5 ms·

Oh hello! This is my house! Thanks for posting! Previous discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42156977 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42

by kentonv 18d ago

Oh hello! This is my house! Thanks for posting! Previous discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42156977 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42156977 Unfortunately this new thread was posted while I was asleep, and so I haven't been online to answer questions as the thread developed. Whereas in the previous thread I participated from the start. Pro tip to anyone whose stuff gets posted on HN: It is a completely different place when the author is present. If you're present, then the people who are inclined to post cheap criticisms shy away, and the people who want to ask questions and learn show up. (Aside from the house, I've had my work at Cloudflare posted many times, and seen this pattern in those posts.)

NoDodgeQuestion 18d ago
The key is that the author is present, rather than people having different views on wealth over time?
- kentonv 18d ago
  Views on wealth haven't changed. The reactions to my first (much smaller) house in 2011 were very similar.
jmuguy 18d ago
I'm sorry so many people are hating on your house. I guess I could understand it if someone was showing off their yacht, because this isn't a boat owners forum, but a lan party house ought to be right up HN's alley. I think its awesome, and impressive yall have maintained friendships like that for so long. Some of my best memories are from the LAN parties of decades ago. Although some of the fun was in the amount of friction, like manually assigning IPs. Or when everyone got the code red worm as soon as they joined the network. Just being able to walk into something like this would literally have blown our minds back then.
- onionisafruit 18d ago
  If someone wants to post a lan party yacht, I’m here for that too
  - kentonv 18d ago
    Hmmmmm..... Just kidding. Gotta say I never understood the appeal of yachts. What does a yacht give you that a fancy house doesn't? It's on the water? So what? It's not like it goes fast enough to be a worthwhile form of transportation... I do totally get private jets. They are fancy, but also get you somewhere. LAN party jet? That'd be a cool way to pass a long flight. Hey guys let's LAN party to Tokyo! (I do not expect I'll ever have private jet money. Please don't eat me.)
    - bluGill 18d ago
      You can go swimming anytime you want to. They are slow, but you get to choose when you leave and where you go. Most yacht owners don't live on them full time. (they may have a paid crew that does) they take them for vacations. They are not really transportation even though they often will go to multiple close destinations.
      - kentonv 18d ago
        I just feel like, the whole point of travelling is to experience different environments. Isn't it more fun to stay in a different fancy hotel every time, than to be in your same old yacht you've been in many times before? I'm also confused about people who own many vacation houses. Why not just rent a different fancy house each time? Less expensive, less trouble, more variety, you can experience more places...
        bluGill 18d ago
        There are multiple ways to do things. If you are visiting a places for a short time you cannot go in depth of the full experience like you could if you stay longer - but by contrast if you spend a lot of time at one hotel you lose the ability to see all the other places you could have. There are more places to visit than I will have time to. Staying in your own yacht means that you have all the things arranged like you like it. You can't repaint your hotel room. You can't control how firm the bed is in your hotel room. Most hotels give you a choice of pillows - but you have to do something with the ones you don't like without taking them out of your room. Your yacht/house is never booked when you want to go - which can be a big deal. There is no reason someone with a yacht can't stay in a hotel. I suspect many with a yacht spend more nights in a hotel than all their houses/yachts combined.
sulam 18d ago
I’m interested in the long DisplayPort and USB cables. I’d love to get my very loud gaming PC away from my quiet office and these would be just the trick. Thanks for making me aware that this is an option! Now I have to decide where I would want the holes in my walls. Any gotchas or are these really able to be treated as super long cables that still work?
- ralferoo 18d ago
  I have a couple of 5M DisplayPort cables that I use to put my beefy work PC at one end of the room (and under a desk, between the wall on one side and stuff to the side of it on the other) while I sit at the other end of the room. I've also got a 5M USB3 active repeater with a 4-port hub for keyboard, mouse and the 2 monitors, and a game controller plugged into one of the monitors. I've been using it every working day for over 4 years now. Very occasionally one of the monitor glitches out for about 5 seconds (maybe happens about once every 2-3 months), and they both seem to take much longer to wake up from the lock screen, again in the order of 5 seconds. Other than that had no problems whatsoever, and definitely the sound is much reduced. I only hear it at all when the GPU is maxxed out, and it's not unbearable like it is when it's right next to you. 4 years ago, the cables were £9 each for 5M DP M-M and £10 for the 5M active USB3 cable, but it's pretty cheap for the quality of life improvement.
- kentonv 18d ago
  All the long cables are Monoprice.com "slim run" fiber optic cables. The HDMI pretty much just works. Even at 8k resolution. Note that last I checked, Monoprice's DisplayPort cables (as opposed to HDMI) only supported an older standard and they don't handle 8k. Most of my monitors are 4k though, and the DisplayPort cables work fine for that. USB can be finicky. Sometimes certain devices, or plugging and unplugging devices too much, can "crash" the USB cable, requiring a "reboot" by unplugging it and plugging it back in, from the computer end. But if you're just using a keyboard and mouse through it it's basically fine.
- hostyle 18d ago
  Look into KVM extenders. Beware though that there are two main types - standard KVM Extenders (which is more or less point to point - you can't connect these to an existing wired network) and IP KVM Extenders (which can run across an existing ethernet or fibre network). Its get complicated but getting those two confused at the outset can lead to a lot of unnecessary pain and expense.
cowthulhu 18d ago
I’m sorry your getting so much hate, this is a really cool and unique project.
mercanlIl 18d ago
Thank you for posting the other thread, it's much more interesting to read through. Your house is inspiring!
tristor 18d ago
Every time I see this posted, I am tempted to do something similar but then I remember all the friends I used to have for LAN parties have moved different places across the country, so it'd get used at most once a year (we still have a yearly New Years LAN party). I think this is an awesome project though and I give you props not only for doing it, but maintaining relationships to make it useful.
aurels 18d ago
[dead]
Eridanus2 18d ago
You rich. You give job. I clean.
rpdillon 18d ago
I can tell the world is getting squeezed. This has been posted to HN several times in the past 20 years, and it usually receives a great reception because of the hacker ethos involved, the love of lan parties, and the success in tech. It's just cool as hell. This is the first time it's been posted where most of the comments appear to be resentment that you could afford to do the project at all. Money isn't the point: some people have it and some people don't, and that can change over time. What's interesting is how you use the money. And in this case, designing a living space around hosting lan parties is a really interesting hack! I like the fold-away keyboard monitor setups especially. You didn't have to write about any of it, and yet you did, and you keep the post up, and it continues to be something interesting to discuss. So thank you!
- nancyminusone 18d ago
  Taken from another forum where such money is thrown around, the correct response is "congrats and fuck you". Not much point in argument beyond that.
- throwitaway222 18d ago
  I feel bad. I posted a negative comment (under a different user name) one of the other times this was posted. I was in a bad spot in my life - still am, but I'm getting better.
  - imthatsteve 17d ago
    Your only human (i think), it happens to all of us at least some of the time. If your willing to acknowledge and admit it then your already doing better than most. In addition to giving yourself a break we should all try to give others a break because you never really know what a stranger could be dealing with.
- ryandrake 18d ago
  > This is the first time it's been posted where most of the comments appear to be resentment that you could afford to do the project at all. Despite the negativity, I'm glad that we can at least talk about the topic of wealth and privilege on HN now, rather than comments pointing it out being flag/voted down into oblivion. I don't harbor any resentment about OP's home/project, but I can totally understand the resentment from others, especially in these times, and it at the very least deserves to be mentioned.
throwayay4929 18d ago
Awesome project! My buddies and I do quarterly lan parties to play Q3, unreal tournament, tribes, l4d2, and a bunch of others stuff we find. We also bbq and hike. It's a great way to keep friend groups going!
- throwitaway222 18d ago
  It's almost like they stopped making good games in the last 10 years.... looks around - nice games you're playing!
  - throwayay4929 18d ago
    Hahaha, yeah. It tells you about my age group for sure. But there are some new titles like RV Together that are pretty good too. We just don't have a ton of bandwidth to try new stuff too since it's usually 1 night every 2-4 months :-)
    - throwitaway222 18d ago
      Serious Sam might be a nice addition.
ropeadoge 18d ago
uh oh the baron is big mad you are a good person!
badc0ffee 18d ago
What games do you play? Are there multiple ones going on? It is crazy to me that you not only have that many friends free to visit at the same time, but also that they're all interested in PC gaming. All while having kids (or at least you do). I was at a LAN party a few months ago, but it was with a retro PC club more than a group of friends (altough I am friends with a couple of those guys). Someone setup Netware and had a dashboard connected to a big screen showing machines connected over IPX. Worked great for games like Doom II. But I can't imagine wanting to do that more than like, once a year. I'm more of a small group of friends + board games person.
- ilamont 17d ago
  It’s in the FAQ. Mostly cooperative, not winner takes all. Lots of genres.
tosti 18d ago
Looks pretty cool. I wonder why you kept all of the individual power adapters, instead of opting for neater rails with beefier and more efficient power supplies.
- kentonv 18d ago
  No good reason, I'm just not familiar with power rails, nor was my contractor.
  - tosti 15d ago
    That happens. The house does look beautiful. Thank you for sharing pics.
dabluecaboose 17d ago
Hi Kenton! Big fan of the build and the writeup. The "cat bathroom" and cat-walk has lived rent free in my head since I read this the first time, and I fully intend on replicating it if ever I'm lucky enough to build a home. Thanks for sharing this awesome project!
aktau 17d ago
Hi Kenton! One thing I'm wondering about (and was happy to see) is how you seem to have your (childhood) friends close by, at least on occasion. I live in Europe and am considering what a move somewhere else in Europe (+/- 1000km) would mean. Seeing much less of my long-time friends, I imagine. But Austin seems much further from the earlier places you've stated you've lived. Did some of your friends just move with you? Are they visiting often?
hn993302 17d ago
I just really like the folding cabinet setups.
jonathanlydall 17d ago
Thank you so much for sharing on a website, as someone who started LAN gaming in the 90's it was a real joy to read, especially with the FAQ. Regarding the lack of patch panel, while not ideal it probably isn't going to make any difference as the cables can probably survive being handled 100s or 1000s of times without any real chance of issues.

by kentonv 18d ago

NoDodgeQuestion 18d ago

The key is that the author is present, rather than people having different views on wealth over time?

kentonv 18d ago
Views on wealth haven't changed. The reactions to my first (much smaller) house in 2011 were very similar.

jmuguy 18d ago

I'm sorry so many people are hating on your house. I guess I could understand it if someone was showing off their yacht, because this isn't a boat owners forum, but a lan party house ought to be right up HN's alley. I think its awesome, and impressive yall have maintained friendships like that for so long. Some of my best memories are from the LAN parties of decades ago. Although some of the fun was in the amount of friction, like manually assigning IPs. Or when everyone got the code red worm as soon as they joined the network. Just being able to walk into something like this would literally have blown our minds back then.

onionisafruit 18d ago
If someone wants to post a lan party yacht, I’m here for that too
- kentonv 18d ago
  Hmmmmm..... Just kidding. Gotta say I never understood the appeal of yachts. What does a yacht give you that a fancy house doesn't? It's on the water? So what? It's not like it goes fast enough to be a worthwhile form of transportation... I do totally get private jets. They are fancy, but also get you somewhere. LAN party jet? That'd be a cool way to pass a long flight. Hey guys let's LAN party to Tokyo! (I do not expect I'll ever have private jet money. Please don't eat me.)
  - bluGill 18d ago
    You can go swimming anytime you want to. They are slow, but you get to choose when you leave and where you go. Most yacht owners don't live on them full time. (they may have a paid crew that does) they take them for vacations. They are not really transportation even though they often will go to multiple close destinations.
    - kentonv 18d ago
      I just feel like, the whole point of travelling is to experience different environments. Isn't it more fun to stay in a different fancy hotel every time, than to be in your same old yacht you've been in many times before? I'm also confused about people who own many vacation houses. Why not just rent a different fancy house each time? Less expensive, less trouble, more variety, you can experience more places...
      - bluGill 18d ago
        There are multiple ways to do things. If you are visiting a places for a short time you cannot go in depth of the full experience like you could if you stay longer - but by contrast if you spend a lot of time at one hotel you lose the ability to see all the other places you could have. There are more places to visit than I will have time to. Staying in your own yacht means that you have all the things arranged like you like it. You can't repaint your hotel room. You can't control how firm the bed is in your hotel room. Most hotels give you a choice of pillows - but you have to do something with the ones you don't like without taking them out of your room. Your yacht/house is never booked when you want to go - which can be a big deal. There is no reason someone with a yacht can't stay in a hotel. I suspect many with a yacht spend more nights in a hotel than all their houses/yachts combined.

sulam 18d ago

I’m interested in the long DisplayPort and USB cables. I’d love to get my very loud gaming PC away from my quiet office and these would be just the trick. Thanks for making me aware that this is an option! Now I have to decide where I would want the holes in my walls. Any gotchas or are these really able to be treated as super long cables that still work?

ralferoo 18d ago
I have a couple of 5M DisplayPort cables that I use to put my beefy work PC at one end of the room (and under a desk, between the wall on one side and stuff to the side of it on the other) while I sit at the other end of the room. I've also got a 5M USB3 active repeater with a 4-port hub for keyboard, mouse and the 2 monitors, and a game controller plugged into one of the monitors. I've been using it every working day for over 4 years now. Very occasionally one of the monitor glitches out for about 5 seconds (maybe happens about once every 2-3 months), and they both seem to take much longer to wake up from the lock screen, again in the order of 5 seconds. Other than that had no problems whatsoever, and definitely the sound is much reduced. I only hear it at all when the GPU is maxxed out, and it's not unbearable like it is when it's right next to you. 4 years ago, the cables were £9 each for 5M DP M-M and £10 for the 5M active USB3 cable, but it's pretty cheap for the quality of life improvement.
kentonv 18d ago
All the long cables are Monoprice.com "slim run" fiber optic cables. The HDMI pretty much just works. Even at 8k resolution. Note that last I checked, Monoprice's DisplayPort cables (as opposed to HDMI) only supported an older standard and they don't handle 8k. Most of my monitors are 4k though, and the DisplayPort cables work fine for that. USB can be finicky. Sometimes certain devices, or plugging and unplugging devices too much, can "crash" the USB cable, requiring a "reboot" by unplugging it and plugging it back in, from the computer end. But if you're just using a keyboard and mouse through it it's basically fine.
hostyle 18d ago
Look into KVM extenders. Beware though that there are two main types - standard KVM Extenders (which is more or less point to point - you can't connect these to an existing wired network) and IP KVM Extenders (which can run across an existing ethernet or fibre network). Its get complicated but getting those two confused at the outset can lead to a lot of unnecessary pain and expense.

cowthulhu 18d ago

I’m sorry your getting so much hate, this is a really cool and unique project.

mercanlIl 18d ago

Thank you for posting the other thread, it's much more interesting to read through. Your house is inspiring!

tristor 18d ago

Every time I see this posted, I am tempted to do something similar but then I remember all the friends I used to have for LAN parties have moved different places across the country, so it'd get used at most once a year (we still have a yearly New Years LAN party). I think this is an awesome project though and I give you props not only for doing it, but maintaining relationships to make it useful.

aurels 18d ago

[dead]

Eridanus2 18d ago

You rich. You give job. I clean.

rpdillon 18d ago

I can tell the world is getting squeezed. This has been posted to HN several times in the past 20 years, and it usually receives a great reception because of the hacker ethos involved, the love of lan parties, and the success in tech. It's just cool as hell. This is the first time it's been posted where most of the comments appear to be resentment that you could afford to do the project at all. Money isn't the point: some people have it and some people don't, and that can change over time. What's interesting is how you use the money. And in this case, designing a living space around hosting lan parties is a really interesting hack! I like the fold-away keyboard monitor setups especially. You didn't have to write about any of it, and yet you did, and you keep the post up, and it continues to be something interesting to discuss. So thank you!

nancyminusone 18d ago
Taken from another forum where such money is thrown around, the correct response is "congrats and fuck you". Not much point in argument beyond that.
throwitaway222 18d ago
I feel bad. I posted a negative comment (under a different user name) one of the other times this was posted. I was in a bad spot in my life - still am, but I'm getting better.
- imthatsteve 17d ago
  Your only human (i think), it happens to all of us at least some of the time. If your willing to acknowledge and admit it then your already doing better than most. In addition to giving yourself a break we should all try to give others a break because you never really know what a stranger could be dealing with.
ryandrake 18d ago
> This is the first time it's been posted where most of the comments appear to be resentment that you could afford to do the project at all. Despite the negativity, I'm glad that we can at least talk about the topic of wealth and privilege on HN now, rather than comments pointing it out being flag/voted down into oblivion. I don't harbor any resentment about OP's home/project, but I can totally understand the resentment from others, especially in these times, and it at the very least deserves to be mentioned.

throwayay4929 18d ago

Awesome project! My buddies and I do quarterly lan parties to play Q3, unreal tournament, tribes, l4d2, and a bunch of others stuff we find. We also bbq and hike. It's a great way to keep friend groups going!

throwitaway222 18d ago
It's almost like they stopped making good games in the last 10 years.... looks around - nice games you're playing!
- throwayay4929 18d ago
  Hahaha, yeah. It tells you about my age group for sure. But there are some new titles like RV Together that are pretty good too. We just don't have a ton of bandwidth to try new stuff too since it's usually 1 night every 2-4 months :-)
  - throwitaway222 18d ago
    Serious Sam might be a nice addition.

ropeadoge 18d ago

uh oh the baron is big mad you are a good person!

badc0ffee 18d ago

What games do you play? Are there multiple ones going on? It is crazy to me that you not only have that many friends free to visit at the same time, but also that they're all interested in PC gaming. All while having kids (or at least you do). I was at a LAN party a few months ago, but it was with a retro PC club more than a group of friends (altough I am friends with a couple of those guys). Someone setup Netware and had a dashboard connected to a big screen showing machines connected over IPX. Worked great for games like Doom II. But I can't imagine wanting to do that more than like, once a year. I'm more of a small group of friends + board games person.

ilamont 17d ago
It’s in the FAQ. Mostly cooperative, not winner takes all. Lots of genres.

tosti 18d ago

Looks pretty cool. I wonder why you kept all of the individual power adapters, instead of opting for neater rails with beefier and more efficient power supplies.

kentonv 18d ago
No good reason, I'm just not familiar with power rails, nor was my contractor.
- tosti 15d ago
  That happens. The house does look beautiful. Thank you for sharing pics.

dabluecaboose 17d ago

Hi Kenton! Big fan of the build and the writeup. The "cat bathroom" and cat-walk has lived rent free in my head since I read this the first time, and I fully intend on replicating it if ever I'm lucky enough to build a home. Thanks for sharing this awesome project!

aktau 17d ago

Hi Kenton! One thing I'm wondering about (and was happy to see) is how you seem to have your (childhood) friends close by, at least on occasion. I live in Europe and am considering what a move somewhere else in Europe (+/- 1000km) would mean. Seeing much less of my long-time friends, I imagine. But Austin seems much further from the earlier places you've stated you've lived. Did some of your friends just move with you? Are they visiting often?

hn993302 17d ago

I just really like the folding cabinet setups.

jonathanlydall 17d ago

Thank you so much for sharing on a website, as someone who started LAN gaming in the 90's it was a real joy to read, especially with the FAQ. Regarding the lack of patch panel, while not ideal it probably isn't going to make any difference as the cables can probably survive being handled 100s or 1000s of times without any real chance of issues.