The Prepared

The Prepared is weekly newsletter which has had some great engineering content. Last week there was an interview about the trials of making a folding bicycle wheel. I've been a follower for a long time but haven't been able to allocate funds for their paid Slack channel. Site: https://theprepared.org

Not op, but The Prepared is great if you have any interest in manufacturing, supply chains, and modern infrastructure. https://theprepared.org/

The Orbital Index [https://orbitalindex.com] for space related stuff. The Prepared [https://theprepared.org/] for engineering discussions. The Convivial Society [https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com] for discussions about technology and societies intersections, and the good life, with a focus on the works of Ivan Illich.

I've become more relaxed recently, but here's the less crazy resources I used: * https://archive.ph/Dt5rs which is now released in a book https://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/prep/ * https://theprepared.com/ which is still a bit crazy

Thanks for the love! <3 I took a bunch of the suggestions in this thread + a few of my own and compiled a tagged database here: https://theprepared.org/mx-record

The Prepared - Fascinating bits on manufacturing and logistics - https://theprepared.org Glimpse - Explores why certain trends are growing - https://meetglimpse.com Super Organizers - New ways of thinking about productivity - https://superorganizers.substack.com

The Prepared, by Spencer Wright. Weekly email digest of really interesting things from the world of engineering and manufacturing. https://theprepared.org/

Generally good advice but especially relevant here: pack a “bug out bag” which has everything you need if you need to leave at a moment’s notice. Here’s the guide I’ve followed: https://theprepared.com/guides/emergency-preparedness-checklist-preppi…

I'm an exited valley founder who just launched an emergency preparedness site for the rational crowd: https://theprepared.com Have been prepping in the SF / startup community for almost 10 years and teaching other techies how to prep for a long time, but historically was face to face because of stigma, etc. We started The Prepared because prepping is very rational and it's gone mainstream enough to have threads like this on HN. Beginners checklist here: https://theprepared.com/guides/emergency-preparedness-checklist-preppi… Post on reasons why liberals should be preppers: https://theprepared.com/blog/five-reasons-why-liberals-should-be-prepp… Happy to help anyone in their journey. (long time personal HN members but this is a new account)

How about some books about retro computing. Simple computing might be the only thing you'll have after a solar/EMP event. "The Art of Electronics" "ARRL Handbook" "Digital Logic and Computer Design" but you might want these in paper format. The various PDF specs, so that you can construct a PDF viewer if you have to for your other books. A simpler Linux (source/(cross)compiler/tool-chain) everything that you need to bootstrap a new system. All your favorite apps + source like a PDF/Epub viewers. https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ Maybe CPU gets destroyed and all you got left are bulkier Micro-controllers. http://collapseos.org/ Programming languages code/specs for things like ASM/Forth/C/Lisp/Scheme (Python, please let Python survive ;) I would opt for a curated list of books, quality over quantity. Survival + Prepper books could also come in handy. https://theprepared.com/prepping-basics/reviews/best-prepper-survival-… There is also other organizations that compile lists, but I cannot quickly find them now. Hope you find it helpful.

What is the best type of radio, or best type of radios, to have in the event of a protracted, possibly nuclear conflict? Ready.gov suggests a hand crank or NOAA weather radio. Specifically, I suppose some good goals would be: 1. Receive instructions from any functioning local or state government. This would require that the local government know which type of radio the populace is likely to be listening on, which gives an advantage to FM or weather radios. 2. Communicate with other regional survivors. 3. Global news, for which shortwave would be indispensable. Maybe multiple radios that can receive on different frequencies would be best? I really know very little about this topic other than basic physical signal characteristics. Edit: I don't "prep," but I occasionally browse this website when doomscrolling, which has a few suggestions: https://theprepared.com/gear/reviews/emergency-radio/

>Is your comment supporting the idea that Joan of Arc did not exist? I think someone may have, but a lot of the accounts of her were likely patriotism. From what I've read people from Domremy didn't much care for the French so why would she go to war for them for example. There are several historical figures that are likely largely inflated like Shakespeare, Fulk FizWarin (Robinhood), William Tel, Sun Tzu, Faust (appears there were two different guys operating a decade or two apart going by the name), Pythagoras, Lycurgus, (obviously) Socrates. Then you have famous 'things' like the 'Marie Celeste' which didn't exist although the 'Mary Celeste' did and stories about both are widely accepted as largely incorrect. Some of the first blatant, and widely accepted, 'fake news' was in the 1800's with the Great Moon Hoax https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Great_Moon_Hoax , Joseph Pulitzer basically started the Spanish-American War with 'news'. You also have the whole what is taught in North Korea thing, this article is a neat read https://theprepared.com/blog/prepping-north-korea-i-went-there-to-find…

Watch out for acute malnutrition. "Rabbit starvation: Why you can die even with a stomach full of lean meat": https://theprepared.com/blog/rabbit-starvation-why-you-can-die-even-wi… https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_toxicity

Are many buildings ever really finished? I don't think people go to the Sagrada Familia because it is under construction. In fact I think more visitors would prefer more access with less equipment around. 150 years isn't really that long for a cathedral, this good article starts with the fact that the Bristol Cathedral took nearly 700 years to finish! https://theprepared.org/features-feed/2019/4/28/building-a-cathedral

If they had even a 10th of the organisation of Montreal they wouldn't have such problems. They're relying on the wrong tools. https://theprepared.org/features-feed/montreal-snow And this article makes it seem like a huge investment, but in reality these workers do other jobs most of the year, in construction, roadworks, gardening, waste management, etc. It really seems like NY are wedded to their old ways -- something that was a sensible reuse of an asset (garbage trucks) has solidified into the only possible way to do it. It might be bureaucracy and unions, unimaginative leadership, or inability to allocate the cost due to politics, but it isn't technical.

This is interesting. The Walter Segal self-build method is another approach that aims to use common materials (lumber, plywood, insulation) with little cutting so as to reduce labor and allow for later disassembly+reuse. https://theprepared.org/features-feed/segal-method With many of these less common methods it's more work to show safety, code compliance, etc. For example the Segal method doesn't really allow for modern levels of air sealing and insulation.

no, it's just that particular shrine... Ise Shrine. https://theprepared.org/features-feed/ise-jingu-and-the-pyramid-of-ena… 80,000 is number of shrine in the entire region.

> The public health agency’s previous estimate that the rapidly spreading variant accounted for 73.2 percent of cases nationwide on Dec. 18 is now revised down to 22.5 percent CDC estimates: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions Original discussion from 73.2 estimate: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29633002 Article that predicted this would happen: https://theprepared.com/blog/73-of-covid-cases-arent-omicron-yet/

Counterpoint: https://theprepared.com/blog/73-of-covid-cases-arent-omicron-yet/

https://theprepared.org/newsletter-archive/2021-09-27 A post about cellophane would be perfect for this audience :)

Seems like this has happened before? https://theprepared.com/blog/hackers-infiltrated-a-florida-water-treat…

Can I ask for a favor? Can you look at this old withdraw preprint of 2020? https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.30.927871v1.full.pdf (HN discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22204866 ) Rebuttal?: https://theprepared.com/blog/no-the-2019-ncov-genome-doesnt-actually-s… (Tiny HN discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22211992 ) My question is about Figure 2, where they show the insertions of Covid-19 compare with other variants. Why do they have more coincidences than in the figure 1 of the OP? I don't think that the old article is correct. I'm just curios because I see the tables in the old preprint and the sequences look similar, but in the new paper they don't look similar at all.

There was an article about that recently, focusing on St John the Divine in NYC (which has also been under construction for more than 100 years)[0]. The argument is basically that since, by their nature, cathedrals can be functional before their construction is complete, having a long-running construction process allows the design to be more responsive to the populace's changing needs. Also, in a world where leaders lived and died based on the approval of a centralized papal authority, it's just good politics to be known as "that city that's constantly been building that huge cathedral". [0] https://theprepared.org/features/2019/4/28/building-a-cathedral

A good COVID-19 preparedness guide that is regularly updated and aimed at the general population: https://theprepared.com/wuhan-coronavirus/

I really enjoy The Prepared (https://theprepared.org/newsletter) It is a newsletter broadly about engineering and manufacturing.

The scientific claims of this preprint are almost certainly false. https://theprepared.com/blog/no-the-2019-ncov-genome-doesnt-actually-s…

(author) I agree that paracord, knives, and guns shouldn't be a high priority. I listed storing extra water (~15gal/person), food (buy extra non-perishables and rotate through them), and daily medications, and linked to https://theprepared.com/prepping-basics/guides/emergency-preparedness-… ; do you think that's a reasonable starting point?

Encoding time + file size for uploads. It's definitely something we're interested in though. Check out ScriptSync too - http://www.avid.com/products/media-composer-scriptsync-option I also talked about this project in depth on Spencer Wright's podcast - https://theprepared.org/podcast-feed/2017/10/15/craig-cannon-y-combina…

I think that's reasonable, plus it is a fun subject. For a totally accessible answer this article is hard to beat IMO: https://theprepared.com/blog/booby-trap-laws/ It gets to the core issue, which is that the laws as written are pretty vague, but the jurisprudence is overwhelmingly in favor of siding against booby traps. It's illegal at the federal level, and as far as I'm aware prohibited by all states as well, either explicitly or more usually through precedent in court. The reasoning of the courts seems to be more or less identical: it's a dangerous destructive device incapable of making the sort of prudent judgement required for a use of force. In short, it's an irresponsible and indiscriminate use of force. Now you asked about Illinois in particular, so here's the relevant statute there: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=072000050HArt%…

This is only one half of what actually happens while navigating; you have true north and magnetic north - see https://theprepared.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Magnetic-North-Pole… to visualise. The difference between them depends on where you are on the globe - it could even be 180 if you happen to stand in the middle of the two! Magnetic compasses always point to magnetic north, but with earth being molten metals - magnetic north likes to move around a bit, so we work out the difference between the two and apply it to the directions we track. For example, where I am - the difference is around 11 degrees. In order to head directly west, I can't just let my compass point north and go directly perpendicular port - I have to point north plus 11 degrees, and then go. My actual track will be 281 degrees magnetic, not 270. What's more interesting is that most navigation charts have all their directions and bearings in "true" north, with the variance also charted, whereas when you actually fly you track the magnetic headings plus/minus the variance. If you go long enough - the variance also changes so you have to take that into account when planning your route. When you take off / land, runway headings directly corresponding to your heading are a good sanity check - alarm bells go off if you're meant to be flying west but come across Runway 09 in front of you (the opposite!), not to mention we still rely on magnetic compasses - you don't want to be coming into land at a…