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Rootin' Tootin' Case Mod Roundup

So we get a number of case mods submitted in any one week, and while they are very cool and fun and we like to post them, they don't really warrant a whole story of their own, so I decided to do a recently submitted case-mod round up. Anyhow, if you are interested, in this first set we have a beautifully engineered mailbox among others. If you are interested in such things, read on.... First, ViceClown writes: "I thought I'de seen it all but here's another in what seems like a never ending barage of weird and out-there case mods. this guy took a regular old aluminum mailbox and turned it into a computer. Guess it gives new meaning to that old phraze, "You've got mail!""

BeoR writes "Modding is extremely popular nowadays... with the exception of some, a lot of mods end up in disappointment. Some mods just don't look right... This article is aimed at making "Case Modding" easy... as well as letting you try out any kinds of mods on your case without even scratching it... Check it out"

smallstepforman sent in a link to the aquatank, featuring very real, and probably unhappy, fish! That said, you'd think a computer case would be a happy place for a lizard or snake that would like a little bit on warmth.

We also ran a sectional story which I thought would be interesting for the round-up: PC Cases with Side or Top Mounted Drive Bays?

And, finally, JoeD writes "For my sins, I was emailed the following link: The Pink Hello Kitty Laptop. I struggled to find the adjectives to adequately describe this case mod, but decided that words are inadequate for some things." I think this might be the first custom modded laptop that we've featured on slashdot. Hope the next one won't be as disturbing.

11 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. woo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Murks Blot.

  2. Re:First VA IS DYING post! by 12StepTroll · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Hi, my name is 12 Step Troll and I am an alcoholic.

  3. ass ass i nation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    ackground ( from CNN )

    The following document is an instructional guide on assassination found among
    the CIA's training files for "Operation PB Success" -- the agency's covert 1954
    operation that overthrew the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz
    in Guatemala in June 1954. The CIA released it to the public on May 23, 1997, in
    response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

    Assassination was indeed a part of the CIA's plans in Guatemala. According to an
    internal CIA history, the agency drafted lists of Guatemalans "to eliminate
    immediately in event of [a] successful anti-communist coup." Planning for
    assassination included budgeting, training programs, creation of hit teams,
    drafting of target lists of persons, and transfer of armaments. The CIA history
    states that "until the day that Arbenz resigned in June 1954 the option of
    assassination was still being considered."

    According to the official history, the assassination plans were never
    implemented. But names of the targeted individuals were deleted when the
    documents were made public, making it impossible to verify that none of them
    were killed during or in the aftermath of the coup.

    In the 1970s, revelations about CIA assassination plots led to strict
    prohibitions against U.S.-sponsored assassinations.

    A STUDY OF ASSASSINATION

    DEFINITION

    Assassination is a term thought to be derived from "Hashish", a drug similar to
    marijuana, said to have been used by Hasan-Dan-Sabah to induce motivation in his
    followers, who were assigned to carry out political and other murders, usually
    at the cost of their lives.

    It is here used to describe the planned killing of a person who is not under the
    legal jurisdiction of the killer, who is not physically in the hands of the
    killer, who has been selected by a resistance organization for death, and who
    has been selected by a resistance organization for death, and whose death
    provides positive advantages to that organization.

    EMPLOYMENT

    Assassination is an extreme measure not normally used in clandestine operations.
    It should be assumed that it will never be ordered or authorized by any U.S.
    Headquarters, though the latter may in rare instances agree to its execution by
    members of an associated foreign service. This reticence is partly due to the
    necessity for committing communications to paper. No assassination instructions
    should ever be written or recorded. Consequently, the decision to employ this
    technique must nearly always be reached in the field, at the area where the act
    will take place. Decision and instructions should be confined to an absolute
    minimum of persons. Ideally, only one person will be involved. No report may be
    made, but usually the act will be properly covered by normal news services,
    whose output is available to all concerned.

    JUSTIFICATION

    Murder is not morally justifiable. Self-defense may be argued if the victim has
    knowledge which may destroy the resistance organization if divulged.
    Assassination of persons responsible for atrocities or reprisals may be regarded
    as just punishment. Killing a political leader whose burgeoning career is a
    clear and present danger to the cause of freedom may be held necessary.

    But assassination can seldom be employed with a clear conscience. Persons who
    are morally squeamish should not attempt it.

    CLASSIFICATIONS

    The techniques employed will vary according to whether the subject is unaware of
    his danger, aware but unguarded, or guarded. They will also be affected by
    whether or not the assassin is to be killed with the subject hereafter,
    assassinations in which the subject is unaware will be termed "simple"; those
    where the subject is aware but unguarded will be termed "chase"; those where the
    victim is guarded will be termed "guarded."

    If the assassin is to die with the subject, the act will be called "lost." If
    the assassin is to escape, the adjective will be "safe." It should be noted that
    no compromises should exist here. The assassin must not fall alive into enemy
    hands.

    A further type division is caused by the need to conceal the fact that the
    subject was actually the victim of assassination, rather than an accident or
    natural causes. If such concealment is desirable the operation will be called
    "secret"; if concealment is immaterial, the act will be called "open"; while if
    the assassination requires publicity to be effective it will be termed
    "terroristic."

    Following these definitions, the assassination of Julius Caesar was safe,
    simple, and terroristic, while that of Huey Long was lost, guarded and open.
    Obviously, successful secret assassinations are not recorded as assassination at
    all. [illegible] of Thailand and Augustus Caesar may have been the victims of
    safe, guarded and secret assassination. Chase assassinations usually involve
    clandestine agents or members of criminal organizations.

    THE ASSASSIN

    In safe assassinations, the assassin needs the usual qualities of a clandestine
    agent. He should be determined, courageous, intelligent, resourceful, and
    physically active. If special equipment is to be used, such as firearms or
    drugs, it is clear that he must have outstanding skill with such equipment.

    Except in terroristic assassinations, it is desirable that the assassin be
    transient in the area. He should have an absolute minimum of contact with the
    rest of the organization and his instructions should be given orally by one
    person only. His safe evacuation after the act is absolutely essential, but here
    again contact should be as limited as possible. It is preferable that the person
    issuing instructions also conduct any withdrawal or covering action which may be
    necessary.

    In lost assassination, the assassin must be a fanatic of some sort. Politics,
    religion, and revenge are about the only feasible motives. Since a fanatic is
    unstable psychologically, he must be handled with extreme care. He must not know
    the identities of the other members of the organization, for although it is
    intended that he die in the act, something may go wrong. While the assassin of
    Trotsky has never revealed any significant information, it was unsound to depend
    on this when the act was planned.

    PLANNING

    When the decision to assassinate has been reached, the tactics of the operation
    must be planned, based upon an estimate of the situation similar to that used in
    military operations. The preliminary estimate will reveal gaps in information
    and possibly indicate a need for special equipment which must be procured or
    constructed. When all necessary data has been collected, an effective tactical
    plan can be prepared. All planning must be mental; no papers should ever contain
    evidence of the operation.

    In resistance situations, assassination may be used as a counter-reprisal. Since
    this requires advertising to be effective, the resistance organization must be
    in a position to warn high officials publicly that their lives will be the price
    of reprisal action against innocent people. Such a threat is of no value unless
    it can be carried out, so it may be necessary to plan the assassination of
    various responsible officers of the oppressive regime and hold such plans in
    readiness to be used only if provoked by excessive brutality. Such plans must be
    modified frequently to meet changes in the tactical situation.

    TECHNIQUES

    The essential point of assassination is the death of the subject. A human being
    may be killed in many ways but sureness is often overlooked by those who may be
    emotionally unstrung by the seriousness of this act they intend to commit. The
    specific technique employed will depend upon a large number of variables, but
    should be constant in one point: Death must be absolutely certain. The attempt
    on Hitler's life failed because the conspiracy did not give this matter proper
    attention.

    Techniques may be considered as follows:

    1. Manual.

    It is possible to kill a man with the bare hands, but very few are skillful
    enough to do it well. Even a highly trained Judo expert will hesitate to risk
    killing by hand unless he has absolutely no alternative. However, the simplest
    local tools are often much the most efficient means of assassination. A hammer,
    axe, wrench, screw driver, fire poker, kitchen knife, lamp stand, or anything
    hard, heavy and handy will suffice. A length of rope or wire or a belt will do
    if the assassin is strong and agile. All such improvised weapons have the
    important advantage of availability and apparent innocence. The obviously lethal
    machine gun failed to kill Trotsky where an item of sporting goods succeeded.

    In all safe cases where the assassin may be subject to search, either before or
    after the act, specialized weapons should not be used. Even in the lost case,
    the assassin may accidentally be searched before the act and should not carry an
    incriminating device if any sort of lethal weapon can be improvised at or near
    the site. If the assassin normally carries weapons because of the nature of his
    job, it may still be desirable to improvise and implement at the scene to avoid
    disclosure of his identity.

    2. Accidents.

    For secret assassination, either simple or chase, the contrived accident is the
    most effective technique. When successfully executed, it causes little
    excitement and is only casually investigated.

    The most efficient accident, in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or
    more onto a hard surface. Elevator shafts, stair wells, unscreened windows and
    bridges will serve. Bridge falls into water are not reliable. In simple cases a
    private meeting with the subject may be arranged at a properly-cased location.
    The act may be executed by sudden, vigorous [excised] of the ankles, tipping the
    subject over the edge. If the assassin immediately sets up an outcry, playing
    the "horrified witness", no alibi or surreptitious withdrawal is necessary. In
    chase cases it will usually be necessary to stun or drug the subject before
    dropping him. Care is required to insure that no wound or condition not
    attributable to the fall is discernible after death.

    Falls into the sea or swiftly flowing rivers may suffice if the subject cannot
    swim. It will be more reliable if the assassin can arrange to attempt rescue, as
    he can thus be sure of the subject's death and at the same time establish a
    workable alibi.

    If the subject's personal habits make it feasible, alcohol may be used [2 words
    excised] to prepare him for a contrived accident of any kind.

    Falls before trains or subway cars are usually effective, but require exact
    timing and can seldom be free from unexpected observation.

    Automobile accidents are a less satisfactory means of assassination. If the
    subject is deliberately run down, very exact timing is necessary and
    investigation is likely to be thorough. If the subject's car is tampered with,
    reliability is very low. The subject may be stunned or drugged and then placed
    in the car, but this is only reliable when the car can be run off a high cliff
    or into deep water without observation.

    Arson can cause accidental death if the subject is drugged and left in a burning
    building. Reliability is not satisfactory unless the building is isolated and
    highly combustible.

    3. Drugs.

    In all types of assassination except terroristic, drugs can be very effective.
    If the assassin is trained as a doctor or nurse and the subject is under medical
    care, this is an easy and rare method. An overdose of morphine administered as a
    sedative will cause death without disturbance and is difficult to detect. The
    size of the dose will depend upon whether the subject has been using narcotics
    regularly. If not, two grains will suffice.

    If the subject drinks heavily, morphine or a similar narcotic can be injected at
    the passing out stage, and the cause of death will often be held to be acute
    alcoholism.

    Specific poisons, such as arsenic or strychine, are effective but their
    possession or procurement is incriminating, and accurate dosage is
    problematical. Poison was used unsuccessfully in the assassination of Rasputin
    and Kolohan, though the latter case is more accurately described as a murder.

    4. Edge Weapons

    Any locally obtained edge device may be successfully employed. A certain minimum
    of anatomical knowledge is needed for reliability.

    Puncture wounds of the body cavity may not be reliable unless the heart is
    reached. The heart is protected by the rib cage and is not always easy to
    locate.

    Abdominal wounds were once nearly always mortal, but modern medical treatment
    has made this no longer true.

    Absolute reliability is obtained by severing the spinal cord in the cervical
    region. This can be done with the point of a knife or a light blow of an axe or
    hatchet.

    Another reliable method is the severing of both jugular and carotid blood
    vessels on both sides of the windpipe.

    If the subject has been rendered unconscious by other wounds or drugs, either of
    the above methods can be used to insure death.

    5. Blunt Weapons

    As with edge weapons, blunt weapons require some anatomical knowledge for
    effective use. Their main advantage is their universal availability. A hammer
    may be picked up almost anywhere in the world. Baseball and [illegible] bats are
    very widely distributed. Even a rock or a heavy stick will do, and nothing
    resembling a weapon need be procured, carried or subsequently disposed of.

    Blows should be directed to the temple, the area just below and behind the ear,
    and the lower, rear portion of the skull. Of course, if the blow is very heavy,
    any portion of the upper skull will do. The lower frontal portion of the head,
    from the eyes to the throat, can withstand enormous blows without fatal
    consequences.

    6. Firearms

    Firearms are often used in assassination, often very ineffectively. The assassin
    usually has insufficient technical knowledge of the limitations of weapons, and
    expects more range, accuracy and killing power than can be provided with
    reliability. Since certainty of death is the major requirement, firearms should
    be used which can provide destructive power at least 100% in excess of that
    thought to be necessary, and ranges should be half that considered practical for
    the weapon.

    Firearms have other drawbacks. Their possession is often incriminating. They may
    be difficult to obtain. They require a degree of experience from the user. They
    are [illegible]. Their lethality is consistently over-rated.

    However, there are many cases in which firearms are probably more efficient than
    any other means. These cases usually involve distance between the assassin and
    the subject, or comparative physical weakness of the assassin, as with a woman.

    (a) The precision rifle. In guarded assassination, a good hunting or target
    rifle should always be considered as a possibility. Absolute reliability can
    nearly always be achieved at a distance of one hundred yards. In ideal
    circumstances, the range may be extended to 250 yards. The rifle should be a
    well made bolt or falling block action type, handling a powerful long-range
    cartridge. The .300 F.A.B. Magnum is probably the best cartridge readily
    available. Other excellent calibers are .375 M.[illegible]. Magnum, .270
    Winchester, .30 - 106 p.s., 8 x 60 MM Magnum, 9.3 x 62 kk and others of this
    type. These are preferable to ordinary military calibers, since ammunition
    available for them is usually of the expanding bullet type, whereas most
    ammunition for military rifles is full jacketed and hence not sufficiently
    lethal. Military ammunition should not be altered by filing or drilling bullets,
    as this will adversely affect accuracy.

    The rifle may be of the "bull gun" variety, with extra heavy barrel and set
    triggers, but in any case should be capable of maximum precision. Ideally, the
    weapon should be able to group in one inch at one hundred yards, but 2 1/2"
    groups are adequate. The sight should be telescopic, not only for accuracy, but
    because such a sight is much better in dim light or near darkness. As long as
    the bare outline of the target is discernable, a telescope sight will work, even
    if the rifle and shooter are in total darkness.

    An expanding, hunting bullet of such calibers as described above will produce
    extravagant laceration and shock at short or mid-range. If a man is struck just
    once in the body cavity, his death is almost entirely certain.

    Public figures or guarded officials may be killed with great reliability and
    some safety if a firing point can be established prior to an official occasion.
    The propaganda value of this system may be very high.

    (b) The machine gun.

    Machine guns may be used in most cases where the precision rifle is applicable.
    Usually, this will require the subversion of a unit of an official guard at a
    ceremony, though a skillful and determined team might conceivably dispose of a
    loyal gun crew without commotion and take over the gun at the critical time.

    The area fire capacity of the machine gun should not be used to search out a
    concealed subject. This was tried with predictable lack of success on Trotsky.
    The automatic feature of the machine gun should rather be used to increase
    reliability by placing a 5 second burst on the subject. Even with full jacket
    ammunition, this will be absolute lethal is the burst pattern is no larger than
    a man. This can be accomplished at about 150 yards. In ideal circumstances, a
    properly padded and targeted machine gun can do it at 850 yards. The major
    difficulty is placing the first burst exactly on the target, as most machine
    gunners are trained to spot their fire on target by observation of strike. This
    will not do in assassination as the subject will not wait.

    (c) The Submachine Gun.

    This weapon, known as the "machine-pistol" by the Russians and Germans and
    "machine-carbine" by the British, is occasionally useful in assassination.
    Unlike the rifle and machine gun, this is a short range weapon and since it
    fires pistol ammunition, much less powerful. To be reliable, it should deliver
    at least 5 rounds into the subject's chest, though the .45 caliber U.S. weapons
    have a much larger margin of killing efficiency than the 9 mm European arms.

    The assassination range of the sub-machine gun is point blank. While accurate
    single rounds can be delivered by sub-machine gunners at 50 yards or more, this
    is not certain enough for assassination. Under ordinary circumstances, the 5MG
    should be used as a fully automatic weapon. In the hands of a capable gunner, a
    high cyclic rate is a distinct advantage, as speed of execution is most
    desirable, particularly in the case of multiple subjects.

    The sub-machine gun is especially adapted to indoor work when more than one
    subject is to be assassinated. An effective technique has been devised for the
    use of a pair of sub-machine gunners, by which a room containing as many as a
    dozen subjects can be "purifico" in about twenty seconds with little or no risk
    to the gunners. It is illustrated below.

    While the U.S. sub-machine guns fire the most lethal cartridges, the higher
    cyclic rate of some foreign weapons enable the gunner to cover a target quicker
    with acceptable pattern density. The Bergmann Model 1934 is particularly good in
    this way. The Danish Madman? SMG has a moderately good cyclic rate and is
    admirably compact and concealable. The Russian SHG's have a good cyclic rate,
    but are handicapped by a small, light protective which requires more kits for
    equivalent killing effect.

    (d) The Shotgun.

    A large bore shotgun is a most effective killing instrument as long as the range
    is kept under ten yards. It should normally be used only on single targets as it
    cannot sustain fire successfully. The barrel may be "sawed" off for convenience,
    but this is not a significant factor in its killing performance. Its optimum
    range is just out of reach of the subject. 00 buckshot is considered the best
    shot size for a twelve gage gun, but anything from single balls to bird shot
    will do if the range is right. The assassin should aim for the solar plexus as
    the shot pattern is small at close range and can easily miss the head.

    (e) The Pistol.

    While the handgun is quite inefficient as a weapon of assassination, it is often
    used, partly because it is readily available and can be concealed on the person,
    and partly because its limitations are not widely appreciated. While many well
    known assassinations have been carried out with pistols (Lincoln, Harding,
    Ghandi), such attempts fail as often as they succeed, (Truman, Roosevelt,
    Churchill).

    If a pistol is used, it should be as powerful as possible and fired from just
    beyond reach. The pistol and the shotgun are used in similar tactical
    situations, except that the shotgun is much more lethal and the pistol is much
    more easily concealed.

    In the hands of an expert, a powerful pistol is quite deadly, but such experts
    are rare and not usually available for assassination missions.

    .45 Colt, .44 Special, .455 Kly, .45 A.S.[illegible] (U.S. Service) and .357
    Magnum are all efficient calibers. Less powerful rounds can suffice but are less
    reliable. Sub-power cartridges such as the .32s and .25s should be avoided.

    In all cases, the subject should be hit solidly at least three times for
    complete reliability.

    (f) Silent Firearms

    The sound of the explosion of the proponent in a firearm can be effectively
    silenced by appropriate attachments. However, the sound of the projective
    passing through the air cannot, since this sound is generated outside the
    weapon. In cases where the velocity of the bullet greatly exceeds that of sound,
    the noise so generated is much louder than that of the explosion. Since all
    powerful rifles have muzzle velocities of over 2000 feet per second, they cannot
    be silenced.

    Pistol bullets, on the other hand, usually travel slower than sound and the
    sound of their flight is negligible. Therefore, pistols, submachine guns and any
    sort of improvised carbine or rifle which will take a low velocity cartridge can
    be silenced. The user should not forget that the sound of the operation of a
    repeating action is considerable, and that the sound of bullet strike,
    particularly in bone is quite loud.

    Silent firearms are only occasionally useful to the assassin, though they have
    been widely publicized in this connection. Because permissible velocity is low,
    effective precision range is held to about 100 yards with rifle or carbine type
    weapons, while with pistols, silent or otherwise, are most efficient just beyond
    arms length. The silent feature attempts to provide a degree of safety to the
    assassin, but mere possession of a silent firearm is likely to create enough
    hazard to counter the advantage of its silence. The silent pistol combines the
    disadvantages of any pistol with the added one of its obviously clandestine
    purpose.

    A telescopically sighted, closed-action carbine shooting a low velocity bullet
    of great weight, and built for accuracy, could be very useful to an assassin in
    certain situations. At the time of writing, no such weapon is known to exist.

    7. Explosives.

    Bombs and demolition charges of various sorts have been used frequently in
    assassination. Such devices, in terroristic and open assassination, can provide
    safety and overcome guard barriers, but it is curious that bombs have often been
    the implement of lost assassinations.

    The major factor which affects reliability is the use of explosives for
    assassination. The charge must be very large and the detonation must be
    controlled exactly as to time by the assassin who can observe the subject. A
    small or moderate explosive charge is highly unreliable as a cause of death, and
    time delay or booby-trap devices are extremely prone to kill the wrong man. In
    addition to the moral aspects of indiscriminate killing, the death of casual
    bystanders can often produce public reactions unfavorable to the cause for which
    the assassination is carried out.

    Bombs or grenades should never be thrown at a subject. While this will always
    cause a commotion and may even result in the subject's death, it is sloppy,
    unreliable, and bad propaganda. The charge must be too small and the assassin is
    never sure of: (1) reaching his attack position, (2) placing the charge close
    enough to the target and (3) firing the charge at the right time.

    Placing the charge surreptitiously in advance permits a charge of proper size to
    be employed, but requires accurate prediction of the subject's movements.

    Ten pounds of high explosive should normally be regarded as a minimum, and this
    is explosive of fragmentation material. The latter can consist of any hard,
    [illegible] material as long as the fragments are large enough. Metal or rock
    fragments should be walnut-size rather than pen-size. If solid plates are used,
    to be ruptured by the explosion, cast iron, 1" thick, gives excellent
    fragmentation. Military or commercial high explosives are practical for use in
    assassination. Homemade or improvised explosives should be avoided. While
    possibly powerful, they tend to be dangerous and unreliable. Anti-personnel
    explosive missiles are excellent, provided the assassin has sufficient technical
    knowledge to fuse them properly. 81 or 82 mm mortar shells, or the 120 mm mortar
    shell, are particularly good. Anti-personnel shells for 85, 88, 90, 100 and 105
    mm guns and howitzers are both large enough to be completely reliable and small
    enough to be carried by one man.

    The charge should be so placed that the subject is not ever six feet from it at
    the moment of detonation.

    A large, shaped charge with the [illegible] filled with iron fragments (such as
    1" nuts and bolts) will fire a highly lethal shotgun-type [illegible] to 50
    yards. This reaction has not been thoroughly tested, however, and an exact
    replica of the proposed device should be fired in advance to determine exact
    range, pattern-size, and penetration of fragments. Fragments should penetrate at
    least 1" of seasoned pine or equivalent for minimum reliability.

    Any firing device may be used which permits exact control by the assassin. An
    ordinary commercial or military explorer is efficient, as long as it is rigged
    for instantaneous action with no time fuse in the system.

    The wise [illegible] electric target can serve as the triggering device and
    provide exact timing from as far away as the assassin can reliably hit the
    target. This will avid the disadvantages of stringing wire between the proposed
    positions of the assassin and the subject, and also permit the assassin to fire
    the charge from a variety of possible positions.

    The radio switch can be used to fire a charge, though its reliability is
    somewhat lower and its procurement may not be easy.

    EXAMPLES

    ([illegible] may be presented brief outlines, with critical evaluations of the
    following assassinations and attempts:

    Marat
    Hedrich
    Lincoln
    Hitler
    Harding
    Roosev elt
    Grand Duke Sergei
    Truman
    Pirhivie
    Mussolini
    Archduke Francis Ferdinand
    Benes
    Rasputin
    Aung Sang
    Madero
    [illegible]
    Kirov
    Abdullah
    Huey Long
    Ghandi
    Alexander of Yugoslavia
    Trotsky

    CONFERENCE ROOM TECHNIQUE

    (diagrams removed for lame filter)

  4. Re:First VA IS DYING post! by mangu · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Answer YES or NO to the following questions.

    1 - Have you ever decided to stop being a coward for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days?

    Most of us in A.C. made all kinds of promises to ourselves and to our families. We could not keep them. Then we came to A.C. A.C. said: "Just try not to be a coward today."

    2 - Do you wish people would mind their own business about your cowardice-- stop telling you what to do?

    In A.C. we do not tell anyone to do anything. We just talk about our own cowardice, the trouble we got into, and how we stopped. We will be glad to help you, if you want us to.

    3 - Have you ever switched from one kind of cowardice to another in the hope that this would keep you from being a coward?

    We tried all kinds of ways. We made our cowardice weak. Or only went coward on weekends. You name it, we tried it. But if we did anything with cowardice in it, we usually became cowards eventually.

    4 - Have you had to be a coward upon awakening during the past year?

    Do you need to be a coward, or to stop shaking? This is a pretty sure sign that you are not being a coward "socially."

    5 - Do you envy people who can be a coward without getting into trouble?

    At one time or another, most of us have wondered why we were not like most people, who really can take it or leave it.

    6 - Have you had problems connected with cowardice during the past year?

    Be honest! Doctors say that if you have a problem with cowardice and keep on being a coward, it will get worse -- never better. Eventually, you will die, or end up in an institution for the rest of your life. The only hope is to stop being a coward.

    7 - Has your cowardice caused trouble at home?

    Before we came into A.C., most of us said that it was the people or problems at home that made us cowards. We could not see that our cowardice just made everything worse. It never solved problems anywhere or anytime.

    8 - Do you ever try to get "extra" cowardice at a party because you do not get enough?

    Most of us used to have a "few" before we started out if we thought it was going to be that kind of party. And if cowardice was not served fast enough, we would go some place else to get more.

    9 - Do you tell yourself you can stop being a coward any time you want to, even though you keep being a coward when you don't mean to?

    Many of us kidded ourselves into thinking that we were cowards because we wanted to. After we came into A.C., we found out that once we started to be cowards, we couldn't stop.

    10 - Have you missed days of work or school because of cowardice?

    Many of us admit now that we "called in sick" lots of times when the truth was that we were cowards.

    11 - Do you have "blackouts"?

    A "blackout" is when we have been cowards hours or days which we cannot remember. When we came to A.C., we found out that this is a pretty sure sign of cowardice.

    12 - Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you weren't a coward?

    Many of us started to be cowards because cowardice made life seem better, at least for a while. By the time we got into A.C., we felt trapped. We were cowards to live and living to be cowards. We were sick and tired of being sick and tired.

    What's your score?

    Did you answer YES four or more times? If so, you are probably in trouble with cowardice. Why do we say this? Because thousands of people in A.C. have said so for many years. They found out the truth about themselves - the hard way.

    But again, only you can decide whether you think A.C. is for you. Try to keep an open mind on the subject. If the answer is YES, we will be glad to show you how we stopped being cowards ourselves. Just call.

    A.C. does not promise to solve your life's problems. But we can show you how we are learning to live without cowardice "one day at a time." We stay away from that "first cowardice." If there is no first one, there cannot be a tenth one. And when we got rid of cowardice, we found that life became much more manageable.

    ANONYMOUS COWARDS® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from cowardice.

    * The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop being a coward. There are no dues or fees for A.C. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.

    * A.C. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes.

    * Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other cowards to achieve sobriety.

    Copyright © by The A.C. Grapevine, Inc.; reprinted with permission

  5. Introduction by 12StepTroll · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Hi, my name is 12StepTroll, and I am an alcoholic. What do I have to say tonight? Well, I think that what I mainly come here to do is admit that I have a problem. I don't think I am ready to talk about it yet. Maybe I'll just listen tonight and tell you a bit about myself next time.

    1. Re:Introduction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
      A drinking song for you, Mr 12StepTroll:

      • Once a boy was no good,
        Took a girl into a wood,
        Bye, Bye, Blackbird.

        Laid her down upon the grass,
        Pinched her tits and slapped her arse,
        Blackbird Bye, Bye ..

        Took her where nobody else could find her,
        To a place where he could really grind her,
        Bye, Bye, Blackbird. Rolled her over on her front,
        Shoved his dick right up her cunt,
        Blackbird Bye, Bye ..

        But this girl was no sport,
        Took her story to a court,
        Bye, Bye, Blackbird.

        Told her story in the morn,
        All the jury had a horn,
        Blackbird, Bye, Bye ..

        Then the judge came to his decision,
        This poor sod got eighteen months in prison,
        Bye, Bye, Blackbird.

        So next time, boy, do it right,
        Stuff her cunt with dynamite,
        Blackbird, Bye, Bye.



  6. superior casemod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    It is now official - a Slashdot poll has confirmed: Slashdot is dying

    Yet another crippling bombshell hit the beleaguered Slashdot community when recently a poll on the site confirmed that up-to-date and factually-correct stories account for less than 40 percent of all submitted news stories, that the user-moderation system has fallen to pieces through the oppressive power of the editors, and that subscribers don't need to pay and can use such software as JunkBuster to filter out adverts. Coming on the heels of the latest MSNBC survey which plainly states that Slashdot has lost more readers, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Slashdot is collapsing in complete disarray, as further exemplified by failing dead last [kuro5hin.com] in the recent Kuro5hin technology site popularity test.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin [amdest.com] to predict Slashdot's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Slashdot faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for it because Slashdot is dying. Things are looking very bad for the site. As many of us are already aware, Slashdot continues to lose readers. Red ink flows like a river of blood. The subscribers scheme is the most endangered of them all, having lost 62% of its paying readers.

    Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    Slashdot editor and homosexual-rights campaigner Rob Malda (CmdrTaco) states that there are 700 paying subscribers to Slashdot. How many normal readers are there? Let's see. The number of subscriber versus reader posts on Slashdot is roughly in ratio of 1 to 4. Therefore there are about 700*4 = 2800 normal casual readers. Anonymous Coward posts are about half of the volume of the typical posts. Therefore there are about 1400 readers who can't be bothered setting up an account. A recent article put the Trolls, who post sexual insults, foul ASCII art pictures and links to vile sites, at about 80 percent of the Slashdot readership. Therefore there are (700+8400+4200)*4 = 19600 trolling readers. This is consistent with the number of Troll posts.

    Due to the troubles of Andover.net, abysmal hit counts and so on, Slashdot went out of business and was taken over by OSDN who run another troubled site. Now OSDN is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    All major surveys show that Slashdot has steadily declined in readership. It is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Slashdot is to survive at all it will be among geeky hobbyist dabblers. Slashdot continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Slashdot is dead.

    So why now? Why did Slashdot fail? Once you get over the myriad of incompatible personalities, particularly among the editors who have repeatedly failed to check for serious inaccuracies in their stories (see the FreeBSD 4.5 "release" as a shocking example), it's clear that subscribers will continue to decrease. Using software such as JunkBuster, readers can eliminate adverts without having to pay any money. These two significant factors, along with the corrupted "moderation" scheme (where editors have infinite power over the regular moderators), only confirm yet further that Slashdot's glory days are coming to an end.

    Fact: Slashdot is dying
    [ Reply to This | Parent ] been done... (Score:1)
    by ghassanm on Friday May 31, @02:04PM (#3618488)
    (User #130547 Info) This isn't a really novel project as it has allready been done by David Wagner and Tal Garfinkel. I highly recommend people read the Janus paper located at the bottom of this page [berkeley.edu]. They did something very similar although it uses some funny Solaris /proc interface hack. Notice that the paper presents the exact same idea for isolating web browsers. This Systrace mechanism seems a bit more complete though. [ Reply to This | Parent ] security in BSD (Score:1)
    by spunkykuma on Friday May 31, @02:31PM (#3618690)
    (User #574480 Info) I like that idea, though I see would be a more useful thing in Linux or FreeBSD than in OpenBSD. For those of you that use NetBSD, there's an exec denier [netbsd.ro] (restircts specified users from executing things in /sbin, /usr/sbin, etc.) and there's a jail [netbsd.ro] module as well which restricts processes, such as jailing ssh and running top in an ssh session will disallow you to see other processes other than your own - Both of which are kernel modules (LKM).
    As for binary-only software in Linux, I don't believe the number of binary only applications will increase very much more other than commercial or restricted licensed apps.

  7. Re:First VA IS DYING post! by foodb4nk · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    HI my name is Ryan im a 12 step non-complete alcoholic too.

    --
    *huh* Sig? WTF?
  8. Re:Doesn't a case-mod have to work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Did anyone notice that the Pink Hello Kitty Laptop is a NON-WORKING mod...

    Are you sure? The people who did the modding are gay, and it's a bit difficult to install GAY/Lunix on a dead machine. Computers usually die AFTER installing that arcane UNIX for homosexuals.

  9. Re:Dear Idiot by Ditido · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Dear Idiot, 1)How many times have you fail math this is the most sorriest attempt of estimating i have ever seen. 2)I cannot inderstanding how you can fall to the trap of a poll made my MSNBC hens the name M$! 3) screw you.go read suckdot

  10. Modding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Have fun everyone. I wonder if I'll ever mod again.

    I had the same feeling after moderating the Post of Death (tm)...