Thursday, January 21, 2016

WHAT IS MINIMALISM?

So what is this minimalism thing? It’s quite simple: to be a minimalist you must live with less than 100 things, you can’t own a car or a home or a television, you can’t have a career, you must live in exotic hard-to-pronounce places all over the world, you must start a blog, you can’t have children, and you must be a young white male from a privileged background.

OK, we’re joking—obviously. But people who dismiss minimalism as some sort of fad usually mention any of the above “restrictions” as to why they could “never be a minimalist.” Minimalism isn’t about any of those things, but it can help you accomplish them. If you desire to live with fewer material possessions, or not own a car or a television, or travel all over the world, then minimalism can lend a hand. But that’s not the point.

Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from worry. Freedom from overwhelm. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from depression. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around. Real freedom.

That doesn’t mean there’s anything inherently wrong with owning material possessions. Today’s problem seems to be the meaning we assign to our stuff: we tend to give too much meaning to our things, often forsaking our health, our relationships, our passions, our personal growth, and our desire to contribute beyond ourselves. Want to own a car or a house? Great, have at it! Want to raise a family and have a career? If these things are important to you, then that’s wonderful. Minimalism simply allows you to make these decisions more consciously, more deliberately.

There are plenty of successful minimalists who lead appreciably different lives. Our friend Leo Babauta has a wife and six children. Joshua Becker has a career he enjoys, a family he loves, and a house and a car in suburbia. Conversely, Colin Wright owns 51 things and travels all over the world, and Tammy Strobel and her husband live in a “tiny house” and are completely car-free. Even though each of these people are different, they all share two things in common: they are minimalists, and minimalism has allowed them to pursue purpose-driven lives.

But how can these people be so different and yet still be minimalists? That brings us back to our original question: What is minimalism? If we had to sum it up in a single sentence, we would say, Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.

Minimalism has helped us…

Eliminate our discontent
Reclaim our time
Live in the moment
Pursue our passions
Discover our missions
Experience real freedom
Create more, consume less
Focus on our health
Grow as individuals
Contribute beyond ourselves
Rid ourselves of excess stuff
Discover purpose in our lives

By incorporating minimalism into our lives, we’ve finally been able to find lasting happiness—and that’s what we’re all looking for, isn’t it? We all want to be happy. Minimalists search for happiness not through things, but through life itself; thus, it’s up to you to determine what is necessary and what is superfluous in your life.

Through our essays we intend to present to you ideas of how to achieve a minimalist lifestyle without adhering to a strict code or an arbitrary set of rules. A word of warning, though: it isn’t easy to take the first steps, but your journey towards minimalism gets much easier—and more rewarding—the further you go. The first steps often take radical changes in your mindset, actions, and habits. Fret not, though—we want to help: we’ve documented our experiences so you can learn from our failures and successes, applying what we’ve learned to your own situation, assisting you in leading a more meaningful life.

This is just our take on minimalism. For more, read our minimalism elevator pitch, as well as some of our friends’ explanations of minimalism:

Leo Babauta’s Description of Minimalism

Joshua Becker’s Benefits of Minimalism

Courtney Carver’s 25 Reasons You Might Be a Minimalist

Colin Wright’s Minimalism Explained

Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.

Full > http://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

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Homemade Booby Traps

*This entire post was pulled from the internet and I have nothing to do with creating the original post. NDJ

A survivalist homemade booby trap is a device intended to automatically detect, scare, injure or kill. To protect your homestead from unsuspecting threats.

For our purposes, a threat is anyone trying to enter our property or homes without your permission. Thieves, bandits, gangs, etc.

During times of normalcy, it’s essential to keep the booby traps to the non-lethal, non-threatening sort. Simple alarm trip wires and such.

Yet, when SHTF…all bets are off…

So we will first cover 2 alert based traps. Then several outdoor homemade booby traps and finally share a few home entrance booby traps.

Remember: In order for any of these booby traps to work, they must be discreet and out of site of its intended victim.

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Alarm Trip Wires and Booby Traps

Your current focus should be on traps that alert you to intruders. Traps that allow you to either hide, fight or get away.

The Horn Trip Wire Booby Trap

First up is a foghorn alarm trip wire. This is a perfect setup to detect if anyone is attempting to sneak onto your property.

The Explosive Trip Wire Booby Trap

Next up is another alarm based booby trap but uses explosives to create both noise and a flash.

Homemade Booby Traps: How To Protect Your Family

By SS Contributor 4 Comments

4.80/5 (96.00%) 15votes

A survivalist homemade booby trap is a device intended to automatically detect, scare, injure or kill. To protect your homestead from unsuspecting threats.

For our purposes, a threat is anyone trying to enter our property or homes without your permission. Thieves, bandits, gangs, etc.

During times of normalcy, it’s essential to keep the booby traps to the non-lethal, non-threatening sort. Simple alarm trip wires and such.

Yet, when SHTF…all bets are off…

So we will first cover 2 alert based traps. Then several outdoor homemade booby traps and finally share a few home entrance booby traps.

Remember: In order for any of these booby traps to work, they must be discreet and out of site of its intended victim.

Alarm Trip Wires and Booby Traps

Your current focus should be on traps that alert you to intruders. Traps that allow you to either hide, fight or get away.

The Horn Trip Wire Booby Trap

First up is a foghorn alarm trip wire. This is a perfect setup to detect if anyone is attempting to sneak onto your property.

The Explosive Trip Wire Booby Trap

Next up is another alarm based booby trap but uses explosives to create both noise and a flash.

Both of these are excellent devices to alert you to a potential threat.

Half the battle to defending your home is to be aware of when a threat is present.

One of the biggest challenges to SHTF home defense is getting sound sleep. This is no easy task with the constant threat of ambush.

Placing these tripwires around your property will allow you some much-needed sleep. Because you can count on them to wake you at the first indication of a trespasser.

Now that you’ve got your alarm booby traps set…it’s time to plan some more traps.

Note: Setting up any of the following traps in and around your home is highly illegal. These examples are for illustrative purposes ONLY to prepare you for SHTF.

Property Booby Traps

The Swinging Log Trap

This booby trap is ideal if you have some property with trees to work with. You should channel all threats into a single location (using tall fences, bushes, etc) then add this trap at that location.

The Spring Spear Trap

This booby trap one can be hidden in a lot of locations on your property. It can be made much larger if so desired. Obviously, a larger device would create more damage and harm.

The Rock Swing with Spikes Booby Trap

This device is simple to make and can be effective.

Hang this booby trap high up with a trip wire trigger. This device will fall with speed and injury anybody in its path.

Even if it doesn’t hit its intended target, it would be an excellent deterrent. Why? Because when someone sees this booby trap swing past them they will think twice about continuing.

The Log Swing With Spikes Trap

Similar to the previous one but even more lethal. The wider the log, the less chance of missing the intended target.

The Spike Pit Booby Traps

Hidden pits can be dug in strategic locations on your property. These can be either big or small.

Smaller pits would injure feet when stepped in while larger ones could be deadly.

Home Defense Booby Traps

If it’s truly SHTF and an intruder continues past the alarm trips wires. If he makes it past your property based booby traps. Then you might want to have a few traps set up on all your home entrances.

The Simple But Effect Nail Spikes

These simple to make burglar traps can be used at just about every entrance location. These work best if they are hidden and can be set up on front porches or outside beneath lower level windows.

The Unsuspecting Upside Down Rake Easy Booby Trap

Everyone’s heard of this “gag” and it might seem a bit silly. Yet, if you’ve ever actually stepped on an upside-down rake then you know how much damage it can do.

Place a few of these easy booby traps in likely travel locations and you might just knock someone out cold.

Front (or back) door home booby traps are set up to cause harm to one trying to enter without permission. These traps can be designed to have something fall on their heads or a triggering a device upon opening the door.

Electrocution Window Sills and Door Knobs

Using some large batteries and some wire you can electrically charge anything metal.

If you set this booby trap up correctly, then anyone who grabs the door knob or metal window sill will get a nice shock.

The more electrical juice, the bigger the shock.

Here’s a video of this concept done as a prank, but its application for home defense purposes is legit.

Main Entrance Homemade Booby Traps

The Chemical Bucket Drop

This one is and easy booby trap but effective.

Use a bucket (or old paint can) and add some nasty chemicals to it. Then locate this can above the door with a wire tied to the can. When the door opens, the can tips and the chemicals fall onto the intruder.

The Shot Gun Booby Trap

The trigger of a shotgun is rigged to the action of a door opening.

The shotgun must be mounted securely for this to work. This is an extremely illegal and deadly booby trap. It’s not something you should set up under normal circumstances.

I think I'll leave it right here. Full > http://www.skilledsurvival.com/homemade-booby-traps-protect-home/

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy

Everyday technology and the internet are part of our lives. Whether you are driving down the road follwing a Nav application, purchasing a gift online or booking your next vacation. Your online presence and your mobile devices can leave you vulnerable. October is Cyber Awareness Month, the government of Canada has produced a list of the 10 Steps to Protect Your Online Identity . Here is a summary of their article.

Protect Your Identity

Good strong passwords are your best first line of defense. Remember to use a combination of upper and lower case, numbers and special characters.

Turn on Your Firewall

Unfortunately, hackers will always be around with way too much time on their hands to cause grief to the general public. A firewall will provide your Internet connection with a gatekeeper. It will help to stop malicious attacks and viruses from entering your devices.

Use Antivirus Software

Antivirus software provides a further level of protection. Remember anti-virus software needs to be updated often so the virus protection code remains current.

Block Spyware Attacts

Spyware software can sit on your computer collecting sensitive information without your knowledge. Use spyware software to block access also remember to keep it up-to-date.

Install the Latest Operating System Updates

Keep the operating system software (like Windows) at a current level. You want to implement Windows Updates on a monthly basis.

Back Up Your Files

It is a very good idea to have a current back up of the data on your device. Some external drives will automatically do this for you. You can also use the cloud to back up your desktop as well as mobile device data.

Protect Your Wireless Network

May sure all wireless networks you access have strong passwords.

Delete Emails From Unknown Sender’s

Beware of emails from strangers. Don’t open them or any attachments. It is important to even be cautious of emails from known senders.

Surf the Web Safely

Be very careful of sharing personal information. Make sure the page you are using is secure before you enter sensitive information. The URL of a secure website page will start with the characters https:// versus http:// .

Get Expert Help

If you suspect an online theft or scam, report it to your local law enforcement agency as soon as possible.

Manage Your Identity

Every time we log onto the web we access (and add to) our own personal digital footprint that’s interconnected with plug-ins, links, and massive caches of personal data that follows us around.

Learn About Your Digital Identity

While none of us can control everything that’s known about us online, there are steps we can take to better understand our online identities and be empowered to share what we want, when we want.

The Internet Society developed three interactive tutorials to help educate and inform anyone who would like to find out more.

Each lasts about 5 minutes and will give a great foundation when it comes to making informed choices about our unique online identities.

Watch The Tutorials

Tutorial 1: ONLINE IDENTITY - AN OVERVIEW	Tutorial 2: PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY	Tutorial 3: PROTECTING YOUR IDENTITY

This tutorial will explain some of the key differences between your online and "real life" identity, recognize the nature of digital identities, and understand the difference between online identity and personal privacy. Watch the tutorial now.	This tutorial will explain the key concerns related to online identity and privacy, recognize what kind of user information is collected and why, identify the ways of controlling the privacy of your online identity. Watch the tutorial now.	This tutorial will explain the challenges in protecting online identities and help you recognize the ways you can protect your online identity. Watch the tutorial now.

Other language versions:

Monday, January 18, 2016

Richest 62 people as wealthy as half of world's population, says Oxfam

Charity says only higher wages, crackdown on tax dodging and higher investment in public services can stop divide widening.

Video > http://tinyurl.com/hz3n7f2

The vast and growing gap between rich and poor has been laid bare in a new Oxfam report showing that the 62 richest billionaires own as much wealth as the poorer half of the world’s population.

Timed to coincide with this week’s gathering of many of the super-rich at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, the report calls for urgent action to deal with a trend showing that 1% of people own more wealth than the other 99% combined.

Oxfam said that the wealth of the poorest 50% dropped by 41% between 2010 and 2015, despite an increase in the global population of 400m. In the same period, the wealth of the richest 62 people increased by $500bn (£350bn) to $1.76tn.

The charity said that, in 2010, the 388 richest people owned the same wealth as the poorest 50%. This dropped to 80 in 2014 before falling again in 2015.

Mark Goldring, the Oxfam GB chief executive, said: “It is simply unacceptable that the poorest half of the world population owns no more than a small group of the global super-rich – so few, you could fit them all on a single coach.

“World leaders’ concern about the escalating inequality crisis has so far not translated into concrete action to ensure that those at the bottom get their fair share of economic growth. In a world where one in nine people go to bed hungry every night, we cannot afford to carry on giving the richest an ever bigger slice of the cake.”

Leading figures from Pope Francis to Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, have called for action to reverse the trend in inequality, but Oxfam said words had not been translated into action. Its prediction that the richest 1% would own the same wealth as the poorest 50% by 2016 had come true a year earlier than expected.

The World Economic Forum in Davos comes amid fears that the turmoil in financial markets since the turn of the year may herald the start of a new phase to the global crisis that began eight years ago – this time originating in the less-developed emerging countries.

Oxfam said a three-pronged approach was needed: a crackdown on tax dodging; higher investment in public services; and higher wages for the low paid. It said a priority should be to close down tax havens, increasingly used by rich individuals and companies to avoid paying tax and which had deprived governments of the resources needed to tackle poverty and inequality.

Three years ago, David Cameron told the WEF that the UK would spearhead a global effort to end aggressive tax avoidance in the UK and in poor countries, but Oxfam said promised measures to increase transparency in British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, such as the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands, had not been implemented.

Goldring said: “We need to end the era of tax havens which has allowed rich individuals and multinational companies to avoid their responsibilities to society by hiding ever increasing amounts of money offshore.

“Tackling the veil of secrecy surrounding the UK’s network of tax havens would be a big step towards ending extreme inequality. Three years after he made his promise to make tax dodgers ‘wake up and smell the coffee’, it is time for David Cameron to deliver.”

Oxfam cited estimates that rich individuals have placed a total of $7.6tn in offshore accounts, adding that if tax were paid on the income that this wealth generates, an extra $190bn would be available to governments every year.

The charity said as much as 30% of all African financial wealth was thought to be held offshore. The estimated loss of $14bn in tax revenues would be enough to pay for healthcare for mothers and children that could save 4 million children’s lives a year and employ enough teachers to get every African child into school.

Oxfam said it intended to challenge the executives of multi-national corporations in Davos on their tax policies. It said nine out of 10 WEF corporate partners had a presence in at least one tax haven and it was estimated that tax dodging by multinational corporations costs developing countries at least $100bn every year. Corporate investment in tax havens almost quadrupled between 2000 and 2014.

The Equality Trust, which campaigns against inequality in the UK, said Britain’s 100 richest families had increased their wealth by at least £57bn since 2010, a period in which average incomes declined.

Duncan Exley, the trust’s director, said: “Inequality, both globally but also in the UK, is now at staggering levels. We know that such a vast gap between the richest and the rest of us is bad for our economy and society. We now need our politicians to wake up and address this dangerous concentration of wealth and power in the hands of so few.”

Complete > http://tinyurl.com/hz3n7f2