[gofetch.git] / test / expected / SLASHDOT / 0102641672

    ICELANDERS SEEK TO KEEP REMOTE NORDIC PENINSULA DIGITAL-FREE   \r
                            (APNEWS.COM)                           \r
\r
  Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (BeauHD)\r
  from the no-cellphones-allowed dept.\r
\r
  o Reference: 0102641672\r
  o News link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/18/09/06/235254/icelanders-seek-to-keep-remote-nordic-peninsula-digital-free\r
  o Source link: https://www.apnews.com/71cdfb7b1c2245069a6f681f8b8f906f/Wired-Icelanders-seek-to-keep-remote-peninsula-digital-free\r
\r
\r
    Hikers,   park  rangers,  and  summer  residents  of  Iceland's\r
    northernmost  peninsula  are seeking to keep the area free from\r
    internet  service,  worrying  that all that comes with it "will\r
    destroy  a  way  of life that depends on the absence of [email,\r
    news,  and  social  media]," reports the Associated Press. "The\r
    area  has long resisted cell towers, but commercial initiatives\r
    could  take  the  decision  out  of  Icelanders' hands and push\r
    Hornstrandir  across  the  digital  divide."  From  the report:\r
    Despite  or because of its remoteness, Iceland ranks first on a\r
    U.N.  index  comparing  nations  by information technology use,\r
    with  roughly  98 percent of the population using the internet.\r
    Among  adults,  93  percent report having Facebook accounts and\r
    two-thirds  are Snapchat users, according to pollster MMR. Many\r
    people  who  live  in  northwestern Iceland or visit as outdoor\r
    enthusiasts  want  Hornstrandir's  570  square  kilometers (220\r
    square  miles),  which  accounts  for  0.6 percent of Iceland's\r
    land  mass,  to  be  declared  a  "digital-free zone." The idea\r
    hasn't  coalesced  into  a petition or formal campaign, so what\r
    it  would require or prohibit hasn't been fleshed out. The last\r
    full-time  resident of the rugged area moved away in 1952 -- it\r
    never  was  an  easy place to farm -- but many descendants have\r
    turned   family  farmsteads  into  summer  getaways.  Northwest\r
    Iceland's  representative,  Halla  Signy Kristjansdottir, is in\r
    favor  of  adding  cell  towers  for  the safety of sailors and\r
    travelers  in  the  area.  "I don't see anything romantic about\r
    lying  on  the ground with a broken thigh bone and no cellphone\r
    signal," Kristjansdottir said in an interview.\r
\r
\r
  ** Yeah it's real annoying (Score:3, Insightful)\r
     (by Crashmarik ( 635988 ))\r
\r
     \r
     You're out in the wilderness and somebody's WiFi is screwing up\r
     the colors of the forest and making everything look strange,\r
     while the cell towers are driving the wildlife nuts. / sarcasm\r
     I'd love to hear these people justify how this in anyway\r
     diminishes them.\r
\r
     ** Because people no longer have self discipline? (Score:3)\r
        (by thesupraman ( 179040 ))\r
\r
        \r
        Because they CAN get Farcebook, I guess they Must get\r
        Farcebook.\r
        I mean, you would think they could just choose to turn off\r
        their devices, not bring a charger, whatever.\r
        Although knowing people from such areas, I suspect it is more\r
        about giving one big finger to 'thems city folks' (even if\r
        most of these people live in the cit\y most of the time).\r
        Anyway, good on them for caring, but good luck in keeping\r
        such things out. The safety point is also quite valid.\r
\r
        ** Re: (Score:3, Interesting)\r
           (by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ))\r
\r
           \r
           > I mean, you would think they could just choose to turn off\r
           > their devices\r
           They don't want to just stop using Facebook, they want\r
           their NEIGHBORS to stop using it too.\r
           This isn't about self-control. It is about controlling\r
           others, which is a near universal human desire.\r
\r
\r
        ** Re: (Score:3)\r
           (by e3m4n ( 947977 ))\r
\r
           \r
           exactly. I just posted a more descriptive explanation of\r
           that very thing a thread above this one. Sometimes it's\r
           easier to buy a vacation that makes the choice for you,\r
           than having to, repeatedly, make the same choice\r
           throughout the entire vacation. Picking a destination that\r
           has no access means you can re-focus on other forms of\r
           entertainment. Its easy to fall back into habits. By\r
           picking a spot with no access, you are not fighting\r
           temptation, and i dare say withdrawal, the entire time.\r
           The price of vacati\r
\r
\r
\r
     ** Re:Yeah it's real annoying (Score:5, Informative)\r
        (by Rei ( 128717 ))\r
\r
        \r
        Forest? *snicker*. Here's the joke everyone over the age of 8\r
        here knows:\r
        Q: What do you do if you get lost in an Icelandic forest?\r
        A: Stand up.\r
        I've actually not been to Hornstrandir; it's been on my TODO\r
        list for a long, long time, but I've lacked one of the\r
        obligatory "round tuits". So it's actually surprising to hear\r
        that there's not internet access (via cell towers) there,\r
        because in general even the most remote places here have cell\r
        access. When Bárðarbunga erupted, deep in the highlands, the\r
        eruption was livestreamed. And there's a lot more people in\r
        Vestfirðir then in the highlands!\r
        This would of course be more about visitors than residents,\r
        given that there's no permanent residents in Hornstrandir.\r
        And in some ways I can sympathize. For example, there's\r
        always a lot of opposition to improving the highland roads\r
        because we don't want to have more cars driving through and\r
        tons of people flooding in, and driving really fast on some\r
        paved road would totally change the experience of going into\r
        the highlands... it would just turn into a set of "sites to\r
        see" rather than a journey. The effect of the isolation on\r
        you can really be profound. You feel like a person exploring\r
        Mars - so tiny in an endless empty expanse, completely devoid\r
        of any signs of human civilization except the\r
        half-bulldozed-out "road" you take, the endless travel\r
        punctured by rushes of adrenaline as you try to ford a river\r
        or trying to avoid ruining your car crossing a lava field.\r
        And people who know that experience generally don't want to\r
        see it altered. So I imagine it's the same thing for\r
        Hornstrandir. The difference being, as previously mentioned,\r
        in much of the highlands there's cell coverage. At least as\r
        far as I know, when I go out I'm not checking Facebook all\r
        the time.  ;) But I don't recall any meaningful loss of\r
        coverage events.\r
        ED: Just checked [1]a map [wp.com] from my cell provider.\r
        Looks like most of Hornstrandir is indeed marked in white (no\r
        coverage), while most of the highlands is light blue (2G) or\r
        in some places blue (3G) - even a good chunk of Vatnajökull\r
        (largest glacier in Europe).\r
        \r
        \r
        \r
        \r
        [1]\r
        https://i2.wp.com/www.icelandnorthernlightshq.com/wp-content/-\r
        uploads/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-06-27-at-09.57.16.png?ssl=1\r
\r
\r
     ** Re: (Score:3)\r
        (by e3m4n ( 947977 ))\r
\r
        \r
        Actually this intrigues me. I go on cruises for the same\r
        getaway. Sure one can declare a weekend of no devices or\r
        technology, but theres always something that comes up that\r
        eventually screws that up. I go on cruises with the family\r
        and we do not buy the internet package. The fact that its\r
        ridiculously expensive helps 'cut the cord' when on vacation.\r
        The most online time the kids ever experience is when we pull\r
        into a port and visit a place that has 'free wifi'; giving\r
        them 30-60 min of checking their email\r
\r
\r
     ** Re: (Score:3)\r
        (by GumphMaster ( 772693 ))\r
\r
        \r
        > You're out in the wilderness and somebody's  ...\r
        bloody mobile phone is playing something loosely called\r
        "music" over the shittiest, tinny piezoelectric "speaker" you\r
        ever heard. I have personally experienced this scenario while\r
        walking the Milford Track (NZ) and in Torres del Payne\r
        (Chile). I can only imagine how much worse it would be _with_\r
        coverage: Youtube videos turned up to 11, incessant need to\r
        share the latest "news" from home, inattentive walking in\r
        dangerous places etc. If your region's livelihood depends on\r
        people coming to experience wil\r
\r
\r
  ** Satellite Internet (Score:2)\r
     (by crow ( 16139 ))\r
\r
     \r
     We may only be a few years away from Starlink or something\r
     similar providing practical high-bandwidth Internet service\r
     globally. So they may hold back the tide a bit longer, but the\r
     reality is that modern communications will become a fact of life\r
     everywhere for anyone that wants it. Yes, that will mean some\r
     significant changes to the lifestyles of the people living\r
     there, and yes, it won't all be for the better, but I don't see\r
     the point of fighting it now.\r
\r
     ** Re: (Score:2)\r
        (by rossdee ( 243626 ))\r
\r
        \r
        How far north are we talking about? Satellite coverage is\r
        always going to be a problem at the poles\r
\r
        ** Re:Satellite Internet (Score:4, Informative)\r
           (by quenda ( 644621 ))\r
\r
           \r
           > Satellite coverage is always going to be a problem at the\r
           > poles\r
           No, that applies to geosynchronous broadcast satellites,\r
           but not to LEO constellations such as Starlink or\r
           Irridium.\r
\r
\r
        ** Re: (Score:3)\r
           (by crow ( 16139 ))\r
\r
           \r
           Good point. A quick look at Google Maps suggests around 66\r
           degrees north. I'm not the best a geography, and I had\r
           thought Iceland was a bit further south. I didn't realize\r
           it was north of the southern tip of Greenland. That could\r
           well be outside the range of satellite Internet, depending\r
           on the orbits involved. I have no idea what the plans are.\r
\r
           ** Re: (Score:3)\r
              (by Mashiki ( 184564 ))\r
\r
              \r
              Seem to remember there was active satellite links in\r
              Resolute, Nvt.(74deg/N), so I don't think that's a\r
              problem. The real problem was the astronomical cost of\r
              those links, short of a stationary polar orbit\r
              satellite there is no real way to keep it cheap. So\r
              they've been building fiber as a replacement since\r
              2012ish for the far north remote communities at least\r
              here in Canada. I think Resolute was finished in\r
              2016ish or so.\r
\r
\r
\r
\r
  ** Fuck yes. (Score:3)\r
     (by DogDude ( 805747 ))\r
\r
     \r
     Fuck yes, I fucking love Icelanders. I'm so sick of seeing\r
     smartphone zombies everywhere. The addicts and the stupid will\r
     be addicted and stupid anywhere there's an Internet connection.\r
     What a wonderful, thoughtful, human decision to make. Wonderful\r
     idea.\r
\r
     ** Re: (Score:2)\r
        (by Gojira Shipi-Taro ( 465802 ))\r
\r
        \r
        I don't see it as thoughtful or "human" at all. Simply\r
        reactionary.\r
        As long as EVERYONE in that area agrees, fine.\r
\r
\r
  ** safety, use a friggin' PLB (Score:1)\r
     (by Anonymous Coward)\r
\r
     \r
     I spend a lot of time in the woods of British Columbia, Canada.\r
     There is no celphone coverage in probably 95% of our\r
     woods/wilderness. I don't ask for cel towers, I carry a Personal\r
     Locator Beacon (PLB) for safety. If it is that important to\r
     someone to be connected, let them use satellite. We don't need\r
     more cel coverage for narcisists.\r
\r
\r
Commit	Line	Data
299a08f3 NR	1	ICELANDERS SEEK TO KEEP REMOTE NORDIC PENINSULA DIGITAL-FREE \r
	2	(APNEWS.COM) \r
	3	\r
	4	Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (BeauHD)\r
	5	from the no-cellphones-allowed dept.\r
	6	\r
c715ea02	7	o Reference: 0102641672\r
299a08f3 NR	8	o News link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/18/09/06/235254/icelanders-seek-to-keep-remote-nordic-peninsula-digital-free\r
	9	o Source link: https://www.apnews.com/71cdfb7b1c2245069a6f681f8b8f906f/Wired-Icelanders-seek-to-keep-remote-peninsula-digital-free\r
	10	\r
	11	\r
	12	Hikers, park rangers, and summer residents of Iceland's\r
	13	northernmost peninsula are seeking to keep the area free from\r
	14	internet service, worrying that all that comes with it "will\r
	15	destroy a way of life that depends on the absence of [email,\r
	16	news, and social media]," reports the Associated Press. "The\r
	17	area has long resisted cell towers, but commercial initiatives\r
	18	could take the decision out of Icelanders' hands and push\r
	19	Hornstrandir across the digital divide." From the report:\r
	20	Despite or because of its remoteness, Iceland ranks first on a\r
	21	U.N. index comparing nations by information technology use,\r
	22	with roughly 98 percent of the population using the internet.\r
	23	Among adults, 93 percent report having Facebook accounts and\r
	24	two-thirds are Snapchat users, according to pollster MMR. Many\r
	25	people who live in northwestern Iceland or visit as outdoor\r
	26	enthusiasts want Hornstrandir's 570 square kilometers (220\r
	27	square miles), which accounts for 0.6 percent of Iceland's\r
	28	land mass, to be declared a "digital-free zone." The idea\r
	29	hasn't coalesced into a petition or formal campaign, so what\r
	30	it would require or prohibit hasn't been fleshed out. The last\r
	31	full-time resident of the rugged area moved away in 1952 -- it\r
	32	never was an easy place to farm -- but many descendants have\r
	33	turned family farmsteads into summer getaways. Northwest\r
	34	Iceland's representative, Halla Signy Kristjansdottir, is in\r
	35	favor of adding cell towers for the safety of sailors and\r
	36	travelers in the area. "I don't see anything romantic about\r
	37	lying on the ground with a broken thigh bone and no cellphone\r
	38	signal," Kristjansdottir said in an interview.\r
	39	\r
	40	\r
	41	** Yeah it's real annoying (Score:3, Insightful)\r
	42	(by Crashmarik ( 635988 ))\r
	43	\r
	44	\r
	45	You're out in the wilderness and somebody's WiFi is screwing up\r
	46	the colors of the forest and making everything look strange,\r
	47	while the cell towers are driving the wildlife nuts. / sarcasm\r
	48	I'd love to hear these people justify how this in anyway\r
	49	diminishes them.\r
	50	\r
	51	** Because people no longer have self discipline? (Score:3)\r
	52	(by thesupraman ( 179040 ))\r
	53	\r
	54	\r
	55	Because they CAN get Farcebook, I guess they Must get\r
	56	Farcebook.\r
	57	I mean, you would think they could just choose to turn off\r
	58	their devices, not bring a charger, whatever.\r
	59	Although knowing people from such areas, I suspect it is more\r
	60	about giving one big finger to 'thems city folks' (even if\r
	61	most of these people live in the cit\y most of the time).\r
	62	Anyway, good on them for caring, but good luck in keeping\r
	63	such things out. The safety point is also quite valid.\r
	64	\r
	65	** Re: (Score:3, Interesting)\r
	66	(by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ))\r
	67	\r
	68	\r
	69	> I mean, you would think they could just choose to turn off\r
	70	> their devices\r
	71	They don't want to just stop using Facebook, they want\r
72	their NEIGHBORS to stop using it too.\r
73	This isn't about self-control. It is about controlling\r
74	others, which is a near universal human desire.\r
75	\r
76	\r
77	** Re: (Score:3)\r
78	(by e3m4n ( 947977 ))\r
79	\r
80	\r
81	exactly. I just posted a more descriptive explanation of\r
82	that very thing a thread above this one. Sometimes it's\r
83	easier to buy a vacation that makes the choice for you,\r
84	than having to, repeatedly, make the same choice\r
85	throughout the entire vacation. Picking a destination that\r
86	has no access means you can re-focus on other forms of\r
87	entertainment. Its easy to fall back into habits. By\r
88	picking a spot with no access, you are not fighting\r
89	temptation, and i dare say withdrawal, the entire time.\r
90	The price of vacati\r
91	\r
92	\r
93	\r
94	** Re:Yeah it's real annoying (Score:5, Informative)\r
95	(by Rei ( 128717 ))\r
96	\r
97	\r
98	Forest? snicker. Here's the joke everyone over the age of 8\r
99	here knows:\r
100	Q: What do you do if you get lost in an Icelandic forest?\r
101	A: Stand up.\r
102	I've actually not been to Hornstrandir; it's been on my TODO\r
103	list for a long, long time, but I've lacked one of the\r
104	obligatory "round tuits". So it's actually surprising to hear\r
105	that there's not internet access (via cell towers) there,\r
106	because in general even the most remote places here have cell\r
107	access. When Bárðarbunga erupted, deep in the highlands, the\r
108	eruption was livestreamed. And there's a lot more people in\r
109	Vestfirðir then in the highlands!\r
110	This would of course be more about visitors than residents,\r
111	given that there's no permanent residents in Hornstrandir.\r
112	And in some ways I can sympathize. For example, there's\r
113	always a lot of opposition to improving the highland roads\r
114	because we don't want to have more cars driving through and\r
115	tons of people flooding in, and driving really fast on some\r
116	paved road would totally change the experience of going into\r
117	the highlands... it would just turn into a set of "sites to\r
118	see" rather than a journey. The effect of the isolation on\r
119	you can really be profound. You feel like a person exploring\r
120	Mars - so tiny in an endless empty expanse, completely devoid\r
121	of any signs of human civilization except the\r
122	half-bulldozed-out "road" you take, the endless travel\r
123	punctured by rushes of adrenaline as you try to ford a river\r
124	or trying to avoid ruining your car crossing a lava field.\r
125	And people who know that experience generally don't want to\r
126	see it altered. So I imagine it's the same thing for\r
127	Hornstrandir. The difference being, as previously mentioned,\r
128	in much of the highlands there's cell coverage. At least as\r
129	far as I know, when I go out I'm not checking Facebook all\r
130	the time. ;) But I don't recall any meaningful loss of\r
131	coverage events.\r
132	ED: Just checked [1]a map [wp.com] from my cell provider.\r
133	Looks like most of Hornstrandir is indeed marked in white (no\r
134	coverage), while most of the highlands is light blue (2G) or\r
135	in some places blue (3G) - even a good chunk of Vatnajökull\r
136	(largest glacier in Europe).\r
137	\r
138	\r
139	\r
140	\r
141	[1]\r
142	https://i2.wp.com/www.icelandnorthernlightshq.com/wp-content/-\r
143	uploads/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-06-27-at-09.57.16.png?ssl=1\r
144	\r
145	\r
146	** Re: (Score:3)\r
147	(by e3m4n ( 947977 ))\r
148	\r
149	\r
150	Actually this intrigues me. I go on cruises for the same\r
151	getaway. Sure one can declare a weekend of no devices or\r
152	technology, but theres always something that comes up that\r
153	eventually screws that up. I go on cruises with the family\r
154	and we do not buy the internet package. The fact that its\r
155	ridiculously expensive helps 'cut the cord' when on vacation.\r
156	The most online time the kids ever experience is when we pull\r
157	into a port and visit a place that has 'free wifi'; giving\r
158	them 30-60 min of checking their email\r
159	\r
160	\r
161	** Re: (Score:3)\r
162	(by GumphMaster ( 772693 ))\r
163	\r
164	\r
165	> You're out in the wilderness and somebody's ...\r
166	bloody mobile phone is playing something loosely called\r
167	"music" over the shittiest, tinny piezoelectric "speaker" you\r
168	ever heard. I have personally experienced this scenario while\r
169	walking the Milford Track (NZ) and in Torres del Payne\r
170	(Chile). I can only imagine how much worse it would be _with_\r
171	coverage: Youtube videos turned up to 11, incessant need to\r
172	share the latest "news" from home, inattentive walking in\r
173	dangerous places etc. If your region's livelihood depends on\r
174	people coming to experience wil\r
175	\r
176	\r
177	** Satellite Internet (Score:2)\r
178	(by crow ( 16139 ))\r
179	\r
180	\r
181	We may only be a few years away from Starlink or something\r
182	similar providing practical high-bandwidth Internet service\r
183	globally. So they may hold back the tide a bit longer, but the\r
184	reality is that modern communications will become a fact of life\r
185	everywhere for anyone that wants it. Yes, that will mean some\r
186	significant changes to the lifestyles of the people living\r
187	there, and yes, it won't all be for the better, but I don't see\r
188	the point of fighting it now.\r
189	\r
190	** Re: (Score:2)\r
191	(by rossdee ( 243626 ))\r
192	\r
193	\r
194	How far north are we talking about? Satellite coverage is\r
195	always going to be a problem at the poles\r
196	\r
197	** Re:Satellite Internet (Score:4, Informative)\r
198	(by quenda ( 644621 ))\r
199	\r
200	\r
201	> Satellite coverage is always going to be a problem at the\r
202	> poles\r
203	No, that applies to geosynchronous broadcast satellites,\r
204	but not to LEO constellations such as Starlink or\r
205	Irridium.\r
206	\r
207	\r
208	** Re: (Score:3)\r
209	(by crow ( 16139 ))\r
210	\r
211	\r
212	Good point. A quick look at Google Maps suggests around 66\r
213	degrees north. I'm not the best a geography, and I had\r
214	thought Iceland was a bit further south. I didn't realize\r
215	it was north of the southern tip of Greenland. That could\r
216	well be outside the range of satellite Internet, depending\r
217	on the orbits involved. I have no idea what the plans are.\r
218	\r
219	** Re: (Score:3)\r
220	(by Mashiki ( 184564 ))\r
221	\r
222	\r
223	Seem to remember there was active satellite links in\r
224	Resolute, Nvt.(74deg/N), so I don't think that's a\r
225	problem. The real problem was the astronomical cost of\r
226	those links, short of a stationary polar orbit\r
227	satellite there is no real way to keep it cheap. So\r
228	they've been building fiber as a replacement since\r
229	2012ish for the far north remote communities at least\r
230	here in Canada. I think Resolute was finished in\r
231	2016ish or so.\r
232	\r
233	\r
234	\r
235	\r
236	** Fuck yes. (Score:3)\r
237	(by DogDude ( 805747 ))\r
238	\r
239	\r
240	Fuck yes, I fucking love Icelanders. I'm so sick of seeing\r
241	smartphone zombies everywhere. The addicts and the stupid will\r
242	be addicted and stupid anywhere there's an Internet connection.\r
243	What a wonderful, thoughtful, human decision to make. Wonderful\r
244	idea.\r
245	\r
246	** Re: (Score:2)\r
247	(by Gojira Shipi-Taro ( 465802 ))\r
248	\r
249	\r
250	I don't see it as thoughtful or "human" at all. Simply\r
251	reactionary.\r
252	As long as EVERYONE in that area agrees, fine.\r
253	\r
254	\r
255	** safety, use a friggin' PLB (Score:1)\r
256	(by Anonymous Coward)\r
257	\r
258	\r
259	I spend a lot of time in the woods of British Columbia, Canada.\r
260	There is no celphone coverage in probably 95% of our\r
261	woods/wilderness. I don't ask for cel towers, I carry a Personal\r
262	Locator Beacon (PLB) for safety. If it is that important to\r
263	someone to be connected, let them use satellite. We don't need\r
264	more cel coverage for narcisists.\r
265	\r
266	\r