Top all-time · #7342
Jeffrey Donenfeld
Personal blog · jeffreydonenfeld.com/blogculture
Jeffrey Donenfeld's personal blog at jeffreydonenfeld.com covers culture. Since 2011, 11 different Hacker News readers have linked it 15 times, most often “The World’s Southernmost Post Office (2012)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2025-04-10, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (7) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link his blog posts on life at McMurdo and the South Pole station, a North Korea trip report, and a 2011 CrashPlan data-loss post. The links are cited when those topics come up.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 7 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
I'm Jeffrey Donenfeld; an explorer, technologist, and educator.
Most-linked posts?
- The World’s Southernmost Post Office (2012)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-04-26
- Cloud backup service, Crashplan, lost all of his data. Cloud dystopia?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2011-12-14
- Exploring North Korea and Running the Pyongyang Marathon2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2015-06-15
What Hacker News says?
Nit: McMurdo uses diesel since its climate is more forgiving but the South Pole station the author was at uses kerosene-based JP8 jet fuel since it comes with additives for subzero temperatures. They even have their own arctic recipe called AN8. There is a lot of redundancy and they're equipped to fix things on site: https://www.jeffreydonenfeld.com/blog/2012/12/the-south-pole...
Comment linking /blog/2012/12/the-south-pole-power-plant/
on “South Pole Water Infrastructure”Submitted The South Pole Power Plant (2012) as a story · 35 points
HN discussionI quite like Crashplan, but they have lost data for customers before. http://jeffreydonenfeld.com/blog/2011/12/crashplan-online-ba...
Comment linking /blog/2011/12/crashplan-online-backup-lost-my-entire-backup-archive/
on “Dropbox Bug Can Permanently Lose Your Files”Submitted Cloud backup service, Crashplan, lost all of his data. Cloud dystopia? as a story · 19 points
HN discussionMyself and a fellow researcher have been emailing about this essay today. Despite the author spending shockingly little time there, it's definitely spot-on McMurdo. > McMurdo looks like a series of shipwrecks that people have tried to make the best of. I've often tried to accurately describe the feeling you get when seeing McMurdo. This is pretty good. It's an ugly town. > It’s not just that McMurdo station is ugly—…
Comment linking /blog/2014/12/the-national-science-foundations-central-offices-at-mcmurdo-the-chalet/
on “Shuffleboard at McMurdo”Submitted Crashplan Online Backup Lost My Entire Backup Archive (2011) as a story · 8 points
HN discussionAt McMurdo it's not strictly BYOB, like you have to bring your own alcohol to the continent in your luggage allowance, there is a "store" where you can purchase things. https://www.jeffreydonenfeld.com/blog/2014/12/mcmurdos-gener... http://passporttoknowledge.com/lfa/background/NSF/mc-stay.ht...
Comment linking /blog/2014/12/mcmurdos-general-store-anything-want-middle-nowhere/
on “The Perils and Pleasures of Bartending in Antarctica (2017)”Submitted The World’s Southernmost Post Office (2012) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionHey, I've been there! I ran my fastest marathon ever while being tailed by the paddy wagon, suited up and bowed down before the embalmed body of Kim Jong Il, locked and loaded to shoot at chickens, and tripped out in psychedelic halls of mirrors in the DPRK - North Korea. Here's how it all went down... http://jeffreydonenfeld.com/blog/2015/06/exploring-north-kor...
Comment linking /blog/2015/06/exploring-north-korea-and-running-the-pyongyang-marathon/
on “Six Days in North Korea”Submitted Living and Working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica (2013) as a story · 2 points
HN discussion> I had the opportunity to travel to the island of South Georgia this February. This island lies around 55° S and 36° W in the middle of the Southern Atlantic Ocean. It’s biggest “village”, Grytviken, is home of the most southern post office of Great Britain, with an official letter box and daily emptying hours. […] Together with Postcrossing, I was able to post the first 20 official postcrossing cards with a GS-cod…
Comment linking /blog/2012/12/the-worlds-southernmost-post-office/
on “Postcards from the Southern End of the World”Submitted Exploring North Korea and Running the Pyongyang Marathon as a story · 2 points
HN discussionDefinite nightmare. And apparently I'm NOT the only one having this issue - there have been at least two other users affected, based on a posting on Crashplan's FB wall.. here's my screenshot of it.. http://jeffreydonenfeld.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/...
Comment linking /blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Screen-Shot-2011-12-14-at-1.06.23-PM.png
on “Cloud backup service, Crashplan, lost all of his data. Cloud dystopia?”Submitted How To Pack For A Trip To The South Pole as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted He's Off to Antarctica as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
