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VicariousE
Wanted to be a simple man of the Earth, enjoying art and literature, the bounty of the Earth. Instead, I have to fend against governments and principalities, global conspiracies and bad social engineering, ree, my autism

Age 52, Male/Penis

dillgent tryhard

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homeless/NE USA

Joined on 2/15/01

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Can you hear me now?

Posted by VicariousE - April 11th, 2015

131385_142874613792_SAM_2306edited.jpgAfter I had to walk away from my lease-to-buy home and stay with my father, I've had to scrounge the internet where I could.  Even now, I don't have any control over what service comes into this house, as its about to be sold soon (or so I'm told).  So while I'm in this limbo on my dead parents farm, our tenant in the next door house has traded my lawn cutting service for her FIOS WiFi. 

At first I used an ancient laptop at a standing desk I threw together in her unheated, detached garage.  It wasn't pleasant in the wintertime, and the mosquitos in the summer were just awful.  Sometimes I'd leave it plugged in and DL movies, while I hoed the garden or played games on a single core computer I made in 2009... then the computer went bust in 2011.  Then the laptop's monitor went to hell soon afterwards.  I tried hooking up a heavy ass tube monitor to the laptop next door, but it was getting regoddamndiculous.

After many, many hours of trying, I managed to get the signal from next door, using tinfoil to reflect the sub-watt radio waves, onto the laptop's antenna.  Using this system for the past 3 years has been hell.  I had to cut a 'hole' in a tree that sits between my window and the house next door for this to even work.  Trying to connect through walls and windows over 300 feet/100 meters away, is not an easy thing.

131385_142879625652_cone.jpg

This parablic antenna is fucking huge, over 3 feet wide.  I had already bought an expensive wifi dongle, but still had to use the tinfoil method to connect.  Too many times, it just wouldn't.  So instead of buying a wifi card, section of cable and an adapter to use the dish properly, I removed the antennas capture cone, and positioned the wifi dongle in its place.

I can finally have a solid internet connection, and not worry about having my window open or sneezing anymore :)

Comments

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S3C

Google was trying to get all the US free wifi, but the large telephone companies won't let that happen. F*ck you Verizon and Comcast!!

@amaranthus
you can, but I wouldn't recommend it. you don't want to make music with a mini-laptop, they are not built for it. Build a tower if possible.

VicariousE

As time and corruption go on, I trust the big company's less and less. Obama's elections were heavily funded by Google, don't you know...

Eh, if he doesn't need to run MIDI through it, or import/export via an 1/8" stereo line, one box is as good as another, provided the software is simple. I dislike small screens and keypads :p

S3C

what exactly is your point? Google is near the top in my books as far big corporations go

no...MIDI is never a problem, it's the high end plugins that are triggered by MIDI that require a good machine to play with minimal latency in real time. and lol...who seriously uses 1/8" to export/import audio I used to do that in my novice days and the quality was crap

VicariousE

Google practically IS the top. Right after money, information control has got to be the biggest force behind whatever humanity does.

Just shows how out of date I am :( I pretty much gave up all that stuff just before 2000, but yeah, those stereo jacks were shit, sucked up a lot of noise. Beyond RCA wires, I'm all at sea anymore, though I did have a nice 2.1 speaker set that accepted an RCA digital input that was so pleasantly clean... that was off my old ASUS mobo, the new one I got's got some other kinda witchcraft hole(s), either way, you can see above what my audio atrophy's come to: an boombox from the 1980's

S3C

by "top" I meant Google is one of the better, bigger corporations that have their heads in the right places, and are constantly delivering premium (typically free to the public) services and innovative technology. I know you are going to relay some conjecture about how they track/spy on people (they gather data for the sake of optimizing personalized search algorithms)/censor information (only illegal content)/and selectively place results on the first pages of queries (irrelevant, if you search properly)- but I would put my stock in them any day.

I don't think I've even seen a stereo phono plug, just mono. Sound is recorded via USB or firewire these days, although using good microphones has and always will be the ideal medium.

yeah, looks pretty neat. It's obviously a dated stereo with the cassette player and those nasty looking green-brown speakers. What else: a slick flatscreen monitor showing a gloved man holding a BDSM appartus, a clock that tells the four seasons, a cordless house phone (these things still exist??), various jarred seasonings (wtf), a baby blue jew-fro pick, cancer sticks and a lime green lighter, a coin jar with a painting of a chile on it, a board detailing possible extraterrestrial sightings, a giant dish to pick up and possibly communicate with extraterrestrial life

VicariousE

When a Wall Street company (which is not an individual, wtf is wrong with Congress?!) says they will "Do no evil", I expect that's what they will end up doing, good intentions or no. They should've been split up like AT&T was back in the day. It's just too much power concentrated under one banner, and the internet can't exactly opt out. They never seem to reconsider getting anyone off their AdSense blacklist, which is where NG is now.

Yeah, I guess the PC has totally replaced reel to reels and multitrack recorders; no need for antiquated plugs :\ Only stereo mic I have is attached to my Hi8 (2, 11/32" mono connectors if memory serves) but I've got lapel mics, damn fine shotgun mic... what do to? Might get a Snowball, those sound decent.

Lol, the movie was The Fifth Element, I figured once I got a MB a second connection going, what's a good BR rip movie to DL? Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and various OTC sinus abating meds :p The square yellow thing is a temperature and humidity gauge my grandpop had, very accurate. The 'coin jar' is one of 2 cheap mugs my mom's work buddy gave me for Christmas last century, been using it for tea, coffee and soda for over 15 years... Chinese made, maybe the lead in it's finally gotten to me.

Oh well, at least having the dish means I can scrap my tin foil hat/wifi reflector, and get really serious about being weird ;) I mean, I could've bent some chickenwire using parabolic maths... just got tired of constantly (for hours at a time) adjusting the foil reflector I used to have, just to be able to connect. My sis took over the phone/tv/internet (orlackthereof) service after my Pop passed away, so...

RydiaLockheart

If you ever need to channel a cable signal, undoing paperclips can work. That's how I got TV when I lived in the Appalachians.

I think having lived austerely as a grad student (twice!) has made me financially smarter. My husband is freaking out because my salary has been cut until September due to an accounting fuckup at work (long story), but I squirreled enough away from my old spendthrift habits and I KNOW how to live on a budget. The big difference is I have his income now too, so no, we're not losing the house and won't be unable to pay utilities. We just need to keep a lid on indiscriminate spending. At least our honeymoon was already paid for before this!

VicariousE

Maybe PM me briefly about this witchcraft of which you speak, big brother might not approve lol

'Cut', you mean no income of any kind until September?! It bothers me I can't legally hunt my own land in this baboon blue ass state, otherwise I'd have stocks of deer in Food Saver bags. It is good to hear you'll be okay, if everything's nominal for the duration O_o

I'm almost tapped out myself, manily due to preparing for a move that never happened, and letting my older siblings get the better of me, when I should've acted my way, myself. I knew better, but I let them lead me around by the nose, and I lost a few grand for the favor :\

I grew up poor, but by HS graduation, we were getting by okay, even took vacations almost every year. But there were never many substantial oh-shit expenses. I got out on my own, I did okay, but after 9/11, it's been utter shit, especially being in a distant suburb of NYC, where the newly rich play and breed... and tax and spend on their neighbor's behalf.

Yomuchan

Signal coming through loud and clear.

Forksat relay has locked on and established a clear relay bridge.

Sup man? It's been a while.

VicariousE

Lots of good, bad and ugly going on. Pico day was off the hook. I really get busy this time of year, farming and cutting lawns, not really making any money in the process... if only my stupid babyboomer siblings could understand, instead of looking at me like a custodian of their soon to be redeemed investment (the family farm)

That dish is something though. When the grid goes down, I can use it to pick and wet down corn, since the old corn crib got sold for scrap, among other things. It's been rough since late last year :\

RiverofBloodyTears2

FIGHT THE FIGHT 2015

VicariousE

That's what 'they' want you to do... 'they' already got all the money they'll ever need to control us

S3C

the ultimate question here is why is your monitor so far back on your desk...you must have some long slenderman-esque arms lol

VicariousE

Nah, just shitty eyes.. it's also set a bit too low as well. I wear special contacts for my nearsightedness, in and around -6.5 :\ You know, they (used to) say your head should be 2 1/2 times the diagonal size of your monitor, away from the screen... but with such hi-res stuff and LCD screens, who knows?

Either way, GTA V still amazes me on a sub-1080p screen, whoo-fah!

Cyberdevil

So the Internet issues are finally solved! Still working smoothly? How large a lawn does it require be cut? And also the question I came here to ask: looks like you were at the Pico Party this year too? Did you maybe get any chance to talk to Tom about that comment order issue?

Whirlguy

Holy crap that is ridiculous! How come you have to borrow your internet from other people's wifi? Man, I had a great time hanging out with you on Pico Day! How have you been?

VicariousE

I'm fine, thanks! This site sure made me busy since the party!

Long story, but it's free and I kinda have to do their lawn anyway... I was supposed to have moved before Spring, and now I'm stuck with a very broken lawnmower, all my stuff in storage, and no motivation to do shit :\

SapphireLight

Keep your window open anyway, let that air in.

VicariousE

Yeah, I can handle the traffic noise and rarely some of the exhaust smell okay (so much for farm living). At least the water cooler on my desktop's CPU is busy, can almost tell the temp by the sound the pump makes, which is rather quiet, if earnest sounding. It's always hot on the 2nd floor, no hvac ducts or anything, and only 1 circuit breaker, so gotta be careful with an in-window a/c :\

Doomroar

Long time no wrote man, so you got an upgrade antenna? this one is different from the one with the tube you mention before, interesting, good to see it working.

Anyway saw "NG's 20th Anniversary Tri" and for the first time i realize that your name is suppose to sound like By-curious E, which is hilarious XD.

VicariousE

I could have either bugged the neighbor to let me 'modify' one of her wifi's antennas, or just got a bigger boat (Jaws reference). If the grid goes down for good, it'll make a fine produce carrier, also good for rinsing something larger than a cherry tomato

Bi george man, what are you implying?!
For a long time Icarus to me, was eye-ka-rus, and Idiot, was eye-di-oht! You don't know how to pronounce it, till it's spoken, by folks who know... you hope

Doomroar

It does look like quite a big antenna, hope it last.

So... is it really pronounces By-curious E?
Damn, life, life will never be the same man, i can't read your name and keep a serious face anymore XD, even when i tell myself otherwise, it is stuck in my head, what was the E at the end supposed to mean again? was it Entertainment, Experience, Electronics? none of those bide well with this realization haha.

VicariousE

Vie-CAR-e-ous or ask the ladybot in Wikipedia to say it lol

The E was for 'entertainment'. I was working 6 nights a week, cleaning a movie theater at the time, and nothing good was playing... and I had just got done watching Fandango with Kevin Costner on VHS... decent flick about being young, responsibility, love, all that shit yo

Doomroar

The lady bot saves the day!
Oh man by-curious entertainment is quite the fail-boat, a hilarious fail-boat XD, and depending on the person... a sexy fail boat? hahaha, oh man now it is just a matter of time til i can overcome this and forget it.

VicariousE (Updated )

I'm counting the minutes.....
I could always fly out to that scrap of desert you call a home, maybe drill a few holes in your noggin, let out those misinformed thoughts lol

chris-the-stick

well, hello there.

internet problems?

i've been there, and in many cases i tried to borrow, rent and/or invent ways to get some ''free'' internets.
yet, i never got into so much trouble as you did.

tinfoil antenna's and replacing the capture-core with a WIFI magic-machinery slammed in the platedish?
sweet lord, you are the macgyver of internet heroes!

(i would suggest however byuing some meters of cable, an adaptor, and something to connect the wifi with the antenna/PC, because this sounds like a hell of a hard time to connect on the net.)

as for connections, the BEST would be a DSL/adsl connection for the wifi.
clean, fast and simple(?)

oh man, i should also tell you this:
i have been seeing your reviews in almost all of the NG movies that exist in the portal, which means, that you are my review ''rival'', since i ALSO TRY to become the TOP reviewer of NG!
(for many years now, and i also wish there was a level/medal recognition/stuff for the top 100 reviewers of NG, a list on which i have been many times, according to AUZ, on his top reviewers thread in NG-BBS
www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/336255/

anyhow.

i've seen so many reviews by you in the portal, that i almost feel like i know you for many years.
so i decided today to ACTUALLY meet you and be friends with you.
if you want, that is, my fellow reviewer friend!

also, if you ever get bored/in chatting mood/sad/just want to talk, let me know, PM me!
im always happy to talk with new and old friends!
i also do movies, and i voice act!

if you feel bored, you should also do flash movies as well, it will be very fun, and it will fill your boredom with awesome stuff.

hmmm...

yep, thats all from me for now, nice meeting you, and lets hope that you will get an easier way to obtain internet in your PC/laptop, and that your window will stay closed.

because closed window=less sneezes/common colds.
trust me sir! im a noob doctor! (lol jk)

BTW i may ask:

-what PC/laptop do you use now? the old one that fried up?
or a new one?

-will you do any movies/games?

have a nice day yo!

VicariousE

The wifi dongle was expensive and advanced enough to work the way it does okay... I should eventually get a proper baby PCI card and the adapter and meter of antenna cable, but it connects okay, I'm getting over a megabyte a minute, torrents are no problem :)

Yeah, I wish there were some NG street cred/medals/awards for ppl who review regularly. It's one of those aspects of NG, that is in dire need of work! I may have mentioned it to Tom at the party, but... it's his party, I didn't wanna rag on him too much.

Don't worry about competition, it's more like a marathon or (like the man said, once upon a time) a really long-ass RPG.

Ugh, there's no HVAC vents or lines to the upstairs... I may move the PC rig and antenna downstairs, try my luck down there. And last night, thanks the heat and dry air, *cough-cough*, allergies :|

Ah, my last PC was a AMD 2.4Ghz single core, my last laptop was a Dell Intel 1.2Ghz turd from 2003, with half a gig of RAM.... the gig I built late last year http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/982338/80#bbspost25324885_post_text

I voiced a few things, shot the opening video for the 20th NG Tribute video Realfaction did, not that long ago... I'd like to do some informational podcasts, maybe even an audioplay down the line.... I went to 2 BestBuy's and a Staples - NONE had a USB mic, they were all McDonalds/Online-gaming headsets. Maybe I'll just make do with the 1/8" mono input on my mobo, use one of my old mics

Doomroar

That's a plan alright, not much of a plan if i die laughing tho XD.

VicariousE

Yeah, you -would- cheat me out my revenge for internet name calling, wouldn't you ;)

Doomroar

Well you know if possible nothing like a jolly death, and guess what, i have now forgot how to misread your name, isn't that something? i should go watch that video again XD.

VicariousE (Updated )

Shooting that video with a compact still camera, felt dirty |: I'm so used to bulky old professional cameras. At least the shit footage didn't go to waste, Realfaction did a sweet job of cutting it up... keep wanting to call him Red Faction, after the game, the first 2 at least...

Doomroar

Find it funny that he made himself the leader of the rebel faction, puns are always welcome.

VicariousE

Are you saying there's insurgents on Newgrounds?!?! I know of at least one rebel leader off-site, he won't attack, but slowly undermine... kinda like the Chinese are doing to Fed Reserve

Doomroar

They are only rebels for now, if they win they will become heroes.

VicariousE

Shit, the way things are going, I don't think anyone that matters to us, is gonna win. Google killed the internet, like Walmart killed the local store, know what I mean?

Still happy there's at least near a thousand registered users on at any given hour

Doomroar

Who knows what plans real faction leader of the rebel faction will have, or how that context will come out.

VicariousE

It...
context/contest? Eerily interchangeable... Either way, it's all relevant, Butterfly/China Syndrome and whatnots.

Doomroar

contest*

VicariousE

I contest the last will and tenement, of the late Walt Disney
for what purpose, I have no idea

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