The other day, reader “just waiting” emerged from two weeks of post-Sandy blackout. He conveyed some lessons learned and joked that he couldn’t see a downside to the storm from where he sat. However, there’s a definite downside in the aftermath. This morning he requests help from the Living Freedom Commentariat: I’ve never had to clean up after a major flood before (water was about 2 ft high over entire first floor). I’ve done some research and got the basics, but I bet there’s tips and pitfalls, what not to do’s, etc. that the sites I’ve seen don’t list. With…
Month: November 2012
You know how I’m always grousing about people using open cc on their emails? Well … (H/T JG)
A handful of links and two (longish) videos for your Friday and weekend pleasure: Nano-material stops bullets? This I’d like to see. (H/T PT) Among all the other laughs of the Petraeus scandal is the scandalously flawed method the lovers used to hide their email correspondence. (And this guy was the nation’s top intelligence officer?) The Electronic Frontier Foundation has analysis and advice. So does the ACLU. (Tip o’ hat to JG) It’s pretty amazing what the FBI went through to trace emails that probably weren’t even illegal — and the kind of data they had fingertip access to (e.g.…
I was pretty excited to look at my Amazon wish list tonight. Oh my. Some of the most needed items from the list are already coming my way, thanks to you. And some of the not-strictly-needed but most very cool are also in the “purchased” list. Someone — and I hope that person included a note with their identity — even bought something I never imagined anyone would. Nobody is contributing to the generator fund. But that’s okay. ‘Cause you know, this is more fun. 🙂 I wish I could leave you all milk and cookies on Christmas Eve because…
Unlike Joel, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the Petraeus scandal. Oh, not the sex part. What’s emerged about that so far is pretty dull: middle-aged married man boffs attractive, slightly younger married woman. This is news? (The British, who do sex scandals with more color and athleticism than anybody, must be laughing at us for getting excited over this.) But what a marvelous cast of characters — from the “victim” who’s a more sketchy character than her anonymous stalker to the infamously shirtless FBI agent. When somebody makes a movie out of this — and they must — it should be…
Reader “just waiting” — who was without power for nearly two weeks after Hurricane Sandy and got back online only yesterday — posted this in comments. But with its combo of good advice and scary warnings, it deserves more exposure. Everything that follows is his. —– We just got the internets back yesterday after Sandy. Street power came back on late last Saturday, we were out for almost 14 days. My ears are still ringing from the constant hum of the gen, silence truly is golden. We were as ready as we could be, so it wasn’t really a big…
My two biggest clients pay irregularly. Don’t get me wrong; they’re good people who have gone out of their way for me in many ways. But they may pay me quickly or … not. I never know. Weirdly, they seem to conspire; in months when one is slow, the other usually is, too. I try to keep a cushion for bill paying, but this month the cushion got threadbare. My income in the last 30 days was $200.42 — all thanks to you guys stepping up your regular use of my Amazon links. (You see why I ask you to…
The following letter comes from Helen, who lives in Greece. “William” is a reader of this blog who has spent years urging preparedness on her. She writes about the demonstrations and riots in her country and how quickly the unnatural can become the natural, the abnormal the normal. Pundits debate endlessly about whether the U.S. economy is going to end up like or unlike Greece’s. Whichever way you bet, the future doesn’t exactly look rosy. Might as well listen to voices of experience, just as Helen listened to William’s warnings about preparedness. I’m reprinting this with thanks to Helen, who…
The KTD Project is an effort to put over 600 preparedness and survival texts onto bootable thumb drives or SD cards. The idea is to be able to carry a vast store of resources anywhere and access it on even some pretty inadequate equipment. (Yes, paper would be even more accessible in primitive conditions — if we weren’t talking about such a huge volume.) Mark (aka GreyLocke), who’s been pulling this together, has pretty comprehensive instructions at the link above. I’ve queried him about access to the library for people who may not want to deal with the tech stuff.…
Tribes. (Aka help Tam, Queen of Snark, and maybe win some cool gunstuff.) Hm. Happy life? Meaningful life? Choices … choices … How to devise more secure passwords. (Yeah, we’ve been here before; always a good reminder, though.) I know some cynics think Obama and Eric Holder will kill recreational cannabis in Washington and Colorado. They’ll try. But this is a battle they’re going to lose. The new legalization is already making waves in Mexico. And having a very, very real effect on prosecutions in Washington state. Hey, look! Europe has turned the corner and is headed for financial stability!…