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The underground world of hobby tunneling

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Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling

#131
post #100
post #32

this is the final frontier. we've conquered the land, the oceans, the skies. some people live in orbit, men have walked on the moon. but you can still carve out a new world for yourself. you can still go down . there's enough room down there for a whole new world, with different borders and nations. and another one below that .. layers and layers like an onion. one hundred billion mole-men, saturating the earth's cru…

thought your comment was going to become a quote from the Artilleryman from Jeff Waynes musical version of War of the Worlds! "We're gonna build a whole new world for ourselves. Look, they clap eyes on us and we're dead, right? So we gotta make a new life where they'll never find us. You know where? Underground. You should see it down there – hundreds of miles of drains – sweet and clean now after the rain, dark, qui…

That was exactly the association I had when I read it!

Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling

#133
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you're in the middle of nowhere, people expect to be rescued if something goes wrong... sort of like that Titan submersible. In the abstract it's fine to take huge risks, but it sucks when people implicitly turn those costs over when something goes wrong.

You can say the same about any hobby that is more dangerous than sitting in the sofa. We would need to make it illegal to do any type of diving, climbing of mountains, skiing off-pist etc.

Or instead of illegal, limit mandatory rescuing, or have people to pay for it themself. Btw. no one will rescue you, if you need help above 7000 m. (unless you made special arrangements with somebody)

Or, just don't change much. And as far as I know, in many states around the world, you will have to pay for helicopter rescue, unless your insurance covers it (but the insurance fee is really not that much).

Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling

#134
post #101
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stumbled across it years ago, and it's always struck me as quintessential original-YouTube content: someone, somewhere, doing a thing that makes them happy and they'd like to share.

That is my favorite era and genre of YT. Someone doing something they love and recording it. I don't mind if the channel grows and gets better editing or whatnot. I just like the purity of it. You still can find a lot of stuff today. The "culture" of YT has changed a bit but you can still people doing their passion. I'm currently watching Andrew Caramata. He does heavy machinery / property restoration and was previou…

I had [a YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/howchoo) that hit 25k subscribers from only about 20-25 videos. I worked happily at it for a few years off and on, but the economics of YouTube didn’t make sense for the amount of time I was spending, despite loving doing it. Love is not enough; I love doing a lot of things but only have so many hours in the day. It would’ve been great if YouTube paid enough for me to do it full time without having to chase likes, subscribers, and sponsors. Then I would be at a few hundred videos. So yeah, screw YouTube.

But I learned a lot and got to invent a lot of cool stuff—like turning a Furby into an Amazon Echo, building a rugged arcade cabinet in a case, being the first to put a Raspberry Pi into an NES cartridge, etc. Hoping to return someday with a new channel once I can afford to not get paid anything to make the videos (albeit on a new channel; we sold Howchoo, and the channel was sold with it)

Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling

#136
post #74
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trailer Park Boys kind of needs to be watched after midnight.

No, just get high. Honestly, the episode where bubbles gets a mountain lion is to my favorite episode of any television show. High or not.

I'll admit that I've enjoyed many an episode following Lahey's example.

Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling

#137
post #48

If you all enjoy digging hobby tunnels, then can I interest you in someone excavating their basement using only miniature remote control construction vehicles ? Digging & hauling: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=He00d6Gpxs8 More recent rock crusher: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TSaqSzziaE8&t=3m31s (There's 16 years / 379 videos so far, if you are into RC earthmoving ASMR)

HN Automate it?

You need lots of construction bots, so get your green circuit production working better

Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling

#138
A classic and tech relevant example - https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,967...

> Technology: Just Dig While You Work - Monday, Mar. 28, 1988

> Where does the world's foremost designer of high-speed computers get his inspiration? Apparently deep in a dirt tunnel beneath his Wisconsin home, according to John Rollwagen, the chairman of Cray Research. As Rollwagen tells it, Seymour Cray, the company's elusive founder, has been dividing his time between building the next generation of supercomputers and digging an underground tunnel that starts below his Chippewa Falls house and heads toward the nearby woods. "He's been working at it for some time now," says Rollwagen, who reports that the tunnel is 8 ft. high, 4 ft. wide and lined with 4-by-4 cedar boards. When a tree fell through the top of the tunnel several years ago, Cray used the opening to install a periscope-equipped lookout.

> For Cray, the excavation project is more than a simple diversion. "I work when I'm at home," he recently told a visiting scientist. "I work for three hours, and then I get stumped, and I'm not making progress. So I quit, and I go and work in the tunnel. It takes me an hour or so to dig four inches and put in the 4-by-4s. Now, as you can see, I'm up in the Wisconsin woods, and there are elves in the woods. So when they see me leave, they come into my office and solve all the problems I'm having. Then I go back up and work some more."

> Rollwagen knows that Cray is only half kidding and that some of the designer's greatest inspirations come when he is digging. Says the chairman: "The real work happens when Seymour is in the tunnel."

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Part of the diagram of the tunnels can be seen at Computer History Museum - The Cray Way from the Revolution Exhibition :: https://youtu.be/MQYGPAZJZ-s?si=dTy6gxtgqDSFuLIk&t=172

Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling

#139

This article reminds me of 3 Alarm Lamp Scooter: https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/39/ Such a sad yet interesting story.

More information[1][2] about 3 alarm lamp scooter and the accidental death case. What a story, Daniel clearly is “insanely” smart, and he gave a few talks at various conferences like Defcon. One such talk was about Bitcoin[3] very early and he makes some damn good arguments. Would be fascinating to hear from him today after his prison time. I assume he still has Bitcoin so money is probably not a concern.

[1] https://apnews.com/article/fires-maryland-45dc0979edcf441880...

[2] https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2022/07/a-bethesda-man-co...

[3] https://youtu.be/Yj2blBX2iBw

Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling

#140
post #48

If you all enjoy digging hobby tunnels, then can I interest you in someone excavating their basement using only miniature remote control construction vehicles ? Digging & hauling: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=He00d6Gpxs8 More recent rock crusher: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TSaqSzziaE8&t=3m31s (There's 16 years / 379 videos so far, if you are into RC earthmoving ASMR)

The channel is definitely one of the most out there channels and simply delightful isn’t it? It takes this whole pattern of civilization, digging, and just turns it into absurdist theater. I love it.
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