Month: April 2010

The Salvation Army

I’ve been involved in a discussion with a fellow from Denmark over on Facebook. The discussion itself is really irrelevant to this topic at hand except for providing an explanation to find what I found. I was looking for details between the United States and Denmark and came across the following information [warning it’s a PDF] published by the United States Census Bureau (see they produce something for all those millions of dollars the squander on sending out post cards reminding us of the census we’ll be receiving soon enough).

While digging through it I found some rather interesting information I didn’t know. The Salvation Army is a religion its own separate denomination of Christianity. Now I knew they were a religious organization but I never new they were an actual religion separate denomination. So I did a little more searching and found this article on the BBC:

The Salvation Army is a Protestant denomination of the Christian Church with over 1.6 million members in 109 countries.

In the UK there are over 800 Salvation Army parishes (known as corps), over 1,500 ordained ministers (known as officers) and 54,000 members (including senior soldiers, adherents and junior soldiers).

Salvation Army officers wear a military-style uniform, though some officers may wear a more informal uniform when undertaking certain duties. Members of the church often choose to wear a uniform, but are not required to do so.

Salvation Army halls are registered as places of worship. Salvation Army officers are ordained ministers of religion, and can conduct weddings and funerals.

So they are a Christian based religion denomination, their positions in the church reflect that of a military army, they wear military style uniforms, their facilities are registered places of worship, and their officers are ordained ministers. Hm… does that make them a Christian militia group?

Update 2010-04-27 13:29: Change the wording. Technically the Salvation Army is a denomination (such as Catholicism, Mormon, Lutheran, etc.) of Christianity which is the technical religion.

Bloomberg’s Gun Control Bill

Snowflakes in Hell brings us an article that explains Super Douche Mayor Bloomberg’s “gun show loophole” bill he’s been pushing through a recent national campaign. You know what the most important detail is though? The bill goes well beyond gun show regulations:

Or consider a licensed firearms dealer who never sets foot inside a gun show. He conducts all his sales from his store. The Bloomberg bill hugely increases various prison terms that can be imposed on licensed dealers. This has nothing to do with gun shows.

And of course this bill has nothing to do with any loophole either but is in essence a bill meant to stop gun shows in this country all together:

For example, gun show promoters do not sell guns. The promoters just operate the shows, renting table space to the people who do sell guns. The Bloomberg bill would give the U.S. attorney general unlimited power to impose fees and regulations on gun show operators. An anti-gun attorney general could make the fees so exorbitant that no one could operate a gun show. Extremely complex and time-consuming registration forms that would have to be filled out every week could also drive gun shows out of business.

So that’s how he plans to fix the improperly named “loophole.” No gun show, no problem apparently. This is how anti-gunners have to do things. They claim there is a problem and then they make a law that doesn’t address the problem itself but attempts to completely ban everything related to their believed problem.

I’ve addressed the fact that there is no gun show loophole. What the anti-gunners are trying to eliminate are property rights. Under current United States law (which can be different from state to state, I’m talking federal here) if you want to sell one of your guns you can, no problem. What Super Douche Bloomberg and his posse want is to require all gun sales, including private ones, to go through the NICS. Of course they also know that only federally licensed dealers can access the NICS and hence this bill would eliminate your right to sell a firearm that you own unless you pay a third party (a federally licensed dealer) to perform a NICS check and transfer. How would you like it if you had to go to a third party and pay them a fee in order to get permission to sell your car, television, table, or home? It doesn’t sound like a good thing when put into that context does it?

Make no mistake, Super Douche doesn’t hate guns he hates your right to do day to day tasks without being dependent on the government. To put it nicely he’s a power hungry control freak.

Glock Triggers

I have three Glocks: a 30SF, a 21SF, and a 17. The 30SF came with a serrated trigger which I didn’t like (it cause discomfort for my trigger finger) so I replaced the trigger bar with a 21SF trigger bar which is smooth faced. Likewise the 17 trigger is smooth faced. I’ve been trying to figure out why some Glocks come with serrated triggers while others come with smooth triggers. It seemed rather random (being I only have three guns to obtain data from). Well I finally figured this out thanks to a thread on GlockTalk.

When a pistol gets important into the country it needs to get 75 points on the BATFE point system. One of the points is for having a target trigger. A target trigger is a fancy way of saying a serrated trigger apparently. Other points are awarded for things like size, caliber, action, etc.

Compact Glocks don’t have enough points to get important into the country due to their size. In order to make the required points Glock throws a target trigger into their compact guns (they also put adjustable sights on but those are swapped off for fixed ones when they arrive in America). The point system is also the reason for the thumb groves on the grip (that makes it a target grip apparently).

When the Brady Bunch and their minions claim the firearms industry is practically unregulated remember bullshit laws like this.

Barnes and Nobel Nook Firmware Update

I absolutely love my Kindle. But I like to keep up on what’s going on with other e-readers. Well Barnes and Nobel introduced a rather interesting firmware update for their Nook. The firmware includes a basic web browser, games (chess and sudoku), and the general performance enhancements. But the really cool feature in my not so humble opinion is called read in store.

What this does is allow you to browse through entire books when in a Barnes and Nobel store. This feature makes sense as Barnes and Nobel marketed the Nook as a mechanism to get people to come into their stores. But it also seems kind of gimmicky to have a feature on a device rely on where you happen to be. Of course there are restrictions. Although you can browse entire titles you can only do so for one hour per day (whether that’s an hour per title or an hour for the feature use period is not made clear). Still it’s nice to see they’re throwing features in. Now if they could just build a device without that bloody LCD screen.

Update 2010-04-23 13:14: It appears that the new web browser only works with Wi-Fi, not the build in 3G card. This is a direct contract to the Kindle web browser which works on 3G (as it doesn’t have Wi-Fi). This really seems like a stupid limitation if you ask me.

Brady Bunch Failing At Making Money

Snowflakes in Hell pointed out the fact that the Brady Bunch are begging for money again. Their doing a fund raising drive. See you’re supposed to give them money because guns are scary and other such nonsense. Well their goal is a lofty $10,000. So far they have… $20.00. I might add Snowflakes in Hell posted this two days ago and no new donations have apparently been made since.

Let’s see how long it takes them to blame the evil “gun lobby.”

The Stuff People Agree To

Have you heard of an end user license agreement (EULA)? You probably have. It’s a contract you agree to when you install most non-open source applications. Most people just click “I Accept” and move on with their lives without reading it. Of course sometimes the damndest things are agreed to like the Immortal Souls clause inserted by a online shopping site to make a point:

By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non-transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions.

Well Sony, no stranger to being complete asshats, an interesting clause in their EULA (I bring it up now because people started talking about it but this has been in the EULA for some time):

From time to time, SCE may provide updates, upgrades or services to your PS3™ system to ensure it is functioning properly in accordance with SCE guidelines or provide you with new offerings.

Some services may be provided automatically without notice when you are online, and others may be available to you through SCE’s online network or authorized channels. Without limitation, services may include the provision of the latest update or download of new release that may include security patches, new technology or revised settings and features which may prevent access to unauthorized or pirated content, or use of unauthorized hardware or software in connection with the PS3™ system.

Additionally, you may not be able to view your own content if it includes or displays content that is protected by authentication technology. Some services may change your current settings, cause a loss of data or content, or cause some loss of functionality. It is recommended that you regularly back up any data on the hard disk that is of a type that can be backed up.

Translated in to standard English it means Sony can push updates out to your system without requiring you to accept it or having to notify you that they’re doing it. If the update bricks your system that’s your problem and you’ll have to pay to get it fixed. Likewise they can erase any data on your system they please without notification and giving you no recourse.

Of course I’m just using Sony as a punching bag at the moment because their asshats. In truth many companies have similar clauses in their EULAs. Which is the point I’m trying to make here. Most people have no idea what they’re agreeing to when they click that “I Accept” button on the EULA window.

Let’s bring up another example, iTunes. Did you know that you can’t use iTunes to develop, design, manufacture, or produce missiles, or nuclear, chemical or biological weapons? Well you can’t because you agreed to the EULA.

What I’m really trying to drive home is this, read every contract you sign and every EULA you agree to. The shit that gets snuck in is absurd. It’s shit like this that pushes me towards free open-source software more and more every day.