Hey c/technology,
I've been enamored by this idea of an internet that runs solely off of solar power. To my surprise, a project like this already exists. It's not exactly like I pictured it, and it leans off a lot of existing infrastructure, but it actually exists unlike my imagination. I'm not involved with this project in any way, I only found it recently and well, I think it looks pretty fucking cool.
Anyways, after seeing the discussion on the Mozilla post yesterday (https://hexbear.net/post/3606323), there seems to be a lot of real desire amoung users here for an alternative to the bloated cesspool known as the modern internet. A common thread I read was this desire to return a more text-based, less rich media focused content. Oh, and LESS ADS. The limitations of a solar web server not only encourage a focus on these but actually require it. An excerpt from the Solar Protocol Manifesto says it way better than I ever could:
"In response and by working within natural limitations, we have deliberately chosen not to use large assets nor energy-intensive tracking technologies on this website. A solar-powered web could reduce the opportunity for these kinds of surveillance and data-driven practices and the business models that go with them, something that is likely to have desirable political effects. As Timothy Mitchel points out in Carbon Democracy, different energy regimes create different political possibilities. "
Sounds tight to me. I didn't see any previous posts here so I figured I'd create this discussion to see what c\technology thinks. As for me, I'm pretty close to ordering a few panels myself and get my hands dirty using the blueprints from Solar Protocol. I think it looks fun as hell.
Anyways, enough of my rambling. What does c\technology think about this? Follow up question: would there be any desire to make a solar protocol-compatible Hexbear instance?
i've managed to create a facade i employ while networking, where i play the role of what the average "doer of this specific thing" is in the eyes of the average person. and at least for my industry, it works way too well, as if the entire concept is just a joke and only a vessel for patronage and nepotism.
covid broke me. i constantly am grappling with how many people have left us since 2020. how they should still be here. how many more we will lose. the rest of us that very well could suffer from a shorter, needlessly challenging life. all because a small group of selfish removed couldn't sacrifice a month or two in quarantine.
maybe they just didn't understand the risk. for someone not informed i could see them brushing it off. i'm not sure who to blame exactly. i dont understand enough about humanity and the world to say definitively. was it the high priests of capital? the social fascists that refused to cancel their fancy parties? what about the fundamentalists that believe covid is a sign of the impending end of the world and thus hastened it forward? or is it me, who after spending the last 3 years avoiding covid, got infected because i just had to go see that show?
outside of a miracle cure and effective treatment for long covid, i have a hard time seeing things improving for humanity in my lifetime. anyone who has foresight seems to be on the same page. all talking about it does seem to do is depress the people around me - even those i know who agree. society seems to be warping and distorting rapidly to the point where i believe the average human life could become completely and unrecognizably cruel within a generation or two.