jones smith

oy.
dan....I feel your pained scalp.
you couldn't be more pissed than me on the most pissed day with a steampowered pissifier!
it's not so much that average intelligence is so intellectually lazy by definition; it's that they will defend wishful thinking as proven fact while obviously never able to provide a shred of evidence or even credible data.
people can't help the level of genetic intelligence or brain injuries or the like....but why oh why is it so difficult to convince people of reality and so easy to convince them of bullshit??!!
oh, that's right...follow the money. as any con artist will tell you about such fraud....."you can't cheat an honest man."
they mean that people who want something for nothing will always, always, always believe someone who promises it, no matter how it is NEVER delivered.
that's why the "deal with the devil" folktales always end in finding out the true cost after making a deal thought to be something for nothing.
if I weren't a well trained and fit mma participant, i'd be getting my ass kicked all the time for the rude way I talk to people here in real life who defend such outright fraud by calling me a "knowitall"!
I think it's more rude to let our fellow humanity continue to keep taking candy from babies. they bloody well ought to be shamed at every opportunity, because they are so bloody shameless.
moreover I think it's wrong to not teach people that fraud is being done to them. even at the cost of the injury my anger does to myself.
i'm also a ff/emt, (all about savin' lives!) pilot, follower of the laws of physics and their dominion over fire and water....now steampower engineer, expanding to hydropower.

that's why 'Wendell berry' looked familiar when I have seen him quoted here...that is indeed a great book.
i'll have to get another copy; mine got ruined in the jungle!

all good points as well...but for politicizing buying or renting; it's still a matter of get off the fence and choose somewhere and get to it.
rent, buy, beg, borrow or steal land that's all previously stolen property....how one comes to be able to live off of the land is not so important as making footprints on it.
it's not lack of money that keeps anyone from growing food; it's simply lack of will to direct effort that way.
there are many paths...fiduciary factory farm profiteering is one, family farm for family's future is another, and 'hit it and quit it' seasonal profiteering as a double life is another....we all have the free right to choose a path and no right to be offended.
everybody is somewhere on some path......and we all have the free right to decide what is important, even pick several kine....most people don't care what you care about.
most people don't care what I care about. most people are not interested in eating real food with the sun's warmth still in it. I am, so I put my efforts into letting such things grow.
other people see land and can't think of anything to do with it except practice getting better at hitting a ball with a stick. maybe i'm the idiot; I likely would be good at golf if I wanted to put effort into such things....and they seem to give people who are good at it an awful lot of cash and prizes with which one could acquire much land and equipment!
but I misspent my youth on airplanes and motorcycles and other contraptions and the mechanical engineering thereof!
in a couple of months, i'll have made my 50th trip around the sun....so i'm going to ride the horse that brought me here. i'll continue to work methodically toward my death while enjoying the best food and weather on the planet.
so; I must have misunderstood the intent of your particular search and path, and my suggestions do not apply to most anyway of course....good luck with all.

having spent time in all of these areas you are thinking about... the earthship colony outside taos included ....I wouldn't recommend that you go live in any of these places, especially alone.
earthships are indeed a fine design...thermal mass is great. but the workmanship is so bad and they won't allow selfbuilt there, so if you want to builone, buy your own land to do it.
san luis area looks great, but thieving, cattle mutilating locals like to drive out "newcomers" just like anywhere near rez land.
northern Arizona is great; as long as you are Mormon or wealthy enough to be independent of them.
Hawai'i has the best weather on the planet, whether you want to grow food or stay in the sun.

very cogent; i'm already set in Hawai'i and i'd never go back to America, so i'm not telling you what to do for any advantage to me....but from the point of view of those who would join such community....
not all, but I should think many looking to commit to putting effort into building such community want to know that it is indeed permanent rather than maybe and hopefully.
nothing wrong with moving about to see where to be...I did it all my life and found it.
but if you want QUALIFIED committed hanai ohana, most want more commitment back.

hi kids!
I would like to ask everyone's opinion on making a change to the euphemistic term "alternative" (energy).
I was at an educational gathering here at which there was a speaker who suggested that we all start using "renewable energy" instead.

this reflects that we are working on primary energy sources, not an alternative which indicates that it's not as good, but acceptable.
here this means the forum called "alternative energy" ....but outside of this site, whether it gets changed here or not, how about we start thinking about that.

so....like to change the title of the forum?

cool idea
or
f.o.a.d., newbie!

??

oy. this is the kind of thing that challenges my ability to "be nice"; but this is not the general public who, like paul, I have to spend too much time telling people how utterly misinformed they are.
I am absolutely committed to teaching any who want to learn rather than committing to willful ignorance and intellectual laziness.

so; please forgive me if I seem to be ranting at any particular poster here...I am answering what is here...but I've heard all of this before.

this ain't rocket surgery folks; it is not even high school physics, I made an electrolyzer in 4th grade. yes, they work. and yes...if you build one at home and expect to pay for your fuel of choice to provide the electricity, it will give you useable H and O.
if you like, you could even build a unit and install it anywhere on your vehicle EXCEPT hooked up to the alternator....again expecting to pay for the extra fuel to run and extra alternator or generator.
the H & O output is a direct function of how much electricity input. the engine's alternator does indeed have to work more to provide that extra power, and that comes from the gasoline.
anyone who claims that they got better mileage from this is lying or inaccurately measuring and mistaken
no matter how much money one has, nobody gets to break the laws of physics. disrespecting or ignoring does not make them go away or allow any new and improved amendments. not even if you believe in it strongly enough to pursue with opm.
that is why this scam is effective...it's based on real science, but sold as if it's free energy. not only can you NEVER get more energy out of ANYTHING than you put in; you can't even break even.
"efficiency" in engineering terms, is the percentage that one does get back out of what went in. you can check how much lower than 100% any contraption is. steam engines, which I specialize in, are very inefficient. but I use homegrown renewable fuel so i'm not as concerned with high efficiency. gasoline isn't going to get any cheaper, but the engines are much more efficient so it's still the best bang for the buck.
there are indeed many ways to increase efficiency by plugging energy leaks... but still it is impossible to get 100% and you'd be jumping for joy if you got anything close.
"fuel" is energy storage, not fuel OR energy storage.

done for now; "ask me anything" about what I left out or need to clarify.

there are so many free energy believers out there in the general permies, few will listen to why it's impossible and simply argue because they trust the internet scammers more than physics professors with nothing to sell.

oh...I stand by the guarantee that it doesn't give better mileage, but i'll sell you one. I can make one in 10 minutes just grabbing rubbish or as elaborately impressive as you like to pay.
this is inspired from the concept of free advice to all who want to learn and charging those who want to argue for my less enjoyable time.

cut any structurally unsound parts of the rusty roof...replace with your tin can collection. if you can sandblast the rest, that would be best.
now you have a substrate for ferrocement.
get nylon fibers to mix into the cement. that allows you to use a thin lightweight layer without cracking.
the only drawback is that it is then an alkaline surface; but if you can live with that while you save money for a favorable sealer. we have acid rain living here by an active volcano so it can balance...I don't know what would be a good sealer...some claim safe for catchment...but they are selling it.

has all the red flags of being a scam, but I don't know everything about physics. a PhD only goes so far...then it takes magical ways to defy conservation of energy.
their chart reminds me of the chart on "in living color" for an investment scam...simple xy graph from zero/zero straight diagonally up to "mo money, mo money!!" with no shred of data.
typically such machines might work as a toy....but try to put a load on them!!!

the history of science is one of new discoveries of course; and they are often ridiculed by most as scam nonsense....but there is a reason for that....it's because most inventions have been scams or otherwise based on impossibilities even if not intentional scammery.
if this actually works as claimed, it seems they would allow independent testing. they won't.....who would ever give money with that condition?
charlatans never stop thinking of ways to separate suckers from cash.

hi Julia...
i used to live south point with 100 acres....i never knew there were any of the activities you mention, and only farmers' markets i knew were at na'alehu and by malama market at hove.
where are the others? oh! and maybe you mean the community center at hove for yoga and such? they have a great library!!
maybe i was too busy to find all the things going on.