A Mobile Home for the Wired Professional

mikael writes "The BBC is reporting that an Internet entrepeneur has given up on the high cost of housing in the city but has decided to merge his office/home lifestyles in the form of a luxury custom-built mobile home. Utilizing satellite technology, VoIP and a home cinema for video conferencing, the owner and his girlfriend are able to communicate with clients from anywhere. At the same time, the machine allows the occupants to remain self-sufficient in water, food, electricity and amenities for a whole week, allowing them to commute to the nearest national during the weekends." The price seems high even for all the amenities; a well-equipped Airstream can be had for enough less to pay for quite a few electronic upgrades.

Comments

250k is cheap for a vehicle like that

[Anonymous Coward]

go ask a F1 team, Mclaren have units that would make this chaps RV look rather silly

i wonder what the depreciation value is, if he bought bricks and mortar he would at least have an asset

Re:250k is cheap for a vehicle like that

[dr_labrat]

Believe it or not I taught ethical hacking to the guys that maintain that kit, down near Biggin Hill. Nice bunch of lads, and very screwed on technically and from a sec poin of view.

Cut a long story short: Kit that would make your eyes water; they specialise in gettin robust pieces of kit into a 747 with 0 air gap, and when it is all rolled off the plane *it* *just* has* *to* *work*

Some would think it out-dated, but, hell. I taught them on a Ti Powerbook ;-)

RV's

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to work at an RV Dealership pumping LP. These machines are insane. Some times, old folks would come in and plunk down giant multi-million dollar checks, or even cash, to walk out the door with one of them a few hours later (we hated that).

My father, whom I worked with at the time, did all these sorts of upgrades - one time, I worked helping install a computer into one as the centre of a digital home hub. I did a lot of the work with that, and it was insane. And yes, they paid cash.

Re:RV's

[Anonymous Coward]

"walk out the door with one of them a few hours later (we hated that)."

I can imagine. The sight of a super-strong old guy with an RV on his back must be scary. When I'll buy a RV, I think I'll drive mine out the door.

Re:RV's

[nacturation]

Some times, old folks would come in and plunk down giant multi-million dollar checks, or even cash, to walk out the door with one of them a few hours later (we hated that).

Why would you hate this? The only reason I could think would be if the checks bounced or if you're concerned about the cash being laundered money from some drug runner. In any other case, I'd think cash would be much preferable.

Re:RV's

[Tony Hoyle]

Loans are much more profitable - the punter/mark/putz pays often 2-3 times the asking price for a loan.

Re:RV's

[Anonymous Coward]

if you're concerned about the cash being laundered money from some drug runner.

Who cares in this day and age? We have a president in the white house who used to deal cocaine, did it, and smoked marijuana. We had one in who admitted to putting it in his mouth.

In addition, our current president hides a traitor in the white house, who instead should be executed and all who helped him/her should likewise be in prison for life. Finally, the current president has given up multi-10xs of billion $ contract to Haliburton without compition, and nothing has come of it?

And you think that anybody really gives a shit about a laundered money?

Re:RV's

[eliktronik]

It seems they liked that he wanted to know every detail about the RV. They are probably passionate about what they do, and enjoyed someone equally interested in knowing everything about it. Unfortunately, this is why it's going to take so long to build.

Oops

[Anonymous Coward]

I forgot to turn on my firewall and some hacker took control of my RV and drove off...

Re:Oops

[Anonymous Coward]

HAHAHAHA, though it does make you wonder how much longer before we see Norton Anti-Virus BMW edition

Re:Oops

[Anonymous Coward]

"Drivers and passengers can now experience Microsoft technology in 25 preinstalled and aftermarket devices from 13 world-class automakers and suppliers including Acura, BMW, Citroën, Clarion Co. Ltd., DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Subaru, Honda, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, NexTech, Toyota and Volvo."

You can now experience the same microsoft security exploits in your vehicle. You shouldn't have purchased Windows XP Automotive Edition. Make sure you get LoJack so police can track your car and recover it. Atleast when your PC is hijacked by a hacker it doesn't go anywhere. Looks like carjackers are going hitech now, maybe now script kiddies can get out of their mothers basement and get a life.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/embedded/windowsa utomotive/default.mspx

Satellite Latency

[mpeg4codec]

To me, it would seem that the latency involved with satellite communications would really inhibit the use of VoIP. Either that or make it really, really difficult to use. Are there any /.'ers who can vouch on either side of this issue?

Re:Satellite Latency

[stratjakt]

Ever make a call to Japan (or the other side of the world) that bounced through satellites? The echoing and delay.

All your calls would sound like that.. Yech.

I'd imagine the dude having a cell for regular talkin', 802.11 hookups for when he drives into a hotspot, and satellite for a data link when nothing else is available.

Re:Satellite Latency

[GigsVT]

Yes, normal Starband/DirectPC.. it's impossible to do ssh, VoIP, or VPNs. Just too high latency. 650ms if the packet goes through, 1300ms if it there is a retry. Those sort of round trips are not conducive to a lot of applications.

Re:Satellite Latency

[dougmc]

the latency involved with satellite communications would really inhibit the use of VoIP.

We've been making long distance phone calls via satellite for decades now. True, it's not over VoIP, but the cause of the latency (the long distance to the satellite) is still there, so the latency is there too.

Yes, it's a bit odd to hear an echo of what you say into the phone a signifigant fraction of a second later, but you got used to it. You were just happy to speak to grandma, even though she was 6000 miles away and this call was costing you $0.40/minute!

Re:Satellite Latency

[dsginter]

Geostationary satellite distance: 45,000 miles
Speed of light: 186,000 miles per second

To get to the satellite and back to earth:

(45,000 x 2)/186,000 = 484ms

This is on top of the normal internet delays. A response from the other end will take just as long to come back so your looking at one second delay. Not good for most any use.

Re:Satellite Latency

[sho222]

I've used VoIP to communicate with someone stationed in Kuwait. Their end was using a satellite uplink, my end was a T1. Latency was noticable, but did not prevent a 20+ min conversation from taking place. It can be done.

Re:Satellite Latency

[saskboy]

You must work at NASA?

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/cuius/sip hon/siphon.html

Not that I'm saying you're wrong, but are you sure you didn't mean km, and not miles?

Re:Satellite Latency

[dilvish_the_damned]

Sat was the primary method of transporting voice in Alaska for many years, and in fact many cell networks had almost as much latency not so long ago. People tend to adapt in the conversation after a number of times of stepping over each other in conversation, they intuitivly learn to let a little time pass after speaking so as to work with the latency. You also begin to structure your phrases to make it clear when you are done and you expect the other one to speak. Its workable, but noticable.

Re:Satellite Latency

[DRWeasle]

Latency should be a non-issue. A very large percentage of international phone call are via satalite and most people can't tell. Occasionally you may get a bad connection with a little echoing.

An example for a satalite is the Inmarsat-4 launched March 11, 2005. Put into a geostationary orbit, 36,000km above the Indian Ocean at 64 degrees east, thats is about 22370.39 miles. The sat will be providing high-bandwidth services, including Internet access, videoconferencing, LAN and other services, at speeds of up to 432kbit/s.

That orbit should put latency at about 240 ms.

Hope this helps.
drweasle

Re:Satellite Latency

[Anonymous Coward]

Its not 45,000 MILES.

Its roughly 35,900 KILOMETERS above the earths surface, or 423,000 KILOMETERS from the earths core.

For TCP/IP over satellite, it is also common to fake the acks at either end which will help with the internet induced latency at the expense of error correction for errors induced over the satellite link. The errors & error correction caused by the satelitte link can be handled better (or rather - more appropriately) by the low level radio transmission protocol than TCP/IP.

Steve.

Re:Satellite Latency

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh arse wipes.

That should read 42,300km from the earths core.

Steve.

Re:Satellite Latency

[mindstrm]

It no more inhibits the use of VOIP than it does normal satellite phone calls.

Yes, there is a delay, and it can be annoying, but voip works just fine.

THe real enemy of voip is wildly fluctuating latency. Any latency will do, as long as it's relatively constant.

Re:Satellite Latency

[Lux]

Not true.

If you have enough bandwidth, you can use that to hide latency in some situations. Think of an RPC-style app: if you migrate the client to the other side of the world via a high-latency/high-bandwidth pipe, latency drops out of the time-to-completion for the rest of the computation.

That really starts to pay off after a few hundred queries (if you're going around the world, you're saving at least a quarter of a second per query).

My grad school research was in mobile agents. I think satellite networks are ideal for them.

Re:Satellite Latency

[satguy]

I've been engineering at a VoIP-over-satellite telephone network for about 6 years now. Using old circuit-switched telephone technology over a DAMA satellite system is usually very poor to unusable (the telcos use/used SCPC links to move PSTN traffic).

Using VoIP over sat. links works for clear, toll quality service, with round-trip delay in the order of 520 - 550 mSec ... that's about half a second after you finish asking "OK?" that you hear the other end answer with their "OK" (not counting "think time", aka "human latency"). There's lots of carriers whose technology does poorly for the application, but our in-house technology provides good results as above.

Re:Satellite Latency

[isorox]

This is on top of the normal internet delays. A response from the other end will take just as long to come back so your looking at one second delay. Not good for most any use.

Aside from web, email, irc. Even a videophone is still acceptable with a one second delay.

Re:Satellite Latency

[Donny Smith]

>Latency was noticable, but did not prevent a 20+ min conversation from taking place. It can be done.

Precisely. Had you talked over a land line instead, you could have finished the conversation in under 15 minutes instead!

Seriously, such latency is annoying. I talked over Skype last night - WLAN at home and then Skype-out to the opposite side of the globe - we pretty much had to "sync" every minute and wait 1-2 seconds before one starts talking to make sure we don't start talking at the same time. I wouldn't want to use SkypeOut for business calls.

Re:Satellite Latency

[dougmc]

If you have enough bandwidth, you can use that to hide latency in some situations.

VoIP is not one of those situations.

Think of an RPC-style app: if you migrate the client to the other side of the world via a high-latency/high-bandwidth pipe

Um, we're talking about phone conversations. The only way to `migrate the client' is to get grandma onto a plane. Or get onto a plane yourself and fly to grandma. Though there is always the old saying --

"Never understimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway"
--Andrew Tannenbaum.

Now, I did say that lots of bandwidth won't let you hide the latency, and I meant that. But I'm also going to say that while a second of latency in a phone converstaion might be annoying (especially if there's an echo) it's not going to prevent you from having a conversation. It might make you think that grandma is spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about her responses, but you can still have the converstaion.

What's acceptable and what's not is entirely in the mind of the user. Given a completely mobile home with no wires, I might find a small bit of latency in talking on the phone to be completely acceptable. Especially if it enables me to ask grandma for money -- because after spending all this money on gadgets, I'd definately need it!

Re:Satellite Latency

[dougmc]

This is on top of the normal internet delays. A response from the other end will take just as long to come back so your looking at one second delay. Not good for most any use.

Aside from web, email, irc. Even a videophone is still acceptable with a one second delay.

_Most_ Internet application are usable with 1000 ms ping times. Web, email and IRC will barely even notice. Even interactive things like ssh will work, though you'll probably find the lag to be most annoying as you find yourself counting keystrokes to move your cursor around in your editor, for example.

Back before the Internet, email was sent via things like UUCP. The equivilent ping times would be hours or even days. I've IRCed when the ping times were 5-10 seconds -- it's annoying if you're trying to do more than talk, but as long as your client is local, it's perfectly usable.

Really, the main class of things that won't really work are first person shooters and similar games. Even something like Everquest ought to work, because it's not based on twitch reflexes.

Re:Satellite Latency

[bluGill]

Not really. Oh we have been able to make long distance calls via satellite for decades. Once in a while it happens, but not often. It didn't take the phone companies long to figure out that people hate the latency (particularly when there is also and echo) and they will complain about it. So the only send voice over satellite when the under sea cables are full. Customers like TV don't care about this and are willing to buy all their satellite bandwidth anyway.

The only exceptions are those who must be mobile. Ships and airplanes may have no choice. Otherwise you can safely say that your conversations rarely use a satellite.

Re:Satellite Latency

[dougmc]

Not really.

Not really what? What part of what I said was wrong?

Certainly, I never said that all long distance calls went via satellite.

The only exceptions are those who must be mobile.

And what do you know? The article is about a mobile home that's ... mobile! (Though cell phone service would work in their case.)

Re:Satellite Latency

[iamacat]

No problem - just say o (over) every time you finish talking and oo (over and out) before hanging up.

Re:Satellite Latency

[Anonymous Coward]

There are companies out there that use special codecs to cope with the latency. I forget the name of the company in particular, but I spoke to a representative when trying to come up with alternative communication routes for an ARES/RACES mobile unit. Entry price for decent bandwidth (512up/256down) was about 25,000....ouch

Re:Satellite Latency

[rtphokie]

We've been making long distance phone calls via satellite for decades now. True, it's not over VoIP, but the cause of the latency (the long distance to the satellite) is still there, so the latency is there too.

True but the equipment used to transmit and receive phone calls via satellite by the phone companies is a little different. For one, it cant be purchased at your local Best Buy.

Re:Satellite Latency

[dougmc]

That orbit should put latency at about 240 ms.

Minimum latency -- you're assuming that the two parties communicating via the satellite are both directly below it (in the same location :)

In reality, when you use a communication satellite, the two parties are generally quite a ways away from it on the ground. This adds to the distance, though the distance added is smaller than the 22,000 miles it's above the Earth. (I'd have to do some math, but I'd estimate that the added distance would be between 0 and 6000 miles, depending on where you are.

And you probably realize this, but others may not -- most communication satellites are in geosynchronous orbits. In fact, most are in geostationary orbits, or a close approximation to one. In a geostationary orbit, they're always above the equator, and always at about 22,400 miles above the Earth.

And then there's also latency introduced by the processing in the satellite, and whatever you're using to communicate to it, though that part is usually small compared to the round trip time to the satellite.

about 22370.39 miles

About? You narrow it down to less than 100 feet, and you say `about' ? :)

Either way, 300 ms of latency isn't nearly as bad as people make it sound.

Re:A question

[StarKruzr]

Probably because while it is Stuff That Matters, it is not News for Nerds.

sounds..

[Turn-X Alphonse]

Sounds great untill some little bastard steals it and goes for a joyride while he tests for wifi spots.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

Members with subscriptions get priority over non-members. Besides, The Pope has long outlived his due and about time for a new one. I just wonder if the new one will be called Pope John Paul III or use his real name.

Airstream?

[stratjakt]

You know, you still have to buy and maintain a vehicle to pull around your TRAILER.

A trailer/camper/popup is no substitute for a jacked out RV. One is a home with wheels, the other is a tent with pressboard and vinyl walls.

Re:Airstream?

[Anonymous Coward]

No. Airstream also makes RVs.
http://www.airstream.com/product_line/motorhomes/s kydeck_home.html

Re:Airstream?

[stratjakt]

Well, Xerox makes pocket calculators, but that's not what you'd think of if I suggested you run out and buy a "Xerox machine" to help you with your math homework.

My point being, "Airstream" == "Trailer" to most folk.

Of course, the RV you linked too ain't cheap, like the submitter suggests an Airstream would be.

Re:Airstream?

[Fapestniegd]

I've found that the separate vehicle makes it easier to commute, and go to the grocery store.

And the Airstream hull acts like a faraday cage. We wouldn't want anyone to van-eck phreaking...

But it is a pain to use a cell phone. I have to open the door.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, I think "9/11" impacted more people because it caused the US to go and kill them. The death of the pope really doesn't affect many people at all, does it. Oh sure they will be upset, and it is sad, but the church will choose a new leader and life will go on with no real difference.

The next one

[Anonymous Coward]

if the new one will be called Pope John Paul III or use his real name

I think the next pope will remain as AC...

Re:The next one

[Anonymous Coward]

Tee-hee...
That made me smile. :)

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

What's an athesist?

Agnostic is all the rage....

skip forward

[Sv-Manowar]

"An internet entrepreneur with a taste for the open road is having a brain tumour removed"

That house must just be like a giant microwave

Motor Home, not Mobile Home...

[Kelmenson]

A mobile home is typically carried around on a flatbed truck then mounted to the ground... This is a motor home, more usually called an RV.

Re:Motor Home, not Mobile Home...

[fm6]

You're right, this is a "motor home", not a "mobile home". But you're wrong about everything else. I've never heard of mobile homes being loaded on a flatbed -- they generally come with their own wheels. And RV (short for Recreational Vehicle) is a generic term, that includes both the trailer and self-propelled "home".

Re:Motor Home, not Mobile Home...

[tmasssey]

They *have* to come with their own wheels. They must have a single I-beam down the middle, they must have a hitch, the hitch must be included in the length measurements (just as the overhang must be counted in the width measurements), etc.

They're titled just like a car (or, more specifically, like a car trailer...). When you buy or sell one, you transfer a title just like transfering a title to a car.

I know all this because I now live in my second mobile home. 1800 ft^2, $40,000 in Rochester, Michigan. I put an offer on a *1200* ft^2 house at $175,000 and was turned down.

People complain that you don't gain equity in a mobile home like you do in a house. That's fine. I take the $1300 a month I would have put into a mortgage on a house significantly smaller, and put it all into an index mutual fund. 10% increase per year: at least as good as what I would have gotten from a home!

Re:Motor Home, not Mobile Home...

[Diag]

The article is from the BBC, so it's obviously English. These things are problem called Mobile Homes in the UK, as they are where I live. The term Motor Home doesn't really exist in the vocabulary.

I have been reduced to saying, "And this is news?"

[kfg]

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

All well and good

[YrWrstNtmr]

...as long as you have no kids.

2 yuppies, cruising around in a motor home with no fixed address is fine, if a bit expensive (gas prices in UK?).

I don't see this as a real money saver. Yes, 1/4 million pounds is less than many (by far not all) homes in SE england. But depreciation and operating expenses will eat up any potential savings, and when they decide to give up this hobby, they'll be behind the real estate/money curve.

But, if money isn't a consideration (and it appears not to be in this case), why not do it for a couple of years? I'd get tired of it pretty quick, but he might not.

Re:All well and good

[dangitman]

2 yuppies, cruising around in a motor home with no fixed address is fine, if a bit expensive (gas prices in UK?).

Scene: Homer is filling his new RV with gas, the dials on the pump tick around from $999 to $000.

Homer: Woohooo! Free gas!

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

"Impact" them how? Some old guy in a weird hat who got off on telling people how to live according to some fairy tale is dead. So what? If I hear voices in my washing machine telling me how people should live, would you listen to me?

I think that airplanes full of fuel ramming into populated skyscrapers have an IMPACT. Some old fuck who reads fairy tales, big deal.

(If they love life so much, why didn't they keep him artifically "alive"? Why is science good enough for televised fairy tales and medical procedures, but not good enough to contradict all the rubbish nonsense these people believe in? I weep for our world when the liars and deluded have so much power. Good that one of them died. Too bad there's a lineup of freaks to replace him.)

Re:A question

[Rightcoast]

Heh
It's Saturday dude, so I'm drunk. I figured I would spell like I'm speaking.

It's porn!

[tyroneking]

Internet entrepeneur? Video cameras? His girlfriend?
Sounds suspiciously like a mobile porn studio.

Re:It's porn!

[The Amazing Fish Boy]

Oh, please. People who live in trailers don't have sex.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

And what makes the WTC news for Nerds?

In all seriousness

[StarKruzr]

I am most worried about the last bit of your post.

There ARE quite a few very conservative candidates for the papacy - people even more conservative than JP2 was.

I fear for the future of the Catholic Church.

Re:In all seriousness

[Tony Hoyle]

JP2 wasn't all that conservative compared to some (hell, compared to some popes he was positively liberal), and remember he has a big say in who follows him... if he's recommended someone the first we'll know is when he's elected by a unanymous decision.

Re:A question

[NitsujTPU]

A couple comments:

1) Yes, the death of the pope is important.
2) Slashdot is hosted in the United States by American Citizens. Get over yourself. Don't post to an American board saying that 9/11 was somehow less important. I'll try not to go to your country and badmouth your people.
3) This is News for Nerds... or at least it was until 9/11, when every tech site posted a bunch of 9/11 articles, and people who had no interest in techonology started using boards intended for technology talk. I can hardly blame the guys for trying to leave such matter off of /.
4) The pope's death is a big story. I'd say that they are probably waiting for the best source of the news to post.

Re:A question

[ArsenneLupin]

I think that airplanes full of fuel ramming into populated skyscrapers have an IMPACT.

Nope, they had a RESERVOIR FULL OF KEROSENE. If it was the impact, the towers would have collapsed right away, rather than only an hour later.

Can't do VOIP over satelite...

[Spoing]

If you need any interactivity, satilite connections won't cut it. Voice and video would need other communications methods.

Re:Can't do VOIP over satelite...

[satguy]

With all due respect, don't say that to the thousands of people who have used our satellite network technology over the years for voice and video. That includes Provincial Governments that do medical imaging (remote medicine), as well as videoconferencing on our satellite network.

Re:Can't do VOIP over satelite...

[Spoing]

1. With all due respect, don't say that to the thousands of people who have used our satellite network technology over the years for voice and video. That includes Provincial Governments that do medical imaging (remote medicine), as well as videoconferencing on our satellite network.

Do you have details? Sat. networks I've seen have about a ~250ms latency each way, not the 10-100ms wired connections tend to have.

Re:Can't do VOIP over satelite...

[satguy]

Do you have details? Sat. networks I've seen have about a ~250ms latency each way, not the 10-100ms wired connections tend to have.

Yes, ~250 ms each way is close (depending on one's exact distance from the bird, and ignoring the propagation latency through the equipment at each end). It's a lot easier for humans to accomodate a ~520 ms roundtrip: that's not an unusual latency for a normal human reaction to the words heard - it doesn't start getting annoying or noticeable until it's 700-800 ms or higher, imho.

Re:Can't do VOIP over satelite...

[Spoing]

1. Yes, ~250 ms each way is close (depending on one's exact distance from the bird, and ignoring the propagation latency through the equipment at each end). It's a lot easier for humans to accomodate a ~520 ms roundtrip: that's not an unusual latency for a normal human reaction to the words heard - it doesn't start getting annoying or noticeable until it's 700-800 ms or higher, imho.

I can't imagine that's the case. With a 700ms delay each way, you're talking ~1.5 seconds between someone speaking and someone responding. That's walkietalkie push button response, not interactive 2-way communication. A 150ms delay under Skype is not acceptable to me...I'm looking at sub 80ms for reasonable interactivity (each way of course).

Re:Can't do VOIP over satelite...

[satguy]

I can't imagine that's the case. With a 700ms delay each way

I said ~520 ms round trip, which means both ways, aka ~260 ms each way. You'd be surprised how close that is to normal human "think time" for those who think before they verbally react.

You may be interested to know that sub 80 ms response is a bit faster than "normal" PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) latency for an interstate call within the USA.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

What makes you think the parent's not an American?

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

Huuzaah!

Re: Pope/Schiavo?

[stratjakt]

What are you rights when you're no longer able to make your own decisions, etc.?

Your legal next of kin makes the decisions for you. That's the law, has always been the law, and despite "emergency sessions of congress" to change it, every court that there is upheld that that is, indeed, the law.

It was the husbands decision to make, a decision that's made thousands of times every single day. The only difference is that most families have a little more tact and respect for their loved ones to turn their death into a media event.

Terri Schaivo was a political pawn. Just another source of soundbites. A chance for every ambulance chasing quack to get on TV to give his professional medical opinion about a patient they'd never examined (any doctor who does that should have their license pulled on principle alone). No one will remember her in a year or two.

Remember Elian Gonzalez? I didn't think so. The whole nation "cared" about him once.

Ahh

[metlin]

"It's a beautiful part of the country. We're keen rock climbers, so we can't complain about having well-known UK crags around the place."

Well, that's understandable.

As a fellow climber, I can completely understand where they're coming from - it really sucks having to carry 35 pounds on your back and set camp at a base from where you can climb.

While it is a little extreme, it does make sense.

Re:A question

[Eminence]

• Probably because while it is Stuff That Matters, it is not News for Nerds.

So, nerds can't be religious or at least have respect for other's beliefs? Are nerds interests limited to wires, new betas and copyright laws? Sorry, but tonight I'm not in the mood to discuss someone's wired motorhome.

(Interestingly enough, all cynical, devoid of any respect comments about his death come from Anonymous Cowards).

And for the record: I'm not catholic, I'm not even Christian, but I do recognize this death as an important turnpoint of modern history.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

Jeez, you're an asshole. Anyone ever tell you that?

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

So, you are denying that ramming airplanes into buildings makes an impact? I think you need to stop sniffing that kerosene there, boy. You're making a non-sequitur.

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy

[fm6]

mikael writes "The BBC is reporting that an Internet entrepeneur has given up on the high cost of housing in the city..."

Jeez, learn to read. There's nothing in the article about saving money. Which is probably not a priority for somebody who can afford to spend GBP 250,000 (US$470,000) on an RV. Not to mention the cost of parking the thing, hookup fees, gas...

Re:Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy

[mikael]

Jeez, learn to read. There's nothing in the article about saving money.


At the moment, British house prices are actually falling, at the rate of about 0.6% per month (around 1500 pounds/month for the amount he is spending on the vehicle). London house prices have traditionally gone through a boom and bust cycle, so he would be completely wasting his money buying a house now. Even a house in the country isn't a good investment either as it only takes a small group of travellers to set up camp and reduce the value by 75%. And UK banks don't exactly offer generous savings interest rates.

Pitch fees for a mobile home cost around 70-120 pounds/month, which is comparable to the "council tax" (property taxes) for a property of a similar price (Band G).

Nothing really new

[0123456]

Steve Roberts has been doing this kind of thing (admittedly with bikes and boats rather than RVs) for about fifteen years now...

http://www.microship.org/

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

I would think the attack on the WTC has a greater impact on technology and the related economics than the death of the Pope. Resulting policy and legislation leading to things like homeland security and cyberterrorism certainly would affect IT, the Internet, etc.

Re: Pope/Schiavo?

[nacturation]

Your legal next of kin makes the decisions for you. That's the law, has always been the law, and despite "emergency sessions of congress" to change it, every court that there is upheld that that is, indeed, the law.

Of course it's the law. My question centered more around how you can get your wishes upheld when someone else is in the driver's seat, so to speak. If you want to die, but your legal guardian insists on keeping up the life support and you're unable to communicate, etc. I know there's legal ways of doing this, but it would have made for interesting discussion nonetheless. That's all.

bubble-buster

[TheHawke]

Have you guys ever checked the insurance rates on a Class-A RV? My god, they approach the levels of owning a 2 bedroom house! That and maintaining the beast, where are you going to sleep when it's in the garage with a blown motor? Or worse, the bloody thing starts leaking around the seams? The service center most likely will not allow you to stay in the vehicle while it's in their garage overnight.

The air conditioning in the vehicles are not conducive to electronics while in a high humidity area, for they are glorified window AC units. All they do is cool the air and TRY to pull the moisture out of it, but not really succeeding.
Sure, they may look great but to be really a place to house your systems in, you actually have to increase your housing budget by a small factor to cover the extra things. Beefier wiring, more outlets, dehumidification, a better refrigerator than the slow and ice up like a ship in the north sea ammonia units.

By the time you get done, you'll have something like the emergency response vehicles that the larger metro poilce forces are using for mobile command posts. All electronics and few luxuries.

Re:bubble-buster

[PCM2]

That and maintaining the beast, where are you going to sleep when it's in the garage with a blown motor? Or worse, the bloody thing starts leaking around the seams? The service center most likely will not allow you to stay in the vehicle while it's in their garage overnight.

Fortunately, he's one of those computer geniuses. I'm sure he'll be able to think of something.

Re:bubble-buster

[sysadmn]

So you stay in one of the Suite hotels catering to businesses. Around here, the nicer ones run less than $500 per week, $1500/month, and include free wireless internet and a continental breakfast.

Re:bubble-buster

[TheHawke]

And all that time, tossing and turning in your bed, worrying full-time about all your gear that's sitting on that company's lot, surrounded only by a rusty chain-link fence with a even more rustier (or non existent) barbwire top, that only a criminal would simply lean on and it would fall over. Or worse, the mechanics that have "sticky fingers" or your equipment simply grows legs and walks off...

It's tough on a geek to do something like that.

Re:bubble-buster

[speleo]

The insurance on my RV is less than that of my normal car.

Most of the RV makers have a campground next to the factory where you can stay while they work on your unit. Airstream does this and provides a waiting area with an Internet-connected computer for you during the day while they work on your RV. If they need more than one day they haul your unit back to the campground for you to stay in. Some RV dealers even do this.

Most of the class A RVs nowadays have residential-style AC units with heat pumps that reside in the "basement" below the floor and not up on top. They work just as well as any home AC system.

There are many, many people in the USA that live and work in their RVs -- it's a great lifestyle.

Re:bubble-buster

[timothy]

"Fortunately, he's one of those computer geniuses. [hotel links]I'm sure he'll be able to think of something[/hotel links]."

You're right that he can find a hotel (though they're scarce in some parts; I'm pretty inured to sleeping in my car when necessary, annoying as it can sometimes be -- however, I don't have an RV for which to find safe haven), but that additional cost adds up quickly, especially if the repairs are like those experienced by Phillip Greenspun. (The link was handy; this story had made me find it to post in an earlier comment, too ;)) As I warned in that earlier comment, be careful lest you are sucked into the world of interesting things Greenspun has written, which are addictive and time-sucking.

timothy

Re:bubble-buster

[llefler]

Not a class A, but my class C runs about $220 a year for insurance. $50 higher than my motorcycle. Considerably less than my truck, which is less than my homeowners'.

As for breakdowns, for the amount of money being spent you could get a new diesel pusher. If you're putting enough mileage on one of those to blow a motor, finding someplace to stay while it's in the shop will be trivial. And a motel room is cheap compared to the rebuild cost.

From your comments, it appears you are familiar with the systems of older RVs. But motorhomes are no longer just for the budget minded. (what do you buy when a Hummer isn't impressive enough?) It would be easy to dump a million dollars in one of these. And those people aren't interested in roughing it.

Personally, I'd like to buy a used MCI tour bus and convert it to diesel-electric. Then turn it into a motorhome. But where do you park a 40' vehicle while you do a hobby conversion....

Oh, and with truck stops and rest areas getting WiFi, who needs satellite.

turnpoint my ass

[Anonymous Coward]

Popes come and go all the time. The fact that this one decided to spend his last years senile and ill instead of resigning doesn't make him special.

Re:A question

[nacturation]

And for the record: I'm not catholic, I'm not even Christian, but I do recognize this death as an important turnpoint of modern history.

It is indeed a turning point in history. And when future generations ask us, "What were you doing when the Pope died?" we can respond with "Oh, writing some inane drivel on slashdot."

Re:A question

[NitsujTPU]

You're right.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

The pope has little or no power, except to the morons that think he's important.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

"ArsenneLupin"? Does your name mean AssWolf or something?

Not all that new

[SJasperson]

I was doing full-time computer consulting and living full-time in an RV back in 1997-2000 (in the US), and I was hardly the only one. Even then, it wasn't that hard to stay in touch; plenty of RV parks would let you plug in a wired modem somewhere, more and more had internet hookups right at every site, and you could have a satellite modem if you were willing to pay enough for it (around $2/minute for 9600 baud access, which was plenty good enough for email and shipping code back and forth in those less bloated days). It's fun when you get to camp in the boondocks next to a hot spring for a couple of weeks and still bill a good hourly rate for the hours you care to work on your laptop while recharging from the solar panels. It's not so fun when you're stuck in the client's parking lot in Schaumburg Illinois for a week in winter because they really need to see you on site and the propane heater barely keeps up with the chill.

Now that its not April First...

[Anonymous Coward]

April first is over and it seems Taco went back to his mom's basement. He needs to be fired. He is what's holding slashdot back.

Re:A question

[abigor]

I just can't figure out why I should respect this guy. He fought against birth control, represents an anti-science institution, and generally represented much that I hate. I'm about as saddened by his death as I am by any other random death of someone that I didn't know and had no reason to respect: not at all.

So let's get back to talking about more interesting things, like this nerdy motorhome.

Note: not posting anonymously.

Modifications

[Jozer99]

Compairing prices really does not make sense. I am sure they are putting so much extra into this vehicle, that if they did buy a stock Airstream, they would have to tear it completely appart and rebuild it. Plus, a standard camper does not make you self suffient for a week. It caries a can of propane, enough for a couple of meals, a small tank of water for 2-3 days, if you don't shower or use the onboard restroom. Electricity is supplied by the engine's generator, hence you only have electricity as long as you are plugged in or have the engine running. Plus, being a rich .com geek, I'm sure everything in the camper that could possibly be computerized is, and networked to boot: Automatic window shades, lighting, coffee maker, ect... ~$500,000 US does not sound to bad to me for a vehicle like that!

Re:Modifications

[Anonymous Coward]

You've actually tapped into a popular past time. Refurbishing used Airstreams. Since they are made from Aircraft quaity aluminum, they hold their value better than any other camper trailer on the market. It's very common for people to refurbish them with the latest gadgets and electronics. The basic design for the airstream hasn't changed much in 50 years.

Re:Modifications

[llefler]

An RV this size would have a 150-200 gallon fresh tank. Black/gray water tanks will be large enough to accomodate that. The real drain on water would be showers. Me, I like long showers so I'm basically screwed. Propane would be around 200 lbs. If you aren't having to run heat, it would last for months. And a rig that size would have a 7kw genset, your only limitations are fuel and noise. But again, if all you are running is a couple laptops and lights, you should have enough battery for most of the day without the generator.

Things are starting to come together for techies to have a gypsy lifestyle if you want one. Powerful laptops, Wifi hotspots, internet telecommuting, and a house on wheels.

Re:Modifications

[Jozer99]

But a week? And remember, these people arent "roughing it", they are neveau-riche who's one home is this place. I think they plan on showering. Electricty would not be too much of an issue if they had some nice expensive high effiency solar pannels on the huge roof and some big batterys in the "basement". I still don't see how they would have enough room for huge water and propane tanks (remember, they can't go without heat, its not all that warm in England).

Re:Modifications

[llefler]

If their goal is to be completely self sufficient for a week, they can do it. The extent of roughing it would simply be water conservation on showers. Wet down, turn off water, lather up, rince, and you're done. Remember, they are used to living in a much smaller rig. My class C has a shower, but only a 30 gallon tank.

For power, I can't see someone paying that kind of money and not having batteries and a system wide inverter. And they do have solar, which wouldn't be too useful without a battery or two.

From the article:

But now he is upgrading to a £250,000 vehicle complete with computers, home cinema and solar panels.

Let's run some real numbers.

You can fit 1 - 80 Ah battery (sealed lead acid) in a 1/2 cubic foot. 65 lbs, and $150 if you're interested. The 80 total Ah is rated over a 20 hr draw. 4amps, 48watts per hour.

I just tested some of my equipment, here is what I came up with:

Laptop - supend 1w, boot 43w, run 22w, heavy load 50w
Mac Mini - suspend 2w, boot 28w, run 15w, heavy load 28w
17" LCD panel 28w
Netgear 10/100 8-port switch 3w
Linksys wrt54g 4w

I didn't test my gig switch because I didn't want to knock my servers offline, but from experience I'd say it's going to be less than 5w. I also didn't test CRTs or Intel desktop machines because if they can afford $470k, they can buy new, top of the line laptops. My laptop, BTW, is a 2g Celeron. That would put it somewhere between a P4 and a Pentium M. It's numbers could be adjusted 25% either way.

So, if I were going to put batteries and an inverter in my rig (and I will), I would need:
(Laptop, Mac, LCD, Linksys) 112 watts. I'd double that for the batteries, just in case, and the inverter I want is 1000w. I would need 5 batteries to run all my electronics for 20 hours. Weight wise, that's a little high for my class C, but wouldn't be a problem for a class A, it should be spec'd with them anyway.

Oh, and the weather this week in London is a low of 40f with highs in the 50-70f range. And it's still early in the year. Remember, this is a new, high end coach, so it will probably have 2" of polyurethane insulation. That should be R-12 (R-6 per inch), but some manufacturers rate theirs as high as R-8 per inch. Consider that the little tank on your gas grill is a 20lb tank, and LP provides 22,000 BTUs per pound. With a 30,000 BTU furnace, that's nearly 15 hours of continuous use from a 20lb tank.

It may not be the posh lifestyle some people like, but it has an amazing amount of freedom.

BTW, all of these numbers are pointless if they pull into a campground with full hookups. Then their only consumable is LP for cooking. (and food storage capacity)

Re:Modifications

[Jozer99]

You didn't prove anything. So it would take 325 lb to run minimal electronics for 20 hours, and 20lb for 15 hours of heat. Lets work it out. One week is 168 hours, or 8.4 x 325lb of batteries, 2730 lb. If they want two laptops, a switch, a TV, a sophisticated climate control system and lots of lights, we are getting over 10,000 lb of lead acid batteries. Propane faires better at 224 lb for a week of heat, but probably more for cookin their filet mignone.

Re:Modifications

[llefler]

Minimal electronics? It covered enough for two people with everything but the satellite link. Worst case, you throw in a file server, but you would also be concerned with power consumption there, so you wouldn't be installing a 4 processor box with a 10 drive raid. Again, from the article, they have an office with a secretary. Anything required by the business would stored on a server there, or you could co-locate it with an ISP. But ok, lets assume a light server installed too. I have a little PowerEdge on my test network. 95w peak for boot and 55w once the OS is up and things have settled. I'm not going to test one of my dual proc Proliants, because it would be moronic to install one in a power sensitive environment. You aren't going to pack a complete computer room in a motorhome, at least I wouldn't. I have 2 networks, 3 file servers, 4 desktops, a Mac, 1 xterm/rdp terminal and 3 laptops in mine. If I could live out of a motorhome (need to find a new job), I'd consolidate and drop my test network to one server and one workstation (probably laptop or thin client), plus two new laptops (1 P4, 1 mobile) for personal use along with the mac and a power conscious server(or see if I could hack samba to run a PDC on my WRT56G and put a firewire disk on the mac mini). And I do software development for a living. I doubt that I would ever use the test network without shore power. And there is no reason for ANY equipment to be running when I'm not using it.

I don't believe it was ever stated that living self contained in a motorhome is going to be just like living in a house. There will be trade-offs. For instance, I wouldn't have 3 boxes running 24x7. But please, stop pulling numbers out of your ass. If you're truly interested, I'll go pull the power specs from the florescent lighting I bought for my class C. At a guess, I'd say 12-16watts times 3 to completely light the interior. Climate control and coach monitoring electronics are minimal, the touch screens they installed will use the only insiginificant power. TV, if you want to be power conscious use an LCD TV, DVD player, and satellite receiver. Probably less than 150w total (when in use), unless you bought an obscenely large LCD. And don't forget, you have a genset and solar panels to recharge batteries. You'd never need more than 20 hrs of batteries.

Filet mignon? Running 30,000 BTUs of heat at full capacity 24x7? You're just being ridiculous. If I run the stove in my class C I have to open the door or windows. I checked it in november, 40 degrees to 80 degrees in 10 minutes running two burners. And we're talking about a 25 year old RV.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

Sadly there's many of those morons...

internet entrepeneur?

[mistermark]

This is what I'm always totally clueless about...

First, these so called internet-entrepeneurs(which, imho, means you can settle about anywhere you want) choose to sit in the most expensive places and now, this one chooses to sit in an RV? I mean, to me that is just plain stupid... I mean, why do these guys have to go places if they're *internet* entrepeneurs?

Re:A question

[Eminence]

• I just can't figure out why I should respect this guy.

Because he meant so much to so many people. Because what he did was done out of his compassion for others. You can dispute his stand on certain issues, but you can't doubt his motives.

The Church ceased to be anti-science ages ago (around the turn of 19th and 20th centuries) - and certainly this Pope wasn't anti-scientific.

• Note: not posting anonymously.

I appreciate that.

Re:A question

[DrunkenTerror]

Sorry, but tonight I'm not in the mood to discuss someone's wired motorhome.

Why don't you mosey on over to another forum then, hmm, sweetie? If you're not Christian, why do you even care? This has zero impact on your life.

Re:A question

[Eminence]

• his has zero impact on your life.

In this you are simply wrong. The direction Church takes has an impact on the world even if - as Stalin once remarked - Pope has no armored divisions.

Re:A question

[DrunkenTerror]

In this you are simply wrong.

Well, I don't doubt that.

How about this... Let's play Slashdot-Wikipedia.

I nominate the Pope's death for deletion from Slashdot because Slashdot is not a repository of general news. Slashdot is about computers, the internet, technology, software, and other related news items. The Pope's death is Un-Slashdotic. Terri Schiavo's death would be a better candidate for a Slashdot article (under Politics) due to the political actions surrounding her death, and there is no Terri Schiavo Slashdot article. Furthermore, Slashdot is not a memorial service.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

So did Hitler. What's your point?

Re:A question

[Hognoxious]

What's an athesist?

It's the guy who sends you to sleep (and hopefully wakes you up after) when you have an operation. I think limeys spell it "athaesist". Or something.

Re:THE POPE IS DEAD

[Hognoxious]

Considering many of the scientists that made fundamental discoveries such as Mendel and Copernicus were Catholic men of the cloth, I would say that you're dead off.

So waht? Newton was also an ordained minister (albeit a protestant one). But only because to hold a professorship at Oxford at a that time, you had to be.

Re:Airstream? -- some are RVs

[timothy]

Airstream has made some self-contained units ("Land Yachts" -- example: http://www.racer-net.com/rairs002.htm), though I'm not sure if they are currently producing any.

And while I agree with you on "pressboard and vinyl" when it comes to most RVs, Airstreams are generally quite nicely constructed; I lived for a time* in a 1966 22' model, and despite being older than I am, the construction held up well. (Some of the internal systems, not so much, but as I as parked rather than traveling, with facilities avaiable, that was OK.) Many RVs are in the cheap-n-chintzy category, too, though -- they may be a home on wheels, but in many cases, that home is the same pressboard and vinyl you rightly decry ... just stuck on a truck body. Sometimes not well stuck on, too :)

(See Phillip Greenspun's account of buying, driving, repairing and selling a Winnebago -- but be warned: it's very easy to get sucked into his site, as I just did. He's a great writer, in addition to all the other bazillion things he does.

timothy

* In Austin's coolest trailer park, Pecan Grove -- long may it wave ;)

Re:A question

[sribe]

He fought against birth control, represents an anti-science institution, and generally represented much that I hate.

Sure, I basically agree with you there. But he also played an important, perhaps critical, role in freeing tens of millions of people from oppressive totalitarian regimes, and in the end that is worth a bit of respect, don't you think?

Physical security

[Anonymous Cowdog]

I wonder what his strategy for physical security is. Now that he's announced the location where the vehicle is going to be parked every weekend while he himself is strapped to the side of a mountain at some altitude, I hope he's got all this stuff well secured against theft, fire, and vandalism, or better yet, attended by a gearsitter.

There's always insurance, but after the second hit or so the insurance companies get somewhat less enthusiastic about renewing the policy.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot is hosted in the United States by American Citizens.

Big fucking wow, so you own the world do you, you big fat cunt?

Tornado Magnet!

[Anonymous Coward]

A mobile home or trailer as we called 'em when I was a kid, is a sure fire tornado magnet!

Re:Tornado Magnet!

[Curmudgeonlyoldbloke]

I believe that tornados (at least property-damaging ones) are relatively rare in Wales, so this is unlikely to be a concern to him.

Yacht++

[cyb0rg]

Instead of a motor-home, I think I would prefer to get a Yacht and deck (no pun intended) it out with all the amenities. There's just so may more places you can go on the high-seas. /You insensitive landlubber.

Re:Yacht++

[mrchaotica]

Or better yet, a nice big sailboat (maybe even a schooner) -- sailing just seems geekier to me, since it's more efficient and requires more skill.

Confidence Trick ?

[Jononon]

They've generated international publicity, but their website is barely more than a poorly designed placeholder and their businesses do not appear to have any products to sell.
Company regulations and council tax issues further the implausibility of this scheme
It's very easy to put out exciting press releases, but if this thing ever hits the road I'll be amazed.

We call them AirStream trailers

[Anonymous Coward]

You call them Caravans. This is really OLD news. Ours has been mobile for 8 years, and ours looks better! Has more amenities etc. Sheesh!!!!! NOT NEWS!!!! Does NOT Matter.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

You lose, Godwin's Law has been invoked

Re: Pope/Schiavo?

[Anonymous Coward]

Elian Gonzalez

Of course I remember him. Returning him to his father was the one thing Clinton and Reno did that I agreed with. Elian was returned to his remaining parent, even though that parent lives in a country we officially don't like. It's not like it was a war zone, or had death squads roaming around, or some other direct threat to the boy's life. If I was the boy's father, I would have insisted on getting him back too.

And I don't believe that crap that his mother's dying words were "Get my child to America, the land of the free," or whatever crap those crazy relatives tried to put out. What drowning person is going to waste that much effort, when breathing is the hard part?

Maui Van

[pensano]

I've been doing something similar for the past six months. I purchased a fifteen passenger van in Colorado -- refurnished the interior with bed, closet, kitchen, pullout laptop desk, girlfriend, and surfboard storage racks -- and shipped it to Maui. It's been great. Net access is pretty good over cell modem, or we can wardrive when we want to download a movie torrent. :) I've been working three hours a week teaching physics for food money, and windsurfing tons. Journal and pics here:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/mauitian/

Re:Maui Van

[Anonymous Coward]

above site is NSFW just FYI.

Re:Maui Van

[BeaverCleaver]

Did you buy that van from CME in Vail? I ask because I drove for them for a few winters. High mileage when we sold them off, but you know they've been maintained well.

And getting that V10 down to sea level would give it a whole lot more power than at 8000+ feet.

Re:Maui Van

[sexecutioner]

Cool. We're doing the same with our old Kombi van. The past six months have been getting the engine going and the paintwork up to scratch. Now we've birthed a whole new field: kombionics! We want a mean onboard network with flat screens, games, and GPS logging. We're also going to add an SMS module so the van can send us updates on its position, or we can unlock it or tell it to play our favourite MP3 before we get to it in the carpark.

We're writing the whole lot up here:

http://ash.anu.edu.au/kombi/

Let us know what you all think, what we should do and how we can make it better.

Re:Maui Van

[pensano]

Yep. And you thought you were living in it. Heh.

The V10 is a little more than I need on an island, but it's probably the fastest accelerating house there is.

Re:Maui Van

[pensano]

Quit your job, buy a van and a laptop, and live on the beach in Maui... nope, this post is definitely not safe for work. :)

Re:Maui Van

[smithmc]

I purchased a fifteen passenger van in Colorado -- refurnished the interior with bed, closet, kitchen, pullout laptop desk, girlfriend, and surfboard storage racks -- and shipped it to Maui.

How did your girlfriend feel about being shut up inside a van while it was shipped to Hawaii?

Re:Maui Van

[Anonymous Coward]

I never said I was personally offended, but the fact remains that some people might get in trouble for viewing such material in a workplace and there was no context for such material. Now you could argue that they too should quit their job, but if everyone did that you wouldn't have the van and laptop you enjoy so much.

not a mobile home

[JeremyALogan]

Ok, I'm sorry to bitch about semantics, but this is one of my pet peeves. This thing is not a mobile home, but a motor home or RV. A mobile home is what you see in "trailer parks" and a motor home is what you can drive around. There is a difference.

Re:not a mobile home

[timothy]

"Ah. but can you not also build bridges out of stone?"

You're right, in one way, but I suspect the submitter chose "mobile home" (and I agree, and agreed) meaning "home that is mobile" -- something which most "mobile homes" are not. (Yes, they can be hauled into place, but not with much grace, and between resting places, they're not much in the way of homes, since they generally are furnished with full-size / "normal" furnishings, and the possessions inside are moved separately, if the owners are merely relocating rather than moving house in the conventional sense.)

(Bad joke: Did you know there's a city in Alabama in which every single person lives in a Mobile home?)

timothy

Re:not a mobile home

[JeremyALogan]

Did you know there's a city in Alabama in which every single person lives in a Mobile home?

no way... I use to live in alabama and I never saw it. Now if you had said Mississippi then I don't think anyone would doubt you.

Re:not a mobile home

[alienmole]

I guess you didn't get out much while you were in Alabama. Timothy's obviously talking about Mobile, Alabama. Geddit?

Re:not a mobile home

[JeremyALogan]

oh yeah... I guess I'm a little slow ;)

Houseboats are good for this too

[billstewart]

I've had a couple of coworkers who've lived on houseboats in the San Francicsco Bay. Normally this class of boat is an overpriced luxury, e.g. $100-200K for a toy, plus dock rental, etc., but since housing of any kind in the Bay Area is an overpriced luxury, it wasn't really that bad a deal financially, and the lifestyle was cool. Some of them were single (aka divorced - so the boat's also a great midlife-crisis getaway and a fun way to impress babes), some were married couples living on the boat. I've also had a few friends who were techie RV commuters doing what you did, but that's a much lower-cost lifestyle.

For either of those approaches, you need to be really good at getting by without accumulating lots of stuff (so it wouldn't work well for me), and at least for the boats you need to be good at keeping your place neat as well (again, not me :-)

Don't get the motorhome

[bluGill]

If anyone is considering getting something like this, don't make the mistake of getting something with a built in motor. Get a trailer with a separate tow vehicle. I prefer 5Th wheels (they tow nice), but make your own choice.

With the built in motor you have to drive the whole house to a store, and fitting an RV into a standard parking spot is an exercise in frustration. Worse if you want to park near downtown sometime. Much easier to leave the house behind and just take the tow vehicle.

And there is the problem of what if it breaks? With the separate tow vehicle you just drop it off at the dealer and drive a loaner car. You will be hard pressed to find a town that doesn't have a dealer who can fix your truck, while someone willing to touch a RV is harder to find. Or just trade the truck in on a new one (only rich people live in an RV, it is too expensive for normal folks, so this is reasonable). Of course you could trade the RV in when it breaks, but good luck finding one you like in a random town, while truck dealers are all over.

Oh, and if you are doing this, please don't get a gas engine! Diesel is much more efficient, meaning it won't burn what gas my generation wants to live with for the rest of our life.

Re:Don't get the motorhome

[Anonymous Coward]

What your are referring to is a 'Diesel Pusher' and yes they are more powerful and efficient than a Gas engine (ten times the torque of an equivalent Gas moter at the same horse power). Most of them also have enough power to tow a small car behind so you can park the elephant in a park and drive the car for errands and such..(Mini Coopers and Ford Focus' are a fav with the RV set).
Plus Diesel engines, with proper maintenance, can last over 1 million miles. Ask any 18wheel truck driver. The only real drawback is the oil change is very expensive.
The most poplular engines are Catepillar and Cummins, though Ford is making a move on the lower end of the scale.

btw, taking this concept further is an RV called the 'Fun Mover' a 39 footer powered by a front engined Ford V10 diesel. It's a 26 foot moterhome with a 13' long garage attached that can be used for anything including turning it into an office.
Just google funmover and rv. The most expensive one is under 200k and includes an onboard 7K watt diesel powered generator.

if you get an onboard AC current generator, make sure it uses the same fuel as your truck engine for obvious reasons. The newer ones are really quiet too.

Lastly by going with Deisel, you can take advantage of the increasing availability of BioDiesel. And the resulting lower sulpher content.

Re:Don't get the motorhome

[llefler]

Like most things in life, there are trade-offs. With a 5th wheel you need to buy a suitable truck. To pull all but the smallest trailer, you really need a 1 ton truck. My uncle tried with a 3/4 ton, but found it under powered on hills and required sacrificing air conditioning frequently. And you can still have parking problems with a full size truck if they haven't restriped the lots to account for larger SUVs. I used to own a full size ford van, turning radius and small parking places were annoying. And then there were two issues my Mom brought up; you have to get out of the tow vehicle and get in the trailer to sleep. For some people that will rule out using free reststops at night. And she wasn't interested in having the additional steps for the bedroom. Every 5th wheel I have seen has the bed over the hitch.

OTOH, with a motorhome you could always spring for a dolly and a used Geo.

A 5th wheel will make it easier to go diesel though. Diesel 1 tons are easy to find, but a diesel motorhome that is less than a class A is practically non-existent. I have asked dealers about diesel class Cs and have either been told that A) people don't want them, or B) the demand for diesel trucks is so high that the motorhome manufacturers can't get diesel chassis. So they come with gas V10s.

Re:Nothing really new - sample included

[Anonymous Coward]

I built a mobile classroom like this years ago an now have it for sale. Look at the 3rd picture at http://www.mcit.ca/coach and you will understand this is not new. We had even run DEMO's of one way satellite internet back in the early 90's.

Big deal

[Fapestniegd]

I've been doing this for over a Year.

And for about $14k. And $5k for the pickup truck.
I'm posting this from the pod right now.
Most RV parks have WiFi, well the good ones anyway, so latency isn't a problem.

Solar Panels in England ? Bwahahahahaha

[Anonymous Coward]

isnt sheep dung a more abundant fuel ?

Re:A question

[tokabola]

Because you're an anonymous coward?

wireless access

[Anonymous Coward]

Verizon has wireless broadband in and nearby many cities.

(before you mod this troll, i don't work for verizon nor do I have any financial relationship with them, other than they are my wireless provider. I'm not endorsing V/Z and hope that there will be more competition in the future, but I think this illustrates the near future in roaming internet access.)

from verizonwireless.com:

You'll need the data-only Verizon Wireless PC 5220 card*
installed in your laptop
$79.99 monthly access gets you unlimited Verizon Wireless NationalAccess and BroadbandAccess service**

[they state elsewhere 60-140 kbps speed range]

BroadbandAccess is expanding
Get ready for a better way of doing business with Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess, available today in the following markets:

Markets:
Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Columbus, OH
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Dayton, OH
Hartford, CT
Houston, TX
Jacksonville, FL
Kansas City, MO
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
Madison, WI
Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL
Milwaukee, WI
New Haven, CT
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY/Newark, NJ
Orlando, FL
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
Providence, RI
San Diego, CA
St. Petersburg/West Palm Beach, FL
Tampa, FL
Washington, DC

With Wafi , this will get more common?

[Anonymous Coward]

With wide area high speed wireless rolling out over the next few years, you won't need sattellite for anything except TV. In theory, you will have high speed 2 way access even while driving down the highway (like your cell phone does now).

You can get a nice 26 foot gas powered RV for under 100K with an onboard generator and enough water and lp for up to a week. Obviously they go up from there, up to the Provost line which regularily goes for around 1 million US and already has all sorts of whiz bang gadgets and stuff, including built in networking and internet access. The better ones have slide outs to increase space when parked.

This guy is doing what I've wanted to for a long time. cool

Re:A question

[NitsujTPU]

I don't go onto Iraqi boards bitching about Iraq.

Re:Airstream? -- some are RVs

[Master of Transhuman]

Back when I was attending Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, in the late '70's, most of my friends lived in Airstreams. In fact, large numbers of Oregonians lived out of trucks, trailers, etc. You could see some amazing "hippy-mobiles" with large back porches and the like driving around.

My friends' consensus was that the Airstreams built in the '60's were nice because they were all yachty wood paneling and the like. The ones that came later were too much plastic.

Today it's probably worse.

Re:I have been reduced to saying, "And this is new

[Master of Transhuman]

Oh, yeah, I remember the "Winnebiko"! A huge recumbent which could even call the cops itself if it was likely being stolen.

And then he went and did the same thing with a trimaran IIRC.

Is it me or does that guy look like...

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it me or does that guy look like...

Max Headroom?

Re:A question

[Master of Transhuman]

"The Church ceased to be anti-science ages ago (around the turn of 19th and 20th centuries)"

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!! Yeah, right, bubele...

In the late eighteen hundreds, with the rise of the freethought movement and the rise of archaeology and mythology analysis, etc., the current Pope was concerned about this and called in all the top scholars of all the Catholic universities around the world. He charged them with producing evidence that the doctrine of the Church (Jesus as divinity, miracles, crucifixion, resurrection, etc.) was all literally true.

They scurried off and worked like beavers for a couple decades.

They came back and told the Pope, "Not only can we not prove any of this, but as far as we can tell, it's all bullshit lifted from other religions." (Probably not in those words, of course.)

So the Pope had them all declared heretics and excommunicated them.

Then he promulgated the doctrine - which is still in force today - that a Catholic is prohibited from believing anything they read in the media if it conflicts with Catholic dogma.

And for your information, the Office of the Inquisition still exists - it was renamed in the late eighteen hundres, IIRC.

Not anti-science, my ass...

How About Tour Vans for Big Rock Bands?

[Master of Transhuman]

I saw a picture of the Corrs vehicle they used on their North American tour last year.

Sucker looked like a double decker or something, it was so huge.

It was so wide it couldn't get through the gate at one of the Northwest venues and they had to park it in the street.

Some of the fans thought it had to be worth at least a million bucks.

Re:A question

[Anonymous Coward]

Could you? Do you speak the language?

Airstream quality

[timothy]

You may be right, in general.

The only modern Airstreams I've been inside, though, have been very nice -- and also very out of my price range. I paid in the mid-single-digit thousands for my fair-condiion (being nice) '66; before I even bought it, though, I window shopped other RVs, including some then-current-issue Airstreams, of the 30-40 foot length. (This was late 90s, so not that long ago. Sorry so vague, it's been a while for my non-photographic memory.)

The Airstream interiors I saw were uniformly nice, everything seemed solid, comfortable, and Yes, "yachty." By comparison, the interiors of most of the RVs and travel trailers I looked at were cheap and chintzy -- the workmanship and materials seemed mediocre, and that's to my interested but completely unpracticed eye. Airstream's ergonomics, general fit-and-feel were far in front, considering my very small sampling; none of the others was quite as expensive as the Airstreams I was aboard, but they came close enough that the difference was downright shameful. (From magazines, I know that there *are* quite luxurious travel trailers, but I've only been on a few that fall in that category, and they all cost more than the Airstreams I looked at ... )

If I was in the market for one now (I'm not!), I'd probably go for a mid-sized pickup hauling a small Airstream; the big models are really cool to visit, but I wouldn't want to have to park one, or control it in a cross-wind on a mountain road, etc.

One thing that's improved since the '60s: the beds :) I say that having only sampled the new ones, but slept in my trailer's for quite a few months.

timothy

MOD PARENT UP!

[Anonymous Coward]

Or I will cum your fuckin' eyes shut!

I have to wonder...

[Anonymous Cumshot]

How does this compare to the popemobile? Do you think he had VoIP? :) (sorry)

Really uninteresting article

[Havenwar]

Seriously... No pics, no details, no blueprints or guides or anything... It's like saying "Well ya, I've got this car, and I've been thinking.... touch screens. Yeah. Gonna control everything."

Gah. Get over it. This is not news. It's being done all over. RV's and trailers with extensive electronics is omething you can just go to the nearest dealer to experience. If you think I meant RV-dealer, that will work, and if you think i meant drugdealer, then that woudl work too, because the DEA outside would have one of them trailers.

No, give me an article that shows pics of all these cool gadgets, writes about what OS they use, how they program it, how the computers are clustered, how many Megaflops they can do and how many MP3's they fit on their in-house entertainment system. Because this... this is nothing.

Re:A question

[Eminence]

Can you bring any evidence to back up this fantasy story that you posted?

Re:A question

[Master of Transhuman]

Google for it yourself. I haven't the time to be your history teacher.

If you buy the bullshit the Catholics put out, you should have no trouble comprehending what I told you when you read it for yourself.

Satellite Phones Exist, right?

[krunk4ever]

I've personally never seen a satallite phone in person, but they seem to exist. I've heard they were useful when you're in the middle of nowhere, where cell phone signals won't reach. i doubt the delay is too bad if satellite phones are usable. plus I'm pretty sure satellite phone minutes aren't cheap. Any long delays will be costing a lot of money.

Re:A question

[Eminence]

None. Just as I thought.

Sounds like ..

[torpor]

.. this guy ..

Not News

[Curmudgeonlyoldbloke]

It's also not news because "their business as retail agents" (from the article) is selling motorhomes - they're an agent for the company building it. So it's actually a "press release that the BBC local news ran because there was nothing else happening, which escaped onto the web site".

Must be a really slow news day in North Wales.

Re:A question

[NitsujTPU]

I guess that you're going to call me a stupid American because I don't speak the language?

Re:A question

[NitsujTPU]

I should put my response better.

If I went to a board hosted by Frenchmen. I would expect events in France to be posted to the board, if they were of significant impact.

To speak to the effect of your follow up post, yes, I do speak the language.

Re:A question

[Master of Transhuman]

Like any other good Catholic, ignorance is bliss, eh?

Two seconds of Google brought http://www.sofn.org.uk/DOCTRINE/catholic_modernism .htm
to light:

written by a Catholic priest, no less!

Or try http://www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/0703almanac. htm
:

Here's a LOVELY quote from another source http://www.mengos.net/books/ourbooks/sadiq/reconsi dered/4errors.htm

Notice the "depraved fictions" being denounced here include essentially "being an American who believes in democracy", as well any sort of science, education, etc. - a nice laundry list!

The Syllabus, along with the introductory Encyclical letter, the various Consistorial Allocutions, Encyclicals and Apostolic Letters on which it is based and to which it constantly refers, plus the doctrinal constitution Paster Aeternus (Eternal Shepherd) promulgated by the First Vatican Council in 1870, are all meant to "reprobate, denounce and condemn generally and particularly the most grievous errors, heresies and depraved fictions of innovators," such as materialism, rationalism, naturalism, panetheism, secularism, communism, socialism, liberalism, latitudinarianism, Americanism, indifferentism, pietism, modernism, democracy, civil society (as a religiously neutral arena), science (under the rubric of scientism), freedom of conscience, the cult of religious tolerance, the principles of civil and religious liberty, the separation of Church and State, civil marriage, secular education, etc. A few of these condemned heresies require brief explanations.

Latitudinarianism refers to the reform movement in the English church which argued that the texts of Holy Scriptures allow for a latitude of interpretation and proof based on reason as opposed to the pure authority of tradition. The debate within the Church over "Americanism" refers to those Bishops and priests in Europe and the United States who showed excessive zeal for constitutionally protected civil and religious liberties, and who pointed to the American Catholic Church as a model for reorganizing the Church's relations in Europe with such novel developments as secular states, democratic governments, rapid scientific progress new critical scholarly methods of dealing with holy scriptures and the history of Christianity, and all the rest. Although the Syllabus did not explicitly condemn Americanism or mention it by name, it did so in substance. It was left to Pope Leo XIII to make the implicit explicit by bringing the Church debates over this tendency to a conclusion by declaring Americanism, in 1899, a heresy which constitutes "a complete synthesis of contemporary errors." Thus the Americanists were accused, by the Catholic fundamentalist reaction, of undermining the faith and subverting the authority of the Church by "this combination of Catholicism and democracy" by supporting "liberals and evolutionists" and by "Talking forever of liberty, respect for the individual's initiative, natural virtues and sympathy for our age."

Indifferentism refers to the view that all religions, sects, confessions and so on are (a)equal before the state, and (b)stand on the same footing as to their validity and truth-claims, except for their own adherents. Pietism refers generally to those who regard religion as a strictly private matter, and more particularly to those who regard its essence as no more than an inward, personal and individual affair of the heart which may or may not have any consequences for the outside world (justification by faith alone versus by works also).

The condemned Modernism is part of what is usually known as "The Modernist Crisis in the Catholic church," spanning the papacies of Pius IX, Leo XIII and Pius X. It is basically a 19th century phenomen

I wish

[StarKruzr]

I could mod you up as being "offtopic, but makes an incredibly salient collection of points."

I suppose that's what Underrated is for.

Thanks for this. The Catholic Church could be such a wonderful thing if it focused on service and the core messages of Christ.