My First "Data Center"

Since Slim doubts my anal retentive nature, I present visual evidence that I've been this way for a long time. My first "data center" at my first real job:



My desk (with dual 575 boxes!) was a little messier. I think I was rocking a USR 28.8 Sportster modem.

Game of Thrones

I'm sure that the HBO series coming out didn't add any pressure for him to publish the next book, but, despite my frustration with his non-existent sense of urgency, I may have to order HBO. I hear they have some show about mobster vampires or something like that, too.

House Stark Feature

You can also follow Game of Thrones on Twitter.

HTTPS Here and There

Facebook announced that they are implementing the option for using an encrypted connection. Twitter announced that they are implementing the option for using an encrypted connection.

And for some unexplained reason, Slashdot.org posted a question asking why everyone doesn't run https? Seriously? It is the same reason that other security measures aren't implemented. It adds complexity. It adds costs. While the specifics may change, the evaluations usually goes something like this - the likelihood of an attack multiplied by the damage done equals the risk. (There are many versions of this formula and I'm sure I've oversimplified, but you get the idea.) The risk calculation can then be used to compare risks, make organizational decisions about risk tolerance, etc. Some companies just don't care about security or they don't care as much as the next company. My company does not spend lots on IT security. I'm sure we spend less (on a percentage basis) than many others in Knoxville.

I'm not saying that implementing https is a bad idea. I am saying that it is more than just a technical decision.

Twitter notice via Slashdot.org
Previously HTTPS Everywhere and Encrypted Google Search.

Cough Syrup

My wife calls this cough syrup. I don't have a problem with that, but she also claims it is a preventative. (Just kidding.)

Scotch and Ham Radio

The Moray Firth Amateur Radio Society will be running some special event stations for the Speyside Whisky Festival. Speyside single malts include Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Macallan, and several others. The stations will be running April 28 through May 2 during the festival and use the following calls:

GB2SWF
GB4SWF
GM1TGY

Via KD8BIG

Employer Protection

Bill passes that offers protection to employers who allow guns at the office. Of course, the lawyers for most businesses are going to advise that maintaining policies prohibiting guns on site is in their best interest. We need a law that prohibits the employers from imposing any rules about guns on their property. The anti-gun groups win when they can get companies to implement policies they cannot legislate. They win when they get enough confusing limitations on the books that keep an honest citizen from carrying because they are afraid of accidentally breaking the law. They win when they get the international community to back control laws that restrict international gun sales.

Single Malt Scotch

We've been talking about single malt Scotch at work lately. Probably the best one I've tried is the Macallan 25 year old. The 25 year old Macallan is fairly expensive, but not as bad as the 70 year old Glenlivet for over $20,000. (That's a lot of ammo.)

My collection is below. For me, the most notable is the 18 year old Macallen and the 10 year old Edradour. Edradour is the smallest distillery in Scotland. If memory serves me correctly, when I did the tour, they said three guys spend three days to make a cask that then sits for years.



Via Uncrate

Lumberjack Commandos

I have new respect for Canadians.

Source: Black Five

Miller's Building

New tenants for the Miller's Building.

I loved working in that building and being downtown. Implementing the infrastructure was a lot of fun.

Beauty Queen Shoots Intruder

I've seen lots of people linking to the story of a Florida beauty queen who shot an intruder. They mention that she wasn't a very good shot according to her fiancé and that she had a pink gun. I think what should get more attention is what appears to be a lack of common sense:

“We live in a very prominent area and my fiancee wears a $60,000 engagement ring,” he said. “The pizza man knew we had money because sometimes we needed change for a $100 bill when he came to deliver pizza.”

Don't get me wrong, they don't deserved to be robbed or attacked, but who goes around talking about how much a ring costs and pays for deliveries with hundred dollar bills?

Walther PPS

Hickok45 reviews the Walther PPS. And another review of the PPS. I had already been thinking about one of these even before I tried out Linoge's. I was surprised by how similar the dimensions are between it and the Glock 26. The width being the obvious and largest difference. I'd really like to compare the Kel-Tec PF-9 and the Walther PPS in person. I found this post that has some good pictures of the two guns.

Lesson of the Day

Via a comment on a post about using the front sight at Excels at Nothing.

"The reason that it's so important to focus on the front sight is because the sight alignment is a much finer adjustment than your point of aim.

If your point of aim is off by, say, one inch, but your sights are aligned properly, you're going to miss the bullseye by one inch.

If your point of aim is perfect on the bullseye, but your sights are misaligned by, say .075 inches. Assuming a sight radius of 5 inches (pretty generous in this day of compact guns) and a distance of 10 yards, you'll miss your bullseye by about 5 and a half inches."

Get a PC!

Scott over at the Power Line Blog is having problems with his Mac. When using the Wintel platform, the most common suggestion for resolving Windows problems is to buy a Mac. Unless you are on Slashdot.org, then they tell you to install Linux (after which comes a debate on what flavor).

I loved the comment by Charles Dorman: "GET A TYPEWRITER."

Nothing like a Luddite technology using comedian.

Magpul Bottle Opener

I can't seem to find this Magpul Bottle Opener on their site. Pretty slick none-the-less.



I already have a LaRue Tactical Beverage Entry Tool. I read that it can be used to remove their index clips, too.

Win a Glock from CCA

The Coal Creek team is at it again. They must have too many Glocks as they are giving another one away.

"TEXT the word "GLOCK" to 508-315-9971 and you will be entered automatically. Winner will be chosen at random on Sat March 26th.

You must be a TN resident to be eligible to win."

Via the CCA Facebook page.

Band Plans

K0NR talks about the importance of band plans. What I like about his story is both the detective work that went in to finding the source and the fact that it was resolved in a civilized manner. Ham culture is a little different from the internet culture.

Coat Tax

Another what's in a name post... death tax, Defense of Marriage Act, etc.

Let's see if "coat tax" sticks for fees associated with concealed carry permits.

(If your mission is to resist the Alliance's power grab and you carry concealed, then it is called the Browncoat tax.)

Via Snowflakes in Hell

Smokies Friends of the NRA

Does anyone go to these Friends of the NRA events? I've never been and wonder if it might be worth $35 and few hours of my time just for the experience. Of course, if I won the door prize, an EAA EZ 9mm pistol, I might have to go to the meeting every time.

Happy Birthday TNJeff!

Here is to the king of sourdough bread!

Happy Birthday Bill!

Happy 80th Birthday to Captain Denny Hooker!

(My favorite Denny Crane line was in an episode about a lady that was refusing to pay her taxes. He was appalled and asked, "If the little people don't pay taxes, who will?" Denny Crane.

And thanks for teaching us about technology...



Via Engadget.

Rifle Range Gathering

I met several folks from my Sunday School class at the Volunteer Rifle & Pistol Club over the week-end. I've driven down Rifle Range Road millions of times while I was growing up in Fountain City, but I'd never been.

"The Volunteer Rifle and Pistol Club was founded on June 16th, 1930. It shares the use of John Sevier Range, which is a Federal military reservation, with the Tennessee Army National Guard, as well as, other branches of the US military establishment. Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers is the responsible agency for the administration of this Federal facility. VRPC has a permit to use the facility from the Federal Government on an annual basis. It is through the generosity of the Federal Government that VRPC enjoys the use of the John Sevier Range, therefore, all members are guests of the Federal Government and should treat the facilities accordingly. It is the responsibility of all members to conduct themselves as a responsible guest, keeping the facilities clean and accident free."

We shot at the bench rest range where you can set up targets at 15, 50, and 100 yards. All shooting must be done from the seated position. The shooting positions are covered, so no worries about sun or rain while you are firing. The cost was $6.50 for two hours.

Range Officers monitor the facility and direct the hot and cold periods. Before you can go downrange to setup/retrieve targets, the RO calls for a cease fire. Everyone has to remove clips/magazines, open the action, and step behind a line while they check that all weapons are safe. (Newbie tip: Make sure you flip the weapon to the correct side, so they can see the chamber.) The RO will announce all clear and you can go take care of your targets.

Staplers are provided for mounting your targets. They also have spotting scopes and rests you can borrow to aid in your long distance (50 and 100 is a long way for me!) shooting.

My impressions and notes:

- I really enjoyed shooting outside. This was the first time I'd really done that.

- Shooting at the bench rest range is less than optimal for pistols. You have to be seated. The closest targets are at 15 yards. The distance isn't outrageous, but inappropriate for the new shooters in our group. Trying to introduce someone to shooting by using a .22lr at 15 yards makes it a little difficult to provide good feedback. Letting them try the Glock 23 at 15 yards is even worse when they are very conscious of the recoil.

- I need to go and just shoot my rifle (the S&W M&P15-22). I shot it some, but messed up the scope. I had a fairly reasonable grouping at 50 yards for 25 rounds, unsupported. I was high and left consistently. When I made an adjustment, I was no longer on paper. Obviously, I need to focus a little more on what I was changing. (Newbie tip: Don't get over confident.)

- I only fired one shot out of Slim's EBR, but I squeezed it in with his group, so I was pretty pleased by that. He's offered to come back with me and help me site in my EBRjr.

- Large targets that change color when you hit are nice to have.

To sum up, I'm ready to go back!

Girl Power Drives the Internet

It makes sense to me... Quake and "adult sites" are no longer the driving force behind the internet. Women are driving the financial engine of the internet via Groupon, Facebook, Zappos,etc.

W4PGM in Belize

Paul, W4PGM, is going to be in Belize on a DX Expedition. Rick has posted his schedule on the 470 ARG web page. He'll be working 20 Meters (around 14.255) in the afternoons, so with my di-pole I might have a chance to make a contact. He also says he may be working split on 20, so I guess I'll need to pull the manual out for that!

Horseshoes in the dark

One of the guys on the 940 repeater was asking for advice on how to clean-up some old horseshoes. Someone suggested sandblasting them. Another suggestion was to rig up a big tumbler. As the tumbler discussion evolved, someone offered to donate some big, steel barrels for the cause. The barrels came from the lab and used to hold, well, he couldn't say exactly because it was classified. He was sure the barrels had been decontaminated. Everyone agreed he should use the barrels, so that the horseshoes would end up being shiny and they would glow in the dark.

It is always interesting to listen to hams with ties to the Secret City.

What is in a (domain) name?

Looks like Larry's Empire is about to sell the sun.com domain. People are estimating that it could bring in a tidy sum.

Of course, that will be a drop in the bucket compared to the money changing hands when the .xxx domains go up for sale.

Should I snatch up brickolore.xxx?

Via Slashdot.org and Slashdot.org.

LDG IT-100 Tuner Unboxing

I ordered the LDG IT-100 autotuner from Ham City. The delivered price was $171.14 and was the cheapest I found from the big players. It gets good reviews on eHam.net and it should work well with my coax fed dipole antennas.

In the box, you get the tuner, a coax jumper cable, a manual, and a control/power cable. The front has a single button that starts the tuning process. The tuner has 2000 memories, so it won't need to repeat the tuning cycle as you run through your favorite frequencies. There are two LEDs. The red one indicates that tuning is in process. The green one indicates SWR conditions.

The rear of the tuner has 50-ohm coax connectors (SO-259) for both the transceiver and the antenna. There is a wing nut to allow for a ground. Lastly, there is a 6-pin mini-DIN for the power/control cable.

I'll update once I've actually connected it to the radio and used the thing.

LDG is giving away a free SP-200 Surge Protector with any tuner purchase before April 15, 2011. The rebate form is here (PDF).

Blame Canada

I thought his post was going to be about DST, but instead it is about the invention of time zones. When hams log their contacts, they use UTC to avoid confusion. There is even a dual clock that shows local and UTC time. Based on the reviews, it is a nice idea, but poorly implemented. Someone needs to put two atomic clocks together and make some money on this.

Via SnarkyBytes.

A Primer on Japan's Nuclear Reactors

Here is a great source of info at MIT on the nuclear reactors in Japan. I'd rather get my info from engineers who occasionally talk over my head than from the mainstream media that dumbs it down too much.

Via Snowflakes in Hell post #1 and post #2.

USA INC and TN INC

If the government was a company... USA INC.

In a hole - trillions in debt.
Continuing to dig - negative cash flow.

And entitlements are the back hoe in this process to get us even deeper in dept.

"Conclusion – Publicly traded companies with similar financial trends would be pressed by
shareholders to pursue a turnaround. The good news: USA Inc.’s underlying asset base and
entrepreneurial culture are strong. The financial trends can shift toward a positive direction,
but both ‘management’ and ‘shareholders’ will need collective focus, willpower, commitment,
and sacrifice."

If this was a business, I think we'd see a change in leadership. The Tea Party has already facilitated some changes in middle management, but let's replace the CEO when his contract is up.

And closer to home... As a former business man, I would hope that Governor Haslam will take a pragmatic approach to the budget.

"“The time is right to go on a rigorous diet that consumes less and exerts more energy.”

“State government does a lot of good things. We have worked hard to try and continue funding many of those things. The reality is that there are a lot of things I would like to do, that each member of the Legislature would like to do, but that we simply cannot afford.”

Link to original USA INC PDF at Business Week.

Free Gun Storage!

FREE! FREE! FREE!

That's right! Free gun storage!*

Are you tired of having to store your own guns? Sick of having the option to defend yourself? Don't like the convenience of ready access to your own weapons?

Well then, the UT Police Department has a deal for you! They will happily store those pesky guns for you. It is a great way to "own" guns without really having access to them.

*Some restrictions, especially to your Second Amendment rights, may apply.

Sarcasm aside, given the current laws, this is a nice service.

Gun Show & Gun Safety

I went to the gun show at the 640 Expo aka Knoxville Expo Center. It drives me crazy that people don't think the four rules apply in the magical dimension of the gun show.

As always, Volunteer Ordnance Works (Cleveland, TN) had a good selection of higher-end handguns. I noticed the Knoxville Tactical booth for the first time. Their orange and white 550 paracord should be popular.

It amazes me that the prices on new guns vary so much. Who is buying the Glock 19 for $600(ish) when it is $550(ish) two tables over?

It is a shame that you aren't allowed to take pictures inside the show. Add the guns and it would look something like this.

For me it is my RSS Reader

... and with that I am going to bed.

Help me identify these guns.

When my grandfather passed away, we inherited these guns. At the time, neither my Dad, my brother, or I had interest in them. We ended up giving them to a cousin. Can anyone help identify them? Click the picture for a larger view. I'll e-mail my cousin to verify, but I thought it would be fun to see if someone could tell me what they were.

People are Good

People are good, but we can't trust them with a gun. So...

If People = Good then
 Trust = True then
  Private_Gun_Ownership = True else
   Trust = False then
    People = Evil then
     Private_Gun_Ownership = True

I think I just broke my computer.

Via Snarky Bytes

Lent

For the record, I'm giving up soft drinks and tea for Lent. I don't drink a ton, so this is more about discipline than sacrifice this year.

A Dance with Dragons

I actually went to the book signing in Lexington when A Feast for Crows came out. I think that was when I was in high school - okay, maybe not quite that long ago.

"Big news. The end is in sight, at long long last, and we're close enough so that my editors and publishers at Bantam Spectra have set an actual publication date. A DANCE WITH DRAGONS will be in your favorite bookstore on TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2011."

He references A Storm of Swords for an estimated length, so probably about 1000 pages. Every year I hope it will come out before I go to the beach, but no luck. I've been reading the Wikipedia summaries as a refresher. If I had the time, I might re-read the books. Unfortunately, I still have 800 pages or so left in Atlas Shrugged before I start anything.

Previously:
George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire
Game of Thrones coming to HBO

Top Shot 2 Challenges

I'd pay good money for someone to provide a place where I could try my hand at the Top Shot challenges. Even tonight's 100 plate team speed challenge with 1911s would be easy to setup, but it looked like a ton of fun.

I'd also like to try the high speed, low drag (as one the competitors called it) Razorcat Racing Gun from the Quick Fire Faceoff.

Updated - found the link and image to the Razorcat.

Bullets & BBQ Knoxville Blogger Event

On Saturday, I enjoyed meeting several of the Knoxville area bloggers at Coal Creek Armory for friendly fire and some eats afterwards. It was really nice for me because I've just started this hobby (both the blogging and the guns), whereas some of these folks have been doing it for years. It was an interesting experience in that I had never met them in person before, but I felt like I already knew them through their blogs.

Attendees and their reports (in bold):
Les Jones - Notes from the Blogger Gun Bash
Linoge (plus Better Half joined for lunch) - After Action Report
Lissa
Liston Matthews (dropped by at lunch)
Rich
Michael J. Mollenhour (also joined at lunch)

The gathering also let me try out a few different guns and let others shoot mine. As you see in the post above Les liked my Kel-Tec. He didn't mention it in the post, but he was not a fan of the trigger on the CZ 75 SP-01. We also thought we had a problem with my P22, but it actually was working as intended - you can pull the trigger and the hammer will fall while the safety is on, but there is a block that keeps it from actually firing.

I shot a couple of wheel guns, which was a new experience for me. Les and Linoge told me the models I'm sure, but I didn't catch them in the heat of battle. I also shot Rich's Bersa 380. We had a couple of problems with that one. I had a failure to feed while I was trying it out. A neigbor of mine also happened to be in the lane next to us, so I got to try out the S&W Bodyguard 380. I wanted to fall in love with it, but I didn't. He said it was hard for him to shoot accurately and I was way low and left with it - even with the laser (which probably needed to be adjusted since it had come back from S&W). He had another buddy shooting high right. I'd like to blame the gun, but that's some odd data.

The highlights for me were Linoge's PPS and Les' Browning Buckmark. I shot my Kel-Tec PF-9 pretty well that day, but I'm still looking for an alternative. I really liked the PPS - it is a good size and the manual of arms is very similar to the P22 that I like. This meet-up may end up costing me some money if I decide I need one of those. And thanks to the Buckmark, I now know what a really good trigger is like. Les had some work done to the .22 and it has really paid off. That thing was smooth as silk. The fiber optic sights were a nice upgrade as well.

Thanks to everyone that showed up and shared guns, ammos, and stories.

What are you afraid of?

I was on my way home when I got stopped at one of those random drunk driver checkpoints. The officer asked for my license and he noticed my carry permit when I had my wallet open.

He asked, "Are you carrying today, Mr. O'Lore?"

Deciding I didn't want to get into a debate about the appropriateness of his question, I replied, "Yes, I am."

"What are you carrying?"

Again taking the easy way out, I answered "I've got a Kel-Tec PF-9 in an IWB holster, a S&W Bodyguard 380 on my ankle, and there is a CZ-75 SPO1 in the glove box. I've got a S&W M&P15 (MOE) and a Mossberg 500 in the trunk."

"Is this what you normally have with you?"

"Yes."

The officer then asks, "What are you afraid of?"

"Not damn thing."


I'm sure most folks have seen that joke before, but it is making the rounds again, so I thought I would post it.

Discreet Carry

House was awesome tonight - rocking a combo ax and shotgun cane to take down some zombies. The ax blade was retractable and must have been spring-loaded (very Buffy-esque). I think the cane acted as the barrel as House bolted on a grip and magazine tube/pump. Talk about discreet carry, I've been watching House for a long time and I never noticed he was packing heat. Unfortunately, it did not appear to have the bitchin flames.

And then later, he and Cuddy were re-inacting the classic scene from Butch and Sundance.

A very entertaining episode.

Midway Bag Fanboi

I didn't mean to become a fanboi of the Midway bags... it just kinda happened. It started with a mini-group buy with the guys at work of the MidwayUSA Competition Range Bag ($39.99). It is the large, black bag at the bottom of the picture. It is huge. In fact, it is almost too big. It gets too heavy for the carrying strap if you load it up with hearing protection, safety glasses, a few guns, multiple magazines for each gun, several boxes of ammo, a flashlight, some basic tools, etc. The weight of the bag will cause the carrying strap to slide out to its maximum length. There are a ton of pockets and it includes a detachable bag with a mesh bottom for collecting brass along with two gun "envelopes." I like the bag, but it is better suited to an all day event where you needed to have absolutely everything with you.



Next up was the MidwayUSA Pro Series Tactical Rifle Gun Case ($38.99) that I got as a Christmas gift for my Smith & Wesson M&P15-22. I've not hauled it around, but it is well-built and fits the rifle and magazines with no problems.



Lastly, I ordered the MidwayUSA Compact Competition Range Bag ($29.99) and the
MidwayUSA Tactical Pistol Gun Case ($7.99). I used the compact bag for the Bullets and BBQ festival. It is a much better size for a typical day at the range. It doesn't have as many pockets and extras as the larger bag, but it will get the job done. I also picked up the pistol case for days when I just want to take one gun to the range.


If there is interest, I will do a quick video to give you a better look at the bags.

All prices were current as this of posting. Also, unless you must have a bag today, wait for the sales. They seem to come around quite frequently.

We're # 13! We're #13!

The results are in - for sales of collegiate merchandise.

1. The University of Texas at Austin
2. The University of Alabama
3. University of Florida
4. The University of Michigan
5. University of Georgia
6. Louisiana State University
7. University of North Carolina
8. The Pennsylvania State University
9. University of Kentucky
10. University of Notre Dame
11. University of Nebraska
12. The University of Oklahoma
13. University of Tennessee
14. Auburn University

Dot Torture

An update on my Dot Torture training... I've done the drill on four different dates and my scores have continually improved as you can see in the table below. While my accuracy is getting better, my speed is not. If I can get my score up higher, then I can start going faster and/or move the target further out.

From Brick O'Lore

I Miss London

The programme was a little different when I did it a few years ago - for one, it was called ADMIS (Analysis and Design of Management Information Systems.) And I don't recall any sexy recruiting videos.

This is why I love sports

Wes Rucker has done the analysis and the Vols can finish anywhere from 2nd to 5th in the East depending on the outcome of three games this week-end.

Here is the best scenario:

"Alabama beats Georgia, Florida beats Vanderbilt, Tennessee beats Kentucky
1. Florida 13-3
2. Tennessee 9-7
3. Kentucky 9-7
4. Vanderbilt 9-7
5. Georgia 9-7"

470 Amateur Radio Net PSK31

Paul, W4PGM, was back on the 470 Net with another recommendation - a PSK31 kit (assembled in the picture below), from Small Wonder Labs. PSK31 (Official Web Page, Wikipedia Page) is a digital modulation mode using a small transceiver (often low power/QRP), a simple antenna, and a common PC with a sound card. Paul has really enjoyed using PSK31 and points out that it is a good reason to get your General license - especially if you thought you could not afford to get into HF. The kit with enclosure is $150. Also, because it uses your computer, communication is basically a keyboard chat like any instant message program. That makes it a little more familiar for new hams that have been around the internet, but not logged lots of hours on the airwaves. It also eliminates the issue of being "mic shy." Lastly, the kit will give you some good experience soldering along with the satisfaction of building it yourself.

One more project for the list of things I want to do.

Forget Gold or Silver

Invest in brass... ATK (CCI, Federal, Speer) reports that they will be raising ammo prices from 5% to 15%.

Via Guns For Sale.com

Our Rights Protected

The Supreme Court ruled that the protests at military funerals are protected under the First Amendment. Sounds good to me. I'm all for protecting our rights. (Funny how some people pick and choose which rights they want to protect, but that's another story.)

However, when my friend's nephew died of complications from a gun shot injury he suffered while serving in the Middle East, I was very angry that there were threats that protesters would attend his funeral. There is a time and place for everything, but to make a political statement at the expense of a mourning family is in poor taste to put it mildly.

I was very glad that some members of Rolling Thunder offered to handle any protesters. Nothing came of it, but I am thankful that there are people willing to stand up for what is right and willing to deal with the legal consequences.

On a tangent, I happened to be in DC last year on Memorial Day and got to witness the Rolling Thunder ride. The video doesn't do justice to the number of riders and the roar from their motorcycles. It is truly deserving of the Rolling Thunder name.

CCA Discounts via Text

From the CCA Facebook page:

"We at Coal Creek Armory have purchased software that allows us to send text messages to our customer base so that everyone can be notified of special promotions and giveaways we have going on.

Text "Fire" to: 508-315-9971 and you will be automatically added to any future messages.

I promise WE WILL NOT bombard your phones with meaningless mishmosh or sell your information to ANY outside source!"

If I don't win the GLOCK, then I may need a special discount.

Knox Vegas Bloggers Unite!

After discussing the much publicized Knoxville Bloggers Get-Together (a.k.a BBQ-N-Bullets) with my co-workers, we decided that the Knoxville bloggers need to form an organized group to seek better pay and benefits. Perhaps some sort of union as they seem popular these days.

As with any group, we need to start with a good name.

Local 556 - Lead Workers Union (Thanks to TNJeff for suggesting lead.)

I thought it would be easier to come up with some clever names, but it turns out to be harder than I thought. I've got some lame ones below. Anyone got a better one?

AFL-CIO - American Firearms League - Constitutionally Involved Operators
SAG - Serious Arms Group
Change to Winchester Federal
UAW - United Arsenal Writers
HSLDBK - High Speed, Low Drag Bloggers of Knoxville

Harry Potter in Space

Well, not exactly, but rumors of a screenplay of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game are circulating. I loved the book and it is one that I could read again. (It is an easy read.) After reviewing the article, I must surmise that I am a little fuzzy on the details since I don't recall Ender being extremely violent. At the time, I must have thought his actions were justified. I'll have to dig out my copy and take it to the beach for a re-read.

Of course, I think Harry Potter could be cast in a similar violent light. It is hard for me to find fault with a character that is persecuted and fights back. As an aside, it also reminds me of Gord from the Greyhawk Adventures by the Gary Gygax, co-create of Dungeons and Dragons. Gord was a small, homeless orphan who had to fight for survival. As with Harry and Ender, Gord becomes very powerful and must deal with the responsibility that comes with that power.

Do You See What I See

With these Hunter's Specialties i-KAM XTREME video glasses, you will be able to see what I saw. Not a bad deal for only $90 at The Gun Source. I do wish they gave some detail about the lens and their protective ability.

Top Shot 2 - Compound Fracture

The compound bow expert can hit an aspirin thrown in the air at a distance of thirteen yards. Amazing.

Top Shot — Season 2 Episode Guide — History.com

Posterized

I was at this game when Scotty went off. He showed us what we thought he would do every game. I think he had three crazy dunks that game and this one was just my second favorite. The best one was when he went slashing across the lane and just left everyone flat footed. He saved them for the second half so he could jam in front of the students and the bench.

Kindle Price Trajectory

Some speculation that Kindles will eventually follow the razor and razor blades model at the Business Insider - see chart below. I have less problem with the $135 for the Kindle than I do for the ridiculous price of the books. I'd be happy to have a "free" Kindle, but I can't see paying extra for an eBook. Sure, it has advantages, but the cost to sell it to me have to be lower, too. Seriously, Amazon's incremental cost must be almost nothing. And there is always the chance Amazon could delete the book from my device. I know that they are looking at ways to enable loaning eBooks, but nothing beats the simplicity of sharing a hard copy.

For example, I bought my used copy of Atlas Shrugged at McKay Books for about $8. The Amazon alternatives:

Paperback - $14.66, Kindle Edition - $18.99

Tech for Encounters with Police Officers

Man uses Google Tracks GPS data to avoid a speeding ticket. (Via Slashdot.org)

Open Watch - Android app to record and annonymously upload videos.

It is nice to have the ability to upload anonymously, but it is a shame that we need the option because the police or other officials think that they should be the only ones to record these interactions. At least we are getting that fixed in some places - Okay to record TSA.