Day: April 24, 2007


Poll Results: An Exercise in Humility–a Poll on Embarrassing Mistakes

Mr. Rawles: When I think of our early mistakes, so many things come to mind! 1. Buying ten #10 cans of T.V.P. for Y2K. Ick! We could not give the stuff away. We learned never to buy large quantities of anything we don’t normally eat until we try it first 2. Buying cheap BOB backpacks. We thought that since we would most likely never need them, we could buy the cheap backpacks from Walmart. A few years later, when we decided to take a test run, we found that the packs were incredibly uncomfortable and the bottom fell out of …


Letter Re: Ethnic Food Stores as a Source for Bulk Storage Foods

Dear Mr. Rawles, While rag-picking at my local thrift store, I spotted an Asian food wholesale supply store in that neighborhood. What caught my eye was the 50# bags of rice stocked 6′ high and three deep, right in the storefront window. By my count, he had six tons of rice varieties on site. That is far more than the half-pallet that Sam’s Club seems to stock. Note to preppers: If you happen to recognize a slow spiral to TEOTWAWKI, and you still have the need to accumulate calories for the homestead or charity, map out the ethnic food wholesalers …


Letter Re: Privacy from Google’s Prying Eyes

Hi It may be an interest to readers who use the Firefox browser, there is an extension call “Track Me Not“. [Here is a description I found on the web:] “TrackMeNot is a lightweight browser extension that helps protect web searchers from surveillance and data-profiling by search engines. It does so not by means of concealment or encryption (i.e. covering one’s tracks), but instead, paradoxically, by the opposite strategy: noise and obfuscation. With TrackMeNot, actual web searches, lost in a cloud of false leads, are essentially hidden in plain view. User-installed TrackMeNot works with the Firefox Browser and popular search …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Makezine‘s MakerFaire is scheduled for May 19-20, 2007 at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds, in northern California. SurvivalBlog readers in the S.F. Bay Area should plan to attend. Your will learn some great hands-on MacGyver skills there.    o o o 11 Retired U.S. Admirals and Generals Urge Changes on Greenhouse Gas Emissions   o o o Commercially available (“off the shelf”) hydrogen fuel cells! Of course pricing is another matter, but in the long term, fuel cells are a promising technology for powering retreats and self-contained NBC shelters.    o o o InyoKern’s research turned up this article: California …