Whether its required depends on exactly how grid-independent you want to be. If you're happy with emergency electricity during daylight hours only, then it might not be too bad. This probably isn't quite as bad as it sounds - daylight-hours-electricity would still be enough to keep your freezer frozen, your fridge coolish, your mobile telephone telephoning and your clothes washer washing pretty effectively.
My main concern with the idea is that any hurricane is not likely to leave any solar panels still fixed to your roof.
I like how the summary answers its own question - and gets the answer completely wrong. Sure, government red-tape doesn't help. And I'm sure the utilities aren't falling over themselves to promote this (why would they???)
But the simple, plain fact of the matter is that, unless its being subsidised by the taxpayer, installing solar costs the same as your electricity bill for the next 15-30 years, depending on where you are and how capable your system is. That means your panels are paid off just as they reach the end of their useful life. And if you have batteries, you've likely had to replace them before you've paid them off.
The average person looks at effectively paying their electricity bill for 30 years up-front and says, "No, thanks!"
Mildura is in the middle of a wilderness area. Not as remote as you can get, but well on the way out there. And Apple maps shows the city in the wrong place.
Care to spread some more dangerous ignorance around, fanboi?
I think I'd guessed it wasn't his surname from birth before I read his wikipedia page. I'm not sure I see anything there that classes him as "class A jackass", either. Care to be more specific?
I've not seen the case in any traditional media, local or international. I've seen it discussed in three places: The Register, Slashdot and John McAfee's blog. The only sources I've seen either of the first two cite is McAfee's blog.
And, believe it or not, I've read McAfee's blog. All of it. And what I comprehended from it is that this guy could quite easily be suffering paranoid schizophrenia and could quite easily have imagined the whole thing. But I think I said that already - didn't you comprehend?
Has anyone actually confirmed with the Belize police that his neighbour was murdered? And that they want to talk to McAfee about it? Given some of the stuff on his blog, I'd not be surprised to learn that he's invented the whole thing.
I'm not sure his blog is doing him many favours at the moment, either. For most people, "batshit insane paranoia" is not quite as closely connected "innocent" as he seems to think.
And since the sample was found on a lighter in her bag, "consensual relations" here might mean, "Hey, mister, got a light?" "Sure, keep it." He might be guilty of abetting under-age smoking, nothing more.
I know this is breaking the rules, but I've read TFA. The DNA sample was found on a lighter in the girl's bag next to her body.
So the guy has some explaining to do (why does she have a lighter with your DNA on it?) but it's a long stretch from there to "guilty of murder". They lived in the same small village and probably saw each other every other day; there are lots of ways she could end up with his lighter, some of them even relatively innocent.
Kinda of a smear, eh? I'll make an allegation of illiteracy, and now I've got evidence.
Quite apart from nit-picking though, it would be a smear if you didn't have any evidence. But such evidence abounds; that you don't feel the need to spell it out in excruciating detail at every opportunity is different.
It's not clear what area you're trying to cover, but it seems the sort of thing WiMAX was made for. But I suspect this is still something you're going to have to raise capital for, and therefore something you're going to have to make money back on from your subscribers.
I've no experience, but I suspect this is not something you can realistically set up as a hobby in your spare time. Your costs will look like this:
* Capital equipment - a WiMAX base station and connection to the fibre (probably involves paying the company providing the fibre to dig it up, splice it and run a cable into your house). If you're happy to ebay second hand gear, the WiMAX station could be fairly cheap - maybe a few hundred dollars. * Monthly invoice from the fibre provider for access. You're going to want some serious bandwidth, or your customers will complain.
Your time is going to look like this:
* Administration. If you're trying to pay your costs, you need people to pay you. That means keeping a list of customers and invoicing them each month, making sure people pay up, etc. * Support. People *will* blame you when the intertubes is broken, whether its your fault or not. If no-one answers the phone when they call, then you'll lose customers.
Your biggest problem is likely to be that the DSL company will just undercut whatever you set up. Squashing you like a bug is unlikely to show up on their bottom line, while you need to make money consistently to keep up with the fibre costs and repay the capital you needed to set it up.
If you've got $100k lying around to get it all set up and to absorb a few months of fibre access costs while you get people signed up, then you might be able to survive. You might even make your $100k back, eventually. Since you have to work to make ends meet, it seems unlikely this is the case.
Slashdot Mirror
Whether its required depends on exactly how grid-independent you want to be. If you're happy with emergency electricity during daylight hours only, then it might not be too bad. This probably isn't quite as bad as it sounds - daylight-hours-electricity would still be enough to keep your freezer frozen, your fridge coolish, your mobile telephone telephoning and your clothes washer washing pretty effectively.
My main concern with the idea is that any hurricane is not likely to leave any solar panels still fixed to your roof.
I like how the summary answers its own question - and gets the answer completely wrong. Sure, government red-tape doesn't help. And I'm sure the utilities aren't falling over themselves to promote this (why would they???)
But the simple, plain fact of the matter is that, unless its being subsidised by the taxpayer, installing solar costs the same as your electricity bill for the next 15-30 years, depending on where you are and how capable your system is. That means your panels are paid off just as they reach the end of their useful life. And if you have batteries, you've likely had to replace them before you've paid them off.
The average person looks at effectively paying their electricity bill for 30 years up-front and says, "No, thanks!"
Well, oh wise one, what reference should they have used to check the plausibility of the route?
Yes, it is. Buying Apple kit is clearly not a survival trait.
Mildura is in the middle of a wilderness area. Not as remote as you can get, but well on the way out there. And Apple maps shows the city in the wrong place.
Care to spread some more dangerous ignorance around, fanboi?
Well said, that man.
I told you so.
I think I'd guessed it wasn't his surname from birth before I read his wikipedia page. I'm not sure I see anything there that classes him as "class A jackass", either. Care to be more specific?
Has there always been this much Dotcom-hate on /., or is there the beginning of an astroturf campaign going on here?
Schutzstaffel, anyone?
Bend over and get ready for the royal shoeing. You're right, but you're Not Allowed To Say That Around Americans.
I thought for a moment you'd slipped 'SS' in there as a joke...
I've not seen the case in any traditional media, local or international. I've seen it discussed in three places: The Register, Slashdot and John McAfee's blog. The only sources I've seen either of the first two cite is McAfee's blog.
And, believe it or not, I've read McAfee's blog. All of it. And what I comprehended from it is that this guy could quite easily be suffering paranoid schizophrenia and could quite easily have imagined the whole thing. But I think I said that already - didn't you comprehend?
Has anyone actually confirmed with the Belize police that his neighbour was murdered? And that they want to talk to McAfee about it? Given some of the stuff on his blog, I'd not be surprised to learn that he's invented the whole thing.
I'm not sure his blog is doing him many favours at the moment, either. For most people, "batshit insane paranoia" is not quite as closely connected "innocent" as he seems to think.
It really is as bad as we thought. Editors still let him publish.
Yawn.
Ooops. Still, inaccurate information on /. - who'd've thought?
But if the DNA match sperm on the girl's body
It doesn't. It matches a sample from a lighter in her bag, found next to her body. Not quite so damning!
And since the sample was found on a lighter in her bag, "consensual relations" here might mean, "Hey, mister, got a light?" "Sure, keep it." He might be guilty of abetting under-age smoking, nothing more.
I know this is breaking the rules, but I've read TFA. The DNA sample was found on a lighter in the girl's bag next to her body.
So the guy has some explaining to do (why does she have a lighter with your DNA on it?) but it's a long stretch from there to "guilty of murder". They lived in the same small village and probably saw each other every other day; there are lots of ways she could end up with his lighter, some of them even relatively innocent.
Kinda of a smear, eh? I'll make an allegation of illiteracy, and now I've got evidence.
Quite apart from nit-picking though, it would be a smear if you didn't have any evidence. But such evidence abounds; that you don't feel the need to spell it out in excruciating detail at every opportunity is different.
Pure ignorance on my part. What do you suggest instead?
Yes, so long as it's someone else's $100k you've invested in it.
Might have missed the comment title, there.
It's not clear what area you're trying to cover, but it seems the sort of thing WiMAX was made for. But I suspect this is still something you're going to have to raise capital for, and therefore something you're going to have to make money back on from your subscribers.
I've no experience, but I suspect this is not something you can realistically set up as a hobby in your spare time. Your costs will look like this:
* Capital equipment - a WiMAX base station and connection to the fibre (probably involves paying the company providing the fibre to dig it up, splice it and run a cable into your house). If you're happy to ebay second hand gear, the WiMAX station could be fairly cheap - maybe a few hundred dollars.
* Monthly invoice from the fibre provider for access. You're going to want some serious bandwidth, or your customers will complain.
Your time is going to look like this:
* Administration. If you're trying to pay your costs, you need people to pay you. That means keeping a list of customers and invoicing them each month, making sure people pay up, etc.
* Support. People *will* blame you when the intertubes is broken, whether its your fault or not. If no-one answers the phone when they call, then you'll lose customers.
Your biggest problem is likely to be that the DSL company will just undercut whatever you set up. Squashing you like a bug is unlikely to show up on their bottom line, while you need to make money consistently to keep up with the fibre costs and repay the capital you needed to set it up.
If you've got $100k lying around to get it all set up and to absorb a few months of fibre access costs while you get people signed up, then you might be able to survive. You might even make your $100k back, eventually. Since you have to work to make ends meet, it seems unlikely this is the case.