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Something similar is being outfitted in Portland, ME. http://www.pressherald.com/news/Clues_emerging_about_mystery_structure_on_barge_in_harbor_.html?searchter

Something similar is being outfitted in Portland, ME. http://www.pressherald.com/news/Clues_emerging_about_mystery_structure_on_barge_in_harbor_.html?searchterm=barge http://www.pressherald.com/news/Clues_emerging_about_mystery... The OP is a much better article (The Press Herald is garbage). My original guess for the barge-building in Portland was a ocean-based prison facility for the government to use for interrogations. But it's seeming like the floating data center idea is much more likely.

mjolk 13y ago
This is somewhat of a tangent, but how is the tech scene in Portland, ME? It's my hometown and I've had thoughts at various times about returning and setting up shop.
- numbsafari 13y ago
  It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to raise capital and build a startup here, don't. Or, at least, do so but with your "real" headquarters in Boston, NY or CA. There's a strong effort to try and get things going, but there's a definite lack of capital and the capital you can find in other places will send you a consistent message: "We don't want you in Maine, move here instead." There are some opportunities around maritime businesses (logistics, mostly) and lots of incentives for trying to build small manufacturing and renewable energy businesses... but the school closest to Portland is looking to close its physics department and the state officials responsible for managing the incentive programs have proven multiple times that they cannot be trusted to develop long-term programs. If you have or can develop a remote-work type position, it's a great place to live and work from (as long as you can get good, reliable bandwidth). But if you want to start a software-focused startup ... honestly ... it's an uphill battle.
  - mjolk 13y ago
    For reference: I spent the first 20 years of my life in Maine. >If you want to raise capital and build a startup here, don't. Or, at least, do so but with your "real" headquarters in Boston, NY or CA. Ah, yeah. I'm in NYC now. I figured that if I started something in Maine, I'd be on the Noreaster on a semi-regular basis. I wouldn't be looking for an angel investor and would be bootstrapping instead. >but the school closest to Portland is looking to close its physics department Physics isn't Comp Sci, but I get your point. USM was my first school before transferring, so ouch. >If you have or can develop a remote-work type position, it's a great place to live and work from (as long as you can get good, reliable bandwidth). That's sort of what I'm thinking for at least a few years. I'd be looking to buy a place on the West End and then start my own shop when it's reasonably paid down (3-5 years). >But if you want to start a software-focused startup ... honestly ... it's an uphill battle. Thank you for the thoughtful response. It definitely helped me put some things back into perspective.
- justinsteele 13y ago
  The "scene" is cool. There are local meetups, some small, some mid sized. Monktoberfest just drew quite the crowd. As the other commenter said, there ain't much for investment though, and the companies are a mix of web boutiques, large companies (Unum, Idexx, etc), and a startup here or there. I work remotely, which gives me the benefits of being in Portland while making a NYC salary, but even when I was working for a Portland firm I was still making a good wage.
  - noise 13y ago
    +1, I've been working remotely from Portland for 11 years now, great place to live but tech jobs are scarce vs. Boston, NYC, SF.
    - mjolk 13y ago
      Are you a remote-worker as well? My concern would be that my company in NYC would decide to let me go remote, then change its mind due later about telecommuting and it would put me in a rough spot.
  - mjolk 13y ago
    >I work remotely, which gives me the benefits of being in Portland while making a NYC salary, but even when I was working for a Portland firm I was still making a good wage. I'd be looking to do something similar actually (I'm in NYC too). What kind of work is it predominantly? You mentioned web boutiques and that's sort of what I was expecting.
- mosburger 13y ago
  Adding onto justinsteele and numbsafari ... I've been working remotely since 2007 because there aren't a ton of jobs up here except for large-shop Java and .net work, and that really wasn't for me. It's kinda surprising how many people live in Portland and work remotely, and it seems like I keep discovering more all the time. But as far as startups go, I think numbsafari nailed it. I worked for a smallish company back in the mid-2000s, and it's likely that things have changed, but back then the tech-related investors wanted you to move to Boston, and the local investors didn't really grasp how to value software - they were more interested in how many forklifts you had as collateral. :-/ But I do get the sense that things have improved a bit since then.
  - mjolk 13y ago
    >It's kinda surprising how many people live in Portland and work remotely, and it seems like I keep discovering more all the time. That's what I'd be doing at first. It's such a nice city, but business just can't seem to stick. >I worked for a smallish company back in the mid-2000s, and it's likely that things have changed, but back then the tech-related investors wanted you to move to Boston Ha! My first job was at GWI.net. I didn't realize how lowly paid Maine tech was until I moved.
skorgu 13y ago
The layout is startlingly similar, down to the windows and the angled (entrance?) ramp. No stairwell visible on the ME one though. Fascinating.
jlgreco 13y ago
> My original guess for the barge-building in Portland was a ocean-based prison facility for the government to use for interrogations. Not a bad guess at all, since it really does look like a modern prison ship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vernon_C_Bain_Correctional_Center.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vernon_C_Bain_Correctional...
apaprocki 13y ago
Can someone in Portland check the ship #? The article photo shows that BAL0001 and BAL0010 are in SF. I'm guessing the Portland one is either BAL0011 or BAL0100.
- mbillie1 13y ago
  I live in Portland, I'll see if I can spot it tonight...
- smoyer 13y ago
  From the vessel listings above, I'd guess it will be BAL0011.
- llimllib 13y ago
  http://www.pressherald.com/news/Myserty_Portland_barge_and_San_Francisco_barge_appear_linked_.html?pagenum=full http://www.pressherald.com/news/Myserty_Portland_barge_and_S... is a more detailed Press Herald article, it says it's BAL 0011.
X4 13y ago
Hmm, what if both are right? It could be a floating prison, filled with a giant data-center! The NSA+Google tie could mean that they both needed an interrogation free zone, one for torture, the other for stealing data. Both would benefit form letting prisoners generate the energy. They could even argue, that it's good for health to breath sea air and do regular "workout". Then they could offer the unused crunching power as an OSaaS – Overseas Sofware as a Service that is similar to AWS and Amazon Mechanical Turk. Aside from that, isn't it illegal to systematically heat the water of the ocean with hot waste water?? Can't something be done against that? Why are such prison ships even allowed to be built from tax-money, isn't it illegal?
lostlogin 13y ago
Does interrogations mean torture? If so, they seem to do just fine with the facilities they have, so why make a floating prison?

mjolk 13y ago

This is somewhat of a tangent, but how is the tech scene in Portland, ME? It's my hometown and I've had thoughts at various times about returning and setting up shop.

numbsafari 13y ago
It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to raise capital and build a startup here, don't. Or, at least, do so but with your "real" headquarters in Boston, NY or CA. There's a strong effort to try and get things going, but there's a definite lack of capital and the capital you can find in other places will send you a consistent message: "We don't want you in Maine, move here instead." There are some opportunities around maritime businesses (logistics, mostly) and lots of incentives for trying to build small manufacturing and renewable energy businesses... but the school closest to Portland is looking to close its physics department and the state officials responsible for managing the incentive programs have proven multiple times that they cannot be trusted to develop long-term programs. If you have or can develop a remote-work type position, it's a great place to live and work from (as long as you can get good, reliable bandwidth). But if you want to start a software-focused startup ... honestly ... it's an uphill battle.
- mjolk 13y ago
  For reference: I spent the first 20 years of my life in Maine. >If you want to raise capital and build a startup here, don't. Or, at least, do so but with your "real" headquarters in Boston, NY or CA. Ah, yeah. I'm in NYC now. I figured that if I started something in Maine, I'd be on the Noreaster on a semi-regular basis. I wouldn't be looking for an angel investor and would be bootstrapping instead. >but the school closest to Portland is looking to close its physics department Physics isn't Comp Sci, but I get your point. USM was my first school before transferring, so ouch. >If you have or can develop a remote-work type position, it's a great place to live and work from (as long as you can get good, reliable bandwidth). That's sort of what I'm thinking for at least a few years. I'd be looking to buy a place on the West End and then start my own shop when it's reasonably paid down (3-5 years). >But if you want to start a software-focused startup ... honestly ... it's an uphill battle. Thank you for the thoughtful response. It definitely helped me put some things back into perspective.
justinsteele 13y ago
The "scene" is cool. There are local meetups, some small, some mid sized. Monktoberfest just drew quite the crowd. As the other commenter said, there ain't much for investment though, and the companies are a mix of web boutiques, large companies (Unum, Idexx, etc), and a startup here or there. I work remotely, which gives me the benefits of being in Portland while making a NYC salary, but even when I was working for a Portland firm I was still making a good wage.
- noise 13y ago
  +1, I've been working remotely from Portland for 11 years now, great place to live but tech jobs are scarce vs. Boston, NYC, SF.
  - mjolk 13y ago
    Are you a remote-worker as well? My concern would be that my company in NYC would decide to let me go remote, then change its mind due later about telecommuting and it would put me in a rough spot.
- mjolk 13y ago
  >I work remotely, which gives me the benefits of being in Portland while making a NYC salary, but even when I was working for a Portland firm I was still making a good wage. I'd be looking to do something similar actually (I'm in NYC too). What kind of work is it predominantly? You mentioned web boutiques and that's sort of what I was expecting.
mosburger 13y ago
Adding onto justinsteele and numbsafari ... I've been working remotely since 2007 because there aren't a ton of jobs up here except for large-shop Java and .net work, and that really wasn't for me. It's kinda surprising how many people live in Portland and work remotely, and it seems like I keep discovering more all the time. But as far as startups go, I think numbsafari nailed it. I worked for a smallish company back in the mid-2000s, and it's likely that things have changed, but back then the tech-related investors wanted you to move to Boston, and the local investors didn't really grasp how to value software - they were more interested in how many forklifts you had as collateral. :-/ But I do get the sense that things have improved a bit since then.
- mjolk 13y ago
  >It's kinda surprising how many people live in Portland and work remotely, and it seems like I keep discovering more all the time. That's what I'd be doing at first. It's such a nice city, but business just can't seem to stick. >I worked for a smallish company back in the mid-2000s, and it's likely that things have changed, but back then the tech-related investors wanted you to move to Boston Ha! My first job was at GWI.net. I didn't realize how lowly paid Maine tech was until I moved.

skorgu 13y ago

The layout is startlingly similar, down to the windows and the angled (entrance?) ramp. No stairwell visible on the ME one though. Fascinating.

jlgreco 13y ago

> My original guess for the barge-building in Portland was a ocean-based prison facility for the government to use for interrogations. Not a bad guess at all, since it really does look like a modern prison ship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vernon_C_Bain_Correctional_Center.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vernon_C_Bain_Correctional...

apaprocki 13y ago

Can someone in Portland check the ship #? The article photo shows that BAL0001 and BAL0010 are in SF. I'm guessing the Portland one is either BAL0011 or BAL0100.

mbillie1 13y ago
I live in Portland, I'll see if I can spot it tonight...
smoyer 13y ago
From the vessel listings above, I'd guess it will be BAL0011.
llimllib 13y ago
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Myserty_Portland_barge_and_San_Francisco_barge_appear_linked_.html?pagenum=full http://www.pressherald.com/news/Myserty_Portland_barge_and_S... is a more detailed Press Herald article, it says it's BAL 0011.

X4 13y ago

Hmm, what if both are right? It could be a floating prison, filled with a giant data-center! The NSA+Google tie could mean that they both needed an interrogation free zone, one for torture, the other for stealing data. Both would benefit form letting prisoners generate the energy. They could even argue, that it's good for health to breath sea air and do regular "workout". Then they could offer the unused crunching power as an OSaaS – Overseas Sofware as a Service that is similar to AWS and Amazon Mechanical Turk. Aside from that, isn't it illegal to systematically heat the water of the ocean with hot waste water?? Can't something be done against that? Why are such prison ships even allowed to be built from tax-money, isn't it illegal?

lostlogin 13y ago

Does interrogations mean torture? If so, they seem to do just fine with the facilities they have, so why make a floating prison?