It doesn't hamper legitimate uses while making illegitimate ones more difficult to execute and get away with.
Uhm, you're either using equipment not suited to your personality/style or just using it wrong:).
Yes, the double action on a revolver sucks. That's the primary reason I don't really want to own one. Would be nice for hunting, when I've got time to cock the hammer manually and hit a single action shot. Rapid fire isn't really any good with a revolver. Then again, that could be because I've got small hands. I'd like to buy a snub-nose.38 sometime and get proficient with it though.
For your semi-automatics, the first shot isn't cumbersome if you've got the right type of gun. If you're shooting a Sig or a Beretta where the first shot is DA and the rest are SA then get a different gun if this bothers you. It bothers me; so I don't own one. If you want SA through your whole magazine I'd recommend a CZ-75B if you want 9mm or.40 cal. It's a super weapon, and it's fairly inexpensive. I got mine for $340USD about a year and a half ago. Glock is a nice weapon too, but that's known by even non-gunners:)
As far as the chambering of the first round, it's a non-issue when you think about it. You only do it when the gun's being loaded. Insert mag, rack your first round, then wait until you need it. Optional steps in there include setting your safety. If you've got a DA on the first shot weapon you probably don't need to, as it takes substantial pull to get the first shot off; else you could de-cock your SA semi-auto and make it operate like the DA first shot weapons. This is the biggest reason I like Glock. No fussing with a cumbersome safety and a steady trigger pull through your entire mag.
Now, when your mag is empty your slide is going to lock open, you drop your empty mag, insert new one, then hit the slide release and you're ready to go. Can't get much faster than that IMHO.
I'd recommend picking up a copy of "Combat Handgunning" by Chuck Taylor... excellent information in there.
I'm pretty sure it was a pot-shot at me using a Linux example. I picked that because more users here would recognise LD_LIBRARY_PATH than the other Unix equivalents. IIRC Solaris has one, and I'd imagine any other Unix out there. I didn't feel like taking the time to lookup all the different mechniams available on other platforms.
Actually they say that the gun can fire 3 shots in a second when in the 'street legal' configuration. Personally that's unacceptable; it's way too slow.
A good semi-automatic pistol operated by somebody who knows what they're doing should be able to knock shots off around.20 to.25 seconds from each other with reasonable accuracy. The reason for this type of training, and speed, is that in a 1 on 1 encounter you should attempt to get two shots off before you even evaluate whether or not you have hit your target. After your first two shots (fired center mass) you lower your weapon a bit to inspect the situation. If you're hit your attacker but they're still able to pose a threat to you it's time to place a shot in the 'cranial-occular' area, which is techno speak for "right between the eyes". This pretty much guarantees that you'll have done enough damage to their nervous system to incapacitate them.
Franky.20 vs.33 seconds between shots is too big enough of a difference for this mechanism to be a viable alternative.
It doesn't hamper legitimate uses while making illegitimate ones more difficult to execute and get away with.
This is horrid for legitimate use. You no longer have a cheap detachable magazine, you've got to remove your whole barrel assembly to reload. That's not cost effective. You can't reaload it yourself, and you can't purchase amoo in bulk. When I take a 9mm out to the range for training I'll typically blow through 100 to 150 rounds. I'd need 10 to 15 barrel assemblies to do this. That's not good. Also, remember that whenever you change the tiniest thing about your firearm you will throw off the impact point. In the case of this firearm -every- round goes through a different barrel, meaning each shot will have a slightly different path.
This alone doesn't promote responsible use. If you can't predict where your round will land you shouldn't be taking any shots. If you can't actually use the firearm for training it's entirely useless for a civilian.
At least try and be somber for a minute before you pull the trigger and blow lots of shit to hell with a big grin on your face.
There will be a collection of my fellow shooting buddies with me for sure. If I enjoy the rifle I'll probably by a few more and keep them in storage to give to a later generation. I'd love to pull one out when I'm 50 or 60 I suppose (I'm 22 now) and go through "popping the cherry" on one.
I don't know anything about guns or hunting, but would someone buy one of these rifles to hunt deer with?
From what I understand... yes. The round is close to that of a 30-06, which provides plenty of knock-down power against a deer. The 7.62x54mm that the M44 shoots provides enough knock down power to take a deer down nicely. Combine that with them averaging (from what I read) around 1 MOA (Minute of Accuracy) which means from a steady rest rounds at 100 yards will all land within an inch of eachother and you've got a nice accurate and powerful hunting rifle that's fairly cheap to obtain and has some "neat" factor to it, as it's not your typical run-of-the-mill hunting rifle.
Oh, and the fact that it's got a 16" bayonette on it is fun too.
When I start seeing things like: $stuff[1], $stuff[2] $blah etc it scares me
I have you beat. $foo. Seriously... $foo was a variable used in projects at my last company repeatedly. It was -THE- global structure for CGI applications. I don't know how this started, or who did it, but it irked me to see it the first time. I eventually got used to it, but never adopted the practice myself.
Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with cute varialbe names. I'm probably the worst at this really. I hated VBScripts inability to short-circuit a conditional, so when I had to work around it with a temporary loop boolean variable you'd see stuff like:
Dim blnVBSSucks ' Workaround for non short-circuting conditionals. or Dim blnTimmay ' This language is so retarded I had to pick a dumb name to work around the non short-circuting conditionals.
etc.
Professional? Perhaps not, but it kept me slightly entertained while working overtime on the weekends. I'd have to say it was more professional than the code I was replacing though. In one instance the previous programmer had used an include directive to pull in all his 'Dim' statements.. all 600 global variables to the script with desriptive names such as I1, I2, I3.. I54, R1, R2, R3...R54, etc.
What's the difference if a piece of software does the web surfing?
Because software is evil. Where have you been? Stand back as I release munitions from my brain to my fingers and into vi, which then goes into gcc and reveals great desctructive powers! Behold the bits that are evil! In short time I shall destroy commerce and freedom! I am the ultimate terrorist -- I can code!
Errr... or at least that's how some people see it. It's all human nature really; which then turns into political biases and then turn into laws. When the majority doesn't understand something, and that something is used negatively once in a while harsh opinions are formed before the whole picture is understood and the ramifications of the situation. This isn't the first time.
A recent example... firearms laws. It's a big topic for me; I know... but I find wonderful lines of parellel between the tech laws of today and the firearms laws of today and yesteryear. We have a Constitutional right to "keep and bear arms". Go read the 2nd ammendment once, it's really short. To me it's pretty clear... especially when you read up on what the Founding Fathers opionions were outside of that little blurb. It's a very cut and dry issue to me. I have this right, guaranteed by my government... but that's not the case. I'm restricted in what I can do, some things are "too bad" for me to do.
You really think software is ever going to get any better? The Pro-Gun people have an ammendment on their side! Software's fucked. I'm sorry, but it's fucked. When an ammendment can be trampled over it's game over, and we software people dont' have a leg to stand on. Perhaps the 1st can be used in some way, shape, or form, but DeCSS sorta proved that when it comes to software the public doesn't consider it free speach. It can be used for evil, so it's bad, through and through.
Do yourselves a favor. Take some of that good cash you earn with a professional job and buy a cheap AK-47 or an AR-15, then read up on what you can and can't put on it. You'll realize how fruitless this "software is free speach" thing really is.
That indicates to me that the problem is really that the document format is so complicated that it takes tremendous resources to understand and implement compatibility with it, as this implies that larger companies like say a Xerox will have no problem producing tools to work with it.
As I sit here on my entirely Free machine using a web browser, playing.ogg files, and letting my AOLIM client idle I really can't help but think that a huge and complex format is really going to stop the Free Software community from reading and using this if Xerox can.
Databases are complex, and while we don't have anything at the Oracle level, we've still developed some pretty good stuff.
Compilers are hard, but we've got them. Not the best in the world, but pretty darned good and flexibile.
A good TCP/IP stack is no laughing challenge.
You get the idea.
If the big guys can do it... Free Software can do it. Can and will are two different things though. Right now, NOBODY but Microsoft can really build a totally perfect.doc reader though for all their different versions. Scratch that, if you've read the Mac Office posts on here even MS themselves can't properly work with.doc all the time.
But, this is the first thing that came to mind. http://www.surplusrifle.com . They themselves don't actually sell rifles, but have provided me with a lot of fun information about old WWII and earlier rifles that are still available.
I'm really geeked really, because I picked up in a 1946 M44 Soviet rifle last weekend. Unissued... never been fired. The weapon's been around for 56 years wrapped up in paper and passed around but never actually handled, cleaned, and fired. I'm geeked... really geeked. I've taken it apart a few times, cleaned greasy goop out of it for about 6 hours, and just totally enjoyed the whole process. I'm hoping this weekend, weather permitting, I'll get to take it out and finally test the thing out.
I tell ya what... I got that thing home, tore the wax paper protection and twine off it, then the underlying paper wrap, rubbed a cloth over it to get some extra grease off and was amazed. Here is an unfired Soviet weapon with a hammer and sicle on it. It's almost like finding a PDP-11 at a gargage sale to me... that had never been used. Granted, an unused PDP-11 doesn't exist; but it's almost that "neat" to me. Fifty six years sitting in a storage bin and I'll be the first human being to fire it.. how neat and geeky is that?
I can pull it apart and inspect the workmanship that went into it so long ago. The engineering that has gone into making it over the yers before it's actual production... the circumstances that lead to it's creation and it's reason for being stuck in a bin for so long. Totally geeky to me.
Granted, I'm going to use it to punch holes in inatimate objects rather than try and make a Beowulf cluster out of them... but it's still a huge amount of fun.
I once asked him to create a "Hello World" program for Windows, and after 30 minutes he gave up, despite having Visual Studio at his disposal.
You don't find that... Odd? The guy could write a simple program and compile it on probably any *nix platform, but the Win32 one was just... different. In all actuality he could have very well written a simple C program and compiled it via gcc on Win32 if there was a Cygwin install on there... but you've gotta have Cygwin for that.
Now, to build a Hello World in Visual Studio for the Win32 console can be fairly different. There's shit to click on and wizards to run through just to get the skeleton for a 3 line program. What is actually a very simple task takes a person with general knowledge way more time than it should.
Don't you see that as a problem?
"What's easy should be easy and what's hard should be possible"... the motto of Perl per-say. Sorta the Unix philosophy really. when I'm on the MS side it seems more like:
"What's easy is possible and convoluted, and what's hard you'll be lucky to ever get done."
Now, maybe I'm biased... but I've spent more time in Win32 than I have *nix really. Just seems to me like I've gotten a lot more done in *nix than I have Win32. It's really odd when you see programs that are made to work on both platforms, and just how freaking odd they feel in Win32. Things like Java, Weblogic, and Rational's product suites come to mind. None of them are *nix dependant, and all work well in Win32; but when you have to muddle with your environment variables and such to get things working it just seems like you should be in *nix. Oh, and MatrixOne... I definately feel sometimes like that's something that belongs in *nix and not Win32.. but maybe that's just me.
Semi-off topic, but it just popped back into my head. After going to.NET "training" and hearing about how they are solving DLL Hell I couldn't help but think.... "Wouldn't something like LD_LIBRARY_PATH in Linux fix the whole darned thing?"
Of course, then what would the Linux and BSD zealots have left to bitch about?
We'd probably complain that what you're talking about being an OS-level software program is really not a part of the actual OS. That's what struck me really. The service may very well be considered a pre-packed part of the whole system, but it's not really part of the OS itself.
Take NFS for instance. I could very well remove every bit of code from my Linux box dealing with NFS if I want to. Not just shutdown the service mind you, but take it -ALL- out so that I -NEVER- accidentally turn the thing on. Can you do that with MS filesharing? Nope, probably not. If you can, I sure don't know how... but I'm now Windows expert either.
It's a small gripe, but the very notion that you call it an "OS" feature irks me. It's a "service" feature, but one that happens to be bundled along with the OS.
I guess we "Linux and BSD zealots" are just more uptight about the OS vs application layer. We've got clearly defined boundaries in our minds, mostly because our software has always done a good job of forcing that distinction between OS and application.
It prevents somebody from coming along with a trash-can like utility that looks, acts, and feels like a Trash Can but differs visually from the original. From what I gather this gives them a patent (about 15 years too late) on the design principle of users being able to visually drag objects into something resembling a waste receptical with means of retreive said objects from receptical.
So, this prevents somebody from creating a similar design but calling it at a "Gabage Can" or a "Recyle Bin" with a different icon but identical design features.
Hell, if I stick a pre-ban 30 round magazine in my post-ban AK-47, that is a federal crime. And if I decided to "mod" it... let's just say the ATF would go Branch Davidian on my ass.
I'm not sure I follow this one. IIRC there's nothing keep you from putting a pre-ban mag into a post-ban receiver. Zero, nadda -- I've read through the 1994 "Crime Bill" against "Assault" weapons and it's not in there.
However, if you've got one of those "single stack" ak-47 contraptions that only take a post-ban 10rnd mag and mod it to accept a 30 round double-stack mag (you know, like they made 'em for the last 50+ years) you could be into some shit... but I don't know for sure. It's of little concern as there's no way in hell I'm buying a single-stack ak-47 anytime soon.
Now, if by "mod" it you meant put it into fully auto mode.. yes the ATF would be on your ass with 10,000 USD in fine and 10 years in prison.
What part of "shall not infringe" is so friggen confusing to people these days, eh?
This is getting slightly OT -- but the body-piercing ammo was actually created by a former police officer.
In that case i think that body armor piercing bullets were used for the greater good by stopping the criminals, thereby protecting the average citizen.
They were -created- because FMJ (full metal jacket) and JHP (hacketed hollow point) bullets don't fare well when shooting into a car door at awkward angles, or when hitting a windshield. They were made to go through -that- kind of stuff without being deflected. It so happens that it also works well against a kevlar vest I guess.
So, was the point of making a bullet that goes through car doors to kill people better? No, not really. It so happens that a bullet that goes where it's supposed to is -SAFER-. The officer can how take a shot that otherwise would have been much more dangerous -- possibly sending the deflected round into an innocent person.
Somehow this relates the the parent discussion -- I hope.
i even see bias within scripters (e.g., perl scripters are higher up the ranks than bourne scripters).
Yeah... I've seen that before. Watched somebody write a 20-30 line perl script because he didn't think bash was powerful enough to actually do something worthwhile. The script was roughly:
The mainstream media has become wickedly conservative in the last few years.
While more conservative types are showing upon the Fox news network, I would hardly say that the mainstream media as a whole is "wickedly conservative". I wish it was -- as I'm "wickedly conservative."
When's the last time you saw a news anchor actually promote -dropping- gun control laws? Yeah....
When's the last time you saw a report promoting the idea that same-sex marriages just shouldn't be allowed?
Anything on CNN lately about how we've just got too darned many government agencies now, and that maybe we should start cutting things way back?
It's tax time, so I'm sure the "wicked conserative" media has brought up that the issue of an income or property tax was originally -banned- in the Constitution of the United States. I probably missed the bit on CNN though.
What you see in the mainstream media is nowhere near "wicked" conserative. Try something like this message board for links to very conservative views.
To me the notion that mainstream media could even be considered -remotely- conservative let alone "wickedly" conservative is just hilarious. It shows how far left the majority of people are now days I guess.
1000 square feet of "office/flex" space in any moderate industrial park will run you approximately $8 per square foot per year--that's $8,000 in rent.
Whoa there... isn't that more like $8-$10 per MONTH and not PER YEAR? I don't know where you got that figure, and I don't personally lease an office building, but my apartment here in the outskirts of Grand Rapids Michigan runs me about 75 cents/sq. foot per month. That's 8 bucks per square foot per year... for an apartment which is going to cost far less than office space. If I'm not mistaken 8-10 dollars/sq. foot is roughly what things cost around here per month when it comes to office space, and that's just for bare-minimum non furnished.
You had me up until that point though. I forgave the $60k/year figure for salaries -- if you paid your people 40-45k/year all the extras might add up to only 60k/year/person.
I'm good looking enough to approach women with confidence, but after about 5 mintues of talking, the women realize I'm a geek and leave...that, and I have no game.
It's a really bad idea to open with the line, "Baby... I want to indent your code all night long." Sure, it -sounds- sexy to us; but chicks just don't get it.
I like the computers that beep whenever anything at all happens. If my PC made that much noise when I was trying to use it, it'd quickly be sailing out the window, futilely beeping to its doom.
You've never tried hacking in 'vi' as fast as you can, eh?:)
Slashdot Mirror
It doesn't hamper legitimate uses while making illegitimate ones more difficult to execute and get away with.
:).
.38 sometime and get proficient with it though.
.40 cal. It's a super weapon, and it's fairly inexpensive. I got mine for $340USD about a year and a half ago. Glock is a nice weapon too, but that's known by even non-gunners :)
Uhm, you're either using equipment not suited to your personality/style or just using it wrong
Yes, the double action on a revolver sucks. That's the primary reason I don't really want to own one. Would be nice for hunting, when I've got time to cock the hammer manually and hit a single action shot. Rapid fire isn't really any good with a revolver. Then again, that could be because I've got small hands. I'd like to buy a snub-nose
For your semi-automatics, the first shot isn't cumbersome if you've got the right type of gun. If you're shooting a Sig or a Beretta where the first shot is DA and the rest are SA then get a different gun if this bothers you. It bothers me; so I don't own one. If you want SA through your whole magazine I'd recommend a CZ-75B if you want 9mm or
As far as the chambering of the first round, it's a non-issue when you think about it. You only do it when the gun's being loaded. Insert mag, rack your first round, then wait until you need it. Optional steps in there include setting your safety. If you've got a DA on the first shot weapon you probably don't need to, as it takes substantial pull to get the first shot off; else you could de-cock your SA semi-auto and make it operate like the DA first shot weapons. This is the biggest reason I like Glock. No fussing with a cumbersome safety and a steady trigger pull through your entire mag.
Now, when your mag is empty your slide is going to lock open, you drop your empty mag, insert new one, then hit the slide release and you're ready to go. Can't get much faster than that IMHO.
I'd recommend picking up a copy of "Combat Handgunning" by Chuck Taylor... excellent information in there.
I'm pretty sure it was a pot-shot at me using a Linux example. I picked that because more users here would recognise LD_LIBRARY_PATH than the other Unix equivalents. IIRC Solaris has one, and I'd imagine any other Unix out there. I didn't feel like taking the time to lookup all the different mechniams available on other platforms.
Actually they say that the gun can fire 3 shots in a second when in the 'street legal' configuration. Personally that's unacceptable; it's way too slow.
.20 to .25 seconds from each other with reasonable accuracy. The reason for this type of training, and speed, is that in a 1 on 1 encounter you should attempt to get two shots off before you even evaluate whether or not you have hit your target. After your first two shots (fired center mass) you lower your weapon a bit to inspect the situation. If you're hit your attacker but they're still able to pose a threat to you it's time to place a shot in the 'cranial-occular' area, which is techno speak for "right between the eyes". This pretty much guarantees that you'll have done enough damage to their nervous system to incapacitate them.
.20 vs .33 seconds between shots is too big enough of a difference for this mechanism to be a viable alternative.
A good semi-automatic pistol operated by somebody who knows what they're doing should be able to knock shots off around
Franky
It doesn't hamper legitimate uses while making illegitimate ones more difficult to execute and get away with.
This is horrid for legitimate use. You no longer have a cheap detachable magazine, you've got to remove your whole barrel assembly to reload. That's not cost effective. You can't reaload it yourself, and you can't purchase amoo in bulk. When I take a 9mm out to the range for training I'll typically blow through 100 to 150 rounds. I'd need 10 to 15 barrel assemblies to do this. That's not good. Also, remember that whenever you change the tiniest thing about your firearm you will throw off the impact point. In the case of this firearm -every- round goes through a different barrel, meaning each shot will have a slightly different path.
This alone doesn't promote responsible use. If you can't predict where your round will land you shouldn't be taking any shots. If you can't actually use the firearm for training it's entirely useless for a civilian.
At least try and be somber for a minute before you pull the trigger and blow lots of shit to hell with a big grin on your face.
There will be a collection of my fellow shooting buddies with me for sure. If I enjoy the rifle I'll probably by a few more and keep them in storage to give to a later generation. I'd love to pull one out when I'm 50 or 60 I suppose (I'm 22 now) and go through "popping the cherry" on one.
I don't know anything about guns or hunting, but would someone buy one of these rifles to hunt deer with?
From what I understand... yes. The round is close to that of a 30-06, which provides plenty of knock-down power against a deer. The 7.62x54mm that the M44 shoots provides enough knock down power to take a deer down nicely. Combine that with them averaging (from what I read) around 1 MOA (Minute of Accuracy) which means from a steady rest rounds at 100 yards will all land within an inch of eachother and you've got a nice accurate and powerful hunting rifle that's fairly cheap to obtain and has some "neat" factor to it, as it's not your typical run-of-the-mill hunting rifle.
Oh, and the fact that it's got a 16" bayonette on it is fun too.
When I start seeing things like:
:)
$stuff[1], $stuff[2]
$blah
etc
it scares me
I have you beat. $foo. Seriously... $foo was a variable used in projects at my last company repeatedly. It was -THE- global structure for CGI applications. I don't know how this started, or who did it, but it irked me to see it the first time. I eventually got used to it, but never adopted the practice myself.
Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with cute varialbe names. I'm probably the worst at this really. I hated VBScripts inability to short-circuit a conditional, so when I had to work around it with a temporary loop boolean variable you'd see stuff like:
Dim blnVBSSucks ' Workaround for non short-circuting conditionals.
or
Dim blnTimmay ' This language is so retarded I had to pick a dumb name to work around the non short-circuting conditionals.
etc.
Professional? Perhaps not, but it kept me slightly entertained while working overtime on the weekends. I'd have to say it was more professional than the code I was replacing though. In one instance the previous programmer had used an include directive to pull in all his 'Dim' statements.. all 600 global variables to the script with desriptive names such as I1, I2, I3.. I54, R1, R2, R3...R54, etc.
I'm glad I don't code anymore
What's the difference if a piece of software does the web surfing?
Because software is evil. Where have you been? Stand back as I release munitions from my brain to my fingers and into vi, which then goes into gcc and reveals great desctructive powers! Behold the bits that are evil! In short time I shall destroy commerce and freedom! I am the ultimate terrorist -- I can code!
Errr... or at least that's how some people see it. It's all human nature really; which then turns into political biases and then turn into laws. When the majority doesn't understand something, and that something is used negatively once in a while harsh opinions are formed before the whole picture is understood and the ramifications of the situation. This isn't the first time.
A recent example... firearms laws. It's a big topic for me; I know... but I find wonderful lines of parellel between the tech laws of today and the firearms laws of today and yesteryear. We have a Constitutional right to "keep and bear arms". Go read the 2nd ammendment once, it's really short. To me it's pretty clear... especially when you read up on what the Founding Fathers opionions were outside of that little blurb. It's a very cut and dry issue to me. I have this right, guaranteed by my government... but that's not the case. I'm restricted in what I can do, some things are "too bad" for me to do.
You really think software is ever going to get any better? The Pro-Gun people have an ammendment on their side! Software's fucked. I'm sorry, but it's fucked. When an ammendment can be trampled over it's game over, and we software people dont' have a leg to stand on. Perhaps the 1st can be used in some way, shape, or form, but DeCSS sorta proved that when it comes to software the public doesn't consider it free speach. It can be used for evil, so it's bad, through and through.
Do yourselves a favor. Take some of that good cash you earn with a professional job and buy a cheap AK-47 or an AR-15, then read up on what you can and can't put on it. You'll realize how fruitless this "software is free speach" thing really is.
We're hosed.
That indicates to me that the problem is really that the document format is so complicated that it takes tremendous resources to understand and implement compatibility with it, as this implies that larger companies like say a Xerox will have no problem producing tools to work with it.
.ogg files, and letting my AOLIM client idle I really can't help but think that a huge and complex format is really going to stop the Free Software community from reading and using this if Xerox can.
.doc reader though for all their different versions. Scratch that, if you've read the Mac Office posts on here even MS themselves can't properly work with .doc all the time.
As I sit here on my entirely Free machine using a web browser, playing
Databases are complex, and while we don't have anything at the Oracle level, we've still developed some pretty good stuff.
Compilers are hard, but we've got them. Not the best in the world, but pretty darned good and flexibile.
A good TCP/IP stack is no laughing challenge.
You get the idea.
If the big guys can do it... Free Software can do it. Can and will are two different things though. Right now, NOBODY but Microsoft can really build a totally perfect
But, this is the first thing that came to mind. http://www.surplusrifle.com . They themselves don't actually sell rifles, but have provided me with a lot of fun information about old WWII and earlier rifles that are still available.
I'm really geeked really, because I picked up in a 1946 M44 Soviet rifle last weekend. Unissued... never been fired. The weapon's been around for 56 years wrapped up in paper and passed around but never actually handled, cleaned, and fired. I'm geeked... really geeked. I've taken it apart a few times, cleaned greasy goop out of it for about 6 hours, and just totally enjoyed the whole process. I'm hoping this weekend, weather permitting, I'll get to take it out and finally test the thing out.
I tell ya what... I got that thing home, tore the wax paper protection and twine off it, then the underlying paper wrap, rubbed a cloth over it to get some extra grease off and was amazed. Here is an unfired Soviet weapon with a hammer and sicle on it. It's almost like finding a PDP-11 at a gargage sale to me... that had never been used. Granted, an unused PDP-11 doesn't exist; but it's almost that "neat" to me. Fifty six years sitting in a storage bin and I'll be the first human being to fire it.. how neat and geeky is that?
I can pull it apart and inspect the workmanship that went into it so long ago. The engineering that has gone into making it over the yers before it's actual production... the circumstances that lead to it's creation and it's reason for being stuck in a bin for so long. Totally geeky to me.
Granted, I'm going to use it to punch holes in inatimate objects rather than try and make a Beowulf cluster out of them... but it's still a huge amount of fun.
I once asked him to create a "Hello World" program for Windows, and after 30 minutes he gave up, despite having Visual Studio at his disposal.
... Odd? The guy could write a simple program and compile it on probably any *nix platform, but the Win32 one was just ... different. In all actuality he could have very well written a simple C program and compiled it via gcc on Win32 if there was a Cygwin install on there... but you've gotta have Cygwin for that.
.NET "training" and hearing about how they are solving DLL Hell I couldn't help but think.... "Wouldn't something like LD_LIBRARY_PATH in Linux fix the whole darned thing?"
You don't find that
Now, to build a Hello World in Visual Studio for the Win32 console can be fairly different. There's shit to click on and wizards to run through just to get the skeleton for a 3 line program. What is actually a very simple task takes a person with general knowledge way more time than it should.
Don't you see that as a problem?
"What's easy should be easy and what's hard should be possible"... the motto of Perl per-say. Sorta the Unix philosophy really. when I'm on the MS side it seems more like:
"What's easy is possible and convoluted, and what's hard you'll be lucky to ever get done."
Now, maybe I'm biased... but I've spent more time in Win32 than I have *nix really. Just seems to me like I've gotten a lot more done in *nix than I have Win32. It's really odd when you see programs that are made to work on both platforms, and just how freaking odd they feel in Win32. Things like Java, Weblogic, and Rational's product suites come to mind. None of them are *nix dependant, and all work well in Win32; but when you have to muddle with your environment variables and such to get things working it just seems like you should be in *nix. Oh, and MatrixOne... I definately feel sometimes like that's something that belongs in *nix and not Win32.. but maybe that's just me.
Semi-off topic, but it just popped back into my head. After going to
P.S. This started out as a whimsical post, but the more I think about it, the more it scares me how powerful 10 billion dollars really can be!
Hmm... I wonder if the Geeks with Guns organization that ESR is involved with has just taken on a new mission statement.
The Cathedral and the Bazaar Part II: The Bazaar's armed with more than just open source code.
Ooo... this has NRA written all over it.
Microsoft always gets its fingers into the competition...
I knew there was something fishy about them...
Of course, then what would the Linux and BSD zealots have left to bitch about?
We'd probably complain that what you're talking about being an OS-level software program is really not a part of the actual OS. That's what struck me really. The service may very well be considered a pre-packed part of the whole system, but it's not really part of the OS itself.
Take NFS for instance. I could very well remove every bit of code from my Linux box dealing with NFS if I want to. Not just shutdown the service mind you, but take it -ALL- out so that I -NEVER- accidentally turn the thing on. Can you do that with MS filesharing? Nope, probably not. If you can, I sure don't know how... but I'm now Windows expert either.
It's a small gripe, but the very notion that you call it an "OS" feature irks me. It's a "service" feature, but one that happens to be bundled along with the OS.
I guess we "Linux and BSD zealots" are just more uptight about the OS vs application layer. We've got clearly defined boundaries in our minds, mostly because our software has always done a good job of forcing that distinction between OS and application.
It's nitpicking, and I admit that...
It prevents somebody from coming along with a trash-can like utility that looks, acts, and feels like a Trash Can but differs visually from the original. From what I gather this gives them a patent (about 15 years too late) on the design principle of users being able to visually drag objects into something resembling a waste receptical with means of retreive said objects from receptical.
So, this prevents somebody from creating a similar design but calling it at a "Gabage Can" or a "Recyle Bin" with a different icon but identical design features.
Ring a bell?
Hell, if I stick a pre-ban 30 round magazine in my post-ban AK-47, that is a federal crime. And if I decided to "mod" it... let's just say the ATF would go Branch Davidian on my ass.
I'm not sure I follow this one. IIRC there's nothing keep you from putting a pre-ban mag into a post-ban receiver. Zero, nadda -- I've read through the 1994 "Crime Bill" against "Assault" weapons and it's not in there.
However, if you've got one of those "single stack" ak-47 contraptions that only take a post-ban 10rnd mag and mod it to accept a 30 round double-stack mag (you know, like they made 'em for the last 50+ years) you could be into some shit... but I don't know for sure. It's of little concern as there's no way in hell I'm buying a single-stack ak-47 anytime soon.
Now, if by "mod" it you meant put it into fully auto mode.. yes the ATF would be on your ass with 10,000 USD in fine and 10 years in prison.
What part of "shall not infringe" is so friggen confusing to people these days, eh?
This is getting slightly OT -- but the body-piercing ammo was actually created by a former police officer.
In that case i think that body armor piercing bullets were used for the greater good by stopping the criminals, thereby protecting the average citizen.
They were -created- because FMJ (full metal jacket) and JHP (hacketed hollow point) bullets don't fare well when shooting into a car door at awkward angles, or when hitting a windshield. They were made to go through -that- kind of stuff without being deflected. It so happens that it also works well against a kevlar vest I guess.
So, was the point of making a bullet that goes through car doors to kill people better? No, not really. It so happens that a bullet that goes where it's supposed to is -SAFER-. The officer can how take a shot that otherwise would have been much more dangerous -- possibly sending the deflected round into an innocent person.
Somehow this relates the the parent discussion -- I hope.
Heh... just wait for Theo to chime in...
Crap.. that should be #!/usr/bin/perl ... not #!/usr/bin/bash
I even previewed it! I swear!
i even see bias within scripters (e.g., perl scripters are higher up the ranks than bourne scripters).
...etc.
Yeah... I've seen that before. Watched somebody write a 20-30 line perl script because he didn't think bash was powerful enough to actually do something worthwhile. The script was roughly:
#!/usr/bin/bash
`command 2`;
`command 2`;
$variable = `command 3`;
`command 4 $variable`;
I later 'ported' the script.
The mainstream media has become wickedly conservative in the last few years.
While more conservative types are showing upon the Fox news network, I would hardly say that the mainstream media as a whole is "wickedly conservative". I wish it was -- as I'm "wickedly conservative."
When's the last time you saw a news anchor actually promote -dropping- gun control laws? Yeah....
When's the last time you saw a report promoting the idea that same-sex marriages just shouldn't be allowed?
Anything on CNN lately about how we've just got too darned many government agencies now, and that maybe we should start cutting things way back?
It's tax time, so I'm sure the "wicked conserative" media has brought up that the issue of an income or property tax was originally -banned- in the Constitution of the United States. I probably missed the bit on CNN though.
What you see in the mainstream media is nowhere near "wicked" conserative. Try something like this message board for links to very conservative views.
To me the notion that mainstream media could even be considered -remotely- conservative let alone "wickedly" conservative is just hilarious. It shows how far left the majority of people are now days I guess.
1000 square feet of "office/flex" space in any moderate industrial park will run you approximately $8 per square foot per year--that's $8,000 in rent.
Whoa there... isn't that more like $8-$10 per MONTH and not PER YEAR? I don't know where you got that figure, and I don't personally lease an office building, but my apartment here in the outskirts of Grand Rapids Michigan runs me about 75 cents/sq. foot per month. That's 8 bucks per square foot per year... for an apartment which is going to cost far less than office space. If I'm not mistaken 8-10 dollars/sq. foot is roughly what things cost around here per month when it comes to office space, and that's just for bare-minimum non furnished.
You had me up until that point though. I forgave the $60k/year figure for salaries -- if you paid your people 40-45k/year all the extras might add up to only 60k/year/person.
I'm good looking enough to approach women with confidence, but after about 5 mintues of talking, the women realize I'm a geek and leave...that, and I have no game.
It's a really bad idea to open with the line, "Baby... I want to indent your code all night long." Sure, it -sounds- sexy to us; but chicks just don't get it.
As just this morning I was getting my dick sucked while breaking into the DOD's mainframe. It took about 20 seconds.
You should really clarify which one took 20 seconds... doesn't look too good.
I like the computers that beep whenever anything at all happens. If my PC made that much noise when I was trying to use it, it'd quickly be sailing out the window, futilely beeping to its doom.
:)
You've never tried hacking in 'vi' as fast as you can, eh?