Standard nerds strike back

Oh, Portlandia.  It's downright sad and disturbing how well you understand me.



I laughed so hard I was in pain.

Aviation intelligence

Ended up going in to work about an hour and a half early to accomplish some extra work that needed to be done, so I'm pretty burned out as far as thinking power goes.  To some up my day, there are only two assured scenarios for people working in the systems portion of IT that play out almost every day:

1.  You have a time-consuming, but semi-routine project you expect to complete in a couple hours.  Upon the start of the job you notice far more problems than the initial issue that need to be resolved to complete the project, and it ends up taking up almost the entire day.

2.  You get a ticket that describes what you expect to be a serious issue that may take hours to fix, but upon further investigation, it's just because somebody left something unplugged, turned off, or screwed up a simple setting.

Now that I've got that off my chest, how about I just post something that's both massively easy and nerdy (now that's a phrase).

I love reading things that provide deep insights and critical thinking regarding DoD/Military spending and programs; along with the social, economic, technical limitations, and political implications of said programs.  Especially when in relation to military aviation.  It also gives me an excuse to post military aviation porn like this:

So, here's a list of my favorite sites/blogs that do exactly that.

http://www.airvectors.net/
http://defensetech.org/
http://aviationintel.com/
http://theboresight.blogspot.com/
http://china-defense.blogspot.com/
http://www.joebaugher.com/
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/
http://www.globalsecurity.org/

The honorable mentions:
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/aircraft/ -long dead but still interesting if you haven't read
http://michellemalkin.com/  -not really defense related at all, but still a great read.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/ -another dead website but very fascinating

The very dubious mention:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/ -Why dubious?  Well, I've noticed on more than a few occasions that although wired often runs stories on fascinating topics, they are not always accurate in their research (especially with very politically hot topics), or they are just blatantly biased to a negative point of view regardless of the topic.

So, if you're as nerdy as I am about milair, go read, enjoy, and think.  And I'll wrap this thing up with more airplane porn.

REAL common sense laws

Thank goodness I live in Utah!  So, it appears the state is considering passing a law that allows citizens of this fair state to conceal carry a firearm without a permit, provided they are legal to have a firearm.

I never understood having a standard for owning a firearm, but then having a completely different standard to pass if you wanted to just be polite while taking it with you.  Kinda dumb.  But, if all goes well, we may never have to put up with it again.  I have to admit sometimes there are really dumb stories that come out of Utah, but then I hear about things like this, and it more than redeems itself!

I hereby give this state my stamp of approval:

Found all that out via The Unwanted Blog.

Crock Blocked

Stupid day.  I dunno what it was, but I couldn't sleep at all last night, so I'm just on the verge of unconsciousness.  Getting up this morning was a chore, so much so that I'm thankful I had to dig my car out of the snow, otherwise I'm sure I would have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Work was just excruciating.  I decided to go home at lunch and try to get some shut eye.  I think I must have slept in an odd position, because now my neck is all sore and I'm still tired.

In other news, I mentioned on here a while back that I was (am still) writing a short story.  I'm somewhere around halfway done, as it seems the thing just keeps getting longer and longer.  The only problem is that I seem to have hit a serious case of writer's block.  It's especially frustrating because I already have the last half of the story planned out, but a lot of the particulars of it depend on how I kill off a particular character.  Without knowing how to go about doing that, I can't really finish writing the stuff I have planned.  All in all, it's really frustrating, and hopefully I'll come to an epiphany about it soon, because I really want to get it finished. 

EOW

Haven't heard this one in a while either, so enjoy.

Van Halen - Right Now

Impromptu ice skating

Yesterday we had an over-healthy amount of freezing rain, which is something I haven't experienced in quite a few years.  It was the kind that you have to use a pickaxe just open your car door to get in.  Thankfully, the cold doesn't stay long enough to support the ice, but sadly that still doesn't stop people from driving around like blithering fools.  Lemmie see if I have picture of it.  Oh, here we are:

I don't know what it is about today, it's not overly busy or boring, but I'm overly eager for the day to just hurry up and end so I can get some free time to myself for once in a long time.  Even though don't have any concrete plans, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be another one of those weekends where times of solitary solitude will be seldom seen.

I need to stop it before I get fired

We IT people are just terrible.  Yesterday, a coworker and I decided to conduct an experiment of sorts using social engineering simply for our entertainment.  We placed in the candy jar on my desk some glass bits that look not unlike hard candy, and decided to see how many people we could get to taste them.  So far, we're up to two.  Hopefully, no one will try to bite one.

Wish I could say there was more going on, but today is one of those days where I just don't have much to say, because there's just not much going on.

Some interesting ideas stemming from SHOT

So with all the recent hubbub from the shot show recently, the roomie and I have been spending a lot of time pouring over The Firearm Blog and the MAC channel, then discussing things of interest to one another.

The first thing we thought of was the recent announcement of multiple new calibers for the KRISS submachinegun/carbine.  Now I've mentioned my experience with it before, and my verdict on it is still a resounding meh.  However, it has proven popular enough to the company to continue development and offer multiple chamberings in the most popular pistol cartridges.  You know, the ones that everyone else has already been doing for decades. 


Image blatantly ripped from TFB

Now, we thought, "why don't these guys use this supposed recoil reducing system and actually use it for calibres that people often have recoil gripes with?"  KRISS is constantly touting that their system can handle up to a .50 BMG, so why not put your money where your mouth is and develop a variant of your weapon chambered in something a bit more hefty, that other carbines don't offer?  Something along the lines of .357  mag, .44 mag, or even 10mm Auto would really turn some heads at SHOT.  I would also like to hear if they plan on making a rifle variant of their design.  One that is in .308 or even 7.62x39 would be absolutely fascinating.

The roomie and I were also very impressed by Arsenal's new Strike One pistol.  We both noted that there is a seriously untapped 10mm auto market out there that would really benefit from a Strike One chambered for it.  Another 10mm option other than just the Glock 20 and Tanfoglio is always a good thing.  Also, where's more info on that possible 10mm version of the Sarsilmaz K2? 

Now for the things we wish we knew more about, that nobody mentioned about SHOT.  First off, everyone and their dog is still excited about these newfangled so-called multi-caliber modular rifles.  The ARX-160, ACR, SCAR, whatever HK pushes out these days, and the new (and quite nifty) MPAR 556 all got some real attention by people covering the show.  However, nobody seems to acknowledge or even mention the fact that NONE of these rifles have ever released multiple calibres in any form to the public. The only one to do so still remains as a kind of unknown.  Yeah, I'm talking about the Robinson Arms XCR again.

Still one of the best.

I'm kinda bummed that nobody mentioned that they were even there or what was new, considering it seems that's the only time Robinson Arms likes to talk to the public (seriously guys, restructure your worthless marketing dept and actually advertise! sheesh.)

Anyways, we had two really good ideas for those bums.  One, they really need to come out with some pistol caliber conversion kits for the XCR.  They already have a corner on the caliber conversion market for rifle cartridges, so why not sweeten the pot by jumping the freaking shark with it and do the standard 9mm, .40 and .45ACP? 

Secondly, as good as the XCR is, they are really shooting themselves in the foot with their lower receiver.  They need to either offer a second type of lower receiver that accepts all styles of AK magazines, or make the lower a two piece system, that can swap between AR and AK magwells at will.

Are we just being overly ambitious, or do you think these are sensible and feasible ideas? 

I finally met the Shat

It's no secret that I'm a bit lazy at this blogging thing.  Particularly when I'm actually out and about and doing things other than sitting at home browsing the interwebs.  So far my week has been nothing but theaters  productions, and concerts.

Yesterday, I went on down to Kingsbury Hall last night to see Bill Shatner on tour.  It was a whole lot of fun, and very entertaining to hear the infamous Shat tell some random stories and experiences about his life and career.  What can I say about the guy?  He's obviously a bit self centered, but also a great entertainer, and much more down to earth and comfortable with himself than he used to be, which accumulates to a pretty fun experience overall.

I also had a chance to catch a free concert of the All-State Band and Orchestra over at Abravanel Hall on the 19th, which was another really cool little event.  I ended up meeting a nice young woman who invited me to accompany her to the event, as her brother was playing in the band.  I really enjoyed the production, and they played some very beautiful and unique pieces.  All in all, it was a pretty awesome way to spend an afternoon.

Fresh out of that market

Well, last night I came to the knowledge that the Fresh Market next door is actually closing it's doors soon.  I was kinda surprised at finding out just what a loyal customer I was.  They had much better selection of products, higher quality products, better service, and was usually cheaper than the Smith's that is across the street.  I'm gonna miss having a nice store right next door, that has the really  nice lady with the Minnesota accent working the checkout counter. 

Now I'm gonna be forced to be less lazy and go to the Dicks' Marketplace a few block away rather than the convenient Fresh market next door.  Drats.  On the bright side, their death knell is definitely the sale of the century.  I can probably get enough food to last me a whole month for super cheap.

On an unrealted note, I already have read the greatest post I will read in some time over at Jennifer's place.  That woman is all class.