Aspies For Freedom

Pikajedi, I don't have time right now to read this whole post but this bit caught my eye.  I know there was a very long thread on AFF a while ago about the ideal aspie school, you might want to have a look at that.  I can't find it for you right now but I might be able to later if you haven't found it by then.  It outlines most of the basics of what aspies want from a school and some more details as well.

Don't let yourself be limited in terms of energy use.  There are tons of inovative ways to recycle and.or reduce energy.  Two of the coolest ones I've heard recently were 1) a building whose floors moved subtly when stepped on, not enough to be noticed but enough to generate a significant amount of energy; and 2) devices that, when strapped to your legs, gather enough energy from the motion of your knees to run up to 10 cellphones or 2 computers.
I definitely think that any such island project should try to build structures that utilize technology to the fullest ability we have right now, but which also utilize nature- such as was mentioned above, with the use of natural light.  We can also make use of geothermal heat, etc.  There's a lot to keep in mind.

Evilzakkie:  For industry, also add science and technology, and ideas.  By "Ideas" I basically mean that the aspie thinktank idea AsAdamToEve suggested a while ago would probably sprout and flourish on this island.

I'm really busy lately, but when I find time I'll write up a blurb on my thoughts about education and I'll hunt down some more info on innovative energy management.
Oh, yes, that reminds me:

All that changes if we consider the option of "kite" wind collectors.  These haven't actually been made yet, I read about them in Scientific American a while ago and I'm not sure what stage of development they're at, but they're really cool.  They are essentially turbines on the end of a long kite-like tether, so they take up very little ground space and are completely out of sight and sound.  They're also up high, where wind is stronger and more reliable.  Those are all pros.  For cons:  In storms, if you don't reel them in, they'll snap; and (if birds happen to fly that high, which some do but not many) they're less bird-friendly than the new generation of windmills.

Yeah, unfortunately bird problems are one thing that affects almost any attempt to harness wind energy.  It's definitely a major "con" to consider, but since at the moment we're just comparing different options, I thought I would mention the kites.

Oh man, I WISH!  If we could even get an ISLAND for a half million it would be quite a deal!  Then there's all the buildings, which cost millions in and of themselves, technology, shipping costs, etc.....  There's some we can do to cut costs but not much unless we want to cut the quality, too.
Having at least one rich or medium-rich donor would be a huge boon, but we can probably raise quite a lot off small donations, too.  For example, if 1,000 people donate ten dollars each, that's $10,000; if 800 donate 100 dollars each, it's another $80,000; and so on.  There's probably more than 1,800 people out there who'd be willing to give a little money, and there might even be people willing to donate a percentage of their income on a regular basis (I'd do that), not to mention slightly wealthier donors.  So, it's possible....  But it'll take time and fierce campaigning.  I suggest we also sell merchandise- an Autfinity store which sells Autism Pride T-shirts, mugs, jewelry, etc, and all the profits go to the project.

I suggest we work on two documents like the one above:  A "possible ways of designing the island" document like above, and a "possible ways to get money and cut costs" document.  We should also try to hunt down actual price estimates for some of the ideas we have for the island.  Even if you're only approaching it as a thought-exercise, it's just more thorough, and we'll end up with something that will have actually advanced the project.

Well, setting it up would be expensive and difficult, but once set up, it could very quickly work towards near self-sufficiency- we could have multiple community gardens and/or greenhouses for growing our own food, we'd be producing our own power, we probably could produce a lot of our own clothing and other goods; it shouldn't be too hard, especially with a relatively small group of people (I'm thinking between 1,000 and 10,000 people, roughly).
However, I think the main focus would be on other products (possibly even ideas) which we sell/export to other places.  Tech is the big one, but also other forms of science, art, and entertainment.

WOW.  That is pretty sweet looking.  Obviously we couldn't use it for every wall of every building (ever heard the joke about the man in the glass house?), but it would definetly allow for some wacky-cool effects in architecture.
When I have some free time, I'm going to be doodling some ideas of what the buildings could look like.  These will not be actual architectural plans; I have no formal training in architecture design; they're just an idea of what we could ask for, when we hire an architect.

I've been looking through their project gallery.  I think the best uses we could have for it would be:
The occasional segment of wall.
Lights on top of a regular concrete wall, perhaps alongside a sidewalk or at the entrance to a building.
As decorative pavement.  Who wouldn't want to be walking at night through a central square and have the autfinity logo shine up from under their feet?

We can use it very effectively without using too much of it, which will reduce the cost.  I'll work it into my drawings to give a sense of how much we might be using.

Oh yes, one more thing:  It's worthwhile to spend a little extra on aesthetics because it very strongly encourages people to come and live there, or just to visit, and I suspect tourism will be a very important economic factor for this project.  Also, to tie in with a theme of a technology-oriented society, making use of cutting-edge materials and technologies in the design will really impress people, and pay off in other ways as well in the long run.

Question:  Would a potential island/town have multiple elementary schools?  I was thinking one preschool/daycare, one elementary school, one high school, and a sprawling university with many buildings.  Does that sound about right?

Also:  For the island, about what year-round population are we predicting?  I guessed between 1,000 and 10,000 people.

Ah, yes, I forgot to add- what about religious buildings?
Personally, I want to add a large, astronomically aligned stone circle; we'd also need a Synagogue, Mosque, and probably multiple churches.  That's just for starters...

That's probably the best approach.  I was wondering about it because I'm going to be doing a sketch of the entire island as a bird's-eye view, and I haven't decided whether or not to put religious buildings on it.

  Maybe I will!  There's lots more besides religion to be concerned with- although, it does not take precedence over issues of construction, energy, etc.  Most cultural things would come after most of the infrastructure is in place, anyway.

When Skeletor acknoledges my intellect

And only then.

What a ****.

And his username was a bit gay.