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Coming soon: how to unify writing base-2ⁿ in a single writing system

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I wonder whether I like Eevees because I genuinely really like them, or I'm just predisposed to liking them due to nominative determinism

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It was the most kiki of times, it was the most bouba of times…

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I'm on a pseudo-crusade to take back the alphabet, starting with the letter X. Wish me luck.

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There are two types of people in the world: those who've first seen the Standard Galactic Alphabet in Commander Keen, and those who've first seen it in Minecraft.

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the "imagination" gesture, but accompanied with the bionic/slow-mo sound effect

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fun fact:

2π (aka τ) in base-6 is approximately 10.14; and when rounded to the first six digits after the radix point, is 10.1411

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if anything, that's all the more reason for me to do math 😈

synesthesia culture is needing to take breaks from doing math because your brain sees it as the numbers “fighting” and gets overwhelmed

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is "militant Doodlebob" a mood? asking for a friend

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presented here are the values 0 to 36 expressed in the base-6 numbering system

base-6 (senary, aka heximal) represents numbers in many ways superior to base-10 (decimal), and even base-12 (dozenal), so much so that it is almost guaranteed to revolutionize how one views relationships between numbers, as well as the very mechanics of math in general

meet the glyphs! here are the digits for 0–5; as you may have noticed, I've designed some of them differently to give it more symbolic emphasis (after all, there are only 6 distinct digits, so there's plenty of room to work with) but it's still valid to continue with the same western Arabic numerals

0 — zero as is; can represent a place-value gap

1 — just one; the unit, self-explanatory

2 — drawn as either "V" or "Y"; think of twigs, or forks in the road; can also represent a third of a set; a pie radially cut into 3 wedges would have a "Y"-shaped cut

3 — drawn as "Э", "3", or as a circle opened to the left with a dot inside; the design choice is based on a stylized moon, as it can also represent half of a set

4 — drawn as an "L" with an upwards stroke on the lower-right end; based on a stylized sheet of paper (having 4 sides) with a folded corner

5 — drawn as though one would try to draw an "8" like one would an "S", and sometimes with one more stroke crossing the middle (absent in smaller font sizes); as the main stroke goes back and forth and back, this glyph generally represents a lot of something, as though piling almost uncontrollably in one's hands

there you go, your first steps into the world of base-6; don't worry if none of this sinks in right away, it's about to get all mathematical Fantasia up in here

more content to be posted later, stay tuned!

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what's this? a set of strange-looking symbols appeared! what could this mean?

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A preview of what's to come

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One brain, one dream?

What if literally everyone is really sharing the same brain after all, but the illusion of separation is due to dreaming in different "phases"? Is there a "Clark Kent effect" of some kind going on because of this?

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Oh hey, I’ve returned to Tumblr...?

Ay, this site’s dead. Or is it? Idk, I’m dead on the inside, so what does that matter?

Anyway, I’m kinda messed up here, and in a way most people could relate to. Imagine this: your spirit is powered by mainly gaming-related stuff, specifically, the quirks that made ‘90s and ‘80s games great. You, that one weirdo, project those aesthetics onto real life. It’s just how you express yourself. You can’t help it. You get this sense of vitality, this vibe, this energy from those quirks. Then you ask yourself “how could I use these quirks to make the world a better place?” So you begin to analyze each and every quirk.

Is it the font? The sound? The color? It’s as if every special effect had its purpose. You see nametags and HP bars floating over people’s heads. Every significant object had some comment or attribute to it. Is the world also a video game? That seems to be a common genre now. But you feel something special in this genre, like, the truth could be found with just the right kind of digging. At this point, this blog has become another rant...

You go through your teenage years having had possibly made a stupid comic or animated video series based on a now bygone meme. You feel you could make something big out of it. So, you “follow your heart”, or whatever they’re calling that.

College happens. A different blog of stories happen. At some point you could have sworn you’ve been sniped by Cupid himself, but you didn’t think much else of it from there. College goes by. Graduate? Drop out? No matter. You trudge on. Various things in life keep you from moving on with your plans with expanding your universe. “My work needs to be heard, but is the world ready?”

Now at a 9-to-5 job and burnt out bepyond recognition. What was I doing? Where was I going? No matter. Trudge on. Shut up and calculate. I just have to figure out my place in the universe. Dream about finding some weird rainbow source. Touch it. Wake up and hear about the n-hundredth mass shooting happening in your home region. What is this nonsense? Is the world doomed? It may be, but nah, I’m saving it. I’m the modern messiah, right? Idk.

Then you begin realizing some things. College? No college? I’ve seen things in different realms, most non-physical. Rant continues. I can’t scream. Something has to do the screaming on my behalf. Oh look, money troubles hit again. Plans? I don’t got none. Drugs? Pssh, who needs them when you’ve figured that everyone’s perpetually tripping balls? Am I losing my mind?

At that age where people expect you to be already married. Flying solo entire existence. Matter of fact, you’ve heard somewhere you don’t need a SO to complete your life. You resonate with that. Easy. Ok, so what the hell is this void? Shut up and calculate. And calculate. And calculate. Back in 3rd grade, those Minute Math sheets are your side dish for breakfast. Today, 4-digit prime factorization in your head. You’re watching Limitless on Netflix.

This void can’t be filled. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Best movie. Wizard of Speed and Time. Masterpiece. SVtFoE. Hooked in minutes. What do they have in common? That “thing” that fills your void. But then you feel this dread. Oh no, is “that” the solution to my life’s problems? No matter. Trudge on. Steven Universe. Season 5. Feel something loud yet familiar go off in your soul when Steven and Connie interact. It’s all in my head. Right?...

(end of part one of this rant. I gotta pee. I’ve had a bit to drink...)

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So here’s my personal theory on the Nintendo 3DS line...

Bear with me on this.

The New Nintendo 2DS XL was just announced. (I’m sold on the blue-black color scheme. 👌🏾) 

It’s a 3DSXL without the 3D, so it’s essentially a more powerful DS, among other things.

WHAT IF our timeline had split sometime after the DSi came out, let’s say, 2010-ish, and in alternate 2011, Nintendo announces a new console largely resembling this timeline’s newly announced system? (Of course, the specs would be respective of what’s available at that timeline). They would hail it as the successor to the Nintendo DS family, and call it the “Nintendo 2DS”, would they?

In that timeline, the 2DS would’ve never had the connotation of being “a 3DS without 3D.” The portable line would make more sense there, so it would go: Game Boy, GBC, GBA, DS, 2DS, 3DS, assuming alternate-Nintendo stuck with the naming convention and released its version of the “3DS”. More on that in a bit.

The 2DS, then, would have had its first impression as being “a more powerful DS with analog sticks, extra shoulder buttons, and a larger game library,” whereas the statement remains true in this timeline, but it won’t have as strong an impression, as it is a late addition of this timeline’s existing 3DS family.

And as for alternate timeline’s 3DS? The 2DS became a must-have portable system, and an XL version was released a year after. Then in alternate 2015, Nintendo announces a “3DS”. Tech-wise, it’s equivalent to this timeline’s New 3DS, including the stereo-3d. There were mixed reactions on the 3D (though the pun was appreciated, to which fans brewed up conspiracy theories), but the specs blew the 2DS out the water (amiibo support included). It also shared the 2DS’s games library, while having some of its exclusives.

Notably, the alternate nDS line up to present day would’ve been simpler: DS, DS Lite, DSi(XL), 2DS(XL). 3DS(XL). Somewhere in that alternate-universe, someone’s writing a blog speculating a universe where the 3DS came before the 2DS...

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What’s in a name?

If you think about it, names can be quite trippy. Sure it seems simple: shout “Yves!” and get my attention. But how does that work, really?

When you ask for someone’s name, what you’re really asking is “What is the configuration of your brain such that not only it merely responds to a certain vibrational pattern in this breathable medium, but also instinctively brings attention to the source of the vibration?”

When they answer “my name is ____,” what they’re saying is “make this specific vibration, ____, and you have my attention. Truncated variations of this pattern may exist (ie. nicknames).” They may also add, “I will also bring attention to a completely different pattern, but I use it mainly for electronic communication and electronic recreational activities (ie. screennames and gamertags).”

And then you ask how they spell their name. “Which ordered set of glyphs do you use to encode such identity?” They would then either spell it out, by either vocally identifying their component glyph names or by marking them with either graphite or by electronic means.

My name is simple yet so strange. It’s encoded in just four letters: ‘Y’, ‘V’, ‘E’, ‘S’, and arranged specifically as such. Even more mysterious is that the latter two glyphs are silent. This is because the name’s language of origin has pronunciation rules that greatly differ from my own, but that’s another topic. So what we get is something that’s just one syllable, composed of one vowel and one consonant: the close front unrounded vowel, /i/, followed by a voiced labiodenal fricative, /v/. That’s all there is. Any nicknames I’ve had are from people saying it wrong, and I’ve long since gotten tired of correcting them, so it sticks.

Even though we can identify people by name, many of us know more than one person of the same name. So we identify them further by nickname, hobby, place of origin, or a distinctive personal feature. When we talk of two people named Bob, for example, one may be referred to as “Bob from uphill” and the other as “Pineapple Bob”.

When you read out a word, you’re doing three things at once: reading the glyphs themselves, pronouncing the sounds they encode, and visualizing an image, if any, of whatever’s associated with what you read. The last bit is important, especially with names. Matter of fact, if none of the following apply, I’d forget your name literally within 5 seconds:

I already know someone else, real or fictional, by that name or something sounding like your name

I can easily associate your name with a thing, concept, or event

I can form a pun with your name; the stupider, the better

Your name/surname literally describes who you are or what you do

You look like either someone else I know, or a celebrity, or (especially) a fictional character (better for remembering faces than names)

I see you often and your name just osmosed into my memory

Your name evokes a strong emotion (ie. if I had a crush on or a rivalry with someone with your name, I’d be more likely to remember it.)

For example, when I read “Scizor”, I instantly think of the Pokemon species by that name, but I also visualize a pair of scissors. Whereas if I read a person’s name like “Annie”, I’d probably have trouble remembering. An image of a face won’t do; faces and names are mutually exclusive in memory, which is why we often remember one but not the other (what’s an “Annie” look like?). However, if Annie’s surname begins with an ‘S’, then I could associate “Annie S.” with an NES, something I could readily identify. This is why I could effortlessly remember the names of 700+ Pokemon, but would always forget the name of the classmate sitting right next to me.

But what about place names? Chances are, you only remember them by something visually or eventfully iconic about them, or by any stereotype about its inhabitants, or, less commonly, how they’re shaped on a map. “Los Angeles”? Hollywood sign and earthquakes. “New York”? Skyscrapers and Lady Liberty. “Rome”? Coliseum. “Brazil”? Fútbol and the Amazon forest. “Russia”? Onion-topped buildings, movie bad-guys, dashcam compilations, cold weather, and Putin. “Somalia”? Pirates and the number ‘7′ (its shape on the map).

Like people names, place names are hard to remember unless you associate it with something more tangible. (What’s a “washing ton dee see”? Why do I think of the White House instead of someone washing a ton of “dee-sees” whatever those are?) Again, puns work. (Wait, you live in the state of Missouri? Poor thing, what can I do to make you feel better?)

Same applies to technical terms and brand names, but that’s for a different blog...