Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Thankfully, a swift retraction, after public outcry: Shooters Heard: Interior Will Not Ban Target Practice. (A hat tip to Lee M. for the link.)    o o o Jan S. recommended some interesting commentary on Smart Meters.    o o o And speaking of privacy risks, reader F.S. mentioned that all Android phones have a root kit called Carrier iQ that allows all functions to be logged without user knowledge.  It can be used as a key logger, location log, app use log, etc… He sent links to a short summary analysis and a full article that describes this huge …

SurvivalBlog’s Michael Z. Williamson was the first of several folks that forwarded me this ATF classifies Chore Boy pot scrubber pads NFA firearms    o o o Commentary from Michael Yon: Pocket Spies.    o o o Kevin S. found some fascinating reading: Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Primary Megadeaths of the Twentieth Century    o o o Reader P.N.G. suggested this case study: Building Your Own 20kW Hydroelectric Power Plant    o o o I heard that the movie Atlas Shrugged, Part 1 has been released on DVD. I missed it at the theater, so I’ll …

I had a couple of queries from SurvivalBlog readers about this news article: Google map mystery of giant lines spotted by satellite in Gobi desert. My guess is that it is a radar MASINT test field. (Note the variety of bistatic angles.) Without delving into the compartmented codeword realm, I can mention an open source reference to something analogous: the imaging target field at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Here, I’ll remind you that I wrote a series of articles about Fort Huachuca for Defense Electronics magazine, back in 1988. Hans Halberstadt, a well-respected and seasoned military photographer accompanied me there for …

By way of Tam’s blog: Superhydrophobic spray means no more clothes to wash. This somehow reminded me of the classic Alec Guinness movie The Man in the White Suit.    o o o George S. sent this: 22 Signs That The Thin Veneer of Civilization That We All Take for Granted is Starting to Disappear    o o os AmEx (American Expatriate) sent this: When the Cashier Asks for Your Zip Code. AmEx notes: “With your name and zip code they can do a reverse lookup and determine your address. That is a real breach of OPSEC.” JWR Adds:To minimize …

R.B.S. sent this: Swapping chicken pox-infected lollipops illegal.    o o o K. & D. recommended this: New urine powered fuel cell in Britain power to the people?    o o o Keeley was the first of several readers to mention this: Copper sword stolen from statue at Lincoln’s Tomb    o o o Nolan sent this article from Canada: Couple retires in Rimbey home built from 30 steel shipping containers    o o o Reader Bill N.was researching windmills and found a maker in Texas that has a short description of how the older generation water-pumping windmills worked. Bill …

Joseph L. sent a news item to file under “Emerging Threats”: Police impersonators carry out string of robberies: Crimes involve robbers posing as plainclothes officers, immigration agents.    o o o Camping Survival (one of our loyal advertisers) has just announced a great new product. It is a combination flashlight, electric firestarter, magnetic tool, and wound cauterizer (The latter by qualified medical personal only.) Since these are just past the prototype stage, the price tag is fairly high.    o o o SurvivalBlog readers in Norway will find this of interest: A paramedic in Norway, offers advanced emergency medical training …

The Greatest Truth Never Told #12. The Great Depression Is The Best Case    o o o Motorcycle Powered by Sewage. (Thanks to KAF for the link.)    o o o Spitfire redux: The WWII guns firing after 70 years buried in peat. (Thanks to Hope for the link.)    o o o Reader L.M.W. recommended a recent Day By Day cartoon strip on the Gunwalker scandal.    o o o Ron W. sent us this: Police raid Heckler & Koch in bribery probe

My buddy Pete in Switzerland mentioned a new marketing angle for oral rehydration solutions: Warrior Wound Care.    o o o Clearly, it is not safe to live near the Mexican border! SWAT teams dispatched as gun battle unfolds near Escobares.    o o o Kevin S. sent this: The Darknet Project: netroots activists dream of global mesh network    o o o The left-of center Mother Jones magazine recently posted this: Map: The Nuclear Bombs in Your Backyard. This map helps to confirm that the portions of The American Redoubt that are upwind (West) of Montana’s missile fields are …

I was recently chided by a fellow blogger, for encouraging people to relocate to a lightly-populated region in the western United States. He mischaracterized my retreat locale recommendations by referring to me as “…some novelist living in Idaho who has completely discounted every state east of the Mississippi as unfit for survival.”  For the record, I have never called the eastern states “unfit for survival”, but I have concluded that one’s statistical chances of surviving a grid-down collapse will be better in regions where the population density is low. I did not include any eastern states in my rankings of …

Jeff M. sent us the link to this article with a nifty accompanying video about re-purposed missile silos: Condo at the End of the World.    o o o I heard that Freeze Dry Guy has acquired the entire U. S. Government contract overrun of Long Range Patrol / Cold Weather Ration entrees for 2011. Don’t miss out on this extraordinary deal!    o o o Brad S. suggested this great video: Unconventional Warfare Strategies – Negotiation Skills 101    o o o J.B.G. sent this: Thieves leave deputies riding on the rims    o o o The mainstreaming of …

F.J. suggested this piece at LifeHacker: Build a Mini-Metal Lathe from Broken Power Tools    o o o Here is a review in The New American magazine: James Wesley Rawles’ New Book: “Survivors”    o o o F.J.R. spotted this over at Instructables: Easy Dual Fuel Furnace Burner    o o o I heard that Ready Made Resources now offers a Home Blood Typing Kit, with free shipping. This kit shows both O, A, B, AB and + or – RH. If any members of your family haven’t become blood donors and thus determined their blood type, then it is …

Ttabs has done it again with another great ultralight low-altitude flying video, over the north end of the Palouse Hills region, in eastern Washington. Be sure to watch all of it. He jumps a band of mule deer, near the end.    o o o Dr. Bob recently wrote and posted a detailed series of article on vitamins. (Dr. Bob is is one of the few consulting physicians in the U.S. who dispenses antibiotics for disaster preparedness as part of his normal scope of practice. His web site is: SurvivingHealthy.com.)    o o o The Ryans over at Total Survivalist …

Imbedded-For-Life journalist Michael Yon had some great comments on lights and night vision gear. (BTW, if there was ever a journalist worthy of contributions, it is Michael Yon. He does take PayPal donations. Michael is one of my heroes.)    o o o For anyone considering a retreat in northern Michigan, I just heard about Houseworth Realty, in Alanson, Michigan. Doug Houseworth is a realtor that understands the special requirements of retreat properties.    o o o Finally, after two+ years in limbo: ‘Red Dawn‘ remake to come out next year from FilmDistrict. It looks like it will be released …

G.R. in Texas was the first of several readers to mention this product from Australia: Dentist In A Box    o o o Not so fast–we’re furious. Fast and Furious: NRA to Launch National Campaign Calling For Holder’s Resignation    o o o K.A.F. sent this from The Washington Times: Feds concerned about hackers opening prison doors    o o o F.G. sent this: New book details starvation during the siege of Leningrad    o o o Tempers flare over six days of Connecticut power outages. (Thanks to J.B.G. for the link.)

G.G. flagged this: Five days later 435,000 still remain without power in Connecticut    o o o When seconds count, the police are only 30 minutes away (in downtown Detroit):  DDOT Drivers Refuse To Work: ‘They’re Scared For Their Lives’. Thanks to Todd G. for the link.    o o o Just a few preps would have meant the difference between life and death: Couple Found Dead Two Hours Before Power Restored. (Thanks to C.Z. for the link.)    o o o Largest Sunspot in Years Observed on the Sun. (Thanks to Bret S. for the link.) And speaking of …