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http://microship.com/bike/winnebiko/book.html

This chap decided to adopt a "technomadic lifestyle" in the 80s (or maybe early 90s?) and telecommute from wherever he happened to have ridden his recumbent bicycle to. This was back in days before popular use of the internet, so he was signing in primarily to use the facilities of a dial-up service provider, chat online, check e-mail, etc - using an acoustic coupler on public payphones.

He had to hire someone to work in an office to field calls etc for him whilst he was out on the road - these days, there'd be less need for that sort of thing, since it's more practical to be in constant contact and basically all clients will also have e-mail available. Some or all of the work he was actually doing seemed to involve writing about how he was travelling nomadically whilst working ... a bit circular!

On one of his bikes (the second, I think) he could also type by directly chording ASCII characters using switches on his handlebars - that's proper hacker skill!

Unexpectedly, when I read the book, he also turned out to be a bit of a Cassanova and had great success with the ladies on his travels. I wasn't anticipating that so much!

I just happened to recall that the Behemoth bicycle had switches on the handlebar so that Steve could compute while cycling. http://microship.com/bike/behemoth/ It took two hands, though. He simply entered the ASCII codes directly. So he didn't find it so hard to learn 'chords'.

Here's one (me) http://countermoon.org/ and one who's been on the road for years, over here: http://microship.com./

There's another one, but she's not checked in for a while. She's currently WALKING AROUND THE GLOBE and we don't know where she is, lately: http://photogypsy.org/

It's about taking computers/HAM equipment/etc with us on our journeys. Steve Roberts (microship.com) has been doing it since about 1983!

Way way back in the days before the Internet, CompuServe Information Services ($6 an hour plus phone bill, often referred to as CI$) important. At that time, there was a guy named Steve Roberts, aka "Wordy," who travelled around the country on a recumbent bicycle with a TRS-100, posting updates to CIS.

Googling suggests that he is still experimenting with a nomadic lifestyle... I think... Some posting suggest he has an email address at microship.com It's not clear to me whose website that is or what, exactly it is about... but perhaps it is his and perhaps he is still experimenting with a nomadic lifestyle.

Steve Roberts. Eventually the bike became too heavy to pedal (more or less), and he switched to a small boat. Eventually his small boat became to heavy to get around (more or less) so Steve got a big 44 foot sailboat. Sellout :-) But I think it beats sleeping in a wet sleeping bag every night.

http://microship.com/

You're thinking of Steve Roberts, and you're right -- even if it didn't look quite as (intentionally) goofy, he was way ahead on this stuff.

http://microship.com/flotilla/skr.html

timothy

There are Technomads...not the speakers, the people. In fact, it where I got my handle. (There are thousands of "kilroys", there is only one WheelDweller- I got lucky.)

      There is a measurable traffic across the Panama Canal by foot- people *walking* from NYC to the Cape and back. The modern equivelant of climbing a mountain, I suppose. If they venture with computers, they're Technomads.

        Like Almitra the Photogypsy. She's a woman, walking alone, across the planet. She's crossed the Australian desert, Vietnam, Laos, China several times, WALKED UP TO the Dhali Lama...all on foot. Through war-zones and cannibal tribes. See http://www.photogypsy.org./

        Steve Roberts is probably the best-known of our informal clan; he was on Donahue ("The View", circa 1970's) talking about his pedaling across the USA with a recombant bike, pulling a trailer sponsored by Sun Microsystems. He's at http://microship.com./ These days he's captaining a shipful of computers off the shores of America's Northwest. (SeaDweller, though he doesn't use the name...) :)

        But we know only those that come to us; there are thousands of people in various modes of travel, using computers, that we've never seen. Truck Drivers, Celebs, lucky retirees...

        They're pretty good folks, too.

        My own journey's about to start. I'm building a 14' trailer to live in, full time, travelling across the USA. But right now I have to take care of Mom (76) until she no longer needs me.

Here is a link to the project you are referring to FYI

I remember reading his dispatches on Compuserve or some other BBS (we both had TRS-80 100s) during the "Computing Across America" days (early 80s). Then I saw him several times at Sun Microsystems when he was building Behemoth in the bike lab there. I've been tracking his progress on and off ever since. Besides his books, newsletters, websites and news mentions, he was also featured in the cyberpunk hypercard stack.

Steve was the first guy to make me see that it was possible to work and live without being tied to geography. He was also the first guy I ever saw use a satellite-based internet connection. Go to microship.com and read the article on gonzo engineering and see the list of other technomads. Then find your own way to work outside the cubicle!

If you're wondering why he named his previous project Behemoth:

Big Electronic Human-Energized Machine... Only Too Heavy

Source: http://microship.com/resources/winnebiko-behemoth. html

Picture of the Behemoth: http://microship.com/resources/resourcepix/behemot hwisc.jpg

If you're wondering why he named his previous project Behemoth:

Big Electronic Human-Energized Machine... Only Too Heavy

Source: http://microship.com/resources/winnebiko-behemoth. html

Picture of the Behemoth: http://microship.com/resources/resourcepix/behemot hwisc.jpg

Winnebiko

Behemoth

Winnebiko

Behemoth

This was done by bicycle, http://www.microship.com/, 20 years ago (complete with a binary "keyboard" on the handlebars so that the rider could type while riding and satellite uplink) and my aunt gave up her house 10 years ago to go RVing and says she doesn't understand anymore why anyone would want to own a house in the first place.

Slashdot breaking news story: Sam's Club!

KFG

He could get This one. IIRC- Behemoth II had Mac, Linux, PC, Solaris boxes, as well as a ham radio, GPS, nifty heads-up water-cooled wearable monitor, cell phone, dockable laptop, batteries, and a lot of solar panels. "Only Too Heavy" indeed.

Erm...you reminded me of something from my Dad's old 73 magazines, and here it is, The Winnebiko! There's more if you google +ham +bike ---KC2MMW

Yep- I love computers that phone home when you try to hack them and let their owners know everything you're doing to hack them. I like it even better when they're in a tamper resistant case- so that they phone home the second one of the censors on the case indicates something strange is going on *before* you get in. This is physical security combined with BEHEMOTH Winebiko technology, tried, tested, and true. You could no more steal a BEHEMOTH bike and get away with it than you can tamper with one of these babies, because the damn thing phones home and lets the US Military know that you've hacked into it and are trying to use it for something other than what it was intended to do.

The Guy With The Bike did this back in the 1980s and early 1990s. I believe all of his tech is listed here. About the only thing I think you could add to his design, that has been invented since he gave up this project in favor of an ocean-going mini-trimeran, is a Laser Range Finder.

Steve Roberts did this with ham radio a long time ago. He cultivated relationships with hardware vendors and got them to outfit his bike so that he didn't need to spend too much money himself. For them, it was good PR. Since then, he's moved to a boat.

Steve Roberts did this with ham radio a long time ago. He cultivated relationships with hardware vendors and got them to outfit his bike so that he didn't need to spend too much money himself. For them, it was good PR. Since then, he's moved to a boat.

Big Electronic Human Energised Machine, Only Too Heavy

Check this out

The Bike Brain connects a Palm to your bike. The computerized bike Behemoth includes a Sun box (and three other PC-class computers) and has probably been on slashdot before. It has HUD, communications, everything and more ...

As soon as I read the description, I was reminded of BEHEMOTH, or "Big Electronic Human-Energized Machine ...Only Too Heavy".

Random entry in the microship chronicles ...

timothy

Heck, I made a computer system that has a cargo trailer built around it. There's a main computer onboard for when I'm plugged into 'shore' power, an LTSP-style 'workstation' for doing real work, and another single-board-computer to be installed to leave 'electronic breadcrumbs' from the GPS that will be powered up at all times. The entire electronics closet has it's own ventilation system and will be sealed off from the rest of the vehicle. It'll direct my satellite TV, DVD's, Oggs, games, and anything else I like. It's part of my cruise the USA with computers lifestyle, also known as Technomadia

Be Gentle but the site is right here Countermoon.com that has some under-construction pictures, and more as they come available.

Enjoy!

Here's something for all you techies to drool about. I can't believe I haven't seen a link for this already, but there's a guy who has spent the better part of his life travelling with computers (first on bicycles, now on a trimaran!).

Check out The Microship if you'd like to dream about being a tecnho-geek without a leash. There's a massive amount of information about making electronics systems sea-worthy; not as in "put in on a big enough boat in air conditioning and it will do fine", but "shit, my computer system needs to be able to withstand immersion in salt-water!"

His goal is "technomadism", which basically means being a major geek, but doing it out of doors and on the move.

Roberts' solution to marine-proofing isn't for everyone, though. He builds sealed cases for everything, and pumps air into them to achieve a positive pressure, so that if/when leaks occur, air goes out rather than water coming in. Very effective, but also pretty expensive.

He's building a ship that is mostly computer controlled: The Microship

I'm sure if you ask nice-like he'll give you some tips.

The bicycle thing was his old project.

But bicycle-based computing is hardly a new idea. This guy was doing it back in the days of the TRS-80 Model 100, and has written extensively about it. IIRC, there was a column in Byte or Creative Computing chronicling his adventures in "Computing Across America."

There are a number of interesting projects out there with a similar mindset. Technomadism implies that you design a vehicle or a mode of continual, nomadic travel that renders you capable of utilizing various kinds of technology, from amateur radio to beowulf clusters. Many technomads spend years fabricating, scheming, and developing their custom vehicles.

One famous technomad, the father of it all, Steve Roberts has developed a number of vehicles in conjunction with folks over the years. Many technomads design modes of travel that are not dependant on fossil fuels and/or make extensive use of various renewable energy tecnologies. Steve's boats use human power along with solar power.

Myself and a friend have begun a technomad projet within the past year as well. Our project uses a Dodge RAM 250 as the base. It gets about 20 miles to the gallon, but since we returned home, has gone into disuse for local driving tasks. We're hoping to do an alternative fuel conversion in the future.

-- chaos

Aside from the coolness of the way it moves, the practical benefits are not much better than a bicycle. You move about as fast, but without the exercise. Its footprint is shorter, but just as wide. It's just as heavy and you still have to lock it up when you get where you're going.

If your bicycle weighs anywhere close to 80 lbs. your name is Steve Roberts. Any single-person bike you buy today will weigh no more than 30 lbs., and a reasonable commuting bike will come in at closer than 20. (Forget those carbon-fiber-framed Lance Armstrong specials---they're only useful to L. A. and his peers.)

The real benefits of a bicycle are fun and health. If you're of the mindset that likes bicycling, you'll gleefully take more time to go by bike. As you do so, you're getting more exercise than easily 90% of your fellow citizens, which translates into better health. 12 mph is an an average speed for an average cyclist, not a top speed.

You can buy a decent bicycle for under US$1000, and an excellent one for around US$2000, a good bit cheaper than the HT. Then you needn't spend anything for electricity, though your food bill will probably go up.

Overall, there's no comparison---bicycling is miles ahead of HTing.

You probably know about Steve Roberts and his various tricked-out vehicles, but they're always worth a mention :)

that's at http://www.microship.com/ (microship.com) and sheesh, this guy deserves even more than the ample attention he gets :)

I like my lo-end bikeE though, only wish it was more of a true recumbent, which I have not yet had a chance to ride. But they certainly look even more comfortable than mine :) I'm leaving now to get my GPS receiver, which I have determined will be a magellan GPS315, for better or worse. $150 at local walmart.*

I have the twiddler, and something like a vaio picturebook would add little to the weight of the bike ... really, it's reasonable access that's missing. Merlin sucks (sorry, Verizon -- YOU SUCK, your coverage map is a transparent lie, and your customer service reps aren't paid enough to pretend to care), ricochet is spotty if speedy, and the 2-way satellite links require stock-stillness. When there is affordable, ubiquitous, unmetered wireless access (hey, I'd settle for North America, even a nice broad swatch of it!), *then* I could bike to work, and just keep biking ...

timothy

*I know some people hate walmart, and they have their reasons. I happen to rather like the place, especially to watch how formerly esoteric technology trickles into widely accessable retail stores.

Though it's perhaps a bit beyond this particular application, check out Nomadic Research Labs. This is Steven K Roberts' page, the fellow who created his Behemoth bike years back and travelled rather widely with it.

The technomad resources list might be the most useful part of the site in this case, but overall there's a lot to explore. Steve's been doing this for years, and has been extremely willing to offer assistance to other technomads in training throughout the years.

There also exists a Technomads mailing list for those who are interested. The traffic's pretty slight, but there have been some decent discussions of the issues involved over the years, and a reasonable number of the members of the wearable community are subscribed (and ostensibly interested in the field) as well.

.jeremy

Though it's perhaps a bit beyond this particular application, check out Nomadic Research Labs. This is Steven K Roberts' page, the fellow who created his Behemoth bike years back and travelled rather widely with it.

The technomad resources list might be the most useful part of the site in this case, but overall there's a lot to explore. Steve's been doing this for years, and has been extremely willing to offer assistance to other technomads in training throughout the years.

There also exists a Technomads mailing list for those who are interested. The traffic's pretty slight, but there have been some decent discussions of the issues involved over the years, and a reasonable number of the members of the wearable community are subscribed (and ostensibly interested in the field) as well.

.jeremy

Though it's perhaps a bit beyond this particular application, check out Nomadic Research Labs. This is Steven K Roberts' page, the fellow who created his Behemoth bike years back and travelled rather widely with it.

The technomad resources list might be the most useful part of the site in this case, but overall there's a lot to explore. Steve's been doing this for years, and has been extremely willing to offer assistance to other technomads in training throughout the years.

There also exists a Technomads mailing list for those who are interested. The traffic's pretty slight, but there have been some decent discussions of the issues involved over the years, and a reasonable number of the members of the wearable community are subscribed (and ostensibly interested in the field) as well.

.jeremy

Though it's perhaps a bit beyond this particular application, check out Nomadic Research Labs. This is Steven K Roberts' page, the fellow who created his Behemoth bike years back and travelled rather widely with it.

The technomad resources list might be the most useful part of the site in this case, but overall there's a lot to explore. Steve's been doing this for years, and has been extremely willing to offer assistance to other technomads in training throughout the years.

There also exists a Technomads mailing list for those who are interested. The traffic's pretty slight, but there have been some decent discussions of the issues involved over the years, and a reasonable number of the members of the wearable community are subscribed (and ostensibly interested in the field) as well.

.jeremy

There is one quite amazing guy -- calls himself a technomad -- that seems intent on building for himself (and his current girlfriend) a human- (or wind-) powered mobile home jam-packed with electronics. He started with a bike, switched to trimaranish kayak, then to a big almost-blue-water trimaran, then back to a canoe-based small trimaran. The site is called www.microship.com and there are, basically, work diaries online -- makes for very interesting reading.

I think that of all people he should be the most knowledgeable about the issue of 'net access from the middle of nowhere. There may even be information on his site -- plenty of stuff there.


Kaa