Just a reminder that at least one of your computers should be set up with a modem and a dial-up account. For business purposes, you might even go further and also get set up on satellite (e.g. Hughes), if that works in your area.
In terms of keeping your business operating during disasters, it's cheap redundancy at $0-10/month for the dialup account and $40 for satellite, but I think that everyone should at least set up dial-up access for one or more of your personal computers because land lines often keep on ticking when other forms of com fail.
Most computers do have internal modems, even if you never noticed yours.
To verify this, look for an RJ-11 phone type female port and/or check Control Panel-->Device Manager-->Modems (highlight the entry, right-click and select "Properties"). If you don't have an internal modem, you can get an external modem very cheaply (and in fact, I prefer them anyway for several reasons - especially US Robotics).
For a dial-up account, check out Netzero, basicISP, etc. or Google "dial-up ISP". I recommend that you use a national service with many access numbers outside your geographical area, rather than a small hinky-dinky local dial-up provider. Especially since their power might very well go down when yours does.
And, speaking of power, you'll want at least some minimalist backup power. If you don't want to go full-bore on this, here's a reliable small inexpensive unit that will keep your stuff powered up for 5 hours or more (continuous at full load, much longer on lower load) on 1 gallon, and which you can also use for camping or other outdoor activities (e.g. tailgating). Works very well.
Oh - and don't forget to keep some gas around, or at least some tubing and your high-school siphoning skills, updated for newer vehicles
And for those of you who watch this video and think "Hey - Catch 22 - they're using an electric drill to run that cute little drill pump, and I'm trying to siphon gas for my generator, so I don't have power, so I can't run the drill until I get the power, and I don't have power because I don't have gas, and I can't.......!" - umm, there ARE battery-powered drills, you know. Yeah, uh-huh. There are.
(By the way, that little pump might come in handy for other things during an emergency (or campout) as well. You might prefer the Craftsman pump from Sears for $10.)
And boo-hoo. You do have to think about this stuff IN ADVANCE instead of waiting until the quake/riot/blizzard/hurricane/tornado/flood/chlorine cloud/nuclear blast/Apocalypse. I can't do nuffin bout dat, bro. The only thing I can say with near 100% certainty is that one of the above or something else IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU, and there's only two kinds of guys when that happens: The he-man hero types who can take care of their families, and the namby-pamby, lily-livered, panty-waisted, yellow-bellied, wishy-washy, smarmy-marmy, spineless, lame-brained, knock-kneed, gutless, feeble-minded types that look for the instructions every time they unwrap a new roll of toilet paper (thank you, Billy Connolly). Now I ask you: Which type would you rather be?
In terms of keeping your business operating during disasters, it's cheap redundancy at $0-10/month for the dialup account and $40 for satellite, but I think that everyone should at least set up dial-up access for one or more of your personal computers because land lines often keep on ticking when other forms of com fail.
Most computers do have internal modems, even if you never noticed yours.

For a dial-up account, check out Netzero, basicISP, etc. or Google "dial-up ISP". I recommend that you use a national service with many access numbers outside your geographical area, rather than a small hinky-dinky local dial-up provider. Especially since their power might very well go down when yours does.
And, speaking of power, you'll want at least some minimalist backup power. If you don't want to go full-bore on this, here's a reliable small inexpensive unit that will keep your stuff powered up for 5 hours or more (continuous at full load, much longer on lower load) on 1 gallon, and which you can also use for camping or other outdoor activities (e.g. tailgating). Works very well.
Oh - and don't forget to keep some gas around, or at least some tubing and your high-school siphoning skills, updated for newer vehicles


And boo-hoo. You do have to think about this stuff IN ADVANCE instead of waiting until the quake/riot/blizzard/hurricane/tornado/flood/chlorine cloud/nuclear blast/Apocalypse. I can't do nuffin bout dat, bro. The only thing I can say with near 100% certainty is that one of the above or something else IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU, and there's only two kinds of guys when that happens: The he-man hero types who can take care of their families, and the namby-pamby, lily-livered, panty-waisted, yellow-bellied, wishy-washy, smarmy-marmy, spineless, lame-brained, knock-kneed, gutless, feeble-minded types that look for the instructions every time they unwrap a new roll of toilet paper (thank you, Billy Connolly). Now I ask you: Which type would you rather be?
Comment