07:46 – We finished the first quarter of 2013 with kit sales about 5.5 times those of Q1 2012. Of course, we’re now selling three major kit types, versus only one back then. Still, we’re far ahead of our original goal of a 2X increase in overall sales for 2013 over 2012.
And, although I never thought I’d find myself saying this, the only Cypriot leader with any sense appears to be its religious leader. Archbishop Chrysostomas II, who last week called for the Cypriot political leadership to refuse to kowtow to the EU and to depart the euro, has now called for the resignation of the Cypriot political leadership. And for Cyprus to depart the euro. This while, in an incredible irony, the Cypriot political leadership is now begging Greece (Greece!) to bailout Cyprus with a €2 billion loan. Greece! Good luck with that.
09:56 – Hmmm. Our new neighbors, Grandon and Shanee (shaw-nay; she’s part Shawnee), were pruning the maple tree in their front yard yesterday afternoon while I was walking Colin. As they stacked branches at the curb for pickup, I got to thinking that a tree-ring section might be a good thing to include in the life science kit. So I just went over and carried a nice-size branch back home. It’s roughly 1.5 meters long and ranges from about 5 to 7.5 cm in diameter, with at least a meter of the length usable for sections. I’m not sure if I’ll include a tree-ring section in the kit, but at least this way I have the raw material at hand.
14:55 – In a shocking development in the Cyprus crisis, senior Cypriot politicians are now being accused of moving their own assets abroad before the bailout/haircut/capital controls were announced. Apparently, dozens if not hundreds of individuals and accounts may be involved. A special three-judge panel has been created to look into these allegations. How could anyone believe that honorable politicians would use insider information to protect their own assets, knowing that everyone elses’ were going to be confiscated? Oh, wait.
16:00 – Netflix has really refined their suggestions of what we might like to watch. Not just the individual series, but the categories they sort them into. When I checked the Netflix streaming home page a few minutes ago, looking for new stuff we might like to watch, I was surprised to see a new category.
Interesting article for all you shooters.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/bullseye-from-1000-yards-shooting-the-17000-linux-powered-rifle/
A first-round hit at 1,000 yards is pretty amazing under the windy conditions described. Obviously, the rifle itself made the shot, rather than the shooter. I hope the Army and Marines are buying these for our snipers.
The one time I tried shooting on a 1,000 yard range (with a .308), I never did succeed in getting a round onto the paper, and it was a big honking paper.
The military already has some sophisticated software and equipment for the big guns on ships. In those situations they have to take into account the roll of the ship, temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction and barometric pressure. It was only a matter of time until the technology made it into smaller weapons.
This does open up the interesting possibility of remote guns set up by snipers who then move a few dozen yards away into a safe(r) spot. The gun is controlled by the computer after the target is chosen by the sniper. Downside would be the amount of equipment the sniper would have to carry.
I don’t think our experienced snipers need $17k rifles. And until the price comes way, way down, they’re not gonna issue them to rank-and-file infantry noobs.
Back in the Bronze Age, OFD was a USAF Security Police NCO, and for a time was the designated counter-sniper (using Mattel’s M-16, natch) for the AF security units in Marin County, Kalifornia. We were rarin’ to go into action against Symbionese Liberation Army cadres, the Zodiac Killer, the Zebra killers, and assorted other communist riff-raff in the Bay area. I was back from my first tour in SEA and looking to nail somebody back in CONUS for a change of pace.
Too old for that stuff now but would move on to a better rifle for a staht.
I don’t think our experienced snipers need $17k rifles.
With a $17K rifle we don’t need experienced snipers. Just grunts that are expendable can then do the job. Besides, by the time our government purchasing agents ink the procurement contracts that price will be $117K per rifle. Kickbacks along with contractor and subcontractor price plus contracts.
@RBT: I dunno if it matter to you, whether or not the wood splits. If you want to try and prevent any splitting, a sculptor friend of ours says to paint the cut end (or ends, if there are two). That slows the drying process, which then takes a year or so, and usually prevents splitting when the wood is later cut.
There is already a version of the $17k rifle available to the US military snipers. Unlike the version in the story above, it has integrated sensors for wind speed. It can measure gusts and wind speed along the flight path and compensate for them. It was funded by DARPA in 2006 or so. The first version was about the size of a breadbox. The production ones were integrated into the scope and are about 8 lbs. Cost is going to be higher than the $17k version because it does more and it’s mil-spec. Supposedly works to at least 2000 feet.
Added: some more digging says that the unit is fielded and has made shots out to 3600 feet.
I’m not too concerned about splitting. I’m going to cut the branch into thin discs, which should dry pretty well without splitting.
That aiming technology goes back many years to at least WW II. My Dad and I and four of his four grand-kids visited Normandy in France a couple of years ago. We specifically went to Pointe du Hoc ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_du_Hoc ) where Rudder’s Rangers scaled the cliff before D-Day to disable the six 155mm Nazi guns covering the Omaha and Utah landing beaches. We were walking around there and kept noticing all these weird 30 ft deep holes. I thought to myself that the French ought to do a better job of taking care of the place. Then I suddenly realized that those were impact holes from the 16 inch guns on the Iowa and Missouri. There are a LOT of 30 ft deep holes there.
BTW, the US Marines qualify on the M-16 but carry the M-4. The M-4 is way smaller and lighter than the M-16. My son had to qualify at 29 Palms, always with a 15 to 20 mph cross wind. He nailed the torso target at 500 yards and then the gunny started screaming at him. He had sighted in and shot the target next to his by mistake! He was not given another shot and thus did not get expert marksman classification.
Heh. I was assistant range officer a bazillion years ago and noticed that one person’s target had more holes than shots fired, many in the black, while the next target over had just a few holes, but all in the black. This was for a reserve supply and service unit so the RO just cursed and marked them both as expert. (That wasn’t a totally bogus decision. We were allotted exactly as many bullets as needed for each reservist to qualify, so there wasn’t the extra to have those two shoot again.)
OFD qualified Expert every year of active duty (four) with rifle and revolver and also got awards for M60 target shooting. But gee whiz, his eyes warnt good enuff for the U.S. Customs Service, Border Patrol or Massachusetts State Police in the late 70s. Though an honors graduate of the Mass State Police Academy.
And they didn’t have M60 gunners in them outfits, so I was SOOL. I guess. Well, somebody was. They by jeezum got their Affirmative Action people, though, and cop-chicks. Which is one reason why nowadays they swarm a minor arrest with sheer numbers and/or lethal force instantly whereas before Ol’ Buford Pusser could deal with it.
Hey OFD, is this “Secure Boot and Restricted Boot” what you have been griping about lately:
http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/23817.html
“Secure Boot means different things to different people. I think the FSF’s definition is a useful one – Secure Boot is any boot validation scheme in which ultimate control is in the hands of the owner of the device, while Restricted Boot is any boot validation scheme in which ultimate control is in the hands of a third party. What Microsoft require for x86 Windows 8 devices falls into the category of Secure Boot – assuming that OEMs conform to Microsoft’s requirements, the user must be able to both disable Secure Boot entirely and also leave Secure Boot enabled, but with their own choice of trusted keys and binaries. If the FSF set up a signing service to sign operating systems that met all of their criteria for freeness, Microsoft’s requirements would permit an end user to configure their system such that it refused to run non-free software. My system is configured to trust things shipped by Fedora or built locally by me, a decision that I can make because Microsoft require that OEMs support it. Any system that meets Microsoft’s requirements is a system that respects the freedom of the computer owner to choose how restrictive their computer’s boot policy is.”
Looks complicated.
before Ol’ Buford Pusser could deal with it.
Can you be a marksman with just a hickory stick?
When I checked the Netflix streaming home page a few minutes ago, looking for new stuff we might like to watch, I was surprised to see a new category:
“See picture of netflix screen with weird topic”
And it is April 1st.
And another article about cutting cable and moving to Netflix / Amazon / Hulu:
http://blog.chron.com/techblog/2013/04/its-time-to-cut-cables-cord/
“Cable and satellite delivery of television content is king in the United States. In its latest Cross-Platform Report, Nielsen found 81.8 percent of Americans have either cable or satellite television in their homes. But while cable and satellite are the most prevalent ways of watching TV, they’re also in a slight decline. In 2011, 83.2 percent subscribed to these services.”
We pretty much cut the cable more than eight years ago, although we did keep the basic-tier local channels. Eight years ago, that cost $6.66/month. I suspect it’s at least double that now.
The last time we were at Costco, I almost bought an HDTV indoor antenna for $50 or so. I probably would have, but those sites that tell you how strong your signal is say that we need a big external antenna with a rotor just to get the local channels. If I could buy an inexpensive indoor antenna that would actually work, I’d give up the basic cable TV in a heartbeat.
One thing I really don’t understand is why people are willing to pay for Hulu Plus. What’s the point of paying a monthly subscription for a service that not only has embedded commercials but won’t allow you to skip through them? I wouldn’t even consider watching stuff with commercials unless they paid me a lot of money to do it. Barbara’s not quite as radical about commercials; she watches golf and basketball on commercial channels, but she doesn’t much like commercials either.
“Hey OFD, is this “Secure Boot and Restricted Boot” what you have been griping about lately:”
Yeah. It was a real PITA on a new HP Pavilion that I bought to put RHEL on; I had to mess around a bit for a while. All the new hw comes w/W8 and this albatross on it.
“Can you be a marksman with just a hickory stick?”
Yeah. For all that the target perp is gonna care. My own choice was a Monadnock PR-24 Prosecutor baton, back when they’d first come out; I had three days of intensive training with it at Camp Curtis Guild, in Wakefield, MA from a sadistic ex-jarhead instructor and went home black-and-blue. You can whirl that thing like a helicopter blade and take down multiple assailants or use it as a simple come-along hold device. Smack someone in the knee and that knee is gone; ditto a head, like a ripe tomato. Must be used VERY judiciously. I broke up biker bar brawls with it and once, a drunk and hostile college hockey team who thought they could rush me all at once; I slid it outta its steel ring and all the shit ceased immediately; they knew what it could do. Yeah, ol’ OFD had his moments of glory back in the day…LOL.
No cable or local broadcast up here for about the same eight years Bob and Barbara have been without it. DVDs, Netflix and streaming. And for every hour we watch the tee-vee, we listen to various radio programs at least ten hours. But we’re weird and old.
Can you be a marksman with just a hickory stick?
Yes and no. If you can hit them with a long baseball bat then they are already within the police 21 foot rule for shooting someone coming at you:
http://www.policeone.com/edged-weapons/articles/102828-Edged-Weapon-Defense-Is-or-was-the-21-foot-rule-valid-Part-1/
http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2007/10/rethinking-the-21-foot-rule.aspx
I have been told that the 21 foot rule has been extensively studied and litigated. If anything, the courts are starting to OK extending to 21 foot rule to 30 ft.
Yeah, we knew it as the seven-yahd rule. Most gunfights within that range anyway. And most shots fired….miss. Ha, ha.
Not like all them goofy Westerns we used to watch, with two guys about a hundred yahds apaht and nailing each other, no sweat. More often at card-table range.
RBT wrote:
“The last time we were at Costco, I almost bought an HDTV indoor antenna for $50 or so. I probably would have, but those sites that tell you how strong your signal is say that we need a big external antenna with a rotor just to get the local channels. If I could buy an inexpensive indoor antenna that would actually work, I’d give up the basic cable TV in a heartbeat.”
Firstly, why not just but the $50 antenna and try it? Could you return it if it doesn’t work well?
Secondly, what about an external antenna on the roof or in the ceiling cavity?
“When I checked the Netflix streaming home page a few minutes ago, looking for new stuff we might like to watch, I was surprised to see a new category.”
Well, it is April Fools Day, but I hope they keep that sort of thing. I find it kinda amusing.
Virgin Australia, the 8 oz minnow to the 800 lb gorilla of Qantas, used to have a bit of levity in their announcements. They’d say stuff like:
“Virgin Australia has some of the best crews in the skies, but they’re all on other planes today so you’re stuck with us.”
“Smoking is prohibited on this flight, including in the toilets, and cameras have been fitted.” (Qantas said “smoke detectors”.)
They’d preface announcements with “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls…”. Qantas treats the kids like they don’t exist.
Now, unfortunately, Virgin have gone all coy and businesslike.
And World of Warcraft has the NPCs making some pretty earthy comments.
The reduction of stuffiness is a trend I like.
RBT, two quick items:
Re: indoor antennas – there have been some very positive things written about the Mohu Leaf, made in Raleigh (http://www.gomohu.com/) It’s been about 18 months, but, back when I was considering a purchase, I called and spoke to a real human, one of their engineers IIRC. There are a bunch of reviews here (http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Paper-Thin-Indoor-Antenna/product-reviews/B004QK7HI8/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1) and there appear to be a couple of new additions to the line since I researched.
Re: Netflix recommendations – I noticed “Rosemary and Thyme” in the graphic. I feel about Felicity Kendal like you do about others… I’d watch her read the dictionary. If it’s of any interest for you to watch, I bought the complete DVD set about 10 days ago and you’re welcome to borrow it. We’re on the other side of downtown from you.
Today my Netflix suggestions includes the set Movies Featuring an Epic Nicolas Cage Meltdown.
I’ve tried an antenna like that. I suspect that we get more channels off air than you get on cable. The biggest reason we haven’t switched is a TV tuner problem which keeps us from getting the station that carries my two favorite shows.
Thanks. This was the one I was considering at one point. Still, we’ll probably just stick with basic cable. If we drop it, they increase our broadband bill by nearly the amount of the basic cable subscription.
Thanks, but we’ve already seen all of them. It’s not my favorite series, but I do like Felicity Kendal, and have since Good Neighbors, Edward the King, and Solo.