Reducing the Breadcrumbs Produced By Your Digital Life, by P.L.

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None of us want to unknowingly share personal information, but it’s happening everyday if you browse the web, use email, or have a mobile phone. You could decide “I’m going off the grid!”. That’s great if you can, but it’s not practical for 99% of us.

The Breadcrumbs

So, how might you go about reducing the breadcrumbs produced by your digital life?

ProtonMail

First, consider using ProtonMail for your personal email. There are no ads and no tracking. A basic account is free. I paid for the Plus account, since I wanted more features. I access ProtonMail on my iPhone using their app (instead of using Apple Mail or another mail app). I was using Google’s Gmail and the Gmail app on my iPhone.

Tor Web Browser

Consider using the Tor web browser instead of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, or anything similar. Tor is free. If not Tor, then consider using Firefox , which is also free. I was using Chrome and now use a combination of Tor and Firefox.

Configure Browser to Use DuckDuckGo

Consider configuring your web browser to use the DuckDuckGo search engine instead of Bing, Google, or Yahoo. It’s a weird name, but it is real. Look in Preferences or Settings for your web browser, search the Internet for the simple instructions, or ask a friend. I was using the Google search engine before.

iPhone

If you need a smart phone, then consider switching from Google’s Android to Apple’s iPhone. Apple makes money from the device, not from capturing and utilizing your breadcrumbs. I continue to use an iPhone. I’m not acting as an Apple fan boy here; I believe there are some deep “hooks” in the Android operating system that will continue to emit your breadcrumbs, even if you remove a bunch of the Android-provided apps.

Continue reading“Reducing the Breadcrumbs Produced By Your Digital Life, by P.L.”

Letter Re: Normalcy Bias

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Hugh,

According to Wikipedia, “The normalcy bias, or normality bias, is a belief people hold when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the likelihood of a disaster and its possible effects, because people believe that things will always function the way things normally have functioned.” It may refer to a disaster, but surely it has a cousin that causes people not to see or consider a “sea change” in technology and its impact on life and politics.

Impact of Computers on Life

Consider how people viewed the impact of computers on life, say 30 years ago. Few people thought computers would have any impact beyond the occasional absurd bill in the mail “some computer generated”.

I think we may be on the verge of another “sea change” in technology. It might be well to consider its impact, if it happens.

Compact Fusion Generator

Recently the Russians have bragged about a cruise missile with nuclear power and “unlimited range.” Absurd? Then consider that Lockheed Martin received patents in February 2018 for a “compact fusion generator” which would provide vast amounts of energy, based in large part on Russian Tokomak technology. Lockheed Martin is a company of proven technological superiority (from the U2 to the SR-71 and its rumored successor), and they are not given to making wild boasts. In 2014 they predicted a demonstration of this technology in five years. Then, last month they again stated a demonstration by late 2019.

Continue reading“Letter Re: Normalcy Bias”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”.

Another Gun Maker Bites the Dust

According to this article sent in by reader H.L., another company has caved to the SJWs on the left. Vista Outdoor, Inc (owner of Savage Arms and Stevens) has announced that they are seeking to divest themselves of the Arms manufacturing business. They supply a large percentage of outdoor recreational equipment (like bicycle helmets and CamelBak systems) to retailers such as Walmart and REI. In March, REI suspended all orders from the company in order to force its hand. My takeaway from this? I’m canceling my REI membership.

Pro-Gun Public School Walkout

Whatever happened to educating kids at school? While I see why students might want to organize a pro-Second Amendment walk-out in response to earlier anti-gun walkouts, I fail to see what this has to do with educating students. With the public schools failing on all fronts of education and America’s position in world education constantly slipping backwards, this is a travesty. You know that it won’t get the media coverage because the vast majority of media are anti-gun. If I had my child in public school, I wouldn’t let them walk out on either account. Get your kid out of public school while you can and get them into a system that will actually educate them like homeschool or private school.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.” – Samuel Adams

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – May 02, 2018

On May 2, 1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 76 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 76 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Never Think You Are Safe, by A.E.

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Back in 1986, I was living in a ground floor condo in a large complex where I thought I was safe. My apartment opened onto a grassy common area, which several buildings faced at differing angles, as it was not geometrical. While I was playing on my patio with my one year child, I heard a women yell “help me, somebody help me”. Unfortunately, her voice was faint and the buildings caused a slight echo, so I could not pinpoint the exact building or condo. As I searched the area, the voice abruptly stopped. Was she gagged? Beaten? It was not a prank. I called the police, who just did a cursory look, asked only a few questions, and then left. There was not much I could tell them. I wonder if a women died that day.

This experience taught me that the police are limited in their ability to prevent crimes. Maybe they don’t really care after being hardened by years of police work. Or maybe they cannot do more, frustrated by protocols, reports, superiors, or adverse news.

As I age, I fully understand the need for situational awareness and preparation. Below is a mental exercise or awareness process that we should consider doing every day.

Ask yourself some questions.

Continue reading“Never Think You Are Safe, by A.E.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on Silver Bargain Hunting.

 

Precious Metals (Silver Bargain Hunting):

If you are persistent, you can find some silver at bargain prices.  In my experience, the best places to go silver bargain hunting are:

1.) Garage and estate sales. Once in a while you will be more knowledgeable than the seller about the current value of silver or of particular coins.

2.) Gun shows. Look for a table where most of the merchandise is guns, but where there are a few silver coins in their display case, along with the seller’s pistols.  Often, if you have a gun to trade, you can swap it at a favorable rate, for silver, with such a dealer. Or the dealer might be looking to cash out his silver. Employ the classic: “And what’s my price if I buy it all?” gambit.

3.) Bank teller drawers. Ask at your local bank teller if they have any rolls of half dollars. You can find a surprising number of 40% silver half dollars available at face value. (50 cents per coin.) Coin Roll Hunting is time consuming, but usually worth the effort. I once had a kind teller sell me a U.S. Silver Eagle for $1. (Even though they are .999 silver they are still legal tender and marked “One Dollar.” So once in a while someone will deposit one without realizing their full value.) I don’t expect that to ever happen again!

4.) Pawn shops. Bring cash, and go chat up your local pawn broker. Start looking at his or her selection of 1 ounce .999 silver trade dollars. Many times, I’ve been able to buy silver at or near spot.  One good bargaining technique is to ask: “If I buy all of these rolls, including this roll of U.S. Mint Silver Eagles, can I have them all at the same price?”

5.) Coinstar machines. Check the reject bin each time you walk by a Coinstar machine. And be sure to get to know the store clerk who in charge of their Coinstar machine’s regular maintenance. Often times, they will have small bags of reject coins available for sale at face value. Many of these will be foreign coins or bent coins. But there will probably be some silver coins, to make it more than worthwhile!

 

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – May 01, 2018

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May 1st is the birthday of the late Joel Rosenberg, a Canadian-born novelist and gun rights advocate (born 1954, died June 2, 2011). He is not to be confused with Joel C. Rosenberg (born 1967), who is another great novelist and the author of The Last Jihad series.

o o o

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 76 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 76 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Staying Hidden Online, by Z.M.

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We’re being monitored, online. That’s nothing new though. We all know that. In a world that increasingly grows to rely upon technology, and where your individual data points can mean big money for some advertiser somewhere, it should come as no surprise that just about everything that we do online has been recorded and stored on some server somewhere.

I’ve grown quite alarmed over this the past few years, but I have never really known where to even start. I just thought “Incognito” mode on Chrome was enough to hide me from all that was happening. I was wrong. After doing quite a bit of research on the subject over the past few years, I’ve learned quite a bit that is not only beneficial but easy to use as well. Here are just a few of the many tips I’ve found that can help you to retain some level of anonymity while online. This is by no means a comprehensive list. There’s a ton of other things that you can do to protect your information online. However, this should give you a decent place to start.

Facebook

Facebook has gained quite a bit of notoriety of late for the amount of data it collects from each user. Not only does Facebook know what you post, like, and send messages about while using Facebook, but it can often discover more about you based on other sites you visit.

Trackers

Facebook adds trackers that will request information from other sites, even after you’ve already logged out of Facebook. These trackers will find out your geographic location, monitor which sites you visit, and what you click on while on those sites.

Continue reading“Staying Hidden Online, by Z.M.”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. The emphasis this week is on the Glacier Park snowpack, at the Continental Divide.

Region-Wide

The Bard of the Redoubt over at The Charles Carroll Society has started a new YouTube channel. You can subscribe to it here.) He has produced an interesting series of videos covering the situation in South Africa. And his video titled How to Defeat Active Jamming with Existing Equipment may be useful for both those facing farm attacks in South Africa and for preppers on this side of the pond.

Idaho

Owners of Boise homes destroyed by slide settle lawsuits

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Idaho governor hopefuls go on the attack as May 15 primary nears

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Redoubt News Idaho Primary Election Recommendations

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Rio de Janeiro provides an excellent example today of why vigilantes are frowned on.

War on Cash

Reader DB shared an email that that he received from Wells Fargo Bank with us that is truly disturbing. The bank has decided that they will no longer allow anyone who is not a signer on a bank account to deposit cash in that account. The person wishing to deposit money can transfer money or deposit a check, but not cash. In addition, anyone depositing cash must present a valid ID (which may include a Wells Fargo ATM or debit card). At least here, you can still purchase a Postal Money order using cash with no ID and they will accept that as a deposit.

Monitoring Gun Purchases

Reader P. shared this article that show how credit card companies are exploring ways to track and monitor gun purchases by applying a new classification code to the merchant that sells firearms. There is still ongoing discussion on how the new code would apply and to whom. For example, does Walmart have to have the new code or does it just apply to your local gun store. The WSJ reminds us that banks have at times, already blocked purchases that they deem risky and have stopped doing business altogether with politically unpalatable groups. Note that Citigroup is already restricting gun purchases to users who are over 21 years-old.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“I take a very balanced approach to prepping that is decidedly reason-based. Many people, after prepping for some time, begin to realize their preps are covered in the food and weapons arenas, but the ‘band-aids’ area looks lean. Select individuals realize that medical preparedness is decidedly less glitzy, but it is integral to a well-rounded plan for thriving during times of difficulty. My work fills that void for the average person, equipping him with the knowledge and the skills to thrive in times of difficulty and disaster alike.” – The Patriot Nurse

CRKT Minimalist, by Pat Cascio

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As the name implies, the CRKT Minimalist is a very small knife. There isn’t anything fancy about the design, but just wait until you hold one in your hand. We are reviewing one of the CRKT Minimalist this time around.

Little Knives

Long time SurvivalBlog.com readers will know that I’m just not very “big” on little knives. Yeah, they have their place in the knife line-up. However, I’ve always felt that bigger is better and can do more than any little knife can do. Well, I still stand by that statement, but there sure are exceptions to this rule of mine. Enter the Columbia Rive Knife & Tool Minimalist line-up. There are actually three different blade designs. I’m checking out their Bowie fixed blade knife this time around.

Minimalist Line By Alan Folts and CRKT

The Minimalist line was designed by custom knife maker Alan Folts of Melbourne, FL. He has been designing and building knives for over 20 years now. And as a part-time knife designer myself, I know how hard it is to design knives. As to making knives, I’m a lost cause. I just can’t make knives. However, I have several of my designs out there being made by a couple different knife companies. One is CRKT, which is producing my OC3 double-edge fighting knife. (This is a shameless plug!) I respect custom knife makers and designers, because I know the work that goes into producing a new design. And, let’s face facts, there are tens of thousands of knife designs on the market. So it takes some thinking and designing to come up with something new and different.

Continue reading“CRKT Minimalist, by Pat Cascio”