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Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

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Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#61

Post by pyre »

olefoo wrote: post #35
trotsky wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In today's culture, it might be dreamed up on facebook, funded on kickstarter, promoted on twitter, picked up by 10,000 blogs that all poach from each other and then abandoned by the next semester because the earth-water-sun interface is ancient and suffers from significant design issues whose tickets never get responded to by the upstream provider.

I'm tempted to start blogging up the project proposal for a hippie arcology to be built on a south facing slope in southern Oregon with geothermal backup heat and a fiber optic connection to the internet for the remote workers whose economic contributions exempt them from the maintenance duties that the less skilled have to do (hey, someone needs to turn the compost heaps and feed the tilapia you know). The basic des…

  > hey, someone needs to turn the compost heaps and
  > feed the tilapia you know
Now I'm just picturing the Dharma Initiative, and Ben's burnt-out, drunken father that came to 'the island' thinking that he was going to be a part of something special, only to find out that they wanted him to be the janitor.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#62

Post by organicgrant »

proexploit wrote: post #55
organicgrant wrote: post #37

So I wasn't acting alone when I bought capitalistcommune.org a few months back? I have a 'giant' mansion...in Iowa...with open rooms for hackers. Hit me up, libertarian-capitalist-economical living can be a real ideal. See pic here: http://organicgrant.posterous.com/winter-home-0

That looks like a lot of the houses up by Dodge/Church/Brown streets Iowa City. Am I close? That'd be ~4 blocks from the closest UI building.

House is in Cedar Falls, Iowa (University of Northern Iowa) Though it has a CS department, hackers will respect its reputation for producing Elementary Education teachers (make proper inference here) and the highest pass rate for Accounting majors taking the CPA exam.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#63

Post by pyre »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #59
pyre wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine that they only used the iMac for design work, did they?

They were doing some sort of web design I think, so.... I don't see why not?

I was just thinking that if they didn't keep up with their skills, they might have a hard time getting work. (Not necessarily that they were using it for video games or youtube or anything.)

Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#64

Post by organicgrant »

stretchwithme wrote: post #49
organicgrant wrote: post #37

So I wasn't acting alone when I bought capitalistcommune.org a few months back? I have a 'giant' mansion...in Iowa...with open rooms for hackers. Hit me up, libertarian-capitalist-economical living can be a real ideal. See pic here: http://organicgrant.posterous.com/winter-home-0

That's a great idea. Can't see the photo though. Is that a gmail link?

Fixed the link, Posterous issues.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#65

Post by citizenkeys »

olefoo wrote: post #35
trotsky wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In today's culture, it might be dreamed up on facebook, funded on kickstarter, promoted on twitter, picked up by 10,000 blogs that all poach from each other and then abandoned by the next semester because the earth-water-sun interface is ancient and suffers from significant design issues whose tickets never get responded to by the upstream provider.

I'm tempted to start blogging up the project proposal for a hippie arcology to be built on a south facing slope in southern Oregon with geothermal backup heat and a fiber optic connection to the internet for the remote workers whose economic contributions exempt them from the maintenance duties that the less skilled have to do (hey, someone needs to turn the compost heaps and feed the tilapia you know). The basic des…

"Home Power" magazine is what you need to check out:

http://homepower.com/home/

All their back issues are available online in pdf. They have all the details on cost-effective clandestine home energy solutions.

Also, the trick to cheap hot water is a water heating coil on your roof facing the sun. The water gets hotter as it runs through the coil.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#66

Post by organicgrant »

jonhendry wrote: post #43
organicgrant wrote: post #37

So I wasn't acting alone when I bought capitalistcommune.org a few months back? I have a 'giant' mansion...in Iowa...with open rooms for hackers. Hit me up, libertarian-capitalist-economical living can be a real ideal. See pic here: http://organicgrant.posterous.com/winter-home-0

That doesn't look "giant". Just sayin', before a bunch of people show up expecting a hundred available rooms.

Around 4,000 sq ft. 6 bedrooms, library, bar/lounge in the basement. 3 bedrooms are occupied, but if you want to live for basically free and focus on your hustle, do get in touch.

I think I'm going to pursue pushing this idea out more in my area. Napoleon Hill would view it as a Mastermind.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#67

Post by pyre »

sliverstorm wrote: post #12
citizenkeys wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

many years ago, i've lived on non-hacker hippie communes. there's actually several outside of austin in texas. it makes sense given all the cheap ranch land in rural texas. ideally, you have a "main house" with the kitchen and where everybody meets up. then you have little cottages all over the ranch with bunk beds where everybody sleeps and works. when people need to buy stuff, they drive into town. for hackers that…

Most hackers want internet. Otherwise they wouldn't be reading Hacker News.

Maybe they scrape the site for offline viewing when they come into town (something similar to RMS's 'web-to-email' setup)?

Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#68

Post by citizenkeys »

sitting at noisebridge right now: https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Noisebridge

this is almost what i had in mind, only my version has bedrooms, showers, and allows pets.

noisebridge kicks ass. it's a giant hacker studio. i've never been here before. if you're a hacker and live in san francisco, you owe it to yourself to just show up here at least once.

i will be here for awhile tonight if anybody wants to chill out.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#69

Post by starpilot »

trotsky wrote: post #6

I think the bay area hacker version of a hippie commune is a co-op loft that hosts parties on the weekends to cover some expenses. Or some version there of. The ones I knew of still charged rent but it was easy enough to work out a way to do work for rent or a sliding scale. Not nearly as communal as what you're imagining, but way more communal than 99% of living situations.

I lived in co-ops for two years of college. It was very inexpensive, about $550/month including "rent" (not actually rent since we were technically owners), all utilities, furnished, and all meals, in an excellent downtown location near campus. A comparable apartment in the area might go for $700/month per person, assuming it's a two- or three-bedroom place, and that doesn't include utilities or food. Of course the rooms were tiny, the house was very used-up (the two I lived in were 50+ years old), lots of carpet stains, scuffed floors, and you have to deal with living with 20+ young people (noisy, drama etc.). It was a good way to meet people though. At my school at least, co-ops were basically frats for hippies.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a hippie commune for hackers?

#70

Post by burgerbrain »

pyre wrote: post #57
burgerbrain wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it probably has something more to do with this: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/02/24/122-moleskine-not...

So you're admitting that the only reason you made your previous comment was because you thought that the commenter was being smug and you wanted to put him/her in his/her place?

Alternatively, I googled it after being dumbfounded by the seemingly random specificness of the post (does anybody say "I had a few beers while I watched my Panasonic"? No, everyone just calls TVs "TVs"), and discovered that the poster was just making an attempt at being smug.
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