Tag: General Hardware

Mexican Drug Cartels Built Their Own National Radio System

People often complain about the lack of competition in the cellular phone market. For the most part there are only four players; T-Mobiles, Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon. Opponents of capitalism claim this is an inevitable result of capitalism when in truth it’s an inevitable result of government involvement in the free market. New cell phone providers aren’t popping up left and right because licensing spectrum from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is fucking expensive. If it wasn’t for the massive cost of licensing spectrum from the FCC the cost of setting up a national radio system would be so cheap a drug cartel could do it:

When convoys of soldiers or federal police move through the scrubland of northern Mexico, the Zetas drug cartel knows they are coming.

The alert goes out from a taxi driver or a street vendor, equipped with a high-end handheld radio and paid to work as a lookout known as a “halcon,” or hawk.

The radio signal travels deep into the arid countryside, hours by foot from the nearest road. There, the 8-foot-tall (2-meter-tall) dark-green branches of the rockrose bush conceal a radio tower painted to match. A cable buried in the dirt draws power from a solar panel. A signal-boosting repeater relays the message along a network of powerful antennas and other repeaters that stretch hundreds of miles (kilometers) across Mexico, a shadow communications system allowing the cartel to coordinate drug deliveries, kidnapping, extortion and other crimes with the immediacy and precision of a modern military or law-enforcement agency.

With the ever increasing stranglehold our government is establishing over the Internet there may be a day when we have to establish a new network outside of the government’s control. When that day comes we’ll likely have to take a lesson from the Mexican drug cartels in setting up a wireless communication system that is both cheap to create and maintain but robust enough to cover a large portion of the population. It’s also interesting to watch the ingenuity of criminal endeavors. Since criminals aren’t bound by the letter of law they can innovate in ways businesses can not, and many of these innovations don’t involve violence but technological solutions to avoiding government forces.

My Dreams of a Write Mountable Dosimeter are In Sight

Earlier this year I blogged about a wristwatch that contains a built-in dosimeter. I’ve been trying to find one of these but so far every company that sells them requires you either make a bulk purchase or they only sell to scientific institutions.

Browsing through Marathon’s website I came across a familiar face, a rebranded PM1208M. Technically it looks to be an upgraded version (the one on Marathon’s website is called the GammaMaster II whereas the one I linked to earlier this year was merely the GammaMaster) but either way I threw myself on the notification list and hope to see a message in my inbox soon telling me the watch is available to order.

What am I going to do with it you ask? Hell if I know, it’ll basically be a conversation piece. The bottom line is I have a love of cramming gizmos into wristwatches and this device does that exceptionally well.

Demand and Supply

I’m sure you know about the flooding that hit Thailand and caused absolute devastation but you may not realize how that event is impacting us here. Most hard drive manufacturers rely heavily on production capabilities in Thailand which has turned out to be a pretty bad things right now:

The brunt of the flood has since flowed south — Bangkok saw horrendous flooding through the weekend, with more than 380 dead and 2.4 million people affected. But the water remains in central Thailand, and it will take weeks just to get the water out. Repairing the facilities and replacing the equipment will take many months.

The flood took out approximately 25 percent of the world’s hard drive manufacturing capacity — but that isn’t the whole story.

Western Digital has a second large plant in Malaysia. Seagate doesn’t have any manufacturing in the flooded areas. Toshiba makes hard drives in several locations, not just Bang-Pa In. All of the major manufacturers rely on parts supplied by companies that were hit by the floods, but there are alternate suppliers in different locations.

According to the article these companies were smart enough to have manufacturing facilities elsewhere which means their production capacity hasn’t been devastated. Let this be a lesson to everybody, never keep all of your eggs in one basket. Even though hard drive manufacturers are expected to meet their production numbers this year the prices of drives have certainly jumped right the fuck up. Why is this? The same reason ammunition prices jacked way up shortly after Obama’s election, rumors leading to hoarding.

Many people are buying up harddrives hoping that they’ll be able to ask even high prices in the future. While this purchasing crazy is leading to higher prices it will only last for a short while. Still it shows how fragile commodity prices are how demand can go up due to natural disasters elsewhere in the world.

Be Realistic in Equipment Selection

While I love most aspects about the gun community, the handful of people advocating the utterly ridiculous really annoys me. On this week’s episode of Chris Rants About Random Members of the Gun Community we’re going to talk those who say weapons lights and laser sights are bad news when it comes to tactics. Over at Gun Nuts Media Caleb has a good post covering how absurd some people are when it comes to illumination and target verification. Caleb points to the following quote by a member of the gun community:

Given the warning of the light, and knowing the gun’s aiming point, this is a perfect setup for an armed intruder to edge up to the wall in a crouch, then reach around and shoot upwards. If t’were I doing the intruding, I would aim a little low, in case the gentleperson upstairs was also crouching. Even if not, a pelvic or thigh hit would ruin the defender’s day, and probably give me the chance for a few more shots.

Far better for the defender to wait around the edge of the stairwell, out of sight, listening for footsteps. [I’ve never run into a set of wooden stairs that didn’t creak somewhat.] Flashlight OFF, laser on, but covered by support hand until last moment. Even without a well-aligned laser pointer, a quick snap-shot or two at point-blank range would resolve the issue quite favorably. An added precaution would be for the defender to be crouched as low as possible [prone would reduce maneuverability excessively].

I completely agree on Caleb’s take of this quote:

I see comments like this all the time, and they drive me up the freakin’ wall every time I see them. I don’t know about you, but my position is going to be pretty effectively given away by me screaming at the 911 operator that someone’s in my house and that they need to get cops here most ricky-tick before I have to shoot this guy.

Now comes the harsh reality, while thinking up random tactical scenarios is fun it’s not at all practical. I enjoy sitting down with friends, drinking a few beers, and coming up with outrageous self-defense scenarios. Yet I know better than to take those alcohol induced scenarios and applying them to real life.

Let’s do some advantage to disadvantage weighing. Being able to see your target and verify it’s a bad guy is a great advantage. Giving away your position by emitting light that allows you to see and verify your target holds litte disadvantage. You likely won’t be dealing with Spetsnaz invading your home and if you are then you’re way in over your head and likely died before realizing anybody broke into your home.

Your aggressor is also going to be in the dark so the light that telegraphs your location and harms your night vision is also going to blind that fucker. Here’s the thing though, as his eyes will be adjusted to total darkness while yours are adjusted to the light he’ll be totally blind for a bit while you can see him perfectly. Having a blind opponent greatly increases your odds of winning a fight, just saying.

If you’re that concerned about using a weapons light because you feel it will give away your position while your loud footsteps and yelling as you bang into things while stumbling around a dark house won’t then you’re an idiot.

The First Electric Car I’d Consider Buying

While I see a great potential in electric cars from a performance standpoint I don’t give two shits about them from an environmental standpoint (thanks to you fucking enviro-nazis, if it weren’t for you I’d have no issue with the environment). I also have a soft spot for one of the most famous pieces of crap that has ever been released, the DeLorean DMC-12. Well the DeLorean Motor Company has unveiled a fully electric prototype of the DMC-12 and I really want one.

Of course I’ll make sure to recharge it with a big soot spewing coal power plant just to piss the enviro-nazis off. Seriously, if you assholes weren’t in my face constantly telling me how to live I’d have no issue driving a “green” automobile. Thanks to you my current vehicle is a Ford Ranger and my next one will likely be a Ford F-150.

Apple Displayed Masterful Mediocrity Yesterday

Yesterday was Apple’s iPhone event and I must say they have mastered the art if being completely mediocre. The only announcements they made that I felt remotely excited about were the fact that Sprint will now have the iPhone (as they’re the last carrier with unlimited data that’s quite nice) and Siri. After they finished jerking themselves off over how great their sales are, Apple’se first product announcement was Cards. Cards is an application that lets you send, well, cards to people for $2.99 a pop. When they made Cards their first announcement I knew this event was going to be non-consequential.

Apple again talked about iOS 5 but alas I’ve been playing with it for months now and there was nothing new tossed in at the last minute to make it exciting. Either way iOS 5 will be officially released on October 12th.

Next on the list of announcements was Siri. Siri is the iPhone 4S’s new voice service which is akin to Android’s voice service if it were on steroids. Let me rephrase, if Siris works it will be akin to Android’s voice service on steroids. Siri will supposedly allow you to do a great number of tasks by using your voice which is nice for those who see the need to send a text message when they’re hurtling down the highway (you know who you are, I hate you by the way). While Siri looks impressive it’s restricted to the iPhone 4S which limits its appeal.

Speaking of the iPhone 4S, that was Apple’s only notable hardware announcement (they announced a new iPod Touch, but who really cares). The iPhone 4S is simply an iPhone 4 with a faster process, better camera, and dual mode radio (every 4S is both GSM and CDMA capable). It’s not really worth the upgrade in my opinion if you’re already carrying an iPhone 4.

So there you have it, Apple’s rather lackluster event. I think Amazon won the device unveiling this month but that could have something to do with the fact that I’m a Kindle fanboy.

New Kindles Released

Yesterday Amazon had their Kindle event where they released their expected tablet device along with two other e-ink based Kindles.

There are now three tiers to the Kindle line starting with the cheapest device simply referred to as the Kindle. Although the price starts at $79.00 that includes advertisements being sent to and displayed on the device. Unlike most websites with advertisements the Kindle’s ads appear to be unobtrusive although I would still pay the extra $30.00 to have an ad-free device. This device should really be considered a dedicated reader as it lacks a hardware keyboard and instead relies on an on-screen keyboard where you use the four-way navigation button on the unit to highlight and select keys individually. So long as you don’t type notes on your Kindle very often this probably shouldn’t act as too much of a deterrent. If you really want a keyboard the previous Kindle can still be had for $99.00 if you’re OK with ads and $139.00 if you want an ad-free experience.

The next tier in the Kindle line is the new touch-screen equipped Kindle Touch. Like the previous Kindle the Kindle Touch comes in two variaties; Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi with free lifetime 3G. The Wi-Fi only Kindle Touch runs $99.00 for the ad-supported version and $139.00 for the ad-free version. The 3G equipped unit starts at $149.00 for the ad-supported version and $189.00 for the ad-free version. When the Nook Touch came out and I was able to get some hands on time with it I said Amazon would be guaranteed to have some of my money if they ever came out with a touch-screen enabled Kindle. Well they did and Amazon now has $189.00 of my money as I pre-ordered the ad-free 3G version of the Kindle Touch the second it became available for pre-order on Amazon’s website. Sadly I have to wait until November 21st for the unit to ship.

Finally Amazon surprised nobody with the announcement of their new tablet, the Kindle Fire. The Fire will set you back $199.00 (period, there is no ad-supported version) which is pretty reasonable considering the price of most tablets currently on the market. For that $199.00 you will get a Wi-Fi equipped tablet device with a 7″ screen, dual-core processor, and 8GB of on-board storage. While 8GB of on-board storage seems small you also get free cloud storage of all Amazon content which includes both music and movies offered by the retailer. Another thing that you get is access to the Amazon App Store which is really just Amazon’s own version of the Android App Market. Yes the Fire is an Android tablet but you’d never know that by looking at the interface as that has been completely customized by Amazon. While I will reserved judgement until I actually get to play with the unit I will say at first glance this looks to be the first real competitor to Apple’s iPad.

Overall I must say that Amazon continues to find new and inventive ways to get my money. I wish Amazon would put native ePub support on their readers so I wouldn’t have to use Caliber to convert titles in that format to Mobi, that is a very minor issue. It’s great to see competition in the e-reader market as well. Even though Amazon kickstarted the e-reader market with the first Kindle, Barnes and Noble has been doing a great job at releasing competitive products. When the free market is allowed to work the real winners end up being consumers.

My Insanity

It’s well known in my circle of friends that I’m a bit insane. For instance a sane individual looking for a light-weight rifle would probably end up with a nice AR-15. Of course that’s what a sane person would do and as I just explained I’m not sane, therefore I am looking at building a lightweight AR in .308. Why? Because I absolutely love larger caliber weapons. My USPSA gun is a Glock 21SF and my carry gun is a Glock 30SF because I seem to believe every handgun needs to be in .45 or bigger (except of course my 9mm, .44 magnum, .357 magnum, etc.).

Really all I need to build is a new upper receiver with a 16″ lightweight barrel as my current LR308 lower is perfectly fine (although an adjustable stock would be nice in some situations). My current LR308 has a 20″ barrel which is nice and everything but it does weigh a lot when you’re lugging the rifle around for any length of time.

So what do I bring this up? Mostly because I have nothing better to write about today and I like putting my ideas out in public for all to see and criticize.

Can I Have One Hobby the Media Won’t Shit All Over

Damn it media sources would you let me have one hobby without surrounding it with a bunch of fear mongering and demands that the hobby be tightly controlled and regulated (or banned)? Over the last several months I have become interested in lasers going os far as to design one that I plan on building later this month (from components, not from scratch). Recently Wicked Lasers released a 1W green laser (that doesn’t actually run at 1W from the reviews I’ve read) and it seems the media is already on the war path trying to demonstrate how dangerous these lasers are.

Apparently this 1W green laser is going to blind every astronaut and destroy every satellite. You know what other source of light exists that is actually far brighter than any laser? The damned sun! If satellites and astronauts aren’t being blinded by that giant fucking fusion reactor our humble little planet hurtles itself around once a year this little 1W laser isn’t going to do any damage to them either. A laser having to punch through an atmosphere isn’t going to be even remotely dangerous compared to the light given off by the sun traveling through vacuum.

The truth of the matter is that lasers of any notable power are much like firearms, dangerous if used improperly but a lot of fun and perfectly safe when used properly. Laser, like firearms, have safety rules that must be abided by and safety equipment that must be worn if you want everybody to remain safe.

Ultimately that means those wanting to partake in such hobbies must learn the rules involved. This is true with any hobby involving potentially dangerous equipment (firearms, lasers, wood working, racing, chemistry, horseback riding, etc.). Instead of expressing this fact the media decides that they must strike fear into the hearts of viewers, readers, and listeners by making shit up. This type of media fear mongering is what killed hobby chemistry sets, which used to be pretty awesome and included many chemicals that did potentially dangerous things (and thus were more fun for children wanting to learn chemistry). Similar fear mongering is what lead to innumerable laws being placed against firearms and ever continuing restrictions against shooting ranges (remember the lead from bullets will kill all the wildlife if we don’t shut those horrible ranges down).

Instead of drumming up unnecessary fear would you media outlets instead do something productive? For instance you could write a story warning about the dangers of a specific hobby and explain safety precautions that should be taken by participants. What am I thinking? Logic and help from the media? Next I’ll be asking for unicorns that fart rainbows and sunshine.

Wristwatches

I believe I’m one of only three people left on the plant who still wears a wristwatch regularly. For several years now I’ve been sporting a rather awesome Tissot T-Touch stainless steel watch. For anybody who is unaware of the T-Touch line (which I expect is most everybody) it’s a wristwatch with a built in compas, chronometer, alarm, altimeter, barometer, and thermometer. Why do I need all of that in a watch? Because it’s there!

Sadly the butterfly clasp on the band finally broke. As a guy who spends a great deal of time shooting I know the drill when something breaks; find out what broke, find out what part you need, search online for somebody who has the part, and finally have it shipped to your home. I’m learning that wristwatches are nothing like that. Due to the way the band attaches to the physical watch I can’t just go to any jewelry store and get a new band (I’ve already tried that). Even the authorized Tissot dealer in my area couldn’t repair it but instead gave me the number of the United States repair center for Tissot. It seems the only place on the planet to get wristwatch parts is from the manufacturers.

So it looks like my only option is to call the repair center and hope to Thor they will simply send me the part I need instead of making me send the watch in. As it sits right now I have no watch and thus am rather confused when somebody asks me what time it is. I wasn’t aware of how much I depend on a wristwatch in my daily life until now.