About Digital Amusement Exactly what is this site all about? I guess you could call it idea anarchy. DA proposes ideas, and you steal them for your own agenda. The end. If you've ever come up with a brilliant idea, been able to explain all the important aspects of it, but simply can not implement it because maybe you're lacking the necessary time, resources, or points of knowledge that would be able to make that awesome idea happen from start to finish. Well, instead of giving up and throwing that idea away, why not be able to explain all of that which you have conceived, and release it so maybe someone else who likes the idea, can make it happen, and you benefit by seeing the results? It's no ones' intellectual property, but if the idea does work out, you may get to see the idea actually take off by another party. What DA does is think, analyze, insert a few radical variables here and there, put it all together, and build upon the results. The imagination may be limitless, but we look hard trying to find whatever limits may be there. The ideas DA comes up with can be so far out there, they just don't make sense but for a moment in the mind of the creator (seriously! it's a crazy concept, but true). Grabbing as much of the escaping and fading information as possible, we begin to formulate and comprehend it's meaning. Explainations can be humorous, as the listener quietly questions the speakers' sanity. Few people are able to reach far enough in their mind to work with the given ideas and do something, anything useful with them. Just because you've read the material doesn't mean you're going to understand it (not to be condescending). But is that going to stop you from trying? Hack at the ideas until you've cracked them. DA is all about originallity. Finding new ways. We're pioneers. What we are not, are marketers, or clueless individuals living in a superficial world. We don't bow to people because they're "uncomfortable" or "offended". Members of DA are reasonable with a level of common sense unknown to unmentioned majorities. These are the facts. What we'd like to think DA is all about is creating crack ideas, exploiting them, making things happen, and having fun in the process. Adjective: crack - (informal) of the highest quality How DA works will probably seem strange at first. However, there's a method to the madness which may take a little bit of your time to understand. I'm going to do something that hasn't been done, or at least never implemented due to the risks involved, or personal greed. In fact, you know, this whole concept is a bit more than I can take. I quit. No wait! There is still hope! I've come up with the best idea yet. It's risky. No one else is doing it - I've done the research and checked. There are a few select close friends that I've initially shared this breakthrough idea with. They've agreed that I've come up with a Good Thing. So I implemented it! The concept is that DA supplies ideas, users hack them, and we all colaborate until the energy that fuels the idea is spent. In the meantime, you or someone else absorbing the ideas are pawing at your chin thinking "yeah...". Phone calls ensue, and people drop off the face of the planet for a while. Watch for a future press release. So things are moving along, but the current idea in effect is getting stale. A new idea is phased in, the last one is archived for future use. The bar graph above the feature column is showing the overall preformance of the idea in real time, so you know exactly where the idea currently stands in it's effectiveness. What? Is any of this even useful? Well, consider that the proposed idea on the site may not be directly useful to you, however your input may influence someone else with the right connections, in which the idea is developed upon, and brought back to you in some beneficial form or another. I'm banking on that I, you, all, benefit from the sharing of [radical/abstract/left field/unproven] ideas that have no other way to be known. I don't care if you're a rocket scientist, rainman, highschool student, prison guard, CEO, or some joe schmoe. Just have your facts straight, and don't be all condescending upon someone else because you think their idea is inferior. How's it going. I made this site. I did not use crayons. I did once catch a fish this big though. I want people with that higher understanding to find a home here. People that think. People with ideas. People that have no good means to make their thoughts count. Maybe you bumped into a janitor, conversated, and found he had better analytical skills questioning Shakesphere or whatever than most college professors. You learned something from him and never would have known better otherwise. Has that happened to you? Maybe you are that person. Maybe you're a nobody! HAHAHAHAHAHey wait a second! I'll give you a loose example. Now what if you came up with this grand idea because you were frustrated at wading through hundreds of ftp sites trying to download [stuff], and thought it would be so much easier if everyone just shared files/music/whatever through some program interface without the ftp bs, but you weren't a programmer and didn't know anyone that could do it? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. P2P file sharing is now mainstream cause someone had a good idea and put it to use. That's what I'm talking about - making things happen. Method to the Madness What I do is come up with some very unique ideas. Most of these ideas require far too many resources, and are simply too ambitious to execute without pure devotion to any single one of them. Worse yet, I'll come up with this brilliant idea for [whatever], and even try to do something with it. But what happens is in days, or months (sometimes even years for things unheard of), someone else beats me to the punch with a finished product, or applied the theory, or a new way to do the thing, and I'm left in the dust saying "but I..already..thought of that long before you..." and I'm sure I'm not the only person this happens to. Someone must have thought of the same thing at the same time and sic'd a team of people on it to make it happen. I don't have a team of people or have multi-million dollar investors. Fine. Then what I have decided to do in retaliation is dedicate one central location to take these ideas. Here, The Digital Amusement Network. Steal my ideas, take my intellectual property. Use them. Build upon them. Create other ideas from them. I'm your supplier of intellectual goods. My imagination becomes your reality. Now lets check out the flipside - I've got this great idea and want to protect it under law. Copyrights and trademarks do little but hinder someone else's creative flow, no matter what the corporate executives and polititians say to the media/judge. What, the lightbulb was invented over a century ago? Sorry Chuck, those materials have been there for eons and now someone finally figured out how to grind them up and paste them together to make a glowing glass jar. Now does the rest of living existance until the end of time owe you? I think you might want to go invent the flying leap. I give major respect to the creators of said ideas, but owning them under law and government enforced by a military is totally counterproductive. If someone can take your idea, you have a few options: either improve and do better, or let this other Joe Innovator work his magic. Don't sweat it. If your life is dependant on this one idea, then improve and do better! Competition is OK (unless you're greedy - excessive provable greed probably should be a criminal misdomenear at minumum, maybe considered a personal monopoly, that's my opinion). If and when you use these ideas, I expect you to have some tact about it. I know there's always going to be people trying to damage a good thing, or simply "fuck shit up". I'll deal with that as it comes. So I'm telling you to take my perfectly good ideas, and use them in a real world environment (where applicable - use common sense!). Is it a trap? Do I have an army of lawyers on standby, ready to sue you for taking my idea? Ha. Nope, lawyers are loophole generators. I'm giving it to you straight, I want you to use my ideas. I want you to build upon them. If you can't use them, then your own ideas that may have been spurred from the material presented could benefit someone else. Good ideas create better ideas. The better ideas are featured in the Flack column. But you probably won't find the best idea here - the best idea in my opinion is the idea that was implemented and tried. Einstein's Theory of Relativity meant nothing unless someone put it to use. What's in it for me? Or anyone else that works on DA? What exactly are we asking in return? In the present time, nothing. Long term, if you designed the next greatest [whatever] based on ideas found here, or if DA inspired ways to do [whatever] previously unthought, let us know - formally even. It would please us no greater than to be introduced to item X, something we could have never made based on finances and time, and see it working before our very eyes. My first example that always humors me: "What do you mean do I want to hop into the cockpit of this new prototype Mech and try it out? I've been ready for go-time since I packed my suitcase!" Slightly extreme, but you get the idea. Don't get me wrong either, big things are comprised of small things. It's the small things that make it all go, whatever "it" is. So little ideas count too, and yes, DA will feature small ideas (prefereably small ideas with much potential) as well as big ideas. How the Site Works! Item number one - links in the left side navigator: FAQ Frequently asked questions. Since the new site is in it's very early stages, I had to make up questions that might be appropriate. I even answered them too. Forums Don't know what a forum is? Then I suggest you get familiar with them. Don't be a stranger, sign in and post some comments. Crackhead It's controversial. It may be dangerous. 9 out of 10 doctors agree, but they're not sure on what. Strange things you will find here...strange things indeed. Random Various ideas not noteable enough to be featured. Maybe by some accidental means the idea will contain some hidden quality that brings it into the spotlight later. Or you can laugh at it's insignicance, either way. What? Email, flames, people speaking up about something, feedback that has no home on DA, etc. It's probably a good place to find stupid people and laugh at their ignorance. The internet is full of ignorant people, and no doubt some will find their way here. Friends of DA People outside of DA we like to associate with. Websites, places, people. A whole page of shoutouts. Distractions Anything that prevents the intended flow of work. When Doom3 is released, you can guarantee it'll be listed in there. Anarchy "I don't think the ranger is going to like this, Yogi" There is speculation as to how this section will turn out. Names withheld to protect the innocent. You can bet on some constructive fun though. Final notes This page will be around for a short while. I'll have information relating to the site design, what's functional and what needs work, anything I need to get out that pertains to the new site release. Item number two - header material on main page: The banner at the top - That image will be different as often as reasonable, with a new image taken from -somewhere-. That means DA chalked on the sidewalk, scraped on the wall, painted on item X, skywriting, spattered in babyfood, letters rearranged... artistic anarchy. FUN! We'll use any such banners submitted at our discretion. "Our imagination becomes your reality" - That DA's motto. About This page! Hope you read it and understood it. Features New things going on at/with/or on DA. Site updates, announcements, and news. You might want to check the features page out once in a while. Anything on or off site promoting DA material would be listed. Past ideas Phased out or burnt out idea archive. Find old material here. Involved This site doesn't run itself, and the website stork didn't just drop DA into the net. Meet the people that run and contribute to DA. The upper right area is for featured articles, or anything that deserves up-and-front attention. Item number three - the Flack column The Flack column is the direct compliment to the main column - the interactive feedback on the current idea. Spawned Material Users' ideas that were created in direct response to the current idea. These ideas been choosen to be featured as they appear to be better thought out, and have more relavence to the current idea. The admin currently makes the decision as to what contributed ideas will be featured. Rating Anyone can give their opinion on the idea at hand. Refer to the bargraph detail page as to what each of the numbers mean. This rating is run completely by you, the user. When a new idea is introduced, the users' idea graph will match the main idea graph. Links/Related Material You know about another location that has relevant information about the idea? Additional information? Proofs or disproofs? Anything that would relate to the idea can be presented here. Links are moderated. Comments Feedback about the idea, DA's use or interpretation of the idea, users' interpretation of the idea, etc. Implied limitations: pointless ranting or trolling won't cut it, intentially causing issues will not work either. Use common sense! Complaints are ok as long as they are relevant to something involving the subject material and have meaning. Comments are moderated. Stuff I Want To Mention But You Probably Don't Care About I believe that this is one of the most original, radical, different, and risky ideas of recent time. For me, the most important part is originallity. Next to that is FUN! I will enjoy what I'm doing. Lots of fun and interesting things to be found around the site. It seems like this is what DA was destined for. The phrase "Our imagination becomes your reality" was created back in '98. Only recently did it truly make sense. I've spent a great deal of time forging the very ideas that built the new site - be it the site content, the direction, design, etc. I absolutely loved the idea of giving away ideas that I'd never be able to implement. You, me, we all benefit somehow. It's a matter of giving up a piece of yourself that isn't even tangible. Now I know and knowing is half the battle, so take me to the home page, or email DA with further inqueries