Cell Service in Black Rock City

[punapeter]

@ Kinetic, you said..
"And by the way the uses for mobile devices is not just about facebook or talking about bullshit. For some of us that smartphone is a lifeline. It's what allows me to coordinate someone's medical care from 500+ miles away and be full engaged yet I can still work and provide for my family. I share this as an example of what I do with my smartphone literally every day and I hope by sharing it I can get people to quit using so many dang stereotypes when it comes to tech. Sure being able to post to FB is nice...but it's so much more."
You sell phones or some sort of service?
that sure sounds like an add or someone sold you.

oh yea you said you are a 'telecom' vet. So yea I guess you're sold.
Just because they call it a 'smartphone' doesn't make you any smarter.

[oneeyeddick]

If someone talking on a phone ruins the Burn for you, then you are doing it wrong.

I see(and use myself) handheld radios all over the place out there, they are in peoples hands, with thier mouths saying words into them.
I don't see why it makes a difference if they are talking into a radio, a cell phone, a twinkie, or a pickle for that matter.

Look the other way if it bugs you, if you are trying to "keep it pure" then you need to look the other way when the water trucks drive by also because that is unnecessary equiptment, just like your tablesaw is to you.

And BTW, without generators, gasoline, oil, and eletricity, there wouldn't be a Burning Man at all.

[motskyroonmatick]

Ok People.
If the event is already ruined and corrupted for you then simply stop attending or get over the fact that the event in every way evolves. No one can stop this evolution and it doesn't do shit to posture and spout off about what will happen when some thing happens.

I'll still be going when the next big recording and transmitting device hits the playa in force and people are still whining about how it will destroy the event.

[shroom]

I had no signal when I arrived so I put my phone up. The day of the burn I took it to center camp to try the wifi and let my online friends know that I was indeed alive. My phone got enough signal that I could call my hubby for a minute.

It was very nice to be away from my phone and computer for the week, but also nice to be able to let people know I was fine.

[punapeter]

one eye you can only see shifting the blame on the other person you are bothering, because you are absolutely right,lol what kind of logic is that?
A twinkie or a walkie talkie can take pictures and send those titties to a web site for instant exploitation, duh.

I love the way you ignore the Ethos to party your way.

And evolution can be enlightened (learn from the mistakes in your default world) or repetitive bring your bad habit and their excuses with you.

Immediacy is there in the Playa, not your "business" you have to do.
Sad, you can't unplug for just one week.
Doesn't that tell you anything?
You really so swallowed up by the "default" world you can't disconnect?
too bad

[Kinetik V]

@ Kinetic, you said..
"And by the way the uses for mobile devices is not just about facebook or talking about bullshit. For some of us that smartphone is a lifeline. It's what allows me to coordinate someone's medical care from 500+ miles away and be full engaged yet I can still work and provide for my family. I share this as an example of what I do with my smartphone literally every day and I hope by sharing it I can get people to quit using so many dang stereotypes when it comes to tech. Sure being able to post to FB is nice...but it's so much more."
You sell phones or some sort of service?
that sure sounds like an add or someone sold you.

oh yea you said you are a 'telecom' vet. So yea I guess you're sold.
Just because they call it a 'smartphone' doesn't make you any smarter.

I don't sell phones. I support the back end systems, the non-wireless parts of the network that nobody thinks about which is as it should be.

I used to unplug for the week I was there...and when I go on float trips and camping trips I unplug as well. In the places I go cell tower signals just can't penetrate the terrain. And I do just fine without the cell phone. But that being said I like what smartphones can do and some of the cool stuff they can offer. And at BRC I am not alone in feeling that way. If a group of people decides that their contribution to this event is technology based, why are you being so critical of it. Perhaps I should critique and ridicule you for the art you bring. You wouldn't like that if I did...so I don't. One core unwritten rule of Burning Man that's been pounded into my head by this board and others is very simple. Don't fuck with anyone's experience. I try very hard not to do that. I can only hope that others will do the same and embrace the various gifts and diversity that people bring to BRC.

In short Punapeter...you need to step back and rethink your position on this...it doesn't have to be so hard core opposed to it.

[punapeter]

I appreciate your point of view. And quite frankly I was disappointed in that aspect of my virgin experience. The written and the visual are vastly different than the actual. The smells, un attractive sights and sounds are usually not the ones shared afterwards. Only the spectacular.

I was hoping to see more of the 'pure' original, BM than as is left.
There is a lot of just plain attendees. Yes they can dress up a golf cart and themselves with scraps from the thrift store but it's seems diluted.
And with each and every encroachment, be it technological or commercial it mainstreams the whole event even more.

You didn't bring your phone to those places where you could get no reception, and you enjoyed being in nature without the, ring ring, right?
Would you be upset if a fisherman upstream was yacking about how he's caught no fish all morning to his wife who he didn't bring fishing , on his satellite phone? Or will you bring yours as well WHEN they put a tower on what ever ridge you were rafting under?

But do you see, more people then not say it's a bad idea on this page.

I give up, clearly you love your phone.
I don't even have a cell, I don't want to be available 24/7 when anyone wants to interrupt what I'm doing.

[Eric]

I love the way you ignore the Ethos to party your way.

Which "Ethos" is Dick ignoring?

The one that the only correct way to Burn is your way?

Or the one where the only correct way to Burn is my way?

Maybe the one where the Burn Police go around the event telling people how to "do it right" or beat them with hickory switches?

There is no over-riding community ethos at Burning Man- how I do my Burn is going to be completely different than how someone at Sacred Spaces does theirs. Neither is "right" or "wrong", they are how we want to enjoy our own Burn.

(not being able to take care of yourself is a huge "right" or "wrong" situation to me, but I sure see plenty of clueless sparkle ponies running around. Some people don't see being a burden on others as a problem)

I was hoping to see more of the 'pure' original, BM than as is left.

ah, you came with expectations of what you wanted the Event to be, and it wasn't that. Got it.

Guess what- it never was, just like Leave It To Beaver wasn't really how everyone in the 50's lived, or Cosby how families were in the 80's.

You bought a myth and expected it to be real.

Burning Man is what you make it . You can't expect it to be what you want without doing something to make that happen.

edit: punctuation

[The CO]

The playa hasn't been the same ever since Chuck Berry and his damned electric gitfiddle started playing that "rock & rolling"!

And gasoline! What the hell man? Back in the old days of Burning Man, when we had mutant oxen drawn carriages, things were so much purer. Then these stupid kids decided to bring horses, as .75 miles an hour wasn't fast enough. If I ever meet the guy that brought steam power to the playa I'm gonna punch him in the face like a manatee.

And don't even get me started on this whole "fire" invention. When I first started going, it was still "Hand-Sawn Man". Fire has totally ruined what this event used to be in the old days.


Were it not for phone/wifi, Burners Without Borders would not have been able to mount the massive effort they did when Katrina hit while we were at BRC. The material & supplies they got donated would have instead been burned, taken home, or left with DPW. Instead, thanks to these devilish technologies, a fucking movement was born that has gone on to do incredible work around the world.


One question for you, punapeter: How did you contribute to Burning Man?

Edited for my spelling errors.

[punapeter]

my only expectations was is was going to be mostly artists, not observers. I wasn't totally disappointed. But just look at some of the videos people have made and posted to the BM Facebook page. Complete from highway, to camp, to roll in the dust, to party, to chillin, to party, to burn, to highway. No contribution to the whole but population. Kinda the same problem with humanity, they're just populating the planet mindlessly.
With NO compunction as to what will be left in just a decade.
heads up, your phone won't be working.
Certainly I don't want anyone burning MY way, I was looking for the BM way which was clearly written out.

Well if someone is blabbling mindless BS while sittin and shitting it will be more obnoxious than the little musical devices someone stuck in the port-a-potties.
Didn't bother me I wasn't in long enough to sit, just pour and go.

I guess my biggest myth was that at least thought those in attendance would have read. I can't believe how many people were asking me where this, that and the other was, guess I 'look' like I've been there forever.

It's not how many times you go, it's how you go. And what you do when you get there.

So many things are slid under the umbrella of art these days, bringing cell technology to the playa isn't artistic. And you don't need a BFA to know that. It is what it is, an addiction. Like my bumper sticka says "get Off the Phone and Drive"!

I don't know how many of you watch TV, but that addiction is why people are turning into sheeple and why someone on another thread commented in my use of the word. If you can't recognize what one is, you are one.

Only impression I came away with is I need to bring something to the playa that will demonstrate the "Civic Responsibility" to "Participate" beyond drinking and partying.
As well as the" Immediacy" of the moment to be" Radically SELF Reliant" not speed dial AAA because you forgot something.
The "Civic responsibility" wasn't there,
It was me. mine, our camp, look what we have.
"Radical Inclusion" isn't how many drinks you can "gift" on some one so they can get so pissed/wasted they miss the reason the whole thing began.

Hello, burn the MAN, the Ma Bell, the G-men and the 'system'. Big Brother!
Cell phones are very MUCH a tool of the man. They can spot you from space by the chip set in it. Forget Geo eye, wait till you can be watched from satellite while you're taking a shower on the playa and all your friends can watch it on youtube at home. You can't see that I'm wastin time.
got to get back to the horse .....

[The CO]

M'Kay.

Hello, burn the MAN, the Ma Bell, the G-men and the 'system'.

Are you referring to the Man, Ma Bell, and system that provide the infrastructure you are using to post on this forum?

One question for you, punapeter: How did you contribute to Burning Man?

Still awaiting your reply...

[punapeter]

I didn't bring my email or web access WITH me, never said I don't use it in the day to day....

what I did or didn't do wasn't what this thread is about

I started one call Ethos, Moop and Pee, I may have mentioned what I did there. I'm not into typing, see along with cell phones I have little interest in embracing technology because I know just how finite it is and relying on it nstead of yourself is a mistake. Do what you do I care less.

What I did, gifted the whole time, no bars, chill domes or raves. I saw those on the frindges and offered them refreshments in a few different ways.
And you?
CO?

[The CO]

I saw those on the frindges and offered them refreshments in a few different ways.

Good on ya! I was gifted a fresh ice cream cone on Sunday several years ago, still one of the most vivid memories I have of Burning Man.

"Radical Inclusion" isn't how many drinks you can "gift" on some one so they can get so pissed/wasted they miss the reason the whole thing began.

No booze gifting on your part then, I assume?

As for me, I worked with a wonderful group of people to recreate one of our favorite shows. I set up a theatre to show episodes of that show, for people to enjoy at night. I tricked people under the influence, then laughed along with them & thanked them for playing along. I helped my village provide some of the best and only street lighting in all of BRC. I played playa golf, to the amusement of most who witnessed and helped us play. I provided folksy wisdom to burgins their first year out. I went with a friend to fetch the EMS crew to their camp when they had a passed out young lady in their camp, whom they could not wake up, and helped keep rubberneckers away when the ambulance showed up for her. I handed out dust masks. I topped off water bottles fo the thirsty. I led my crew in conducting Security Checkpoints. I used my limited French skills to translate for 3 different people. I was helmsman for 31 people in the Oregon Fire Conclave. I hugged Crimson Rose and thanked her for being so awesome.

So, not much really, just the same thing I do out there every year.

[Snow]

I hugged Crimson Rose and thanked her for being so awesome.

Awesome, so did I.


We hid cell phone towers in Ein Hammer just so we could update our facebook profiles from our tents.

[oneeyeddick]

what I did or didn't do wasn't what this thread is about

What I did, gifted the whole time, no bars, chill domes or raves. I saw those on the frindges and offered them refreshments in a few different ways.

So you were that punk trying to offer me some hash to smoke out by root Society as I drove by.

no, seriously dude, Ethos is a religious thing, Burning Man is not.
What it is a big partying campout in the desert where there is some cool art and performances that's all it is.

And what it is what you make of it.

Did you know that some of the artcars out there have GPS?

Did you know that many of the large art projects out there (Like Ein Hammer, Dr Megavolt, ect) wouldn't even happen if it wasn't for technology ?

It ain't just about drum circles and cumbaya sing alongs, unless you want it to be, then you are free to do only that if that is all you want to do.

How do you feel about flamethrowers?

are they allowed because it is "OK" with you or not?

What if the person that operated it used a cell phone to trigger the switch remotely?

Would that make it verboten?

Lord forbid if you had seen that girl shitting in the five gallon bucket talking on her cell phone last year, for that type of performance art was definately not covered in the phamplet you read that described what Burning Man is supposed to be.

And what in the hell did you read that lead to you drawing all these conclusions in the first place?

And what was it that you did, EXACTLY, that makes you think that you weren't just another spectator?

[Snow]

You're doing it all wrong Dick. Only the Amish know the real BM ethos.

[Eric]

But just look at some of the videos people have made and posted to the BM Facebook page. Complete from highway, to camp, to roll in the dust, to party, to chillin, to party, to burn, to highway. No contribution to the whole but population.

Wow, really? You think those people kept the camera in their hands 24/7 and never participated? Never did anything but watch?

Some of the best videos I've seen are from people who ran camps- Dilated Peoples, the eye wash camp; Comfort & Joy, just about everything gay camp; a couple from art-car camps, some from installation camps.... Just because they choose the video to show what they want to remember doesn't mean they weren't contributing.

And, I'm sorry, coming from your first Burn with a "I know better than everyone else what this is about" attitude proves you don't get it at all. "Radical Inclusion" means everyone is free to do what they want to enhance the community- it doesn't mean they have to do what you want them to be doing.

You don't like the paper I work on? Don't read it. Don't like the bar camps? Don't go to them. But don't you dare tell me that I can't read them or go to them because your whiny ass doesn't like them, or assume that they're not a valued part of the community because they mean nothing to you.

What I don't like about the event is self-important know-it-alls decreeing that they and only they know what the event is, was and should be.

Get. Over. Yourself.

oh, and as an aside: if "typing" is technology to you, I assume you only walk to where you're going because both cars & bicycles post-date type writers, and you only get water from a stream I'm sure because that nasty electricity is used to get water into plumbing, and of course when you kill the cows you eat you render their fat into tallow candles to read your hand-written manuscripts (in ink rendered from oak galls & parchment from deer skin, because paper uses way to much technology for you....). Okay, officially bored with you now.

[The CO]

OED & Eric:

+5 interwebs to you both!

[Snow]

Still waiting to hear what wonderful "gifts" punapeter spent his entire time gifting to people on the fringes of art projects that others built. Way to use someone elses work to draw a crowd for ya. Its ok I'll wait for your bicycle powered computer to charge up.

[The CO]

Whoops, found it while browsing....

<lends punapeter a helping hand>

And the very best gift I gave this, my virgin tour, that were VERY much appreciated,
was a simple baby wipe out on the deep playa.
The smiles they brought were genuine.
Then when I offered, do you need a bottle of water they were over joyed.
When I asked it they'd like a banana they cried.
When I said, then you'd probably like and eclair to go with it, they dropped to their knees.
i then asked if they felt good.
When the said yes I just told them i was Dr. Feelgood and bid them a good burn.
better than the art.... :wink:

[Snow]

So your so called "gifts" all were made by someone else, in China, how creative! A gift of shredded trees and chemicals and some moopy plastic, oh my. Then you made them get on their knees to feed them your banana, and then had the balls to ask if THEY felt good and proclaim yourself Drfeelgood. Well I kinda like that last part, nice work.

[theCryptofishist]

I went with a friend to fetch the EMS crew to their camp when they had a passed out young lady in their camp, whom they could not wake up, and helped keep rubberneckers away when the ambulance showed up for her.

My Hero!!
(Seriously, one thing I did pick up from my complicated ESD experiences was the importance of privacy and how people don't always know how to help.)

And thank you Snow, and Dick, and Eric and Kinetic, and yes, CO again, because I don't want to read the self-righteous screeds of a man who says "sheeple" and you have proven that I don't have to watch him to make sure his idiocy is challenged.

Although maybe being out numbered and out smarted he might harden into his position and never learn, I don't know.

[Kinetik V]

If there was ever a thread that could use Miss Isotopia at her best this is one of them...but my mentioning it makes the odds of such a thing happening sit at about none and none.

I know one thing. The technology behind the web broadcast of the event and especially the burn was one hell of a gift. If it wasn't for people trying to push the technological limits it would have never happened. And that would have been a damn shame.

[theCryptofishist]

Isotopia's kung-fu is the best. Still, it must be a relief to her that she doesn't have to keep up standards all by herself.

edited for grammar or spelling

[FIGJAM]

Burning man is like sex........If YOUR not enjoying it YOUR doing it wrong!

[Edana]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I was able to text while waiting in the 20 MILE long line outside of Gerlach on Sunday night/early Monday morning. That doesn't mean there was cell service at BRC.

And really, I'm glad I could. It whiled away a very long, very boring, inching along night.

[The CO]

...the importance of privacy and how people don't always know how to help...

Perimeter control is always an issue in that kind of situation. Once ESD was on site, I knew that I could be useful by not being in the way. Grabbed a couple Boobarians & Raiders & said "You take that side, I'll take this one. When the looky-loos arrive, tell them it's all fine and steer them down the street or in the bar. If the medics need anyones help, they'll ask."

[Theres Always One]

First you said:

if your ego won't let you leave your cell at home, YOU are changing the event for the worse.

Then you said:

I give up, clearly you love your phone.
I don't even have a cell, I don't want to be available 24/7 when anyone wants to interrupt what I'm doing.

Man. Talk about ego. I'd go on but it looks everyone has done a good job of beating you up already.

[oneeyeddick]

I thought that girl had thrown up on my couch, it eneded up being an ugly print pattern that I didn't notice till morning.

I heard she got dosed from some banana she had eaten earlier...on her knees.

[changoloco]

well I had a retort, and I don't know where it went but to suffice it to say,
if your ego won't let you leave your cell at home, YOU are changing the event for the worse.
It's bad enough there are generators leaking oil and machinery leaking hydrolic fluids, cars leaking oil and transmission fluid, but leaking everything else to the 'outside' world via an Iphone is the Comodification this event wasn't going to include. Now cells have wormed their way in next the movie crew. A tower on the Playa next? Portable phone booths by AT&T?
But no need really, every Tom, Dick and Mary is writing a bi-line for their blog or their web site.
"My virgin tour" by blah blah blah, DJ Ego fresh off the playa, can't play a note but can make that techo nosie download it to his iphone and text it to china, cd will be on sale before the event is over, in Beijing.

My head isn't in the sand. The computer I used is attached to my house not my ass, I don't take my table saw with me everywhere I go either. It's a stupid tool not a pet rock, it won't starve without you. Unplug for a week, kick the habit, you can do it, maybe....all the people I saw walking down Telegraph in Berkeley after the event were either holding a cell phone to their face or had ear buds in, total disconnect. That will be the end of BM when people are all walking around clicking and texting. If you can't see that, you are what's changing BM, not for the better.

BM needs to start over with just the artists and the sculptors, leave the carnival camping moop to those who hit all the "festivals". I can see very clearly what many old timers say about it being mainstream. A big phrat party gone wild. Less contribution more let's party and pretend to be kewl, look at the freaks and take their pictures then go back to their straight world and tell all their friends how they're in the family, yet their only contribution in BRC was their pee on the playa. Cell phones are for selfish people. You aren't that important. If you are stay home with your cell. And if one's relationship isn't strong enough to handle a two week separation with no communication, you're really gonna be up the creek when they all die.

But just keep your ear attached to those devices, you won't even see it coming.

Do you not realize that you are just as bad as the people you are berating? Try to be a little less judgemental. Live and let live? Let it go man, the burn changes, it's supposed to, get used to it or throw your own event.