Shipping My Ethereal Software (My Work July 1-7)

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My big news this week is getting the ethereal software out the door and into your hands. So far, 5 new of you have sent me beta test results (plus 3 from the closed beta, plus myself, for a total of 9). Except for one non-mage, everyone reported noticeable connections. At first glance, that might seem trivial, but I’m excited for a few reasons:

  • It means the sigil is working. I had never tied ethereal software trace until before, so I’m excited to know I got the technique right, and to know that my model (which suggested this technique) is in the ballpark of correct, also.
  • Many of you have said that you can’t feel connections from your ethereal software. You’ll do a ritual, or some Reiki, or something else, but you don’t notice the ethereal software that drives that magick. So I’m excited that we can finally get everyone to feel these connections, so you can start exploring how ethereal software works, and develop the skills to recognize all the other ethereal software you use, too.
  • Also, after working solo for so many years, it’s really nice to have this community supporting my research. Thanks, everyone!

So, that was my main accomplishment this week. I want to share one success, and one failure, that went into making that happen.

On Monday, I found that my beta testers didn’t notice the ethereal software’s normal connections, so I added the command to make obvious connections. To actually do that only took a conversation with the spirit who made the ethereal software, but getting him to understand what I wanted took some work.

We’d already set the ethereal software to automatically make an obvious connection. Some of the beta testers felt it, and I certainly did, so I’m sure it was beyond obvious by this spirit’s standards. So, asking for “more obvious” just didn’t work: He was nowhere close to what we needed, and inching it up wouldn’t cut it. I had to explain just what I meant by obvious: “Like you’re trying to shift my mind’s energy signature to the software’s signature by sending me lots of energy.” His reply: “That sounds like a dumb way to shift anything.” Yes, he gave me sass.

But, he trusts me, and he programmed it in. It was still too gentle first, and I had to ask him to increase the power about five times before we got to where it is now. But it works — many of you felt it — and that’s all that matters.

Except that it doesn’t work for non-mages. My beta tester didn’t feel anything, and I was nervous about that: I don’t know how far along you (my readers) are, and I don’t yet know how far along you need to be to notice these “obvious” connections. I was nervous that the results would be mixed, with many of you reporting not noticing anything, and that I’d lose face.

So, I wanted a physical effect on the nerves to make even non-mages feel a tingle. I got a team of spirits to try some obvious approaches, which all worked great on me, but had no effect on my non-mage beta tester. And so I had a choice: Ship what I have, or wait for every feature.

I was tempted to wait. It’s safe. It avoids failure, and the embarrassment of failing publicly. It’s the easy path.

But I also wanted to get back to writing my book, which is been on hold, waiting for this ethereal software. And I wanted to test the work I’ve done so far, and make sure that I’m going in the right direction. And I wanted to get this ethereal software to all of you, because several of you have been asking for it by comments and email.

And then, I remembered technology blogs talking about regular computer software development, explaining how waiting for every feature is a death sentence, and how you need to pick the minimum viable capabilities and ship them. So I did.

So, that was my week: Develop the minimum viable product on Monday, try to squeeze in one last feature on Tuesday and Wednesday, accept that it wasn’t going to happen on Thursday, and ship the software on Friday. It was a good week, and I’m proud of the results.

Next week, I’ll return to those techniques to cause tingling, and lead the research myself, rather than delegating it to spirits. Because sometimes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself — particularly when you’re researching the human body, and you’re the only researcher who has one.

Other posts in this series: If you liked this post, consider visiting my current blog at mikesententia.com.

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2 Responses to “Shipping My Ethereal Software (My Work July 1-7)”

  1. Nenad Ristic says:

    Hi, thanks for releasing the software for a beta… I am kind of a relapsed mage, since I have not practiced in years, so it will be interesting to see what your software in its current configuration will do… I will try to test it out sometime this week, and let you know the results.

    Thanks for a great and thought provoking blog!

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