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Episode-1367- Listener Calls for 6-13-14 — 50 Comments

    • I took First Aid and CPR in Scouts when I was a kid and then again in the JR volunteer Fire Dept, when the man asked the question I thought that maybe I should take a refresher and looked it up on the Red Cross site and in my area it was through the local BSA as well cheapest was $75 and advanced class was $90 and I think I’m going to take them both.

  1. I don’t think what you said was too harsh at all. You are right I have been talking about doing this for about a year maybe even longer. I think that your advice was right on. I also think the most important thing you said was even if you don’t have a subject just turn the recorder on and start talking.

    • I know for me just getting talking was the hardest part. I’d be surprised if you weren’t already aware of Jack’s business podcast that he did for a while (124 episodes, I think) called Five Minutes with Jack (www.jackspirko.com), but if you haven’t listened to that, definitely do. It was a big help to getting me going and doing. Sometimes it can be a little frightening to put out raw ideas, especially if you are type A, but I totally agree with Jack. The more I do it, the easier it becomes, and (I hope) the better I get!

      • Wow that’s a surprise!
        You are a great speaker, I’m sure you’re one of Jack favorite guest because you’re a wealth of knowledge and he’s doesn’t have ask a ton of questions or even talk a whole lot LOL!

    • lowwattliving,
      What’s the name of your show? I would like to check it out man. Your question and Jack’s answer lite a fire inside me and I started my own podcast. I’m doing a Monday thru Friday show. I’m doing my recording in my car because like Jack, at the time, I have a long commute to my corporate America job, 80 miles each way. This is my third week and I’ve not missed a show. Today I released my 11th episode and my longest, an hour long. I had to stop tuning into Jack’s show because I want my show to be mine and not a rip off of Jack’s. I would love to know what Jack’s number where in his first two weeks. Right now I’m averaging just over 90 downloads per show. I have no idea if that is good, bad, or average. So Jack if you see this could you possibly give me some input?

  2. Love all of these shows!!

    I love the fail 100 times so that you can be successful your 101st time! So inspirational. and so true.

    Thank you Jack, for all you do. Your show has inspired me, given me hope for my future, and made me more resilient in times adversity. I hope to follow in Jack’s footsteps, by carving out a niche for myself doing my passion. Right now, that’s focusing on my blog: SimplicityforJulia.com (shameless self promotion)

    I only listened to the first question/answer, but I was so pumped up by what Jack said, I had to pause to comment.

    Thanks again!!

  3. Jack I think it would be cool to have Steve Harris on and yall do the bug out trailer show, I always enjoy when he’s on

    • Me too. Please do it. I’m in the process of doing so but not very far in at all. I have the trailer but am still working thru the planning.

  4. Just one thing to add for parents and getting kids to read for self-improvement and learning, improvement of reading skills, and/or just plain ol’ learning to enjoy reading for reading’s sake – don’t stop doing shared read alouds.

    One of the most common things that I have seen parents do that hinders these goals is to stop reading aloud once kids learn how (or are learning how) to read for themselves. Many parents are able to read things that are more advanced in vocabulary and concepts and reading those things aloud (and then talking about them together) makes it accessible to the kids. So… why not have 5 or 10 of those books be ones you read aloud together? Why not consider having a family read aloud time as part of a family game/movie night? Not only will it be great for your kids, but you might learn something quite important and benefit in unforeseen ways as well.

  5. The amount of alcohol ingested by a drop or two of stevia extract is minuscule. Look into the amount of alcohol in most cough and cold preparations both prescription and OTC. In retail pharmacy work I have seen alcoholics buy the stuff 2-4 bottles daily because of economy…..

    I’m always for people wanting more honey… 🙂

    • Honey over stevia any day. On the rare occasions I use a sweetener it’s always raw, local honey (is good to have friends with bees). But mostly I use it for wound care.

      Yesterday my little idiot dog spazzed out over a squirrel and raked a fairly deep, bloody test pattern in my forearm. Washed it good, smeared on some honey & stuck a bandage over it. Today it looks mostly healed with zero redness & pain. Dr. Honeybee to the rescue.

      Off subject, I apologize, just wanted to throw that out for folks.

  6. Bravo on the origins view. Values and ethics (decency) should be the goal and mature, constructive conversation about beliefs when invited…

  7. YES on the BOT show!!
    I REALLY wanted to go to the battery bank workshop but was almost dying of pneumonia at the time…(being found on the floor passed out sick can happen to anybody…)
    Would like to hear the two of you just riff on a show!

  8. I had a Commodore 128 too! I loved that thing, and used it part way through college until about 1991. It was good for writing papers as well as being a VT100 terminal to dial into the college’s systems. Ah…. memories….

    • Since you are a Commodore alum going back one machine to the 64 which was mostly used to play games on though it did have a rough word program and we dialed into a lot of the early chat boards with them. Do you by chance remember early programs called “nibblers”. These were for copying games.

      The early Commodore games had a pretty weak protection scheme. Basically when a disk with it was read, it also told the machine if the read disk was written to write it to a certain tracks, these tracks didn’t exist.

      A friend of mine named David and I thought we were real hackers, we loved movies like War Games, etc. Well this is one hack we actually pulled off. Once we understood the protection scheme we simply wrote a disk that you popped in at certain times during the transfer that told the drive to replace the non existent tracks with any available tracks. It worked like a charm and all of the sudden Commodore games were easy to copy from one floppy to the next. As far as we know we did this first but a lot of people started coming up with nibblers for the 64.

      If we had been as good as we thought we were then we would have figured out how to remove the protection when the new disk was created, we really were not that good though. The protection was just really stupid weak.

      So anyway, the existence of nibblers spread on the early boards. These were the kind where you dialed into one single board and just posted random crap in one long chain of random crap. Guys began mailing copies of them to each other and exchanging games by snail mail for copy and return, etc.

      The only attributions to the program we created were

      The Shark
      and
      Cromatic Dragon

      As to who I was, all I can say is I never played D&D and never got the point.

      We did this about 1983, two years later Fast Hackem came out, a commercial version out of the UK it was much better than what we and others had done and every time Commodore came up with better protections they came up with a new version. They sold theirs for like 60 bucks and got away with it because they were outside of the country.

      • Funny, I had a com 64 when I was 10. Haven’t ever thought about it for 20 years til I saw this post.

        • Had an Atari 800xl – copy protection was much easier.

          Had friends with C64s and I remember Mr. Nibbler – I knew that you needed it to copy protected stuff but didn’t know what the mechanism was that made it happen – thanks for the explanation. I later got a 128 as well… and used Mr. Nibbler on that.

          I still have my 800xl – I felt like it was a superior machine but it just didn’t get wide adoption.

    • I used to be a Commodore tech, to this day one of my most lucrative activities was aligning the head on the floppy disk drives. I worked on everything from the C64 to Amiga 4000. They even had a line of PC clones that did really well in Europe. The Amiga 2000 and up were awesome machines for their time and too bad they never took off and the OS was not bloated like Window.

      One little tidbit, if you ever watched Babylon 5 the CGI for at least the early episodes were done on a bank of Amiga’s, cheeper by at least a factor of 10 than anything else available at the time.

      Ahhhhh Memories

  9. Most definitely do Steven and yourself unscripted on the BOT. I have adapted the WOM (water organization module) from earth ship design and melded with Steven’s mobile battery bank for potable water just about anywhere.

    • BG… pretty sure you missed the common ancestor reference… the way I understand Jack’s point, he was referring to a common ancestor to all life… one spark of origin. I once had the thought that there may have been many sparks, but once I did more study on the matter, I was unable to find any evidence in support of that idea. It appears that all life that we have discovered so far had one common ancestor, at least it would appear to be the case based on all currently available DNA samplings. More research might change this conclusion in the future.
      As to a Mitochondrial Eve… it stands to reason, based on the evidence for multiple genetic bottlenecks, that all humans would be related at some point. The last super volcano eruption some 50k years ago might have knocked humans back to something like 50 to a 1000 breeding pairs… at least based on some scientific interpretations of the available data.
      What I find even more interesting is the current studies that indicate past hybridization with other early hominids at various points in the past. The evidence that all humans that derived from those that migrated out of Africa show evidence of Neanderthal mixing (and some others like Denisovan) while those humans that remained in Africa have no Neanderthal DNA… pretty interesting!

      • Yep I didn’t want to go there least I rile to many folks but I do believe we have hybridized over the years and contain for instance some of the DNA from “cro-magnon man” and others.

        It is also VERY possible perhaps even probable that the reason we all share common DNA is precisely due to the bottleneck in population you speak of. In other words we may all have common genetic markers even if we came from different genesis lines.

        To make that point clear with something very current, Barack Obama and George W Bush share common DNA, more so than you and I because they are actually RELATED TO EACH OTHER. It is true and has been verified. It is also apparently true that Barack Obama is also related to Brad Pitt and Dick Cheney. There are also rumors that he is in some way related to Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin. I have confirmed Bush, Cheney and Pitt, but haven’t really cared enough to see if the other stuff is fact or rumor.

        To me this is pretty clear evidence that even if human life started in some weird science fiction way with say 20 clans dropped off by various aliens, so long as we could interbreed by now likely all humans would share common DNA. Especially with the well known bottlenecks you mentioned.

        • yeah… I am pretty sure we are all cousins no matter what one wants to “believe in”

          but then again, we appear to be cousins to varying degrees with all that lives on this rock…

  10. Jack you made a fascinating point about the modern survival movement filling our society’s growing need for self worth. I hadn’t thought about the diff. between self worth and self esteem and found this definition here: http://www.drchristinahibbert.com/self-esteem-vs-self-worth-q-a-with-dr-christina-hibbert-plus-video/

    What’s the difference between “high self-esteem” and a sense of self-worth?
    Self-esteem is what we think and feel and believe about ourselves. Self-worth is recognizing “I am greater than all of those things”. It is a deep knowing that I am of value, that I am loveable, necessary to this life, and of incomprehensible worth. It is possible to feel “high self-esteem,” or in other words, to think I’m good at something, yet still not feel convinced that I am loveable and worthy. Self-esteem doesn’t last or “work” without self-worth. That’s why I believe the pursuit of self-esteem is a myth.

    • Love it! Integration of self-worth into the conversations that all too often remain at the self-esteem level is critical. I like the reference you gave, Tammy. Very informative and helpful.

      When I was still teaching, and my last job was in a public school in the District, there was a big, big push by authorities for us to “teach” children to think, “I can do or learn anything” if they just try. In a teacher training once we were actually told to have children stand up and say “I can” like a mantra. I, however, switched it around a bit and asked my children and had them ask themselves and really contemplate the question, “Can I?” I found that challenging them about whether they really could, why or why not, how to alter factors to make success more likely, what could be done to change the situation or just see it from a totally different perspective, understanding were they are today/accepting and valuing where they are/meeting themselves where they are, and finally what that means (or doesn’t mean) about you as a worthy person in the holistic sense was far more powerful than the self-esteem misnomer (and a dangerous one at that) of “I can do anything if I just try hard enough.”

      Interestingly, there was a recent study about what characteristics children/people have who end up being “successful” (pretty traditionally defined) – http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/opinion/sunday/what-drives-success.html?_r=1. There were three major take-aways.

      First, the three characteristics that crossed all background factors and that children had (all three, not two of the three or one of the three, but all three) were: 1) superiority complex (yep, a belief that you are exceptional), 2) insecurity (feeling that nothing you and what you do is never good enough), and 3) impulse control. Seems like these three would be awful characteristics and when unbalanced they are, or at least potentially can be.

      Second, people were “successful” when had a balanced a sense that they could and will do great things in the is world, but that what they have done, have learned, or have contributed is not really all they have the potential to do and if they (through dedication, drive, and resilience) challenge themselves they can become and do more.

      Third, those characteristics degraded in families over the generations and it was the first or second generation children/people in the US that had a balanced approach to these characteristics, but the generations that followed (regardless of culture/ethnicity) ended up unbalanced with only a belief that they are exceptional (period), that they are unworthy (period), or that they don’t have to self-regulate because there will always be more and it will be given to them. Hmm…

  11. I would love to hear you and Steven Harris do the BOT show! What a great idea. I see a workshop in the future for this. What a great project to work on.

  12. Jack, thanks for taking my call about the BOT. I would love to hear more of your and Mr. Harris’ thoughts on the subject. PLEASE do the show!

  13. Thanks for taking my call on the swales! Working with Bill Wilson was an amazing experience. We learned so much and it was fun getting feedback on the design I did for Geoff Lawton’s online PDC. My husband and I are excited to see or food forest grow!

  14. On the topic of medical training.

    I highly recommend attending an
    Emergency Medical Responder [EMR]class.
    It’s more advanced than basic first aid and only a few steps short of EMT. It is a couple hundred bucks and something like 130 hrs.

    I believe you can find classes near you at http://www.nremt.org

  15. My first machine was a Coco 1, tank grey, 4k memory. 6809 processor. Then I paid someone for a 64k hack that allowed me to run OS-9 Level 1. Pascal-09 was my language of choice. Then I fell in love with the Atari 1040, ahhh the Motorola non segmented architecture was a joy to program in Assembly language. I too had a XT clone, the Tandy 1000 sx. Then I got a Tandy 3000hd, the brain damaged 286. If I could get an Atari TT030 or a Falcon, I would be in heaven. But then I could get a machine made by the guys heading up the Atari ColdFire project. I digress. Thanks Jack for a fantastic episode. You finished really strong and I miss those closing big picture words. Perhaps all episodes should finished with a ten minute octane boost.

    • The “Scrap 80” as well. It was a much abused machine in the day. I also got a used Model 4 at one point with COBOL on it. Ya, I’m 50. I loved those days. My buddy had a 64 and a game on it “Lords of Conquest”, and it was addicting.

      • I had several in the Radio Shack (Tandy) line as well, Model 4p, Tandy 100, Tandy 1000 with 10 gig hard drive on a card!, Tandy 3000. Knew a guy that had one of the first Model I that Radio Shack put out with the first serial numbers in 1977 and sold for $399. They had a chance to take the computer market but thought it was all just a fad. Gates and his little company called Microsoft came up with a grandiose idea for an OS to IBM and the rest is history.

  16. Jack, I like the idea about having an unscripted discussion about the BOT. However, I think it may be a better show to invite a couple other expert council members and have a full conference call. Tim Glance, Darby Simpson, Brian Black, Frank Sharp, and Chef Keith Snow (in addition to you and Stephen Harris) could add dimensions to the BOT to make it even more awesome. Plus how cool would it be to have that many expert council members on the show at the same time! Thanks!

  17. I’m in favor of a BOT show with Steve Harris. One suggestion would be to go over if you wanted to start from the ground up on a basic enclosed cargo trailer and also if you wanted to retrofit a camper/RV since they can be had cheaply or many already have one. Also any considerations for the tow vehicle would be awesome.

  18. 1 2nd the “Get Steve back on”. BOT’s is new ground to cover here. That would best be ad hoc. Get him on and let he and Jack ad lib through a quick design. Maybe a follow up show to solidify things.

  19. on the Bug Out Trailer, I would LOVE a show on that, I am currently making a BOT and camping trailer (that’s how i sell it to the wife) and any tips and idea’s would be great.

    as a idea maybe use 2 sorts of trailers, one heavy (over 1000Kg loaded) ‘everything including the kitchen sink’ model and one very light one. (under 400Kg loaded)

    doing my research in offroad trailers most are big and heavy to be towed by big cars (Land cruisers, F150+). I can find very little information about small and light ones that could be towed by say a Suzuki Jimny or small Jeep

    keep up the great show

    Joost

  20. I thought the discussion regarding evolution was fair and balance, but there is a point of fact I would like to address. Evolution, as understood by biology, is a fact. If evolution is defined as the “change of allelic frequency [meaning characteristics] over time,” then it is a measurable occurrence. We can see and document the frequency distribution of height, the color patterns of insects, beak lengths or antibiotic resistance patterns (and countless other examples of traits) change as a function of time. The theory in “The Theory of Evolution” in my understanding is really how this all happens. Whether it is natural selection, genetic drift, the invisible hand or a deity making-it-so is up for debate, should you wish to engage in such endeavors. I only bring this up, not to fan the flames, but to address the fundamentals of the debate. All too often I believe academics label creationists as ignorant Bible thumpers while not really hearing the message and creationists rail against evolution while having minimal scientific footing. Questions regarding the origin of life and where we come from our fundamental human questions with most every culture having some insight on the matter. This diversity of approaches to such a complex, ornate and intricate creation should support one another rather than having a king-of-the-mountain attitude.

    • Evolution as you describe is provable and observable fact. The concept that we as humans evolved from an ape isn’t a fact it is a theory.

      We have actually never once watched any species evolve into a true new species, as in ever at all, as in never. We have observed the species evolve, the creation of sub species, mutations, hybrids, etc. but man has never actually observed species A become species B.

      That indeed makes man came from the ape a theory, not a fact. It is by the way a theory I agree with but I damn sure can’t call it a fact.

      • As I understand it, speciation or ‘definition of a species is rather elastic or ‘it depends’ much like defining a hybrid. Ploidy, epigenetics, genetic drift, transposons/retrotransposons, etc make it hard for our primitive science skills to know what we are even looking at much less have definitive answers at this stage of the game. The introduction of molecular phylogenetics a few years back sat the classical taxonomic system based on visible traits on its head. Add a little chaos from horizontal gene transfer and archaea and who knows what the duck soup is actual or factual. Phyletic gradualism and chronospecies are likely the norm within stable ecosystems over time. No doubt something along the lines of ‘ecological dejavu’ occurs where traits acquired and shaped by environmental pressures, etc throughout time are within the genome and can express, converge or recombine anew as novel circumstances are encountered. Its nice you have an open mind.
        E.O. Wilson is great on this stuff. We are such infants.

        • Let me be blunt, we have never seen a snake become a lizard, a monkey even move closer to a man, a fish that can’t walk on land become one that can.

  21. 1) For the smoke smell – I had a buddy who managed a used car dealership, he told me they used a product called Oziom, its essentially canned “O-zone” and literally EATS the smoke smell.

    2) e-cigs, I switched to ’em 4 years ago. My nicotine habit costs me ABOUT $18/month now, a pack of smokes where I live is $8’ish I think (haven’t checked in a while) and I used to smoke a pack a day ($18 < $240).

    3) About a month after switching to ecigs I was stuck in traffic and had my window rolled down, could smell someone smoking, a short while later I realized the person smoking was 1 lane over to my right and 6 cars away… yeah, it's that bad.

  22. If anyone wants to become an EMT I highly suggest checking with your local volunteer fire station. My fiance and I both had our EMT basic and FF class expense paid for by our station. We had to sign a three year contract and we are on call one night a week. Not bad for free education, plus you and your immediate family are the first ones to receive Mark 1 drugs in your area in the event of a chemical attack. We even walk away with about $150 stipend check at the end of the year, nothing to write home about, but we aren’t doing it for the money.

  23. I think both of the ideas for shows with Steven are great. Disussing the idea of bug-out between two individuals (one for, and one opposed to the idea) would be really interesting.

    But I also think Steven misses a point here. It’s not (it should not be) that you bug out from your comfortable and well-prepared house or apartment, and go far into the unknown. You should have the bug-out location prepared and stocked up prior to the need to evacuate there.