Wow, Lou, that’s a pretty cute little minimalist rig, and Linux is the way to go. You’ve successfully hacked your way through the driver/hardware underbrush.
By way of comparison, the first atomic reactor, the pile built under Enrico Fermi’s direction at the University of Chicago (under the athletic field) produced a whopping 430 milliwatts of power. Enough to demonstrate fission chain reaction.
I’m not suggesting that you power your tiny hut via a homebuilt nuclear reactor. Absolutely not! hahahaha. though that would be low carbon footprint.
Jim MilsteinDecember 20, 2017 - 5:18 pm
I am suggesting, contra Jack, that Lou design and build an atomic pile to power his little cabin. Go, Lou!
Lou2December 20, 2017 - 5:58 pm
Perhaps we can bring back the Utah uranium boom?
Lou2December 20, 2017 - 5:59 pm
Jack, I’m loving Linux, what a breath of fresh air. Lou
Jim MilsteinDecember 20, 2017 - 6:00 pm
Closer to home, Lou, Monarch Pass
MiroDecember 21, 2017 - 12:33 am
I’m wondering why go to a cabin with a computer… The point of a cabin is escaping from IT hassle for me 🙂
Lou2December 21, 2017 - 7:52 am
We’ll the short answer is I’m blessed by having been a pro blogger for years now, but like many such things one has to watch out what they pray for as they just might get it (smile). Lou
Jim MilsteinDecember 21, 2017 - 7:59 am
The longer answer, Miro, is that modern humans degenerate horribly when deprived of internet access. It used to be like that for hunting and gathering, but we got over that. Now we hunt and gather on the internet.
MiroDecember 21, 2017 - 8:26 am
Sure,
I’m a programmer, so I do outdoor sports to get some rest from the technology, but frankly I like to have a cellphone around to take photos and use GPS, or read climbing topos…
Believe me, I’m entirely comfortable with unplugging when I can, but at the same time due to business need internet available 24/7, in my case having cabin sat net is super relaxing as I don’t have to be up there worrying about website, and doing tedious stuff like calling a helper on satphone to find out if site is working. For those of you who are not involved in website management, these sites are not set-it-and-forget-it, they require constant upkeep due to dozens if not hundreds of factors. Wildsnow is actually one of the leaner simpler configurations you’ll find, but I still deal with a constant stream of issues behind the scene, lots of times just small little things that nonetheless can break the site. Oh, and our huge IT department for some reason is always bouncing the ball back to me (smile). Lou
SeeDecember 21, 2017 - 9:12 am
Very cool, thanks. I may have to spend half a day learning LInux (!?). I think it’s also worth considering the externalized costs of that “cheap” grid power, e.g. rising snow levels, extreme weather, mountaintop removal mining, energy wars, etc..
“learning” meaning in my case doing just enough to get myself into trouble! For what it’s worth, most of these minimalist computers come with unregistered Windows 10 installed, which could work fine for some things. Lou
CraigDecember 21, 2017 - 1:31 pm
Since working in a PV powered office I have always thought that computer designers were working backwards. Yes every year computers do more and more but also use more and more power. Real progress would see us doing more with less Power.
Cheers to you guys for the low powered system experimenting!
Craig, what’s using the excessive power isn’t actually individual computer systems, but rather the enormous server farms and other infrastructure that support the internet and cloud computing. For example, just the criminal bot attacks that are making up around half of internet traffic suck up enough electricity to power the entire UK! What is more, mining digital currency is said to be taking enough power now for another medium sized country. It’s actually gotten a bit ridiculous in my opinion, and is an amusing example of the law of unintended consequences for those who thought the www and computing were somehow going to save the world from excessive energy consumption. Lou
JamesDecember 22, 2017 - 3:14 am
Impressively low wattage there, looks like a great setup. My only thoughts are why have an additional processor when you already carry one which is definitely powerful enough in you pocket? It’s not hard to replace the stick processor with an android phone keeping the peripherals you already have, and almost all of the apps you need for work are available/possible. Saves having 2 devices to power!
Crazy HorseDecember 22, 2017 - 7:44 am
Lew, don’t kid yourself. The real purpose of those giant server farms is to collect and store information about people. That information serves two purposes: sell crap that people don’t need and control deviant thoughts and actions.
As in so many other areas of the future, the Chinese are an eye blink ahead of us. They are rolling out a universal Gen 2 FICA score that includes not just credit history, but buying habits, social media contacts, parental status, and travel history. That score is used to determine what area you can buy a home in, whether you are allowed to buy a car, what school your children can attend, who you can be introduced to socially, and whether you can travel to a foreign country. https://www.wired.com/story/age-of-social-credit/
Orwell would roll over in his grave at the sight of the NSA information center in Utah or the ones in China.
Hi James, I did experiment with using my Android phone for this, and did measure power consumption for only using the phone, without external monitor screen. As stated in post above, the phone alone draws about 0.47 amps (Samsung Galaxy Note), while my minimalist system, with screen and full-sized keyboard as well as USB hub, draws about 0.42 amps and in my opinion has a better operating system for my desktop style use in heavy content creation (writing and photo editing). Where my minimalist Linux system falls way short, as well as would simply using a phone, is in video editing, but I’ll cross that bridge later. These sorts of projects are never done — that’s part of the fun.
In any case, when I need to do a quick web browse I do use my phone or Ipad, rather than hooking up the desktop system.
18 comments
Wow, Lou, that’s a pretty cute little minimalist rig, and Linux is the way to go. You’ve successfully hacked your way through the driver/hardware underbrush.
By way of comparison, the first atomic reactor, the pile built under Enrico Fermi’s direction at the University of Chicago (under the athletic field) produced a whopping 430 milliwatts of power. Enough to demonstrate fission chain reaction.
I’m not suggesting that you power your tiny hut via a homebuilt nuclear reactor. Absolutely not! hahahaha. though that would be low carbon footprint.
I am suggesting, contra Jack, that Lou design and build an atomic pile to power his little cabin. Go, Lou!
Perhaps we can bring back the Utah uranium boom?
Jack, I’m loving Linux, what a breath of fresh air. Lou
Closer to home, Lou, Monarch Pass
I’m wondering why go to a cabin with a computer… The point of a cabin is escaping from IT hassle for me 🙂
We’ll the short answer is I’m blessed by having been a pro blogger for years now, but like many such things one has to watch out what they pray for as they just might get it (smile). Lou
The longer answer, Miro, is that modern humans degenerate horribly when deprived of internet access. It used to be like that for hunting and gathering, but we got over that. Now we hunt and gather on the internet.
Sure,
I’m a programmer, so I do outdoor sports to get some rest from the technology, but frankly I like to have a cellphone around to take photos and use GPS, or read climbing topos…
Believe me, I’m entirely comfortable with unplugging when I can, but at the same time due to business need internet available 24/7, in my case having cabin sat net is super relaxing as I don’t have to be up there worrying about website, and doing tedious stuff like calling a helper on satphone to find out if site is working. For those of you who are not involved in website management, these sites are not set-it-and-forget-it, they require constant upkeep due to dozens if not hundreds of factors. Wildsnow is actually one of the leaner simpler configurations you’ll find, but I still deal with a constant stream of issues behind the scene, lots of times just small little things that nonetheless can break the site. Oh, and our huge IT department for some reason is always bouncing the ball back to me (smile). Lou
Very cool, thanks. I may have to spend half a day learning LInux (!?). I think it’s also worth considering the externalized costs of that “cheap” grid power, e.g. rising snow levels, extreme weather, mountaintop removal mining, energy wars, etc..
“learning” meaning in my case doing just enough to get myself into trouble! For what it’s worth, most of these minimalist computers come with unregistered Windows 10 installed, which could work fine for some things. Lou
Since working in a PV powered office I have always thought that computer designers were working backwards. Yes every year computers do more and more but also use more and more power. Real progress would see us doing more with less Power.
Cheers to you guys for the low powered system experimenting!
Craig, what’s using the excessive power isn’t actually individual computer systems, but rather the enormous server farms and other infrastructure that support the internet and cloud computing. For example, just the criminal bot attacks that are making up around half of internet traffic suck up enough electricity to power the entire UK! What is more, mining digital currency is said to be taking enough power now for another medium sized country. It’s actually gotten a bit ridiculous in my opinion, and is an amusing example of the law of unintended consequences for those who thought the www and computing were somehow going to save the world from excessive energy consumption. Lou
Impressively low wattage there, looks like a great setup. My only thoughts are why have an additional processor when you already carry one which is definitely powerful enough in you pocket? It’s not hard to replace the stick processor with an android phone keeping the peripherals you already have, and almost all of the apps you need for work are available/possible. Saves having 2 devices to power!
Lew, don’t kid yourself. The real purpose of those giant server farms is to collect and store information about people. That information serves two purposes: sell crap that people don’t need and control deviant thoughts and actions.
As in so many other areas of the future, the Chinese are an eye blink ahead of us. They are rolling out a universal Gen 2 FICA score that includes not just credit history, but buying habits, social media contacts, parental status, and travel history. That score is used to determine what area you can buy a home in, whether you are allowed to buy a car, what school your children can attend, who you can be introduced to socially, and whether you can travel to a foreign country. https://www.wired.com/story/age-of-social-credit/
Orwell would roll over in his grave at the sight of the NSA information center in Utah or the ones in China.
But wait, at least one person has told me we should be using China as a utopian role model…
Hi James, I did experiment with using my Android phone for this, and did measure power consumption for only using the phone, without external monitor screen. As stated in post above, the phone alone draws about 0.47 amps (Samsung Galaxy Note), while my minimalist system, with screen and full-sized keyboard as well as USB hub, draws about 0.42 amps and in my opinion has a better operating system for my desktop style use in heavy content creation (writing and photo editing). Where my minimalist Linux system falls way short, as well as would simply using a phone, is in video editing, but I’ll cross that bridge later. These sorts of projects are never done — that’s part of the fun.
In any case, when I need to do a quick web browse I do use my phone or Ipad, rather than hooking up the desktop system.
Lou
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