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Antiauthoritarian
Sep. 23rd, 2023 05:55 pmYou can't be promoted high enough to not be wrong.
Overgothed
Jan. 7th, 2016 09:37 pm"What is your character concept?"
"Invulnerable black-clad moody lone wolf in a black trench coat wielding twin titanium monokatanas and smartlinked Desert Eagles firing incendiary moonsilver depleted uranium cold iron explosive tracer bullets while a bloodthirsty yet mournful heavy metal soundtrack wails distantly over the incessant rain that falls like the tears of a thousand fallen angels crying over the heart's mournful lament for a lost paradise."
"Um... no."
"Invulnerable black-clad moody lone wolf in a black trench coat wielding twin titanium monokatanas and smartlinked Desert Eagles firing incendiary moonsilver depleted uranium cold iron explosive tracer bullets while a bloodthirsty yet mournful heavy metal soundtrack wails distantly over the incessant rain that falls like the tears of a thousand fallen angels crying over the heart's mournful lament for a lost paradise."
"Um... no."
Well, damn. Archive.org has 112 live Warren Zevon concert recordings.
I don't even know where to start.
I don't even know where to start.
Truthified
Jul. 11th, 2015 12:50 pmJust saw the open carry activist asshole movement referred to as Second Amendment cosplay.
Everglades
Dec. 17th, 2014 09:07 pmToday at work, we discussed southern Florida's wealth of natural options for body disposal. I have the best office.
Paladin recently reminded me that I purchased the PDF of Shadowrun 5th Edition a while ago and asked me for my opinion.
( Scathing opinion follows. )
( Scathing opinion follows. )
Uninformed
Apr. 7th, 2014 07:50 pmAttention recruiters: if you have to ask what "emergency management" is, you probably aren't well-positioned to find me a job in that field.
Sportsball
Mar. 30th, 2014 05:55 pmRight now, dozens of UK fans are watching the NCAA tournament game while sitting on their floors. Why? Because they all burned their couches on Friday night after UK beat Louisville.
Good planning, guys.
Good planning, guys.
Visitation
Jul. 8th, 2013 05:52 pmIn dubious honor of our alien space-brothers, I mowed crop circles in the yard again. Happy Roswell Day, everyone!
(Is anyone else nostalgic for the nineties, when the fictional government conspiracies were scarier than the real ones?)
(Is anyone else nostalgic for the nineties, when the fictional government conspiracies were scarier than the real ones?)
I'm going to be an ass about a preparedness issue here and I'm not going to hide it behind a cut or a friendwall, because it's something a lot of people need to see.
If you are talking about preparedness and blithely tell someone, "if everything goes to hell, I'll just come to your house," here's what you're really saying:
"I'm too lazy and apathetic to spend any time or effort or money on preparations myself, but when everything goes to hell, I'll come to your house without anything useful to contribute. And I'll expect you to make room for me in your lifeboat and split your limited resources among more people than you'd planned and budgeted to support."
If you're planning on showing up unannounced on someone else's doorstep, show up with skills, supplies, gear that will make you a welcome (or at least tolerable) unplanned addition to the team. Otherwise, you are a net liability for everyone's survival.
(Obviously, this applies far more in situations that are true survival crises than in weather-related inconveniences.)
If you are talking about preparedness and blithely tell someone, "if everything goes to hell, I'll just come to your house," here's what you're really saying:
"I'm too lazy and apathetic to spend any time or effort or money on preparations myself, but when everything goes to hell, I'll come to your house without anything useful to contribute. And I'll expect you to make room for me in your lifeboat and split your limited resources among more people than you'd planned and budgeted to support."
If you're planning on showing up unannounced on someone else's doorstep, show up with skills, supplies, gear that will make you a welcome (or at least tolerable) unplanned addition to the team. Otherwise, you are a net liability for everyone's survival.
(Obviously, this applies far more in situations that are true survival crises than in weather-related inconveniences.)
Rules for receiving candy:
1. Have a costume.
1a. A UK jersey and jeans do not comprise a costume.
1b. Nor do a leotard and tutu if you're over 6.
2. If you are old enough to speak, say, "trick or treat," or some variation thereof.
2a. A surly thrusting of your pillowcase is not sufficient...
2b. ... unless your costume is one for which mute suffering is appropriate.
3. Bonus candy will be awarded for the following achievements:
3a. A good costume.
3b. A group theme.
3c. Saying "thank you," or some variation thereof.
1. Have a costume.
1a. A UK jersey and jeans do not comprise a costume.
1b. Nor do a leotard and tutu if you're over 6.
2. If you are old enough to speak, say, "trick or treat," or some variation thereof.
2a. A surly thrusting of your pillowcase is not sufficient...
2b. ... unless your costume is one for which mute suffering is appropriate.
3. Bonus candy will be awarded for the following achievements:
3a. A good costume.
3b. A group theme.
3c. Saying "thank you," or some variation thereof.
You get people to enthusiastically use services by making them compelling and awesome and easy to use. You don't get people to enthusiastically use your services by forcing them to. In fact, that's probably a great way to ensure that a huge number of people who may have been interested in trying out your service never even look at it.
- Wil Wheaton commenting on recent Google+ Events shenanigans, but really pretty relevant to all sorts of decisions in tech (coughAppleOSXLionAutosaveVersionscough)
- Wil Wheaton commenting on recent Google+ Events shenanigans, but really pretty relevant to all sorts of decisions in tech (coughAppleOSXLionAutosaveVersionscough)
Via Wikipedia, it appears that someone in Belgium is developing a new PDW caliber. I want to like it because variety in ammunition is the spice of life, and because its casings are made from recovered .30 Carbine brass... but this really looks like an answer desperately seeking a problem in the ballistic equivalent of the Craigslist hookups section.
"The VBR-B 7.92x24 mm caliber is a new caliber which must offer an answer on the disadvantages linked to the small diameters of the current PDW calibers 4.6 and 5.7 mm and also must offer an answer on the too heavy recoil of 9x19 the calibre for PDW use." Um, dude? Someone who can't handle the recoil of 9x19mm in a PDW-sized platform isn't going to be able to pass the physical fitness standards for service in any First World military. Not to mention the fact that for almost any application I can think of, the PDW and submachine gun concepts themselves are dying in the face of reliable (okay, okay, less unreliable...) 5.56x45mm compact assault rifles running 8" to 11" barrels.
I also find it interesting that ballistic gelatin tests are posted for the civilian FMJ load but not for the "prototype" hollowpoint bullet that a civilian might actually want to use for defense. I'm hard-pressed to care about ball ammunition's terminal performance in any handgun caliber. Show me how this is an improvement over Federal Hydra-Shok (a little long in the tooth now but still a law enforcement and concealed carry standard because of decade-old FBI testing) or CCI/Speer Gold Dot or Cor-Bon DPX when fired from the 4.25" or 5" barrel of a likely service or carry pistol. Heck, show me how, when launched out of a civilian-legal PDW-type shoulder arm, it beats a pistol-caliber carbine in 9x19mm with an equivalent 16" barrel - or a seventy-year-old M1 carbine chambered for the parent brass.
Hmm... 70 grains at 1,500 fps? Congratulations! You've just invented a slight refinement to the 7.62x25mm Tokarev! Someone call Ceska Zbrojovka and tell them to put the vz.52 back into production!
"The VBR-B 7.92x24 mm caliber is a new caliber which must offer an answer on the disadvantages linked to the small diameters of the current PDW calibers 4.6 and 5.7 mm and also must offer an answer on the too heavy recoil of 9x19 the calibre for PDW use." Um, dude? Someone who can't handle the recoil of 9x19mm in a PDW-sized platform isn't going to be able to pass the physical fitness standards for service in any First World military. Not to mention the fact that for almost any application I can think of, the PDW and submachine gun concepts themselves are dying in the face of reliable (okay, okay, less unreliable...) 5.56x45mm compact assault rifles running 8" to 11" barrels.
I also find it interesting that ballistic gelatin tests are posted for the civilian FMJ load but not for the "prototype" hollowpoint bullet that a civilian might actually want to use for defense. I'm hard-pressed to care about ball ammunition's terminal performance in any handgun caliber. Show me how this is an improvement over Federal Hydra-Shok (a little long in the tooth now but still a law enforcement and concealed carry standard because of decade-old FBI testing) or CCI/Speer Gold Dot or Cor-Bon DPX when fired from the 4.25" or 5" barrel of a likely service or carry pistol. Heck, show me how, when launched out of a civilian-legal PDW-type shoulder arm, it beats a pistol-caliber carbine in 9x19mm with an equivalent 16" barrel - or a seventy-year-old M1 carbine chambered for the parent brass.
Hmm... 70 grains at 1,500 fps? Congratulations! You've just invented a slight refinement to the 7.62x25mm Tokarev! Someone call Ceska Zbrojovka and tell them to put the vz.52 back into production!
I'm enjoying Falling Skies. I really am. But is it too much to ask that one goddamn TV show not completely screw up CPR?
Scene: Patient dies on the table. Doctor starts chest compressions while someone else stands by with a BVM. Two assistants holding different limbs say they can't find a pulse while she's still doing compressions. Uh?
I wouldn't trust this medical team to operate on a ham sandwich.
Scene: Patient dies on the table. Doctor starts chest compressions while someone else stands by with a BVM. Two assistants holding different limbs say they can't find a pulse while she's still doing compressions. Uh?
I wouldn't trust this medical team to operate on a ham sandwich.
Vampires in the Open
Jul. 8th, 2010 10:50 pm... that's the title of a thread on RPG.net that's been running for, at the time of this missive, 61 posts. It's a discussion of how the World of Darkness would shift if the Masquerade just... went away.
I can't help it. I see a title like that and my first thought isn't Masquerade breaches. It's, "Target! Vampires in the open, range five hundred meters! Load white phosphorus!"
Attention John Ringo: still waiting for you to write Night Shots.
I can't help it. I see a title like that and my first thought isn't Masquerade breaches. It's, "Target! Vampires in the open, range five hundred meters! Load white phosphorus!"
Attention John Ringo: still waiting for you to write Night Shots.
Give 'em a whiff of grape...
Nov. 16th, 2009 10:21 pmThe USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned naval vessel in the world, still has rather a lot of guns. Two of them remain in use for firing salutes at 0800 and sunset.
Apparently, some of the neighbors - who, as I've seen pointed out, have been there not nearly as long as the ship - are now whining about the noise.
I think the solution is to stop firing blanks.
Apparently, some of the neighbors - who, as I've seen pointed out, have been there not nearly as long as the ship - are now whining about the noise.
I think the solution is to stop firing blanks.
BlamArooooSplat
Sep. 3rd, 2009 10:02 pmI gotta wonder... how many drivers are killed every year when their airbags deploy and ram their lap dogs into their sinuses at 270 feet per second?
Just askin'.
I swear, one of these days I'm gonna brake-check someone just to see a terrier ejected from between a driver's face and her airbag like a furry, howling watermelon seed.
The headline, to paraphrase Denis Leary, will, in fact, read, "woman killed by best friend."
Just askin'.
I swear, one of these days I'm gonna brake-check someone just to see a terrier ejected from between a driver's face and her airbag like a furry, howling watermelon seed.
The headline, to paraphrase Denis Leary, will, in fact, read, "woman killed by best friend."
