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Correspondence with Mr. Conrad Novak (survivorsfortress.com)

Mr. Conrad Novak, Editor in Chief, survivorsfortress.com
[Source]

1) C. Novak (2017-Oct-26)
2) S. Jetchick (2017-Oct-26)
3) C. Novak (2017-Oct-30)
4) S. Jetchick (2017-Oct-30)

1) C. Novak (2017-Oct-26)

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: An in-depth guide that you might want to see
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2017 07:30:51 -0700
From: Conrad Novak

To: @inquisition.ca

Hi there,

I'm Conrad from Survivor's Fortress, I hope you're doing well.

We recently published a guide about bug out bags that we believe goes
beyond of what most articles on the web provide about this topic. Most of
them just focus on giving you a list of the items you'll need to build your
bug out bag and that's fine to start off but is not enough. That's why we
took a different approach.

We covered everything you need to consider to successfully execute a bug
out plan like how to choose your routes, your location, how to choose the
right vehicle, how to pack for maximum space efficiency, how to cut down
the weight of your bag and more.

Plus, we asked 15 well-known bloggers in the preparedness space to share
with us their best tips about this topic, some of them gave us very
detailed answers. This an in-depth 20,000+ words guide, it could be an
eBook on its own, but enough of me telling you how good the guide is, here
is the link for you to check it out:

	Bug Out Bag Essentials List: Our Complete Guide to Build a Good BOB

I noticed that you have covered this topic in the past, that's why I
thought that you might want to see the guide.

I really look forward to hearing your thoughts and if you consider our
guide a great fit for your website.

Take care and have a good day.

Conrad Novak

Editor

Survivor's Fortress survivorsfortress.com | Twitter twitter.com/survivorfrtress

2) S. Jetchick (2017-Oct-26)

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Re: An in-depth guide that you might want to see
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2017 20:54:32 -0400
From: Stefan Jetchick
To: Conrad Novak

Good day Mr. Novak,

>> I hope you're doing well.

Yes, thank you. I hope you're doing fine also.


>> I really look forward to hearing your thoughts

Really?

Most people run away when I start talking!

;-)

Seriously, please be forewarned that I tend to criticize
harshly, and not see the good points in other people (or
other web sites).

Overview of my criticisms:

1) Gaming the Google ranking algorithm
2) Clickbait article titles
3) Burdensome web programming
4) For-profit web site?
5) Sketchy proofreading
6) Running away temporarily from a permanent problem
7) "Practical" advice that is too theoretical



1) Gaming the Google ranking algorithm

>> and if you consider our
>> guide a great fit for your website.

I'm not sure I understand that part of your e-mail. In
other words, I'm not sure why exactly you are writing
to me. Offhand, it seems like you're trying to improve
your Google ranking by having many web sites point to
yours, a bit like the classic university researcher joke:

	Dear Fellow Scientist:

	This letter has been around the world at least seven times.  It has
	been to many major conferences.  Now it has come to you.  It will
	bring you good fortune.  This is true even if you don't believe it.
	But you must follow these instructions:

	 -  include in your next journal article the citations below.
	 -  remove the first citation from the list and add a
		citation to your journal article at the bottom.
	 -  make ten copies and send them to colleagues.

	Within one year, you will be cited up to 10,000 times!  This will
	amaze your fellow faculty, assure your promotion and improve your
	sex life.  In addition, you will bring joy to many colleagues. Do
	not break the reference loop, but send this letter on today.

	Dr. H. received this letter and within a year after passing it on
	she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.  Prof. M.
	threw this letter away and was denied tenure.  In Japan, Dr. I.
	received this letter and put it aside.  His article for Trans.
	on Nephrology was rejected.  He found the letter and passed it on,
	and his article was published that year in the New England Journal
	of Medicine.  In the Midwest, Prof. K. failed to pass on the letter,
	and in a budget cutback his entire department was eliminated.  This
	could happen to you if you break the chain of citations.

	1. Miller, J. (1992). Post-modern neo-cubism and the wave theory
	of light.  Journal of Cognitive Artifacts, 8, 113-117.

	2. Johnson, S. (1991). Micturition in the canid family: the
	irresistable pull of the hydrant. Physics Quarterly, 33, 203-220.

	3. Anderson, R. (1990).  Your place or mine?: an empirical comparison
	of two models of human mating behavior. Psychology Yesterday 12, 63-77.

	4. David, E. (1994). Modern Approaches to Chaotic Heuristic
	Optimization: Means of Analyzing Non-Linear Intelligent Networks
	with Emergent Symbolic Structure. (doctoral dissertation, University
	of California at Santa Royale El Camino del Rey Mar Vista by-the-sea.
	[Source]

I remember laughing very hard at that joke many years ago (before the
invention of Google). Now it's not a joke anymore!

So as far as getting my web site to point to yours, it's done. This
page of our correspondance contains many hyperlinks to your web site.
I can't resist a polite request for a favor!


2) Clickbait article titles

>> We recently published a guide about bug out bags that we believe goes
>> beyond of what most articles on the web provide about this topic.

I rummaged around your web site a bit, and the names of your
articles are a bit funny, somewhat along the lines of this
other classic joke:

[Source]


Of course, having article titles "improved" by the marketing department
is not a crime.

3) Burdensome web programming

Another spontaneous reaction to your web site is the
HTML you use. Your web site uses very complex HTML, javascript,
and all kinds of visual "do-dads".

In contrast, my web site HTML programming is oriented toward survival.
In other words, my HTML is optimized for conditions where:

	- connection to the Internet has been lost;

	- most computers have been destroyed by EMP, and the
	remaining ones are old, slow, and have bad screens.

If you go on the home page of my web site, there is a link that
allows you to download the whole web site, the whole kit-and-kaboodle,
as a ".zip" file. You can then "unzip" it and just use my whole
web site off-line, without being connected to the Internet. Also,
because the HTML programming is minimalistic, it will run fast
even on old computers with small and crummy screens.

Your BOB guide is downloadable as a PDF, which is good,
but if the whole web site is good, then the whole web
site should be downloadable. No?


4) For-profit web site?

>> SurvivorsFortress.com is a participant in the
>> Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an
>> affiliate advertising program designed to provide
>> a means for sites to earn advertising fees by
>> advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Well, my web site has no advertising.


5) Sketchy proofreading:

- Quite a few typos in the section "Mike Reed – Mike Reed Outdoors".
Actually, some of the sentences are a bit bizarre.

- There are many in the section "Selco - SHTF School" which begins with
the sentence: "Concept of 'gray man' in shortest could be explained as
an 'bieing completely".


6) Running away temporarily from a permanent problem:

I'm not sure how to say this, but apparently your web site
is intensely focused on just one thing: Running away temporarily
from a permanent problem.

Societal breakdown requires more than just running away
temporarily. Because Man is a social animal, that means
we have to try to save society if we want to survive,
even survive individually. This means dipping into topics
like religion and politics, topics which generally are
highly destructive of advertising income (so web sites
that want to serve Money more than God will avoid them).



>> Most of them just focus on giving you a list of the items
>> you'll need to build your bug out bag

Well, mine does provide a list:

	The "Bug-Out-Bag" (BOB) List

But that article is part of a rather long section that includes
typical usage scenarios, some design rules, many other lists,
and even a special prayer for the Prepper!

Actually, if you read carefully, my web site specifically says
a Bug-Out-Bag is only a small part of being prepared:

	2.1) Get involved in Politics instead of piling up guns and ammo

According to me, a well-unknown non-expert with a small web
site and an even smaller readership, this object might be
the most important for survival:

	Love Tube

So far, I've handed out 2902 for free, all over my home town.

So you can see I do have a lot more than a list of items
for a BOB! Actually, even though I've not read the whole
Internet, I doubt most web sites only give a list of items
for a BOB. I'd guess most give much more.


7) "Practical" advice that is too theoretical


>> We covered everything you need to consider to successfully execute a bug
>> out plan [...] This an in-depth 20,000+ words guide,
>> it could be an eBook on its own

Here, my complaint about your Guide is the same complaint
I have about my own web site: everything seems too
theoretical. As a comparaison, I have a book called "Zinn
and the art of bicycle maintenance", in which he explains
how to fix just about anything on a bicycle, and which tools
you'll need. I wish I could offer something like that for
survival, but I haven't found it yet.

I think my main problem is I just lack experience. I need
to get out more and actually test in realistic conditions
every piece of equipment I think I'll need. For example,
in your Guide, you have a section called "Todd Sepulveda -
Prepper Website" in which he says: "One of the least
considered modes of transportation when the SHTF is a
bicycle." But just a couple of hours ago, I tested what
seemed like an interesting bug-out bicycle: a Dahon folding
bicycle. Wow! It must be great for cute and skinny Japanese
girls zooming around Tokyo, but for an old fat white guy
trying to get from point A to point B at night in the
driving rain, it just scares me! I felt like if I pedaled
too hard, I would fold it like you bend a paper clip! I
would never trust my life to such an object in a bug-out
situation!

Anyway, I do wish I had tons of practical, hands-on
experience in all aspects of survival. I just don't. Rats.


>> Take care and have a good day.

Same here!

SJJ

[The next morning, after I had sent this e-mail, I thought
of another reason I like "Zinn and the art of bicycle
maintenance", and I don't like web sites like "survivalblog.com"
by J.W. Rawles, and others like it. When I want to fix my
bike, I don't want to go rummaging through a dumpster filled
helter-skelter with all kinds of opinions on how to fix a
bike, many of them false, some of them downright dangerous,
but most of them just plain superficial and insufficient to
get the job done. I don't have time to sift through all those
opinions, carefully test which ones are true, burn the bad
ones, then collect, distill and logically organize the actual
knowledge that remains.]

3) C. Novak (2017-Oct-26)

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Re: An in-depth guide that you might want to see
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2017 07:00:37 -0700
From: Conrad Novak
To: Stefan Jetchick

Hi Stefan,

Thanks for getting back to me, you gave me a really detailed answer and I
see your points, I guess I was a little too ambitious to create a guide to
cover everything about bugging out, that would take a 250 pages book to do
it so, I made the grammar corrections to the guide that you pointed out.
Thanks for your time, perhaps when I release a new guide you could share
your thoughts and add them to the guide, I plan to do this every six months
or so, it would be great to have you on board. I wish you the best of luck.

Take care,

Conrad

4) S. Jetchick (2017-Oct-30

Conrad Novak showing the importance of teamwork for survival!
[Source]