing others and relying on them
- to provide for you, thus granting them power over you. A free and dignified human existence demands self-reliance: the
- ability to think and act with efficacy to obtain one’s needs.
-
-
-
virtues
-
- Below are the virtues or qualities of character needed to achieve our values and accomplish our mission.
-
-
-
Audacity
-
A willingness to take bold risks.
-
Tenacity
-
Fierce determination and relentless effort.
-
Excellence
-
Setting high standards and never settling for less.
-
courtesy
-
Treating others politely, with kindness and due respect.
-
generocity
-
providing beyond what is necessary or expected.
-
fortitude
-
Having courage in the face of pain or adversity.
-
integrity
-
The virtue that underlies all others. The quality of being whole and genuine, intact and unbroken, internally
- consistent, and adhering to principle in all cases.
-
-
-
origin story
-
-
- Pokemon is a game for Gameboy.
- Twitch is a live video streaming app. “Twitch Plays Pokemon” was a popular phenomenon where Twitch users would
- collaborate to play a SHARED game of Pokemon on Gameboy. Here’s how it worked:
-
Participants would use the Twitch message board to enter commands that then got executed in the gameplay. For
- example, if someone entered the command “right”, that would cause the player to move 1 space to the right. Commands
- would execute immediately after they were received, and anyone could enter a valid command at any time. You can think of
- Twitch Plays Pokemon as the more practical equivalent of placing a Gameboy in the middle of a crowded room and telling
- everyone to push buttons at the same time. As you might expect, the gameplay of Twitch Plays Pokemon was quite
- “twitchy”, but in a very “infinite monkey theory” way, progress could eventually be made.
-
- In an effort to streamline play, a new game mode was devised in which players would “vote” for the next
- command and, every 4 seconds, whatever command received the most votes over the previous 4 seconds would execute in the
- game. Also introduced in this mode was the ability to attach multipliers to a command, such that the command would
- execute that number of times. For example, “right2” would cause the player to move 2 spaces to the right. “right3” would
- cause the player to move 3 spaces to the right, and so on. The highest number any participant could place after a
- command was 9, meaning whatever command they entered would execute 9 times. As you might expect, gameplay in this mode
- was less chaotic, more efficient, but it also meant each participant had less direct and immediate influence over the
- game. If a group of even 5-10 got together and colluded on their votes, they could practically take over the game and
- make contrarian ideas irrelevant. The new game mode was called “Democracy”, and the original game mode became known as
- “Anarchy”. Which game mode was engaged was itself governed by a democratic process: if more participants wanted to play
- in Democracy mode, then Democracy mode engaged; if more wanted to play in Anarchy mode, then Anarchy mode engaged.
-
To summarize:
- in Anarchy mode, everyone had equal influence over the game, but progress was slow and clunky. In
- Democracy mode, progress was fast and efficient, but colluding groups could marginalize individual participants and ruin
- the game for them.
-
So… individual participants
- discovered a means of effective protest
- whenever Democracy mode became suffocating, but they could not garner enough votes to switch back to Anarchy mode.
- Someone would type the command “start9” into the comments. This command meant “open the start menu 9 times in a row”,
- which, as you might imagine, would be enormously disruptive if executed. The entire screen would be blocked by the start
- menu, over and over. Typing “start9” was a participant’s way of signaling to other participants that they felt
- marginalized by Democracy mode, and they were ready to fight back. If others felt the same, they could also begin typing
- “start9” - then, sure enough, “start9” would finally receive more votes than the colluding group’s command, and the menu
- opening would begin. Every 4 seconds, the menu would open 9 times…again, and again, and again…until finally, the
- colluding group would be forced to either cooperate in reverting the game mode back to Anarchy mode or quit altogether.
-
Playing in Anarchy mode was impractical, but people did not want to play a game where they had no voice, where a
- group of insiders had taken total control. And so
- “start9” became the battle cry of the individual, the out-group, a means of signaling to other
- individuals that it was time to fight back against the usurpers - to use their own rules against them, until there was
- no alternative but to return control to the individual participants.
Privacy and free speech are fundamental human rights and essential ingredients for a free society.
+
Human history demonstrates that, when entrusted to others, these rights are invariably denied, resulting in great
+ suffering. As such, it is necessary for individuals to protect their own privacy and right to speak freely.
+
+
Fortunately, modern technologies, in the form of personal computers, encryption, and open, decentralized network
+ protocols such as the Internet and Bitcoin, make this a real possibility.
+
+
What is needed is a revolution in personal computing away from the current, hosted, custodial model that breeds
+ dependency and corruption, towards a decentralized model, where individuals have absolute control over their data and
+ communications.
+
+
+
mission
+
+
+
+
+
+
To eliminate the need for trusted third parties in the human/computer relationship.
+
+
+
+
+
+ {# #}
+
+
+
values
+
+
+
+
+
+ This list of values is not comprehensive. It does not encapsulate all the values of all the members of Start9.
+ Instead, we attempt to enumerate those values which represent the fulfillment of our mission and which are practically
+ within our ability to achieve.
+
+
decentralization
+
Centralized systems act as single points of failure and are susceptible to corruption. Decentralized systems afford
+ greater robustness and soundness guarantees.
+
openness
+
Everyone should have permissionless access to computing resources and tools, unrestricted by geography, ethnicity, or
+ belief.
+
community
+
The human experience is richest when shared amongst individuals who possessing common beliefs, values, and
+ activities, and that computers should facilitate the formation of communities.
+
privacy
+
There are four reasons that privacy is necessary for a free society and proper human existence: privacy (1) promotes
+ creativity and experimentation by minimizing the risk of embarrassment; (2) protects valuable information from theft and
+ extortion; (3) enables the diffusion of contrarian ideals and ideas; (4) serves as an insurance policy against the
+ future, in the event that what is acceptable today becomes unacceptable tomorrow.
+
independence
+
Being dependent means being unable to survive on your own. Like a child, it means needing others and relying on them
+ to provide for you, thus granting them power over you. A free and dignified human existence demands self-reliance: the
+ ability to think and act with efficacy to obtain one’s needs.
+
+
+
virtues
+
+
+
+
+
+ Below are the virtues or qualities of character needed to achieve our values and accomplish our mission.
+
+
Audacity
+
A willingness to take bold risks.
+
Tenacity
+
Fierce determination and relentless effort.
+
Excellence
+
Setting high standards and never settling for less.
+
courtesy
+
Treating others politely, with kindness and due respect.
+
generocity
+
providing beyond what is necessary or expected.
+
fortitude
+
Having courage in the face of pain or adversity.
+
integrity
+
The virtue that underlies all others. The quality of being whole and genuine, intact and unbroken, internally
+ consistent, and adhering to principle in all cases.
+
+
+
origin story
+
+
+
+
+
+ Pokemon is a game for Gameboy.
+ Twitch is a live video streaming app. “Twitch Plays Pokemon” was a popular phenomenon where Twitch users would
+ collaborate to play a SHARED game of Pokemon on Gameboy. Here’s how it worked:
+
Participants would use the Twitch message board to enter commands that then got executed in the gameplay. For
+ example, if someone entered the command “right”, that would cause the player to move 1 space to the right. Commands
+ would execute immediately after they were received, and anyone could enter a valid command at any time. You can think of
+ Twitch Plays Pokemon as the more practical equivalent of placing a Gameboy in the middle of a crowded room and telling
+ everyone to push buttons at the same time. As you might expect, the gameplay of Twitch Plays Pokemon was quite
+ “twitchy”, but in a very “infinite monkey theory” way, progress could eventually be made.
+
+ In an effort to streamline play, a new game mode was devised in which players would “vote” for the next
+ command and, every 4 seconds, whatever command received the most votes over the previous 4 seconds would execute in the
+ game. Also introduced in this mode was the ability to attach multipliers to a command, such that the command would
+ execute that number of times. For example, “right2” would cause the player to move 2 spaces to the right. “right3” would
+ cause the player to move 3 spaces to the right, and so on. The highest number any participant could place after a
+ command was 9, meaning whatever command they entered would execute 9 times. As you might expect, gameplay in this mode
+ was less chaotic, more efficient, but it also meant each participant had less direct and immediate influence over the
+ game. If a group of even 5-10 got together and colluded on their votes, they could practically take over the game and
+ make contrarian ideas irrelevant. The new game mode was called “Democracy”, and the original game mode became known as
+ “Anarchy”. Which game mode was engaged was itself governed by a democratic process: if more participants wanted to play
+ in Democracy mode, then Democracy mode engaged; if more wanted to play in Anarchy mode, then Anarchy mode engaged.
+
To summarize:
+ in Anarchy mode, everyone had equal influence over the game, but progress was slow and clunky. In
+ Democracy mode, progress was fast and efficient, but colluding groups could marginalize individual participants and ruin
+ the game for them.
+
So… individual participants
+ discovered a means of effective protest
+ whenever Democracy mode became suffocating, but they could not garner enough votes to switch back to Anarchy mode.
+ Someone would type the command “start9” into the comments. This command meant “open the start menu 9 times in a row”,
+ which, as you might imagine, would be enormously disruptive if executed. The entire screen would be blocked by the start
+ menu, over and over. Typing “start9” was a participant’s way of signaling to other participants that they felt
+ marginalized by Democracy mode, and they were ready to fight back. If others felt the same, they could also begin typing
+ “start9” - then, sure enough, “start9” would finally receive more votes than the colluding group’s command, and the menu
+ opening would begin. Every 4 seconds, the menu would open 9 times…again, and again, and again…until finally, the
+ colluding group would be forced to either cooperate in reverting the game mode back to Anarchy mode or quit altogether.
+
Playing in Anarchy mode was impractical, but people did not want to play a game where they had no voice, where a
+ group of insiders had taken total control. And so
+ “start9” became the battle cry of the individual, the out-group, a means of signaling to other
+ individuals that it was time to fight back against the usurpers - to use their own rules against them, until there was
+ no alternative but to return control to the individual participants.