The Inexpensive Utility Item that Everyone Should Own

1.) https://www.armysurplusworld.com/brand-new-5-56-ammo-can-50-cal 

2.) https://www.armysurplusworld.com/ammo-can-lock-kit

Rarely does one use some object, gadget, and/or device during their military experience(s) that even years later is still a useful object, gadget, and/or device that can easily be adapted for civilian use!

One such object, gadget, and/or device is the U. S. military designed 50 caliber ammunition container (1st link). First of all, it is constructed out off a thick enough metal, steel, that it is basically indestructible. Then it is constructed so that its contents remain impervious to any outside water damage. It's also stackable, meaning if you have more than one, they neatly perfectly fit on top of each other. They have a built-in carrying handle which makes them very portable. 

Next with a $6.75 USD modification (2nd link), they can be made into a locked security container to store valuable items and/or papers within! [attached image] 

 

 

Finally, used ones are sold on the surplus market for around $17.00 USD each. (See the attached video for ideas on many other uses) (11) Why Buy Ammo Cans? 25 Survival Uses - YouTube

I bought and modified one to be a locked device in which to store my ammunition for my Chicom Type 56 Carbine some forty (40) years ago to make sure my sons never could get into dangerous mischief if I wasn't monitoring them at every moment. I also have another plain model in which I have 'copies' of important documents stored that can be just grabbed and carried away in case of any type of emergency!

For a price of only ~$17.00 USD, probably most people would find some use for one as a toolbox, emergency medical supplies container, and a host of other practical uses.

P.S. -->> I found that performing a simple wiping with a cloth saturated with acetone {wife's fingernail polish remover 😀} removes all of the military nomenclature that is often written on the side of the ammunition can!! 

 

How to use the Internet to Research your Genealogy

On April 01, 2022, the U. S. Department of Commerce and its division The U. S. Census Bureau will release the results of the 1950 U. S. Census population and housing data. This is mandated by federal statute that 72 years after the census data has been gathered and collated the results are then to be available to the public for study.

Did you know that the U. S. Census is available on the internet for you to use to research your family's genealogy?

It is really convenient with the internet searches today and generally can be a great place to start to research your family's genealogy. I have now made up a chart for all my granddaughters that traces back their genealogy at least five (5) generations!

METHOD #1

Enumerator -> a person employed in taking a census of the population.
Enumeration District -> an area that could be covered by a single census taker in one census period.

All of the U. S. Census Population and Housing data is stored and initially accessed through the Enumeration Districts (ED). Knowing where the person(s) you are trying to research resided during the year of the U. S. Census that is being analyzed may be a good way to find the data that you wish to obtain.

Using the site https://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html to find the Enumeration District (ED) for the known location of the person(s) you are researching most times will be less bothersome and time consuming than trying to find said person(s) by their given name & surname {Don’t be surprised at the great number of exact and similar names there are in most searchable databases}. Once you follow its directions and list all of the significant data that its search engine requires{Using Google Earth Pro to find the location and then switching to Google Maps Street View to obtain the cross streets its search engine will also request can zero in on the exact ED for which you are searching}. The same site also has links to the actual maps which you can view and download to help anyone with their research.

Next you click on the Enumeration District that the search engine indicates and you will be offered your choice of viewers that can show you each of the data sheet pages for that particular ED. This 1^st method probably will be the preferred method for researching the 1950 U. S. Census Population & Housing data that is released on April 01, 2022 because it will take quite a while for all the names of the many persons to be entered into a searchable database that will be available to the general public to access.

METHOD #2

1.) Go to the site http://www.stevemorse.org/census/freesearch.html and type in your relatives' names at the proper places about 3/4 of the way down the page. At the top of the page there will be a dialog box with the year's census you want to search. Be sure to indicate which year's census you want to research. {please note the 1890 census data was destroyed in a fire} It is helpful if you know the state in which your relative(s) resided; otherwise you are going to have to guess in which state they may have resided.

......If you were successful, you should be directed towards a site with many people with the same name as your relative(s); click on the highlighted one that may be your relative. That will bring up a summary sheet of the data on the actual census sheet. If that ISN'T your relative just move on to the next name in the collection. Save a copy of the correct summary page.

.....At the bottom of the summary page there will be listed the "GS Film number" & the "Image Number"; write these numbers down!

2.) Then go back to the site http://www.stevemorse.org/census/freesearch.html and near the bottom of the page you will see places to enter the "GS Film number" & the "Image Number".

.....Then click on the "SEARCH" icon; that should bring up actual census page you are seeking and you can right click on the page and save it to your storage device as a JPG image.

These are just two of the many methods that are available, that the savvy computer user may gather data from the U. S. Census to perform genealogy research!

Using an ANALOG time keeping device (watch or clock) as a compass!

It's possible to determine your orientation using an analog watch (i.e., one with hands) in place of a compass. The direction will be correct if the watch is set for true local time, without adjustments for daylight savings time. And the further you are from the equator, the more accurate this method will be.

Know the time, but don't have an analog watch? A simple drawing of a watch on a piece of paper or a clock face on the ground, as long as it shows the correct time (you only need worry about the hour hand), works just as well.

Can't see the sun clearly, or otherwise having difficulty determining its direction? As long as the sun is able to cast a shadow (which it can often do even through fog), you can determine its direction by holding a thin object (like a pencil or a stick) straight up and down; the resulting shadow will point away from the sun.

Wonder why you're bisecting angles? As the earth rotates once (each day), the hour hand goes around the clock face twice. So you need to divide the angle by two (i.e., in half).

Inexpensive Computer OS and File Security

How to Spend ONLY ~$25.00 to Have a Backup Way to Protect Your Computer!

Recently in the news we have been reading & viewing features about computers in many countries all over the world having Malware placed on them that encrypts the users' files, demands a "ransom" of $XXX.XX to decrypt the user’s files, and when or if the "ransom" is paid, the Hacker(s) never release the files that they took 'hostage'!

Well, I have been trying to inform my many friends for years how to have an emergency SAFEGUARD  backup method of protecting your computer's Operating System as well as your critical Documentation Files, Audio Files, & precious Photographs + Videos.

Equipment wise the user will have to buy two (2) Flash Drives or SD Cards. I personally purchased a 32GB Flash Drive and a 64GB Flash Drive from Amazon for $10.00 & $15.00 each.

1.) Then you need to plug the 64GB [or greater] Flash Drive into the computer and proceeded to copy every folder that on the computer holds any Documentation Files, Audio Files, & precious Photographs + Videos. {depending on what microprocessor the computer has, this might take 30 - to 45 minutes [you don't have to do it in a single setting]} but you then have a good backup of ALL your important data! Remove the 64GB [or greater] Flash drive from the computer when the task is completed!

2.) Next plug the 32GB Flash Drive into the computer, then RIGHT click on the Windows Icon located on the Task Bar at the bottom of the screen and then LEFT click on the word search that appears in the dialog box.

3.) Type the phrase "Create Recovery Disk" in the space provided followed by pressing the "Enter" Key; a pop-up dialog box will appear that will guide the user through now making an Operating System Recovery Disk on the 32GB Flash Drive. {This may also take some time, [drink a cup of coffee, a soda, or a beer while you wait] so be patient} When the process is completed click on finish in the dialog box and remove the 32GB Flash Drive.

NOW if you ever have a virus and/or malware that finds its way onto your computer that your Anti-Viral & Malware software can't seem to eradicate, you are no longer up-the-creek-without-a-paddle!! First contact your Anti-Viral & Malware provider, if they can't help you there is now the option open to you of re-installing your Operating System and your computer's Documentation Files, Audio Files, & precious Photographs + Videos.

A.) Turn the power off that goes to the computer!

B.) Plug the 32GB Flash Drive into the computer!

C.) Turn the computer on WHILE holding down the F8 or F12 key {depending on your computer brand}!

D.) When the computer starts, it will take you to the BIOS start menu!

E.) Chose to Erase & REFORMAT the Hard Drive!

F.) Repeat option C and chose to start the computer by loading the Operating System from the 32GB Flash Drive (which is now the Recovery Disk)

G.) After the Operating System has been re-installed, you can use the 64GB [or greater] Flash Drive to reinstall the computer's Documentation Files, Audio Files, & precious Photographs + Videos.

H.) The ONLY last set of task(s) is to download and reinstall all of the Application Programs* that the user prefers!

Like I cautioned in the beginning, this is an emergency method to always have in reserve, just in case the computer user has to deal with an terrible situation!

* I wrote a blog in October 2011 about some of the FREEWARE programs that I use as an "alternative" to some of the expensive commercial programs to include:

Office Suite* → Microsoft Office ↔ LibreOffice ↔ (http://www.libreoffice.org/)

Optical Character Recognition ↔ ABBYY FineReader ↔ FreeOCR ↔ (http://www.paperfile.net/)

Image Manipulation → Adobe Photoshop ↔ GIMP ↔ (http://www.gimp.org/)

Sound Editing → WavePad Masters ↔ Audacity ↔ (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)

File Compression → WinZip ↔ Ken Ward's Zipper ↔ (http://www.trans4mind.com/personal_development/zipper/index.html)

Well six (6) years later, the latest versions of these programs are still very viable and excellent alternatives to the commercial programs of similar function! If you are repopulating your computer, it may be a time for you to try a few of them and see if they can serve your programming purposes!!

Secure your Vital file(s) from hackers!

Secure your files from hackers!

Hackers from all over the world are now trying to get your computer to “share” your files with them so that they can go through them to see if there is any information there that can be used to obtain vital information about you.

They look for your business account numbers, your utilities account numbers, your family's Social Security numbers, your home and/or business addresses, your health insurance identification number, and so on and so forth!

They need that information to try and gain access to your accounts and/or steal your identity or even use your information to gain access to a larger target such as a business institution or your bank.

I have come to the conclusion that it is probably now safer for the average user just to encrypt the sensitive information files that they save and are now just sitting there located on their hard drive and/or stored somewhere on the 'cloud'. How many users out there now have their previous years’ income tax returns just occupying their hard drives? I personally prepare my income taxes using the collection of spreadsheets that can be found and downloaded from the internet at http://www.excel1040.com and I surely wouldn’t want that information compromised by some unknown hacker(s)!

However, this recommendation comes with a little caveat!

The first thing that you should realize is that when you encrypt anything; if the protection was made by 'man' then somewhere that very same protection can be broken by another 'man'. What you really want to do is to try and cause the hacker to spent so much time trying to decrypt the file(s) that it isn't cost effective for the hacker to spent so much time and effort on your encrypted files and the hacker just moves on to their next victim, who they perceive will be easier to victimize.

A few years ago, I stopped buying Microsoft Office Suite and switched over to the GNU office suite of LibreOffice {it has a cousin named OpenOffice that is very similar} because it is a free software product and it serves all of the usual computer user needs as well as is able to open or save Microsoft Office Suite files.

My recommendation is that you “double encrypt” all of your sensitive files using two totally different software programs. NOW, don't be put off by this recommendation, luckily both LibreOffice & OpenOffice both come with a built in encryption feature!

1.) When you go to save the file(s), just click on the word File at the top of the screen and then click on Save As and a dialog box will open for you to type in the new file name. You will see a box next to the phrase 'Save with password', make sure that box is checked and type in the new file name. You will then be prompted for the password* to allow you to open the file whenever it is accessed. Type in the password that you want and the file will be saved so that only the correct password will allow it to be opened and accessed again.

That is the first encryption that you could use to protect your file(s).

The second program to finally “double encrypt” your file(s) that I recommend is another free program, AxCrypt, that can be downloaded off the internet. So, after you have encrypted it with the internal encryption of the office suite, you can then encrypt the whole file again with the stand alone program. That follows the security trend of “two-step” verification, which a great many major commercial and business institutions have been slowly adopting over the past several years. It is about time the average user join this trend

* Password(s) – my suggestion for easy to remember password(s) for the user and a very difficult password for the hacker to try and guess are old addresses at previous residences that you, your relatives, and any of your old friends {like girl/boy friend(s)} may have had in the past, especially if you have changed your city and/or state of residence:

{e.g. 1234MainStreet,AnyCity,AnyState(zip code)}

Such a password fulfills all the criteria for a very STRONG password, it has numerals, upper case letters, lower case letters, punctuation characters, and is more than 21 characters in length! It is estimated that it would take a super-computer working for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, over two years to guess such a password. This is something the user will always remember and the hacker will never have a clue of what it could possibly be. Not many hackers would spend that much time and money for computer time trying to guess such a password and just move on to their next victim that they have hacked after failing trying to guess the initial password.

Manual Washing Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtbkXyWFFm8

(Watch the above video to see how to construct and use this device)

All parts are available at Home Depot:

Two (2) 5-gal. Homer Bucket; Model # 05GLHD2 = $2.97 x 2 ....= $5.94

Leaktite 5-gal. Homer Leakproof Lid; Model # 5GLD ORANGE LID for 5GL HOMER PAIL ….................................................................................................... = $1.68

NIBCO 1-1/2 in. PVC DWV Hub x SJ Trap Adapter; Model # C48017HD112 =...................................................................................................... = $0.88

HDX 5 in. Force Cup Plunger; Model # PSC2451 ….................................................................................................... = $2.98 ….......................................................................................................$11.48

There are two modifications to the model that are not shown in the video.

1.) Cut and 1-1/2 inch hole in the lid to the unit; then insert the 1-1/2 inch PVC Trap Adapter through the hole and tighten the adapter, this strengthens the hole in the lid where the plunger handle is inserted!

2.) Substitute a longer broom handle for the original handle that came with the plunger; this makes it so the user can now operate the device in the standing position which will relieve any back strain from having to bend over to manipulate the original short handle.

Do you like to camping?

Are you in an "off-the-grid" situation?

Is your financial situation such that you can not really afford to spend $10.00 or more to do a load of laundry several times a week?

Do you live in an apartment and often have small loads of 'personal laundry' that needs to be attended to on a pretty regular basis?

Then the above device shown in the link to the video may just be what you are looking for to help assist you with any of the preceding situations. Long before there were electric washing machines, most laundry in this country and still throughout the world was and is still washed by the manual process of hand washing. The usual method is one of each piece of laundry is individually 'scrubbed' by hand which take a while to go through the whole batch.

The manual washing machine that is shown is extremely low cost {less than $12.00 in total material cost}, can be used very easily in any urban, suburban, rural, and/or emergency situation. Some of the toughest "hard knocks" situations are when the electricity is not functioning for long periods of time and the home and/or commercial laundry facilities are not available to the general populace. Having this manual device sitting in a storage closet may not be a bad insurance policy. {just ask the people that were effected by Hurricane Sandy or the winter of 2014-2015 ice storms}

For the outdoorsman that enjoys going camping for any period of time, it may be just what is needed to bring some sense of civilization to that primitive lifestyle. Spending 20-30 minutes to process a load of laundry in most primitive settings my seem like a gift from society.

For the apartment dweller, it means not having to go to the basement laundry facilities hoping that the machines are unused and/or worse yet taking time and effort to travel to a commercial laundering establishment and spending the necessary money to accomplish the task there; just using the device in the bathtub or shower seems much easier.

SOMETIMES, the low tech solutions to solving everyday problems may be work better than some of the highest technical advances!

Alternative "Luci Lantern" Prototype Example

http://www.tmart.com/10-Lumens-No-Battery-Dynamo-Crank-Wind-3-LED-Flashlight-Torch-Grey_p185383.html

 

First I had ordered some of the items from the above site as "toys" for my grand daughters; then I happened to run across the Luci Lantern video on YouTube.

I had ordered one of the items listed below to add to my household's emergency kit for the few instances that due to storms, falling trees, exploding transformers, and etc. that the electricity powering our lighting fails to function properly.

https://www.mpowerd.com/

I tried a little experiment and came up with an idea for a prototype example of a similar lantern that has a slightly different operating principle than the Luci Lantern.

 

I had an extra 'flashlight', so I took it and an old medium sized plastic mayonnaise jar that was in the recycling bucket and went to work.

 

I cut an opening in the middle of the plastic top just large enough to insert just the lens section of the 'flashlight'; then using superglue I permanently mounted the 'flashlight' to the lid, I also sealed the joints around the flashlight with hot glue on the inside and outside of the lid.

 

I then took some aluminum foil and hot glued it to the inside of the lid where there was no 'flashlight' protruding through the inside of the lid AND on the entire bottom of the plastic jar.

 

I screwed the lid on the jar, squeezed the handle to charge the unit for about two minutes, turned off the kitchen light, and I had a prototype example lantern; which only cost me all of $2.63 and an old plastic mayonnaise jar the was about to be recycled. It comes with a strap so you can hang it up anywhere!

 

The Luci Lantern works on the principle of light energy charging the 'lithium battery', while the prototype example that I constructed works on the principle of a small dynamo charging a 'super capacitor'.

 

I never did test how long the "charge" would last because it is a moot point since whenever it dims you can just recharge it again in less than two (2) minutes.

 

If the Luci Lantern could be fitted with a 'super capacitor' instead of a lithium battery and a flat circular dynamo device instead of having light energy collectors, then it could be an all-weather source of light for those in need of a light source where and when the grid is not available. It may wind up being a little larger in its collapsed form! 

 

Items needed for the project - $2.63 Dynamo Flashlight, an old recycled plastic jar, Aluminum Foil, small amount of Superglue, small amount of hot glue!