My Future Resort (p1) - Intro

There are a lot of people who dream of someday owning their own nudist resort, but for many resort owners it's not the relaxing job that they were expecting. Some venues are finding success with the rise of clothing-optional recreation, while many are operating on a shoestring budget and just doing well enough to survive (mostly by hard work from the owner). If I had a clean slate and some seed money, here's how I would build my future venue.

The ideas presented in this series are free for anyone to use. Some might be brilliant and just what a venue needs, while others may not work. All venues are currently working towards "local maximas", and are in need of some mutation in order to find the "global maxima". (huh?) If you don't care about the theory details, ignore the paragraphs in italics for this series.

Genetic algorithms, a model based on evolution, make a great way to illustrate the life-cycle of venues. Draw a squiggly horizontal line. The top of the highest hump is the global maxima -- leave that one alone for now. Somewhere along the line in one of the other humps, put a dot, and label it "Terra Cotta Inn". This hump represents the luxury resorts. One of the other humps can represent the campgrounds, etc. Now, a lot of copycats that are similar to the Terra Cotta Inn open up, all with slightly different features. They would be represented by dots that are very close to the Terra Cotta. Some might be higher up, and be better. Some end up being lower, not as good, and will eventually die out (just like the weakest animals via natural selection). Keep repeating this process with the new venues, and the dots will get closer and closer to the "perfect" top of the hump. They have hit the local maxima, and can't possibly be any better at what they do.

But wait, the global maxima is still out there! It might not have the typical look and feel of a luxury resort, or campground, but it is a place or process where everyone is happier. If the dots only work their way to the top of their respective humps, how can they find this new, unexplored, and possibly better hump? The answer is mutation, by disruptive technology, to put a dot in a random place along the line mentioned above. Mutation occurred when people thought up the radical ideas of a nude cruise on a huge ship, or creating a clothing-optional city, both of which have been successful and are creeping up to their local maximas. Other mutations die out quickly, like those clothing optional flights to nudist destinations. As a result of this series, I hope that a higher rate of mutation occurs in the industry, so we can find local maximas quicker and maybe even hit the global one. If not, I'll just have to open up my own resort and enjoy my theory-driven success.

This series is a collection of my radical ideas, and how they have been coming together into a fresh approach to nudist venues. Sometimes a fresh approach is all we need to break out of tradition and end up with a better solution. I hope that you all take these ideas with an open mind, and participate in developing them via the comments. (I may eventually move these to a Thinkcycle-type page on the WWNCW.)

It's hard to stay on specific topics with this series, because they all become so intertwined. There are 7 main posts, one of which is split into 4 posts because it's a big topic. There will likely be more than that, and the whole series will remain a work in progress as new ideas emerge or improve. I'll probably be posting addendums for years... For now though, I have them scheduled to be published on Friday mornings each week for the next couple of months. This way, you can take the weekend to ponder the ideas, and consider what you could do to help your local venues.

The next post will be a brainstorming session, but after that I plan to write some well-thought-out ideas and provide supporting evidence of how they might work.

Outline:

1. This Intro
2. Land
3. Sustainability
1. Water
2. Electric
3. Heat and AC
4. Diversification
5. Economics of Crowdsourcing
6. Resource Sharing
7. Community Involvement

Parts 2, 3, and some of 4 deal with the physical layout of the resort, and how to make it efficient. Parts 4, 5, 6, and 7 deal with the social framework. See all parts (and future parts) by clicking the tag "future_resort" in the right-side menu. There is no conclusion for the series, so hopefully you can put the concepts together yourself as you read.

From my perspective, the social frameworks for resorts are in more need of help than the physical layout. As my game theory book author describes: "Nobody would ever propose constructing an aeroplane or a bridge without giving a great deal of thought to how the mechanism would stand up to the stresses and strains it will face when built, but the idea that one should give the same care and attention to the design of social mechanisms is typically greeted with scorn."

I might just be the first person to put such serious thought into improving the social aspects of naturist venues. In my mind, alternative methods exist and they solve a bunch of problems that resorts currently face. (These are described in parts 4+.) I would love the opportunity to test these new methods and see how they stand up to the stresses and strains they will face, even if I have to build a resort myself.

NEXT PART

RSS Feeds 101

I've noticed that there are a number of readers who stop by the site occasionally and catch up with my posts. How do I know this? It depends on when new comments are posted:

• Comments on really old posts are likely from search engine hits.
• Comments on posts 1 or 2 weeks old are probably from non-RSS readers.
• Comments within a day have to be from RSS readers. (Good job!)
  

So, in my continued effort to point out the best tools for naturist use, I'm doing a quick post on RSS feeds for all those who don't use them. RSS feeds will allow you to keep up with all of your favorite blogs or sites without having to visit each of them separately.

What are RSS feeds? RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. If you read the news, online or in print, you may notice a lot of content from the Associated Press (AP). What happens is that one Associated Press reporter writes a story, then the story gets syndicated (sent) to every newspaper that subscribes to the AP. Then, the newspaper editors decide if they want to include the story that day or not. This process is way better than having every local newspaper send reporters all over the world just to write stories for them!

The same process exists online as well, and are called RSS feeds. When you visit a blog or news site, look for the little orange icon that says "RSS", "XML", or "ATOM" (all are the basically same thing). When you subscribe to a feed in your reader, you'll get all of the new content in your reader.

Different programs handle RSS in different ways. Internet Explorer will display the feed as a webpage, which I find a bit useless since you might as well go to the webpage itself: (Click the images for screenshots.)
Firefox is a bit better. It will add the RSS feed as a simulated folder. When you point to the folder, it'll show an auto-generated list of the newest posts as bookmarks:
Neither of these built-in options will filter out which posts are new and which you've seen before, and neither allows searching. If you end up being on vacation for a week, you might even miss some posts since they only update when you click on them. For more advanced (and useful) features, there are two main options -- stand-alone and web-based. There are a bunch of stand-alone RSS readers. One that I used to use is called FeedReader:
It has searching and will make unread stories bold. Although the stand-alone programs are good, they need to be installed and run all the time. The web-based one that I use, and have used since it was brand new, is Google Reader. It's free, online, efficient, and will grab the latest news even when your computer is off. I love it!
They also have an off-line mode that is good for dial-up users, and a mobile mode that is good for PDA's and cell phones. When I travel, I use the mobile mode with my PDA.

Currently, I use Google Reader with 105 RSS feeds. (The nudist-related blog folder is partly shown in the screenshot.) This is equivalent to me surfing a list of 105 websites just to see what's new -- a task which would take most people all day. If any of the sites have anything new, it's shown right in Google Reader, and I can be up-to-date with everything in minutes. Notice in the screenshot that the Hack-A-Day site just posted a new item 9 minutes ago, and I can read it already. Other features include:

• Podcasts -- these are audio shows like the "Naturist Living" show. Google Reader has a built-in media player to let me listen to each show.
• Picture Feeds -- Flickr has RSS feeds for tags, I use this to view all new "burningman" pictures.
• Comments -- Blogs allow comments for each post. Comment feeds will show you every new comment on every post. There's no way you could keep track of these manually, since you'd need to visit the page for every post.
• Wiki's -- Most wiki sites have a wide variety of RSS feeds. Wikipedia has a lot of options. Any page edit or new page is shown in the RSS feed.
• Stuff -- Browsing Craigslist takes too long, but using their RSS feeds I can see new listings as they are posted. Acting fast can score you a cheap item that someone is selling.
  
• Deleted Posts -- Sometimes bloggers like to post something, then take it away. It still exists in the RSS reader.
  
• Searchability -- With Google Reader, I can quickly search through every blog post and news item that I have ever received over RSS. It's very handy!
• Unclog your Inbox -- Yahoo groups and mailing lists fill your email inbox. I turn off the email, and subscribe to the RSS feed instead. It's just as fast, but keeps each group separate and makes each post easier to read.
  

There are plenty of tutorials on getting started, so why not give it a try? Stop browsing to every site and scrolling through old posts -- learn to use RSS and have every new item all in one place. It'll save you a lot of time, and will keep you up-to-date with everything your interested in.

Missed News (1/2009)

I survived the holiday season! I ended up driving 708 miles to visit family and friends, and never left Wisconsin! Google says this is almost 18 hours of driving. This is about the same amount of time that it would take us to drive one-way to TNS East this summer in Massachusetts.

Santa was good to us this year -- the theme from the family was a Wii. After I buy 2 more wiimotes, this will certainly be a hit at any future nude parties! It'll go great with my projector -- both are very portable and all I need is a power outlet.

I signed up with Skinbook on Tuesday. In 48 hours, I've had 32 email messages from them, 23 of which are people adding me as a friend. Unlike Facebook, people seem to add each-other for no reason at all. I haven't been adding them as friends because I have no idea who they are. (And most seem to be in the UK anyway, so I'll never meet them.) Sorry guys, but "friends" should be friends, and not everyone that exists. Feel free to add me as a friend if you actually know me somehow, and please state how you know me. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not going to add everyone that exists on the network as a friend.

Onward to the missed news:

• I drove through PdC several hours before the event, but was unable to stay for their annual Carp Drop. Hey, it sure beats a chicken nugget! My girlfriend wants to be the Carp Queen next year, so we'll try to charm the screening committee with some muddy water skinny dipping stories.
• It's a sad day for privacy on the nude beach when people have a camera implanted in their eyeball.
• Speaking of cameras, researchers have used them to create body-swap illusions. It's a bit creepy, actually. It may eventually be the cheap way to vacation naturally.
  
• Jennifer Aniston's bodyguard spoke out about how she rarely wears clothes. She was recently naked on GQ, and gave her famous tie to Letterman.
  
• I'm a fan of Doctor Who and Torchwood, and thought it was humorous that John Barrowman exposed himself during a radio show. Hey, they asked for it...
• At least John didn't do any swaffling. What? You've never heard of the word? It is the Dutch word of the year! It also happens to be my word of the year for 2009.
  
• Recently, All Nudist and I were complaining about the cold Wisconsin weather. You know it's cold when a dog gets frozen to the sidewalk!
• All Nudist was brave (crazy?) to make a naked snow angel (which we will follow up on sometime this winter), but I think naked snorkeling in Minnesota has him beat! Hear that Steve? You have a new challenge!
  
• Check out this flasher -- I'm surprised she wasn't arrested.
• I can't seem to find this shirt, or this shirt online anywhere -- anyone know where they're from? I at least found this good one while looking.
• Here's the latest from the naked pumpkin run -- Instead of "indecent exposure", they got citations for "disorderly conduct" and at least one has accepted the plea deal and the cops are defending their bullying.
  
• In Paris, models braved the cold nude to protest the ban on artist's tips.
• A French court awarded Carla Bruni damages for unauthorized use of her nude photo on handbags.
  
• Here's a cute video of what to wear to different beaches and resorts.
• If "disorderly conduct" and "disturbing the peace" aren't enough, a city (or two) in Michigan can ticket you for just being annoying. Make sure to call the police for every offence you encounter every day!
• Remember the old lady that was arrested for not returning a football that landed in her yard? She's suing the parents now.
• Here's another old lady that gave a naked intruder "the squeeze" to chase him off. This raises a lot of questions: 1. Why on earth would he be naked? They didn't say "pants down" or anything, just naked. 2. There's no mention of attempted rape, so what was going on? Swaffling? 3. What is "private indecency"? I've never heard of that charge before... I always thought it was legal to be indecent in private.
• There's another war going on that is similar to the war on nudity. Instead of nudists being arrested and charged as sex offenders, chemists are being arrested and charged as terrorists and illegal drug producers. At least they caught him with his pants down!
• There's a new nudist "podcast" (online radio show) called the Naturist Living Show. It's shaping up to be a worthwhile listen with some big name interviews.
  

Crazy Eskimos

Last week, All Nudist humorously described the current Wisconsin weather. (It's even snowing on his website!) It's a bit warmer now, but it's been an interesting day...

This sums up my last 24 hours in wonderful southwest Wisconsin:

1. Freezing rain -- enough to go ice skating on any flat surface.
2. Snow up to a foot on top of that.
3. Temps near 15 degrees, winds up to 25 mph. (I don't want to calculate the wind-chill!)
   
4. Walking 18 blocks (30 minutes) across town in said weather to campus and thinking nothing of it. Mickey Mouse boots and a good coat do wonders! I never got cold! This was for a training through work, since I'm actually done with school for now.
5. I saw several people walking around outside wearing t-shirts on campus.
6. I saw several people walking around outside wearing shorts on campus. (If they stop by the gym, they wear shorts that whole day.)
7. I saw several people riding bicycles to/from campus in said weather -- I seriously can't understand how they do it, since cars even have trouble getting around! I never see them fall, or evidence in the snow that they have fallen, yet they are riding on ice and through snow.
   

Last weekend, a southern attendee to Lee's memorial service referred to us as Eskimo's. (He then pointed out that it's odd that TNS is based here.) By definition, Eskimo's do not live in this region. I believe the phrase he was searching for was "just plain crazy". Often it's in a good, tough, and humorous way.

This Thursday, assuming we're able to visit some friends of ours, I might just make a naked snow angel! They have been known to dive naked into the snow, and take a dip in their pool after breaking through a layer of ice on top.

UPDATE: Of course we did! We didn't right away, but after Steve made one we had to! (See the comments on his post.) It was mid-January and 15 degrees out.

Is it wrong to be crazy when the others around us are just as crazy? Is it wrong to be naked when when the others around us are just as naked? Hopefully your answer is the same for both questions... In my opinion, doing crazy (but safe) things every once in a while is something that keeps us human. From what I understand about Lee, he would've probably agreed. Hopefully the next N magazine will capture some of the crazy/cool things that Lee has done in his life, since several were talked about at the memorial service.

Have you done anything crazy recently? Post it to the comments if you have.

Recap and Winter Plans

Every so often I do a post on what's going on with the blog, and my personal life. Similar to the "Missed News" series, it's full of little things that may or may not be of interest.

On the topic of "Missed News", I notice that other bloggers are picking up stories from my monthly posts. Cool! I'm happy that people are finding some of the stuff interesting, even though a lot of it is edgy and sometimes completely off-topic.

Back in August, I celebrated my missing of Burning Man with a reader-contributed story. Here's part 1, part 2, and part 3. Recently, I've had a commenter accusing him of having a fetish-driven desire to be nude among textiles. I disagree -- I believe that 99% of people are genuinely good and only change that opinion if I have solid evidence otherwise. The story lacks that evidence. Feel free to post your feedback to that story using the links above.

Last month I wrote up some game theory regarding the actions of TNS and AANR relative to public land issues. I was probably harder on AANR than I should've been. I later found out that AANR has donated towards TNS activities ... once ... indirectly.

Speaking of TNS and money -- they are running a little short. Since the economy is down, people haven't been renewing their subscriptions. Now is an ideal time to get a membership or buy some stuff from them if you're able to. To see what happens if they run out of money, click the game theory link above.

In other news... I used to be a very anonymous blogger, but have recently been using my real name, had naked pictures posted, and then completely busted our privacy with both a picture and our real names (below).

My recent post about the Ocean Angels got the attention of one of them. Fiona added a comment of praise soon after it was posted. It's neat that she responded, since some charities don't like to openly acknowledge that nude people exist. So far, we're the only nudists on the faceboat and we're very lonely! Use this link to post a picture by us -- donations can be as much or as little as you can afford. Please join us for the sake of breasts everywhere!*

* "Breasts everywhere" = breast cancer care charity. Imagine a world where there are no beautiful breasts to look at, or squeeze, or to use as pillows when camping, or to feed our babies. If our babies can't eat, the human race would go extinct. To prevent this scenario, you must donate, and post a picture next to ours!

I've been eagerly waiting to see what happens on Dec. 17th and Jan. 12th. What's on those days, you ask? I've been following Amy's reporting of the Naked Pumpkin Run, and those are the days of the court appearances. Will they be free, or will their lives be ruined? (Amy left a few comments on the related post here, which is neat.)

Today, I attended the memorial service of Lee Baxandall. Info was posted here about the service, and there will be a lot more info from TNS in the future. Since I'm only 3 hours away, I thought it would be good to attend and learn more about him. What an inspiration! He's an amazing guy!

After the service, I got to hang out with the TNS crew at their office for a while. I was finally able to meet Bob Morton and Mark Storey, both of which have bright minds and write some great articles. Mark brought up that they are always looking for new articles, and hinted that I could be a part of that. So far, I don't think I've written anything that matches their quality of work... Have I?

Currently, I'm happy that I have more time to work on the blog. A huge load was lifted when I completed my thesis. Another was lifted with the end of summer, which means less trips to the beach and other events. The biggest of all was when I told my mom about our lifestyle. Being of European decent, I knew that she wouldn't care. I told stories of all the cool people we've met, and all the cool things we've done, and reassured her that it has nothing to do with sex, and she doesn't think it's a big deal. I'm glad that's in the open now, actually. It'll make summer conversations a lot easier.

Next on the agenda is my "Future Resort" series. I'm currently writing the 10 parts, with the intent to post them weekly starting in January. This will certainly be a highlight for the blog, and I'm hoping that some of the ideas will be implemented.

After that, I'd like to focus on the summer. I'd still like to coordinate a "nude olympics" at Mazo Beach, and will have a post dedicated to how I intend to do that. Ideally, it would be a big crowdsourced event that can include fundraisers for TNS and BN. Stay tuned!

Ocean Angels

We're supporting the Ocean Angels on their naked trip across the ocean in a rowboat!

To put this amazing challenge into perspective: "More people have walked on the moon than have rowed across the Indian Ocean."

We put in a donation and added our picture (and real names) to their faceboat. If you're quick, you can see us in the "latest faces" list. We were #25 to sign up out of 25,000 available spaces.

Want your picture by us? Use this link. Let's show them how many nudists are actually cheering them on! Proceeds go to Breast Cancer Care.

Update: For those coming from All Nudist's blog, this is an old post. There's a lot more info here.

Missed News (12/2008)

The "Missed News" series is for all the random stuff I found interesting, but was missed by other popular bloggers.

• Merry Naked Christmas!
• Here's a warning that people sometimes get caught driving in the buff. I know you've all done it, just be careful!
• However, sometimes driving in the buff is required. (Hmm, I know what sign I'm putting on the bike at VVRC's car show next year...)
  
• One swinger finds his kind trustworthy because of their nudity. Although it's a swinger themed article, he does make the separation that it's the nudity that brings trust between people.
  
• Sonia Belle finally gets off the political rants, and switches to political celebration.
  
• Here's a small list of teachers that have been fired because of their personal life.
• The nude photo leak of Adrienne Bailon was a publicity stunt. Us nudists didn't think it was a big deal in the first place.
• If you're looking for another nude photo link, try this one. For a site that thrives on anatomy, they sure don't know it!
• An Australian outback mayor won a sexist award for asking ugly women to move to a town full of men. Sexism aside, it's not a bad idea because ugly women are few and far between. (I can say that from experience.) In a town full of men, they have a much better chance of hooking up than trying to compete with the typical Aussie female.
  
• A bra for men is surprisingly popular in Japan.
• New advances in nanotechnology make clothing "unwettable" and has potential for swimwear. We have a better technology -- skin.
• Here's a wonderful write-up from the Bare Oaks Blog regarding nipples on TV. During a sex-change operation, the same breasts are blurred out at the start and exposed at the end. They also have a paragraph on how the labia is only offensive when attached to the woman.
• Rick explains that nipple radiation is dangerous. It's an old post but a great one if you missed it.
  
• Fairwind Lakes Naturist Park thanks TNS for helping them survive after AANR ran and hid. From what I can tell, Fairwind Lakes is NOT an AANR affiliated park.
  
• All Nudist suggested a corn maze. Since the midwest is filled with corn anyway, I think it's a great idea!

And now a question for all of you -- does anyone have experience in the US patent application process? (Nudists are a very diverse group, so it's worth asking...)