This Digital Sanctuary is intentionally different from what you’ve become accustomed to in the mainstream internet.
Here, you won’t encounter the chaotic energy of content overload, oversized images, or the oppressive pull of pulsating banner ads.
As an alternative, I invite you to a place where subtlety prevails. You can experience its manifestations in small gestures of care I designed with you in my mind and heart.
Welcoming all Seekers
To welcome visitors of all paths and abilities, especially those who navigate with keyboard or dedicated readers, several protective charms have been cast here:
- Sufficient color contrast between background and text
- Clear content and navigation structure
- Font size scaling is responsive
- Images have lazy loading support and alternative text
- Keyboard navigation structure present
- Sufficient time provided for reading content
- No flashing content
- Predictable link behavior
Typography for diverse minds
Each element in this sanctuary is placed with intention - a thoughtful decision crafted with purpose and care. This also applies to font used here.
For paragraphs I have chosen Bitstream Vera Sans which was released in 2003 under a unique free license in collaboration with the GNOME Foundation.
The font’s significance lies in its role as one of the first high-quality Open Source fonts, helping establish a foundation for Open Source typography.
What makes this choice unique is that this is a sans serif type font with distinctive letterforms and defined characters to increase legibility for low vision readers.
It also provides distinctive letter forms and clear differentiation between similar letters as well thick and thin strokes, which makes content accessible for people with dyslexia, dyscalculia, low vision.
Bitstream also maintains readability at various sizes as well as good recognition in different display conditions.
For titles, I’ve implemented a font from Velvetyne.fr, a collective of designers committed to creating and distributing free and open-source typefaces. This French foundry represents a movement against the commercialization of typography, believing that beautiful, expressive fonts should be accessible to everyone regardless of financial means.
So as you can see, even this small design decision about preferable font type has its impact and consequences.
Honoring your sacred flow
Contemporary design ’trends’ are driven by a greedy agenda to extract as much as possible from our most precious resource: time, the true currency of life.
That is why to help you remain conscious of this resource, this sanctuary keeps a gentle timekeeper in the footer, so you may remain aware of your journey here without losing track.
Whispers instead of noises
The comments function in this Digital Sanctuary has been deliberately disabled. This decision was guided by the intention to shorten potential opportunities to spend extra time here.
I am working on the guest book, where you could leave your remark. It will come with the next permacomputing session.
Alternatively, you can also send a strong enough intention across the ethers that we might meet in the physical realm and create space for meaningful conversation.
Still foundation, deep meaning
This Sanctuary is a static solution.
What does it mean?
Its content has been created ahead carefully on my computer and then uploaded on a server as static files.
The patterns here will shift only when intentionally transformed.
This approach eliminates the need for constant server-side processing or database inquiries, allowing swift delivery of content to you, while requiring significantly less energy from the digital elements that sustain it.
It consumes less power and requires less complex infrastructure, and even less maintenance.
In harmony with the earth, it’s worth being static!
Technologically liberated
The majority of digital tools used in the process of building this sanctuary were Open Source.
Why is this important?
Open Source Software (OSS) channels a crucial energy for societal progress and environmental regeneration, offering numerous advantages over proprietary software (like those provided by Google or Microsoft)
Transparency and Trust
OSS promotes transparency as its source code is publicly accessible. This allows users to inspect, modify, and improve the software, fostering trust among community.
Equal access to technology
OSS enables individuals and organizations from diverse backgrounds to utilize high-quality software without the burden of licensing fees. Democratization of technology helps bridge the digital divide and promotes equal opportunities in education and employment.
Common good development
By treating software as a public good, open source initiatives can enhance public services such as healthcare and education.
Encouragement of regenerative practices
Open Source Software fosters regenerative approach by providing tools that can be adapted to local needs without incurring high costs. This flexibility allows communities to implement solutions that are environmentally harmonious and economically accessible.
My Open Source Software stack:
- Hugo: framework for building static websites
- Atom: text and code editor
- GIMP: image editor
- Converseen: image converter
- My computer is running Linux MX
I honor honesty in relationships, that is why I will also share with you my little shadow work.
In creating this sanctuary I’ve also called upon Claude AI which has helped me to optimize code, identify bugs and check spelling.
Unfortunately, this solution is hosted on AWS. Considering that Amazon is one of the most energy-draining entities operating on this planet - yes, there is reason to feel the weight of contributing at any point to their existence.
This paradox reminds me of the Taoist concept of yin and yang - the small black dot in the white swirl and the white dot in the black swirl.
Even in our most conscious efforts, we sometimes need a touch of what we seek to transform in order to push positive change forward. Using this product is my small shadow practice (now brought into the light).
This assistance has helped me maintain my work more efficiently, and I believe the positive outcome and educational value of this Sanctuary is worth taking this calculated risk. As in the long run, the environmental cost will be mitigated through the change of perception and awareness raised among Sanctuary visitors - a ripple effect that may ultimately create more good than the energy consumed.
I am still researching more ethical AI alternatives that could be hosted locally, but don’t have enough experience yet to make a clear statement in this field. When I’m ready, I will share my insights in education section with you.
Respecting digital elders
This sanctuary was developed with the intention of honoring also your computer hardware.
The design has been adapted for use by older devices, which means that Digital Sanctuary does not contribute to artificially obsolescing any hardware through software demands.
And this is how it should be! Always supportive never exclusive.
Visuals revealed by your choice
All the media you find here are called up at your request.
The choice of how you consume them remains solely with you. This sanctuary does not impose anything, only offers.
Each media item includes an alternative description, providing a glimpse of its essence.
Information about file sizes is also provided upfront, allowing you to make informed decisions about your data usage.
You can check it below
All media have maximum width 666px and have been transformed into WebP foramt, which is lightweight and consume less energy.
The sacred waters we share
Visualizing environmental footprint, and especially the water consumption of the Internet is challenging.
To bring your awareness to the massive water consumption associated with digital technologies, this sanctuary features the sound of water drops when you click on active links and buttons.
This gentle reminder symbolizes that each digital interaction requires water - our most precious resource and source of life.
This audio element, a form of sonic branding, activates an additional sense rarely acknowledged in discussions about digital environmental impact, opening another dimension for contemplation.
As water scarcity affects over 2 billion people globally, our digital water footprint raise serious questions about resource allocation and human rights.
If these water drop sounds become distracting, you can mute them using the dedicated function in the footer.
Gentle light for inner sight
The color chosen for this website’s background mimics e-ink readers.
Those type of screens have been shown to offer significant advantages comparing to regular OLED solutions, such as: reduced light emission, less visual fatigue, and better overall ocular health.
Using less bright colors in interface design generally causes significantly more visual comfort.
This color combination and high contrast with the font also allows you to reduce brightness on your screen while reading.
Which I highly recommend you do, as there is a clear linear relationship between brightness settings and power consumption: brightness increases from 0% to 100%, power consumption rises correspondingly.
Free from digital intrusions
Digital Sanctuary is protected from ChatGPT and Google Bard bots. Their harvesting of data from here would be like pulling sacred herbs from a garden without permission or offering.
I have placed wards against bots scraping data posted here. My thoughts are not meant to feed their AI models.
The electricity demand associated with AI is growing at an alarming rate.
There are some sources suggest that AI already accounts for around 10-15% of Google’s annual electricity consumption, but those estimations can be propably 6 times higher than they claim.
I am actively resisting the use of my energy and thoughts to feed this imbalance.
To protect your own digital space from AI bots like GPTBot, Google-Extended, and Googlebot, you can configure a robots.txt file with these protective words, and place it in the root directory of your website:
User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: Google-Extended
Disallow: /
User-agent: Googlebot
Disallow: /
Ayibobo
May this Digital Sanctuary serve as a gentle reminder that digital spaces can be mindful, respectful, and aligned with natural rhythms.
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