Category: Communications & Receivers

Letter Re: Semi-Anonymous Internet Access

Dear Editor: Is using a laptop with wi-fi from the library etc any better (in terms of OPSEC) than having a home Internet connection? We disconnected from our satellite ISP from home a while ago and now only go online from assorted wi-fi connections when we get to town. But is this any safer? What else should I be doing to keep a lower profile? Thanks, – Jeff T. #1 Son Replies: There are several ways that you can be identified over the Internet. First is though your IP address, and more significantly, through your Internet service provider (ISP). Information …


Letter Re: Infoworld’s Take on IT Doomsday Scenarios

James, The magazine Infoworld is a fairly trusted source in the information technology (IT) field. They recently posted an article titled, “Tech apocalypse: Five doomsday scenarios for IT”. Here is a quote: “What could happen [from a wide scale EMP attack]: Workstations? Dead. Data centers? Gone. Cell phones might still work, but the cell towers probably won’t, rendering them useless. Your car won’t start. A large enough attack will also shut down automated controls at power substations, leaving everyone in the dark. Think pre-industrial revolution days. In our scenario the New York Stock Exchange shuts down, causing shock waves to …


Letter Re: Some Notes About SCADA Software

James The pastor/programmer is somewhat correct about SCADA and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), and his resistance of Windows based and “soft logic” is admirable. However, many SCADA systems installed out there recently have been implemented just as their name implies “SUPERVISORY CONTROL and Data Acquisition” in order to save labor costs by minimizing operator and maintenance training requirements on multiple different in- plant control systems. Most major power, refining, waste treatment systems etc. in recent years have utilized a DCS (distributed control system) as a SCADA base for overall and/or supervisory control often also monitoring or commanding smaller PLC systems …


Letter Re: Some Notes on SCADA Software

James: I have been reading SurvivalBlog for some time and have read your novel “Patriots“ and now reading “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It”. Great job and love your work. I work as a SCADA programmer for water, waste water and power plants and was wondering if you had some background on this. I know you are somewhat hard on the system as an overall and it is well aimed. Most of the programs and programmer I am around take much care as possible to keep the Windows based computer as a window into …


Letter Re: Radio Communications for Retreat Intelligence Gathering

James Wesley: Ron Y.’s article posted on Sunday is interesting and helpful to those who don’t spend much time around radios other than, perhaps, their favorite music station. For those of us who have had a lifetime of radio listening and, in my case, work with public service units in times of disasters small and bigger, there are a few things I’d add. First is the scanner section of Ron’s information. My work desk has four scanners going at all hours that I am awake. Any one of them might flag something that is of interest or warrants tracking. Frequencies …


Incremental Preparedness: The Good, Better, Best Approach, by Jeff B.

For many, the idea of preparedness seems like an impossible undertaking. The amount of equipment and supplies needed is staggering. When I first came to the realization that I was under prepared, the gap between what I had and where I needed to be was too much for my public servant’s paycheck to bear. I would spend a lot of time discussing preparedness with a group that I would go shooting with, and all of these meetings would always gravitate to “which weapon do you plan for X meters?” or “how many rounds do you think I need for X …


Letter Re: How I Made My iPhone a Useful Survival Reference

Mr. Rawles: I loved the letter on the iphone. In addition to what LC listed there are also ballistics calculators for the math-challenged like me. (iStrelok is free and works pretty well). One caveat to consider with the mighty smart phone is the fact that it could potentially be used to locate your location and perhaps even as a bug to listen in on conversations. One work-around is to buy an iPod Touch. You loose the phone and GPS features, but you can still carry God’s word and all your multimedia in your pocket! Thanks again for all you do …


Letter Re: How I Made My iPhone a Useful Survival Reference

James, I depend on your invaluable books and Blog daily. I wanted to share with you and your readers my Archives Library system for when SHTF. I have an iPhone 3Gs ( and a spare one ). I feel that this is a more readily accessible and portable device as compared to a Kindle. I have loaded with many useful applications (“apps”) for survival and references. The main apps are : Carpenters Helper Photo Album and iTunes (for family viewing of pictures and my DVD collection DVDs ripped at 700Kbps VBR 2 pass h.264 is pretty good and saves on …


Preparing Your Church Congregation, by JSX in Virginia

My preparedness background started as a youth.  My father took us camping often and had an amazing gun collection; I’ve been able to teach my kids what he taught me – great memories both then and now!  In the 1970s, my mom and step-dad bought a little 2-acre farm in the middle of nowhere.  We kept a dozen or so chickens, had a few garden spots (that seemed to grow and multiply with each new season), homemade soap, homemade root beer (an acquired taste!) a “sewing room”, a small orchard, solar heating, our own 250-gallon fuel tank, and a year …


Letter Re: The Importance of Testing “Dead” Batteries Before Recycling Them

James- I wanted to share a money saving tip that applies to inexpensively preparing for TEOTWAWKI. With so many digital devices depending on batteries these days, most of us are conditioned so that, when a device like a digital camera or other smart gadget tells us the AA or AAA batteries need replacing, we simply toss out the “dead” ones and put in fresh batteries. But are the batteries really dead? Usually, not all of them are. I have a handy little Canon digital camera that we use around the house for insurance documentation, family photo opportunities at parties, pictures …


Four Letters Re: Preparedness for Digital Doomsday

Hello Mr. Rawles, The article by David W. on data storage raised excellent points, and is sure to get people thinking about an often-overlooked subject.. For the prepper on a budget, there are a number of avenues to secure your data that won’t break the bank. While it may be impractical to have several NEW laptops in your stash of supplies, there are plenty of good, used laptops available that will fit the bill nicely. You don’t need a powerhouse just to read your survival documents, and having one or more spares means fewer eggs in one basket. I’ll focus …


Preparedness for Digital Doomsday, by David W.

One subject I’ve not seen mentioned recently is that of data recovery and security. As a proponent of various disaster recovery plans for large companies during my tenure as in information technology auditor I’d like to propose a few ideas to the readers to increase the chances of keeping data post-TEOTWAWKI. No one plan works for everyone and your mileage may vary. First off we all generate lots more data then we think. The most common insurance against loss of a home PC is regularly maintained backups to some form of storable media like DVD-r’s. However, in a post-TEOTWAWKI world …


Letter Re: Another COMSEC Warning on Social Networking Web Services

Jim, I worked in Network Security in both the military and civilian sectors for quite a few years. The thing I would recommend is not to use any social networking site. Due to the terrible security embedded in the new web programming technology they are rampant with malicious software that can be downloaded to your computer. Your computer would then be owned by some goon who would use it to attack others and steal your personal info, such as your bank account number, and so forth. But you say, hey I have the newest router, firewall and anti-virus. The companies …


Letter Re: Another COMSEC Warning on Social Networking Web Services

James, This is a communications security (COMSEC) warning: Readers may wish to think about the networking tools used to communicate between friends and associates – Facebook, Linked-In, Jaiku, Pownce, Yammer, and others – and realize that not only do they pose a serious threat to the security of their personal information, but some of them are now apparently being used to bring new people into the non-secure comms environment by falsifying “invitations” from others to join. While tools such as Outlook, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Gmail, Hotmail, Flickr, and MySpace should also be used with caution to limit the damage that …


Letter Re: Securing Bedroom Doors Against Home Invaders

Dear Mr. Rawles, I will try to keep this short. Hopefully my question might come in handy for a number of your readers. First, thank you for your site and your publications. I am almost finished with “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” and am about 50 pages into your “Rawles Gets You Ready” family preparedness course. So far I am loving them both. I am reading quickly through them first and next my wife and I will study them thoroughly together, adapting the information and creating our “list of lists.” Now, I have …