EZ Server

We're expecting a Super Typhoon to hit here over next few days, with category/signal #4.

Just in case I seem MIA power and/or internet might go out.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/11/06/1253445/brace-super-typhoon-yolanda-pagasa

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/519807/20131106/philippines-typhoon-haiyan-regions-alert-hurricane-bohol.htm#.Unn4-BDHhoY

(http://imageshack.us/a/img15/4060/gen1new.jpg)

I'm still here for EZ Server, just spending some time to relax with family, play some video games, etc. New content on EZ Server comes in spurts, as you can see in the update category in forums here. I haven't abandoned anything as some trolls might like others to believe. Will continue to run updates from Hateborne, double loot weekends, add/fix content, etc.

Glad to hear it, Hunter....and glad to hear you're taking time with family. We'll be here when ya get back!

And good luck with the storm! I remember those well from my time there....nothing to joke about.

Looks like its going to be a category 5 Super Typhoon with gusting winds at 315 km/h.

I know we have a strong house, but worried if we have to take anyone in during the storm. Many neighbors have wooden houses that would easily flatten.

http://typhoonstormwatch2012.blogspot.com/

(http://icons-ak.wunderground.com/data/images/wp201331_5day.gif)

Good luck Hunter.  Hopeyou stay safe.

I got my camcorder ready :)

Well that's a good attitude, I couldn't live in an area with such crazy weather, be it hurricane zones, or typhoons, or earthquakes.

The occasional blizzard is bad enough.

You get used to it, oddly enough. I got used to earthquakes when I lived in California and Japan (after coming to realize that the bed wasnt shaking because I was possessed), and got used to hurricanes while living on the Gulf, and tornadoes in the midwest.

have you ever thought about moving? Just seems like natural disaster after natural disaster over there  :(

(http://chadstjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cow-in-a-tornado-from-the-movie-Twister.gif)


Just saying.



-Hate

Yeah, people sort of do get used to natural disasters, and manage.

After the earthquake, we had 5.0 aftershocks twice a day for a week, and sort of just got used to it. I just tell myself the first one (7.2) was the biggest, so during the aftershock no need to panic.

Its hard to live any where in the world without possibility of disaster. Even northern states have their fun of getting snowed in. Philippines is where family is, and its cheap to live here.

At least I got a nice location several hundred feet above sea level. Its the people living near the ocean that are going to probably come up the hill towards where we live for shelter.

Thousands of families are still displaced from that 7.2 earthquake, and have no where to live due to their houses getting destroyed. Many of them now living in tents, and have no where to go for the incoming Typhoon.

Heading to the city soon here to get some supplies before the storm hits. Going to need extra food that doesn't require refridgeration, and we recharged all our flashlights.

My wife says last time something this bad came by, was back in 1984. Just like the northeast in United States, just got hit by a rare hurricane recently. Hurricanes are more common in FL several times a year, and very rare in NY. In the Philippines its very common for Manila to get hit by Typhoons but our location in the center is pretty rare to get hit so hard, usually just tropical storm.

Pretty soon it'll be back to work for me, dealing with black ice and tornadoes. I make the best of it with my camera :)

Did my shopping for food and supplies in the city. Was like trying to shop on Black Friday, very crowded.

All along the main road to/from the city, people were cutting off the tree branches to protect their houses and power lines.

We had to trim 2 coconut trees as well to prevent them from breaking our power lines.

Stay safe Hunter! If you really do get video.. make sure to post it :)

Going to hit in about 12 hours from now, 9am local time.

Seems we're going to get lucky on its current path, in the 40 mph wind range.

Was already category 5 out at sea, but is starting to weaken now too. Will be category 2-4 depending on location hit.

Was expecting power outages from downed trees on power lines, so I bought some rechargeable flashlights for whole family here. Many were very thankful as they are too poor to even afford to buy one, and the ones they already had were broken.

I'm partially feeling disappointed, was hoping for some video of 200 mph winds outside my front door, but then again I rather not go a week without power and air condition so its all good :)

(http://i41.tinypic.com/xpmpw8.png)

Use your trusty druid Wake of Karana...always makes for a nice sunny day for me

I woke up once and the room was dark. So I was fumbling around trying to find my DE Mask Clickie so I could illusion dark elf and see in the dark. After a bit, I finally realized I was IRL and not in game.

:D

Just heard its topping 195mph, 315km/h, scary stuff.  Where do you even go to stay safe out of that?

http://youtu.be/7QcW_NGFFU8
http://youtu.be/T0v6Gol83F0

let us know when youre okay hunter. we're all worried about u

(http://topcultured.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Fort-Knox-Image.jpg)



-Hate

cnn decided to put hannah montana stories on hold for a few minutes this morning, and report the super typhoon in the Philippines. They said the death toll exceeds 1200, and the damage was catastrophic. I hope you're safe and doing well.

Hope you're doing okay Hunter. This is a crazy storm.

Thanks for all the replies, and hello Secrets :)

The power just came back on now, was out for 3 days. The electric company turned off the power before the storm arrived.

We barely missed the Super Typhoon, veered just north of where we live. The unfortunately part is those 195 mph winds that hit just 50-100 miles north of us is where we get our power from, so there was mess to clean up, and yes I heard over local radio over 1000 dead, and many more now in desperate need of food/water.

I have ton of email in my inbox to get through, so hopefully I'll get chance to reply them all within the next 1 day.

Some news reports saying this was most powerful Typhoon in history to hit land.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0Od4CrkokU

Other news reports saying death toll likely to reach over 10,000.

I was located just on the outside of the storm, probably 40-60 mph wind.

Reminded me of the movie Karate Kid II

Good to see you and family are okay Hunter
We all have seen how bad it was other there, worst one to hit land

We thought it would be awhile before you got power and comms back up
TBH i thought it would have been longer, seeing all the damage it caused
Hats off to the service providers

Stay safe, and hopefully no more natural disasters
I guess your still recovering from the Earthquakes

Yes, many people were homeless from the 7.2 earthquake, and had no where to hide from the Typhoon, except maybe in the schools.

I just got word that our power is only for 4 hours, then will turn off. We're getting electric from some different source that is rotating towns right now. The main location that supplies our electric got hit the hardest, as you can see from the videos. Might be a week before they get power up and running regularly. So I'm really hoping its not true, that we're going to lose power again due to rotating towns. Will find out, expecting power to turn off again here.

Read on one website that "Temporarily switch the 'Bohol Diesel Power Pant' for lack of electricity supply", and that the main power company could take 2 months to get fully restored. Our main power plant suffered 90% damage.

This is gonna suck :(

Our prayers are with you, your family and the countless of thousands who are going to have to rebuild from this.  Glad you are safe.

Very happy to hear everything is ok for you and your family H, hang in there! :-\

Thank you for posting updates Hunter.  Sounds like it's going to take a long time to recover from the devastation.  The storm is front page news around the world.   I hope you and your family are doing well. 

Really glad to hear you and yours are ok, H!

That really sux about only having temp power. We're all really glad you all are ok over there.

The power was on for only 4 hours yesterday, and just came back on now. I expect it'll turn off within 4 hours again, and might do this every day for next 2 months, since our main power plant was 90% destroyed and their estimate is 2 months to get back to normal around here.

I was in the city today shopping for generators, and they are all sold out throughout the entire city! The storm was on Friday, and by Saturday they sold out of generators. Next shipment is for Thursday at one place, and we put a down payment to reserve one coming Thursday.

While cruising around the city, all the traffic lights are off and have police directing traffic. Most of the stores have generators on the city sidewalk so they can continue business. There is still rumble to be cleared up from the earthquake, and trees to clear out of the typhoon. There is a detour when we go to the city cause some 500 year old church collapsed onto the main road.

It sure is a humbling experience to be in a 3rd world country, 90 degrees tropics, get 7.2 quake, then Super Typhoon, and now power/water is limited. Now that the power is on, and the water is running, we filled up buckets of water just so we can flush the toilet after the water/power goes out again. Rechargeable fans make a world of difference when there is no air con. Probably won't have the refridgerator on for next 2 months, so food will be limited choices, probably rice as usual. We're lucky the Super Typhoon veered 50-75 miles north of us (as you can see in posted map/pic earlier in this topic), cause if we had been in the center of the path, we'd probably have no more house right now. I saw videos of the place that got hit, and looks like a nuclear bomb went off, everything is leveled. So yeah, we're counting our blessings, could have been worse.

Some of the family missed their chance to recharge their mobile phones when the power was on yesterday for 4 hours. Maybe they don't make that mistake anymore, and will recharge their phones asap.

Seems like there is another possible Typhoon coming our way, will have to keep eye on the news.

"... may be the strongest tropical cyclone in recorded history ..."
"The typhoon was 3.5 times more forceful than Hurricane Katrina, which hit the United States 2005."
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/10/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-haiyan/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Yup, seems like we have another one coming in about 2 days from now, category/signal 1, and so far we're dead center of its path.

http://weather.com.ph/announcements/tropical-depression-zoraida-update-number-001

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/355368-cyclone-zoraida-update-may-follow-the-same-path-of-yolanda/

(http://i41.tinypic.com/1zznzpu.png)

WTF, Microwave beam starting these Typhoons?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCOZD1YQ6Q8

Power just came back on today, probably just for another 4 hours again.

The category 1 incoming veered just south of us, so we got lucky again.

Had a 4.5 aftershock today.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/earthquake-hits-bohol--tsunami-rumor-sends-people-in-panic-073158006.html

Can't seem to log into EQ, maybe slow internet.

Will try to read up about generators via Google search, how much gas per hour do they use, etc.

The EQEMU login server seems to be down currently if you are trying to log in :(

Thanks, was trying to access their website and that was down too, so sorta figured.

Power has been on for almost 5 hours now, hoping that it stays on, but I doubt it will. They are rationing 15 megawatts from diesel power plant to different towns across the island. Seems we're still permanently cut off from main power plant for now.

After researching Solar Power and Solar Generators, I realize how much I underestimated that its over priced and gives back very little power.

A $2,100 solar generator might say 1000 watt and use a battery that recharges, but the panel might be only 90 watt, and if peek sunlight is 5 hours a day, thats only 450 watt hours per day? If that gets stored to the battery, and the unit is used 24 hours a day, that would only give average 18 watts every hour of the day? That'd barely be enough to run a fan or light bulb here if that.

Saw a 6000 watt worth of solar panels system that would run just about everything, like air condition, fridge, etc but cost $28,000 which is way too much.

I realize gas generators require maintenance (oil, spark plugs, battery, etc) not to mention they are gas hogs aka cost a lot per hour to run. Would probably get one for emergency such as few hrs a day if power was out more than 1 day.

Anyone here a prepper, listen/read alternative media, and have tips how to survive? I'm guessing majority of people have 3-7 days supply of food, and no plans in case of society collapse, riots, civil war, etc that we see already happening in other countries. Guess the mentality is can't happen here, and government will take care of us. And being addicted to games is like being addicted to alcohol, your trying avoid thinking or worrying about IRL and reality. Not trying to sound like a dooms day prepper conspiracy theorist, after all I wasn't even prepared for this 7.2 earthquake and category 5 Super Typhoon. Got caught with my pants down, with all generators sold out, no water, no power, etc. Probably only enough dry food for 1 week and rice for 1 month here currently. Anyways, any opinions or advise very welcome here thx :)

You need to start watching the show doomsday preppers

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/

Not a doomsday prepper myself.

My dad has a few generators and lives about a 10 minute drive away.  Worse case during storms we can head there if we lose power, or in case of snow he picks us up in his ford 350.

We probably have 2 weeks of food in cans/freezer push came to shove.

We researched solar for our house, but need a new roof first so not worth it now.

With gov't incentives could get a significant setup for 7k out of pocket.  State offers 10k in incentives and federal is offering 15k i think.  Total cost is 32k but 25 would get reimbursed.

Almost sounds reasonable.

Yeah, new roof first sounds like good idea.

What area are you in? Sunny? For example, I'm near the equator, and we get 12 hours daylight year round.

Will have to check out that doomsday prepper show too.

Northeast, suburb of NYC

We'd also have to take down a few trees to maximize sunlight.

The new garage plans are also going to be ideally located, so might load that up when we build it.

Downside the state incentive is going away soon. :(

NYC not the place to be when SHTF

I agree, but is where I settled.

In dire situation for water you can purify creek / rain water with sand and charcoal. Simply crush the charcoal and pour it and clean sand into layers in a barrel or other container. For example you can get a 55 gallon drum, do a layer of sand approximately 8 to 12 inches then a layer of charcoal then sand ect. The water coming from the bottom will be purified, still boil it for added security. Store the water in clean containers in a dark dry area.

Also, if you are going to be storing the water for extended periods of time you will need to add a small amount of bleach. If the water tastes stale "refresh" it by pouring it back and forth to allow oxygen back into  it. Also, http://water.epa.gov/drink/emerprep/emergencydisinfection.cfm has some good info on water as well.  For food you can look for any wild fruits that might have survived the storm ( not sure what is native in your area), try fishing and catching small game such as frogs or scavenge through wreckage for canned goods.  I live in Mississippi and have seen the devastation a huge storm can cause first hand. I am sorry for all you and your family are having to go through.  

Bagged water is a good way to go as well.   Can buy a 10 day supply or so from a readiness store.   Unfortunately bottled water will go bad.     Iodine is also useful and good to have in your bug out bag for cleaning water as needed.    Basic supplies like a first aid kit, good knife,  compass (gps maybe), batteries, waterproof matches, flash lights are also good.     


Anyway to get donations to you now Hunter?  My guess is WU is down as well? 

Based on the news it looks like the infrastructure is so badly damaged that they are having problems getting aid to who needs it.   

WU works when the power is on.

Power has been on now for about 12 hours. Going to see if I can find out why, if its fixed in our area or what.

Thanks for list of advice. Looks like I got some shopping to do for next disaster.

The hard part about prepping in a poor area, is that nobody else is prepping. So when things get bad and there is for example no water, all the neighbors will visit to get water from you, and in the end you have no water for yourself. If you say no to the neighbors that have no water, then you become the bad guy. And in extreme cases, you get looted.

Many rich foreigners here have a big house surrounded by a big concrete wall with broken glass sticking out the top of the wall and barbed wire above that, and several dogs to patrol the property.

Unfortunately I'm not that lucky to have that kind of setup. So far my home defense items are a Bolo, Baseball Bat, and about 25 family members that live in our neighborhood.

 That's a good point. But instead of letting them know you have water in the first place, get what you need, stock up and prepare, and when another disaster happens, be the first person out there asking Them for water. That will make them believe you have nothing.

Or make a show of pissing in your water and pulling a swap to make it look like you guys piss in your water, then drink it. That'll freak the hell out of them.



-Hate

 Lol. if I were a poor person in a natural disaster, Id drink piss water. It's better than straight up piss right out of the lemonade stick.

In all seriousness, look at buying a UV water decontaminator. I think there is a hand crank version that purifies water by photochemical degredation of bacteria and germs through a photocatalyst. You can make drinkable water out of any fresh water source. That way you don't need to stock up as much. You can make it as you need it.

well this could be handy if just to sanitize water and charge a phone in an emergency.

http://shop.biolitestove.com/campstove.html#.UoVktfmTiIM

Man, reading this I feel like a big dink complaining that the marriott herein Aruba did not have my preferred bottled water on hand. Honestly, hope all is well and in game too

Preferred bottle of water.. 1st world problems for sure lol

Power just came back again, after being out for 26 hours.

Thanks for all the tips. Not much room to hide supplies here, and huge family that visits, there are no secrets around here.

I like the idea of making as much drinking water you need on demand rather than having to store it.

Ordered a 400 gallon water container that will be put up high so we can have water for shower, toilet, dishes, and laundry even when the power is out, by using gravity, sorta like a water tower.

Generator going to be expensive, probably eating 1-2 gallons per hour depending how much load is used, and its about $4/gallon over here. Probably just use it mid day for air con.

What kind of laws locally about producing your own alcohol for fuel use?

if you have a local stream you can create electricity (not a ton but enough to power lights)

http://www.powerspout.com/

I am sure there are cheaper options but this might work.

Hey man, in the military we use water purification tablets that are cheap as hell to get. Takes a couple hours to make them work but its another viable source. Works as long as it's fresh water.

Power has been on now for maybe 4-5 days strait.

I think its because we're between a water plant and a hospital where are getting priority on the power rationing.

So I guess we're lucky on location.

I have a new generator now that I haven't had to use yet, which is good cause it could cost average $2/hour to run.

Some have asked about WU and yes it works here, when they have power. Most of the city is getting priority power now and/or have generators, so its not so much an issue, can still pick up.

Now that the power is back, the family here is getting back to gaming, and are having a great time. Thank you to those that send consoles/games. Anything from old and used to new and current gen, all appreciated.

I probably won't get new PS4 or Xbox One for the first year, will read reviews, let prices drop, etc. If the stores about Xbox One are true, that you have to run the Kinect, then I probably won't get one, not even if its free. A required camera in my living room is sort of a deal breaker on gaming.

Saw in the news about tornadoes going on in US Midwest. Weather just crazy everywhere.

Great to hear you and your family are OK and getting back to normal. 

Severe weather hit all around us in southwest Ohio but we were lucky to keep power and dodge tornadoes.

The kinect just has to report. Download the SDK and the documentation on it...then disassemble it. It only needs certain components to register it as "active". Break it down so only the necessary evils are there and the rest is nonfunctional.

Or simply take it out back and hold it next to some ungodly powerful earth magnet with coiled cable.

>:-)


-Hate

Some good tips Hateborne. I'd like to try the Xbox One but without any camera. Not sure how to disable it and still able to play games. Don't you have to use it just to turn it on and get started? I'd have to do some more research on it.

Anyways, power here is out again right now. I'm using my generator for the first time, will see how long it last so I can calculate the cost per hour to run it. So right now I only have air conditioner and computer running. Hope regular power comes on soon, generator going to get expensive.

Will it run on alcohol? Most generators will. Using scrap vegetable matter you can yield a fuel that will do nicely, and its very cheap to make after the initial investment of hardware. Pretty sure, too, theres a lot of sugar cane scrap in many areas around you, and thats about the best thing you can use to make fuel.

Just an idea. If you can get the scrap cheap enough, and if water and distilling heat are cheap enough it could save you a ton of money.

Unsure where things stand there now, but last time I was in Manilla (late 80's) there were more than a few buses and trucks using at least a heavy alcohol blend, and many using 100% alcohol.

Not sure if it will run on alcohol, probably will but I don't want to break it.

We're using unleaded now, per instruction manual. Also says we can use regular if octane is at least 85.

We've had no power for 1 day, and is expected to last for at least 1 week of no power.

Generator been running about 90 minutes now and we're already charging 6 cell phones for family and neighbors. The first few were free of charge, family only, but now everyone showing up at our door cause they can hear our generator.

The generator is not hooked up to our utility lines. We ran in a separate new power line from the generator to our air conditioner, and from there I have extension cords and multi outlets to charge the phones, and run laptop.

Because many people are starting to show up to recharge their phones, we're going to have to start charging pesos for the recharge of phone. We're running out of outlets for the phones here lol. Right now we're charging very low and don't even come close to breaking even on cost of gas. If I wanted to be a dick, I could charge what they do in the city to recharge mobile phones and then I'd break even on gas. Anyways, how much power does it take to recharge a mobile phone anyways, 5-10 watt? Just a guess, haven't checked yet.

More and more neighbors showing up to recharge their cell phones.

My house is starting to look like a mobile phone store.

Its illegal here, but if you have a 220v outlet on the generator, you can put 2 male ends on a 220v dryer cord, plug one into the generator, and 1 into the dryer outlet on the wall. TURN OFF THE MAIN BREAKER TO THE HOUSE BEFORE DOING THIS! It will backfeed the house with electricity, making running your phones, A/C, etc, MUCH easier and without extension cords. You can do it with 110v too, but wont be able to power as many things. Generally 220v items pull half as many amps as 110v items do.

After living in Florida for 13 years, Ive picked up on things during hurricanes lol.

Also, before anyone says it isnt safe, generators have fuse relays, and houses have breakers, so you shouldnt be able to overdraw and burn the house down. I trust my house wiring more than an extension cord.

Its amazing how much confidence I have driving a bit 18-wheeler and yet so timid on electrical stuff.

I think I misread your post about the dry cord, was thinking you meant plug it into a dryer, but you mean just the cord. Yeah, I guess I could backfeed the house with main breaker off.

Generator is 220v and has optional 110v as well.

We have 1 or 2 wall outlets per room but yea we need multi outlet to run all the phones being recharge. More and more neighbors keep showing up, word is getting around. Might have to go to the city for more multi outlet adaptors.

He's right about back feeding through the dryer plug.  Just get a #10 cord(long enough and #10 cord will handle 30amps) and add a dryer plug to one end and then a male plug that fits your generator 220v socket.  Make sure you MAIN BREAKER IS OFF.  That is how peeps in the US plow their transformers and geny when the power is turn back on hence its illegal in the states to do that.  As far as all the cell phones, just use the 120 outlets on the geny (minus family of course) and that's all you can do also you wont be stealing as much from your house needs off the 220 side.  If you need more outlets for that just make your own outlet boxes.

Glad to see you and your family are ok and getting by. Its awesome when I hey level 1 all over again and mid pulls.  ) 

Although power been out for maybe 5 days now and we have a generator, the internet stopped working maybe 4 days now.

Main power just came on now. Rumors is cause of local elections tomorrow.

Have lots of emails to go through, hopefully internet and power last long enough to read/reply them all.

I must say Hunter, I'm quite impressed that even with all that's going on and the limited power, you're still able to find/make the time to reply to e-mail and keep up/check in with the server.

You do a great job running things here. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say thank you, we really appreciate all of your hard work

Thanks.

Power just went out again, and internet typically goes out 12-24 hours after the power goes. Our phone lines seem to go dead, which is odd, I thought they were different from power lines.

Still haven't wired the generator to the circuit breaker yet. Just bought a transfer switch today, hoping to install tomorrow.

Fun fun over here.

Things finally starting to get back to normal here, as they previously promised to happen by Dec 24th:

http://www.philstar.com/region/2013/12/19/1269877/chatto-bohol-biz-returning-normalcy