Live data from Hacker News

Off the Grid

stephenfry.com

41–50 of 175 posts

Re: Off the Grid

#41

     Logan’s Run, Zardoz, Soylent Green, Fahrenheit 451
Lovely films. Something about the pacing or the cinematography of the films from that era appeals to me.

Ah… Zardoz… Nothing beats Sean Connery running around in weird sci-fi shorts. Also, Beethoven.

Re: Off the Grid

#42
post #38

It's interesting that I was at an itunes free gig in London back in 2010 at the Camden Roundhouse (band was Bombay Bicycle Club and they were very good), and Stephen Fry made a pre gig speech (obviously paid by Apple) to say how marvellous the iphone was and how although some people criticise social media , it is a marvellous thing that helps people feel less lonely, amongst other things (and the iphone helps people…

I'd say he's just changed his opinion on it and the internet itself has evolved. I know my enthusiasm for the internet and technology has rapidly faded in the recent 2-3 years. Mostly that's just due to fatigue. We can do amazing things on the internet but spending 90% of your waking day on it and doing the same few things instead of taking advantage of everything it has to offer can become unhealthy. You don't necessarily have to go 'off the grid' to fix the problem but going cold turkey could be easier. Take for example my recent experience with Twitter. I decided I was just wasting my time on it (and the actual value I get from it I could just get logged out through search) so I deactivated my account. They give you a 30 day period to log in and reactivate it. I've done this three times now. Very smart move by Twitter but it just goes to show how addictive a lot of this stuff can be.

Re: Off the Grid

#43

I've been trying to do this and as of this week, HN and stackexchage are the last social accounts I have but only because I can't find a way to delete them. I could just log out and walk away but it feels like there's no closure that way. Anyone know of a way to close an HN account?

I'll tell you how I did it for Wikipedia. First, I removed my email address for password recovery. Then, I opened notepad and mashed my keyboard. Then I copied the rather long string of random characters to the clipboard, went to the password reset screen and then pasted it into the password and confirm password editbox. Then I hit update, and then I closed notepad without saving, and then I rebooted my computer.

Ta-da! No more Ta bu shi da yu.

Re: Off the Grid

#44
post #37

Why do people feel like FB and messengers are the entire "Grid"? You can go off social networks and still enjoy the marvel that is the internet (it works for me). My guess is that people develop a genuine addiction to FB and need to avoid all temptation for a while. Going offline for a longer than that is not a good idea though.

>> "My guess is that people develop a genuine addiction to FB and need to avoid all temptation for a while. Going offline for a longer than that is not a good idea though."

Maybe it is. Look at it like any other addiction. If you're addicted to alcohol you don't stop for a while that start and hope you can drink in moderation. I guess a better analogy might be an alcoholic who can go into a bar and not drink. I guess there are a lot of people who can do that but for others the temptation can be too much. I know personally I've purged social media accounts several times only to start them up again 6 months later.

Re: Off the Grid

#45
post #38

It's interesting that I was at an itunes free gig in London back in 2010 at the Camden Roundhouse (band was Bombay Bicycle Club and they were very good), and Stephen Fry made a pre gig speech (obviously paid by Apple) to say how marvellous the iphone was and how although some people criticise social media , it is a marvellous thing that helps people feel less lonely, amongst other things (and the iphone helps people…

I always wondered if the Apple Watch was made because Apple feels guilty about distracting everyone with smartphones.

Re: Off the Grid

#46
post #2

The other day I suddenly remembered the door of my college room. Since I was at university pre-Internet, pre-mobile phones there was a piece of paper and a pencil on the door so that people who came round to find me could leave a message... by writing on the door.

Great idea for a social network. Just write on someone's door.

Re: Off the Grid

#47
post #8

When I was a youngin' browsing BBSes in the 90s, I remember distinctly encountering a text guide to "the art of disappearing", essentially getting off the grid as Stephen Fry mentions. It involved a whole bunch of seemingly paranoid steps, like burning your passport, and booking your flight (one-way) with cash. I also remember thinking to myself how silly the whole concept was - why would I ever want to do something…

I'm almost sure I've read the same document. I wonder if it's still floating about.

Re: Off the Grid

#48
post #8

When I was a youngin' browsing BBSes in the 90s, I remember distinctly encountering a text guide to "the art of disappearing", essentially getting off the grid as Stephen Fry mentions. It involved a whole bunch of seemingly paranoid steps, like burning your passport, and booking your flight (one-way) with cash. I also remember thinking to myself how silly the whole concept was - why would I ever want to do something…

It might have been this one, the text you are referring to:

http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/vanish.htm

Re: Off the Grid

#49
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually think the same for vast majority of stuff on HN, i.e. most articles could be cut down to one or two paragraphs with little value lost, but... There are generally two reasons why I read - to extract information and for the experience of reading. Stephen Fry's blog is one of the rare cases where I just enjoy the writing and the information value doesn't really matter.

> I usually think the same for vast majority of stuff on HN, i.e. most articles could be cut down to one or two paragraphs with little value lost, Maybe life too. Instead of going through this whole redundant process of living through it, we could just be given some 10 word summary, like e.g.: "There was some fun, some sadness, a few regrets, a couple profound experiences, a lot of boredom, quite some pain, mostly ok…

That analogy doesn't make much sense...

Re: Off the Grid

#50
post #45
post #38

It's interesting that I was at an itunes free gig in London back in 2010 at the Camden Roundhouse (band was Bombay Bicycle Club and they were very good), and Stephen Fry made a pre gig speech (obviously paid by Apple) to say how marvellous the iphone was and how although some people criticise social media , it is a marvellous thing that helps people feel less lonely, amongst other things (and the iphone helps people…

I always wondered if the Apple Watch was made because Apple feels guilty about distracting everyone with smartphones.

After owning an Apple Watch I would say it just makes the distractions worse. Somehow it's much easier to ignore a vibration from the phone in your pocket than it is to ignore one on your wrist.
Post reply on HN