Simplicity Is Next to Divinity

As anyone who must access the Internet using only a dial-up connection can tell you, the Web has been moving farther and farther away from its roots as a streamlined way to make information accessible to all. A greater emphasis has been placed on a 'bigger is better' approach to flashy visual effects, with less time and attention devoted to creating valuable, meaningful content. This creates a more superficial, shallow Web that has less to offer to the fewer people who can effectively access it. We at the Nexus view this as a severe travesty, and one that we all must work to overcome.

You can do your part by making your contributions useful and accessible to those who may benefit from them. Practice using the smallest wordcount and file sizes required to convey the information you're trying to get out there, until it becomes second nature to you. The longer a sentence, paragraph or document is, the less likely someone is to read it all the way through. The larger the filesize, the longer it takes for people to download, especially for the huge number of people without broadband.

Before posting anything, ask yourself the following questions. Is there anything extraneous you can trim? Can you perhaps use a smaller file format or fewer words, or weed out bad/unecessary code from your page? Ask yourself whether you spent more time on the presentation of your creation than forming the creation itself, and how you can make better use of your time and energies in the future.

This isn't to say you can't have an attractive web page and showcase some truly talented creations; in fact, the more beautiful the creation, the more value it adds to the Web, and the more it draws others to enjoy it. However, you must take care to see that the content of what you share is at least equal to the sparkliness of the appearance. If you're offering art, that's marvellous, but otherwise, make sure you aren't making your contributions pretty to cover up a lack of intrinsic substance.

To observe these precepts, and to ensure even the slowest of connections can benefit from our ministry, the Nexus of NOW will always strive for the most streamlined web pages possible. We hope they will be pleasant and attractive, but we will attempt to avoid anything that will only impede the ease of enjoyment by our guests. Any suggestions or contributions that would aid us in this mission are deeply appreciated.

Attainment of simplicity is a subjective objective, and best achieved through a relaxed approach, because it's a lot harder than one might think. If you're too intense about it, you might overdo it and inadvertently give up some truly integral parts of yourself or your project. So if you can get to a point where you can hone in on the true foundations of an issue without having to consciously think about it, you're on the right track.

Below are some sites that have helped other Nowists on their path (or just seem cool):

W3C, World Wide Web Consortium - in their own words, "The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding." It's like a mecca for us here.

Tao te Ching - the Stephen Mitchell translation, Kyle's personal favorite. It comes in a pocket edition, too!

Kundalini Yoga - a complete, free online course. Skim the course headings to find one that sounds interesting to you; you don't have to do them in order.

Suggest a link!