Dear James:
During the major winter storm here in Texas in January we experienced many hours without electricity. The power outages were caused by rolling blackouts and also by storm related damage. Our family made the decision to use the situation as an opportunity to “see what it would be like”.
One major thing that we noticed that we were totally un-prepared for was the loss of the Internet. We quickly discovered how many times a day we use the Internet as a source of reference and information. Our thoughts were previously about e-mail and news updates. Those we could do without, what made the difference was the loss of being able to reference information, solve problems, and answer questions.
Your blog is a major reference source for our family. The archives of information are used daily to answer questions and provide valuable information. Without electricity, we were without Internet, and without Internet we were without our info references.
Our family got an Apple iPad for Christmas and we are amazed at what can be done with this small piece of electronics. It can run up to 12 hours between charges. Millions of people in this country have purchased the iPad and similar electronic “notebooks” since their introduction.
How about using some technology to provide preppers with info when the SHTF. Is there someway that you can make the archives available so they can be downloaded to iPad or similar notebook and be available to folks even if the grid is down and internet is not working or available? All the great store of information would be available at any time. Please consider someway that this information and service can be provided so that folks can have it on hand for immediate reference at any time.
Also, I wonder if you have any update on Anchor of Hope and what is going on with the Memsahib Memorial Fund?
Thanks, – Bryan E.
JWR Replies: A five-year compendium archive of SurvivalBlog on CD-ROM (in both HTML and PDF) optimized for laptops and iPads is now available on CD-ROM, for $19.95. Using a Mac with a CD-ROM drive, the entire contents can be loaded onto an iPad. There is also a Kindle-optimized archive of SurvivalBlog.com Archives 2005-2010 is also available for $9, via the Amazon.com store.
I’m pleased to report that the Memsahib Memorial Fund has thusfar raised more than $35,000 for the Anchor Institute mission and school in very rural Zambia. It is an outstanding charity, because it has hardly any overhead, and the recipients are very deserving. With enough funds, one future project there will be the installation of a photovoltaic power system.