Getting there on recursion, there on recursion, on recursion, recursion

I still have a lot of details to figure out but I almost have recursion nailed. It’s a pretty brutal mental exercise to combine it with the existing radial symmetry & tessellations. As I’ve said before, one of the effects I seek in particular is that of a growing plant. In fact, I plan on dedicating a facet of Mandalagaba to guided drawing for just that. The adjustment of parameters which is very specific for getting a plant will be taken care of, and only the fun parts will remain. A perfect tool for the slacktivists who wants to feel like they’re helping greening up the world while staying glued to their screen.

I sometimes feel bad that so many people find stress, anxiety and even depression relief drawing mandalas on Mandalagaba. I feel like an enabler for giving them such a meaningless escape valve, on a screen at that. As much as I love a plant growing effect, I’m worried people will use it to get their virtual green fix while further removing themselves from nature. Get off your screens, grow an actual plant if you want to grow a virtual one.

Thermosiphon Butterflies

The thermosiphon has been proving itself this whole Winter. It’s quickly becoming one of the best features of our house design and it’s not hard to imagine why. 100% passive & efficient air circulation taking heat from the stove to every nook and cranny of the house. No power, no fan, no duct.

As a bonus, it animates decorative butterflies. Now I don’t really care about the butterflies; I only like seeing them as an indicator of the free work our house is giving us. They’re a great analog anemometer.

Web Omnipresence with Docker, VPN & Squid proxying

Here’s a method for having several browser windows proxying through several countries concurrently.

Demo

Working Principle

Requirements

  • a VPN service supporting OpenVPN as a client (this example uses vpntunnel)
  • Docker
  • Firefox
  • MacOS isn’t a requirement per se but this guide & accompanying scripts are written for it.

Setup Steps

  1. Download this package containing Dockerfile build instructions & some scripts.
  2. Populate the directory “openvpn_config_files/” with the ovpn files from the VPN service you use.
  3. Edit the script called “vpn” and replace <VPN_SERVICE_USERNAME> and <VPN_SERVICE_PASSWORD> with your username and password.
  4. Run with “./omnipresence.sh <name_of_ovpn_file>”