Month: February 2011

Science Fiction and Libertarianism

I love science fiction and I am a hardcore libertarian. I’ve noticed that many science fiction novels contain very libertarian ideals which may be part of what attracted me to science fiction or libertarianism (I haven’t a clue which one came first honestly, maybe they just went hand in hand).

Well I’m not the only one to notice such a connection as Jeff Riggenbach has a great article up today on the Mises Daily. I also need to get a copy of The Weapon Shops of Isher as I really like the idea behind the following technology:

And what about McAllister — the reporter from the mid-20th-century American Midwest? Well, as I mentioned, he found himself living 7,000 years in the future, on an Earth ruled by a single monarchical government; the Empire of Isher it was called. And scattered throughout this empire were what the imperial citizens knew, simply, as “the Weapon Shops.” They were everywhere — in major cities and in small towns. And, even by the standards of the time in which they flourished, they were equipped with amazing technology.

Their front doors would not admit any government employee. Anyone else could enter freely and buy a high-quality energy weapon that could be used only defensively.

Emphasis mine. Where can I get one of these amazing doors that bars government employees from entering but will allow anybody else through? This may be the greatest technological device I’ve ever heard of! Hell I’ll take a dozen right now.

Things like this are probably the reason I love science fiction so much.

An Expected Outcome

It seems Egypt’s dictator, Mubarak, isn’t getting the message. I can see that though considering there are only hundreds of thousands of angry protesters yelling for him to step down. Because Mubarak likes power and apparently can’t take a fucking hint he gave a speech yesterday announcing his not-resignation. Needless to say the expected reaction occurred; people are pissed.

The protests in Egypt have remained peaceful (well except when the paid Mubarak shills started inciting violence) which amazes me. Unfortunately for Mubarak peaceful protests only remain peaceful for so long and then the people decide that method isn’t working. I’m not sure if Mubarak simply lacks historical knowledge on the subject but usually the plan B for dealing with dictators is far less desirable for said dictator than simply stepping down would be.

Interesting Mubarak made an interesting statement during his speech:

I say again that I lived for the sake of this country, preserving its responsibility and trust. Egypt will remain above all and above everyone.

It will remain so until I hand over this trust and pole. This is the goal, the objective, the responsibility and the duty. It is the beginning of life, its journey, and its end.

It will remain a country dear to my heart. It will not part with me and I will not part with it until my passing.

Emphasis mine. If Mubarak keeps this up he may be parting Egypt sooner than he expected. I must say I do enjoy watching the final thrashings of tyrannical dictators.

ATF is Open for Comments on Long Gun Sales Reporting

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been trying to get the authority to force gun stores in states on the Mexico border to record information on people who buy two or more semi-automatic rifles withing five days. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this is pure bullshit but I do have to tell the ATF. Luckily they’re open for comments on the subject but only until February 14th. Send your comments on the subject to:

Barbara A. Terrell
Firearms Industry Programs Branch
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
99 New York Avenue, N.E.
Washington, DC 20226.

Barbara.Terrell@atf.gov
Fax: (202) 648–9640

Let them know how much you appreciate them overstepping their authority and trying to blame somebody else for their likely actions of smuggling guns across the Mexico border.

Going Extinct is More Fun When You Have Company

What do you get when you combine a bleeding phone company with a stagnant software company? You get Nokia phones running Windows Phone 7. Nokia has been feeling the pain from competitors as of late and even lost their crown as most popular smartphone manufacturer (they’re still the large phone manufacturer, just their smartphones numbers are lower than competitor smartphone numbers). Likewise Microsoft seems to be having a problem getting people to buy phones running their Windows Phone 7 operating system.

The natural thing to emerge from this is the two companies combine to create… Hell I don’t know what they’re trying to create. I guess it makes sense when you consider Nokia’s new CEO is a former Microsoft employee.

An Interesting Conundrum

Wyoming’s House of Representatives just passed a law that would bar employers from firing employees for storing their carry piece in their car while it’s parked on their employer’s property. Many states already have similar laws in place.

This may come as a shock to some people but I really don’t like these laws. No I’m not all of the sudden going to spout bullshit that some forms of gun control are necessary, instead I’m going to proclaim my hatred for government telling property owners what they can and can’t do on their own property.

If this law had applied only to government entities I’d be all for it. The problem is it applies to private land owners. When I own a piece of property then I can make the rules, that’s what we call private property rights. The second somebody comes along as begins to tell me what I can and can’t do on my own property (so long as it doesn’t harm another person or damage their property) it is no longer my property.

Although I find the right to keep and bear arms absolute I also find the right of private property absolute. If somebody doesn’t want me to have a firearm on their property that’s their business and right as property owner. I’m sure this isn’t exactly a popular opinion to have with many of my readers but alas most of us who fight for the right to keep and bear arms also advocate for government leaving us alone. Once we allow and condone any government action of regulating private property we open the flood gates for them to do even more regulating.

My Developer Palm Pre 2 Arrived

Yesterday was just a day of receiving crap. Not only did my PK-01 V arrive but so did my Palm Pre 2:

If you read this site yesterday you know that I received this phone for free from HP/Palm. They’re looking for developers for their WebOS platform and have 100 99 phones available to send out to developers gratis. I haven’t had the phone in my possession long enough to give a detail review but I will give my initial thoughts.

First the phone has almost the exact same form factor as the original Pre. The back covers are the same and the batteries are the same meaning upgrading from an original Pre to a Pre 2 will allow you to keep using your already purchased accessories. Sadly this means the screens are also the same and honestly 320×480 isn’t a lot of space to work with when you’ve been using an Evo 4G and an iPhone 4.

The Pre 2 feels a bit more solidly built that the first Pre. Much of this is due to the fact that HP/Palm replaced the plastic curved screen with a flat glass one. I can’t tell you how much of a difference this makes in how a device feels (also the glass screen doesn’t attract finger prints as much as the plastic one). The entire outer casing is also covered in a soft rubberized finish meaning the phone doesn’t feel like it’s going to slip out of your hand.

The slider mechanism still has some noticeable play in it. If HP/Palm wants to continue making slider phones I’d appreciate a solid slide mechanism with little to no play in it. It’s not a deal breaker but it does make the device feel more like a quality product.

The used Pre I obtained a few months back was an original Sprint model meaning it only has 8GB of internal memory. The Pre 2 has double that giving you 16GB to work with. Honestly I wish HP/Palm would offer a model with 32GB so they could match my iPhone. I never thought I’d use so much memory but honestly I’m filling my iPhone up fast. The files I like to carry around with me on my phone is already beyond the 16GB barrier. It seems HP/Palm will copy Apple on refusing to have a microSD card slot but won’t copy them on the amount of memory internally.

One thing HP/Palm hasn’t copied Apple on is the battery compartment. Yes the Pre 2 has a battery compartment meaning you can actually swap the battery. This is such a novel concept that I wish every phone manufacturer would do it. Then again you almost have to have this ability on the Pre 2 as the battery life isn’t very good (I’d rate its battery life akin to my Evo’s which will get you through a day unless you use it a whole lot).

Having a hardware keyboard just kicks all sorts of ass. I was using a Treo so long that the keyboard layout apparently became ingrained as muscle memory since I was able to pick up the Pre 2 and type just as fast on it as I did my Treo. I would like an on-screen keyboard available for times when I’m holding the phone in landscape position but HP/Palm doesn’t seem to keen on doing that right now.

The Pre 2 also has your standard stock of built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G (only on AT&T though as T-Mobile uses a different chunk of the wireless spectrum for their 3G). I have to say I really like the fact that I can take my SIM card out of my iPhone, insert it into an adapter that allows it to fit into a normal sized SIM slot, and insert it into the Pre 2 and start using it. I love your coverage CDMA but I love having a swappable SIM card even more at the moment.

WebOS 2.0 is pretty awesome. I’ll be honest, I still think WebOS is the best mobile operating system out there at this point. Not only is developing for it dead simple but it has real multi-tasking with an interface that makes working with multiple applications easy. One thing I don’t like about WebOS 2.0 is the fact HP/Palm removed the Palm OS 5 ROM from WebOS meaning the Palm OS emulator, Classic, no longer works. This wouldn’t be that big of a deal if WebOS had most software available for it (which is why HP/Palm is looking for developers).

The card interface is innovative enough that RIM in stealing it for their PlayBook table device. With a simple swipe up of your finger you will be shown every currently running application. Speaking of swiping the Pre uses gestures for tons of things and this makes using the operating system very easy. If you want to move back in an application swipe your finger from right to left in the gesture area. If you want to copy something it’s as simple as highlighting it, holding a finger in on the gesture area, and tapping the ‘c’ key. Need to bring up the launcher? That’s as simple as moving your finger from the gesture area up to the screen. Doing almost everything in WebOS is quick and easy which is why I really like it.

WebOS 2.0 also added VPN support… which I’m still unable to get working. Maybe I’m misconfiguration something or maybe VPN is broken as it is in Android. I’ll let you know when I come to a conclusion. Apparently WebOS 2.0 also includes Wi-Fi hotspot functionality but I’ve not found it leading me to believe it’ll be coming in a future update.

So my initial impressions are good. I can’t wait to start really delving into WebOS development in the coming days. Although I don’t see the Pre 2 replacing my iPhone as a day to day phone as this point.

PK-01 V Red Dot Optic for AK Pattern Rifles

Yesterday my new red dot optic for my AK-47 arrived. The optic I ordered was a PK-01 V Russian red dot optic that mounts on the AK’s side rail. Here it is mounted on my rifle:

The optic comes fully assembled and in that camouflage carrying case you see above the rifle. I chose this optic because it has several features I found desirable. First and foremost is mounted on the side rail of my AK. I wasn’t about to pay money to get hand guards with integrated rails just so I could mount my optic on top of that large moving gas piston. The second feature this thing has that I really like is the power source, two AAA batteries. I hate having to stock uncommon coin style batteries so I look for things that use regular old AA and AAA batteries. The third major reason I went with this optic is because it sits low enough that it co-witnesses with the iron sights as seen here:

I apologize for the crappy picture but trying to photograph a co-witnessing optic with your camera phone is a pain in the ass. I’m not one to trust electronic gear fully as batteries can die and other stupid shenanigans that make the optic worthless. That’s why I like an optic that co-witnesses with the iron sights, if the optic goes down it’s not a huge deal as I can just switch to the iron sights.

Some things I liked about this optic immediately were the adjustment knobs. Windage and elevation can be adjusted while you’re wearing gloves, no special tools required. Likewise the optic is built like a fine Russian tank, it strong like bull. Supposedly the entire optic is water proof but I’m not willing to submerge this thing in water just to test that claim. The battery compartment has a rub gasket on it which leads me to believe water shouldn’t be getting into the optic. Installation and removal is dead simple as are most side-mounting AK optics.

Sadly I haven’t had a chance to take it to the range yet so I can’t give a full report on how well it works. I can tell you that the red dot can be turned up to a very bright setting through. My eyes have a terrible red affinity meaning there are many red optics I can’t see. Giving my anything besides the brightest of red laser pointers if futile because I won’t be able to see the dot. The PK-01 V has eight brightness settings and I can see the dot anywhere from setting four on up.

I’ll have more to report when I get this suck to the range, sight it in, and either put rounds on paper or totally miss (in which case I’ll consider the optic shitty as I can’t possibly blame bad shooting on myself).

HP/Palm’s Unveiling

Yesterday HP/Palm unveiled their new WebOS product line. Needless to say after seeing it I’m feeling a bit underwhelmed but am certainly impressed with some of the announcements. First HP/Palm announced two new phones, the Veer and Pre 3.

The Veer is the new entry level WebOS device. It’s smaller than the Pre 2 which I find a bit perplexing as the Pre 2 is already a pretty small phone. Specs-wise the Veer is certainly not going to blow you away with a 2.6″ 320×400 screen, 800 MHz processor, 8GB of internal memory, and a goofy proprietary connector.

The second phone unveiled was the far more interesting Pre 3. This appears to be the new high end flagship phone for HP/Palm putting the Pre 2 between itself and the Veer. The main complain I have about the Pre 2 is the screen, it’s 3.1″ with 320×480 pixels of real estate. The Pre 3 on the other hand has a 3.58″ screen with 480×800 pixels of real estate (the same as the Evo 4G).

Likewise the Pre 3 has a 1.4 GHz processor which is pretty powerful for a phone. Since WebOS is known for its multi-tasking capabilities it makes sense to dump a decent amount of RAM in it, say, 512 MB. Sadly the internal storage is either 8GB or 16GB depending on the model you get. This is a rather pitiful maximum as the iPhone can go up to 32GB and any modern phone with a microSD card can be topped off with a 32GB card. HP/Palm really should have released a model of the Pre 3 with 32GB on board. I’m actually looking forward to this phone.

The third thing HP/Palm announced was the iPad TouchPad. This device looks rather familiar with it’s 9.7″ 1024×768 screen in a tablet format. With that said the TouchPad has some unique features such as 512MB of RAM on board and a far more pathetic choice in internal memory, either 16GB or 32GB (the iPad can have up to 64GB). The processor clocks in at 1.2GHz which is very respectable.

HP/Palm did some nice things to integrate the phone and tablet. The coolest feature is probably the fact if you physically tap a WebOS phone to the tablet whatever web page you’re viewing on the tablet will automatically open on your phone. Taken a bit further this feature would be absolutely awesome. I often look up an address on my iPad and then have to retype the address into my phone when I leave. I’d love to be able to tap my phone to my tablet and have them communicate the address themselves. Likewise WebOS lends itself much better to multi-tasking than anything Apple has attempted in iOS.

HP/Palm also announced something very interesting, WebOS will be coming to PCs later this year. The idea of having a universal operating system between my phone, tablet, and computer does have a nice ring to it.

All in all I think HP/Palm had a good show and unveiled some interesting, if not overwhelming, products. I’m looking forward to seeing if they can carve out a piece of the market for themselves or if they’ll end up being a complete niche which almost nobody uses.

Good Problems to Have

This whole “constitutional carry” movement seems to be picking up speed. Wyoming has a bill moving through their legislature, a Tennessee representative just introduced such legislation in his state, and now New Hampshire has not just one but two competing constitutional carry bills:

Competing bills have been filed to eliminate New Hampshire’s license requirement for carrying concealed weapons, dividing the pro gun community. Some are lining up behind state Rep. J.R. Hoell, a Dunbarton Republican, and others behind state Rep. Jennifer Coffey, a Republican from Andover.

Man I would love to have that problem here in Minnesota.

As a side note let me just raise a big middle finger to Seacoast Online whom is the source in the NRA-ILA article I linked to. Usually I try to link to both the source I obtained my information from as well as the original source of the information. I didn’t do that here because Seacoast Online are asses. When the page was loading I saw the article for a split second (long enough to read the first sentence) before it disappeared. Why did it disappear? So the page could display a message telling me to enable JavaScript.

I use NoScript to only allow sites I trust to run JavaScript. This saves a ton of headaches online including those stupid advertisements that appears over articles in some web pages (not separate pop-up windows but inside the windows the page is displayed in) among other malicious activity. Some pages need JavaScript because they are poorly made, I get that. But when a page can display the article without JavaScript and chooses to hide it after the page completely loads that’s just inexcusable. Serious dick move there guys.