Lessons learned from misinformation (email hoaxes)

I recently received an email from a someone close to me containing two warnings of gang activity.  Being the Network Security guy that I am, I quickly hit Google and search for any related articles on snopes.com.  Bingo!

This email warning message was a hoax; misinformation.  It was a clever variation of two popular messages merged into one "helpful" email.  I was forwarded the email with a message stating that this could be a possible topic for my blog.  It wasn't until I received a follow-up email with questions such as why would anyone do this, and what if this or what if that, that I decided this would be a good blog post (seeing as how I'm not quite ready to write the next article following my Outline for Preparedness), and well personal safety tips is definitely one of the paths I want to us to take on this blog.

Outline for Preparedness

I wanted to share with you my outline for personal preparedness.  I will do my research and document my findings to this blog based on this outline.  The 0. items are for you to do on your own, however I may contribute some wellness related articles to another blog we are talking about.

A: At the least, I recommend:

Thank You for Supporting The Esteveban Files

I'd like to start by thanking everyone for taking some time out of their day to read my posts.  Your positive comments, article suggestions and engaging conversations about my blog posts has all the more motivated me to do my best to bring you worthwhile and accurate information.  I actually feel a sense of responsibly and duty to maintain the blog and do my due diligence to provide you with new and accurate information on a timely basis.

Thank you!

It is with the utmost modesty that I am asking for more support.  I ask that if you feel engaged by the material I'm posting please share it with your friends, family and loved ones.  I truly believe in the content that I'm creating and hope that we become better prepared and educated together.

So please click the 'share', 'like', '+1', 'send in email', ... buttons on the main blog or on blog posts you enjoyed.


If you haven't noticed, I recently monetized the site with ads.  My intention is not to make a living off of my blog or even supplement my income.  I'm doing so because I have realized that good research involves more than just time and effort, it requires investment as well.  I have purchased a number of training materials, registered for classes and seminars, as well as purchased products to review.  It's starting to add up, and though I am doing this for myself and my friends and family, and now you, a little bit of help is never a bad thing.

So, I'm asking that if you use an adblock plugin on your browser, please allow ads for http://esteveban.blogspot.com/.  If you see an ad that interests you, please click and review the content.  I do not want you to click ads just for the sake of clicking, that's not right, so please don't do that.

I had intentions of joining the Amazon Affiliate program and linking only to items I reviewed and recommended, but due to recent Illinois State Law, Amazon has discounted the program in Illinois.

Finally, a friend suggested that I add a donation link, so I did.  I suppose if you found some value in an article it would be nice to send a small donation my way.  Again, that will help offset some of the costs of running this blog.

Thanks for your support $

Most humbly yours,

Esteban D. Perez

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Preparedness / Survival Education

Since I've started this blog, I've been doing a lot of reading and research on preparedness and survival, and it's lead me to the revelation that I should share some of the resources I've come across, rather than have you wait for my post.

Get Formal Training!

First and foremost, I recommend that you get formal training.  It's one thing to read something on the internet or in a book, or watch a few videos, but getting hands on experience and actually being put through a test is a whole other thing.

Flat Tire Preparedness Part 2

I had a pleasant conversation with one of my friends about my previous blog post My Flat Tire Is Your Next Lesson, and she mentioned that the rim of her "space-saver" spare tire bent under the weight of her SUV.  Apparently this is not a defect, but a known design flaw that the spare tire manufacture does not freely repair or replace.

I was never aware of this issue, and was bothered that a known defective device was provided as an emergency replacement.

Given that concern let's take a look at alternatives to "space-saver" spare tires.

My Flat Tire Is Your Next Lesson

As I was pulling away from my parking spot, I heard a loud pop followed by the sound cracking glass. I knew it wasn't good. I pulled out my handy flashlight to confirm I did drive over a glass bottle. Turning off my radio I slowly continued to drive on and exited the gravel lot to reach solid pavement - no way had I wanted to set up a jack in a gravel lot. As I exited the lot, I noticed the sound wasn’t quite the same. Pulling over and inspecting the tire I then saw it appeared to be slowly loosing air. Better to change a flat sooner than later.

If I risked driving home on it the damage could have easily and quickly worsened. Losing a tire while in motion is also extremely dangerous as you can lose control of your vehicle. And of course there is a higher risk of injury replacing a tire on the expressway or an unfamiliar area. Also letting a tire go completely flat can damage it to a point beyond repair. You can cause a pinch or slash, also tires contain fabric and steel wire as reinforcing materials which can also be distorted beyond repair.

Follow @EstevebanFiles on Twitter

Just a quick note that I have established a twitter account to share my thoughts on blog posts.  I will post short updates to twitter about ideas and research I have for blog posts.  You may also provide your input on content before it is posted on the blog.  I will also respond DMs and @messages as well.

Thank you for your support and motivation!

Follow @EstevebanFiles