RAS

Not Knight's Armament's "Rail Adapter System", but "Reasonable, Articulable Suspicion".

LAAW has an interesting seizure chart that summarizes the classes of police encounters. There's a standard encounter where they can talk to you like a normal citizen (although ignoring or refusing to talk to the cop would probably be construed as RAS). Then there are two types of "Fourth Amendment seizures": detention/frisk, as per Terry v. Ohio (aka the "Terry frisk"), and arrest. The former is based on RAS, the latter based on probable cause (PC).

The word "articulable" bothers me, as it seems like it should be "articulatable", as in a noun form of the verb "articulate". Of course, that's hard to say, so the lawyers had to make it "articulable". Apparently I'm not the only one that this bothers.

The Caring Tree

Behold all the good that the Hitachi Group does.

Government Intrusion

The difficulty with being a libertarian is that it's really neither traditional conservative nor liberal. Case in point, I find myself having to agree with ACLU types regarding government intrusion, which is more often than I'd care to based on some of their other positions.

From a c|net article:

"Who wants to live in a world where the government can listen in on every communication without any evidence of crime?" he said. "The consequences of that are that people won't communicate freely and the country would be very different as a result. Imagine how your conversation with a close personal friend would change if you knew someone else was listening. That's what is at stake. That's what needs to be protected."

The Decade From Hell?

A Cato Institute VP posits that 2000-2009 wasn't the "decade from hell". He does have a few convincing arguments. But what about things like intrusive full-body scanners in airports, irrational health care legislation, and arbitrary "hate crime" legislation, forcing the U.S. economy a leap further toward a socialist police state?

I for one am not counting on the country to remain stable. With all the insanity going on, it can't. Perhaps stability was only an illusion to begin with, though.

NHK World

Supposedly we could get NHK World in high-definition for free with a dish and HD tuner. Hmm.

Requirements: an LNB ("low noise block") converter, a satellite dish (2.5m-6m diameter), and a digital tuner.

IS-9 satellite, 4040 MHz, 26.59 Mbaud, FEC=1/2, polarization H. Azimuth and elevation are given, but for locations in South America. I suppose there're probably some ways to get more information about how to tune IS-9.

Speaking of which, there's some information on IS-9 itself on SatBeams as well as a channel list there and on LyngSat also.

Daren's Links

From Daren, dated 9/17:
BedBunker - a way overpriced box-spring replacement gun safe
TheReadyStore - emergency foodstuffs, etc.

Exploding Pyrex

So my wife is obsessed with "Old Pyrex", which seems perverse at first blush. The older Pyrex kitchenware has patterns and designs that appeal to some folks. But the main reason I think collecting Old Pyrex isn't a total waste is that apparently the newer Pyrex isn't "real"—it's licensed by Corning to World Kitchen and doesn't have the same composition. There have been cases of it exploding when used in the oven or microwave, even if labeled safe for those applications, and that's very uncool.

2010

I resolve to link blog more in 2010. Yeah, right!

"Change We Can Believe In"

Not sure where the tag line comes from, but it certainly is. Moreso than Obama, anyway.

So I found this YouTube-like pr0n site called "SpankWire" and they have a bunch of free pr0n. I think I know a few people who would appreciate this....

Going through some folders I found a Jade Hsu vid, and the site came up when I googled it. She's gotten to be pretty trashy looking, though, and never exhibited much personality. Chinese Hawaiian Jandi Lin is much more spirited, and the tattoo on her back is pretty cool.

Plus, I discovered Allie Sin, aka Naughty Nati.  Her tattoos are less than impressive, but she's got a hot body and those eyes are absolutely piercing.

Kneeling Chairs

Was thinking a kneeling chair might be good for temporary use of the iMac on the console in the living room, except it looks like the decent ones are spendy. To wit:

Varier Variable balans [store]
HÅG Balans [store] (doesn't appear to be on HÅG's website)
Over the top: Varier Gravity balans chair [store] (only $2k!)

Saw some reference in searches that indicate the kneeling chair design (balans) is Norwegian, but I have yet to confirm.

Comment on Int'l Marriage

My remarks on an article:

I bet you don't have many friends from other countries, eh? Indeed, most people don't care about issues that don't affect them. Even so, America's origins are in its immigrants -- the opinion you're espousing is quite un-American.

As long as the institution of marriage exists, the U.S. has legal responsibility to handle diplomatic cases involving cross-border custody. Now if we got rid of marriage, then I might agree with your position. Even as a small-government advocate, diplomatic issues are one of the few legitimate roles of the Federal government.

I would be interested to see the divorce statistics for marriages where both parties are from the same culture versus where one or both parties are foreign-born. My guess is that they aren't that different.

There were several problems with the guy who tried to steal back his kids: 1) he was married in Japan, and never divorced there, 2) he became a naturalized Japanese citizen, thereby losing his U.S. citizenship, 3) his kids were born in Japan, and 4) he cheated on his wife before divorcing her in the U.S. and marrying his mistress. Not exactly an open-and-shut case in his favor.

Immigration Comments

Navarette is a dillweed in general, but he knows how to get a rise out of the reader.

Useyerhead: I agree that it sucks that Spanish gets special treatment. I would require English for all legal doings, but suppose that signage is at the discretion of the locality -- their tax dollars.

In my case, I'm a native English speaker, but speak Japanese with my wife. Since I'm not white, I know that some people are probably put off when we're out and not talking in English. She can understand English well enough, so it's not an issue. Not having most people know what we're talking about is way useful =)

Incidentally, in the more metropolitan areas of Japan, most signs also have English (sometimes Chinese and Korean also). Of course, we occupied them, so that's not so strange.

YBR: I'm mixed as well, although not as resentful of being treated differently. People think what they're going to think. How you're perceived in the long term is up to you. On the other hand, I do have a CCW just in case: "minorities" in particular benefit from being armed.

My Snowblower

Despite the earlier models I posted, I ended up getting a Troy-Bilt Storm 2620 over at Lowes. I put it to use on Sunday morning and cleared the 4-foot wall of snow blocking half of the front of my driveway as a learning exercise, then cleared the curb, sidewalks, and half the neighbor's driveway (theirs is in the shop right now). Having a gas-hogging monster snowblower is actually fun!

Propolis

We're running low on propolis, so I've been looking for some online. I've read that the Brazilian kind is best, which is what my mother-in-law gave us, so we're looking to stick with that. The brand is Apiario Silvestre (apparently apiario refers to a bee farm), which is available via ExpoBrazil. Unfortunately, they charge quite a bit for shipping. Alibaba.com has a list of propolis manufacturers, and Silvestre has a listing. Interestingly enough, on Alibaba they claim to have a 45% concentration, whereas on ExpoBrazil they list 30%.

There's another advertised brand of Brazilian, alcohol-free (not that I have anything against alcohol, but the Silvestre is as well) propolis by Uniflora. They have concentration in 45%, 55%, and 60 "Brix", which apparently also means percent by weight.

Not Without A Fight

Via one of the pro-firearm blogs I subscribe to, I found out about a 2A-themed amateur documentary called Not Without A Fight, which interviews various people from the gun culture. Looks interesting, although I'm not sure I want to $15.97 without seeing it first.

MBP Accessories

So I'm already looking for accessories for my new MacBook Pro even though I'm still waiting for it to acclimate to room temperature. (Booting up a frozen computer is a Very Bad Idea, and this was on a truck for most of the day in sub-zero weather.)

Current candidates:

• moshi ClearGuard - ultra-thin (0.1mm) urethane keyboard protector (even though the MBP manual says to not cover the keyboard...), $23 on Amazon through myGearStore [good blog review]
• RadTech ScreenSavrz - cover that sits between the keyboard and screen to keep the latter clean; ShaggyMac's product is a close second (color is a concern), but both are made in the USA and cost $15
• RadTech Sleevz - form-fitting sleeve, helpful when going through airport checkpoints (only been asked to remove my Powerbook from the sleeve once out of dozens of flights)
• (Also have a Portectorz for the PB, but they don't make one for the MBP yet.)
• Monoprice Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter - to output the display to an HDTV (which I don't have yet...); this $38 one has audio capability via USB whereas the $14 one only supports MDP audio, which the MBP does not

Don't forget to check Retail Me Not for coupon codes: RadTech has one FAMILY09 that's 10% off $30+ and 15% off $70+.

iPhone Tethering

Found a site that allows the enabling of tethering with iPhones. Cool.

Well, I do want an iPhone, there's just the matter of $400 (two phones) plus $100/mo for 24 months (with company discount but without taxes and fees)....

Prohibition Commentary

Just had a discussion with the co-op in the lab about the "war on drugs", then I hit this article on CNN.

Agreed that the "war on drugs" is the same as the Prohibition. The problem with legalizing drug use is that what are all those law enforcement officers going to do afterward? Several months after the 21st Amendment repealed the Prohibition, Congress passed the National Firearms Act, giving the long arm of the law another, similarly injust, malum prohibitum to crack down on.

The populus still seems to be torn on the morality of the drug issue. A number of people support the legalization of marijuana, but they have yet to reach the kind of critical mass that is necessary to sway the lawmakers. Part of the issue is how hard the crackdown is for drug-related violations of the law: People who would be inclined to conduct civil disobedience might think twice about an infraction that could land them serious time and a felony record. No, the government is seriously out of control in forcing citizens to play by their rules.

Netwealth-e Int'l

So I met the owner of this online business, Netwealth-e International, over at Ikea a few weeks back. I finally checked out his website, but still don't have a good idea of what they do. Weird, I would've thought it should be clear from the pitch, I mean if one wants to line up capital as well as talent.

Snowblowers

After the blizzard, I decided that I need a snowblower. (Apparently the semantic distinction between "snow blower" and "snow thrower" is that the former is a 2-stage (with an auger and an impeller) and the latter is a 1-stage. So says Wikipedia. But I prefer a single word rather than a phrase.)

I'm only interested in the 2-stage variety given the insanity that is Minnesota winter. Fishing around on Amazon, I found a Murray 24" 205cc 4-cycle with electric start. Apparently Murray doesn't have product pages on their website.

Chad has an Ariens, although he didn't say which model. (A version with a Tecumseh engine, without headlights, he said, but most of them seem to have Briggs & Stratton engines.)

Honda has a medium-duty 2-stage, the HS520AS, but I question the 12" vertical clearance of the housing.

$800 ain't nothing to sneeze at, so I'm going to be looking at as many different models as I can.

Mark's Mobo

Mark's desktop's motherboard is an ECS 848P-A. Whatever use that info is.

Tank Suppressor

This is hilarious.

NRA & Firearms Freedom Act

Posted commentary on this article.

I too was disgusted by the NRA's lack of support for the Firearms Freedoms Act laws in several states. Just like their unfulfilled promise to work to repeal the Hughes Amendment of the FOPA (banning civ ownership of machineguns manufactured post-1986), they talk like they're for preserving rights, but fall far short. I sent the NRA a letter to that effect, but I suppose my remarks will be ignored.

Granted, the Montana law was intended to force a showdown regarding the enforceability of intra-state jurisdiction of the ATF. They didn't intend to make use of the law until a ruling was solidified at the SCOTUS level. The NRA is right that actually ignoring the un-Constitutional 1968 GCA is dangerous (the ATF will kick down your door and shoot you), but the wording was highly unsatisfactory.

Support the NRA since the gun-rights winds are judged by their membership. Then really support the Gun Owners of America. The GOA is by far the best pro-gun rights group out there.

Monoprice

I just heard about Monoprice via comments in a /. post. They seem to have some good prices on cabling, etc., that always gets sold at a markup via retail outlets, and even by Newegg.

Not So Good

/. had a post on how Sprint released GPS data to law enforcement via automated system 8 million times in a year. The linked blog post has a quote from Eric Schmidt that is quite disturbing.

"The reason we keep [search engine data] for any length of time is one, we actually need it to make our algorithms better, but more importantly, there is a legitimate case of the government, or particularly the police function or so forth, wanting, with a Federal subpoena and so forth being able to get access to that information."
-- Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, All Things Considered, NPR interview between 5:40 and 6:40, October 2, 2009.

So much for "don't be evil"—that sounds pretty fucking evil to me. Government tends toward evil, and pandering to them is also evil. That explains why they kissed the Chinese government's ass with regard to censoring political dissidents.

Apple may not be very different, but at least they make no pretense of being "good". There's nothing like someone raping you and telling you that it's for your own good.

My comments posted to the blog anonymously:

I have a problem with financial disincentives: where the money comes from. Law enforcement is paid for via taxes, so not only are we paying a higher bill to the phone company (TPC) on the front-end for the infrastructure, we're also funding federal, state, and local governments to pay for wiretaps, etc., on the back-end. Business is business for TPC, but the "law" is being used to strong-arm the consumer into paying for the privilege of being spied upon.

A Righteous Gun Law

Require registration of non-gun owners and require them to pay a fine? Sweet!

マルカイ

テレビジャパンのCMで知った、日本商品のオンラインショップマルカイ。値段は安くないけど、手に入れたければ買い道はある。

Caroline McCarthy

After reading an article by Caroline McCarthy that was above the typical c|net blog-type posts, I felt the need to google her for profile pictures bigger than the c|net bio thumbnail. Yeah, I e-stalked her for five minutes, haha.

Magazine.org has a bigger version of the bio thumbnail
ValleyWag, circa June 2008
Daily Style Phile, circa October 2008

McCarthy's also on Twitter, as one might expect.

Is it just me, or is she fairly stacked? Well, um, I read her for the articles.

xkcd

This is so, so sick: Movie Narrative Charts
Very timely: iPhone or Droid

GoodGuide

Hmm, maybe my idea is a bit late. GoodGuide is getting close....