2024 plans

[msangi]

I have an old MacBook Pro (2009) I use every now and then. It has 8GB of RAM so it could be mistaken for a very new MacBook but I still feel that after 15 years it does quality as an old computer

The alternative I have is a Raspberry Pi Model B, which is more in line with the specs of the challenge despite being a few years newer.
I don't have a monitor (nor space for one) where I could plug it which makes using it harder...

[mio]

Hi everyone, first post, please pardon any errors of my newbie ways.

Also awaiting confirmation on whether the recent announcement for 1 hour of computing per day is finalised, since it's not yet officially outlined on the website. Looking towards doing a mini custom version this year if the 1-hour computing stipulation applies. This would probably mean pulling up and powering on some junk drawer device with computing capabilities (not necessarily a computer in the stricter sense) like an old handheld console or SBC, and doing things with it for the week.

While 1 hour of computing per day for a week is manageable for me, certain activities like writing, or reading books that were initially analog would be less amenable after having switched to digital for years. As 82mhz mentioned, reading about others' experiences and occasionally conversing with people in real-time chat is another interesting part of the event that might be adversely affected by a 1-hour limit as it competes for attention with other computing tasks or activities.

A suggested baseline specs challenge as oracle hinted might be a good way to get people started, or offer an idea on how to adjust a given year's challenge in a way that allows them to meaningfully participate.

[82mhz]

We're all waiting for an announcement, but it seems that Solene has kinda checked out a little bit... she made the announcement with the 1 hour on IRC but since then nothing happened.

[headcrash]

Yeah. For some reason it seems like the founder is the one who's the least excited and interested in the event.

[tekk]

To be fair that's pretty understandable when it seems like nobody but Solene has any interest in 1 hour at the computer/day.

[durrendal]

Honestly though, if it was "emulate a dialup connection" I would be more interested in the limitation. Just spending an hour a day is a lucky day for me, as I've got a newborn in the house. Once you've been participating in that challenge for 6 months straight it you realize that it's not that much fun..

I like mio's suggestion to revive an old device and push it to its limits, like a random AP/firewall, something that isn't supposed to be a computer but should in theory meet the specs of the original challenge. That could be really interesting, and be an opportunity to learn about dumping data from SPI buses if you take it to the extreme.

When Solene suggested the 1hr limitation I initially also asked if using a companion device counted, like a Palm PDA or something similar. The idea of having 1hr of desktop time and then getting kicked into an offline island with a PDA could be an interesting take on the original challenge in my opinion. I've even done some programming on my Palm Tungsten T, so I know you can get kind of ridiculous with it.

A couple of people have thrown out the idea of a mobility challenge. Take your old computer out, write a blog post on your adventure, do it all entirely off grid. That takes some planning and preparation, but I think it'd be really fun to have a collection of photos and blog posts from whatever unique places people go to. There's an old gun battery from WW2 near me that I've always wanted to record a podcast in.

And last idea for now, last year I spent a significant part of the challenge week using an old digicam from 2000 something. I love photography personally, and think for those of us that enjoy it, that using older film or digital cameras could be a fun alternative to the challenge itself. Limit yourself to one old camera, and go nuts. Maybe at the end we could put together a Zine of all our photos.

I would honestly love to put together a Zine if we did an offgrid challenge, photos of the cool places you went, and an entry on why you chose to go there, what you did while you were there, and details about your system/how you prepared for it would be amazing content.

[mio]

Maybe the founder is currently busy. Has anyone already reached out to her by email or mastodon to confirm the details?

Could see from re-reading her post on last year's challenge how the 1 hour/day idea might have originated. It seems to be taking a different direction, more a computing habits challenge and less emphasis on the "old" part.

A zine would be cool for a satellite project. It almost has a time capsule element to it, to be able to look back and read what people did that summer. Some great ideas there.

[82mhz]

I could ask, but I don't really know her, we barely interacted in the past. Maybe Oracle or someone else has a better connection with her? If not, I'll shoot her a message on Mastodon.

[tekk]

A couple of people have thrown out the idea of a mobility challenge. Take your old computer out, write a blog post on your adventure, do it all entirely off grid. That takes some planning and preparation, but I think it'd be really fun to have a collection of photos and blog posts from whatever unique places people go to. There's an old gun battery from WW2 near me that I've always wanted to record a podcast in.

And last idea for now, last year I spent a significant part of the challenge week using an old digicam from 2000 something. I love photography personally, and think for those of us that enjoy it, that using older film or digital cameras could be a fun alternative to the challenge itself. Limit yourself to one old camera, and go nuts. Maybe at the end we could put together a Zine of all our photos.

I would honestly love to put together a Zine if we did an offgrid challenge, photos of the cool places you went, and an entry on why you chose to go there, what you did while you were there, and details about your system/how you prepared for it would be amazing content.

I quite like the mobility one, though figuring out how to hook up a solar panel to my T41 might be a fair bit of challenge ;D

[headcrash]

Oh that would be easy! Just the solar panel and a buck-boost converter* set to the right voltage

I've always had a thing for portable computing and electronics, so I'm all for it! I'm also going to do the old digital camera thing, and write, edit and upload all the challenge logs on the old computer. There, it will now never work because I jinxed it, with my luck so far. lol.



*A voltage converter that can take either a lower or higher voltage than desired, and output a stable voltage.