About Me

Thank you for visiting my site and wanting to know more about it’s author. As you probably gathered, my name is Jeff Whiteside. Some might know me as a communication engineer, others an activist, some a candle-maker or photographer, others a technology go-to guy and yet even others just an interesting person they came across in their travels.

I’ve debated for many years about having a “web presence” with my name as it virtually removes my privacy and causes me to have to filter content based on what I am comfortable with just anybody knowing about me. Up until now, my actual name has never graced one of my websites…I’ve gone by one of several pseudonyms. As of late, I feel I have some things to say that are important or interesting enough to risk that privacy and to publicly identify with the cause. For that reason, I will use this website as my personal sounding board and will put forth such information that I feel the world should see.

My personal interests vary rather greatly – but some current and past interests include candle & soap making, book binding, photography, survival, current events, monetary systems, conspiracies, politics, corporate mergers, 9/11, cooking, computers, communications, web page writing & development, movies, music, guns, motorcycles, off-roading, camping, hiking, natural medicine, religion, spirituality, and many others that I’m sure I’ve failed to remember. Some say I’m a jack of all trades…but it really comes down to the fact that I’m just interested in interesting things.

Around 1997, I decided that I wasn’t going to watch television. I very rarely watch television (it’s impossible to avoid in today’s society) and radio has little interest as well, with recorded albums satiating my passion for music. The overwhelming majority of my adult life has had little influence from television and radio. I do watch a fair number of movies and documentaries – but there I can very easily control what I will and will not watch. At the time I decided to severely limit my TV & radio intake, it was an interesting social experiment to see what would happen if I “unplugged,” as it were. The longer I did it, however, the less television & radio interested me and the better I perceived my life to be. I chose to get information through other outlets such as the print medium, talking to other people and the Internet. My view of the world radically shifted to one of a broader sense; a more informed view developed as I found myself having to “work” to inform myself, rather than having “facts” passively fed to me. I decided to create my own reality based on my experiences and have chosen to view the world by what I see and research, rather than what I hear or see on the television. It can be a little weird sometimes – to have no clue about that funny commercial, what happened on the popular shows and other social inferences…it is so embedded into our society…but overall, I find people respect my choice and desire to make similar changes in their own life.

I have chosen to be informed about many things and choose to lead my own life as much as I can. It has been an interesting journey with many hills, valleys, mountains and canyons – and I wouldn’t trade it for any one else’s. I am living in an unprecedented time with amazing access to information and points of view. This is essential, because since I’ve stopped watching TV and listening to radio, these mediums have been subject to corporate merger after corporate mega-merger – to the point where over 90% of the US media is owned by one of four corporations. Those who participate in this agree to subject themselves to homogeneous influence, directed by the beliefs and desires of corporate elitists. Though I’m sure there’s much debate to be had about these potential influences and their moral relevance, I’m just happy that there are viable alternative such as documentaries and alternative media.

Aside from touting anti-TV and other “white discussion,” I particularly have enjoyed learning about social and natural microcosms that are omni-present in this world. We have so much assumed knowledge that I am frequently surprised by the source and history of any one particular fact, theory or thing. An example of this might be a simple glass that you’re drinking water from. The knowledge, process and distribution of materials that had to occur for that simple glass to be pulled from my cupboard and filled with water is amazing. Likewise, take money for example – it’s intent is give us a way to exchange our own worth for other things of value by using a commonly accepted medium of exchange. It’s history is colorful and modern aspects of finance, banking and investments have taken it to an astonishing level. I also enjoy finding the etymology of idioms, otherwise known as the origin of figures of speech. For example, the phrase “rule of thumb” was created by brewmasters that dipped their thumb into their beer to know how their beer was brewing or whether it was done. Many are under the mistaken assumption that the phrase originated from ancient law that said it was OK to beat one’s wife with a stick, provided it was no larger than the man’s thumb. It’s microcosms such as this, that most of us give little thought, that keep me up at night.

I’ve also been online for quite some time – since the early days of modems (first was a 1200 baud) and Unix text-based Internet browsers. My first website, titled “Salt,” was started in about 1995 and it’s goal was to inform people of current events and other interesting news. I won several awards for the website but, unfortunately, it was ultimately abandoned. With the advent of CMS systems, it became MUCH easier and less time consuming to run a website. So, about a year or two ago, I created “Salt II”…but more aptly named it, “The Open Conspiracy” where I primarily focus on news of globalization, corporatism, economics, privacy & surveillance, ecological decline and other specific interests of mine.

Overall, I hope you enjoy learning about me and that you take something of interest away from your visit. I would enjoy your feedback – you can email me here.