With all the doomsday prepper shows and natural disasters that seem to hit our planet from all directions setting back communities into distressed chaos, I certainly wonder what it would be like if all hell broke loose. For full disclosure, I am the author’s son and supporting editor of this book. This is an art of passion and not a commercial enterprise, so please forgive minor editing mistakes. We did the best we could and look forward to making corrections based on readers feedback. If you have any, please visit our facebook page facebook.com/montanaalliance and we’ll make the correction (great part about a Kindle book).
Now, all of that said, I thought this book was quite the adventure. I had a hard time getting into it at first, wondering to myself, “is this plausible?” Then I realized it doesn’t matter. Between Japan’s Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Sandy in the US, it’s clear that there are many things that could set us back a bit. What was more engaging was imaging what it would be like. Living in San Francisco, we’re all told how we should be prepared for “the big one”, have extra water on hand, food, and other supplies. But what happens if “the event” makes it such that our electricity production and manufacturing abilities are minimized to the point where we’re back to hunting and gathering? That was when I got hooked on the storyline. It’s set years later, outlining the challenges and creativity of different groups of people all learning how to survive where canned goods eventually are no good and even bicycle tires have rotted. What kinds of communities will form? How will you interact with your skilled neighbor? Do you trade with him or direct him at gun point? This is where I think this storyline takes off. There is the obvious hippy camp that gives a socialist structure a try and communal living a focused strategy, and of course you have to have the crazy dictator who ceases control of weapons and thugs that will help him to power. What’s more interesting is how you’re mind wanders from supporting one group to another, questioning what alliance you will actually make. If you’re looking for an escape, and want to challenge your idea of what prepared means, take a read. Let us know if you would join the Montana Alliance!

TV guides are painful. It seems I spend more time going through the menu than watching quality programming. The sheer number of channels is overwhelming. But, what really rubs me wrong is when I finally see something of interest and I get the message, “Channel not purchased.”
I propose a few minor changes that I think will dramatically improve the experience.

• Expand the favorites option to allow for multiple users in the household
• Provide the option to filter out those channels that are “not purchased” (tried “Channels I Get” on DirecTV and still had channels come up that I couldn’t watch)
• Allow picture in picture box to display the channel you are flipping though on the guide
• Have a recommendation engine (by user)