I turned my gaming laptop into a PC Gamer bug out kit

I am not a prepper per se. But I certainly have prepper sympathies. Maybe the sort where, if I thought I could get it past my partner, I could see myself spending many thousands digging out a bunker in the back garden and filling it with canned goods and a year's supply of drinking water, fuel, and toilet roll. And a toilet. Of course.

But I am also a damned computer nerd, so when I saw Project NOMAD pop up I knew I had to get in on it. Project NOMAD (Node for Offline Media, Archives, and Data) is an entirely offline repository of knowledge, giving you access to a vast library of otherwise net-based goodness without any network availability necessary.

Y'know, just in case the grid goes down for reasons.

These sorts of collections have been doing the rounds on different reddits and forums for a while, but the thing which really sings to me and my nerdy sensibilities is the fact that it's an easy one-shot install that lives locally on your system, and has a straightforward front end you can access via a localhost URL on any browser, whether you're connected to the net or not.

It also sings to me because it's free, where other prepper-facing repos can cost hundreds of dollars for the privilege. I also like the fact it is unashamedly high-end. It's not designed to run on a low-end machine, it's built for precisely the sort of system I'm running it on; a high-end gaming laptop.

And I am also into it because it includes AI. Now, no eye-rolling at the back. Hey, those cries of 'of course it does' are not helpful. But the AI actually is.

The thing with Project NOMAD is that it's been designed to give the user the chance to download a knowledge repository to their own devices, and that can range from a few texts, to a swathe of Project Gutenberg books, medical guides, and the entirety of Wikipedia. Parsing that much knowledge is not easy, especially if you're looking for something very specific, but packaging a local LLM (or multiples if you want to download different models) allows you to use the knowledge base it sets up—as well as add other documents to that knowledge base yourself—and then use the LLM to query it.

But it's not just about having an offline internet of data at your disposal when the WWIII comes home to roost, it gives you the chance to learn in a more structured way, too. By including an education platform, powered by Kolibri—a deliberately offline-first learning platform. You'll need to import your channels online first, but once you've downloaded the entire curriculum you can set up your own little post-apocalyptic school.

Now, I know that I'm still going to need some power source to keep the battery on my Blade 14 rolling, but some good solar panels (if you can still see the sun) or a wee generator would do the job. And I've already queried my NOMAD about how to build my own gasifier already so I can easily generate my own fuel for it.

I've gone big with my install and so, even before downloading the entire US curriculum Khan channel, I've got a setup that's around 500 GB in size. Though that is the entirety of Wikipedia and a ton of survivalist and medical text, too. As well as a detailed Google Maps-esque download covering the entire of the UK. Though I did have to go to Open Labs to download that specific pmtiles file myself as Project NOMAD only gives you the option to download US regions during the setup process.

It does have a tendency to jealously hoard resources like some Capital Wastelander, especially if you have an LLM installed, and it will run automatically when you boot up your machine unless you explicitly tell it not to. Right now, I've got a few Chrome tabs open and the Project NOMAD Command Center open, and it's yomming 12 GB of the 32 GB available to my system.

It also has to be installed on Linux, too. Oh, did I not mention that? Yes, the whole project needs to be installed on a Debian-based Distro, ideally Ubuntu. I've got it running on my PopOS install after a little messing around with Docker, but there's no hope for you if you're running Windows.

Well, if you're persisting with trying to run Windows after the apocalypse then there's really no hope for you anyways, amirite?

But now I, a Linux-user and prepper sympathiser, will be able to continue to read episode breakdowns of old seasons of Survivor on Wikipedia in case I forget who won the immunity challenge in one vital episode of the Cook Islands season. I will also still be able to read The Complete Book of Cheese (with such wonderful passages of prose as, "connoisseurs use gingerbread as a mouth-freshener; and I, too, that sunny day among the Edams, kept my gingerbread handy") and watch videos from The Urban Prepper about the vital 72 hour water supply.

And all because I have loaded a laptop up with a healthy dollop of the interweb tubes.

Now, I just need to figure out how to keep Steam running offline for time immemorial...