What would you like to see at this domain?
I’m open to good ideas, so please use the Comment form below to let me know your thoughts. Unless you’re bat-sh*t cray-cray, the world will be soon able to read your ideas and offer comments on them.
Well, it’s been almost 40 years, but… what the heck: I’ve decided to launch another website at LSD.com (it’s been a decade or two). I’m working with a Nonprofit ISP currently under delelopment and it benefits a 501c3 human rights security R&D organization. Any proceeds from the various wonderful services here will be in the form of your tax-deductible donations to further their public benefit work on protecting your human rights and civil liberties in the digital realm.
We will launch some online services here soon, like a chatserver (using RocketChat). There will also be a service whereby you can have your own personal email address @LSD.com, a mailing list people can subscribe to and maybe your own custom hostname, your image gallery, etc. We’re hoping to make it easy for people to have their own blogs and other nifty stuff like that, all for a tiny tax-deductible microdonation you won’t even notice. There will also be service to help protect the privacy of Donors as they surf the web, like an http/https proxy server.
So, let me know… what service or feature would be great at LSD.com. You could also share any great ideas about what (or what not?) to do here. I’ll respond to the most interesting and constructive ideas. Maybe we’ll even implement your idea and put some portion of the blame on you for posterity.
In the meantime, everybody please wash your hands, wear a mask/gloves as appropriate and most of all, be nice to each other!
~X
Make this the perfect site to visit while one is tripping acid. An almost endless source of info and graphics to stimulate and entertain the mind during a trip. Great domain!
Matt… I really appreciate your input. The Big Question that I’m asking here is really about the online services and features you’d like to see here. You’ve given us an (IMO way too on-the-nose) interpretation based solely on the domain name, but nothing tangible in terms of the actual “what”. BTW, at least IMHO, there’s no such thing as “the perfect site to visit” while doing ANYthing: everyone’s experience is different. I personally think it would be a major failure of imagination if this were to devolve into nothing but an “acid trip site”. Yawn! As for creating an “endless source”, I personally am not able to create an infinite ANYthing. What I can do is provide a space with services that help People to be endlessly creative in generating broad content that others would be interested in looking at (hopefully when they’re stone-cold sober, which is most of the time you’re alive, not just when they’re trippin’ balls). For example, I can imagine an advice board where doctors, artists, pharmacists and musicians all discuss the effects that LSD has on the mind and body from different perspectives. Maybe debunk some myths? If people who have never had their minds opened had a place to go for advice on how to do so safely, that might be worthy of inclusion here. And, along the lines you waved at, there’s a lot of art out there that was inspired by mind-expansion experiences: some of that might be interesting to look at. There’s also music one might like to listen to while opening one’s Third Eye… And perhaps there are people willing to share their experiences on the topic, maybe some PTSD sufferers who’ve found some relief, that sort of thing? Anyway, Matt: I’m quite sure you can come up with better answers to my question, so please keep thinking! This could be a major destination site if everyone gets serious and helps in various ways. ~X
As a whole I like what Matt is saying. I think this place could really help in the push to get this topic into the light. How the hell did you get your hands on this domain?! Crazy
High Matt Low, (sorry couldn’t resist that one 😉
Well… I was the original registrant many moons ago, long before anyone started ‘owning’/brokering/selling domains. How did I get it? I just ambled down the hall to Jon Postel’s office and asked if it was taken already. He thought it was hilarious, so he put it in “the database” for me on his workstation (which, at that time, was the entire Internet). I think it ‘cost’ me ‘one cold beer’ or something like that. A few years later, I spun up one of the first-ever websites at the domain for a year or so (back when Tim B-L at CERN released his first httpd code), but it’s been a very long time since I took that down. I was talking with some friends recently and we all just thought that bringing it back now it might be able to do some good in the world. So, here we are.
So… Matt #2:
The ideas Matt #1 offered were vague enough to not really be actionable… would (either of) you like to propose something more concrete about actual services that could be installed on the server(s)?
Also, since I’m doing absolutely nothing right now to promote the site, maybe you can tell some friends and we can all start a chat once my team and I get the RocketChat server running (she’ll be named Alice)? ~X
Yeah I haven’t heard that one before 😉
Great story, I think it’d be a waste to leave the domain dormant. I agree, bringing it back to life could prove to be a good move!
I like your thinking. When it comes down to it, I guess it all rides on your end goal? One of the key questions that comes to mind is are you planning to monetise the site?
I’d love to help out wherever I can. Feel free to drop me an email, with the current situation I have some free time!
Matt,
matt@mlow.co.uk
High Again Matt,
Yeah, what you said. It just feels like the entire planet needs to have it’s Third Eye opened… and fast. Maybe this can be a small part of that re-awoken-ing process.
End goal… well, there’s not just one. in case it’s a bit obscure at this stage, I’ll tell you about a couple of goals I had in mind, but first, to be very clear, I’m not interested in any cult-of-personality BS, so I plan to remain pseudonymous. I’ve had my fair share of notoriety in the past, and that’s fun, but I’m not doing this for it to be about me, not at all.
In terms of what I’d like to see happen with LSD.com, I could start with the mechanics of it: the domain is being hosted by a nonprofit ISP project called Level Seven Digital … it’s a small band of nerds (I’m one of them) who are working on a fiscal project for a small human rights security nonprofit. I basically told them they could use the domain to raise funds for their research & development work, some of which is extremely cool tech.
So, the goal isn’t to get rich. What we’re planning to do with the nonprofit ISP is to host peoples’ domains for them, help them set up cool stuff at their domains and help them collect funds at their domains if they want to — and make the deal with them that the nonprofit gets a donation from whatever they can bring in to support the ISP’s operational costs (and there are very significant costs to hosting ‘stuff’ online) and to also benefit the human rights foundation.
In my case, with this domain, I’m giving them 100% of whatever people contribute. Since there will be lots of different services (TBD from ideas from folks like you!) that people will be able to sign up for at LSD.com, I proposed that they create a ‘microdonation’ model: so if Jane User registers for an account at LSD.com, she’ll make a small recurring monthly donation that’s based on what features she picks and how much she uses them.
Maybe Jane just wants an email account @LSD.com. Maybe she wants to jump on the chatserver (currently under development) and talk to vets with PTSD using LSD to heal their minds. Or visual artists and musicians about psychedelic creativity. Maybe she wants JaneUser.LSD.com to be her personal blog, or maybe she just wants a photo gallery of every meal she’s eaten at a restaurant… I’m not judging. Maybe her blog will document trips she’s taken? Could be a whole ‘nuther level of ‘travel documentary’ …LOL! Anyway, the amount Jane donates, which will be tax-deductible since it goes to a 501c3 nonprofit org, will be based on what sorts of features she picks from the menu and how much she consumes.
An example: if she uses the Web Privacy Proxy, the system will debit a tiny fraction of a penny from the funds she’s donated whenever she clicks on something or sends an email or whatever… i.e. ‘microdonations’. If she ‘uses up’ what she’s donated, the system will just quietly pull another buck or three from the CCard she’s put on file and she can keep clickin’.
If the donation amounts are small, people who click on a few thousand things per month will donate a total in the cup-of-coffee range, which is reasonable for each donor and adds up to a helpful total once there are thousands of microdonors all doing similarly. At year’s end, Jane will get a charitable donation receipt (tax-deductible), so she won’t have to send that amount to the dreaded tax man. And, her donations will have gone toward not just the services she used, but also toward supporting some cool R&D that benefits humanity. I see this as a win-win-win kind of thing, but it’s anyone’s guess as to whether Good People will actually show up to support the concept.
So, I don’t use the cognitive framework of ‘money’, per se. I see this more as ‘all of us going on a nice trip with each other in a giant yellow submarine and just trying to help each other out and open minds along the way‘. If the Merry Pranksters had had a domain instead of a bug, I suppose this is how it might’ve started out, with people dropping coins in the coffee can to cover the gas while we all drive to the ocean for a nice view and to gain some new level of enlightenment.
Right now, there’s just a handful of us, but hopefully some like-minded travellers (like you, Matt?) will join us as we begin to roll things out.
As I like to say: “Congratulations, you’re on LSD!” : )
i think NOW you need to design a coffee can or cup for the micro-donation bit. that’ll be a frame of reference for people who don’t grok ‘micro-donations’. you could always do a contest as to WHAT is on that coffee cup and then monetise that by making them available for sale 🙂
my offerings:
‘higher thoughts’
‘bean there, done that’
‘first trip of the mornin’ ‘
Jewel,
You are obviously a person of high principles.
If I understood correctly, you’re suggesting that we put the image of a coffee can on the Donation page, is that correct?
Having read my response to Matt be(Low), you will have observed that we’re really trying to move the cognitive frame away from ‘money-money-money’ and toward ‘participate-support-donate‘. One could think of it as a “Turn Out, Tune Up, Chip In” model for collectively supporting of a shared resource. A coffee can is a decent bad metaphor.
Question: can any of you think of good examples of a metered system in which a user, while performing some activity, accrues points for each action?
About your second offering… meh. The third one confused me and seems unrelated, as far as I can tell. But I really liked your first offering a lot… feels like ‘Higher Grounds for Support’.
A thought: if the appeal of this domain is solely the easy connection to psychedelics and nothing else, I find that a bit boring. It’s one of the reasons I resisted doing anything with this for a long time. I turned down drug dealers long ago who wanted to buy it for lots of money. The mission would probably have more positive impact if everything didn’t belabor the ‘druggie’ meme. If this is to achieve noble goals, a relentless hammering on the substance itself probably won’t get it there as well as a positive take on things. IMHO, one does not open one’s mind with psychedelics only to escape reality, one does so to return to reality a changed person with something constructive to contribute that alters the path of Humanity away from the Powers That Be (money and its corruption being one) and toward more important things, like how to be Happy. I’m not saying that we can’t all have a good laugh with some LSD gags here and there, or that it doesn’t make for amusing memes that go viral, I’m just opining that, once poor Matt has heard the High Low joke for the one million and fourth time, he probably doesn’t get the same spark of joy he did the first time someone said that when he was, I don’t know, Matt… seven years old? I’m just sayin’.
Elevate. Reach. Aspire.
~X
Hey X,
Sorry for the delay.
I like your ideas. As a whole, I think the domain name gives away enough as to what the website is about- I wouldn’t zone in on that purely, more the life surrounding it. I mean, sure, throw some science in there to educate those who aren’t in the ‘Know’ but keep the page inviting?
I had a look over Level 7, it’s great that you’re putting the domain to work in support of a nonprofit.
As a visitor, the areas that would really pull me in would be the ‘personalised experiences’ let’s say. The unique email address, maybe a blog to suit, interacting with others (Like, comments, messaging, tagging). It’s become pretty clear to me that each individual’s experience on psychedelics is different, completely, so to mirror that on the site wouldn’t be the worst idea- really bring out the reality of the topic and let users share their own individual experiences, past and present.
As a side note, don’t underestimate the creativity of your users- especially those who have experience with the drug. I think the site could really flourish into a very welcoming and developed piece of (struggling to find a better word) art!
On the topic of funding the site, I agree, steer clear of fixed costs and subscription based billing. I’d like to think that visitors should pay for what they use and not be billed extortionate prices for eg. their blog sitting untouched for a month. As you say, with the total monthly costs coming in at close to the price of a coffee, I can’t see too many people stressing about their usage. A bonus too is that the site will be billing in direct co-origination with how much a user is costing, which when you keep in mind that some users will be using the site A LOT and others hardly ever, it keeps things fair.
I had a read over your reply to Jewel. As I noted at the beginning, zoning in on the drug and the drug only might be a bad move. I’d like to think this could be a place to better one’s life. A few ideas off the top of my head would be areas for: simple workout routines, meditation help, mental health tips and tricks, meals and recipes? Who knows.
For a metric to compare users, I’d be assigning points to interactions like posts, comments, likes (given and received) and age of account. Maybe set up levels/ achievements. Badges to go alongside usernames?
Honestly, I’m excited to see where this will go- would love to be a part of it.
Hi X, I am a developer currently laid off due to Covid. My wife is a landscape designer and after our 17 years together I finally just noticed that LandScape Design, sort of has LSD as an acronym. Although the software she is using has a lot of nice features, I have not found any great software out there, so I was thinking about making it. This is probably too big of a project for me to take on by myself though I have many contacts that also have also become unemployed. Anyway, one thought is a place for some SaaS landscape design software. Kind of boring compared to some other suggestions, and I am not sure how good it would actually be for marketing, but…. Also I am the owner of theskihill.com which I got purly so I could have the email address iam at theskihill,com. So if you have any ideas there.
Hi Wayne!
As a (software?) developer, you may appreciate that I’m a big supporter of Free & Open Source Software (FOSS). Thus, the reality of hosting commercial executables at this domain is a complex and not very attractive option. It would require a technical team to support it, business development and legal (licensing) support, user support capacity and no small amount of funding to pay for all that. So, unless a bunch of willing volunteers and/or donor funding shows up, that kind of project is beyond my reach. All that being said, I’d be open to talking about it if you know people like that and want to exchange email.
Regarding email: it’s already possible for someone like you to get an email account @LSD.com. It’s one of several online services domain offers in return for a donation to the human rights nonprofit the fledgling nonprofit ISP hosting this site is trying to bring donors to (https://LevelSevenDigital.com). For a very modest donation (tax-deductible!) to cover costs, someone can also (in addition to mailboxes and aliases) have a personal website at a hostname with a custom cert (e.g. ‘https://wayne.lsd.cøm’), a chatserver, custom mailing lists, etc. If that sort of service interests you or your wife, or if you’d like to have your domain hosted to support human rights and privacy R&D, let me know using the contact page link above (‘AskAlice’) and I’ll put you in touch with the people who can help you make that happen.
Cheers!
~X
PS: I don’t think your thoughts on this are boring at all. Many moons ago, Joe Esherick was my teacher, so “Land Scape Design” is something I still think about constantly. I appreciate your input and any constructive ideas anyone else wants to offer.
How about a spin-off from Erowid with the explicit purpose of providing information and promoting discussion around this particular compound? A definitive resource and forum of sorts. Sprinkle a few gems like Shpongle, Alan Watts, TIHKAL/PIHKAL on top. Also, what the heck is going on with all of the Matt’s? Odd’s be damned!
Hi Matt#3!
I like your ideas for content: would you be interested in developing them? Do you have friends who would work with you on them?
I’m starting a private chat channel to discuss this (I think it’ll have to be named “The Welcome Matt” 😉 and will invite you when it’s ready to launch (soon) if you’re interested.
~X
How long ago did this thing open back up? The earliest comment wasn’t that long ago, but I swear I’ve been checking this domain for years now for fun, and it’s never been anything.
Anyways, I agree with the last Matt ^. A spin-off of erowid would be pretty cool.
As for one of your other ideas, which was a sort of meeting place for all those who are interested in LSD, I’d recommend the ability to join one of many video rooms for chatting. Somewhat like Omegle, but group sessions?
Hi Ron,
Only a few months. It last had a webserver back when I fiddled with the first HTTPD on my NeXT cube in the early 90s. 😉 Right now, it’s just running. The team I’m working with has not yet finished setting things up so people can donate a few pennies and set up an account with various standard services at LSD.com (email, blog, lists, media gallery, SFTP, A/V/text chat, Etherpad, etc).
I’ll always encourage Users (maybe you’ll be one?) to put all kinds of (legal) content on their pages. I would never limit people to “just stuff about LSD the drug” but I wouldn’t discourage anyone from discussing anything they want to about their experiences while opening their minds and surveying new vistas or obtaining some form of therapeutic benefit from medicinal substances. I’m not personally going to develop a spinoff of anything, but I certainly would be willing to be part of a group of LSD.com Users who reach out to the Erowid folks to see if there are ways for us to cooperate.
Work continues on the new RocketChat server we’ll be launching at Alice.LSD.com very soon. Our nonprofit ISP is building a Keycloak Single Sign-On (SSO) registration interface to make things easier for folks. Once people are able to register at https://login.levelsevendigital.com/auth/ (they cannot yet), Users will have access to a growing number of “interesting” hosted domains (60+ already) and the services at them (see above). My original question here was about the kinds of services, but what I’m learning from everyone is that the communications medium matters less than the urge to discuss substances the powers that be generally discourage people from knowing about and even punish them for being curious. I don’t know, but to me, that hardly sounds like an open and democratic forum for innovative new ideas and approaches to societal issues. So, I’d like to support more of that.
~X