Internet blackout contingency plans - Making sure Grug can still shitpost in the apocalypse.

[Sperg_rancher]

Carrington event

Carrington even would have never destroyed any cell phone modern or otherwise, much less "Anything that was not stored in a Faraday bag". That is, unless the phone happens to be plugged into the wall, and even then that's a good 'maybe'. It could barely power thousands of miles of telegraph lines.

Like I said, if there's ever a solar event that simply bricks "Anything that was not stored in a Faraday bag", electrionics are the least of your concern. Roads are melted, steel nails in houses are causing fires, and you're going to experience what it's like to be in a low-power microwave.
I really want to emphasize that one would need to create about 100V/cm in order to fry a modern cell phone. That's an insane amount of power. The entirety of our earth's magnetic field produces about 10V/cm (1kV/m). To put this power into perspective, it's about what you get when you're 50 feet in front of a large, active radar array. A radar array uses 30MW in the L-band, which is about 15% of the output of a medium size coal plant.

I think the bigger issue is the shutting down the internet aspect by various governments. I read years back about a phone app that allowed people to communicate via bluetooth with one another to prevent censorship, but it didnt seem to catch on.

Absolutely agree. I've heard of things like MeshTastic and LoRa for infrastructure-less communication. SaveItForParts made a MeshTastic video yesterday, and it does seem like a good tool to have just in case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR63PJxzdy8

 

[Rungle]

i got a big folder of printed threads in a warehouse in a secret location.
i shall release it, when it appropriate

 

[allthewaydowntotheballbag]

I know next to nothing about it, but data transmission is possible over radio.

There's a an open source app called "rattlegram" that's used to exchange short text messages over any analogue radio. It never really took off among hams, which is strange because it's easy to use and pretty reliable.

 

[Null]

I'm going to collect vinyl and get a shortwave radio when I can.

 

[Hey Johnny Bravo]

I'm going to collect vinyl and get a shortwave radio when I can.

Discogs is great for buying vinyls.

 

[Null]

Discogs is great for buying vinyls.

they ban albums I like

 

[Sperg_rancher]

It never really took off among hams

I'll tell you why. It's because HAMs are the most crotchety, faggoty, boot-licking hobbyists in the states, and in their infinite wisdom, likely thought it was encryption.

It's a very neat program tho. I'll look at the source later for sure.

 

[teriyakiburns]

CB has mostly been superseded by phones these days, but there's still people out there who use it. Get a cheap CB set and a big antenna. You avoid HAM autism and you can listen to truckers threatening to shank one another as they drive past.

I'm going to collect vinyl and get a shortwave radio when I can.

Discogs is great for buying vinyls.

I got an old, hand-cranked 78 player a while back (I think it might be haunted. Long story) and sperged about it to a few relatives and friends. People now periodically give me new shellacs for free because they know I have it and use it, even though they could probably get a fair few bob for them at a dealer or online. Most of them are shit or dupes, but i get the occasional wild one; I've got episodes of The Goon Show that nobody would dare listen to these days. Vinyl is not quite so niche as 78s, but just letting it be known you're interested in it will result in a growing supply of discs from people who don't know what they have, but know you'll take it. Some of them might even be good.

 

[cuddle striker]

I'm going to collect vinyl and get a shortwave radio when I can.

I've got books, a lot of books. a few kindles stashed away with even more books. mostly diy or project stuff I was working on at one time but also history, medical textbooks and studies, work related things.

small battery devices won't get fried. grid-tied and larger things, maybe, if the sun blows up.

the Internet itself being down isn't half as much a problem- keep some cash on hand. talk to your neighbors (those are the people that live next to you). plan to communicate in person. keep a land line if you think it'll help, it might. HAM is going to be useless unless you're already that kind of nerd, but a small handheld gmrs type radio might be enough to beg those guys to transmit a message longer distance.

I love prepper apocalypse thinking, mainly because I know what I'll end up having to do if Y2K attacks us with solar flare zombies.

I'll have to clean up the bodies from all these fat guys trying out their AR on each other in a panic.

Get you some skills. Learn to apply them. You won't need to be afraid of your End Times Fantasy then- it won't even feel like an exciting thing to think about though and you'll have to find a new hobby.

fast edit: books, cassette, vinyl are all good ideas. even an old TV that can run on battery power, and a small solar battery box with a panel. hook up the vcr and have a party.

 

[Hey Johnny Bravo]

they ban albums I like

Discogs allows you to buy and sell Skrewdriver albums. Do I even want to know what albums you're looking for?

If you tell me, I might be able to look around for you. Your choice, buddy.

I got an old, hand-cranked 78 player a while back (I think it might be haunted. Long story) and sperged about it to a few relatives and friends. People now periodically give me new shellacs for free because they know I have it and use it, even though they could probably get a fair few bob for them at a dealer or online. Most of them are shit or dupes, but i get the occasional wild one; I've got episodes of The Goon Show that nobody would dare listen to these days. Vinyl is not quite so niche as 78s, but just letting it be known you're interested in it will result in a growing supply of discs from people who don't know what they have, but know you'll take it. Some of them might even be good.

Those old players are a fucking pain in the ass to maintain. If you care to, I would buy up replacement parts now and store them properly.

 

[SpellforceFan]

they ban albums I like

Don't worry, you can get Johnny Rebel's vinyls on amazon.

 

[Sperg_rancher]

Don't worry, you can get Johnny Rebel's vinyls on amazon.

Would be a shame to not have the Uncle Ruckus feat. on vinyl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_KRJTBfCcs

 

[teriyakiburns]

Those old players are a fucking pain in the ass to maintain. If you care to, I would buy up replacement parts now and store them properly.

Always pays to be careful, I agree, and I have most of the parts I need to repair it. For what it's worth, it's an HMV grand studio cabinet, so it's high quality to start with. Outside is dinged up, but the mechanism has been in constant use for about 90 years and is still working fine. The most common reason they fail is because they aren't played for decades at a time. The clock spring sets and goes brittle, which isn't an issue if its regularly used. Spring steel is funny that way.

 

[Hey Johnny Bravo]

HMV grand studio cabinet

That is a fantastic get. That's all I'll say before I start sperging about shit not relevant to the thread.

 

[The Foxtrot]

keep a land line if you think it'll help, it might. HAM is going to be useless unless you're already that kind of nerd, but a small handheld gmrs type radio might be enough to beg those guys to transmit a message longer distance.

I'd recommend military surplus field telephones in this case. Just make sure you have the documentation and manuals for the model(s) you're using, they're in good condition and not missing parts, and that they can "talk" to each other once set up.

I'll have to clean up the bodies from all these fat guys trying out their AR on each other in a panic.

This is something I can't emphasize enough: GUYS, YOU ARE NOT #BADASSOPERATORS. Going out and trying to get in a gunfight is just an elaborate suicide. Escaping and evading or avoiding trouble altogether is infinitely better of an idea.

hook up the vcr and have a party.

Sadly, VHS tapes are degrading pretty quickly. They lose 10-20% of their signal in anywhere from 10-25 years. A VHS of The Terminator from 1991, even factory sealed and stored in a cool, dry place with no magnetic sources nearby, is going to be very degraded from how it would have looked in the 90s when it was new. And the more you watch/rewind the tapes, the faster they degrade.

You'd be better off keeping CDs and DVDs in a faraday cage.

 

[Badungus Kabungus]

You fellas ever hear of GhostNet?

https://github.com/s2underground/GhostNet

If you're not familiar with S2 Underground: https://www.youtube.com/@S2Underground

 

[Sperg_rancher]

You fellas ever hear of GhostNet?
https://github.com/s2underground/GhostNet

+1 for s2. He does some high-quality boogaloo shit. like stuff that really matters.

 

[cuddle striker]

I'd recommend military surplus field telephones in this case. Just make sure you have the documentation and manuals for the model(s) you're using, they're in good condition and not missing parts, and that they can "talk" to each other once set up.

This is something I can't emphasize enough: GUYS, YOU ARE NOT #BADASSOPERATORS. Going out and trying to get in a gunfight is just an elaborate suicide. Escaping and evading or avoiding trouble altogether is infinitely better of an idea.

Sadly, VHS tapes are degrading pretty quickly. They lose 10-20% of their signal in anywhere from 10-25 years. A VHS of The Terminator from 1991, even factory sealed and stored in a cool, dry place with no magnetic sources nearby, is going to be very degraded from how it would have looked in the 90s when it was new. And the more you watch/rewind the tapes, the faster they degrade.

You'd be better off keeping CDs and DVDs in a faraday cage.

good to know about VHS/cassette. no idea why they need protection though- the discs themselves wouldn't be hurt by nearly anything.

and I anticipate people getting into gun fights- a lot of the people who daydream about this kind of thing seem to look forward to suddenly being in an action movie. they do not realize they are not now and never will be a main character.

I'm not either, I'm just doing my job. at about 1:33 in this here video

https://youtu.be/lXna1a-806Q?si=I_7QfTFn9Jul-eMY

 

[The Foxtrot]

no idea why they need protection though- the discs themselves wouldn't be hurt by nearly anything.

Magnetic sources can damage the data on those discs, along with being stored improperly. An EMP would still fry whatever you stored on them. Also, make sure they're not cheaply-made discs, since those can actually come apart (delaminate?). I've seen that happen with old empty discs my dad had since 1999 or so, when I was a teenager.

and I anticipate people getting into gun fights- a lot of the people who daydream about this kind of thing seem to look forward to suddenly being in an action movie.

From larpers like what you see in ANTIFA to dumbass #Operator types who think they're going to relive their glory days of butchering civilians in Afghanistan, there'll be plenty of morons ready to get some more notches on their belt themselves killed by something really stupid and mundane. And I say this because, in a Crisis Situation, on the list of Shit That Will Kill You, "An Asshole Shot You!" is fairly low down on that list.
I'd be more worried about dying of thirst, starvation, or disease long before I'd worry about getting into a shootout.

they do not realize they are not now and never will be a main character.

Oh, we're all main characters. They just forget that God can retire your plotline at any time.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Magnetic sources can damage the data on those discs,

Optical media doesn't use magnetism to store its data. Any magnet powerful enough to cause damage to the metallic layer in a DVD or CD from even a moderate distance would also yank the rebar right out of a concrete slab. Any EMP powerful enough to inductively damage the metal layer in an optical disc would smelt the iron right out of your blood and boil your brain in your skull. Re-writable optical media uses light-sensitive chemicals to generate pits and lands, which also aren't going to be affected by an EMP simply because of the frequency differences. They do slowly degrade if left under bright light, but that's a separate issue.