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Does anyone else find this disturbing?

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I recently came across a New York Times article from 1995 that referred to "cybernauts". I'm glad we don't use that one anymore!

Man, that brings up memories. I'm glad we don't have to dress up like this anymore to use the Internet. (The hat was murder on my chrome plating.)

Cybernaut-foo.jpg
 
When the power goes out, I wonder what people who are hooked on technology worry about most from the list below. I know how I would rank these.

1. Being unable to charge their cell phone.
2. Unable to access the internet from their computer
3. Unable to watch TV
4. No electricity...no video games
5. Keeping the food in the refrigerator from spoiling.

Take away electricity and watch the silly humans turn into zombies.

I have a set of encyclopedias which were purchased in 1969 and I am debating as to whether or not I should get rid of (donate) them. My sister keeps after me telling me they are too old and "no one uses them anymore. That's what the internet is for". It never occurs to her that one day the internet may not be available or that not everything you read on the internet is true (really???). She readily admits she can not read a map and would be unable to navigate to unfamiliar places without GPS.

Forget nuclear war. All we have to do is be hit with a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) which wipes out the electric grid and "advanced" humanity grinds to a halt. The only ones who survive are primitive tribes living off the land.
 
Without electricity society ends period.

Sure a few can move to the woods and hunt and fish but even a small injury or infection could mean death.

I had the power go out for a few hours recently and once you get some candles out and light them up you get bored. Sure I have books to read but that gets old in a hurry.
 
Last summer we were hit with a series of violent storms, including a tornado. We were without power for about 5 days. I was able to get a 6.5 KW Generac from the local Home Depot, and I had drop cords running everywhere. I'll be installing a cutover switch next week and that will eliminate the drop cord mess. Hard to get by without electricity.
 
There was a UK report done that if the whole grid crashed, it would probably take 7 days to get it back running again (legacy of privatisation, a lot of the black start capability was stripped out, ostensibly to stop operators running large gas turbines to make money in the spot market)

At a similar time, there was a report that the first supermarket window will be put through in no more than 3 days.

With no electricity it doesn't matter if you have your own diesel generator unless you are totally self sufficient in everything else as there will be no gas, no water, no food, no shops, no petrol, no trains, no planes.

Its the easiest way to bring down a country, strike its grid and its power stations.
 
The thing that really ticks me off about people these days is how they insist there must be only ONE single way to do things, and it must be the way the TV tells them.

They don't see all of the the potential problems with their "modern" toys. Solar flair? Heck, all that has to happen is some company magically decides to stop giving us some product or service. Google can't just waltz up to me and take my printed books away from me or make unwanted changes. Some service I need only perhaps once a year? I'll just use paper, pencil, and snail mail rather than access some web crap that I would have to waste time re-learning it or worrying if my custom hardware/software is even compatible with it. Perhaps I want to shop at a physical store where they don't track who I am and every little move I make and store that data forever - although more physical stores are doing that too.

With all the crap under the hood that makes this stuff go, I'm honestly surprised things haven't fallen apart badly, just from neglect and ignorance. When online services do disappear or break, somehow people just put up with it.

People seem to think cell phones are made with freaking unicorn magic and throwing them away every couple years is somehow good for the planet. I'd like to think that these recent chip supply issues would be a wake up call, but that probably won't happen.

Then there is the complete lack of proportion. There are still idiots who think all paper is somehow bad. I've automated systems where users had boxes of paper reports literally stacked up to the ceiling. Inefficient use of paper? Sure, but more importantly an inefficient use of time as they had to manually go though each report to aggregate data. But on the flip side, when I need to draw something or make quick notes - using some restrictive software, worrying about compatibility issues, buying the latest hardware, waiting for it to load as it does updates, worrying about security, and so on, is all incredibly inefficient.

When the power goes out, I still have plenty to do. All I would need is some sunlight. Books to read, notes to organize, ideas to write down, cleaning to do. He, he, my phone doesn't need charging.

No internet? I do most of my work locally and if push came to shove, I would only really need it at intervals.

People don't know what files and folders are? This world has gotten dummer than in the movie Idiocracy. I spend all day manipulating files and folders. I could not do what I do with some brain-dead toy "app" or online web site. I don't expect everyone to be an expert, but that is basic computer literacy and people should at least know what it is and respect that some people do more than post mindless drivel on Twitter(R)(TM) all day.

"Don't forget to download our FREE news and weather app/malware! - [Download now] [Rape me later]". No, I'll just stick my head out the window instead.
 
When the power goes out, I wonder what people who are hooked on technology worry about most from the list below. I know how I would rank these.

1. Being unable to charge their cell phone.
2. Unable to access the internet from their computer
3. Unable to watch TV
4. No electricity...no video games
5. Keeping the food in the refrigerator from spoiling.

Take away electricity and watch the silly humans turn into zombies.

I have a set of encyclopedias which were purchased in 1969 and I am debating as to whether or not I should get rid of (donate) them. My sister keeps after me telling me they are too old and "no one uses them anymore. That's what the internet is for". It never occurs to her that one day the internet may not be available or that not everything you read on the internet is true (really???). She readily admits she can not read a map and would be unable to navigate to unfamiliar places without GPS.

Forget nuclear war. All we have to do is be hit with a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) which wipes out the electric grid and "advanced" humanity grinds to a halt. The only ones who survive are primitive tribes living off the land.
So true. Funny thing I was In the vicinity of Eton College in the UK a few years back. My wife and I found a charming little pub with whole sitting areas surrounded by book. And for a very small donation you can take one with you. While sitting having a drink I noticed on the wall opposite me an entire 1960's childrens encylopedia set I had growing up. I couldnt believe it. Decades later and an ocean away there it was, the whole set close to 2 dozen volumes. It was this set in particular, I will never forget the covers, I used to love turning the pages as a kid. https://www.mapleclovervintage.com/listing/513870512/vintage-1960s-illustrated-encyclopedia

My kids have never looked into an encylopedia. They dont understand what it is. They think the internet is all facts and completely true. They think having access to it is the same as "KNOWING" anything you find. They assume it will be there no matter what.

I am grateful to remember a time without the internet. Without cable. When TV was a few channels you can TUNE IN. When the Radio still played MUSIC.

As bad as it sounds.. I want a "break in service" To snap my kids out of it and into reality.. maybe for the first time ever? Its scary when you think about it. But Misinformation rules this world... Its a problem.
 
Last summer we were hit with a series of violent storms, including a tornado. We were without power for about 5 days. I was able to get a 6.5 KW Generac from the local Home Depot, and I had drop cords running everywhere. I'll be installing a cutover switch next week and that will eliminate the drop cord mess. Hard to get by without electricity.
The year hurricane Sandy wiped out the Coast of New Jersey I was without power about 11 days. The previous year Hurrican Irene hit us and I was without power 9 days. I would charge my laptop at work so I could have some battery time to watch a dvd at night. It took 2 days to find a place that still had candles (plumbing shop, plumbers candles ???) I used the charcoal grille pretty elaborately to boil water and make dinners. The weather was already getting cold so without a water heater showers were painful. I spent alot of extra hours at work (hospital has its own power system) just to have lights and something to do. IT got dark early, battery drained fast and didnt want to burn through candles. So Sleeping early was the only choice really.

I would adapt to a world without power.. All of us Adults would. IT wont be easy, but nothing is. My grandparents lived through 2 world wars and a starvation.... Im not going to complain if the power goes out.
 
I would adapt to a world without power.. All of us Adults would. IT wont be easy, but nothing is. My grandparents lived through 2 world wars and a starvation.... Im not going to complain if the power goes out.

How ? Do you mean country wide power or just your home.

Local power to homes is one thing, but a country wide blackout is quite different. No power to pump water to your house, no power to pump gas to anywhere, no tills working, no petrol pumps working. So no transport to move food about.

No food or drink to the majority of the population who don't have access to self provided resources, never mind being without heating.

It would be a nightmare (at least in the UK)
 
Regionwide would be good enough. We have a backup generator since I live on a mountain range and falling trees like to take out the power lines pretty regularly.

I just want them to have a stop in thier dependance on nonsense electronics for a while to realize the big picture. Im not looking to bring down civilization.. just the extraneous aspects of it for a short period of time.
 
The year hurricane Sandy wiped out the Coast of New Jersey I was without power about 11 days. The previous year Hurrican Irene hit us and I was without power 9 days. I would charge my laptop at work so I could have some battery time to watch a dvd at night. It took 2 days to find a place that still had candles (plumbing shop, plumbers candles ???) I used the charcoal grille pretty elaborately to boil water and make dinners. The weather was already getting cold so without a water heater showers were painful. I spent alot of extra hours at work (hospital has its own power system) just to have lights and something to do. IT got dark early, battery drained fast and didnt want to burn through candles. So Sleeping early was the only choice really.

I would adapt to a world without power.. All of us Adults would. IT wont be easy, but nothing is. My grandparents lived through 2 world wars and a starvation.... Im not going to complain if the power goes out.
As far as power goes my main concerns are the freezer and the fridge. And of course, Pro and college football. :)

P.S. I did not know that the : + ) returns a smiley face.
 
I keep our deepfreezer at -2 degrees Fahrenheit. There are a bunch of solid frozen things and Turkeys etc in there. If the power goes out it can last a long white before thawing... At which point the generator kicked on for a couple hours will do the trick.. The fridge.. well thats much harder to maintain.
 
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