2007/11/30

Misc. Friday Ramblings...




Friday FIREPOWER!
  • NICS ban list grows due to "mental defective" additions.
    Since the Virginia Tech shootings last spring, the FBI has more than doubled the number of people nationwide who are prohibited from buying guns because of mental health problems, the Justice Department said yesterday.

    Justice officials said the FBI's "Mental Defective File" has ballooned from 175,000 names in June to nearly 400,000, primarily because of additions from California. The names are listed in a subset of a database that gun dealers are supposed to check before completing sales.

    Just as I thought. There are a bunch of crazy people in Kalifornia.

  • Exoskeleton suit being tested.
    Imagine a Exoskeleton suit that fits around a soldier’s body, allowing the same movements and mobility but enhanced strength and reduced fatigue.

    The video below presents a demonstration of the current version of a suit such as this. It provides informative insight, explanation and live demo of this particular suit in action.

    This will allow soldiers to lift tremendous amount of weight and perform different needed functions without using their real strength and getting tired. In addition, when in need, one can simply leave the suit to perform additional separate functions, with the exoskeleton waiting to be directed once more.

    "On the bounce, trooper!"

2007/11/29

If you recently lost two garbage sacks of pot...

...troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol are waiting by the phone.

The cops who took this photograph tell the Associated Press that a work crew found 60 pounds of weed while they were working yesterday on a busy interstate in Plant City, Fla. The Orlando Sentinel says the owners can claim the plants -- which are worth about $54,000 -- by calling police at (813) 631-4020.


Wanted for questioning:

2007/11/28

One of the best APODs evah!


This spectacular sky is mostly human-made. Once a year, the Light Station at Pigeon Point near San Francisco, California, USA is lit as it was over 100 years ago. During this time, light generated by five kerosene lamps pours through 24 rotating Fresnel lenses, warning approaching ships to stay away. Early last week, light emanating from the Pigeon Point Lighthouse was particularly picturesque because of a thin fog, also blurring the distant Moon.

2007/11/27

Go Elf yourself

You know the premise. Get some photos, use the editor, see your friend/family/co-workers doing a silly elf dance. E-mail it to the rest of your friends/family/co-workers. Chain letters morphed by morphing technology. :)

EDIT: While you are at it, go scrooge yourself as well.

2007/11/26

I AM MURLOC!

Click the above link for a HD version. But, YouTube will suffice for embedding. :)

2007/11/20

John, WOW a$$hole



How'd they know? :P

PS3 too dusty to be repaired?

Any PS3 owner can tell you that the shiny black console is a dust magnet, but this is ridiculous!

The Consumerist managed to get the of pictures of a PS3 console that was denied repair under the warranty due to its dusty state. Sony wanted $150 to brave the dust bunnies and filth.

Apparently Sony originally wouldn't release photos of the dirty system, but later determined that the pictures of the owner's console are "neither confidential nor private," and now The Consumerist has them to share with the gaming world. After seeing them, it was probably in Sony's best interest to show these to the world -- this system is disgusting!

Dust and electronics don't mix. However, unless the user manual states that there are certain environmental conditions that void warranty, I say screw Sony. Last thing they need is more bad PR concerning the PS3.

2007/11/19

Nacho Libre: robber

Police are looking for a man they say robbed a Genesee County convenience store wearing a wrestling mask like one seen in the Jack Black comedy "Nacho Libre."

Police tell The Flint Journal the man went in the 7-Eleven in Grand Blanc Township, near Flint, wearing a mask and a black-and-blue outfit Thursday. He fled with a small amount of cash.

Police say a clerk thinks the same man was in the store about 10 minutes before the robbery, wearing different clothes.

In the movie, Black's character wears a red and aqua wrestling suit. He plays a cook in a Mexican orphanage who moonlights as a masked wrestler.


Nacho: I'm not listening to you. You’re crazy.

2007/11/16

Misc. Friday Ramblings...

Lord Kelvin:
Radio has no future. X-rays will prove to be a hoax.

Friday FIREPOWER!
  • A 12 ga. is how NOT to loosen a lug nut.
    A US man has injured himself in both legs after attempting to loosen a stiff wheel-nut by blasting it with his gun.

    The 66-year-old man from Washington state was repairing his car outside his home when the accident took place.

    Shooting at the wheel from arm's length with his 12-gauge shotgun, he was peppered with buckshot and debris.

    The man - who police say was on his own and not intoxicated - was taken to hospital with severe, but not life-threatening, injuries.

    The only person allowed to shoot their car is Richard Pryor. Fwd to about 7:00 minutes. You'll see.

  • How not to hold a shotgun.


    Scope Backfires And Breaks Chicks Nose - Watch more free videos

2007/11/14

2007/11/13

Towing costs more than an arm and leg nowadays

A 54-year-old employee of a Pontiac car repair shop apparently decapitated himself early Thursday using a cable and the thrust of his tow truck.

Authorities in Livingston County released few details of the death and declined to identify the man pending notification of relatives. The man’s employer called the death outside the shop a suicide.

The man, who had worked at S&R Route 66 Auto Center on the western edge of Pontiac for about four years, appears to have tied a cable to a sign in front of the business and the other end around his neck.

Then, at about 4:30 a.m., he got inside his tow truck and popped the clutch.

The truck careened through the S&R parking lot and adjacent Superior Gyros parking lot eastward, then struck a sign and crossed old Route 66. It went down an embankment and came to rest behind a business on the other side of the road.

When police arrived, they found the man’s head in the S&R parking lot and his body inside the truck.

Sounds deliberate to me. I guess that it beats getting decapitated by a telephone guide wire by your drunk-driving buddy.

2007/11/09

Misc. Friday Ramblings...



  • It's Photoshop Phriday: Anagrammed Video Games.
    I'll take a MathNun!

  • F1 Lawnmower.
    I absolutely hate mowing the lawn, so anything that can help accomplish this task quicker than my hand-me-down Toro is worth considering. An F1-inspired mower just might do the trick. Complete with an F1-style front wing, full race suspension, rear view mirrors, vintage John Player Special-style livery and a steering wheel sporting an LCD gauge display, this CG mockup of a concept racing mower by Kadeg Boucher of France could easily shave a few tenths off my mow time.

    Hopefully it won't require a pit crew to service.


Friday FIREPOWER!
  • GunTalk TV
    Shooting for 50 years? Never picked up a gun? Either way you'll find what you need on Gun Talk TV. The top shooters and instructors are here to train you! Whether your interest is in personal protection, trap, skeet, sporting clays, action pistol, long-range rifle, or you just want the gun basics, you'll find it here.


  • Man Tasers Carjacker, Gets Shot 5 Times
    An Atlanta man was shot five times when he used a taser to fight off a carjacker.

    Officials said the incident happened Wednesday afternoon on Forest Park Road near Conley Road in southeast Atlanta.

    Police were called the scene after receiving a call that a man armed with a gun jumped into the victim’s van and told him to drive. Police said the victim gave the man money but at the same time, he tasered the man. Officials said the man then shot the victim five times.

    The van crashed into a tree after the incident and the gunman fled. Police are still looking for him.

    Officials also said it is not a good idea to use a taser against someone armed with a gun, especially in a confined area.

    Don't bring a stun gun to a gun fight. And I say stun gun, because if it was a true taser weapon, the suspect should have been incapacitated. It was probably a gun show special. Still, it isn't a replacement for a real gun. Crashing was a good alternative, especially if the suspect wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

  • Cops' bigger guns level field
    CNN reports local cops get increased firepower to level playing field.


    Of course, it is all the AWB's fault.

  • Bodega owner beats gunman with machete.
    A Queens bodega owner defended his store against a gun-wielding robber by way of a machete. Johan Marte, who owns the Erick Deli Grocery in Woodhaven, explined to the Post, "He had a gun and I took him out."

    The would-be robber, 28-year-old Omar Rodriguez, had fired twice before asking for money, but Marte managed to chop off the gunman's ear and finger. The Daily News has a photo of the robber that shows crime really doesn't pay - and the Rodriguez is at Jamaica Hospital in serious but stable condition.

    Marte said, "I cut his hand, I cut his finger, I cut everything. When the guy has a gun and you have a machete, it isn't easy." A resident spoke to the Daily News about Marte, "He doesn't bother nobody, unless you try to rob him. You do what you gotta do. He has all his money tied up in the store." Charges are expected against Rodriguez, while Marte was not charged since he acted in self-defense.

    So, I guess sometimes you can bring a knife to a gun fight.

  • Pancho Villa's revolver on auction block
    Item No. 1, for him: a Remington single-action revolver engraved with a scroll pattern and "Doreteo Arango" — Pancho Villa's real name.

    Item No. 2, for her: a pocket pistol in a leather case that bears the name Martha Jane Cannary — the true identity of Calamity Jane.

    The barrel of Villa's revolver is marked "Chih_1914," around the time he became governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The gun was made about 40 years before that and was expected to fetch at least $30,000, auction managers said.

    Jane's Hopkins and Allen Ranger pistol, from the 1870s or the 1880s, was expected to sell for at least $35,000.

    A rare chance to own a piece of history....for a price that is.

2007/11/08

Don't eat the Aqua Dots

What was touted as one of the hottest new toys this Christmas is being pulled off store shelves because of fears it could poison children.

Aqua Dots, distributed in North America by Toronto-based Spin Master, are liquid-filled beads that can be arranged into designs and sprayed with water to hold them together. But if swallowed, the beads' coating reportedly metabolizes into the hallucinogenic "date rape" drug gammahydroxybutyrate, also known as GBH. An overdose can cause seizures, coma or death.

The toy, aimed at kids age 4 and older and heavily advertised on TV, is made in China by Australian company Moose Enterprise. Marketed in Australia as Bindeez, it was withdrawn there this week when three children needed hospital treatment after swallowing beads.

Sounds like they marketed it to the wrong crowd, cause I'm sure that teenagers would love to get their hands on free GHB.

2007/11/07

Star Trek Casting Call

Ages 18-70, any ethnicity: to play Cadets: young, fresh-faced, Military types: marching experience preferred, thin, regal talent with BROWN or BLACK hair AND are OK with their eyebrows being shaved from the arch outward to portray a Vulcan-type eyebrow shape.

Talent with interesting and unique facial features such as: long necks, small heads, extremely large heads, wide-set eyes, bug eyes, close-set eyes, large forehead, short upper lip, pronounced cheekbones, over- or undersized ears and/or nose, facial deformities, ultra plain-looking people, ultra perfect-looking people, pure wholesome looks, twins, triplets, emaciated talent, regally poised and postured talent, or other visually unique characteristics.

Everyone must be thin, athletic, fit; wardrobe will be form-fitting.


Well, that last requirement pretty much excludes most of the Star Trek geeks I know of. Unless, of course, they are looking for someone to play the part of Ensign Fat Elvis.

2007/11/06

Just because you have it doesn't mean you can use it.

A White Rock-area convenience store clerk who was slain during an apparent robbery last Saturday night was also armed with a gun, police said Friday.

Police now believe that the slain clerk, Abate Z. Hailu, 43, saw that the two men were armed as they came into the Fina Food Mart on Garland Road shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday.

The clerk pointed the gun at them, said Lt. Craig Miller, a homicide supervisor.

"There was a malfunction with the weapon, and obviously Mr. Hailu was not able to use the weapon" because the safety was still on, Lt. Miller said.

The two robbery suspects then fired their weapons at Mr. Hailu, who died at the scene, police said. Store surveillance cameras recorded the crime and images of the two men. The two suspects also went behind the counter and took a small amount of cash and some property, police said.

One suspect, Howard Lee Simon, 22, was arrested Monday in connection with Mr. Hailu's death. Police are looking for a second suspect, Deshawn Larkin, 26.


Unfortunately, it appears that there was NOT a problem with the weapon, but with the operator. Just because you have a gun doesn't mean you will be able to instinctively use it correctly under pressure unless you train to use it. I am guilty of not training enough with my weaponry. Of course, you could go with a less complicated firearm, like a Glock, where all you have to do is pull the trigger (assuming the gun has been readied to fire).

2007/11/01

This costume wins Halloween



And if you have no clue what this is about, you missed one hell of a game.

Prepare for the upcoming Zombie apocalypse

Behold the ultimate in home safety kits to defend against the legions of the undead! I call it the Emergency Zombie Defense Station. Think of it like one of those fire alarm kits with an axe and an extinguisher or an emergency eye wash station

I made this kit for the Zombies Are Love Swap and I've been working on a second one for myself since After all Halloween is just around the corner and who knows when one might need a boomstick in a hurry?

I was initially inspired after seeing this Zombie survival kit on the internet, but I had some ideas on how to take it to another level. I really liked the transparent riot shields used in 28 Days Later and I figured, "Why not make the case multi-functional at the same time?" So when the plexi-glass cover is removed it becomes the perfect protection against zombie related carnage and splatter. Inside the case is arguable the best tool to have during a Zombie attack. None other than the trusty shotgun! Along with it are some spare bullets shells and a machete for when you're all out of ammo. I also have a bit of a thing for those easy to understand safety signs with the little diagrams of stickpeople on them. So I created a sign to be posted next to the station for quick, last minute instructions.