What if they pulled the plug?

hiphipharar

Interesting article

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/what-if-they-pulled-the-plug-20130327-2gun9.html

We rely so much on plastic rather than cash these days and I'm not saying that's a bad thing. But If there was a major incident leading to loss of all data connections in your location (Internet, EFTPOS, ATM etc, salary/wage transfer), how long could you survive?

I'm no big social media user so loss of FB, Twitter etc would be the least of my worries. The article even suggests benefits - like actual human contact.

If it was power: well I have all the mechanisms for manual coffee brewing. I could even roast ( fz rr 700 Baby + gas cooktop or camp stove)

Lacehim

More doom and gloom from the media.  Why can't they write a nice story to give us that warm fuzzy feeling?  Why has the world got to be coming to an end every day?

hiphipharar

on 1364421667:

More doom and gloom from the media...

I think you missed the point. The experience of the author was real, not hypothetical. The question was how would you survive?

UNM

on 1364420769:

We rely so much on plastic rather than cash these days and I'm not saying that's a bad thing. But If there was a major incident leading to loss of all data connections in your location (Internet, EFTPOS, ATM etc, salary/wage transfer), how long could you survive?

Two  months with minimal disruption. Forever with a few lifestyle changes. Edit: not forever, clearly I am not immortal. For the rest of my life, however long/short that may be. Take a look at: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Boyle_(Moneyless_Man) As an example  of  living comfortably outside the ' normal' economy. Although to be fair, he relies quite heavily on technology, And I don't see it as particularly gloomy. Quite exciting really. Many  countries are investing in cyber 'terrorism' projects(offense and defense). It really is only a matter of time before a major event. 

hiphipharar

Two  months with minimal disruption. Forever with a few lifestyle changes.

So does that mean you are not highly tech reliant or have a good contingency plan?

Lacehim

on 1364422612:

I think you missed the point. The experience of the author was real, not hypothetical. The question was how would you survive?

Quite easily.  I'll probably save some money, and have more time to do other things rather than sitting here procrastinating.   I might get around to weeding my yard. From a business point of view, yes it's an issue, BUT if your business rely's on the internet that much, you have make sure you have backups and redundancies.  Tim experienced this himself during the exchange fire, and I'm sure he can let us know how it felt first hand. We survived without PCs and the Internet and online banking for many many years (My parents never had a PC when I was a kid), so I think this is a wake up call for us to rely less on it being always there.  It's also a wake up call for our communications experts out there, not to put all our eggs in one basket AND in an old crappy building without any fire safety safe guards.  Surely there are fire suppression systems out there for exchanges, so you should be asking your ISP/phone provider why they aren't implemented. You will survive, you will learn from the experience, and if you haven't planned for it, your going to learn fast!   The worse case scenario I can see is that we all slow down and learn to appreciate life.  It's not all about facebook, twitter, and reality TV.  :pan

Jonty

Guys, This was the outcome as detailed today from the SW Vic losing Telstra connections due to the fire for 3-4 weeks late last year.  89 jobs and 28million of lost productivity.  I reckon that is an under estimate! Telstra's risk management will undergo a full Australian wide review due to their lack of foresight. Article is worth a read and I can say when sat phones are flowin in police chopper and dishes set up to enable emergency services to be contacted, hospitals to run, and the list goes on.... When you have to drive 1hr to get cash from the bank and you can't buy food or petrol without cash it is worth having a couple of hundy stashed in the house!  I was amazed to see a shipping container with 4 atms (ANZ), which was protected by armed security 24/7 while it was in Warrnambool. I reckon it would be safe - 40 foot shipping containers require a little lifting equipment!!  Here is the article in today's paper:  http://www.standard.net.au/story/1394751/283m-and-89-jobs-report-tallies-cost-of-telstra-outage/?cs=72

Lacehim

on 1364427126:

This was the outcome as detailed today from the SW Vic losing Telstra connections due to the fire for 3-4 weeks late last year.  89 jobs and 28million of lost productivity.  I reckon that is an under estimate!

Did they factor in the addition employment?  You've employed 2 extra security guards, someone got some business out of suppling that container with ATMs in, and then there's all the income from rebuilding an exchange.  Someone has to supply the equipment and labour.  So yes, maybe locally you've lost income, but as a whole picture it's probably not all doom and gloom. Think about the positives of it all.  You've probably interacted more with people, talking about this, and I bet the community is now rallying around helping each other, instead of hiding on FB and twittering, and being self absorbed.   There are positives, and they have no monetary value!

Jonty

Lace,  you try selling the positives to 60000 people and the businesses (small and large) who lost out due to Telstra's incompetence. Good luck with that as it would be like telling me and the other 60000 people that the holocaust never happened. 

Lacehim

on 1364429048:

Lace,  you try selling the positives to 60000 people and the businesses (small and large) who lost out due to Telstra's incompetence. Good luck with that as it would be like telling me and the other 60000 people that the holocaust never happened.

But in the scheme of things, no lives were lost (at least I hope not, some people do rely on a telephone for health reason).  There are plenty of other places doing it tough after tsunamis and bushfires and floods.  Telstra have always been incompetent in my opinion.  If there are no $$$'s in it for them, they don't lift a finger. From a outsiders perspective, it was a reality check for us all, and my question is "Will we learn from it?", have safe guards been put in place in all the other exchanges through out Australia, or have we just stuck out heads in the sand like we have with the recent floods in QLD.

Lacehim

On a funny note at least our coffee machines don't use the Internet.  Now that would be tragedy. :rofl:

UNM

on 1364426558:

So does that mean you are not highly tech reliant or have a good contingency plan?

Currently I use mainly cash as most clients pay cash, I don't really use much money myself though and cash would only be valuable short term anyway. I live  where fresh food is available within walking/cycling distance, but probably OK for a week or two just on what is in the pantry. I am pretty adaptable. Having 60,000 litres of water in the back garden is useful. Long term I would prefer to be back in NZ in a world rebuilding after a major tech collapse,  but getting there might be tricky. I know a couple of other options locally that might be sustainable.

Seeya Latte

I reckon 3-1 that UNM's got a 4 man bunker in the back yard U ol' prepper U

hiphipharar

on 1364430903:

On a funny note at least our coffee machines don't use the Internet.  Now that would be tragedy. :rofl:

Wellll - there are remote switching devices if you want to power on your machine remotely.  ::) Some might have to go home and <gasp> turn on the switch manually. I can't see myself ever buying a coffee-machine with an 'i' in front (iGiotto, iBezzera, etc)

Lacehim

on 1364433248:

Wellll - there are remote switching devices if you want to power on your machine remotely.  ::) Some might have to go home and <gasp> turn on the switch manually. I can't see myself ever buying a coffee-machine with an 'i' in front (iGiotto, iBezzera, etc)

Me either.  I avoid any appliances with too much gadgetry built in.  That's probably why I went old skool and got a lever.  It wouldn't suprise me if this happened though.  I can imaged a iBreville or iSunbeam what has a coffee ready for you when you enter the house! lol.  There would be a market for it I'm sure, just not me.