Words
Words and meanings.
A clear definition. An example you can use. A little less guesswork.
For making, thinking, and everyday choices
- Intention
A purpose or direction you choose for an action. Naming an intention can help you decide what to do next.
For example“I want to make room for rest” names a direction. Choosing an earlier bedtime is one possible action toward it.
- Sigil
A drawn symbol used to represent an intention, name, or idea. Here, making one is a creative way to give a chosen meaning a visible form.
For exampleA small mark you draw for courage can remind you of what you want to practice.
- Reflection
Taking time to examine an experience, thought, or feeling. It can help you notice patterns and choose a response.
For exampleAfter a difficult conversation, ask: What did I feel? What did I assume? What would I change?
- Metaphor
Describing one thing through another to reveal a quality or feeling they share.
For example“I am carrying a mountain” describes a heavy burden without claiming there is a literal mountain on your back.
- Allegory
A story whose people, places, or events also carry a connected layer of meaning, such as a moral or political argument.
For exampleA story about a city that sells its shadows might explore what people surrender to belong.
- Myth
A traditional story that carries meaning about origins, sacred beings, or a community’s place in the world. The word does not simply mean a lie.
For exampleA story of a world rising from water can carry a culture’s ideas about beginnings and order.
- Consent
A freely made, informed choice. Consent must be specific, can be withdrawn, and is not inferred from silence.
For example“You may share this paragraph” gives permission for that paragraph, not the rest of a private notebook.
- Omnoid
The name of Shawn Apocky’s evolving authored cosmology, explored through ideas of wholes, boundaries, passages, and recursive relationships.
For exampleIn the Omnoid writing, a boundary can also be a passage. That is part of the authored model, rather than a measurement of physical space.
- Local
Running or stored on the computer in front of you instead of on a remote computer reached through the internet.
For exampleA spell saved in your browser stays on that device unless you export it.
- Provenance
A record of where information or an artifact came from and how it changed.
For exampleA quotation with its author, book, and page number gives you a path back to its source.
- Permission or capability
An explicit grant that allows a particular action. In technical pages, capability may refer to a permission represented in code.
For exampleAllowing a website to use your microphone does not give it permission to use your camera.
- Account and session
An account is the identity used to sign in. A session is the temporary signed-in connection kept by a browser until it ends or is revoked.
For exampleYou can sign out of a shared computer while keeping your account for next time.
Project and technical terms 15
Programming, software, and shorthand used in the project notes. These definitions are also included in search.
- Alpha or early test build
An unfinished version released so people can try it and report problems. Features may be missing or change later.
For exampleAn early game build may let you play one area while other areas are still being made.
- API
Short for application programming interface. It is a documented way for one piece of software to request information or an action from another.
For exampleA weather app can ask a weather service for a forecast through an API.
- Compiler
Software that translates source code written by a person into a form a computer can run.
- CSLv3
Version 3 of CSL. It is a compact notation for recording relationships, evidence, uncertainty, decisions, and rules.
For exampleA note such as “question → evidence → decision” records a relationship in compact form.
- CSSL
Short for Conscious Substrate System Language. It is a programming language: a written language used to give a computer instructions.
For exampleCSSL is the name of a programming language, just as Python is the name of another.
- Diagnostics
Information used to find and fix a problem, such as an error message or a page-speed measurement.
For exampleAn error message that says which file could not open helps someone find the problem.
- DRM
Short for digital rights management. It is software that restricts how a digital product can be copied, opened, or used.
- EULA
Short for End-User License Agreement. It states the terms under which someone may install or use a piece of software.
- Language model
Software trained on text so it can work with language, such as continuing, classifying, or generating text.
- LoA
Short for Labyrinth of Apocalypse, an unfinished game project.
- Open source and proprietary
Open-source software makes its source code available under a license that permits stated forms of use and change. Proprietary software is distributed under more limited terms set by its owner.
- Runtime
The part of a program that is active while the program is running.
For exampleA music player is running while it plays a song; its saved source files are a different thing.
- Self-hosted
Run on computers controlled by the person or organization operating the software, rather than handed to a separate hosted service.
For exampleA person can run a website on their own server instead of using a hosted publishing service.
- Substrate
In Apocky project documents, this means a shared technical foundation used by several systems. It is a project-specific design term, not a claim that every visitor must accept.
- Telemetry
Diagnostic information that software sends automatically to another computer. On this site, optional telemetry is called optional site data and is off until a visitor saves a sharing choice.
For exampleWith your chosen sharing settings, a page might send a timing measurement to help find slow loading.
Symbols used in the technical notes 10
A reference for the shorthand you may meet in project notes.
- §
- Section. It marks the start of a named part of a technical document.
- ¬
- Not or no. For example, “¬ harm” means “no harm.”
- t∞
- Intended to remain true for the lifetime of the system. Technical specifications call this an invariant.
- ✓
- Available or verified in the specific context where it appears.
- ◐
- Partly complete or still in progress.
- ○
- Planned, not yet available, or not yet verified.
- ‼
- Important warning or requirement.
- →
- Leads to, produces, or points toward.
- Σ
- The Greek capital letter sigma. In “Σ-mask,” it names a project-specific permission design.
- ω
- The Greek lowercase letter omega. In “ω-field,” it names a project-specific data design.