Herb Crazy

Last year I got it into my head to create some herbal tea mixes for my mother. It seemed like a good idea, I could do some mixes supposedly for her various ailments, and she would love the idea that I had created those for her. After all, how hard could it be – get plants traditionally known for certain things, mix them together until you have a pleasant taste, and voila!

As is my (*sigh*) habit I didn’t start small - I ordered 36 little plastic jars, and dozens of different herbs – made myself a cool looking herb wall against one wall in the kitchen, and started playing and tasting. And I found out it is a lot trickier than I would have thought to come with a pleasant taste. Needless to say my mother never got her tea mixes, I found other gift ideas, and have not used these herbs very much (apart from some very classic ones). Although this autumn when we both had the nasty-chest-virus-that-lasts-weeks, I made several cold-and-cough mixes which I have the illusion might have helped, at the very least it helped us drink enough hot water.

But somehow the idea keeps coming back, so why not share how far I have got just in case it helps someone?

A lot of these herbs are believed to help an awful lot of things at once, which doesn’t convince a sceptic like me (can one herb really help with the stomach, fever, the immune system, toothache, cramps, insomnia, and coughs?) but I am a big enough tea and herbal tea enthusiast that the idea of making my own mixes is one I keep returning to. I am still hoping to figure out these herbs, because there is something that appeals to me in giving someone a lovely package of mixed herbs saying “I thought of you so here is my ‘good mood for cold days’ tea”. I suspect that is the appeal of the revival of modern “witchcraft” which seems to be about tea mixes, scented herb pillows and the like. A link to nature and centuries of tradition, giving people a new way to say “i care about you and your problems, can’t do much so I will make this symbolic gesture – please remember that you are not alone and have people willing to help, every time you see that pillow or make a cup of tea”. Rather lovely put that way, even though I cannot take it seriously, it has its heart in the right place.

It was after all exactly the idea I had in making a tea mix for my mother.

Herb cheat list

I figure perhaps someone else can use this list – please look up online references for more detail.

I have deliberately left out herbs that are known to be problematic at higher doses, frankly there is no need to risk hurting oneself by using those.  I do list herbs that should not be taken by pregnant women, but if you are pregnant you should know by now to check everything prior to consuming it – In all cases, do your research! I’m not a pro and there could be tons of errors in this list. This is just for fun.

Herbs traditionally believed to help the immune system: Borage, Chamomile, Coltsfoot, Echinacea, Elecampane, Eucalyptus, Grapefruit, Sheep sorrel

Herbs traditionally believed to help for lungs and/or cough: Aniseed, Balm of Gilead, Borage, Chamomile, Chickweed, Coltsfoot, Elecampane, Elder, Ground ivy, Heather, Holy Thistle, Horehound, Hyssop, Irish moss, Jasmine, Marshmallow, Mullein, Oak Moss, Oregano, Red Clover, Speedwell, Star Anise, Turmeric, Witch Hazel, Watercress, Wood betony

Herbs traditionally believed to help for sore throat: Balm of Gilead, Blackberry, Caraway, Coltsfoot, Goldenrod, Lemon, Lime, Sage, Sheep Sorrel, Speedwell, Vervain, Witch Hazel, Wood betony, Yarrow

Herbs traditionally believed to help for colds and fever: Basil, Borage, Chamomile, Elder, Eucalyptus, Hibiscus, Motherwort, Plantain, Sheep sorrel, Witch Hazel

Herbs traditionally believed to help stomach, digestion, intestinal and/or appetite issues: Aniseed, Basil, Blackberry, Calendula, Caraway, Chamomile, Fennel, Hibiscus, Irish moss, Lemon Verbena, Lime Flower, Marjoram, Marshmallow, Meadowsweet, Mint, Mugwort, Oak Moss, Raspberry, Tarragon, Yarrow

Herbs traditionally used for detox, bladder & kidneys: Blackberry, Butternut, Celery, Centaury, Cornsilk, Elecampane, Goldenrod, Grapefruit, Holy Thistle, Horsetail, Juniper, Raspberry, woodruff

Herbs traditionally used for relaxing, sleep, and improving moods: Damiana, Oat, Hawthorn, Heather, Jamaican Dogwood, Jasmine, Lemonbalm, Lime Flower, Marjoram, Motherwort, Mugwort,  Lemon Verbena, Passionflower, Red Clover, Star Anise, Tarragon, Vervain, woodruff, Watercress

Herbs traditionally used for skin: Balm of Gilead, Calendula, Chamomile, Chickweed, Hibiscus, Lemon peel, Lemon Verbena, Marshmallow, Oat, Sage, Thyme, Witch Hazel

Herbs traditionally used for various aches and pains: Basil, Butternut,  Calendula, Celery, Chickweed, Clove, Goldenrod, Ground Ivy, Hawthorn, Holy Thistle, Horehound, Horsetail, Lemonbalm, Meadowsweet, Motherwort, Raspberry, Turmeric, Vervain, Watercress, Witch Hazel, woodruff, Yarrow

Some of the above are scientifically documented, most have the circumstancial evidence of traditional practice (which means that it could be the placebo effect of being fussed over and drinking hot drinks) – most of the reason I am playing with teas is to create teas which taste nice and can be given a nice title, say “grumpy morning tea” or “sharing memories” or whatever :D. But when it comes to taste, there is very little information online or otherwise – what tastes nice with what, what needs covering, what is good at covering bitterness etc.

The taste list:

Here’s my conclusion so far – I am still working at building this list:

Herbs that have a bad or very strong taste or can turn bitter – watch your amounts: valerian (utterly vile, nothing can mask it), eucalyptus (nice, but overpowering), Caraway (i like it but many don’t), chamomile (i like it but a lot of people don’t), elder (can turn bitter), Holy Thistle (no taste except bitterness), Hibiscus (makes tea acidic), Rosehip (used a lot, makes tea acidic)

Herbs that taste like nothing (i.e. vague herby taste, bland, neutral): Horehound, Horsetail, Raspberry, Uva Ursi, Violet, watercress, Witch Hazel

Pleasant taste, herbs that add flavor or cover bad flavors: Aniseed, Basil, Blackberry, Calendula, Cinnamon, Fennel, Jasmine, Lemonbalm, Lemon Verbena, Lemon peel, Marjoram, Mint, Orange peel, Rose, Rosemary, Red Clover, Sage, Tarragon, woodruff

Some mixes I have used

simple wake up mix: Verbena, Mint, Lemon peel

traditional swiss mix: Lime flower, Orange blossoms, chamomile, orange peel

the only way i can stomach rosehip: rosehip, orange peel, fresh orange slices, sugar

traditional shepherd’s mix: Lime flower, verbena, lemon verbena, mint, orange blossom

after meal tea: fennel, lemon verbena, mint, rosemary, hyssop.

Summer tea:  mint, lemon balm, hibiscus, lemon peel, rose petals

The help-with-this-stupid-cough mix: Red Clover, Mullein, Lemon peel, Borage, Elder (small amount), Heather, Jyssop, Marshmallow, Yarrow, Sage, Lemonbalm for taste, Aniseed or Fennel seed, Juniper berries, honey (my invention, can also add pepper, cinnamon and/or ginger for warming)

Sleepy tea: Lavender, chamomile, heather, passion flower, orange blossom, catnip, vervain

Time for me: Rose, Marshmallow, Calendula, Heather, Lemon Verbena, Hibiscus, Jasmine (my invention, still needs work)

My favorite: Oolong tea + orange blossom

This site, way back when, where we are today

All the time I have had this site, from 1997 onwards, I have been involved in building websites and web technology apps during the day, but when it came to having a personal site I had a problem (especially later once I was running a web agency). If I tried to do a site using my own code and technology, and under my own name, people would find it, expect it to be about the industry, or at the very least expect it to uphold standards and be a showcase. I would get so stuck into perfection I would spend more time on that than on content. I got enough of that from 6am to 8pm every day, I didn’t need more.

Even when I decided I should continue to have my old site, less about games and more about the stay-in-touch kind of things, me-and-my-toys.

I didn’t want it to be like work, or about work (this was probably a mistake for my own career, really). If I was going to spend more web time in my evening it would not involve coding, it would not involve design and I would not mess with it. It would be about content - content that interested just me, and that was fine with me.

And for a very long time I kept it totally separated from anything in my real life, nickname, no links, no real name, and nothing about work. I didn’t want to have to watch what I said or did. So I could get away with it.

Then the web changed, and the work-life boundaries blurred for everyone, and I decided it was silly to have that barrier. Now people turn up here knowing me from my professional persona, and I fear I cannot get away with this site anymore.

By blogging standards, it does everything wrong, it lacks focus and consistency, it has a very candid and direct tone, I might post 10 things one day then nothing for months, and, horror! a “sorry I havent posted anything” post. It jumps all over the place. No strategy, no coherence. I didn’t care, I’m not a blogger. This is for me and my 10 occasional readers, a “me and my stuff site” of the worst kind. Followed by about 20 friends on and off, when they wondered “What’s happened to iphi lately?“.  And usable for me when I need to send a link about a game nobody has heard about, because I watched it and collected links and quotes.

And on the side of technology and building it, I have gone for the frankenstein method - I messed with it live. The results shows entropy as applied to websites, a dozen half finished reorganisations and design changes, bits hanging out, bits fixed with staples. But it’s alive, even if all it can say is “gaaaah”.

Anyway, I will clean it up, and apologies to the 5 people who liked the old site fine as it was.

This site, way back when, part 2: 1998-2000

I have covered the early beginning of this site as the hugely embarrassing imagisphere with the great provider list in a previous entry.

The focus changed to games in the winter of 98-99, when I fell into the game half life. Now I had always been an enthusiastic (but non hard core, they are just games!) gamer, but with half life I fell into online multiplayer gaming and a great community. I think I hung out in the newsgroup AGHL from 1998 to 2004, and still pop in it now and then to this day. But with this community came a lot of people equally enthusiastic and curious about games, games design and more, and a whole lot of debate around the matter.

At the time there was no concept of a weblog, but by today’s definition for about 4 years the site was a weblog about pc games, with a very personal filter. There were a lot of sites covering games news, but 80% of the coverage was of hyped high profile titles. I was usually interested in games that got a lot less coverage, and I wanted to get others in my circle interested in those, so I would link to any coverage, following about 15 news sites. It gave me a way to track things for myself and also somewhere to point people at when I mentioned a game and they went “uh?“.

I was still silly ambitious about side projects with no audience back then, so built a site which would list news and excerpts of coverage for (over time) several hundred games, and would allow cross navigation by game, developer, publisher, genre, and whether the game was published, unpublished or (alas) cancelled. It was rather ambitious so wrote a small set of perl scripts and templates (even though the site moved many times the scripts are still there in the file tree, and rather embarrassing). The admin was a simple set of lists and forms. The first version might have used msql, but that is lost in the mists of history. By 1999 it was on mysql, then postgresql, then back to mysql today (purely because when i moved it to a third party product they didnt support postreql).

Interestingly enough when I worked for a regional press group for 2 years between 2000 and 2002, I reused several of the perl modules I had created for this site. They were extended and grown into a full multi-site CMS and editorial system (called editorial2, highly original) and a small but fast ecommerce shop system (called simply v2) - these powered 12 city portals and over 1000 websites at their heyday. Sounds crazy, eh? What can I say, I am all for reuse! Editorial2 was abandoned when the company was bought, but v2 went on to a new life at the web agency we created as a follow up, and lived till 2007. I think at least one simple “pronouncable but never rude”* password generation routine was later moved to our next generation CMS (php) and to our Zope-based CMS, and probably lives to this day. Perhaps it will be my longest lasting technical legacy, a suitably ironic and modest one.

*(we had one report over all these years from one of our ecommerce client that one of their customers had complained about it generating a rude word. Although when we asked our client to enquire as to what it was, she came back to us saying she couldnt make heads or tails of the word -and neither could we- it was rude in some very foreign language.)

The wayback machine has quite a few snaps under iphi.net and iphi.com from 2000 onwards. Check your own site, it is a blast from the past.

Way back when, part 1: 1996

Let’s go back to 1996…

At the time you used mosaic and netscape to browse the world wide web, and altavista to search it. Highway robbery was common, 6 figure sums for web server software licenses. You used that newfangled Apache thingie, if you were smart and could stomach the ridiculous multiple configuration files, or NCSA. The average charge for a domain name was $75, if your reseller was nice. SSL was a nightmare, virtual domains took 10 steps to set up, 28k modems were still common, nobody had bandwidth charges but disk space cost a premium. It was the era of those brave cowboys (and girls) who would build html pages, configure the server, write the perl scripts, set up databases, go into photoshop to create horizontal rule graphics and buttons (remember those?), cheery animated gifs, optimize every image, enter the data, take the photographs, write the content, fight with sendmail and DNS - all before the first coffee break of the day. You could do it all, and you had to do it all, unless you had very large budgets. You had to figure it out as you went, invent solutions to problems nobody had yet started to discuss.

In 1996, most online interactions were in newsgroups, forums, irc and icq (people always calling for the death of xxx for new interaction services please note that all of these still exist. The community might be smaller, but none of them are dead, although some are full of zombies). 1 in 3 people online probably worked in technology or the web, if not more. People built a personal site like today a myspace or facebook account, so people could find them. Webrings were common, the stumble-upon of the day. If you were there you’ll be going “oh yes” and if you weren’t there, well… You had to be there for this to make sense.

The wayback machine allows us to get a peak at what it is we were doing then - and I just had a peek at this site’s past.

This site started as static pages in 1996, on the domain imagisphere.com (which was stolen when I changed providers). The wayback machine has a few horrible archives of it. The content lists a lot of topics which never were fleshed out, from women on the web to content about my involvement with teamOS/2 user groups, and its crowning glory was the list of all ISPs in Switzerland, by region, modestly called “The great provider list”. It looks horrible.

I had totally forgotten about that! This was compiled as a result of a job trying to set up a hotline support service and selling it to ISPs in Switzerland, which had me call and visit all of the names on those lists. I had set up the knowledge base for the operators, the website, and I got quite a few of the ISPs on board when the company which was going to set up the telephone service itself decided it was too far out of its comfort zone.  A tough one on one’s first job and foray in entrepreneurship…

I kept the list and some of the knowledge base and put them on the web, and maintained them for 2 years. I had totally forgotten…

What have you forgotten about old sites you did? Check internet.archive.org, it might be fun! Embarrassing like baby pictures, but fun.

And some things never change:

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My backgrounds - made on the web!

Note: this is a talk-out-loud piece written wearing the hat of an average user - it is not written wearing the hat of the web and software professional - that’s why it is in my personal blog and is written in light conversational style.

In the past I have often said that as cool as I thought many rich-online-applications that seek to replace desktop apps, I hadnt really started using any of them. But recently a shift has started to happen, and it hit me in recent conversations about some images and patterns I used on my site - all of them had been whipped up playing with online applications.

So I guess it is time to reverse the pattern of posts saying “web app x, tested, stopped using” to spread some love to the ones I do end up using.

1. Aviary (& donationcoder)

When I first heard of aviary, I really wanted an account. I registered my interest but alas never made the cut. Luckily for me some of the delighful people on the Donation Coder site had some invitations to share, and I got to get my hands on one. I am amazed as to what can be done with image manipulation online nowadays. I guess I shouldn’t be, having been in the web development field for long enough, but it’s actually different seeing first hand what can be done, and how smooth it works.

Screenshot: Vector editor in opera

Even though I only just dabbled with the tools, I ended up paying for aviary, in part to support them and get them to implement all the promised apps, and in part because the ability to have access to tools such as these from any computer or any OS really will make my life easier when travelling. I can access them on a friend’s computer, I can use an older laptop, or a netbook, because I only need the RAM and CPU to run the application and view the result, not to process the image. And of course I can boot on FreeBSD or opensolaris or anything with a modern browser available, and aviary should work. No more “crap, I wanted to quickly whip something up on this photo but the machine is booted to BSD and running something and I dont want to switch” (of course I might get the whole virtualisation thing finalised and wont have that problem at all anymore, who knows? But that is another story)

As I said, I mostly just dabbled with the apps - especially peacock, which is just like pipes but for images generation.

Screenshot: Peacock with my little triangle experiment

I was playing with triangles, which are my favorite shape (as much as one can have a favorite shape). At the time I was trying to create a set of nice sharp triangles as a basis for a website design - another idea which didnt really make it through. But the background based on triangles I created in peacock was used on this site for a while, and is still my background on my computers. It doesnt look quite that great on white, but it is a transparent png and creates a fascinating depth effect on a dark background (don’t take my word for it, look!)

See this on aviary

Out of the full applications they are planning to do, I am most interested in the font creator and probably the “real medium” painting simulator. And I am a bit disappointed they seem to have cancelled any idea of web design tools. It will be interesting to have access to things like sound editing without having to install any application, since I need it maybe 2-3 times a year (at the moment I just use wavosaur when it happens, since it is a no-install app). We’ll see!

Edited: one thing I forgot to mention about aviary is how people often share their creations, complete with all the actions used in their creation. This makes it a great learning feature, because not only can I admire what people created with the tools, I can also see how they did it.

PS: Donation Coder is a great community, by the way. I joined it a while back because I wanted to donate something back for some apps I was using, and as an addict to independent software this was a great place - full of addicts like me, and developers. It is also a very supportive learning community. I should write a bit about them, but just go check the site, the software offered on it, and the discussion in the forums.

2. Colourlovers

I have been working on a slight update of the colors used on different sections of the site (not that you could tell, like half of what I ever do it hasn’t made it onto anything visible). Now I am a)lazy b)not a designer so I thought it would be fun to use a webapp to play with color schemes. So I found Colour Lovers a few months back and played with it a bit. Created several palettes at random, some of which became the currently half-finished themes on the site.
I also played at creating patterns from those palettes and others, and in spite of the rather limited set of available patterns (especially ones that use the full set of 5 colors), I had a bit of fun. Since I was just messing about I cannot comment for the app’s suitability for production work, at first glance I would say it is not sufficient. But it might be a good one to get a bit of inspiration in a way that does not kill concentration, prior to going to work in the professional tools.

Screenshot: Colourlovers

I particularly enjoyed the option to submit an image and have the system offer colors from that - although I mostly found that some of my favorite photos of my own turned out to make rather lousy color palettes. What works in a photo does not work in a flat color setting.

In the end though, Colourlovers, like other very narrow fun-social websites before them (eg: wordie) is something I can see myself using in short bursts followed by months of forgetting about them, especially since for the pure work of palettes and texture, aviary mentioned just above has some pretty nifty tools.

See the patterns on colourlovers

both files are to be considered released on CC license, attribution required (a link to this post would be enough)

Plunder is now Age of Booty and it’s available on Impulse - but not for me :(

Game: Plunder

From: https://store.stardock.com/application.aspx?id=agebooty&theme=impulse

I was checking the Impulse preorder list and the screenshots for that game “age of booty” looked familiar. So I went to the Certain Affinity website and sure enough, the game is now called Age of Booty - live on the xbox, coming any day now on PC.

The reviews speak of “well crafted”, “easy to get addicted”, “catan for the rest of us”, “sharp humor”. I think I will preorder - at $9.99 they deserve a chance

AoB’s own website is at http://certainaffinity.com/ageofbooty/
Bunch of reviews at http://www.giantbomb.com/age-of-booty/61-20564/user_reviews/

UPDATE: Grrr - tried preordering on Impulse but no luck “Not available in your country”. Now what is the point of digital distribution if they keep the outdated market limitation view?

More about Plunder

Online Fiction Find:

Read it at http://weirdtales.net/wordpress/2008/09/17/tom-edison-and-his-telegraphic-harpoon/
A bit of a steampunk alternate history, a bit loose but a fun read :D
There are quite a few more tales available on that site, worth a sniff through.

Use-what-you-have-challenge: I need a plan

This refers to Challenge: use what you have

I’m not doing too bad on books and havent bought a DVD in a long time, but games are tough - I am not playing my existing games and still tempted to buy some of the great games coming out… maybe making this public will make me stick to the challenge…

Games I plan to revisit:

Descent 2 and Descent 3
Sacrifice
Freespace
Red Faction
Evil Islands (under way)
Might and Magic 6 (under way)
Disciples 2
Sacred
Neverwinter Nights
Arcanum
SWAT 4
Oddworld
Chaser
Fable
SIlverfall
Max Payne
No One Lives Forever 2
Prey
Iwar 2
H&D 2
Armies of Exigo
Europa 1400
Virtual Villagers
Hostile Waters

That’s just a random grab from my list  - I’d welcome suggestions/votes as to which one anyone is interested in my revisiting and writing about