3 ms·

I don’t want to use a keyboard and a mouse. Can we move past that too? In fact, I’d like to get past being tied to a desk. In this article on HN a few days ag

I don’t want to use a keyboard and a mouse. Can we move past that too? In fact, I’d like to get past being tied to a desk. In this article on HN a few days ago, Stephen Wolfram had a laptop strapped to himself so he could work while on walks. We would all benefit getting away from our desks a little more often. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19220889 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19220889 Direct link to Wolfram’s blog: https://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure/ https://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-producti...

AndrewKemendo 8y ago
I love how he just causally has an Iridium satphone.
- sbr464 8y ago
  Iridium side note -- I was testing a RockBlock (rock7) recently. They are really easy to use, ~$200. Awesome that this stuff is getting more approachable. http://www.rock7mobile.com/products-rockblock http://www.rock7mobile.com/products-rockblock https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13745 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13745
  - AndrewKemendo 8y ago
    Interesting. It's $180 for the module then $11/mo and $12 for 100 credits (5kb of data transfer). So to get up and running would be $312 a year for what would be at most a location beacon (6B per 24 digit location transfer). Not at all unreasonable for how much of an offline system this is.
    - sbr464 8y ago
      I agree. What’s interesting is that it’s compatible with most devices/libraries (arduino etc), compared to using a consumer level garmin device with sms/data functionality that requires a contract (to be affordable at least). Also, even though location info is typically the main feature, I believe it’s included automatically in the msg envelope (a kind of satellite caller id), which means you can use that more expensive bandwidth for your own requirement, while still getting the lat/lon metadata.

AndrewKemendo 8y ago

I love how he just causally has an Iridium satphone.

sbr464 8y ago
Iridium side note -- I was testing a RockBlock (rock7) recently. They are really easy to use, ~$200. Awesome that this stuff is getting more approachable. http://www.rock7mobile.com/products-rockblock http://www.rock7mobile.com/products-rockblock https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13745 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13745
- AndrewKemendo 8y ago
  Interesting. It's $180 for the module then $11/mo and $12 for 100 credits (5kb of data transfer). So to get up and running would be $312 a year for what would be at most a location beacon (6B per 24 digit location transfer). Not at all unreasonable for how much of an offline system this is.
  - sbr464 8y ago
    I agree. What’s interesting is that it’s compatible with most devices/libraries (arduino etc), compared to using a consumer level garmin device with sms/data functionality that requires a contract (to be affordable at least). Also, even though location info is typically the main feature, I believe it’s included automatically in the msg envelope (a kind of satellite caller id), which means you can use that more expensive bandwidth for your own requirement, while still getting the lat/lon metadata.