What TI stuff would you take to an INTERNET FREE zone?

[Omega-TI]

Okay, here is the scenario.  You have to go to a place where there is no Internet.  You'll be spending a month there.  You can only take one laptop with you.

What TI stuff would you put on your laptop to keep you occupied in your 'down time'.

 

Feel free to include links where people can get the stuff.

[Omega-TI]

Just to start it off, I would definitely include << CLASSIC 99 >>

 

[RickyDean]

58 minutes ago, --- Ω --- said:

Just to start it off, I would definitely include << CLASSIC 99 >>

 

When I go home from the office, I am always in a internet free zone, and until I get my hardware issue dealt with (slow as I have  a lot of other things going on), I I use both windows PC and Mac's to run Mame and Classic99 and Win994a.

[wierd_w]

I would take my SSD equipped MyCloud NAS and a hacked wifi router with me, personally.

 

I can bring a lot of loot with me for very little space. The MyCloud is about the size of a fat book, and with a sata ssd inside it, you can bang it up what good in transit and be fine. I have mine hacked 7 ways to sunday, so it does all kinds of fun things (Including running a plex server). 

 

I could bring several whole game libraries for several systems, not just the TI, with me that way. Pack a bluetooth gamepad, and maybe an HDMI cable.

[+OLD CS1]

Nothing.  I like down-time, and I infer additionally from your scenario that I would be going somewhere with female companionship.

[Omega-TI]

If you take female companionship with you, would that not be "up time"?

[matthew180]

It depends on what is happening during the month at said location.  If this is a vacation, I would tend to not try to bring much tech or any kind, since every time I have in the past, I never really pull anything out or use/read whatever I brought.  Vacations are supposed to be time off, not packed full of activity; go outside, do some fun things you would not typically do, etc.

 

If this is a personal and/or somewhat private retreat or some such thing, where there is literally no other options for things to do (thinking Antarctica , or being on a working ship milling around the ocean for weeks on end, or on an oil-rig without having an actual 12-hour shift, or some other contrived situation like that), then I would cram a laptop full of documentation, datasheets, tools, software, etc. and take a nice FPGA devboard, a few microcontrollers, etc..  A notebook would be good too, and I would have a plan for something I was going to achieve during the time.  Having lots of uninterrupted time is good for doing a deep dive on a subject and really wrapping your head around something, or learn something new.

[Mehridian Sanders]

I would take my SSD equipped MyCloud NAS and a hacked wifi router with me, personally.
 
I can bring a lot of loot with me for very little space. The MyCloud is about the size of a fat book, and with a sata ssd inside it, you can bang it up what good in transit and be fine. I have mine hacked 7 ways to sunday, so it does all kinds of fun things (Including running a plex server). 
 
I could bring several whole game libraries for several systems, not just the TI, with me that way. Pack a bluetooth gamepad, and maybe an HDMI cable.

2 years ago I built my pc with a small 32g optane m.2. Boots so fast... mmm. That's what got me on the Solid State kick. Been looking for more and more solid state since.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[+Ksarul]

When I go into offline mode, I tend to drop completely out of the electronic universe. That gives me time to slow down and enjoy the world around me. . .

[Omega-TI]

I like the idea of taking a router with you, even if it will not connect to the Internet.  Actually, it's made me curious if there are cheap, specialized, non Internet LAN-only WiFi routers available.  There's a bunch of senior citizens I have coffee with on a regular basis that could benefit from such an item.

[wierd_w]

5 minutes ago, --- Ω --- said:

I like the idea of taking a router with you, even if it will not connect to the Internet.  Actually, it's made me curious if there are cheap, specialized, non Internet LAN-only WiFi routers available.  There's a bunch of senior citizens I have coffee with on a regular basis that could benefit from such an item.

 

OpenWRT enabled routers do not care if they have something plugged into the LAN port or not.  (or at least, can be configured not to care.)  For an ultraportable one, consider a hacked zsun sdcard reader.  For my use case though, I need wired ethernet ports, which that little pocket-size toy does not provide, sadly.  However, the "Travel Modems" do. The zsun is much more powerful though, with a lot more flash space, and a built in mass storage device (microSD slot).

 

The hacked NAS runs a 3.6 flavor linux kernel, and a full chroot can be run on it with any linux daemon you can find that supports ARM, being possible.  The possibilities there are practically endless. This is especially true if you are going to be in this offline locality with several other tech-head friends.  One could run pvpgn for instance, and pretend to be battle.net for a hosted ladder play event on a variety of retro blizzard titles. This in addition to running a plex server for those couch-potato moments, and just hosting a bunch of usefully fun items, like all those disc image files or GoG installers that you dont want to keep on your laptop's SSD, but might install while on the trip but delete again later. 

 

Seriously, for just a tiny bit of space in the bag, you can pack a lot of entertainment in by bringing such a thing.

[Omega-TI]

I'll look into this more after work.  Thanks.

Before I mention anything to these guys it has to be cheap and easy to use.  I don't want to be their full-time on-call tech support, because I'm rapidly becoming like them.

[wierd_w]

I spend too much time with the elderly. I get shoehorned into fixing tech gadgets for them almost weekly.

 

(After deciding to leave Tech as an occupation for mental health and stress reasons, I took a huge pay cut and started working much closer to home (as in, within 4 blocks) at the local nursing home as a CNA. It's one of the reasons why I have difficulty scheduling extended leave from work; Old people don't take vacations from being old, and needing 24/7--365 care.)

 

I have often wondered why our facility does not run a PLEX server though;  The place has several large storage bins FULL of old VHS cassettes just burning to be digitized then put away in storage.  Format shifting is a legal practice, and the PLEX server is not for outside streaming; The cassettes were donated for the residents to enjoy. It would just let them enjoy them any time they want, in their rooms.  DVDs would be better, but for whatever reason, we keep getting VHS tapes.

Edited December 9, 2019 by wierd_w