Wikileaks. I know, I know, you’re probably sick of hearing about cables and embassies and what diplomat said what nasty thing about what leader. But, it’s only day four of nine in the latest Wikileaks saga, and there’s more to come next year regarding U.S. banks.

 There’s been a lot of chatter about whether what Wikileaks is doing is right, if it’s necessary, if it serves the public’s interest or just the public’s interest in gossip. I’ll leave that up to the readers to decide.

We’ve already heard one Canadian official call for the assassination of Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, and Mike Huckabee call for the death penalty for whomever leaked the documents.

But it isn’t all gossip. There are some key revelations in these leaks, like the Saudi King pressuring the U.S. to bomb Iran, the concerns over Pakistan’s nuclear program (the worst-kept secret, but the details are interesting) and China’s acceptance of a reunified Korea with Seoul as the main power.

Oh, and there’s the Iranian-American who flew into Tehran without problems, but had to sneak out of the country on horseback through Turkey.

In a leaked cable that sounded more like a leaked movie script, the story of 75-year-old Hossein Ghanbarzadeh Vahedi’s perilous journey through the north-western Iranian mountains is told.

Vahedi flew to Iran from Los Angeles in May of 2008. Seven months later, his passport was confiscated and he was barred from leaving the country. After his appeals to the courts were turned down, Vahedi got a horse, hired two guides, and trekked 14 hours through the ice cold mountains bordering Iran and Turkey.

In early January of 2009, Vahedi showed up at the U.S. embassy in Ankara, where diplomats were, obviously, surprised to hear what he had endured.

Vahedi, who left Iran during the 1979 revolution, told U.S. authorities that Iranian officials had made it clear that a payment of $150,000 would have seen his passport returned. He opted, instead, to trek through the mountains, where his escorts had to periodically hug him to keep him warm.

Vahedi, according to the cable, was an inexperienced rider and, at one point not too long into the climb, fell off his horse and into the woods. He told authorities he believed he would die in the mountains.

After dealing with Turkish officials who wanted to deport Vahedi back to Iran as an illegal immigrant, American authorities ensured his safe return back to the United States.

Don’t wait until danger and destruction are imminent to ensure you have the provisions needed to keep you, your family and your property as safe and secure as possible.  Whether preparing for a natural or man-made disaster, it’s imperative Americans don’t simply cover the bare necessities like batteries and canned goods, or wait until a situation is at hand to seek out the necessary provisions.  Take the time to thoroughly plan and shop in advance so you are fully, not partially, prepared for an emergency.

While it’s of utmost importance to have the fundamentals in place relative to food, water, medication, communication and transportation, there are a number of other important factors to consider when safeguarding the homestead.  Every household has stacks of important papers that are difficult, in some cases virtually impossible, to replace, such as insurance policies, medical records, birth certificates, legal documents, passports, computer data, automobile and home ownership documents.  Jewelry, medications, and other valuable items also require waterproof, secure protection, and those who own such items would be well-served by ensuring they are safe and secure during a disaster, those natural and otherwise.

Consider this assortment of "next level" emergency preparedness tips, gadgets and gear:

Briggs and Stratton Storm Ready Kit: As a storm approaches, power outages are not uncommon. And, after a storm passes, electricity may not be available for hours, days, or even weeks. Living without electric power is challenging, but if you are prepared with a generator appropriate for home use, you don’t have to suffer through dark nights or food supplies without refrigeration. "Briggs and Stratton Storm Ready Kit" is one good option, as it includes a 25-foot panel extension cord that is rated at 30 amps, two quarts of SAE 30 engine oil to keep your generator purring, and two packets of fuel stabilizer. There is also a large storage cover made of nylon with a drawstring bottom to protect the generator when not in use.

Pelican SabreLite 2000: This medium duty flashlight has a lightweight body made of Lexan resin, and a laser spot Xenon lamp. This durable flashlight is completely submersible in water. Package includes belt spring clip, stainless steel split ring and black lanyard. Requires 2 C-cell batteries (not included).

Pelican Protector Case: To safeguard important documents, data, and valuables, seek watertight, dust proof, chemical resistant, and corrosion proof storage containers. Many sturdy cases are on the market, including the popular Pelican Protector Case that is made of Ultra High Impact structural copolymer, which makes it particularly strong and durable.

Cable-Safe Complete Cable Manager: With a hurricane comes water, which all too often seeps indoors creating a flood situation. In a flood, cables, power adapters, power strips, hubs, modems and other small devices are at great risk.  Readily lift these items off the floor and put safely out of harm’s way with cable management products such as the Cable-Safe Complete Cable Manager – an extremely effective and inexpensive way to loop, tie and hang cabling and wiring off the floor.

*** Surface Raceway Cord Covers: Of course, with any exposed wiring, power cords and cabling for use with generators and other devices come safety risks. Poised and ready to trip all who pass, exposed power cords, cables and wires are far more than an unsightly. Fortunately, cord cover systems are available to keep passersby from tripping on loose cables and wires running across a walkway. Cord protectors cover, hide, and protect cords and cables while keeping floors clear and safe. They also lie flat, and stay flat, and are decidedly easy to install.

Christina Hansen is a Product Specialist at CableOrganizer.com — a leading eTailer of cable, wire and equipment management solutions.  She may be reached through the company’s Web site located at http://CableOrganizer.com.

Penguin United–a maker of high quality gaming accessories–sent Blast magazine a sample of their premium and standard component cables for the Nintendo Wii. To test them out, we connected them to three different televisions: one that doesn’t support HD, one that was 64” and one that was about 32″.

We flipped back and forth between the cables on the TVs to see the differences between the original cables, the standard component cables from Penguin Computing, and the Premium Component cables.

Both component cables showed a sharper image and better colors. We couldn’t tell much of a difference between the premium and the standard, though. There may be a slight difference between them if you set up two televisions next to each other and compare the two, but it wasn’t enough to catch our attention.

On the older style television without High Definition support, the cables produced better, brighter colors. On the two High Definition televisions, though, and when switched to 480P mode, they made the images sharper. We found that in many Wii games, however, the images were more blocky.

When using the standard cables, the edges of characters were blurred from the transport, but with the High Definition, the characters had rough edges; it looked more like an N64 or a Playstation game. This may not be desirable to some people.

Another benefit to some of the component cables is that many of them are gold-plated. The gold plating will mostly benefit people who keep their systems for a long time. Copper–though a better conductor than Gold–will corrode over time, as will the signal’s clarity. Gold will not rust or corrode though, so you’ll get the same signal quality ten years from now as you have today. Most of the cables from Penguin Computing are gold-plated, so you can shop from there and expect their cables to last.

Overall, it depends on the personal preference of gamers, since the cables will make some games look blockier, but will give other better colors and higher resolutions. On the Blast magazine tech scoreboard, these component cables a seven out of ten.

Blast Magazine staff reporter David Yue contributed to this report.