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Condensing Your Life on to a USB Flash Drive?
Fear the Clam asks: "My wife and I figure that if we plan for the worst, it'll never happen, so we've been putting together 'If public transportation bites it and we have two minutes to grab our stuff and start walking, never to return to NYC' getaway knapsacks. With luck they'll live in the closet forever.
Coincidently, this morning the New York Times has an article about what to take when you have to leave home in a big hurry [DNA verification required], and they suggest making a list of all of things like Social Security and credit card numbers, scanning birth certificates, marriage license and tax returns, and saving it all on a USB flash drive. Since this would be a complete identity kit, encryption is of utmost importance. What's the best solution? A flash drive that claims to encrypt or a platform-independent, self-extracting, encrypted file on a regular drive? Any suggestions for sturdy drives?" Of course, the choice of USB flash drive covers only a part of the problem. What other data would you put on this piece of "contingency hardware", and how would you protect the drive itself in case you did have to "swim for it"?
My philosophy is that if DC is in such shape that I can never return, I really don't care about carrying around any personl data or very much anything else other than my life. We were having a discussion at work about whether our web backups could survive a nuclear attack... but if there's a nuclear attack, our website is the least of my concerns.
Most USB drives are pretty tough. I would make a copy or two and put it in a crush/water proof case like an Otterbox.
screw Social Security, they're going bankrupt anyway... on my emergency flash drive it's all about the pr0n.
I always swallow my USB identity drives
As far as encryption goes, for god's sake don't rely on anything the manufacturers ship. That stuff is meant to protect you from your average luser seeing files, not anybody who is honestly interested. Use Blowfish or Twofish for proper 2 way encryption.
Tatoo yourself in reeealy reealy little 1's and 0's. Tatoo your wife with the decryption key.
Would it not be better to simply keep a set of laminated copies of all those documents? In the case that you don't have access to a computer when you need it? There isn't always going to be a Kinko's or internet cafe nearby when you're in the midst of a terrorist attack or natural disaster the magnitude of which you are speaking.
feeling lonely? grab a balled up pillow for company
You could kill two birds with one stone, and get an iPod. That way you will not only have all of your important stuff, but you'll be able to groove to some sweet tunes while looting and pillaging.
Just watch out for people trying to "brute force" your wife.
Fujifilm. I just had one of those suckers go through the washing machine a while back. Still works.
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
That's why you should use the plausible deniability built into TrueCrypt. Giving the attacker the password to the outer volume (who has been robbed at knifepoint for a USB memory device? that'll be the day..), and they still still have no idea an entire volume of your real data is hiding in the noise that is the freespace of the aforementioned outer volume. the outer volume needs to be FAT and it can have innocuous stuff on there like fake financial documents.. Enjoy!
click here to incinerate homeless people
Here's what I can think of off the top of my head...
Social Security cards
Driver's licenses
Recent photos, head only and full body (clothed!)
Passports
Contact info of relatives, friends
Vehicle registration
Birth certificates
Wedding license
Property deeds
Will
Living will
Account and contact information: banks, credit cards, utilities, insurance (health, house, car), mortgages, loans
Edward Burr
Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.
It's for Windows only, but I stumbled upon TrueCrypt found at http://www.truecrypt.org/ and really like it. And it's not only useful for USB drives, but can be used to create encrypted logical drives on a Hard Drive. For the really paranoid, the documentation even covers lots of stealthy ways to use it so as not to be detected.
I'm certainly no expert at encryption, but it seems pretty solid. Basically, it creates an encrypted container file and then mounts it as a logical drive when you open the file through the app. I've seen commercial counterparts such as StealthDisk, and I think TrueCrypt's interface is easier to use and its execution is more solid.
It's OSS and free as in beer and as in speech.
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
because in the event of a "leave nyc forever" caliber event, you have no idea where the hell google's gmail servers are geographically. and then google has all your personal data. that seems like a pretty terrible idea from a security standpoint, even if it is encrypted. nothing's completely unbreakable. if you're leaving on foot, take paper copies of everything, tape it to your chests so your bodies could theoretically be ID'ed if you were to die (we're talking hyptohetically, lets go all the way) i'd be way more worreid about water purification, food, and the ability to cover enough ground on foot to get away form the disaster before you run out of food and water. if you're a typical person i don't htink you're going to be doing more then 20 miles a day with plenty of food, and that's being generous. do you have shelter? i'd suggest a water proof pack from granite gear that weighs 1.5 pounds without anything in it. that's what i'm brining when the shit hits the fan and we're all dead.
Mauve? You do realise this means changing the bulb
Waiting for an amusing sig.
If it's pure science fiction, then why does the U.S. MILSTAR/NESP communication system have an operation mode for just such a scenario?
This is called "scintillation", and is very real.
Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
When they interview many of the Katrina NOLA refugees, a common regret is that they've lost family pictures. At this point there is no reason not to start scanning paper-based photos in high-resolution. I've been pursuing a long term project of scanning documents, family photos, certificates and so on -- and making two sets of copies of the DVD archives. One set goes to a safe-deposit box and the other gets sent out of state to a relative in Ohio (I'm in Maryland). Each disk has a printed list of contents attached to it.
Apart from my wanting these images to survive, they are an important part of my children's and my extended family's legacy.
-- Gary Goldberg KA3ZYW 301/249-6501 AIM:OgGreeb Digital Marketing Inc., Bowie, MD
No, but Fujifilm does.
how would you protect the drive itself in case you did have to "swim for it"?
Which you should put in something commonly refered to as a "Baggie."
KFG
It is entirely focused on records. This is the information age, right? So we need our personal information to survive, right? As I've already posted the information might well turn out to be important, and you should make sure you have it, but if Katrina taught anybody anything it's that papers don't insure your survival. You can't eat your papers (although when things get really, really sticky you might be able to trade them for food).
.money. If you don't, more gorp. When push comes to shove people will trade you nearly anthing for food. Money weighs less than gorp though. If you have your choice don't stay civilized. Head for the woods. Cities are a barren desert when it comes to survival. The woods have everything you need to survive (these days even including manufactured items, more's the pity). Cities often do not. Cities are also full people. Being full of people stretches resources so they don't have things in 'em anymore. People are also nasty sumbitches who will hit you over the head and take your precious personal information, encrypted or not (they don't find out how well you encrypted your information until after they have hit you on the head).
What you really need in that pack:
A good, sturdy pocket knife. Not a Swiss Army jobber. A single blade, like are sold to hunters. Metal, not ceramic.
A metal spoon.
Cheap chopsticks.
Do not, literally upon pain of death, use any other utensils than these to prepare or eat your food if you can at all avoid it. Make it a religion to keep them clean and sanitary.
Strike anywhere matches in a waterproof safe.
A firestarting piston. Use this before you resort to using your matches. Learn how to use it before you leave home.
A personal water filter.
A bottle of alcohol. 190 proof vodka is 190% better than the stuff from the drugstore. Make it yourself if you have to. Learn about cold distilling if you want to take the long, but easy way.
A few ounces of honey is nice to have along, but this is the most dangerous stuff in the pack. Think hard about it before including it. You can eat it if you have to, but that's not what it's here for.
Aspirin.
Antihistimines.
Any other drugs you personally need to stay alive. If you really need Prozac or Valium to stay alive, plan on dying.
A homemade soda can stove.
A mini roll of duct tape.
5 pounds of gorp. If tightly rationed this well feed you for a week.
An "Emergency Blanket."
Ziploc Baggies (These last two items are the only survival gear of note invented in the 20th century).
A camelback water resevior recently filled with known good water.
100 feet of parachute cord. Learn how to tie knots before you need to.
Wool cloth. Two shirtweight peices 45"X 72". One heavier weight 60"X108". These are your clothes, your hammok, your chair, your carryall, your. . .
Learn how to use them as such before you need to. Do not be tempted to substitute cotton for wool to save money. The savings could kill you. Not in a pleasant way either.
Two pair of wool socks.
Three yards of 36" wide cotton could come in hand as well. This is your hat, your belt, your shoulder bag, your sling, your . . .
A waterproof, windproof shell. Yes, even if you're in a tropical zone.
A pennywhistle. Yes, I'm dead serious about that one. Learn how to play it a bit before you leave home. Even better, also learn how to make a pennywhistle out of any tubular thing you can find, before you need to.
If you expect to stay "civilized". .
Two weeks with me showing you how to combine all this stuff with stuff you can find anywhere (like pebbles), especially in a disaster zone, otherwise you're just going to be in deep shit within an hour anyway.
Time with me is limited. Start poking around the internet for this information now. For God's sake, learn to take care of yourself. Any baby cockroach can do it. Your brain is bigger. Learn to use it for somthing other than tracking your stock portfolio.
KFG
Living in New Orleans has burned a few lessons into me.
First, make a list of things to take if you have to evacuate. I forgot several things when packing up at 3am the day before the storm hit.
Second, keeping a safety deposit box in the same area as your house is a bad idea. We have banks which have been closed for a month and will probably be closed for many more. People come in every day asking about when they can get it. People wanting to leave the country but can't get their passports, very bad news.
Third, keep a decent supply of water and canned food. Rotate the supplies to keep them fresh but always maintain one weeks worth of supplies. Figure at least one week before outside relief gets to you. Two weeks would be a safer bet. It's easier to do than you think. A water dispenser with 3 or 4 bottles should hold you over nicely and large cans of food from Chef Boyardee will make this very inexpensive. To use those cans, make sure you have a mechanical can opener on the assumption of no electricity. Keeping a 12 pack of Toilet Paper around doesn't hurt. If anyone asks why the large amount, simply say that you get it cheaper.Keeping some cash also doesn't hurt a bit. When the power is out, checks and debit/credit cards are worthless. Multiple things can happen outside of a nuclear war or hurricane which can force you to be self-sufficient for a week or two. Trust me, when the lights don't work, the police won't answer 911 calls and people are looting, you will be forever grateful you took a little time and money to be prepared.
Fourth, paranoia can be a good thing. My wife complained when I bought a generator and 40 gallons of gas at the start of hurricane season. She gave me even more grief when I bought canned goods and water we didn't need within the next week. She sat on the sofa while I boarded up my house like world war III was coming to New Orleans. She thanked me several times for doing all of the above when we had electricity, food, water and an unlooted house after the storm.
Personally, I send all of my files to both Gmail and Yahoo. I have seperate accounts set up just for those files. If a disaster befalls the US that takes out both of those companies and destroys my home computer on the other side of the country, losing computer files won't matter a bit, I'll be too busy trying to survive.
I know you can rough it with leaves and stuff, but come on, you've got a ton of other stuff to worry about. Why add an abraded arse to it?
"That's what I get when I try to type with one hand, eat with the other"
Ri-i-ight. "eat".