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Internet in a Box

internet-in-a-box.org

91–100 of 121 posts

Re: Internet in a Box

#91
I thought about creating one of these in the past, but it didn’t fit my needs. I decided to start my own project, called WROLPi. It also uses a Raspbery pi as its base, but also has a Debian installer. I have RPi images available at https://wrolpi.org as well as a link to a demo (the demo needs an update, lots of new features since it’s creation).

The basic premise of WROLPi is creating your own off grid digital library: videos, web archives, PDFs, ebooks, etc. I have full text search for all of these. Offline maps as well via Open Street Map. Wi-Fi hotspot. Automatic downloads of videos (entire channels), RSS feeds, etc.

Re: Internet in a Box

#92
post #5
post #4

This is a fantastic project, and we need more of those. Let's keep in mind that 50% of the world's population did not connect to the internet in the last three months (last un UN starts). On my end, I worked on an Android version since getting & maintaining a Raspberry Pi or a Linux machine is difficult in remote communities - where finding reliable access to a network or electricity can be tricky. Still, you will se…

I know this will get absolutely smashed but is this such a bad thing anymore ? If you can’t connect to the internet you’re immediately protected from a lot of garbage information, attention hijacking, scams and hacking, child grooming, IP theft, you’re job is probably a lot more secure etc. I know there is access to information which is beneficial but at some stage I’m not convinced having internet access will necess…

This does not connect to the internet.

Re: Internet in a Box

#93
post #4

This is a fantastic project, and we need more of those. Let's keep in mind that 50% of the world's population did not connect to the internet in the last three months (last un UN starts). On my end, I worked on an Android version since getting & maintaining a Raspberry Pi or a Linux machine is difficult in remote communities - where finding reliable access to a network or electricity can be tricky. Still, you will se…

Ooh ooh ooh!

I've been trying to get Termux/Alpine going on my old Android so I can install IIAB in it, for precisely all these reasons. But I'm linux-clueless and haven't had the best of luck.

UNI doesn't look like it's actually IIAB-on-Android, more like another similar project, yes?

Re: Internet in a Box

#94
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As of 21 September 2022, the size of the current version of all articles compressed is about 21.23 GB without media. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Size_of_Wikipedia

By the way, note that is the Wikipedia in English which AFAIK is the largest one. For instance, Wikipedia in Portuguese weighs about 13gb with a few pictures in my Kiwix install.

Has Kiwix gotten any better? I tried to use it a few years ago, but the user experience was super rough. Fantastic idea, but there were lots of UI stalls and glitches that soured my trial.

Re: Internet in a Box

#95
I find the name to be misleading. By the same logic, could you describe '90s encyclopedia CD-ROMs as "the internet in a box"?

It's content that was hosted on the internet. The actual internet is infrastructural, not content.

Is a DVD box set thus "Netflix in a box"?

Re: Internet in a Box

#97
post #25
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this will get absolutely smashed but is this such a bad thing anymore ? If you can’t connect to the internet you’re immediately protected from a lot of garbage information, attention hijacking, scams and hacking, child grooming, IP theft, you’re job is probably a lot more secure etc. I know there is access to information which is beneficial but at some stage I’m not convinced having internet access will necess…

The privilege is in being able to not have Internet access for an extended period and just enjoy life from a tropical beach, sipping on a mai tai, with no work to check-in on to make sure nothing's blown up. From the first world, only the middle class and higher can afford such a luxury. But the Internet is just so damned useful that, sure, it enables doomscrolling, but it enables so much more as a communication medi…

Well, some content available through the internet is useful. That content was available on CD-ROMs in the '90s as encyclopedias.

The function provided with this project is some content available offline just like those CD-ROMs. You aren't going to be communicating with folks on the other side of the world via it. Ergo, it is not "the internet in a box".

Re: Internet in a Box

#98
post #35

It would be great if it had some "snail mail" like features: collect "sent" emails and "posted" posts, and synchronize them with real internet on regular intervals, probably on monthly basis.

I wonder if the internet will be handled in a similar mater once humanity spreads to other plants.

Re: Internet in a Box

#99
post #61

Related; Othernet (previously named outernet) https://othernet.is/ is also worth looking at

Natural allies, it's weird that they're not already grafted together somehow.

IMHO, the ultimate feature-set would be:

* IIAB content library support, especially the new map features which rock

* wrolpi-like tagging and automatic updating when connected to the internet

* Othernet updating of content when satellite signal is available

* Toosheh extractor for unpacking files saved in an mpeg-ts on a USB stick

* Local Fdroid app repo

* Piratebox-like file drop area

* BBS or local forum message-board

* Mesh with other nodes, perhaps using NNCP or Scuttlebutt protocols to exchange messages over spotty connectivity or traveling relay nodes

If I had any software clue whatsoever, I'd be actively trying to graft all these things together.

Re: Internet in a Box

#100

This is great. Thank You for the link! I have spent a little time each year over decades planning a library. The first draft planned a shipping container full of rack-mounted equipment, and several more shipping containers full of the equipment to power the library. That version never got built. My current iteration uses a bunch of 18 TB HDDs in a HP Z-series workstation. If I had the money to actually deploy prototy…

I've built http://arquiva.me exactly with that concern in mind.

Databases are temporary and difficult to move around when getting too big. On the other hand, files are easy to transport in portions and to continue working if a part has gone missing for some reason.

The backend on that platform was written from scratch and is file-based. Reduces duplication of images to permit archiving parts of the digital history for my country (Portugal).

Works fully offline for benefit of archivers in future generations.

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