About This Site
Hi. I usually go by the name Apollia on the internet. This is my personal website, featuring a slowly growing assortment of miscellaneous things on a variety of topics.
This site is maintained (or neglected), coded, and written mostly by just one person - me.
But not everything is exclusively by me - for example, there are sometimes quotes of other people; or public domain things not by me, such as the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica article on astrology; and sometimes even copyrighted things, either used with permission, or because their licenses permit it, or because my usage of it qualifies as fair use.
I'm an idealistic person who wants to improve the world. So, I like to provide things people might find useful, entertaining, educational, and/or interesting, which hopefully will improve people's lives and help change the world for the better.
For example, I like to point out the wonderful benefits of free, libre, open source software - software which respects our freedom and allows modifications and improvements, unlike closed source software.
I also have been promoting a credit card boycott to try to get credit card companies to clean up their act and do business ethically, and also hopefully persuade many people to never go into debt in the first place if they can possibly avoid it.
Another thing that concerns me is poverty. Did you know that, according to the page Poverty Facts and Stats from GlobalIssues.org, apparently at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day? (I myself make less money than that - but I live with my relatives, so that's not quite as bad as it might sound.)
Of course, my own poverty concerns me too. So, I've always hoped this website will help me as well. (And it has, but I still haven't escaped poverty yet.)
Currently, the ways I attempt to make money from this site are:
- Services - I encourage people to Request Free/Libre/Open Source Software or Documentation, or Ask Programming Questions.
- I accept donations and microdonations.
- Sometimes I try putting up affiliate links. I'm apparently supposed to get commissions if people follow the links and buy from them. I think the only one I have up now is for Godaddy Auctions.
Eventually I'll probably put up some goods for sale, too.
I had put up some Amazon Associates affiliate links years ago, but, because of the page Reasons not to buy from Amazon by Richard Stallman**, I decided in April 2013 to take them down. Sorry if I missed any - they and other affiliate links are (or should be) color-coded green.
In the future, I might begin selling things through sites such as Lulu.com, Zazzle.com, and Cafepress.com.
Fortunately, there's more to life than just dwelling on the many things that are wrong with the world and my life - so, this site also has relatively frivolous or frivolous-seeming things on it too.
The frivolous-seeming topic of astrology, along with other odd synchronicities, such as the occasional quite odd-seeming coincidences between my dreams and real events, have made me strongly suspect that the universe is a much odder place than I originally thought.
Back when I was a teenager, I actually used to have very mainstream skeptical opinions and was a lot more close-minded. But, observing and documenting various unusual things which I'm not sure there's any realistic mundane explanation for forced me to become more open-minded.
A lot of that (but not all) is too private to even write about publicly. But, if you're curious about such things, you're probably better off doing your own first-hand investigations rather than only reading other people's personal anecdotes. There's often no way to know for sure whether or not other people's stories are true - but if you encounter odd things yourself, you'll at least know they definitely really happened.
So, I recommend keeping a journal, and noting down (at least) your dreams, and anything else that seems notable. Also, look into astrology, especially asteroids. (You could use my free, libre, open source astrology software Eryss for that.) You could also try playing with software which generates random output - that sometimes leads to eerily unrandom-seeming results.
Whatever you do, take lots of notes.
Trying to understand the universe better is one of my most important goals in life. Despite my interest in astrology and other odd things, I actually still highly value science, rationality, and skepticism - believe it or not. :-)
I'm agnostic but quite like this quote - Sherlock Holmes, in The Adventure of the Naval Treaty by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:
[...] What a lovely thing a rose is!"He walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me, for I had never before seen him show any keen interest in natural objects.
"There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion," said he, leaning with his back against the shutters. "It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers."
I also like this quote a lot, from Hamlet by Shakespeare. Spoken by the character Hamlet:
|
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. |
Astrocharts for Astroblahhh.Com
Here's some astrological data related to the creation and opening of this site, just for the entertainment of all you astrologers out there.
Here are some copy-and-pasteable Astrolog 5.40 command lines. Much of this was quoted from the 2006 Updates page.
-qa May 9 2006 0:05 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
Location: Hubbard, OHI signed up with DreamHost, and I'm very happy I did. I bought two years of their Code Monster package. The Astroblahhh.Com domain name was registered too in the process of signing up for DreamHost.
-qa May 9 2006 0:21 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
After the domain name started working for me (which was no later than 2:22 AM, though I'm not sure exactly what time), I saw some file or something at the root level of the site with the time and date "08-May-2006 21:21", which I'm assuming is probably PDT, 3 hours behind 0:21 EDT, since DreamHost is somewhere in California.
-qa June 25 2006 13:44 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
The front page was uploaded and the site was "officially" opened. I guess this might be the date which is most like the "birth" date, since hardly anything was even visible on this site up until this point.
+-------<11>11Leo56----<10> 8Can25-----<9> 4Gem34-----------+ | Ves 12Leo02 | Mer 28Can16 | | | | Mar 13Leo20 | Jun 9Leo08 | | | | | Sat 9Leo35 | Moo 4Can51 | | | | | Sun 4Can02 | Ven 2Gem02 | <12>11Vir55----|-----------------------------|----- 3Tau47<8> | Lil 17Vir07 | | | | | Astrolog 5.40 chart | | | | Sun Jun 25 2006 1:44pm | | | | ST -04:00, 80:34W 41:09N | Ver 19Ari27 | <1> 7Lib14-----| UT: 17:44, Sid.T: 6:36 |----- 7Ari14<7> | For 8Lib04 | Placidus Houses | | | | Tropical / Geocentric | | | | Julian Day = 2453912.2389 | Nod 29Pis41r | | | | Ura 14Pis43r | <2> 3Sco47-----|-----------------------------|-----11Pis55<6> | Jup 9Sco09r | Plu 25Sag11r | | | | | | | | | | | Chi 8Aqu50r | Cer 26Aqu47r | | | | Pal 11Cap22r | Nep 19Aqu31r | +----------- 4Sag34<3>----- 8Cap25<4>-----11Aqu56<5>--------+
Astrolog 5.40 chart for Sun Jun 25, 2006 1:44pm (ST -4:00 GMT) 80:34W 41:09N
Body Locat. Ret. Lati. Rul. House Rul. Veloc. Placidus Houses.
Sun : 4Can02 + 0:00' (-) [ 9th house] [-] +0.954 - House cusp 1: 7Lib14
Moon: 4Can51 + 4:59' (R) [ 9th house] [-] +12.99 - House cusp 2: 3Sco47
Merc: 28Can16 - 0:15' (-) [10th house] [-] +0.634 - House cusp 3: 4Sag34
Venu: 2Gem02 - 1:37' (-) [ 8th house] [F] +1.188 - House cusp 4: 8Cap25
Mars: 13Leo20 + 1:16' (-) [11th house] [-] +0.611 - House cusp 5: 11Aqu56
Jupi: 9Sco09 R + 1:11' (-) [ 2nd house] [-] -0.030 - House cusp 6: 11Pis55
Satu: 9Leo35 + 0:46' (F) [10th house] [R] +0.113 - House cusp 7: 7Ari14
Uran: 14Pis43 R - 0:47' (-) [ 6th house] [-] -0.006 - House cusp 8: 3Tau47
Nept: 19Aqu31 R - 0:12' (-) [ 5th house] [-] -0.017 - House cusp 9: 4Gem34
Plut: 25Sag11 R + 7:39' (-) [ 3rd house] [-] -0.026 - House cusp 10: 8Can25
Chir: 8Aqu50 R + 7:19' (-) [ 4th house] [e] -0.043 - House cusp 11: 11Leo56
Cere: 26Aqu47 R -10:50' (-) [ 5th house] [-] -0.031 - House cusp 12: 11Vir55
Pall: 11Cap22 R +46:46' (e) [ 4th house] [d] -0.282
Juno: 9Leo08 - 4:34' (e) [10th house] [-] +0.455 Car Fix Mut TOT +:12
Vest: 12Leo02 + 3:46' (d) [11th house] [e] +0.434 Fir 1 4 1 6 -: 9
Node: 29Pis41 R + 0:00' (d) [ 6th house] [e] -0.053 Ear 1 0 1 2 M:10
Lili: 17Vir07 + 1:07' (d) [12th house] [e] +0.111 Air 2 3 1 6 N: 9
Fort: 8Lib04 _______ (-) [ 1st house] [-] ______ Wat 4 1 2 7 A: 9
Vert: 19Ari27 _______ (F) [ 7th house] [R] ______ TOT 8 8 5 21 D:10
<:11 |
Astrochart for Astroblahhh.Com Blog
I didn't get around to starting an official blog actually hosted on my own site (instead of a third-party website) until late 2008. I couldn't find any existing blog software I liked enough to use, so I wrote my own: WordsPlatz.
By the way, though the times at the top of my blog posts are in GMT (simply because that made it easier for me to program my blog), whenever I refer to a time within my posts, that time is most likely in my own time zone of EDT or EST, unless otherwise specified.
-qa Sept 22 2008 9:06:37 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
The time at which I saved my blog's first new post (instead of old Site Update posts which were on the web before I had this blog) in my blog's database. My blog software wasn't fully functional yet, however, so, to put my blog on the web, I had to manually upload my blog pages, which took a minute or so.
+-------<11>29Leo04----<10>25Can43-----<9>21Gem10-----------+ | Sat 14Vir14 | For 26Can14 | | | | | Cer 14Leo01 | | | | | | | Pal 15Gem49 | | | | Moo 4Can18 | Ver 22Tau27 | <12>28Vir00----|-----------------------------|-----19Tau26<8> | Sun 29Vir54 | | | | | Astrolog 5.40 chart | | | | Mon Sep 22 2008 9:06am | | | | ST -04:00, 80:34W 41:09N | Ves 14Tau18r | <1>21Lib50-----| UT: 13:06, Sid.T: 7:50 |-----21Ari50<7> | Mar 22Lib12 | Placidus Houses | | | Mer 22Lib40 | Tropical / Geocentric | | | Ven 28Lib04 | Julian Day = 2454732.0458 | | | | | | <2>19Sco26-----|-----------------------------|-----28Pis00<6> | Lil 18Sag31 | Plu 28Sag32 | | | | Jun 19Sag02 | Jup 12Cap52 | Nep 21Aqu55r | | | | | Chi 16Aqu36r | | | | | Nod 16Aqu17r | Ura 20Pis18r | +-----------21Sag10<3>-----25Cap43<4>-----29Aqu04<5>--------+
Astrolog 5.40 chart for Mon Sep 22, 2008 9:06am (ST -4:00 GMT) 80:34W 41:09N
Body Locat. Ret. Lati. Rul. House Rul. Veloc. Placidus Houses.
Sun : 29Vir54 + 0:00' (-) [12th house] [-] +0.979 - House cusp 1: 21Lib50
Moon: 4Can18 + 3:34' (R) [ 9th house] [-] +14.11 - House cusp 2: 19Sco26
Merc: 22Lib40 - 3:45' (-) [ 1st house] [-] +0.148 - House cusp 3: 21Sag10
Venu: 28Lib04 + 0:14' (R) [ 1st house] [F] +1.221 - House cusp 4: 25Cap43
Mars: 22Lib12 + 0:17' (F) [ 1st house] [R] +0.665 - House cusp 5: 29Aqu04
Jupi: 12Cap52 - 0:19' (d) [ 3rd house] [F] +0.047 - House cusp 6: 28Pis00
Satu: 14Vir14 + 1:42' (-) [11th house] [R] +0.123 - House cusp 7: 21Ari50
Uran: 20Pis18 R - 0:48' (-) [ 5th house] [F] -0.039 - House cusp 8: 19Tau26
Nept: 21Aqu55 R - 0:21' (-) [ 4th house] [-] -0.020 - House cusp 9: 21Gem10
Plut: 28Sag32 + 6:02' (-) [ 3rd house] [-] +0.007 - House cusp 10: 25Can43
Chir: 16Aqu36 R + 6:51' (-) [ 4th house] [e] -0.032 - House cusp 11: 29Leo04
Cere: 14Leo01 + 5:14' (-) [10th house] [d] +0.406 - House cusp 12: 28Vir00
Pall: 15Gem49 -36:28' (-) [ 8th house] [-] +0.246
Juno: 19Sag02 +12:16' (-) [ 2nd house] [-] +0.212 Car Fix Mut TOT +:12
Vest: 14Tau18 R -10:17' (F) [ 7th house] [-] -0.091 Fir 0 1 3 4 -: 9
Node: 16Aqu17 R + 0:00' (R) [ 4th house] [-] -0.053 Ear 1 2 2 5 M: 8
Lili: 18Sag31 - 4:21' (-) [ 2nd house] [F] +0.111 Air 4 3 1 8 N:11
Fort: 26Can14 _______ (-) [10th house] [-] ______ Wat 3 0 1 4 A:11
Vert: 22Tau27 _______ (-) [ 8th house] [-] ______ TOT 8 6 7 21 D: 8
<: 9 |
About Apollia
I was born July 3, 1981, at 12:50 PM EDT, in Pittsburgh, PA.
Here is my astrological chart, and a copy-and-pasteable Astrolog 5.40 command line:
-qa July 3 1981 12:50 EDT 79:59W 40:26N
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
+-------<11> 7Leo15----<10> 3Can48-----<9> 0Gem13-----------+ | Nod 2Leo47r | Sun 11Can39 | | | | Cer 19Leo19 | Pal 18Can02 | | | | | Ven 4Leo41 | Mer 26Gem20 | | | | Moo 7Leo02 | Mar 19Gem59 | Chi 21Tau26 | <12> 7Vir29----|-----------------------------|-----29Ari39<8> | Ves 16Vir07 | | | | Jup 2Lib24 | Astrolog 5.40 chart | | | | Fri Jul 3 1981 12:50pm | | | | ST -04:00, 79:59W 40:26N | Ver 9Ari09 | <1> 3Lib18-----| UT: 16:50, Sid.T: 6:16 |----- 3Ari18<7> | Sat 3Lib41 | Placidus Houses | | | Plu 21Lib32 | Tropical / Geocentric | | | Jun 22Lib47 | Julian Day = 2444789.2014 | | | For 28Lib41 | | | <2>29Lib39-----|-----------------------------|----- 7Pis29<6> | Lil 20Sco48 | Nep 22Sag59r | | | | Ura 26Sco28r | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +----------- 0Sag13<3>----- 3Cap48<4>----- 7Aqu15<5>--------+
Astrolog 5.40 chart for Fri Jul 3, 1981 12:50pm (ST -4:00 GMT) 79:59W 40:26N
Body Locat. Ret. Lati. Rul. House Rul. Veloc. Placidus Houses.
Sun : 11Can39 + 0:00' (-) [10th house] [-] +0.953 - House cusp 1: 3Lib18
Moon: 7Leo02 + 0:29' (-) [10th house] [F] +13.92 - House cusp 2: 29Lib39
Merc: 26Gem20 - 4:30' (R) [ 9th house] [F] +0.065 - House cusp 3: 0Sag13
Venu: 4Leo41 + 1:34' (-) [10th house] [-] +1.216 - House cusp 4: 3Cap48
Mars: 19Gem59 + 0:19' (-) [ 9th house] [-] +0.689 - House cusp 5: 7Aqu15
Jupi: 2Lib24 + 1:17' (-) [12th house] [R] +0.103 - House cusp 6: 7Pis29
Satu: 3Lib41 + 2:24' (e) [ 1st house] [d] +0.048 - House cusp 7: 3Ari18
Uran: 26Sco28 R + 0:13' (e) [ 2nd house] [d] -0.025 - House cusp 8: 29Ari39
Nept: 22Sag59 R + 1:22' (e) [ 3rd house] [d] -0.025 - House cusp 9: 0Gem13
Plut: 21Lib32 +17:13' (-) [ 1st house] [-] +0.001 - House cusp 10: 3Can48
Chir: 21Tau26 - 2:15' (-) [ 8th house] [-] +0.048 - House cusp 11: 7Leo15
Cere: 19Leo19 + 7:54' (-) [11th house] [-] +0.428 - House cusp 12: 7Vir29
Pall: 18Can02 -21:30' (d) [10th house] [e] +0.595
Juno: 22Lib47 +11:16' (R) [ 1st house] [F] +0.093 Car Fix Mut TOT +:14
Vest: 16Vir07 + 6:26' (-) [12th house] [-] +0.407 Fir 1 4 1 6 -: 7
Node: 2Leo47 R + 0:00' (F) [10th house] [-] -0.053 Ear 0 1 1 2 M:12
Lili: 20Sco48 + 4:54' (R) [ 2nd house] [F] +0.111 Air 6 0 2 8 N: 7
Fort: 28Lib41 _______ (-) [ 1st house] [-] ______ Wat 3 2 0 5 A:15
Vert: 9Ari09 _______ (F) [ 7th house] [R] ______ TOT 10 7 4 21 D: 4
<:12 |
I most often (but not always) go by the name Apollia on the internet, and I like that name much more than my real name. I live in Ohio in the United States.
You can already tell a lot (but far from everything) about me, my interests, and skills just by browsing the rest of this site, so, I guess that's all I'll say here.