Our network was driven by dual US Robotics courier modems bridged until the local phone company gave us DSL (we were located close to the switching facility).
There were 3-4 of us devs living there. We cut our own wood, got our water from a natural spring, drank lots of coffee and local beer, and coded 24/7.
Its there where I started to really grow as a dev because there was little distraction and the enviro was very inspiring.
My goal is to get back to the mountain (move my family) and focus on writing good code.
My family just visited the 'cabin' last month while vacationing in NC. Since then my wife and are are dead set on returning to the mountain.
For me - this life is crazy busy. Constant 'suits' wanting new things built and never fast enough - and never able to understand the amount of work it takes to make 'that magic button'. Seems apetites are insatiable. That's fine as its job security - work is work afterall.
However, it seems that living in a tranquil environment helps run this marathon.
http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_day_2/ http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_year/
What...?
Here's a post from his personal blog that hints at how he can afford to work on this project for a year on only $20,000- http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/notes_for_a_caretaker/