4 ms·

Could you imagine a HN island? I'm simultaneously stimulated and terrified.

pasbesoin 15y ago
If I ever strike it big, I'm buying Vancouver Island. (1) If anyone there wants to hire a Yank, I'll settle for living there (I already bleed syrup). ---- (1) If I get into Bill Gates territory, maybe New Zealand. ;-)
- mahyarm 15y ago
  With Suburban houses easily approaching 600'000-1million each on Vancouver Island, good luck! You'll just be getting started at 300 billion to buy people's houses.
  - pasbesoin 15y ago
    So, Vancouver prices are bleeding over the Strait. Or rather, all the retirees have bid the prices up. I'll settle for working there. Though it sounds like I'd be living in a hovel. Ah, well...
- sp332 15y ago
  Here's my dream island: Niue https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Niue https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Niue (pronounced "new way"). Beautiful, warm, covered in free wifi, self-governing but technically part of the UK. Economically they're in rough shape, but since the government is serious about improving their self-sufficiency, there are opportunities everywhere. They are specifically focusing on "private sector growth, social development and skills training." http://www.aid.govt.nz/programmes/c-niue.html http://www.aid.govt.nz/programmes/c-niue.html Seriously, it sounds like tech entrepreneurs' paradise. And it's technically part of New Zealand!
  - pasbesoin 15y ago
    I've actually heard of it (just), probably due to a friend having recently moved to French Polynesia. Caused me to spend some time looking at "the neighborhood" on Google maps. I wonder whether they are affected by that "three strikes" nonsense currently afflicting NZ. Not that I'm prone to hoist the flag, but dealing with an quasi-arbitrary right (or lack thereof) to connectivity would be a hindrance. Which also reminds me, connectivity to my friend's island is kind of lackluster and expensive. Guess I need to look at your links in more detail.
  - davidw 15y ago
    I had a friend who visited some south pacific islands, and he was quite impressed by the isolation. While this one sounds fairly 'advanced', you're still somewhere that's physically a long way from anywhere. And yeah... free wifi, but where's that go? Back to NZ and then to the rest of the world? That can't be fast or high bandwidth. Sounds like it would be a fantastic place to spend some time, but it could get old.
    - kaybe 15y ago
      I was to Fiji, and some of the islands had internet. One of them had a satellite connection, and apparently it was good enough for Skyping (I talked to someone having their job interview with a company in Singapore, it seemed to work great) - so there's your solution. They also put a cell phone tower on the highest island so most places actually have mobile signal. (About three mobiles per village, but hey!) The only problem is electricity, no power grid. They use generators, for a few hours in the evening. What islands did your friend go to?
- mdda 15y ago
  An interesting thought experiment is to do a rough-and-ready valuation on real-estate in your area : and see how much (say) Bill Gates could buy. For instance, $60Bn doesn't buy very much of Manhattan. It's rather disappointing really.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- spitfire 15y ago
  It's nice hear, but it has its drawbacks. Victoria is as intellectually dead as you can possibly get. Plus it has aging, moneyed entitled boomers. A lethal mix. As they say, Victoria for the newly wed and nearly dead! Upisland has loggers, retirees and drunks (duncan). Just saying, if you come here know what you're getting into. Comox valley is nice, and is starting to attract smart young families. One of the best developers I've ever met moved his family there to get away from the cost of Victoria. Just try affording housing! Plus we have students squeezing you on the low end.
  - pasbesoin 15y ago
    Ah, well. It made for some pretty pictures, and a friend introduced me to the best cafes. But your description is more in line with his -- it's been a few years, and if anything, it sounds like those conditions have gotten worse. I didn't know much about upisland, except some comments that parts of Nanaimo could get a bit rough. I'm not much in need of a social scene, these days, but your description sounds a bit past what I'd be looking for. I did have a half-joking offer of a job on Gabriola, managing a small tech installation. It would have been a big step down in pay and responsibilities, but the food and scenery would have been great. I guess I never got that out of my head. Thanks, again, for the description. I'll probably never make it up there, workwise, but a bit of information can't help but better inform my daydreams.
    - spitfire 15y ago
      "rough" by victorian standards. Which is a city where you can walk down the roughest streets in the roughest neighbourhoods in a short miniskirt without a worry in the world. Coming from any american city you'd feel quite safe in Naniamo. The situation with the retirees/money has gotten acutely worse in recent years. They've absolutely bid up real estate recently. I won't shed a tear when their retirement accounts blow up. Rent is about %50 higher in SF, but everything else is much more expensive here. Factor in the 30% "island tax" into all prices - groceries, computer parts, bikes, etc. Then factor that tech salaries are depressed here (You won't find anyone who'll pay $100K, let alone understand why they should). http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Canada&country2=United+States&city1=Victoria&city2=San+Francisco%2C+CA http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?coun...
ThaddeusQuay2 15y ago
Introducing: HN Island, v2.0, now with Karma Camps.
jeffreymcmanus 15y ago
Would give new meaning to the term "voted off the island"
- corin_ 15y ago
  "Morning guys!" "Well that greeting didn't add much to the conversation, why don't you fuck off back to Reddit?" Might have to change the rules a little when offline.
  - inportb 15y ago
    Might also have to consider the additional cost of transportation to Reddit Island.
- brain5ide 15y ago
  Nah, the meaning would remain the same. A bunch of weirdos hanging out in an island vote someone out. Probably because he gained too much power in their eyes. Kinda like Socrates being voted out of Athens.
davedx 15y ago
A bunch of nerds on Macbook Pros writing Node.js projects on Github. Scary? Not exactly...
maneesh 15y ago
I'm trying to do a little "island" of this sort in January in Medellin, Colombia. I'm renting a penthouse huge several floor apartment, with jacuzzi, gym, etc, and opening it to digital nomads who work online and want to do business during the day. During the night we'll be renting a club, and throw electronic music parties, bring in DJs and DJ it ourselves. If anyone is interested in living there, let me know :) City of eternal spring (perfect weather), incredibly beautiful people, what's not to love :) Round trip airfare runs about $500, and rent will likely be $5-600/mo :)
- acabal 15y ago
  I'll probably be in Colombia around then, message sent!

If I ever strike it big, I'm buying Vancouver Island. (1) If anyone there wants to hire a Yank, I'll settle for living there (I already bleed syrup). ---- (1) If I get into Bill Gates territory, maybe New Zealand. ;-)

mahyarm 15y ago
With Suburban houses easily approaching 600'000-1million each on Vancouver Island, good luck! You'll just be getting started at 300 billion to buy people's houses.
- pasbesoin 15y ago
  So, Vancouver prices are bleeding over the Strait. Or rather, all the retirees have bid the prices up. I'll settle for working there. Though it sounds like I'd be living in a hovel. Ah, well...
sp332 15y ago
Here's my dream island: Niue https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Niue https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Niue (pronounced "new way"). Beautiful, warm, covered in free wifi, self-governing but technically part of the UK. Economically they're in rough shape, but since the government is serious about improving their self-sufficiency, there are opportunities everywhere. They are specifically focusing on "private sector growth, social development and skills training." http://www.aid.govt.nz/programmes/c-niue.html http://www.aid.govt.nz/programmes/c-niue.html Seriously, it sounds like tech entrepreneurs' paradise. And it's technically part of New Zealand!
- pasbesoin 15y ago
  I've actually heard of it (just), probably due to a friend having recently moved to French Polynesia. Caused me to spend some time looking at "the neighborhood" on Google maps. I wonder whether they are affected by that "three strikes" nonsense currently afflicting NZ. Not that I'm prone to hoist the flag, but dealing with an quasi-arbitrary right (or lack thereof) to connectivity would be a hindrance. Which also reminds me, connectivity to my friend's island is kind of lackluster and expensive. Guess I need to look at your links in more detail.
- davidw 15y ago
  I had a friend who visited some south pacific islands, and he was quite impressed by the isolation. While this one sounds fairly 'advanced', you're still somewhere that's physically a long way from anywhere. And yeah... free wifi, but where's that go? Back to NZ and then to the rest of the world? That can't be fast or high bandwidth. Sounds like it would be a fantastic place to spend some time, but it could get old.
  - kaybe 15y ago
    I was to Fiji, and some of the islands had internet. One of them had a satellite connection, and apparently it was good enough for Skyping (I talked to someone having their job interview with a company in Singapore, it seemed to work great) - so there's your solution. They also put a cell phone tower on the highest island so most places actually have mobile signal. (About three mobiles per village, but hey!) The only problem is electricity, no power grid. They use generators, for a few hours in the evening. What islands did your friend go to?
mdda 15y ago
An interesting thought experiment is to do a rough-and-ready valuation on real-estate in your area : and see how much (say) Bill Gates could buy. For instance, $60Bn doesn't buy very much of Manhattan. It's rather disappointing really.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
spitfire 15y ago
It's nice hear, but it has its drawbacks. Victoria is as intellectually dead as you can possibly get. Plus it has aging, moneyed entitled boomers. A lethal mix. As they say, Victoria for the newly wed and nearly dead! Upisland has loggers, retirees and drunks (duncan). Just saying, if you come here know what you're getting into. Comox valley is nice, and is starting to attract smart young families. One of the best developers I've ever met moved his family there to get away from the cost of Victoria. Just try affording housing! Plus we have students squeezing you on the low end.
- pasbesoin 15y ago
  Ah, well. It made for some pretty pictures, and a friend introduced me to the best cafes. But your description is more in line with his -- it's been a few years, and if anything, it sounds like those conditions have gotten worse. I didn't know much about upisland, except some comments that parts of Nanaimo could get a bit rough. I'm not much in need of a social scene, these days, but your description sounds a bit past what I'd be looking for. I did have a half-joking offer of a job on Gabriola, managing a small tech installation. It would have been a big step down in pay and responsibilities, but the food and scenery would have been great. I guess I never got that out of my head. Thanks, again, for the description. I'll probably never make it up there, workwise, but a bit of information can't help but better inform my daydreams.
  - spitfire 15y ago
    "rough" by victorian standards. Which is a city where you can walk down the roughest streets in the roughest neighbourhoods in a short miniskirt without a worry in the world. Coming from any american city you'd feel quite safe in Naniamo. The situation with the retirees/money has gotten acutely worse in recent years. They've absolutely bid up real estate recently. I won't shed a tear when their retirement accounts blow up. Rent is about %50 higher in SF, but everything else is much more expensive here. Factor in the 30% "island tax" into all prices - groceries, computer parts, bikes, etc. Then factor that tech salaries are depressed here (You won't find anyone who'll pay $100K, let alone understand why they should). http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Canada&country2=United+States&city1=Victoria&city2=San+Francisco%2C+CA http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?coun...

ThaddeusQuay2 15y ago

Introducing: HN Island, v2.0, now with Karma Camps.

jeffreymcmanus 15y ago

Would give new meaning to the term "voted off the island"

corin_ 15y ago
"Morning guys!" "Well that greeting didn't add much to the conversation, why don't you fuck off back to Reddit?" Might have to change the rules a little when offline.
- inportb 15y ago
  Might also have to consider the additional cost of transportation to Reddit Island.
brain5ide 15y ago
Nah, the meaning would remain the same. A bunch of weirdos hanging out in an island vote someone out. Probably because he gained too much power in their eyes. Kinda like Socrates being voted out of Athens.

davedx 15y ago

A bunch of nerds on Macbook Pros writing Node.js projects on Github. Scary? Not exactly...

maneesh 15y ago

I'm trying to do a little "island" of this sort in January in Medellin, Colombia. I'm renting a penthouse huge several floor apartment, with jacuzzi, gym, etc, and opening it to digital nomads who work online and want to do business during the day. During the night we'll be renting a club, and throw electronic music parties, bring in DJs and DJ it ourselves. If anyone is interested in living there, let me know :) City of eternal spring (perfect weather), incredibly beautiful people, what's not to love :) Round trip airfare runs about $500, and rent will likely be $5-600/mo :)

acabal 15y ago
I'll probably be in Colombia around then, message sent!