Avatar / Image

[haselhurst]

Hello everyone,
I am wondering why Karene and i are the only people who have put our images up with posts.
Now I can understand why Karene is happy to do this (she is pretty) but I am a ragged middle aged philosopher (who hopes that beauty is more in the mind!).
So i figure if I can stick up a picture of myself then the rest of you can too. And i do think it helps in making the forum a bit more human and enjoyable.
We prefer that people use real images of selves rather than trendy images.
But any images are better than none!
Any thoughts?
Geoff

[robertkernodle]

As an artist, I like the mystery of not being seen. As a potentially future-famous artist in my own lifetime , I like the privacy of not being recognized in public.

I've always been reluctant to post static images of myself, since I adamantly practice the idea that a person is his/her motion. Now, my art is another matter entirely--- THAT's something I fully intend to be seen.

I usually post an image of art in place of my mug shot, but unfortunately I don't have one at the size requirements of your avatar and no photo-managing software at hand to resize.


Robert

[haselhurst]

Hi Robert,
Email us some of your images and we will format them at 80 * 80 using photoshop and email them back to you.
We both use Adobe Photoshop a lot (very good) so recommend it. But I think there is also free software on internet that will do the basics - just search in Google.
Geoff

[haselhurst]

Hello everyone,

I have spent a lot of the last week studying Search Engine Optimisation for phpBB software (which this forum uses).
Have learnt a lot and now I have finally finished all the mods to code that will greatly improve how this website is spidered by search engines (will have to wait about two months before we see the benefits of this in Google results though - but it is a huge improvement).

Anyway, while I backed up the database (which I do most days anyway) I forgot to backup directory that stores avatar images (different than database that stores posts).
So several people will have to re-upload their avatar images. Sorry about that, but i think the changes are pretty stable now, so there should not be any further problems.

And I really do hope that most / all people will do this, images are important on the internet (pages full of text are a bit full on!)

Geoff Haselhurst, Friday, 29th April

[monty mike]

This forum has a lot of potential, and the google searches will certainly help. It may take quite a while to get the initial bunch of members, but soon enough there may be thousands, who knows.

On a side note, but more to do with the topic, I always add my avatar after I register at any forum. Just a habit I guess....

[karene]

Hi monty mike,

Just wanted to say that I really like your avatar! Thanks for using it and brightening up the forum. I hope more people will do the same.

Cheers,
Karene

[9starave]

Hey karene,

how did you get your avatar to turn into a slideshow? Is it just a photoshop feature? I use Microsoft picture manager as my picture editor. I would like to try it on there, are there some guidelines to go about doing this?

[haselhurst]

I actually made Karene's image (she thinks it is a bit too much, but i like it).
I used either Premiere (video editor) or Flash (can't remember which) and added images and exported as an animated gif. And you need to keep file size down below 30 KBytes (that's why images are a bit grainy)

Search Google for creating animated gifs, there is probably some free software that does it if you don't have any.
Look forward to your results.
Geoff

[nmatrix9]

Iam a 25 year old male living in the U.S. specifically U.S., NC I prefer to keep myself incognito if you will since Iam a very private person (I wear a tinfoil hat to block the mind reading satellites in orbit . . .) . But I won't mind posting a avatar if it will help liven up the place a bit .

Cheers,
nmatrix9

[haselhurst]

Thanks, Nice attitude. And I like images on webpages.
I like privacy too, unfortunately I feel that as i am suggesting knowledge to world that I think is important, I have to show a public face & identity.
But i just really like hiding away in nature and having time to myself to read and think and write.
Your tinfoil shield made me smile. Humour is a nice friend in a crazy world.
Cheers,
Geoff

[Andym]

HI Guys

Late to this thread, as always, something you'll start to notice about me :)

My Avatar will keep changing as I progress through my collection of Mandalas, hope that's ok.

Andym

[Steve Anthony]

(I wear a tinfoil hat to block the mind reading satellites in orbit . . .)



I took the hat off, and most of my hair came with it, so watch out! - I think it's all a conspiracy, really, to reduce the number of 'hippies' in the world!

..It's the tin foil, maan! Watch out for the tin. It will stop at nothing to get us to send it into outer space so that it can colonize other worlds!


Ah, it's late, and I need my crayons...

Sri Nelson Mandala.

[Tim Bourke]

I guess I'm more like Geoff in that I don't mind posting my picture when prompted as per this post but hope that there is an inner beauty as not all middle aged males satisfy the aesthetic sensibilities externally...

Anyway, while I have my doubts about WSM as a physical theory I'm happy to be convinced otherwise given more details - to give more background on myself, I'm 43, married with one child, lived all my life in Canberra Australia, work in the Public Service in IT.

With that circumstantial stuff out of the way here's what I'm really interested in: I have an abiding interest in physics, mathematics, literature, novels, poetry, philosophy, music, spirituality, anthrophosophy, religion and lots of other stuff. Maybe too much with not enough time...

I have a lot of respect for the work of Rudolf Steiner and am a member of the Christian Community, which was founded in 1922 from indications he gave to a group of priests interested in renewing religion.

Earlier in my life I studied Physics, Maths and Theoretical Physics and that is one reason I was drawn to this site - I have always wondered how one could find a real, practical connection between the scientific and the "other" world of the humanities, art, literature, spirituality.

Anthroposophy gives many lifetimes of indications in that direction but is not prescriptive (fortunately for human freedom but unfortunately for the part of me that wants to be spoonfed simple answers).

Even earlier I was brought up in a rather friendly easy going "Church of Christ" which is a bit like the Baptists and has a different name in the U.S. There was a richness in the musical life of the church, mostly based on the old familiar Protestant hymns with a big resonant organ - as a result, music is in my bones but I've always been too lazy to study it for more than a few months at a time...

It also familarised me really thoroughly with the Bible and the beauty of the spoken and written word - something that my mother also sustained with her regularly reading stories to me and my three sisters every night.

Regards,
Tim Bourke

[haselhurst]

Hi Tim,

I think all philosophers would relate to this;

"the beauty of the spoken and written word - something that my mother also sustained with her regularly reading stories to me and my three sisters every night."

This was one of the first things that attracted me to philosophy. I first read Voltaire, Rousseau and Thoreau. All beautifully elegant with their use of language, combined with astute truths about life and the stupid ignorant brutality of our societies.

But all the great philosophers wrote beautifully. (Perhaps Plato, Hume, Nietzsche stand out in different ways).

I was brought up in a science / education kinda family, with occasional visits to a church when I was young.
My parents never really discussed religion, and I just grew up thinking evolution was obvious, thus most of what I know about religion (and its followers) just seemed silly to me.

I am now more aware of my past ignorance (I thought matter was made of particles) and that I am really a structure of the universe (the body is an illusion of the senses).
This is pretty much identical to Einstein's view, as both WSM and Relativity share the view that matter, forces, space and time are all one thing (Einstein used continuous fields in space-time, WSM uses waves in continuous space obviously - and this is more simple and explains Quantum Theory).

So I have a similar view to religion as Einstein - which is about understanding our connection to the world around us to enable us to live more wisely - that everything is interconnected and changing (dynamic unity of reality). This infinite space and its interconnected wave motions in its totality is what I would call 'God'.
We are all one with God (we do not need churches - we need philosophically enlightened science to determine the truth about our interconnected existence in Space).

We have some good knowledge on this.

http://www.spaceandmotion.com/theology-morality-god-world-religions.htm

http://www.spaceandmotion.com/albert-einstein-god-religion-theology.htm

My replies to your posts will likely be sporadic - I am trying to get over the hump in re-writing / simplifying spaceandmotion website.
Cheers.
Geoff

[SaneThinker]

On the topic of accompanying pictures (avatars, so called).
Well, maybe it's on account of being a bit lost but I don't see how to upload one!

On the "Full On" of text only:
I am only too pleased when I find a site that doesn't keep flashing images in my face. The only thing that spoils good text presentation is not enough "white space" but I hasten to add that "pastel shades" would be my preference.

And, after all, I know a picture is worth 1,000 words
(and maybe an experience is worth 1,000 pictures (me))
But doesn't a serious topic deserve an absence of distractions?

Anyway, personally, I prefer my text surrounding by just space, empty empty space with absolutely not a single particle in sight.

Paul E. Coughlin

[SaneThinker]

....I mean
(he continued, somewhat shamefacedly on account of not previewing before submitting)...

Pictures worth 1000 words
and
Experienc worth 1000 pictures (not anon, me)
But, just maybe just, in the context of my previous post..
Aren't the 1000 words enough, on their own, without pictures, without, espcecially animated gifs (beware, indeed, geeks bearing gifs, as they say)
So, please don't encourage avatars.

Sorry to be a damp squib on that one Phello Philosophers.

Paul E. Coughlin