I suspect if your complaint is a list of "essential survival items" which includes "Electricity" and "iPod" (out of a total of 5 items), I think you're taking the joke a bit too seriously :P (so says a "tecno-weenie").
However, many of the commentors did point out the need for a quality boomstick.
Both the linked article and the list of 12 are a joke--but I don't think that was the intention behind the longer list. Not completely, anyway. Here's my take on the lists, just from the standpoint of usability, under any conditions.
* Multi-tool - Yup, they're handy
* Self-powered radio - Good idea, if the one you pick isn't chintzy
* XO Laptop - Overly-complex, inefficient waste of money that would probably break after a few minutes in New England weather; read some amateur radio books if you're interested in portable or emergency communication
* GSM-Based Cellphone - See above
* HDTV Antenna - There's probably $20 worth of usable scrap in one, and a nice Yagi might be handy for your improvised, portable transceiver; as far as HDTV is concerned, it's an irrelevant government mandate--what, you don't get all your movies and TV shows off the Internet?!
* Voltaic Backpack - Solar cells can be handy, but get one that's not sewn into a backpack; you might want to shield it inside a backpack, since the cells drop in efficiency so quickly
* USB Thumb Drive - Handy or worthless, depending on your access to a working computer with liberal user permissions
* Pocket Camcorder - Worthless
* Multi-Fuel Camp Stove - Excellent idea
* Water Filter Bottle - Very useful
* Bicycle - Invest in good boots, instead; not everyone can take a mountain bike up a rocky trail, but everyone can walk, and it's harder to steal someone's boots
* Portable Musical Instrument - Worthless, bulky and prone to breakage; a better idea would be to learn the mechanics behind building one--I trust we all remember what happened to Sir Robin's Minstrels?
Honestly, if these are the basics for being alone, then the authors are definitely urban.
I suspect if your complaint is a list of "essential survival items" which includes "Electricity" and "iPod" (out of a total of 5 items), I think you're taking the joke a bit too seriously :P (so says a "tecno-weenie").
ReplyDeleteHowever, many of the commentors did point out the need for a quality boomstick.
Both the linked article and the list of 12 are a joke--but I don't think that was the intention behind the longer list. Not completely, anyway. Here's my take on the lists, just from the standpoint of usability, under any conditions.
ReplyDelete* Multi-tool - Yup, they're handy
* Self-powered radio - Good idea, if the one you pick isn't chintzy
* XO Laptop - Overly-complex, inefficient waste of money that would probably break after a few minutes in New England weather; read some amateur radio books if you're interested in portable or emergency communication
* GSM-Based Cellphone - See above
* HDTV Antenna - There's probably $20 worth of usable scrap in one, and a nice Yagi might be handy for your improvised, portable transceiver; as far as HDTV is concerned, it's an irrelevant government mandate--what, you don't get all your movies and TV shows off the Internet?!
* Voltaic Backpack - Solar cells can be handy, but get one that's not sewn into a backpack; you might want to shield it inside a backpack, since the cells drop in efficiency so quickly
* USB Thumb Drive - Handy or worthless, depending on your access to a working computer with liberal user permissions
* Pocket Camcorder - Worthless
* Multi-Fuel Camp Stove - Excellent idea
* Water Filter Bottle - Very useful
* Bicycle - Invest in good boots, instead; not everyone can take a mountain bike up a rocky trail, but everyone can walk, and it's harder to steal someone's boots
* Portable Musical Instrument - Worthless, bulky and prone to breakage; a better idea would be to learn the mechanics behind building one--I trust we all remember what happened to Sir Robin's Minstrels?
Honestly, if these are the basics for being alone, then the authors are definitely urban.
The good news, plenty of ipods will be littering the streets, along with rotting corpses of fools, so no need to buy one.
ReplyDeleteBeer, ammo, and toilet paper.
ReplyDeleteCigarettes are always a valuable barter item.
ReplyDelete