A difficult choice for tech companies is coming. If they provide the Chinese with the backdoors they ask for, they can't very well deny any other governments who ask for the same thing now can they ? They'll have to build country compliant models to appease every little dictator on the planet:|
Otoh, if they refuse to play ball, they'll be blocked from selling products in the country, depriving them of large amounts of revenue. Perhaps this is how China will force it's citizens onto China authorized products instead of Apple, Androids, etc.
After all, it's easier to control people when you limit their choices.
My guess, however, is that the dollar signs are flashing before their eyes even as I type this. If we know Google and Apple half as well as we think we do, you know they're going to cave in because it's just too much money to give up. In the business world, $$$ > morals every time.
ãSpãI would think, if they wish to survive, if they found an anomaly, the would have to disclose it at this point. ãS/pã
ãSpãIf they fail to do so, and someone else finds it, Cisco may as well throw in the towel. The idea being they're either incompetent or intentionally snuggling up to the three letter agencies. Neither of which are useful in securing trust for your products.ãS/pã
ãSpãEspecially after making it public they're doing a security audit of their code.ãS/pã
I'm sure you have evidence that each and every device listed has been used against America's citizens.
Oh, wait. you don't. you ASSume.
Apparently, you've been living under a rock for quite some time. Let me catch you up to speed real quick:
It's come out that most of the Law Enforcement community has been utilizing tech toys, previously reserved for the intelligence agencies and military, domestically ( under the guise of " Because Terrorists ! " ) to effectively spy on American Citizens or to help create what is known as Parallel Construction for building a case.
The use and / or procurement of said devices come with Non Disclosure Agreements with the FBI and the company who makes the devices. The will even go so far as to drop a watertight case against a criminal if they believe their secrets about said devices may be compromised. That's how badly they don't want John Q. Public to know what they're capabilities are. ( What does that tell you ? )
If you think, for one minute, that the use is limited to one type of unit, you are being naive. We KNOW about the one but, rest assured, it is not the only toy they are using to keep tabs on everyone. The power it gives them over everyone else is just too addicting to give up willingly. It will have to be taken from them by force.
I don't think tailgating is the most likely cause of rear-end crashes these days.
Playing with the phone and / or otherwise not paying attention are more likely candidates. I can't even count how many folks I pass on my daily commute who are buried nose deep into their phones while hurtling down the freeway:| They're easy to spot, they're usually driving well under the posted limit, have a line of frustrated drivers stuck behind them and / or can't stay in their lane to save their life. They tend to resemble a drunk driver in many ways. Yet, while driving under the influence is a pretty hefty offense in most States, driving while playing on your phone is perfectly acceptable ( or a minor offense not worth the officers time ) even though it can lead to similar outcomes in a high-speed driving environment.
I would be willing to bet that by disabling the data side of the phone while driving, the number of crashes would drop significantly. Wouldn't be a popular solution though since it would also impact the passengers in the car or users who utilize public transportation. Not to mention it would also impact those who use their phones responsibly, which would be no good.
I can see adding a Parental Control feature to the phones where data is disabled while phone is traveling over X speed, but I can't think of an effective solution, that doesn't impact responsible users nor is over-reaching, to prevent the idiots from killing everyone else because they just can't put their phone down.
I'm not entirely certain why the government is bothering to raise such a fuss about strong crypto. ( Other than to make it look like they have no options ) While no evidence exists that Big Brother is responsible for it, they are the most likely suspects. Not much of a need to break the crypto itself when you can install a bypass of some sort into the mix.
I wonder how much it costs to coerce a programmer type to insert a few bits of code into your project.
"You can thank the retards for ruining it for everyone."
We can thank them, but since beating the hell out of them is a crime, there isn't much else we can really do. In my experience, pointing out the stupid things that people do to those who need it pointed out to them typically leads to a fist fight in a hurry.
I don't really care for the precedence this can set as it can be applied to other medium as well. Just about anything and everything can be abused. Anyone who is going to intentionally do something illegal with their RC unit probably isn't going to lose a lot of sleep over also failing to register with the FAA. So, this is really a " Dumb-As-A-Rock " or " Shouldn't-own-a-drone-to-begin-with " sort of tax.
What's next ? Perhaps make everyone who owns a laser pointer register it with the FAA too. Just in case some missing-link decides to shine it at an aircraft we can pull a list of all registered pointer owners in the area and dispense some justice !:D
If planning future attacks, make sure to create, purchase or smuggle a device capable of downing aircraft in the area first.
In the US, just point a laser pointer at it. The pilot will freak out and land citing blindness and numbness in their right arm or something:|
Or, activate a high powered jammer near the tower to disrupt ALL cellular traffic. This will pretty much kill the sniffer planes purpose as well as create chaos on the ground when comms go out. I suppose just blowing up the nearby towers would suffice as well.
It's like the US is only interested in going after the stupid terrorists who will plan ahead via Facebook or Twitter and / or keep in touch with cell phones. ( and we can't even stop those with all our super double naught spy agencies and their toys )
If our spies are no match for the home grown amateur, my faith in their ability to prevent a pro-unit from doing anything is pretty much non-existent. We'll learn about them the day after they turn a city into sub-atomic particles.
Murica. All talk, no walk.
Not uncommon.
It's 2am, the neighbors dog has been non-stop for hours and this is a nightly occurance. Discussions with the neighbor about it nearly lead to blows.
So yes, you call the police and do things the right way vs a poison meal or a suppressed.22lr
The FUN ( Slashdot approved method ) would be to build an ultrasonic generator in the 130db range. Put it on a remote switch or auto-trigger when the barking starts and that problem will fix itself quite quickly.
" Uneducated supporters "
Allow me another explanation if I may.
Perhaps Trump supporters are well versed in what the status quo politician does once in office. Perhaps they are tired of voting for what is supposed to be different candidates, only to realize that, yet again, once in office their candidate is merely a clone of the previous administrations ideals.
The only way to shake the system up, is to start by not voting in the very same people that want to keep it that way. Nothing scares the two parties more than a potential third party candidate since it effectively says " We the people are quite tired of your bullshit games. "
I read on/. all the damn time about how it's the voters fault for re-electing the same clowns that are responsible for where we are today. Yet, when folks are considering deviating from that course, they get nothing but a ration of shit from the very same people because they're not voting for candidate X or Y.
Considering the candidate field and past experience with the typical bought and paid for politicians we currently have, I'm more than willing to give Trump his shot. Seriously, do you think he can possibly to any worse than another Bush ? Clinton ? or Obama ?
I don't care if hes arrogant, condecending or otherwise unpleasant in how he deals with people. If he gets the job done, that's all I give a damn about.
To do so, you have to be direct and to the point. Kissing everyones ass for re-election prospects is how we currently do business and that, more than anything else, needs to change if this country ever wants to be taken seriously again.
For anyone still following this story in here and who thinks banning guns will magically make us all safer, I have a question.
We'll skip over the fact the suspects appear to have Middle Eastern ties as we don't yet know their motivation behind the event. They purchased all of the firearms legally and used them successfully to injure and / or kill a lot of people. It does appear, however, the high-capacity magazines they utilized are already illegal ( and therefore banned ) in the State of California. So the idea of merely enacting new / more laws or banning a thing only goes to show that those who plan on mass-murder, really don't put a lot of thought ( or concern ) into what other laws they may be breaking while committing whatever atrocity they've planned.
Of particular interest to me is the fact that they also had manufactured about a dozen explosive devices they had planned on using as well. ( Last I checked, the possession and / or manufacture of explosive devices are quite illegal, as is murder, but that goes without saying. )
So, for those who believe that banning guns will fix our " mass violence " problem, how do you apply that same logic to the fact that, while banned already, these two showed up with high-capacity magazines and a dozen explosives and it is only through sheer luck, incompetence or a change of heart that the explosives did not detonate leading to even greater carnage.
Head over to everyone's favorite part of the planet, the Middle East, and you get to see what explosives are really capable of when you get serious about causing mayhem on the higher end of the scale. ( Pretty sure possessing / manufacturing explosives over there is just as illegal and banned as it is here, yet seems to almost be a daily occurrence. )
So, again, I have to ask. Other than being more security theater and a feel-good law, what would the removal of guns from the equation actually do to prevent the next psychopath, lone wolf or Call of Duty inspired terrorist wannabes from killing a bunch of people when they'll simply switch to other, very much proven to be effective, methods of violence delivery ?
ROFL
By your logic, removing people from the equation would also reduce gun violence. Yet, you make no mention about being tired of the mentally ill running amok.
If you are so tired of living in this country, you know how to solve it. You should try Mexico. It's illegal to own nearly all forms of firearms down there. You couldn't possibly find a safer country:|
Unions tend to start off with their hearts in the right place but, over time, tend to degrade into self-serving platforms whose sole purpose seems to be extracting more money every contract.
Let's not dance around the subject, Unions will fight tooth and nail to increase the wages of their members because it is, in reality, a self serving issue. The amount of money their members is a direct correlation to how much the Union makes since Union dues are typically a percentage of Union members pay. Ergo, as members pay increases, so does Union dues. As a result, the Union has a self interest in taking up this fight.
The Unions will claim to pitch a fit about your benefits / health care, but since it doesn't impact their bottom line, they don't put a whole lot of effort into it. They may even call a strike over it but the only thing that needs to be done is keep the employees out for a predetermined amount of time. All of that pay that would have gone to members, now finds itself in a pool that will ultimately pay for your health care benefits over the course of the next contract. X amount of time passes, the company pretends to " give in ", the Union gets to claim victory over the "evil" company, and everyone goes back to work with the healthcare benefits they wanted. Completely oblivious to the fact that they just paid for it themselves.:|
When we had a problem with mold in the building, calls to the Union and Company pretty much resulted in sending a cleaning crew out to wipe down the green stuff on hard surfaces. They never bothered to remove it from the furniture, carpet, and other items. Over the YEARS, the same complaints netted the same results. Finally, we grew tired of the game and called OSHA in. We provided them with what had been done and photos of the issue. We didn't bother to notify the company nor the Union. Upon arrival and after seeing our issue in person ( with company and union reps in tow ) OSHA effectively told them to remove all employees from the affected areas immediately or they would shut the entire building down. We were vacated in under thirty minutes. The impacted floor was completely gutted of everything mold could possibly live on or in.
Training. I work in the networking side of IT. In my company, there has not been a formal training course offered to any non-mgmt employee for over a DECADE. Any and all training an employee has is done on their own time and dime. Several thousand dollars later and a whole lot of time spent studying, I have a certification that I feel is relevant to the work that I do currently. I am working on the next level ( again, on my own ) so I can leave this place behind the first opportunity I get. Picture this: Imagine a bunch of employees who have absolutely zero training being given full enable access to about twenty thousand routers and switches across the entire company. Everything from the access layer all the way up through the core. Not a single minute of training from the company on the equipment or even the theory behind it. That scenario would scare anyone who knows what it means.
Age discrimination. The only thing that matters to a Union is seniority. Period. Your skills, level of knowledge and capabilities mean ZERO to a Union. Your performance in the company could be worthy of a spandex outfit, complete with a cape and a mask, but your pay / compensation is on par with the lowest common denominator sitting in the corner drooling on themselves. In some instances, your pay may even be lower. ( An example being when the company brings in employees from a different Union to back fill positions and to ensure that if a strike does happen, they still have employees there doing the work since they are under a different contract ) Nothing says " Go Union " like making lower pay than the person sitting next to you doing the exact same job:| Would you like to guess what the company and Union did / said when this issue was brought before them ? Hint: T
why does the gd screen keep getting bigger ?
At the rate were going, the Iphone X is going to look like Captain America's shield.
At which point the argument over removing a 3.5mm audio jack to save size / weight becomes a ludicrous one:|
Building your own ensures your system won't come preinstalled with malware, ( Windows notwithstanding ) bogus certificates and other assorted nastiness.
It also ensures you can get what you want, vs what you have to settle for in a commercial build.
I'm all for a reasonable tax on corporations, but not by offloading their tax burden onto the rest of us. I'm in the 25% bracket and make no where NEAR what a corporation does.
Perhaps as an incentive, allow business to claim a tax deduction for money they put back into the business ? Might even get the big ISP types to upgrade their networks:|
While I am unable to determine your age, unless you just graduated recently then the school you attended is far from what schools are today:D
This is most certainly the case for me. I could bring all manner of electronics to school without worry. Back in the day, kids even kept rifles in the car for shooting club events after school without any issue. I brought my archery setup ( compound bow ) to school for that club on a regular basis. No one even looked my way twice.
Today, if you brought a half assembled Surveillance Barbie, you'll get the local Swat Team showing up, maced, beat down, arrested and probably shot for " resisting arrest " or " looking like he was about to resist arrest ":|
Future generations are going to look back upon us in a similar fashion as to how we look upon the whole " Witch Hunt" era. It's just a really sad time in history.
I would wager a guess that you've never even been to the United States. If you had, you would realize that the entire " gun " issue is glorified / sensationalized by the media for your viewing pleasure. They love a good tragedy because they can get all sorts of folks riled up on both sides of the debate. I've lived here my entire life ( nearly five decades now ) and have never been witness to a violent act of any sort. With or without firearms.
Lets use recent events in France for a quick example.
Tragic ? Absolutely. Rare ? You bet. But it has done nothing but saturate the news for nearly a week now. Everyone has an opinion on how they think things would be different had X or Y rules been in place, but the fact of the matter is: Bad people will always find a way to hurt other people. It's human nature and always has been.
As long as people exist on this planet, there will always be those who prey on others for a multitude of reasons.
Oh. . . . and about this statement:
"The only people who can't see that are the cannon fodder too poor and/or stupid to have ever left the USA, except maybe to hang out in a military base overseas for a year or so."
There are more than a few folks who understand that the only reason we don't currently answer to the Crown is because of guns. It shows that sometimes, negotiations between two parties just doesn't work and violence becomes the only recourse when your adversary doesn't want to take no for an answer.
In addition, the only person who would make a comment such as yours would also be ( to borrow your phrase ) " too poor and / or stupid " to have ever bothered to visit the US and make their own judgements based on their experiences vs what the media spoon feeds you in order to generate greater ratings:D
Suppressors, full-auto and even grenades can all still be purchased legally. You simply need to fill out the paperwork, pay your tax stamp and have the BATF sign off on it. ( All subject to State laws of course, and I believe grenades will fall under the Destructive Device category right next to the mini-gun )
If memory serves me correctly, ( sometimes it does ) the reason suppressors were originally added to the NFA was due to poaching.
There is really no reason to regulate / restrict a device which helps dampen a firearms report. ( Notice I said, " dampen " and not silence ) We require them on cars, motorcycles and pretty much anything that is a fuel powered engine for the same purposes. To help quiet them down. If you have ever had a truck drive by sans muffler ( Eg: Straight Pipes ) you know why we require mufflers on all vehicles. Yet, thanks to Hollywood, folks view suppressors as a device designed to help criminals turn into some sort of murderous ninja that can't be caught.:|
It's highly unlikely anyone will use them on their murderous rampage as a suppressor effectively doubles the length of your typical handgun. Making it a bit hard to hide. In addition, firing a few rounds through one will heat it up quite a bit ( it will remove your fingerprints if you touch it level of hot ) so stuffing the whole thing back into your pants after shooting it is right out. Bigger suppressors require taller sights on a pistol to see over, and generally turn an easy to wield pistol into something a bit less easy to carry about.
They dampen the report, but not completely. ( A full power.308 will have a report on par with a.22lr ) They are especially welcome in the larger ear-shattering calibers like.338 Lapua Magnum or a blast wave producing.50bmg. Makes them a bit more tolerable for others nearby. ( Some ranges won't allow those calibers due to the noise they produce because of the proximity of homes in the area. Suppress them and it becomes a non-issue )
Most cameras will let you shoot both Raw & jpg at the same time. Some pro cameras even have dual memory cards which will allow you to store raw on one ( preferably the bigger / faster one ) and jpg on the other. Grab your shot, submit it quickly via.jpg and use your raw file to impress folks with your post production skills later on:D
The format requirement change really only does two things:
1) It cuts down storage requirements significantly. Full size 14-bit Raw image on my Nikon D4s is almost 20MB. Full size.jpg at the fine setting is 8MB. ( The D4s only has a 16mp sensor. Crank that up a bit and the file sizes get rather ludicrous. )
2) Separates the pros from the amateurs. A pro knows how to get a good shot without resorting to post to fix things they should have got right in the camera. ( like exposure and white balance )
They should have thought of the potential backlash when they were innundating folks with commercials in the first place.
I quit watching television because of my hatred for advertising. It was reaching the point on some networks where, towards the end of a show, it seemed there was more air time for ads than the show itself. It was infuriating and I simply gave up.
Turned in all my hardware and dropped cable TV completely from my life. I haven't missed it.
I don't see myself returning to pay television simply because they plan to cut down the ad time. Everyone knows that is a short term promise anyway.
Considering I can subscribe to Netflix and Amazon for the same monthly price it cost me to lease just the HD-DVR, I think I'll pass on returning to Cable.
Dear Cable / Satellite: The only chance you have to stop the bleeding is to seriously cut your prices and keep them low. ( This in addition to culling at least half of your advertising during programming or move all ads to the beginning or end of the show )
None of this introductory bullsh*t for twelve months. No more " ask your doctor if x is right for you " every 10 GD minutes.
You've enjoyed a duopoly for so long you don't even know HOW to respond when your customers leave you in droves. You have a very small window of time to get your sh*t in order before you cross the event horizon.
Beyond that point, there is no fixing it. You're done.
Slashdot Mirror
This is why it's so important for States to be self sufficient and not suckle on the teat of Federal Funding.
You get to make the rules as intended instead of giving the Federal Government the ability to dictate them to you.
States who always operate in the Red are easy to control.
A difficult choice for tech companies is coming. If they provide the Chinese with the backdoors they ask for, they can't very well deny any other governments who ask for the same thing now can they ? They'll have to build country compliant models to appease every little dictator on the planet :|
Otoh, if they refuse to play ball, they'll be blocked from selling products in the country, depriving them of large amounts of revenue. Perhaps this is how China will force it's citizens onto China authorized products instead of Apple, Androids, etc.
After all, it's easier to control people when you limit their choices.
My guess, however, is that the dollar signs are flashing before their eyes even as I type this. If we know Google and Apple half as well as we think we do, you know they're going to cave in because it's just too much money to give up. In the business world, $$$ > morals every time.
ãSpãI would think, if they wish to survive, if they found an anomaly, the would have to disclose it at this point. ãS/pã ãSpãIf they fail to do so, and someone else finds it, Cisco may as well throw in the towel. The idea being they're either incompetent or intentionally snuggling up to the three letter agencies. Neither of which are useful in securing trust for your products.ãS/pã ãSpãEspecially after making it public they're doing a security audit of their code.ãS/pã
and your proof is....where?
I'm sure you have evidence that each and every device listed has been used against America's citizens.
Oh, wait. you don't. you ASSume.
Apparently, you've been living under a rock for quite some time. Let me catch you up to speed real quick:
It's come out that most of the Law Enforcement community has been utilizing tech toys, previously reserved for the intelligence agencies and military, domestically ( under the guise of " Because Terrorists ! " ) to effectively spy on American Citizens or to help create what is known as Parallel Construction for building a case.
The use and / or procurement of said devices come with Non Disclosure Agreements with the FBI and the company who makes the devices. The will even go so far as to drop a watertight case against a criminal if they believe their secrets about said devices may be compromised. That's how badly they don't want John Q. Public to know what they're capabilities are. ( What does that tell you ? )
If you think, for one minute, that the use is limited to one type of unit, you are being naive. We KNOW about the one but, rest assured, it is not the only toy they are using to keep tabs on everyone. The power it gives them over everyone else is just too addicting to give up willingly. It will have to be taken from them by force.
I don't think tailgating is the most likely cause of rear-end crashes these days.
Playing with the phone and / or otherwise not paying attention are more likely candidates. I can't even count how many folks I pass on my daily commute who are buried nose deep into their phones while hurtling down the freeway :| They're easy to spot, they're usually driving well under the posted limit, have a line of frustrated drivers stuck behind them and / or can't stay in their lane to save their life. They tend to resemble a drunk driver in many ways. Yet, while driving under the influence is a pretty hefty offense in most States, driving while playing on your phone is perfectly acceptable ( or a minor offense not worth the officers time ) even though it can lead to similar outcomes in a high-speed driving environment.
I would be willing to bet that by disabling the data side of the phone while driving, the number of crashes would drop significantly. Wouldn't be a popular solution though since it would also impact the passengers in the car or users who utilize public transportation. Not to mention it would also impact those who use their phones responsibly, which would be no good.
I can see adding a Parental Control feature to the phones where data is disabled while phone is traveling over X speed, but I can't think of an effective solution, that doesn't impact responsible users nor is over-reaching, to prevent the idiots from killing everyone else because they just can't put their phone down.
says Cisco . . . . .
I'm not entirely certain why the government is bothering to raise such a fuss about strong crypto. ( Other than to make it look like they have no options ) While no evidence exists that Big Brother is responsible for it, they are the most likely suspects. Not much of a need to break the crypto itself when you can install a bypass of some sort into the mix.
I wonder how much it costs to coerce a programmer type to insert a few bits of code into your project.
In other words, they love the idea of free speech as long as it's been approved ahead of time :facepalm:
"You can thank the retards for ruining it for everyone."
We can thank them, but since beating the hell out of them is a crime, there isn't much else we can really do. In my experience, pointing out the stupid things that people do to those who need it pointed out to them typically leads to a fist fight in a hurry.
I don't really care for the precedence this can set as it can be applied to other medium as well. Just about anything and everything can be abused. Anyone who is going to intentionally do something illegal with their RC unit probably isn't going to lose a lot of sleep over also failing to register with the FAA. So, this is really a " Dumb-As-A-Rock " or " Shouldn't-own-a-drone-to-begin-with " sort of tax.
What's next ? Perhaps make everyone who owns a laser pointer register it with the FAA too. Just in case some missing-link decides to shine it at an aircraft we can pull a list of all registered pointer owners in the area and dispense some justice ! :D
If planning future attacks, make sure to create, purchase or smuggle a device capable of downing aircraft in the area first. In the US, just point a laser pointer at it. The pilot will freak out and land citing blindness and numbness in their right arm or something :|
Or, activate a high powered jammer near the tower to disrupt ALL cellular traffic. This will pretty much kill the sniffer planes purpose as well as create chaos on the ground when comms go out. I suppose just blowing up the nearby towers would suffice as well.
It's like the US is only interested in going after the stupid terrorists who will plan ahead via Facebook or Twitter and / or keep in touch with cell phones. ( and we can't even stop those with all our super double naught spy agencies and their toys )
If our spies are no match for the home grown amateur, my faith in their ability to prevent a pro-unit from doing anything is pretty much non-existent. We'll learn about them the day after they turn a city into sub-atomic particles.
Murica. All talk, no walk.
Not uncommon. It's 2am, the neighbors dog has been non-stop for hours and this is a nightly occurance. Discussions with the neighbor about it nearly lead to blows. So yes, you call the police and do things the right way vs a poison meal or a suppressed .22lr
The FUN ( Slashdot approved method ) would be to build an ultrasonic generator in the 130db range. Put it on a remote switch or auto-trigger when the barking starts and that problem will fix itself quite quickly.
" Uneducated supporters " Allow me another explanation if I may. Perhaps Trump supporters are well versed in what the status quo politician does once in office. Perhaps they are tired of voting for what is supposed to be different candidates, only to realize that, yet again, once in office their candidate is merely a clone of the previous administrations ideals. The only way to shake the system up, is to start by not voting in the very same people that want to keep it that way. Nothing scares the two parties more than a potential third party candidate since it effectively says " We the people are quite tired of your bullshit games. " I read on /. all the damn time about how it's the voters fault for re-electing the same clowns that are responsible for where we are today. Yet, when folks are considering deviating from that course, they get nothing but a ration of shit from the very same people because they're not voting for candidate X or Y.
Considering the candidate field and past experience with the typical bought and paid for politicians we currently have, I'm more than willing to give Trump his shot. Seriously, do you think he can possibly to any worse than another Bush ? Clinton ? or Obama ?
I don't care if hes arrogant, condecending or otherwise unpleasant in how he deals with people. If he gets the job done, that's all I give a damn about.
To do so, you have to be direct and to the point. Kissing everyones ass for re-election prospects is how we currently do business and that, more than anything else, needs to change if this country ever wants to be taken seriously again.
For anyone still following this story in here and who thinks banning guns will magically make us all safer, I have a question.
We'll skip over the fact the suspects appear to have Middle Eastern ties as we don't yet know their motivation behind the event. They purchased all of the firearms legally and used them successfully to injure and / or kill a lot of people. It does appear, however, the high-capacity magazines they utilized are already illegal ( and therefore banned ) in the State of California. So the idea of merely enacting new / more laws or banning a thing only goes to show that those who plan on mass-murder, really don't put a lot of thought ( or concern ) into what other laws they may be breaking while committing whatever atrocity they've planned.
Of particular interest to me is the fact that they also had manufactured about a dozen explosive devices they had planned on using as well. ( Last I checked, the possession and / or manufacture of explosive devices are quite illegal, as is murder, but that goes without saying. )
So, for those who believe that banning guns will fix our " mass violence " problem, how do you apply that same logic to the fact that, while banned already, these two showed up with high-capacity magazines and a dozen explosives and it is only through sheer luck, incompetence or a change of heart that the explosives did not detonate leading to even greater carnage.
Head over to everyone's favorite part of the planet, the Middle East, and you get to see what explosives are really capable of when you get serious about causing mayhem on the higher end of the scale. ( Pretty sure possessing / manufacturing explosives over there is just as illegal and banned as it is here, yet seems to almost be a daily occurrence. )
So, again, I have to ask. Other than being more security theater and a feel-good law, what would the removal of guns from the equation actually do to prevent the next psychopath, lone wolf or Call of Duty inspired terrorist wannabes from killing a bunch of people when they'll simply switch to other, very much proven to be effective, methods of violence delivery ?
ROFL By your logic, removing people from the equation would also reduce gun violence. Yet, you make no mention about being tired of the mentally ill running amok. If you are so tired of living in this country, you know how to solve it. You should try Mexico. It's illegal to own nearly all forms of firearms down there. You couldn't possibly find a safer country :|
So if I used a short barreled rifle, would they refer to it as a short gun or a long one I wonder . .
Chuckle. Because being in compliance with the law is certainly at the top of any mass killers list :D
heh, the police have killed 3x as many, perhaps we should ban the police :D
Import some mentally stable types to wear the uniform instead.
Unions tend to start off with their hearts in the right place but, over time, tend to degrade into self-serving platforms whose sole purpose seems to be extracting more money every contract.
Let's not dance around the subject, Unions will fight tooth and nail to increase the wages of their members because it is, in reality, a self serving issue. The amount of money their members is a direct correlation to how much the Union makes since Union dues are typically a percentage of Union members pay. Ergo, as members pay increases, so does Union dues. As a result, the Union has a self interest in taking up this fight.
The Unions will claim to pitch a fit about your benefits / health care, but since it doesn't impact their bottom line, they don't put a whole lot of effort into it. They may even call a strike over it but the only thing that needs to be done is keep the employees out for a predetermined amount of time. All of that pay that would have gone to members, now finds itself in a pool that will ultimately pay for your health care benefits over the course of the next contract. X amount of time passes, the company pretends to " give in ", the Union gets to claim victory over the "evil" company, and everyone goes back to work with the healthcare benefits they wanted. Completely oblivious to the fact that they just paid for it themselves. :|
When we had a problem with mold in the building, calls to the Union and Company pretty much resulted in sending a cleaning crew out to wipe down the green stuff on hard surfaces. They never bothered to remove it from the furniture, carpet, and other items. Over the YEARS, the same complaints netted the same results. Finally, we grew tired of the game and called OSHA in. We provided them with what had been done and photos of the issue. We didn't bother to notify the company nor the Union. Upon arrival and after seeing our issue in person ( with company and union reps in tow ) OSHA effectively told them to remove all employees from the affected areas immediately or they would shut the entire building down. We were vacated in under thirty minutes. The impacted floor was completely gutted of everything mold could possibly live on or in.
Training. I work in the networking side of IT. In my company, there has not been a formal training course offered to any non-mgmt employee for over a DECADE. Any and all training an employee has is done on their own time and dime. Several thousand dollars later and a whole lot of time spent studying, I have a certification that I feel is relevant to the work that I do currently. I am working on the next level ( again, on my own ) so I can leave this place behind the first opportunity I get. Picture this: Imagine a bunch of employees who have absolutely zero training being given full enable access to about twenty thousand routers and switches across the entire company. Everything from the access layer all the way up through the core. Not a single minute of training from the company on the equipment or even the theory behind it. That scenario would scare anyone who knows what it means.
Age discrimination. The only thing that matters to a Union is seniority. Period. Your skills, level of knowledge and capabilities mean ZERO to a Union. Your performance in the company could be worthy of a spandex outfit, complete with a cape and a mask, but your pay / compensation is on par with the lowest common denominator sitting in the corner drooling on themselves. In some instances, your pay may even be lower. ( An example being when the company brings in employees from a different Union to back fill positions and to ensure that if a strike does happen, they still have employees there doing the work since they are under a different contract ) Nothing says " Go Union " like making lower pay than the person sitting next to you doing the exact same job :| Would you like to guess what the company and Union did / said when this issue was brought before them ? Hint: T
why does the gd screen keep getting bigger ? At the rate were going, the Iphone X is going to look like Captain America's shield. At which point the argument over removing a 3.5mm audio jack to save size / weight becomes a ludicrous one :|
Building your own ensures your system won't come preinstalled with malware, ( Windows notwithstanding ) bogus certificates and other assorted nastiness. It also ensures you can get what you want, vs what you have to settle for in a commercial build.
I'm all for a reasonable tax on corporations, but not by offloading their tax burden onto the rest of us. I'm in the 25% bracket and make no where NEAR what a corporation does. Perhaps as an incentive, allow business to claim a tax deduction for money they put back into the business ? Might even get the big ISP types to upgrade their networks :|
While I am unable to determine your age, unless you just graduated recently then the school you attended is far from what schools are today :D
This is most certainly the case for me. I could bring all manner of electronics to school without worry. Back in the day, kids even kept rifles in the car for shooting club events after school without any issue. I brought my archery setup ( compound bow ) to school for that club on a regular basis. No one even looked my way twice.
Today, if you brought a half assembled Surveillance Barbie, you'll get the local Swat Team showing up, maced, beat down, arrested and probably shot for " resisting arrest " or " looking like he was about to resist arrest " :|
Future generations are going to look back upon us in a similar fashion as to how we look upon the whole " Witch Hunt" era. It's just a really sad time in history.
I would wager a guess that you've never even been to the United States. If you had, you would realize that the entire " gun " issue is glorified / sensationalized by the media for your viewing pleasure. They love a good tragedy because they can get all sorts of folks riled up on both sides of the debate. I've lived here my entire life ( nearly five decades now ) and have never been witness to a violent act of any sort. With or without firearms.
Lets use recent events in France for a quick example.
Tragic ? Absolutely. Rare ? You bet. But it has done nothing but saturate the news for nearly a week now. Everyone has an opinion on how they think things would be different had X or Y rules been in place, but the fact of the matter is: Bad people will always find a way to hurt other people. It's human nature and always has been.
As long as people exist on this planet, there will always be those who prey on others for a multitude of reasons.
Oh. . . . and about this statement:
"The only people who can't see that are the cannon fodder too poor and/or stupid to have ever left the USA, except maybe to hang out in a military base overseas for a year or so."
There are more than a few folks who understand that the only reason we don't currently answer to the Crown is because of guns. It shows that sometimes, negotiations between two parties just doesn't work and violence becomes the only recourse when your adversary doesn't want to take no for an answer.
In addition, the only person who would make a comment such as yours would also be ( to borrow your phrase ) " too poor and / or stupid " to have ever bothered to visit the US and make their own judgements based on their experiences vs what the media spoon feeds you in order to generate greater ratings :D
Didja know:
Suppressors, full-auto and even grenades can all still be purchased legally. You simply need to fill out the paperwork, pay your tax stamp and have the BATF sign off on it. ( All subject to State laws of course, and I believe grenades will fall under the Destructive Device category right next to the mini-gun )
If memory serves me correctly, ( sometimes it does ) the reason suppressors were originally added to the NFA was due to poaching.
There is really no reason to regulate / restrict a device which helps dampen a firearms report. ( Notice I said, " dampen " and not silence ) We require them on cars, motorcycles and pretty much anything that is a fuel powered engine for the same purposes. To help quiet them down. If you have ever had a truck drive by sans muffler ( Eg: Straight Pipes ) you know why we require mufflers on all vehicles. Yet, thanks to Hollywood, folks view suppressors as a device designed to help criminals turn into some sort of murderous ninja that can't be caught. :|
It's highly unlikely anyone will use them on their murderous rampage as a suppressor effectively doubles the length of your typical handgun. Making it a bit hard to hide. In addition, firing a few rounds through one will heat it up quite a bit ( it will remove your fingerprints if you touch it level of hot ) so stuffing the whole thing back into your pants after shooting it is right out. Bigger suppressors require taller sights on a pistol to see over, and generally turn an easy to wield pistol into something a bit less easy to carry about.
They dampen the report, but not completely. ( A full power .308 will have a report on par with a .22lr ) They are especially welcome in the larger ear-shattering calibers like .338 Lapua Magnum or a blast wave producing .50bmg. Makes them a bit more tolerable for others nearby. ( Some ranges won't allow those calibers due to the noise they produce because of the proximity of homes in the area. Suppress them and it becomes a non-issue )
Most cameras will let you shoot both Raw & jpg at the same time. Some pro cameras even have dual memory cards which will allow you to store raw on one ( preferably the bigger / faster one ) and jpg on the other. Grab your shot, submit it quickly via .jpg and use your raw file to impress folks with your post production skills later on :D
The format requirement change really only does two things:
1) It cuts down storage requirements significantly. Full size 14-bit Raw image on my Nikon D4s is almost 20MB. Full size .jpg at the fine setting is 8MB.
( The D4s only has a 16mp sensor. Crank that up a bit and the file sizes get rather ludicrous. )
2) Separates the pros from the amateurs. A pro knows how to get a good shot without resorting to post to fix things they should have got right in the camera.
( like exposure and white balance )
They should have thought of the potential backlash when they were innundating folks with commercials in the first place.
I quit watching television because of my hatred for advertising. It was reaching the point on some networks where, towards the end of a show, it seemed there was more air time for ads than the show itself. It was infuriating and I simply gave up.
Turned in all my hardware and dropped cable TV completely from my life. I haven't missed it.
I don't see myself returning to pay television simply because they plan to cut down the ad time. Everyone knows that is a short term promise anyway.
Considering I can subscribe to Netflix and Amazon for the same monthly price it cost me to lease just the HD-DVR, I think I'll pass on returning to Cable.
Dear Cable / Satellite: The only chance you have to stop the bleeding is to seriously cut your prices and keep them low. ( This in addition to culling at least half of your advertising during programming or move all ads to the beginning or end of the show )
None of this introductory bullsh*t for twelve months. No more " ask your doctor if x is right for you " every 10 GD minutes.
You've enjoyed a duopoly for so long you don't even know HOW to respond when your customers leave you in droves. You have a very small window of time to get your sh*t in order before you cross the event horizon.
Beyond that point, there is no fixing it. You're done.