Name Tools

My cnet RSS feed pointed me to an article on Usernamecheck, which tipped me off to a service called BustAName. The latter takes several keywords, generates various combinations of the words, and looks up domain name availability. Could be useful.

Absorption Refrigerators

While reading up on propane, I found out about absorption refrigerators, which use heat in the refrigeration cycle rather than a compressor. Apparently the technology was invented in the '20s (and that PR whore Einstein was co-named on a later patent), and is in use in some applications.

I dislike compressors because they're noisy, so silent operation is very attractive. Dometic makes refrigerators for RVs that use the absorption method. As a plus, they are typically "dual fuel", electric and LPG. Unfortunately, they're quite expensive relative to their size: $600 for the smallest non-portable model (BigDiscountRV).

Typical Democrat Response

So why is it that when Democrats get their hand caught in the cookie jar they respond with indignation rather than the shame they should be feeling? Take this piece of shit Charles Rangel, for example. A Republican would've been crucified for tax evasion and/or "violating the public trust", but Rangel says he did nothing wrong. U.S. citizens must by law pay U.S. taxes on all income regardless of source, worldwide. That includes income on rental houses in the Dominican Republic. Even corporate slave like me knows that, and I was liable to the IRS for those taxes. A scumbag legislator like Rangel should have to pay 10x in penalties because "ignorance of the law is no excuse" (the quoted text is sarcasm, but the preceding is not).

A Mommy Story

Katie was telling me (in IM) about her fiance's sister-in-law has a blog called "A Mommy Story". Somehow the subject of "mommy blogging" came up.

What's weirder is that I dated a girl Katie's fiance dated, and went out a couple times with a girl Katie's fiance's brother dated. I'm glad I'm not doing that anymore....

Random Articles

SSDs lackluster
Lights out for fireflies?
Chrome easter eggs

DRIcore

Daren was installing this DRIcore subfloor in his basement. Sounds like a great idea. The only problem is the impact on ceiling height, compounded by the necessity for any in-floor heating to go on top of the subfloor. However, this is probably a necessity for having flooring in the basement.

Kill Chavez

Die Chavez! Die! Die!!

Look at that picture—something's seriously wrong with the guy. He needs a cruise missile in the ass.

Or let me shoot him. I'll do it.

.50-Cal Ranges

Finding ranges where one can shoot .50 BMG is problematic. There are at least a couple in MN:

Oakdale Gun Club
Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club

There's a range nearby that might allow .50-cal, though I have yet to find out. Byron Sportsmen and Conservation Club's website is rather meager and references several PDF files, none of which seem to be accessible.

Concealed Carry Info

Apparently packing.org no longer exists. Some forum posts pointed to the following replacements:

usacarry.com
carryconcealed.net
handgunlaw.us.

Project Vote Smart

I'm not sure about this site, but it could be a supplemental source of information.

City Council

The downside of democracy is that stuff like this is possible:

Rochester MN 2008 Election Primary Results (Post-Bulletin, see Olmsted County)
Challenger tops incumbent in Ward 2 primary (Post-Bulletin)

I know Wojcik personally, having worked in the same department for five years, and I would emphatically not want him as City Council rep from my ward. The Mt. Fuji incident comes to mind when he talks about ethics and responsibility.

I'm shocked that he actually made it through the primary. The incumbent Marcia Marcoux had better get started campaigning! And I think I might have to help her out.

Democrats looking to get laid

I guess this is why they don't promote abstinence? (This is sarcasm, as I'm not particularly prudish when it comes to sex, I just think Democrats are illogical in general and like to take jabs at them.)

This is kind of like how Democrats tend to be the ones who go crazy and shoot people, not Republicans, which is Dems are against gun rights: they know their own tendencies.

HGST Rochester's "Black Monday"

The horrid news that HGST is terminating the internal channel mission was vaguely reported in the local newspaper as simply being "hardware design team" layoffs.

Stealing Wi-Fi

Link blog post #512—a nice "round" number.

There was a post on c|net about how stealing Wi-Fi in an airport is bad. I agreed with the following comment.

I agree, this sort of unauthorized use of Wi-Fi on a continuing basis is theft. Quite clearly the service is made available for the purpose of making a profit, and so circumventing the system constitutes stealing. Kind of like phone phreaking; while it's cool to figure the ins and outs of the technology, going much further past demos is hard to justify. This thing called ethics says just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Now I would change my reaction if we're talking about an unprotected signal coming into my house. It's my airspace, and if someone is broadcasting something I don't want at me, then it's their problem if I decide to take advantage of it. The law is dead wrong in saying that that is theft. If I chuck an iPod into someone's open window and they decide to keep it, it's not theft since I put it there. (Actually, it's my bad for throwing stuff into their space, and they'd have a right to be upset.) Decoding a signal is more marginal ethically. I'd say it's "half theft" in that as above, the user is stealing service, but it's also half the broadcaster's fault for polluting the PUBLIC (outdoor) airspace with their private signal, in contrast to the private airspace within the airport. With publicly shared things like frequency spectrum, there are gray areas abound.

NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog

This "NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog" might be useful, I'm not sure. The bit about an NFA trust looks inspiring.

Unlawful Armed Force

An article on CNN claims:

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said there was "mounting evidence that Russian and Georgian military used armed force unlawfully during the South Ossetian conflict" and it emphasized that this "highlights the need for international fact-finding missions in Georgia."

What the hell does "unlawful" mean in an international military context? How can anyone say that with a straight face? Forcing someone's notion of "international law" upon the world is farcical to say the least. Put another way: Whose law was broken? The reason people fight is because they can't resolve things peacefully, and no law can be applied to that.

The Geneva Convention wouldn't mean a damn thing if the aggressor who violated the rules were to win. Such laws are only used as a pretense for the winning nation to justify their actions upon the loser. "War crimes" is a nonsensical term—there is no crime in war, only the will of the victor over the vanquished. Nuremburg after World War II was a farce in that punishing the losing generals was some application of authoritarian law. No way: The Allies extracted vengeance and had to apply the shield of "law" to make up excuses for their actions. The Allies rightfully won (although the Allied leaders were minor tyrants in their own right), and still they felt they had to apply a bit of decorative color to the war's end. Well, the winner writes history, always.

This whole conflict with Georgia and Russia is a case of he said, she said—who knows what exactly happened out there. What we do know is that Russia is not to be trusted. The wounds of the Cold War run deep, and just as China longs to rule Asia once more, Russia longs to again be the dominant power in Europe. Where such ambition runs rampant, war can never be far behind.

GPS Map for Japan

I thought about buying a GPS prior to this last business trip but decided against it. It'd be cool, but an unnecessary expense.

Garmin apparently allows downloadable maps, and one company produces a GPS map for Japan. The one with routing information, version 2.0, costs more than the one without routing info, version 1.2.

Satellite Installation

In a search for satellite dish installation, I found some info from a vendor in NJ. They mention the RG6 cabling, which apparently carries power. Interesting. I should've read up on this more before the Dish Network third-party installer weirdos showed up.

い草

さっちゃんがちょっと前に送ってくれたリンク：
い草天国
イケヒコ・コーポレーション

買いたい物が増えたな。

Coharie Arms

In consideration of purchasing a "CA89" (SP89 clone) or a "CA94" (HK94 clone), I've been doing some reading. Coharie Arms is the only clone manufacturer left, apart from buying a flat and having the gun manufactured from a kit. The problem is, they're quite controversial in that a number of people are happy with their purchase while a seemingly equivalent number have had problems. Todd Bailey is at the center of the controversy, as many question the ethics of his business practices. Discussion of his products, via companies Special Weapons and Tactical Weapons, was verboten on HKPro at one point, though recently the ban has been rescinded.

HKPro post on the CA89
Another HKPro post on ordering
Bailey's comments on ordering

The Photographer's Right

Via a Slashdot article's comments, I came across "The Photographer's Right", a single page flyer by an attorney indicating what photographers can expect legally. That could be useful.

On the other hand, when someone in a position of power isn't getting their way, they're liable to screw you over, regardless of what your rights are. So I'd imagine that if one intends to push the envelope, one had better have a videocamera, with a flash memory card, that one can afford to lose for the purposes of filming the confrontation. People on a power trip are unlikely to take kindly to non-sheeple.

KD-36HD600

Nowhere on the web can I find specs for my Sony TV, model KD-36HD600. Of course, it is a Japanese TV, but even Sony's site just lists it as discontinued. A Wikipedia page lists FD Trinitron/WEGA TVs, though those are only the American model numbers.

I want to know the resolution of the TV—it's not in the manual. I sort of found this info on another site, which says that the vertical resolution is 1300 lines:

「スーパーファインピッチブラウン管」というのは前回ご説明した「トリニトロン方式」を採用しているから搭載できている機能。横方向の解像度1300本以上を実現するまさにスーパーなブラウン管を搭載しています。ハイビジョン映像の1125iと呼ばれる放送方式ですが、ソニーいわく、理論的に横方向に関しては1300本の解像度が必要らしく、そのためにはキメの細かいピッチ幅が必要とのことで、その理想の解像度をブラウン管で実現できているのは現状ではソニーのスーパーファインピッチ管だけとのこと。

Also, since the TV supports the D4 connector, it should handle 1080i and 720p. However, lacking an HDMI or DVI output, that means that the TV technically isn't "HD Ready"

Japanese TV

I was looking at DirecTV for satellite service, since the lone cable company around here, Charter, sucks. However, DirecTV doesn't carry Japanese programming; furthermore, they seem to have a bunch of Asian countries, e.g. China, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, etc., other than Japan. That offended me in a way.

So I looked into Dish Network, and they do have Japanese channels. $25/mo is a bit steep, but it would be pretty cool to get. Maybe after we unpack more of the boxes piled up in the living room of the new house—and set up the TV!

The Website is Down

Samir sent me a link to this video on Break.com which is friggin' hilarious. From the comments, I found the full version of the video.

Building an MP5

There was a post on HKPro a while ago about building an MP5.

It's about $1200 to fold the flat into a receiver, assemble the gun add a paddle magazine release and finish the gun in original HK style black. Every part on the gun is factory HK. Basically what you get from Adam is an MP5 with a big chunk out of the receiver missing so that it is no longer a firearm. All the parts are there minus the receiver. The receiver flat is produced on HK tooling by a company licensed by HK to produce MP5's. Once the flat is turned into a receiver by a pro like Jayson at IGF, the completed gun is every bit as much an MP5 as one from Obendorf, except of course for the semi auto shelf.

Sounds way cool...except for the part about $1200+. Plus if one wants it converted to NFA (SBR or AOW), there are the additional modifications and taxes. And it still won't be a real sub gun. Ah well.

Indirect Solar Indoor Lighting

I must've seen something on this in an article on a zero-emissions building in California. There was indoor lighting that utilized solar concentrators and fiber optics to channel light indoors so that electricity wouldn't have to be used during the day.

Out of curiosity, I wanted to find out how much it costs, because that'd be pretty sweet to use in my new house. I googled "fiber optic lighting basement sunlight" and came up with a few interesting links. Unfortunately I still don't know how much this stuff costs—other than it's likely outside my price range.

Sunlight inside no direct-sunlighted rooms
Simple and bright, heliostats tap sunlight for lighting outdoor and, increasingly, indoor spaces
Sunlight Direct Hybrid Lighting: Install It, Get a 30% Federal Tax Credit
Hybrid Lighting Promises Cool, Efficient Light and More...

Fireproof Safes

So I'm looking for a fireproof (er, fire-resistant) safe for the new house, i.e. a big-ass gun safe. Of course it has to be made in the U.S., so my selection is probably limited. Here are some vendors:

Sturdy Gun Safe Manufacturing - Possibly the best value. Has minimal moving parts, a removable door, and the insulating material is ceramic and glass wool.
Sportsman Steel Safe Co. - Similar to Sturdy. Uses ceramic wool, drywall, and an air gap for insulation.
Graffunder Safe & Vault - Look to be the best, albeit the most expensive and heaviest of all. The insulator is a cement compound.
American Security - Looks pretty good, albeit expensive. Insulation is cement-based.
Fort Knox
Heritage Safe Co.
Liberty Safe - They are way overpriced, and use drywall as their insulator. Can be found at Gander Mountain.
Smith Security Safes
Hall's Safe Co.

Slashdot News

Brightnets: "Owner-Free Filesystems", distributed, public storage
How Facebook stores all those digital photos
Bjarne Stroustrup reveals C++ secrets
Metallic glass
Bad boys get more girls, fo' real. Shiz.

enysea

グリソが行くダイブショップ…かな？

Dog Tags

Yasu had asked about getting dog tags. I found a site, Military Dog Tags, that sells U.S.-made tags, and the order page is pretty nice. When Sachie and I went to Okinawa in 2006, she made a pair at a shop on Kokusai-Dori. I don't think she's ever worn them, though.