Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal • Hacker News Board

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#111

Post by bombcar » Tue, May 06, 2025, 2:10 PM UTC

xlii wrote: post #107

bombcar wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting and informative to watch how different places handle power failures (which where I am in the USA are not common but not entirely rare, either). Most of the bars keep serving to cash customers, and use paper to make notes for future bookkeeping. Some even start using paper tabs. Big companies switch to backup generators (Walmart) or immediately cease business (also Walmart, because the card communicat…

Which IMO highlights what the money is. It’s a trust bond, nothing more and nothing else. Paper money isn’t guaranteed to be always accepted. It only takes most governments a one day to say something like “because of we’re no longer accepting as they’re subject to ”. Paper money becomes fireplace material in an instant. (Or dystopian scenario - dictator decides that currency transactions can be done only by citizens,…

It's even more amusing to realize that multiple times in history, paper money has continued to "have value" and be used in exchange even after the government devalued it completely - usually by ceasing to exist.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#112

Post by whitehexagon » Wed, May 07, 2025, 5:01 PM UTC

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #97

whitehexagon wrote: post #50

We awoke to power the next day, but mobile phone services only returned some hours later. Amazing how busy the banks were with people desperately seeking cash. Unfortunately the banks dont handle cash here now, and the ATMs were all offline. The first few hours were scary, due to complete lack of information. I am not sure how people had internet access, seemed like all networks were down here. I dont follow any news…

Tecsun PL series is pretty much the modern version the old Grundig Yachtboy series. I have a PL 330 as my 'is there anybody out there' armaggedon world radio receiver. I also sometimes use it just for kicks to hear radio from somewhere unreasonably far away from me. You can find a lot of pros and cons across the different models in their offering with plenty of online discussion as well.

That looks great, thank-you. It has lead me down a rabbit hole or radios, walkie talkies, and then I remembered my old CB rig. Funny how the old tech suddenly looks a lot more advanced.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#113

Post by genewitch » Mon, May 12, 2025, 8:28 PM UTC

whitehexagon wrote: post #92

genewitch wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You want a portable shortwave radio with external antenna. Amazon shows them ~$30 which is about what they cost. If you get a fancy one they go 3-4 times as expensive. I have a radio shack grundig battery powered one and it works fine. Look at reviews, I guess, or try and find an old grundig. I'm sure other people have other brands/models. If I can remember the last decent one I was looking at I'll comment again, but…

Thanks. I'll have another look, the ones I'd seen on amzn es looked a bit gimmicky, solar torch, hand crank, bt, but looked like they would last 5min or melt in the rain.

i asked in a group i'm in and most people said "Tecsun pl-880" - it is pricey, so the PL-330 was also mentioned.

Other brands mentioned: Eton, C. Crane. no models mentioned though. Hope this finds you well.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#114

Post by whitehexagon » Fri, May 16, 2025, 5:44 PM UTC

genewitch wrote: post #113

whitehexagon wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. I'll have another look, the ones I'd seen on amzn es looked a bit gimmicky, solar torch, hand crank, bt, but looked like they would last 5min or melt in the rain.

i asked in a group i'm in and most people said "Tecsun pl-880" - it is pricey, so the PL-330 was also mentioned. Other brands mentioned: Eton, C. Crane. no models mentioned though. Hope this finds you well.

Thanks, I have a tecsun PL320 on the way, the 330 was unavailable here. But I like that it has the old nokia battery, I think, same as my current old dumb phone. I also went for a pair of motorolla walkie talkies.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#115

Post by 3D0MR3991N » Sat, May 17, 2025, 4:43 AM UTC

coldpie wrote: post #54

makeitdouble wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> hazing against the cash-first minority That's...a pretty strong opinion. Otherwise cash will still have it's issue during a blackout. For instance I'm not sure most shops would operate their POS during a blackout or without any connectivity, at least if there is any hope of resuming normal operations within days, it would screw the ledgers. ATMs of course are dead. Vending machines are also probably not ready for t…

> That's...a pretty strong opinion. If you're a person who uses cash a lot, the comments you hear do start to feel a bit like hazing. You very often hear jokes like "who uses cash anymore?" both directed at you and not, like you're a crazy person for preferring not to support Visa's advertising empire with a ~1-3% tithe on every purchase.

No one reputable cares about cash anymore. The people clinging to paper money are analog conspiracy nutters, the kind of people who hoard pennies in mason jars and refuse convenient contactless payments. I'm pleased to see them awkwardly counting out wrinkled bills while the rest of us tap and go at the spaces I inhabit.