Free Republic

Hello Freepers ! Another Vanity post - Posted after countless hours of research, experimentation, and lamentation. I will start this off by stating the problem, and then asking for ideas. Problem: I am sick of the internet. It's a useful tool, when one learns to navigate it and then filter the results one sees. I'm an I.T. professional with almost 20 years career experience. I design and implement small and medium scale systems for Research and general communications. I have a lot of experience on large environments as well. The internet is just getting disgusting. Ads, spyware, government intrusion, privacy...

Concerned that the economy could collapse? Or that a natural disaster could wipe out our infrastructure? So is Frank, and he is doing something about it! Believing that America has become too reliant on a crumbling foundation, Frank is preparing his family for life “off the grid,” admiring the way people lived in the 19th century. Like them, he longs to become completely independent. So he is embarking on one project at a time hoping to prepare his family for the worst, such as building a car that runs on wood in case gasoline supplies are interrupted, becoming expert hunters...

MADISON COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) - 72-year-old Dick Thompson isn't sure if he wants to fight or give up. "I want to get the hell out of here right now — too much hate," Thompson says one minute. "I think it's a bunch of bull," he says another, vowing to stay. Thompson faces eviction from his 38 acres in Madison County. The county lawyer tells 24-Hour News 8 it's because Thompson is breaking too many rules, laws and ordinances; Thompson has no water, no sewer and no electricity in his recreational trailer that he calls home. "I'm a country boy," explains...

We've never been under such intense scrutiny as we are today. So how do we evade the snoopers? Here, an 'off-grid' expert offers an insider's guide We live in the most watched-over society in Europe. Exposure, especially in The Observer, has done little to hold the state and private sector in check. Phone records have become police records, as Henry Porter pointed out in this paper last week, and CCTV camera records are now fed into the automatic registration number computer. Credit and store-card records have become marketing records and our email addresses are points of entry for all sorts...

Arcata, Humboldt County -- Just past noon on a hazy, raw Sunday a few weeks ago, Linda Parkinson did what few homeowners in this storm-battered region could: She turned on the television. While most Humboldt County residents were reeling from power outages left by devastating rains, Parkinson had electricity to spare. She cooked a feast for a dozen people, took hot showers and threw video-game parties for her 15-year-old son's classmates. For 24 years, Parkinson, 49, has lived completely off the electric grid, drawing energy exclusively from solar, propane and other renewable on-site power sources. She isn't alone. Some 180,000...