Off the Grid, but Still Online • Hacker News Board

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#161

Post by sliverstorm » Tue, Oct 13, 2015, 4:47 PM UTC

firstworldman wrote: post #100

sliverstorm wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the ones that irk me are specifically the people who make a big show about everything that's wrong with modern life and capitalism and such, and how much better it is to live off the land free of the corrupting influences society, and yet don't see how much they still depend on "The System" they profess to hate so much. The ones in this piece don't particularly seem to be that type, I suppose, so maybe it's not r…

Why do you think it bothers you? Genuinely curious. I understand that hypocrisy is frustrating, but perhaps this situation is more illustrative of the fact that "The System" has so pervasively invaded free spaces (physical spaces as well as psychogeographic ones), than it is that these (or others) are just young punks who won't know any better until their older and wiser (like us -- by implication?). What criteria do…

Probably total lack of gratitude.

You like your laptop because it makes your life better. That makes me happy. But then you tell me the "The System" is evil, and makes nothing good, etc- it's not only hypocritical, but it stings just a little, as I am a member of the very system making your laptop.

I don't want thanks, I just don't want to be told I'm evil at the same time as you enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#162

Post by sofal » Tue, Oct 13, 2015, 5:51 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #158

hactually wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely New Zealand is an easier hop for those things?

What makes you think I want easy? The harder something is, the more rewarding it is. Also Canada has reliably much better snow, and way, way more wilderness.

The harder something is, the more rewarding it is.

It would definitely be harder to tour Africa in an old, beat-up Honda Civic than in a jeep, and it would be even harder to tour all of Africa without a vehicle, or without supplies entirely, blindfolded, and with your hands tied behind your back.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#163

Post by MikeTV » Tue, Oct 13, 2015, 6:39 PM UTC

otto wrote: post #123

dmm wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lake of the Ozarks? That's so cool! I'm in California MO a little north of there. We should be friends! You said you had a few acres. Are you planning a garden for the spring?

I hear there is fiber in California MO too!

Co-Mo Electric is rolling out fiber to Otterville, MO next year, after which I'm moving there. From small town to smaller town, but from slow cable to fast fiberoptic. Win!

Any idea if there's some sort of meetup-alternative for tech-minded people moving into the area? Just based on this thread, Co-Mo Connect and other rural fiber initiatives seem to be attracting a fair number of developers/entrepreneurs. It'd be great to all get in touch with each other.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#164

Post by grecy » Tue, Oct 13, 2015, 7:12 PM UTC

sofal wrote: post #162

grecy wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think I want easy? The harder something is, the more rewarding it is. Also Canada has reliably much better snow, and way, way more wilderness.

The harder something is, the more rewarding it is. It would definitely be harder to tour Africa in an old, beat-up Honda Civic than in a jeep, and it would be even harder to tour all of Africa without a vehicle, or without supplies entirely, blindfolded, and with your hands tied behind your back.

Absolutely. So what I'm doing in my life is walking the line between easy and hard, in such a way as to keep it challenging and interesting, while not making it downright painful and so difficult that I won't enjoy it. Everyone has their own personal line to walk.

I'm driving a nice Jeep, which for me, is as challenging as I personally can handle, without it being painful and not enjoyable. At the end of the day I'm doing this for enjoyment, not for punishment.

People tougher than me ride motorbikes.

People tougher than that ride bicycles.

People tougher than that walk (yes, it's been done).

etc. etc.

There will always be someone doing something more daring than me, but I'm not interested in what other people are doing, I'm finding my own personal balance / limit of difficult yet enjoyable.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#165

Post by sofal » Tue, Oct 13, 2015, 8:56 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #164

sofal wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The harder something is, the more rewarding it is. It would definitely be harder to tour Africa in an old, beat-up Honda Civic than in a jeep, and it would be even harder to tour all of Africa without a vehicle, or without supplies entirely, blindfolded, and with your hands tied behind your back.

Absolutely. So what I'm doing in my life is walking the line between easy and hard, in such a way as to keep it challenging and interesting, while not making it downright painful and so difficult that I won't enjoy it. Everyone has their own personal line to walk. I'm driving a nice Jeep, which for me, is as challenging as I personally can handle, without it being painful and not enjoyable. At the end of the day I'm…

I think instead of framing it as a continuum between easy and tough with a strict correlating reward factor, it makes more sense to frame it in terms of the types of challenges you enjoy versus the types you simply don't.

The rewards that come from challenges and difficulty are not often correlated with the amount or intensity of the difficulty, and even when they are, they are often inversely correlated. You need to take into account the type of difficulty (e.g. mastering a musical instrument vs enduring an abusive parent) and the predilections of the person trying to overcome the difficulty (e.g. many people who enjoy difficult challenges may not enjoy the challenge of living in a freezing climate). The challenges that you enjoy are what make you an interesting person, and so the simple statement that “the harder something is, the more rewarding it is” is not only completely false on its face, but it tells us nothing about you other than the possibility that you might be a masochist.

So one might say that they think that New Zealand provides the benefits with less of the challenges, but you could say back to them that the types of challenges that New Zealand lessens are for the most part the exact kind of challenges that you enjoy. An answer like that would better help people understand where you're coming from, which is good because you seem like a genuinely interesting person.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#166

Post by seestheday » Tue, Oct 13, 2015, 9:03 PM UTC

codingdave wrote: post #12

There are also middle grounds you can take. I, and other people in my area, live on homesteads, doing our organic / permaculture farming thing, growing our own food, expanding our solar arrays... while also having a good internet connection and a grid-tie so we can do our coding day jobs for part of the day, pay our bills, then shut down and spend the rest of our time in a more disconnected state. I wish I could disc…

Do you have kids? I would love to move out to the country but I'm really worried about impacting my kids ability to develop skills and build a business/social network.

My parents moved out to a very small town from Toronto, Ontario when I was small. There was nothing for me there when I grew up, and all of the friends I had that stayed in the area are struggling. I went away to school and never really returned. I found that I was at a real disadvantage by having zero network and no relevant job skills pre-university. I've since made up for it and am doing quite well now, but I have 2 kids and them going to a good school is very important to me. I always wonder how people do it well, so I'm looking for information.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#167

Post by grecy » Tue, Oct 13, 2015, 10:45 PM UTC

sofal wrote: post #165

grecy wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. So what I'm doing in my life is walking the line between easy and hard, in such a way as to keep it challenging and interesting, while not making it downright painful and so difficult that I won't enjoy it. Everyone has their own personal line to walk. I'm driving a nice Jeep, which for me, is as challenging as I personally can handle, without it being painful and not enjoyable. At the end of the day I'm…

I think instead of framing it as a continuum between easy and tough with a strict correlating reward factor, it makes more sense to frame it in terms of the types of challenges you enjoy versus the types you simply don't. The rewards that come from challenges and difficulty are not often correlated with the amount or intensity of the difficulty, and even when they are, they are often inversely correlated. You need to…

Thanks. I guess that's what I was trying to say, I'm just not as eloquent as you.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#168

Post by MrMcDowall » Wed, Oct 14, 2015, 1:13 AM UTC

grecy wrote: post #115

MrMcDowall wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High five! I've just done the same and just passed the citizenship test. Canada is awesome.

Arg. I knew the rules were changing, and I thought they were changing on the 1st of July, so I got my application in a week before that... it turns out they changed the day before my application was "accepted", so it was denied, and I must live in Canada for another 2 full years before I even qualify to apply. Normally that wouldn't be so bad, but I've just set off on two years around Africa, which means it's going t…

Uggh I know exactly what you mean - I happened to see folks mentioning the rule change on the Canada visa forum and scrambled my application together just in time, and it was AoR the day before the change.

That really sucks man!

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#169

Post by mrbill » Wed, Oct 14, 2015, 1:35 AM UTC

toothbrush wrote: post #152

mrbill wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was surprised that UPS will now do overnight delivery of Amazon orders to my mom's house in rural Oklahoma (she's at least a mile from her nearest neighbor), even though the truck originates from Lawton, OK - 50 miles away according to Google Maps. Her "broadband" connection is a 2-6/2Mbps Wimax connection via an antenna on the roof to the nearest town a few miles away. It's still weird being able to sit out "in th…

> Quite a change from a few years ago when all she could get was 21.6Kbps dialup, and I had to send her a literal pile of USR Courier modems with instructions "if you have a lightning storm and the modem won't work the next day, throw that one in the trash and plug in another from the stack." With all due respect, that seems very decadent. Back when we lived in the sticks, the (simple) rule was to just unplug (from p…

This was at a point when most people already had broadband, and used dialup modems were dirt-cheap on eBay (e.g., that's why she had a stack of USR Courier V.Everything models instead of Sportsters). IIRC I got a few of them from toss-out piles at ISPs I worked for, and some were my own stash from before I went to ISDN then cablemodem at home.

I couldn't depend on her to unplug everything every time there was a storm.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#170

Post by ctdonath » Wed, Oct 14, 2015, 1:02 PM UTC

s73v3r wrote: post #79

ctdonath wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not with running drinking water, 100Mbps networking, multi-GHz processing, instant temperature adjustment, and so many calories society's biggest problem is obesity. Most of "our poorest" are still in the world's 80th percentile of income/wealth.

Wealth is relative to where you are.

You're on Earth. Short of "extreme poverty" (if you're making more than half the people on the planet, you're not - which applies to practically all Americans), moving is an option.