In making this Digital Ark, if you had the money (as its rather expensive)
then I'd suggest archiving the data using m-Disks. These are a hybrid of LPs and BD-R's. Instead of aligning the digital code via the change in dyes
baked in to the disc, this new method actually etches the disc with a special laser. Some of the more common drives now support m-Disc technology. To archive 25G on one BDR/MDISC will cost you about $5 USD. This is a huge difference between the dye disc that might cost $1.50 USD per disc. I have heard that m-Discs can be whatever size normal media can hold. So for
example BD-R discs can hold up to 100 Gigs of data, however the whole purpose of using m-Discs is to store stuff forever and the denser the disc the more room for error in burning. So in terms of archiving, if you're going to make your own Digital Ark then take this advice and use the 25G BD-R/mDiscs
instead of the higher capacity options. With mDiscs they have no
magnetically active properties so an EMP full force would not hurt these
media.

As for software that will help you in your archiving without using DRM baked nasties is the option of a software suite called RedFox AnyDVD. It's as expensive to make you look elsewhere, but is the current best in compact disc mediums video extraction. It works on DVDs and BD-R Discs. The software not only gets rid of the DRM functions, but also re-codes the disc to support region free viewing (region 0) which means that anyone in the world who receives one of those discs would be able to play it. The images are saved
as .ISO files which can be played with the VLC media player without
extracting the data to the hard drive before playing, it can play the ISOs as if they were MP4 files, just click and play kinda thing.

Have fun, but remember if you're going to do big time archiving to make sure its a private archive and not a pirate distribution centre. Fair Dealings covers this activity, but it won't cover you if you're making money off stuff or even if you're not making money and only sharing with your friends. This needs to be an archive that would be only, and really only, for the preservation of media for future generations.

Good luck and keep the media from being lost to time.

Cheers!
-warmfuzzy

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (700:100/33)

Hello warmfuzzy!

** On Friday 14.04.23 - 18:46, warmfuzzy wrote to All:

...With mDiscs they have no magnetically active properties so
an EMP full force would not hurt these media.

Yeah but.. the EMP would surely blow out any electronics gear
you might need to read those discs.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (700:100/16)

Yeah but.. the EMP would surely blow out any electronics gear
you might need to read those discs.

Most people I've spoken to who are concerned about EMP's are creating rather large digital archives with the information they feel would be essential to restart civilization. Library of Alexandria is being collected by most, or an attempt to acquire the over 300,000 books in a digital format anyway.

I would imagine those digital preppers would appreciate tech like this, especially one where the read/write drive was protected from an EMP, and able to be used once power is restored (stand alone without a PC). Canadian Prepper would surely sell the heck out of them.

With that said, the threat of WWIII has had me relearning "life without tech," while also at least having hard copies of those more "immediate needs" such as: deed and titles, medical records, identification, Bible, etc. While also "how to's," for things such as gardening and canning, foraging, basic first aid/survival, etc.. We keep ours in a fireproof (grab and go style) safe. Extreme? I dunno .. I've had a lot of time on my hands :/ but I know a lot of people doing the same.

I think Warm Fuzzy should market it, the timing is definitely right.

|15-|12t|04G
|15www|08.|15theun|07dergrou|08nd|07.|08us|15:|0810023

... Press any key to continue or any other key to quit...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/03/14 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Underground (700:100/55)

Yeah but.. the EMP would surely blow out any electronics gear
you might need to read those discs.

Yeah that's fair, maybe the Digital Ark could include a Faraday Cage with a ruggedized laptop inside the cage.

Cheers!
-warmfuzzy

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
* Origin: thE qUAntUm wOrmhOlE, rAmsgAtE, uK. bbs.erb.pw (700:100/37)

Most people I've spoken to who are concerned about EMP's are creating rather large digital archives with the information they feel would be essential to restart civilization. Library of Alexandria is being collected by most, or an attempt to acquire the over 300,000 books in a digital format anyway.
I think Warm Fuzzy should market it, the timing is definitely right.

The market part of the equation is messed up, even for doing something as beneficial for humanity the governments of the world would slap a person selling such stuff with a copyright violation. The world is a messed up place right now. However, anonymously sending the archive to places like Universities or Colleges' libraries may be a good idea...

Cheers!
-warmfuzzy

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
* Origin: thE qUAntUm wOrmhOlE, rAmsgAtE, uK. bbs.erb.pw (700:100/37)

Hello The.Godfather!

** On Saturday 15.04.23 - 20:20, The.Godfather wrote to Ogg:

...the threat of WWIII has had me relearning "life without
tech," while also at least having hard copies of those more
"immediate needs" such as: deed and titles, medical records,
identification, Bible, etc. While also "how to's," for
things such as gardening and canning, foraging, basic first
aid/survival, etc.. We keep ours in a fireproof (grab and go
style) safe. Extreme? I dunno .. I've had a lot of time on
my hands :/ but I know a lot of people doing the same.

Dunno if hard copies of "important personal documents" will
help if the systems in which they are required are blown out by
EMP. After an EMP, all chaos and confusion and delays would
break loose. Banks will cease operating. Gov't offices will
be neutered.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (700:100/16)

On 18 Apr 2023, Ogg said the following...

Dunno if hard copies of "important personal documents" will
help if the systems in which they are required are blown out by
EMP. After an EMP, all chaos and confusion and delays would
break loose. Banks will cease operating. Gov't offices will
be neutered.

There are worse ideas, and they're certainly helpful in cases where there was an error with your computerized records. However, Mr. Robot (the TV show) had a great illustration. After the big banking hack they did where all the records were destroyed, a woman was trying to either withdraw money or prove she paid her mortgage (it's been a while...), and had paper records to prove it. The bank was like, "well, we can't confirm your records are correct, so you're SOL".

In all likelihood, if there's any semblance of fedgov left in those cases, they'll suspend foreclosures and start issuing EBT cards or food stamps to everyone to try to get over the hump - but that system will be terrible, and not one you want to play with.

GreenLFC º e> greenleaderfanclub@protonmail.com
Infosec / Ham / Retro º masto> GLFC@mstdn.starnix.network
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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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Ogg wrote to The Godfather <=-

Dunno if hard copies of "important personal documents" will
help if the systems in which they are required are blown out by
EMP. After an EMP, all chaos and confusion and delays would
break loose. Banks will cease operating. Gov't offices will
be neutered.

At least we'll all be debt free!

In the book "Lucifer's Hammer", a comet hits the earth and civilization crumbles. One guy was in a library, frantically vacuum sealing selected
books ahead of flood waters. Seemed like a sound idea.



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