Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

Keith wrote recently on geoinformatics (essentially the inclusion of location information in a data set, and the subsequent use of that data). I wrote a script a while ago that I'd intended to use as the basis for a short film that (not so seriously) declared that the real power of geo-informatics is in sacred geometry and magic. I may have mentioned it here before but I can't remember. I even partially built it into IAM as a proof-of-concept (or at least to generate real-world screen shots).

If you take a look at satellite maps of Europe and many other regions of this world, you'll see that it's far from “my” idea — the Knights Templar arranged their churches to appear as holy symbols (most often the five pointed star) from orbit, and landscape geometry permeate many cultures, and as David Miller points out, it's not that uncommon in most data sets and the analysis is a little dubious.

I've been working with geolocation data since the early 90s when it was relevant to phone dating systems (which I used to develop), so as you know it's always been an integral part of IAM as well. Below is a world map of all users online on IAM as I currently write this entry.

Anyway, the core of the story was writing software to identify moments in time when sacred symbols existed based on these location points (and the routes between them). Because each of these computers (and their human users) were accessing the same website, what the user was viewing — and thinking — could be controlled… by simultaneously displaying holy symbols in what they were viewing, spells were cast by involving individuals laid out over huge distances, all fixated on the same symbol, all located on the symbol itself, and all being electrically bombarded by the symbol as well.

Above is a zoom of this morning's map as well.

Don't worry if you're one of the datapoints, no spell was cast. ;-)

But seriously, I suspect that the power of advertising and capitalism — another area that geoinformatics shines — easily outdoes the magic. But really, what is advertising and capitalism if not a way to consolidate power and control into the hands of the minority? What is it but a way of taking the work of a group and ensuring that only a small number collect its blessings? Perhaps capitalism, born and nurtured with the help of major religions, is simply the next step in a multi-millennium long spell.

If you want to really see something scary, plot a map of all the Wal-Mart stores… you'll see that they've all been carefully placed in accordance to the laws of sacred geometry — immense Maltese crosses hundreds of miles across, Pentagrams spanning continents, and more. As to why or what it means or the power it's given them, I'll leave that up to you.