I've been avoiding DF for a while, just because it's an incredible time sink. Whenever I start the game up, I blink and it's 4am.
The last update left me with windmills and water pumps figured out, so after I did that, I set about draining the small arm of my moat which my anvil wound up at the bottom of. The pump works beautifully, but the water has no direction, and spills out all around the end of the pump, and back into the river I'm pumping water out of. I order some walls built to direct the water, and it manages to pool the water long enough for some helpful dwarf to hop down into the temporarily shallow moat and lug that anvil out of there! Blacksmithing, here I come!
I want obsidian so I dig channels between a small lake and the lava pool, and when they meet, they form obsidian in that square. Unfortunately, the lava and water are on opposite sides of this obsidian, and if I were to mine it out, it's unlikely I'd be able to obtain the obsidian before the water cools the lava and reforms the obsidian wall, or the miner digging out the section succumbs to the scalding steam. A challenge... I think about it a bit, and figure out a solution, I dig out a large square pool in the walled off area next to my water pump, and connect it to the lava pool. After the area fills with lava, I kick on the pump and cool all the lava in the square, and let the steam dissipate. Plenty of obsidian, all cooled and accessible without danger. Now I can get to work on those obsidian swords that traders seem to love.
With my anvil in place, I set out to figure out how to use magma smelters and forges. Unfortunately for my earlier best-laid-plans for safe lava access, the felsite stone the mountain is full of melts under the extreme heat, leaving lava floodgates are currently out of the question. Instead I isolate my lava-accessible workshops at the end of a hall lined with traps, hopefully this will work. After I get the magma forge going, I turn out my first item; a pick to replace the one carried by that miner who won the "who can breathe the most water" contest. (unfortunately in games such as that, even the winners are losers)
Worried that I might have to "obtain" some items from the traders in dire circumstances, I build the trade depot one level down, with a floodgate blocking the river, and a lever-controlled hatch to block the staircase down. I've yet to work out effective drainage, but I'm not too worried about it.
During my obsidian excavation I foul up the digging designation and create a cave-in which results in a cloud of dust which must have somehow blinded or confused my fisherdwarf, since he attempted to beat the "who can breathe the most water" high score. While the fisherdwarf wasn't carrying anything particularly hard to replace, my population is now down to 5, and migrants are nowhere to be seen. Hopefully, next year will be better.
I have yet to test if water pumps have enough power to pump water vertically. When I get back in the game I'll test by walling off the pump area with a floodgate for drainage, and seeing if it overflows. Vertical water pumping would allow for some interesting defensive mechanisms.
I also began construction of a proof-of-concept for the steam trap I concepted out. It took a bit of planning, but I think I've got a good design. If it works I'll have to figure out a way increasing the scale while making it reusable. Should be a challenge. Since lava isn't subject to the same fluid dynamics as water, it will not flow vertically up a shaft even if it's connected to a pool that have lava at higher levels. This makes me want to set up some trap doors that drop hapless foes into pools of lava instead of onto some uncreative sharpened spikes.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Quote of the Dwarf Fortress
Story found on a DF thread...
Immigrants do the darnedest things.
It started with some immigrant kid, who came with his father in a pack of 12 dwarves. Food was tight and all these new stomachs weren't helping, so I sent the kid's father to hunt straight away.
So Dad goes out and kills a deer. Nearby I guess was Bambi, who became enraged and followed Dad back to the butchery. Bambi started kicking Dad around, so of course his damn kid had to jump into the mix. Fight of the century: Bambi versus little dwarven boy. The kid got murderized so fast I didn't even see the message until I dug through the logs to figure out why everything went to hell a few days later.
The kid had a swift funeral, because nobody wants to see dead kids lying around the hallways. The fortress got back to business as usual and I figured that was that.
The next day, the kid's father must have woken up on the wrong side of his +Oaken Bed+. He threw a tantrum. I think, aww, he's just going to smash up a few barrels or something. Let him vent, the guy lost his only son for heaven's sake. He wanders the halls all day and I'm sure he's going to calm down soon.
Suddenly he turns around and beats one of his fellow immigrants to death. Wow, okay, this has to stop but I have no idea how to stop it. He starts chasing another immigrant down the hall, splattering blood everywhere. Then this peasant jumps in and finally ends Dad's rampage for good. The immigrant he was chasing bleeds to death before anybody can get him to a bed.
The peasant was badly wounded during the fight, but she'll live. It turns out that the second victim was her husband. Now she's lying in bed throwing her own tantrums, but she's too wounded to walk. I have this feeling that as soon as she can get up, she's going to do something really really bad...
Who invited these people to my nice, orderly fortress, anyway?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Confiscation and Compliance
Since everyone else is talking about it...
You either believe in the second amendment, or you do not.
You either believe that the right to protect your life and the lives of your loved ones is endowed by your creator, or you do not.
You either believe that infringing this right is tyranny against you, your children, and your grandchildren, or you do not.
You either believe that confiscation is the beginning of the end and must be resisted, or you do not.
A lot of gunnies seem to feel like they can hang out in the gray area.
"But ET! The issue isn't just black and white!"
You're right, there are many varied shades of gray.
But we're already quite aware of what happens in those gray areas.
"Safety" requirements, fees for gun ownership, discretionary approval processes, expensive training requirements, banning specific guns, banning specific ammo, excessive taxing of ammo, banning safety features, obtuse manufacturer requirements, industry regulation, etc. etc. etc.
Backdoor bans are still bans.
I don't know why everyone keeps talking about the confiscation squad surprising them in their jammies. If they start confiscating and you don't know it, you've already failed. I think the REAL question should be;
"If they said they'd start confiscating in two weeks, what would you do?"
I don't know about you, but I would hand them over with a smile on my face.
You either believe in the second amendment, or you do not.
You either believe that the right to protect your life and the lives of your loved ones is endowed by your creator, or you do not.
You either believe that infringing this right is tyranny against you, your children, and your grandchildren, or you do not.
You either believe that confiscation is the beginning of the end and must be resisted, or you do not.
A lot of gunnies seem to feel like they can hang out in the gray area.
"But ET! The issue isn't just black and white!"
You're right, there are many varied shades of gray.
But we're already quite aware of what happens in those gray areas.
"Safety" requirements, fees for gun ownership, discretionary approval processes, expensive training requirements, banning specific guns, banning specific ammo, excessive taxing of ammo, banning safety features, obtuse manufacturer requirements, industry regulation, etc. etc. etc.
Backdoor bans are still bans.
I don't know why everyone keeps talking about the confiscation squad surprising them in their jammies. If they start confiscating and you don't know it, you've already failed. I think the REAL question should be;
"If they said they'd start confiscating in two weeks, what would you do?"
I don't know about you, but I would hand them over with a smile on my face.
Waterworks and horrible smelting accidents.
don't worry, this one's much shorter. (and probably more interesting)
I was up late last night I was up early this morning playing dwarf fortress killing my dwarves.
I found a nice spot at the base of a volcano, right next to a magma pool and a rapid stream. Unfortunately there weren't a lot of trees, but it was still a great spot.
As I was getting set up, I noticed my magma pool had neighbors of the fire imp persuasion. Not sure if they'd bother me, I build a small moat to the south just to be sure. I extended to moat into the stream by digging it deeper, and with two miners working one managed to dig the ground out from under the other. He sank like a rock and died quickly. Bugger. Well, this is a good spot, and I've dealt with one miner before, I'll manage. I think briefly about the possibility of performing a (temporary) river drain to get the items, but decide it'd be more trouble than it's worth for a pick. Especially since I brought an anvil and have magma to smelt my iron.
I established my fortress quickly and built intelligently with stockpiles of items stored one level down from the workshops for easy access. I was eager to try to get a magma smelter going but realized there would be a problem. If I make an opening from the magma pool into my workshop, I'd have every Tom, Dick, and Magma Man wandering into the soft underbelly of my fortress. I think about it a bit, and figure it out. I'll carve out a small pool, then dig a drain to the magma pool and control it with a stone floodgate. That way I can pull a lever, and let enough magma in to fill the pool, then close the gate to keep it from filling my fortress with [Dr. Evil]liquid hot mag-ma[/Dr.Evil].
I set up the pool, drain channel, floodgate, and lever, then prepare to dig out the final separating wall, and quickly throw the lever. I'm not sure how fast magma flows, but it should flow slower than water, which is pretty slow already. I dig out the last bit of wall, and my miner dies instantly in the wall of heat that pushes out from the new magma pool vent. Whoops... I guess I need to cut out that last bit of wall from above... With two dead miners and unrecoverable picks I reload to the save I'd made before attempting this risky procedure, and turn my mind to things that don't involve searing hot death.
I decided I wanted to see if I could make another pick so I looked for my anvil, and found it three levels up where I started. Apparently the dwarves carried everything down but the anvil. Lazy. I remember a trick to get dwarves to move things they might not want to, and specify the anvil to be dumped in the garbage, then set a garbage zone on the ground by my entrance. I notice they're still not taking care of it, and take matters into my own hands. I order stairs built from the smelter level straight up to under the anvil. Then I realize that this would result in an anvil dropping onto my miner, and that such a thing would probably be bad, so I dig the stairs one space over, and hollow out the ground under the anvil. Just as I get to the top and am preparing to enjoy dropping this heavy item straight down several levels, I get to the top and see my mason cheerfully hauling the anvil away. Well shit. I was actually looking forward to watching that drop.
I micromanage a bit and then attempt to set up my blacksmith only to find my anvil is missing. ??? I check the item screen, find the anvil, and zoom in on it. It's in the small moat I dug. Damnit! I check my garbage zone and confirm it doesn't include any water. I guess my mason saw the anvil designated as trash and hucked it into the lake rather than take up space in my garbage pile. How thoughtful.
My thoughts turn to the possibility of draining the river. I had read that using a corkscrew pump powered by a windmill or waterwheel pumped water at an incredible rate, but I'd never set one up before. I check the wiki on how to set up the gear boxes and axles to transfer power, and place the water pump. Immediately after completion, it takes seconds to fill half the screen with water, and actually dries the river in the square below it. The pumping power is truly impressive. So impressive, in fact, I can't sleep after I quit.
I kept thinking of the possibilities of aqueducts, water towers, and giant toilets to flush enemies away. If I built walls and a floodgate around my front door, any threatening goblin or Jehovah's witness, could be locked in at the pull of a lever, drowned under a rush of water, and after they're done trying to grow gills, I could open the hatch to drain it out, and gather their items hassle-free. Then I think about the magma, and hollowing out the area under my front door, adding a few grates to the top level, and setting up magma and water floodgates on either side under ground. If anyone wanders up to my front door, open both floodgates, and the scalding steam from the water and magma mixing should vent up through the grates, and horribly burn foes. Then I think about digging out the bottom level of a spire, and holding it up with supports that can be collapsed at the pull of a lever. The idea of an enormous stalagmite falling one level onto whomever might be so unlucky to be under it reminds me of Wile E Coyote for some reason. Thinking about cartoons, I remember my anvil drop, and the possibility of setting up a pressure plate and a trap door a few levels up with the anvil on top of it. The pure cartoonish hilarity of setting a trap that drops an anvil on a monster is too good to pass up. I'll have to try it.
There's too many possibilities. This game is awesome.
I found a nice spot at the base of a volcano, right next to a magma pool and a rapid stream. Unfortunately there weren't a lot of trees, but it was still a great spot.
As I was getting set up, I noticed my magma pool had neighbors of the fire imp persuasion. Not sure if they'd bother me, I build a small moat to the south just to be sure. I extended to moat into the stream by digging it deeper, and with two miners working one managed to dig the ground out from under the other. He sank like a rock and died quickly. Bugger. Well, this is a good spot, and I've dealt with one miner before, I'll manage. I think briefly about the possibility of performing a (temporary) river drain to get the items, but decide it'd be more trouble than it's worth for a pick. Especially since I brought an anvil and have magma to smelt my iron.
I established my fortress quickly and built intelligently with stockpiles of items stored one level down from the workshops for easy access. I was eager to try to get a magma smelter going but realized there would be a problem. If I make an opening from the magma pool into my workshop, I'd have every Tom, Dick, and Magma Man wandering into the soft underbelly of my fortress. I think about it a bit, and figure it out. I'll carve out a small pool, then dig a drain to the magma pool and control it with a stone floodgate. That way I can pull a lever, and let enough magma in to fill the pool, then close the gate to keep it from filling my fortress with [Dr. Evil]liquid hot mag-ma[/Dr.Evil].
I set up the pool, drain channel, floodgate, and lever, then prepare to dig out the final separating wall, and quickly throw the lever. I'm not sure how fast magma flows, but it should flow slower than water, which is pretty slow already. I dig out the last bit of wall, and my miner dies instantly in the wall of heat that pushes out from the new magma pool vent. Whoops... I guess I need to cut out that last bit of wall from above... With two dead miners and unrecoverable picks I reload to the save I'd made before attempting this risky procedure, and turn my mind to things that don't involve searing hot death.
I decided I wanted to see if I could make another pick so I looked for my anvil, and found it three levels up where I started. Apparently the dwarves carried everything down but the anvil. Lazy. I remember a trick to get dwarves to move things they might not want to, and specify the anvil to be dumped in the garbage, then set a garbage zone on the ground by my entrance. I notice they're still not taking care of it, and take matters into my own hands. I order stairs built from the smelter level straight up to under the anvil. Then I realize that this would result in an anvil dropping onto my miner, and that such a thing would probably be bad, so I dig the stairs one space over, and hollow out the ground under the anvil. Just as I get to the top and am preparing to enjoy dropping this heavy item straight down several levels, I get to the top and see my mason cheerfully hauling the anvil away. Well shit. I was actually looking forward to watching that drop.
I micromanage a bit and then attempt to set up my blacksmith only to find my anvil is missing. ??? I check the item screen, find the anvil, and zoom in on it. It's in the small moat I dug. Damnit! I check my garbage zone and confirm it doesn't include any water. I guess my mason saw the anvil designated as trash and hucked it into the lake rather than take up space in my garbage pile. How thoughtful.
My thoughts turn to the possibility of draining the river. I had read that using a corkscrew pump powered by a windmill or waterwheel pumped water at an incredible rate, but I'd never set one up before. I check the wiki on how to set up the gear boxes and axles to transfer power, and place the water pump. Immediately after completion, it takes seconds to fill half the screen with water, and actually dries the river in the square below it. The pumping power is truly impressive. So impressive, in fact, I can't sleep after I quit.
I kept thinking of the possibilities of aqueducts, water towers, and giant toilets to flush enemies away. If I built walls and a floodgate around my front door, any threatening goblin or Jehovah's witness, could be locked in at the pull of a lever, drowned under a rush of water, and after they're done trying to grow gills, I could open the hatch to drain it out, and gather their items hassle-free. Then I think about the magma, and hollowing out the area under my front door, adding a few grates to the top level, and setting up magma and water floodgates on either side under ground. If anyone wanders up to my front door, open both floodgates, and the scalding steam from the water and magma mixing should vent up through the grates, and horribly burn foes. Then I think about digging out the bottom level of a spire, and holding it up with supports that can be collapsed at the pull of a lever. The idea of an enormous stalagmite falling one level onto whomever might be so unlucky to be under it reminds me of Wile E Coyote for some reason. Thinking about cartoons, I remember my anvil drop, and the possibility of setting up a pressure plate and a trap door a few levels up with the anvil on top of it. The pure cartoonish hilarity of setting a trap that drops an anvil on a monster is too good to pass up. I'll have to try it.
There's too many possibilities. This game is awesome.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Dwarf Fortress owns me.
I've been a little light on the updates lately. Here's why.
I heard about a game called Dwarf Fortress. It caught my attention only because it was a roguelike, which means it was rendered in beautiful 16 color ASCII.
The game was written and designed by two brothers as a side project, and is provided for free to whomever will play it. While the game is in alpha, it is apparently very playable. Dwarf Fortress seemed to have a small following and a base of players that expanded primarily due to the amazing depth of the game.
After I looked into it, I decided the game warranted further review. Dwarf Fortress is a hands-off real-time strategy game. You are something like a manager who issues orders, but has no direct control over your dwarves. Complicating this is that your dwarves have their own personality and experiences. You have to keep your dwarves happy to keep them working.
The learning curve is rather steep, and you begin your first fortress with full knowledge that all your dwarves are likely to die as the result of some silly mistake you make. Whether you dig up into a river and flood your fortress, mismanage resources and condemn your dwarves to starvation, fail to provide beer to your alcohol-dependent dwarves resulting in depression and eventual fortress collapse, forget to rotate your soldiers resulting in 100-mile-stare soldiers ready to snap and go on murderous rampages, or you could just pull doomsday lever by accident.
I read as much as I could find and found mostly partial answers with allusions to more interesting possibilities. I figured the best way to figure it out was to dive right in, and kill some dwarves. After all, the motto of the game is, Losing is fun!
The following is the long history and learning of my first fortress, it's rather long.
You have been warned.
Getting situated
I started the game and began the world creation process. This process is supposed to create an entire world based on an algorithm which creates a geologically accurate world. This system boasts real-time weather fronts that interact with eachother, accurate creation of rivers, lakes, and oceans, erosion, and neighboring outposts of friends and foes. It also generates 1000 years of history for the region, a history that you can explore in adventure mode. The process can take up to 20 minutes on a 2Ghz box (!!), and is interesting to watch, but you only have to do this once every 50 or so fortress games, because once the world is created there are many suitable places to start your fortress, resulting in a persistent world that is changed by you.
Once the world creation was complete I struggled with the location selection menu. It showed a world map, a regional map, and a local map. Once you find a suitable location for your fortress, you select how large you want your local area to be. Apparently with so much going on in the game, choosing an overly large local area will result in game slowness. I picked a small temperate area siding a mountain with plenty of flora, fauna, and water. With plenty of resources and mild temperatures, this seemed like a nice easy location to start out on.
I chose to customize my loadout and dwarves and basically copied the recommendations here. I visited this article many times during my play period. It involved bypassing the purchase of an anvil in favor of buying extra food, alcohol, and skills. Since the anvil costs 1000 points, it seemed like a good deal to me!
Where the fuck am I?
I paused the game as soon I appeared at my starting point, and took a look around. I had an expanse of blue to my right, and a strip of grass against the side of the mountain. No trees? No plants? Where the fuck am I? I remember the game is "3d" (in quotes because it's 2d with multiple levels that interact with eachother) and begin flipping through the levels above and below the one I started on. As I flip down I see the mountain area on the map get larger and the blue expanse shrink until I hit the ground covered in trees, plants and lakes. I'm on a small flat area on the side of the mountain. I specified an area to start in, apparently where I start within that area isn't specified. Well, I've got plenty of wood and food stockpiled, there might not be a lot of food, but I'll just focus my efforts on farming. At least my awkward position protects me from most of the nasties that might pay my fortress a visit, one less thing to worry about!
Getting established
I follow the "Your first fortress" article and build workshops for a carpenter, a mason, and a machinist, set up stockpiles so the dwarves start unloading the wagon, and order the wagon dismantled for wood. I designate an area to be cut out of the mountain to begin my fortress. I designate a long hallway, and two large rooms, one for sleeping and one for a stockpile, and I order beds, mechanisms (???), and doors made.
Despecialization
I notice my skilled dwarves are working diligently at their tasks, leaving only two dwarves to unload the wagon, and get the items organized. I'm sure mechanisms are important, but I don't think I need them right now. I check the labor orders for my dwarves and begin adding extra jobs for them. I don't have that muchmanpower dwarfpower, so everyone will have to pitch in. (except the miners, of course, because shelter is too important)
Irrigation and cave-ins
Everything seemed to be going well, and I had my mason and carpenter turning out lots of interesting things (that I had no idea what they did) when I remembered reading about farmland irrigation. The water in the game is subject o gravity and fluid dynamics, which meant you could dig up into a lake, and set a series of channels to divert the water to wherever you want, and control it with floodgates. Eager to try this out, I dug out a large room and set about making it suitable for farming (which required wet ground). I flipped up a few levels and saw the lake I planned to drain, I double checked my dig designations, made sure a floodgate was available, and sent my miners to task. I returned to the workshop area and ordered some new objects, adjusted some stockpiles, and did some micromanaging while I waited for the miners to finish up. Minutes later digging is still not complete, and the miners are nowhere to be found. I check the unit status screen and see the miners are under the impression they have no job to do at the moment. I remove and recreate the dig orders, but they still insist they have no job. By now the dwarves require sleep (almost all at the same time) and are snoozing in the barracks. I stare at the sleeping dwarves, wondering when they'll wake up when I notice something. I'm missing 2! I take a closer look at the farming area and the proposed irrigation channel and realize there are a number of spaces empty on this floor. I flip down a level and find my miners, cold and thirsty, trapped by a collapse. I quickly order a up staircase carved on their level, and the required down staircase to be carved on the level above. They quickly complete their task and escape to slake their thirst. After they've rested up, they mine some of the wall away, and I order a floodgate and a lever placed. The items are quickly placed, and mechanisms are used to link the two. I order the lever thrown, and a few moments later see the floodgate raise. Perfect. I continue the digging order and my miner digs up into the lake which drains into my passage at a relatively slow pace allowing my miner to escape easily and throw the switch to drop the floodgate, and stop the flow. My farming area was nice and damp, and suitable for farming. Awesome.
Trading blind
Some traders showed on the corner of the map (how they got that wagon up this high, I have no idea) and I was warned that if I wanted to trade, I needed a trade depot. I quickly built one, and when prompted to put some goods into it, I wasn't sure exactly what to offer, so I just sent a few different items of different materials in. By the time the actual trading started I noticed that the items had no values, only weights. I assumed I lacked some kind of trading skill required to properly appraise the value of the items we were attempting to trade. The traders had a wagon and could only carry a certain amount of weight. They didn't have anything I thought I needed at the time, so I just tried to trade anything to them. And failed. I suppose there isn't much value in a giant granite floodgate, although the weight prevented me from attempting to trade further. At the time it seemed odd, but thinking about it now, I guess it makes sense... "What's that? You won't trade a large, heavy, crudely carved hunk of rock for a barrel of beer?" After the traders left I noticed only one of my miners was working. I looked at the lazy miner and found he was no longer carrying his copper pick. I check the area where the channel had collapsed (which was now full of deep water) for the lost pick, but couldn't find it. I checked the inventory of every dwarf in my charge, and found nothing. I didn't think items could be destroyed unintentionally. I didn't think he could have dropped it off the side of the mountain cliff, but checked anyway. The pick was nowhere to be found! Bloody hell. My mining crew just cut in half. I guess I'll just have to try to make one myself. (when I figure out how to do that)
Saving water, wasting water
Having read about lakes freezing in the winter I made plans to divert a few lakes into a multi-level pit, and build a well above it for water protected from the cold weather. I wanted to do it once, so I planned to drain three lakes into my pit and have enough safe water to last for years. I picked a spot equidistant from the three lakes I intended to drain (though there still was a bit of distance between them and the pit), and set my digging plans and the order I'd have to go in. Digging the pit proved more difficult than I thought, simply managing the multiple levels, and digging them out without trapping my miner was difficult. He did fall a few times but he was OK. The pit was three levels deep and 5x5, and should be more than enough. I dug into the first lake and watched the water flow down the passage. I quickly sent my miner to dig through the last bit of the middle level lake bed, and somehow he got caught up and fell into the water of the pit below. Crapcrapcrap! If my miner drowns at the bottom of that pit not only will I lose a good miner, I'll lose my last pick! I paused the game and looked for a "swimming" setting that I could have sworn I'd seen somewhere else. Unable to find it, I reluctantly unpaused the game. My miner just kind of sat there so I checked his wounds and found no mention of drowning or any other imminent death. I checked the tile again and confirmed there was water in the same place he was. Unsure of what was happening, I ordered him to dig an upward staircase on his level and a downward staircase on the level above him. He happily completed this order, and went on to dig through to the last lake. wtf? I did a quick look at the water and found it had a depth indicator 1-7. The depth of the water was 2 and 3 in some places, but the hall that the lake drained through had water at 1 depth the whole way through. I checked the second lake I'd drained, which had the longest path cut to it, and noticed that the water had not even made it to the pit. I checked the depth and found it was 1 depth the whole way. I checked the last lake I had yet to cut into and saw that the lake wasn't two levels of water, it was just one level, of 17 spaces with varying depths of 2 and 3. I added the depths of each space together and looked at how many spaces the water would be able to settle onto until it made it to the pit, and fell into my small dwarf-made lake. I figured there would be 12 depths of water that would actually pour into my lake. Since I didn't understand how the water settled when I dug the first lake drain, I realized that any water I added to it would be spread out over the 5x5 bottom of the lake and the 10 spaces I dug on the same level to get to the first lake. If I'd dug it one level up, the water would stack in the 5x5 area on the first floor before spreading out over the waterway I dug. Oh well. A lesson in fluid dynamics I already knew but didn't think would apply to this game. I looked at the miner who narrowly escaped drowning and saw that he acquired a new skill, "dabbling swimmer." HA! I decided he deserved a name and gave him the name Fibonacci which was the first that popped into my head.
Migrants and regrets
Around now (I think) some much needed migrants arrived. I hoped one would be a miner and carry a pick, but none had anything but the clothes they wore. Oh well, I guess I wouldn't want to walk to a new settlement lugging a pick when they should have one anyways. (grumble grumble) With the extra dwarfpower, I started building some more workshops and assigning some specializations to the new peasants. I began work on making coal to be burned in the smelter (what ever that is) with the expectation that I'd be able to get a pick out of all this. The charcoal creation was slow going, and burned a lot of wood I couldn't replace at the moment, but I had stockpiles, so I wasn't too worried. After some charcoal was made the smelter smelter only had the option of melting down a metal object. Since I was already limited in my objects, I figured I just need to find some metal to mine.
Ore not...
After suffering through the slow-going of a single miner, I finally found some ore! I watched as it was gathered and hurried to the smelter and found I was able to process the ore. Beautiful! I kept mining the ore with the expectation that I'd be swimming in picks soon enough. I checked the smelter frequently until I saw it finish. The result? Iron bars, ready to be turned into lovely tools. I check all the workshops and see no added options, so I check the build list and find the blacksmith's workshop is likely what I need... Except I can't build one without an anvil. Wait, the guide said I had to trade for one with the traders I couldn't figure out how to trade with earlier! Crap. I was supposed to make small crafts for trade.
Last call, and the race to the bottom
I'm out of booze. I know the dwarves can go a bit without alcohol, but I can imagine it gets really bad really quickly after that. My brewer is complaining that there are no distillable items. A quick check reveals that plants are meant to be distilled, so I check the nearby mountainsides that are accessible on foot, but I can't find any plants. In the mean time, all the dwarves are blinking thirsty. There's a small lake just outside the main level of my fortress, but none seem to want to drink the water! I double check that I've designated it a drinking zone, but none of the dwarves seem interested in the water! Will they drink the water? Will they die of thirst without booze? No time to find out, I need Fibonacci to dig through the eighteen levels of mountain, and out to the forest below. As I designate the digging area, I realize that since the mountain is conical, and I'm in the middle of it, digging down to the ground level means I'll have a lot of digging on the base to do before we make it "outside." As Fibonacci digs his heart out, I'm tense as the dwarves continue to blink thirsty. Since Fibby is my only miner, I'm forced to wait while he sleeps between long digging sessions, and dwarves continue to blink angrily. I keep checking the unit status screen for signs of discontent and see the first of what I will see often in the future, "on break." The dwarves never took breaks before, but I notice they're drinking from the lake outside. Though reluctantly, it seems. Ok, they're not going to die. By the time Fibby breaks through, the breaks are wearing on my patience. There is a definite work slowdown, which is particularly difficult when I watch my brewer make the liquid of the slowdown's resolution, only to pause for a break.
Weapons of war
I get a message that says the litter of puppies the two dogs I brought had have grown into dogs. I remember I have an animal trainer among the many folks hauling plants from ground level all the way up to my food stocks, and build a kennel. He makes a bee-line to the kennel, eager to do something other than haul plants, or logs up 18 flights of stairs. I check the kennel tasks and see options for training hunting dogs or war dogs. Having had a few encounters with kobold thieves (who usually ran off after being spotted), I order a few war dogs trained, and one hunting dog. I realize I haven't been building new workshops, and place a craft workshop (for making crafts for buying anvils!), and assign a craftsdwarf. I check the craft workshop and see that I can make crossbow bolts out of wood or bone. Didn't I have a bowyer somewhere? Yep, there he was, toiling away in the fields. He actually waited to finish his task before completing the bowyer workshop. I ordered crossbows made, and tons of bolts to be made. Now that I'm accessible from the ground, I guess I need to have some protection. Just for an added layer, I ordered several stone fall traps constructed in the long hall that lead out to the world.
Goat wrestling
I checked the status screen and saw that my food stocks were getting a little low, so I ordered more farming done. When I looked at the farm, I was surprised to see no planting going on. I checked the far settings and ordered more planted, but nothing happened. What happened to my plump helmets? Weren't they supposed to generate seeds? While I tried to figure out what was going on, I looked through the unit status screen, and saw there were some mountain goats wandering around in an unreachable section of the mountain. Goats is good eatin'! I ordered a new hall dug out to the side of the mountain the goats were on, and ordered a door and lever placed so I could close off that opening if I had to. No sooner had the tunnel been completed than my ranger changed his status to hunt. Cool! I watched my Ranger head to the mountain goats, flanked by a hunting dog and a war dog, and waited for him to get close enough to use his crossbow. As he got closer, the goats scattered, but he got two of them heading toward a dead-end. I watched as he got closer, and closer, and closer... and closer? When was he going to shoot it? He cornered one goat, and got right next to it, and killed it. ??? Why would they offer crossbows if you had to be right next to them to use them? I checked the ranger's inventory, and saw he wasn't carrying a crossbow. In the general screen I noticed an option I hadn't paid attention to before, "soldiering and hunting." I opened the menu, and it offered options for how he should be armed. I selected crossbow, and noted that I didn't have any armor made yet. So how'd he kill it? I check his skills and see he is a dabbling wrestler. HA! I begin looking around the mountain and find some more goats for the ranger and ore for Fibby. As the ranger walked between hunts (dogs in tow), I noticed him stop and go to sleep on the grass. This wasn't the first time I'd seen him do this, so I checked his room to make sure his bed was assigned to him, it was. I guess he just prefers to sleep outside. Well, he IS an outdoorsman. I nickname him Campson because he camps on the grass.
Muddy water
I check on the ground level and see the walls spattered with blood, and a bolder lying on the ground. Wow. I guess some kobold thief skulked into my hall, fell victim to one of the traps, and was cleaned up by my dwarves. Maybe I should look at getting a moat in case I run into more than one foe. There's a few lakes at ground level outside my entrance, and two more one level above. This shouldn't be too complicated. I order Fibby to dig channels between the two lakes, and incomplete channels back to the mountain so they are still passable until I get the bridge completed. I order a bridge and a lever to control it made, and plan out draining the two lakes one level up, and Fibby goes to work. I note the moat is filling in more slowly than I thought, and then I remember the lessons I learned from my water pit about water depth. Oh well, I'm sure these two additional lakes will be able to support the moat. The bridge completes just as I begin draining the second lake and I get the announcement, "The dry season has begun!" Uh-oh. Well, I should have a lot of water here, and last dry season didn't even dry out the lake by my fortress. It should be fine. As the water slowly drew nearer the moat I watched the moat begin to dry out. Oh crap. I forgot how shallow my moat was. As the days pass I watch the lakes near my fortress dry up, and watch my brewer take break after break, and my drink stockpile dwindle. I'm a little scared this season will be too dry, so I specify some more lakes as drinking sites, but the thirsty dwarves are avoiding them. The dwarves on ground level are thirsty but don't seem to be drinking from the lake. The lake outside my fortress high up on the mountain is still blue, but they're not drinking out of it. I check the zone to redesignate it a drinking zone, but when I highlight the whole lake, it only lists two water sources over the whole area. I check lake on the ground level and find it only shows one water source over the whole lake! I check my water pit, and it shows 4 drinking areas! What's with this? Can the dwarves not get to the water? I get Fibby working on some down and up stairs so they can get lower into the lake because the water level is so low, but they still won't drink from it! I get desperate and get Fibby working on a straight tunnel deeper into the mountain in he hopes of finding an underground river. I check the unit status screen and pick a dwarf to see if she's thinking bad thoughts due to lack of water. When select her, I see her standing by a 1x1 pool of water along with 8 other dwarves! What's different about this pool? I check, and see the depth is 2. I guess that makes sense. Considering the lake draining left one depth of water one all the tiles it flowed over, I'm guessing that 1 depth water is basically mud. I sure wouldn't want to drink that. I remember my problems setting up the farm, and confirm what I thought, the area that collapsed when digging the farm had filled with water 6 deep since it functioned as a drain for the flooded farm area. I checked the zone information, and found plenty of water sources, so I designated it a water zone, and the dwarves quickly ran to drink. Whew.
Gold rush
Running pretty low on food and drink, the traders arrive, and I hope for food or drink. I order the trade depot filled with various crafts, and the metal bars I've been smelting. When they arrive, I find I still can't see prices, and that there is no anvil and only some plants, wood, and leather. I get back into the blind trading mode, of selecting one item of mine, and lots of theirs and attempting to trade, and decreasing the amount of items I'm trading for until I get a successful trade. Problem was, the new crafts I had didn't seem to be that valuable, and the new bars of metal I'd forged were too heavy for the wagon to take more than one of. Eventually I got frustrated and traded some copper bars for some logs and it was accepted! Well now I have SOME idea of value, and clearly, I have none. Shortly after the traders left Fibonacci discovered a chasm in the mountain. Slightly less useful than an underground river... The chasm stretches the entirety of the mountain, and I spot some monsters handing out on outcroppings on different levels, but I don't think they can fly up to my level. Just to be sure, I build a wall blocking off the opening to the chasm I'd just cut, and get Fibby working on digging around the chasm (which stretched to the north, and not the south) to look for a river. I look at the walls of the chasm on different levels and see various kinds of ore and some gems. I check the stone screen and see what the different ores can be smelted into and find one that is 20% silver! Finally, trade with some items of value! I look further down and spot a vein of gold! I immediately order Fibonacci to start digging stairways straight down to get to the gold as soon as possible, and micromanage him in finding the gold in the vein, and digging it out. I decide to dig across the chasm, and open my passage to it with the hopes that there aren't any really nasty monsters who can fly hanging out in the chasm. Just in case I double check the door is properly connected to the lever. I micromanage Fibby through digging out the entirety of the vein and notice another vein further down and set Fibby to dig it up. My smelter is going full blast (aside from the occasional break) and I decide to look up the uses for some of the ore I've found but not yet dug up, and find some ore that's 50% silver! I get Fibby working on that ore and check the smelter to find I have lots of new options. I guess there's different metals you can make by combining ores, and order some "rose gold" bars made.
Herbivores
Finding the gold was fun, but I'm still very low on food. I notice that plants are currently the only form of food I have at the moment, and all of it has to be hauled all the way up the mountain before it gets passed around. Unfortunately most of it's not making it there. To cut down on the eating time, I order some tables placed on the ground level so when the plant gatherers have to eat, they don't have to go all the way up the mountain. I still can't farm and I don't know why! Further confusing things is the fact that the status screen shows my food stores in alright shape! I look up more info on farming and answer some of my questions. The plump helmets I grew last year only produce seeds when they're processed in the brewery, and I had the dwarves just eating them! Also, seeds count as food (which explains my high food numbers) even though they can't be eaten unless prepared by a cook. I designate many seeds in my stockpile OK to be cooked, and get the cook to task, but his breaks are frequent, and his output is far to little far too late. I get the brewer working on processing the seeds into drink, which increases the seed stockpile, but the dwarves are already hungry and restless. I realized that all the plants and seeds I'd gathered were all from outside, and I was trying to plant them inside. There wasn't enough water around to irrigate some new farmland outside, so all those seeds and plants were of minimal use. Meanwhile the plants on the ground are slowly, but surely being used up. We may not make this winter. I spot some Gorillas on the unit map, and see the hunters are already on their way. I designate a few other crossbow carriers to hunting duty because we really need the meat. I'm trying to keep the food production up, and everyone keeps going on break. Doesn't look good.
Certain doom
My first dwarf dies of hunger, and I designate a graveyard, and check my food levels. Shortly afterward my blacksmith is taken by a stange mood and mopes off to his room and stands in his doorway, likely unsettling the dwarves that have to walk past him in the hall to get to their rooms. I check my supply line of plant gathering and realize they're having to gather too far out, and are getting hungry, and eating the food down there instead of bringing it up resulting in about half the production reaching the fortress level. The cook and brewer are working at full capacity, but those plants are the only thing I have for food right now, and they're getting farther and farther away. I lose another dwarf by the stairway dug into the pool by my farming plot (when I didn't know if a stairway was needed to get them to drink from it) because when Fibonacci got around to digging it, there was some poor dwarf stuck on the far side of the staircase who couldn't swim when the stairway filled with the deep water. I guess he already knew he could drink there. I caused that death by not paying attention. I send Fibonacci to cut open a path to get to the body before it starts decomposing and freaking the dwarves out with the stench of death. Unfortunately Fibonacci is sleeping from all that digging I've been having him do, and he doesn't make it before the corpse starts decomposing. My dwarves are hungry, alcohol-deprived, and freaked out. Except Fibonacci who all this digging has elevated his mining skill to near legendary, and made him a tough son of a bitch. I get a warning that the reclusive blanksmith has gone insane, fortunately he was standing IN his room instead of in the doorway at the time, so I order the door sealed, and he'll just have to starve to death, like everyone else :(...
Abandonment
We barely make it to spring, but the plants aren't replenishing, and the lakes are still dry despite the announcement of the beginning of the wet season. Constant breaks have brought work to a near standstill, and the only food being gathered is being eaten. Not a goat or gorilla to be seen. Half the dwarves blink "unhappy" along with hungry, and this fortress will not last the season. I wonder if abandoning the fortress will result in the dwarves being released into the world. Maybe I'll run into Fibonacci again. I select the abandon option from the menu to save my dwarves from starvation, and the angry, insane brawl that it will surely cause.
Losing is fun
I guess it was fun. I look forward to starting a new fortress, and actually was surprised I lasted to the third year (if only barely). I'm sure my next fortress will have much more success.
I heard about a game called Dwarf Fortress. It caught my attention only because it was a roguelike, which means it was rendered in beautiful 16 color ASCII.
The game was written and designed by two brothers as a side project, and is provided for free to whomever will play it. While the game is in alpha, it is apparently very playable. Dwarf Fortress seemed to have a small following and a base of players that expanded primarily due to the amazing depth of the game.
After I looked into it, I decided the game warranted further review. Dwarf Fortress is a hands-off real-time strategy game. You are something like a manager who issues orders, but has no direct control over your dwarves. Complicating this is that your dwarves have their own personality and experiences. You have to keep your dwarves happy to keep them working.
The learning curve is rather steep, and you begin your first fortress with full knowledge that all your dwarves are likely to die as the result of some silly mistake you make. Whether you dig up into a river and flood your fortress, mismanage resources and condemn your dwarves to starvation, fail to provide beer to your alcohol-dependent dwarves resulting in depression and eventual fortress collapse, forget to rotate your soldiers resulting in 100-mile-stare soldiers ready to snap and go on murderous rampages, or you could just pull doomsday lever by accident.
I read as much as I could find and found mostly partial answers with allusions to more interesting possibilities. I figured the best way to figure it out was to dive right in, and kill some dwarves. After all, the motto of the game is, Losing is fun!
The following is the long history and learning of my first fortress, it's rather long.
You have been warned.
Getting situated
I started the game and began the world creation process. This process is supposed to create an entire world based on an algorithm which creates a geologically accurate world. This system boasts real-time weather fronts that interact with eachother, accurate creation of rivers, lakes, and oceans, erosion, and neighboring outposts of friends and foes. It also generates 1000 years of history for the region, a history that you can explore in adventure mode. The process can take up to 20 minutes on a 2Ghz box (!!), and is interesting to watch, but you only have to do this once every 50 or so fortress games, because once the world is created there are many suitable places to start your fortress, resulting in a persistent world that is changed by you.
Once the world creation was complete I struggled with the location selection menu. It showed a world map, a regional map, and a local map. Once you find a suitable location for your fortress, you select how large you want your local area to be. Apparently with so much going on in the game, choosing an overly large local area will result in game slowness. I picked a small temperate area siding a mountain with plenty of flora, fauna, and water. With plenty of resources and mild temperatures, this seemed like a nice easy location to start out on.
I chose to customize my loadout and dwarves and basically copied the recommendations here. I visited this article many times during my play period. It involved bypassing the purchase of an anvil in favor of buying extra food, alcohol, and skills. Since the anvil costs 1000 points, it seemed like a good deal to me!
Where the fuck am I?
I paused the game as soon I appeared at my starting point, and took a look around. I had an expanse of blue to my right, and a strip of grass against the side of the mountain. No trees? No plants? Where the fuck am I? I remember the game is "3d" (in quotes because it's 2d with multiple levels that interact with eachother) and begin flipping through the levels above and below the one I started on. As I flip down I see the mountain area on the map get larger and the blue expanse shrink until I hit the ground covered in trees, plants and lakes. I'm on a small flat area on the side of the mountain. I specified an area to start in, apparently where I start within that area isn't specified. Well, I've got plenty of wood and food stockpiled, there might not be a lot of food, but I'll just focus my efforts on farming. At least my awkward position protects me from most of the nasties that might pay my fortress a visit, one less thing to worry about!
Getting established
I follow the "Your first fortress" article and build workshops for a carpenter, a mason, and a machinist, set up stockpiles so the dwarves start unloading the wagon, and order the wagon dismantled for wood. I designate an area to be cut out of the mountain to begin my fortress. I designate a long hallway, and two large rooms, one for sleeping and one for a stockpile, and I order beds, mechanisms (???), and doors made.
Despecialization
I notice my skilled dwarves are working diligently at their tasks, leaving only two dwarves to unload the wagon, and get the items organized. I'm sure mechanisms are important, but I don't think I need them right now. I check the labor orders for my dwarves and begin adding extra jobs for them. I don't have that much
Irrigation and cave-ins
Everything seemed to be going well, and I had my mason and carpenter turning out lots of interesting things (that I had no idea what they did) when I remembered reading about farmland irrigation. The water in the game is subject o gravity and fluid dynamics, which meant you could dig up into a lake, and set a series of channels to divert the water to wherever you want, and control it with floodgates. Eager to try this out, I dug out a large room and set about making it suitable for farming (which required wet ground). I flipped up a few levels and saw the lake I planned to drain, I double checked my dig designations, made sure a floodgate was available, and sent my miners to task. I returned to the workshop area and ordered some new objects, adjusted some stockpiles, and did some micromanaging while I waited for the miners to finish up. Minutes later digging is still not complete, and the miners are nowhere to be found. I check the unit status screen and see the miners are under the impression they have no job to do at the moment. I remove and recreate the dig orders, but they still insist they have no job. By now the dwarves require sleep (almost all at the same time) and are snoozing in the barracks. I stare at the sleeping dwarves, wondering when they'll wake up when I notice something. I'm missing 2! I take a closer look at the farming area and the proposed irrigation channel and realize there are a number of spaces empty on this floor. I flip down a level and find my miners, cold and thirsty, trapped by a collapse. I quickly order a up staircase carved on their level, and the required down staircase to be carved on the level above. They quickly complete their task and escape to slake their thirst. After they've rested up, they mine some of the wall away, and I order a floodgate and a lever placed. The items are quickly placed, and mechanisms are used to link the two. I order the lever thrown, and a few moments later see the floodgate raise. Perfect. I continue the digging order and my miner digs up into the lake which drains into my passage at a relatively slow pace allowing my miner to escape easily and throw the switch to drop the floodgate, and stop the flow. My farming area was nice and damp, and suitable for farming. Awesome.
Trading blind
Some traders showed on the corner of the map (how they got that wagon up this high, I have no idea) and I was warned that if I wanted to trade, I needed a trade depot. I quickly built one, and when prompted to put some goods into it, I wasn't sure exactly what to offer, so I just sent a few different items of different materials in. By the time the actual trading started I noticed that the items had no values, only weights. I assumed I lacked some kind of trading skill required to properly appraise the value of the items we were attempting to trade. The traders had a wagon and could only carry a certain amount of weight. They didn't have anything I thought I needed at the time, so I just tried to trade anything to them. And failed. I suppose there isn't much value in a giant granite floodgate, although the weight prevented me from attempting to trade further. At the time it seemed odd, but thinking about it now, I guess it makes sense... "What's that? You won't trade a large, heavy, crudely carved hunk of rock for a barrel of beer?" After the traders left I noticed only one of my miners was working. I looked at the lazy miner and found he was no longer carrying his copper pick. I check the area where the channel had collapsed (which was now full of deep water) for the lost pick, but couldn't find it. I checked the inventory of every dwarf in my charge, and found nothing. I didn't think items could be destroyed unintentionally. I didn't think he could have dropped it off the side of the mountain cliff, but checked anyway. The pick was nowhere to be found! Bloody hell. My mining crew just cut in half. I guess I'll just have to try to make one myself. (when I figure out how to do that)
Saving water, wasting water
Having read about lakes freezing in the winter I made plans to divert a few lakes into a multi-level pit, and build a well above it for water protected from the cold weather. I wanted to do it once, so I planned to drain three lakes into my pit and have enough safe water to last for years. I picked a spot equidistant from the three lakes I intended to drain (though there still was a bit of distance between them and the pit), and set my digging plans and the order I'd have to go in. Digging the pit proved more difficult than I thought, simply managing the multiple levels, and digging them out without trapping my miner was difficult. He did fall a few times but he was OK. The pit was three levels deep and 5x5, and should be more than enough. I dug into the first lake and watched the water flow down the passage. I quickly sent my miner to dig through the last bit of the middle level lake bed, and somehow he got caught up and fell into the water of the pit below. Crapcrapcrap! If my miner drowns at the bottom of that pit not only will I lose a good miner, I'll lose my last pick! I paused the game and looked for a "swimming" setting that I could have sworn I'd seen somewhere else. Unable to find it, I reluctantly unpaused the game. My miner just kind of sat there so I checked his wounds and found no mention of drowning or any other imminent death. I checked the tile again and confirmed there was water in the same place he was. Unsure of what was happening, I ordered him to dig an upward staircase on his level and a downward staircase on the level above him. He happily completed this order, and went on to dig through to the last lake. wtf? I did a quick look at the water and found it had a depth indicator 1-7. The depth of the water was 2 and 3 in some places, but the hall that the lake drained through had water at 1 depth the whole way through. I checked the second lake I'd drained, which had the longest path cut to it, and noticed that the water had not even made it to the pit. I checked the depth and found it was 1 depth the whole way. I checked the last lake I had yet to cut into and saw that the lake wasn't two levels of water, it was just one level, of 17 spaces with varying depths of 2 and 3. I added the depths of each space together and looked at how many spaces the water would be able to settle onto until it made it to the pit, and fell into my small dwarf-made lake. I figured there would be 12 depths of water that would actually pour into my lake. Since I didn't understand how the water settled when I dug the first lake drain, I realized that any water I added to it would be spread out over the 5x5 bottom of the lake and the 10 spaces I dug on the same level to get to the first lake. If I'd dug it one level up, the water would stack in the 5x5 area on the first floor before spreading out over the waterway I dug. Oh well. A lesson in fluid dynamics I already knew but didn't think would apply to this game. I looked at the miner who narrowly escaped drowning and saw that he acquired a new skill, "dabbling swimmer." HA! I decided he deserved a name and gave him the name Fibonacci which was the first that popped into my head.
Migrants and regrets
Around now (I think) some much needed migrants arrived. I hoped one would be a miner and carry a pick, but none had anything but the clothes they wore. Oh well, I guess I wouldn't want to walk to a new settlement lugging a pick when they should have one anyways. (grumble grumble) With the extra dwarfpower, I started building some more workshops and assigning some specializations to the new peasants. I began work on making coal to be burned in the smelter (what ever that is) with the expectation that I'd be able to get a pick out of all this. The charcoal creation was slow going, and burned a lot of wood I couldn't replace at the moment, but I had stockpiles, so I wasn't too worried. After some charcoal was made the smelter smelter only had the option of melting down a metal object. Since I was already limited in my objects, I figured I just need to find some metal to mine.
Ore not...
After suffering through the slow-going of a single miner, I finally found some ore! I watched as it was gathered and hurried to the smelter and found I was able to process the ore. Beautiful! I kept mining the ore with the expectation that I'd be swimming in picks soon enough. I checked the smelter frequently until I saw it finish. The result? Iron bars, ready to be turned into lovely tools. I check all the workshops and see no added options, so I check the build list and find the blacksmith's workshop is likely what I need... Except I can't build one without an anvil. Wait, the guide said I had to trade for one with the traders I couldn't figure out how to trade with earlier! Crap. I was supposed to make small crafts for trade.
Last call, and the race to the bottom
I'm out of booze. I know the dwarves can go a bit without alcohol, but I can imagine it gets really bad really quickly after that. My brewer is complaining that there are no distillable items. A quick check reveals that plants are meant to be distilled, so I check the nearby mountainsides that are accessible on foot, but I can't find any plants. In the mean time, all the dwarves are blinking thirsty. There's a small lake just outside the main level of my fortress, but none seem to want to drink the water! I double check that I've designated it a drinking zone, but none of the dwarves seem interested in the water! Will they drink the water? Will they die of thirst without booze? No time to find out, I need Fibonacci to dig through the eighteen levels of mountain, and out to the forest below. As I designate the digging area, I realize that since the mountain is conical, and I'm in the middle of it, digging down to the ground level means I'll have a lot of digging on the base to do before we make it "outside." As Fibonacci digs his heart out, I'm tense as the dwarves continue to blink thirsty. Since Fibby is my only miner, I'm forced to wait while he sleeps between long digging sessions, and dwarves continue to blink angrily. I keep checking the unit status screen for signs of discontent and see the first of what I will see often in the future, "on break." The dwarves never took breaks before, but I notice they're drinking from the lake outside. Though reluctantly, it seems. Ok, they're not going to die. By the time Fibby breaks through, the breaks are wearing on my patience. There is a definite work slowdown, which is particularly difficult when I watch my brewer make the liquid of the slowdown's resolution, only to pause for a break.
Weapons of war
I get a message that says the litter of puppies the two dogs I brought had have grown into dogs. I remember I have an animal trainer among the many folks hauling plants from ground level all the way up to my food stocks, and build a kennel. He makes a bee-line to the kennel, eager to do something other than haul plants, or logs up 18 flights of stairs. I check the kennel tasks and see options for training hunting dogs or war dogs. Having had a few encounters with kobold thieves (who usually ran off after being spotted), I order a few war dogs trained, and one hunting dog. I realize I haven't been building new workshops, and place a craft workshop (for making crafts for buying anvils!), and assign a craftsdwarf. I check the craft workshop and see that I can make crossbow bolts out of wood or bone. Didn't I have a bowyer somewhere? Yep, there he was, toiling away in the fields. He actually waited to finish his task before completing the bowyer workshop. I ordered crossbows made, and tons of bolts to be made. Now that I'm accessible from the ground, I guess I need to have some protection. Just for an added layer, I ordered several stone fall traps constructed in the long hall that lead out to the world.
Goat wrestling
I checked the status screen and saw that my food stocks were getting a little low, so I ordered more farming done. When I looked at the farm, I was surprised to see no planting going on. I checked the far settings and ordered more planted, but nothing happened. What happened to my plump helmets? Weren't they supposed to generate seeds? While I tried to figure out what was going on, I looked through the unit status screen, and saw there were some mountain goats wandering around in an unreachable section of the mountain. Goats is good eatin'! I ordered a new hall dug out to the side of the mountain the goats were on, and ordered a door and lever placed so I could close off that opening if I had to. No sooner had the tunnel been completed than my ranger changed his status to hunt. Cool! I watched my Ranger head to the mountain goats, flanked by a hunting dog and a war dog, and waited for him to get close enough to use his crossbow. As he got closer, the goats scattered, but he got two of them heading toward a dead-end. I watched as he got closer, and closer, and closer... and closer? When was he going to shoot it? He cornered one goat, and got right next to it, and killed it. ??? Why would they offer crossbows if you had to be right next to them to use them? I checked the ranger's inventory, and saw he wasn't carrying a crossbow. In the general screen I noticed an option I hadn't paid attention to before, "soldiering and hunting." I opened the menu, and it offered options for how he should be armed. I selected crossbow, and noted that I didn't have any armor made yet. So how'd he kill it? I check his skills and see he is a dabbling wrestler. HA! I begin looking around the mountain and find some more goats for the ranger and ore for Fibby. As the ranger walked between hunts (dogs in tow), I noticed him stop and go to sleep on the grass. This wasn't the first time I'd seen him do this, so I checked his room to make sure his bed was assigned to him, it was. I guess he just prefers to sleep outside. Well, he IS an outdoorsman. I nickname him Campson because he camps on the grass.
Muddy water
I check on the ground level and see the walls spattered with blood, and a bolder lying on the ground. Wow. I guess some kobold thief skulked into my hall, fell victim to one of the traps, and was cleaned up by my dwarves. Maybe I should look at getting a moat in case I run into more than one foe. There's a few lakes at ground level outside my entrance, and two more one level above. This shouldn't be too complicated. I order Fibby to dig channels between the two lakes, and incomplete channels back to the mountain so they are still passable until I get the bridge completed. I order a bridge and a lever to control it made, and plan out draining the two lakes one level up, and Fibby goes to work. I note the moat is filling in more slowly than I thought, and then I remember the lessons I learned from my water pit about water depth. Oh well, I'm sure these two additional lakes will be able to support the moat. The bridge completes just as I begin draining the second lake and I get the announcement, "The dry season has begun!" Uh-oh. Well, I should have a lot of water here, and last dry season didn't even dry out the lake by my fortress. It should be fine. As the water slowly drew nearer the moat I watched the moat begin to dry out. Oh crap. I forgot how shallow my moat was. As the days pass I watch the lakes near my fortress dry up, and watch my brewer take break after break, and my drink stockpile dwindle. I'm a little scared this season will be too dry, so I specify some more lakes as drinking sites, but the thirsty dwarves are avoiding them. The dwarves on ground level are thirsty but don't seem to be drinking from the lake. The lake outside my fortress high up on the mountain is still blue, but they're not drinking out of it. I check the zone to redesignate it a drinking zone, but when I highlight the whole lake, it only lists two water sources over the whole area. I check lake on the ground level and find it only shows one water source over the whole lake! I check my water pit, and it shows 4 drinking areas! What's with this? Can the dwarves not get to the water? I get Fibby working on some down and up stairs so they can get lower into the lake because the water level is so low, but they still won't drink from it! I get desperate and get Fibby working on a straight tunnel deeper into the mountain in he hopes of finding an underground river. I check the unit status screen and pick a dwarf to see if she's thinking bad thoughts due to lack of water. When select her, I see her standing by a 1x1 pool of water along with 8 other dwarves! What's different about this pool? I check, and see the depth is 2. I guess that makes sense. Considering the lake draining left one depth of water one all the tiles it flowed over, I'm guessing that 1 depth water is basically mud. I sure wouldn't want to drink that. I remember my problems setting up the farm, and confirm what I thought, the area that collapsed when digging the farm had filled with water 6 deep since it functioned as a drain for the flooded farm area. I checked the zone information, and found plenty of water sources, so I designated it a water zone, and the dwarves quickly ran to drink. Whew.
Gold rush
Running pretty low on food and drink, the traders arrive, and I hope for food or drink. I order the trade depot filled with various crafts, and the metal bars I've been smelting. When they arrive, I find I still can't see prices, and that there is no anvil and only some plants, wood, and leather. I get back into the blind trading mode, of selecting one item of mine, and lots of theirs and attempting to trade, and decreasing the amount of items I'm trading for until I get a successful trade. Problem was, the new crafts I had didn't seem to be that valuable, and the new bars of metal I'd forged were too heavy for the wagon to take more than one of. Eventually I got frustrated and traded some copper bars for some logs and it was accepted! Well now I have SOME idea of value, and clearly, I have none. Shortly after the traders left Fibonacci discovered a chasm in the mountain. Slightly less useful than an underground river... The chasm stretches the entirety of the mountain, and I spot some monsters handing out on outcroppings on different levels, but I don't think they can fly up to my level. Just to be sure, I build a wall blocking off the opening to the chasm I'd just cut, and get Fibby working on digging around the chasm (which stretched to the north, and not the south) to look for a river. I look at the walls of the chasm on different levels and see various kinds of ore and some gems. I check the stone screen and see what the different ores can be smelted into and find one that is 20% silver! Finally, trade with some items of value! I look further down and spot a vein of gold! I immediately order Fibonacci to start digging stairways straight down to get to the gold as soon as possible, and micromanage him in finding the gold in the vein, and digging it out. I decide to dig across the chasm, and open my passage to it with the hopes that there aren't any really nasty monsters who can fly hanging out in the chasm. Just in case I double check the door is properly connected to the lever. I micromanage Fibby through digging out the entirety of the vein and notice another vein further down and set Fibby to dig it up. My smelter is going full blast (aside from the occasional break) and I decide to look up the uses for some of the ore I've found but not yet dug up, and find some ore that's 50% silver! I get Fibby working on that ore and check the smelter to find I have lots of new options. I guess there's different metals you can make by combining ores, and order some "rose gold" bars made.
Herbivores
Finding the gold was fun, but I'm still very low on food. I notice that plants are currently the only form of food I have at the moment, and all of it has to be hauled all the way up the mountain before it gets passed around. Unfortunately most of it's not making it there. To cut down on the eating time, I order some tables placed on the ground level so when the plant gatherers have to eat, they don't have to go all the way up the mountain. I still can't farm and I don't know why! Further confusing things is the fact that the status screen shows my food stores in alright shape! I look up more info on farming and answer some of my questions. The plump helmets I grew last year only produce seeds when they're processed in the brewery, and I had the dwarves just eating them! Also, seeds count as food (which explains my high food numbers) even though they can't be eaten unless prepared by a cook. I designate many seeds in my stockpile OK to be cooked, and get the cook to task, but his breaks are frequent, and his output is far to little far too late. I get the brewer working on processing the seeds into drink, which increases the seed stockpile, but the dwarves are already hungry and restless. I realized that all the plants and seeds I'd gathered were all from outside, and I was trying to plant them inside. There wasn't enough water around to irrigate some new farmland outside, so all those seeds and plants were of minimal use. Meanwhile the plants on the ground are slowly, but surely being used up. We may not make this winter. I spot some Gorillas on the unit map, and see the hunters are already on their way. I designate a few other crossbow carriers to hunting duty because we really need the meat. I'm trying to keep the food production up, and everyone keeps going on break. Doesn't look good.
Certain doom
My first dwarf dies of hunger, and I designate a graveyard, and check my food levels. Shortly afterward my blacksmith is taken by a stange mood and mopes off to his room and stands in his doorway, likely unsettling the dwarves that have to walk past him in the hall to get to their rooms. I check my supply line of plant gathering and realize they're having to gather too far out, and are getting hungry, and eating the food down there instead of bringing it up resulting in about half the production reaching the fortress level. The cook and brewer are working at full capacity, but those plants are the only thing I have for food right now, and they're getting farther and farther away. I lose another dwarf by the stairway dug into the pool by my farming plot (when I didn't know if a stairway was needed to get them to drink from it) because when Fibonacci got around to digging it, there was some poor dwarf stuck on the far side of the staircase who couldn't swim when the stairway filled with the deep water. I guess he already knew he could drink there. I caused that death by not paying attention. I send Fibonacci to cut open a path to get to the body before it starts decomposing and freaking the dwarves out with the stench of death. Unfortunately Fibonacci is sleeping from all that digging I've been having him do, and he doesn't make it before the corpse starts decomposing. My dwarves are hungry, alcohol-deprived, and freaked out. Except Fibonacci who all this digging has elevated his mining skill to near legendary, and made him a tough son of a bitch. I get a warning that the reclusive blanksmith has gone insane, fortunately he was standing IN his room instead of in the doorway at the time, so I order the door sealed, and he'll just have to starve to death, like everyone else :(...
Abandonment
We barely make it to spring, but the plants aren't replenishing, and the lakes are still dry despite the announcement of the beginning of the wet season. Constant breaks have brought work to a near standstill, and the only food being gathered is being eaten. Not a goat or gorilla to be seen. Half the dwarves blink "unhappy" along with hungry, and this fortress will not last the season. I wonder if abandoning the fortress will result in the dwarves being released into the world. Maybe I'll run into Fibonacci again. I select the abandon option from the menu to save my dwarves from starvation, and the angry, insane brawl that it will surely cause.
Losing is fun
I guess it was fun. I look forward to starting a new fortress, and actually was surprised I lasted to the third year (if only barely). I'm sure my next fortress will have much more success.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Walther G22's 5 minute, 5 cent DIY Trigger Job
Update: After you're done with this, check the new 10 minute, 10 cent trigger job
The Walther G22 has a terrible trigger, lots of take up, and a very mushy break. I saw it as an opportunity to practice my trigger control, and got pretty good with it. After a recent trip to the range I took it apart for cleaning, and decided to spend a bit trying to figure out a cheap, reliable, effective way to shorten the trigger pull. Previous attempts had been fruitless, but this time I actually figured something out.
Here's the problem with the G22's trigger;
The trigger bar is bent. I assume this is because it's easier to release the hammer when the right side has upward pressure, but since it's bent, and the break is hard, the bar bends under the pressure resulting in the most mush you can work into a trigger without actually trying to make a mushy trigger.
I had been focusing on thinking of a way to fashion a new straight trigger bar, but this time I thought about stopping the trigger bar from bending so much.
Enter cardboard;
To get the thickness of the cardboard right, keep rolling it up until there is significant drag on the trigger reset, then make it a bit thinner. The cardboard will be very snug because it'll be pushing downward on the trigger bar, but the horizontal motion of the bar isn't that affected.
Ideally, you would use something more solid like a small piece of wood with channels cut in it to hug the barrel profile, and the trigger bar.
At this point the trigger was much tighter, but after reassembly, I noticed it was even tighter. The break was still a little heavy, but now you knew where it was going to break and it was much easier to manage.
Here's the trigger breaking point before the cardboard;
Here it is, after;
I popped off to the range to put 100 rounds through it, and found no functional problems, and the tighter trigger made my groups noticeably smaller.
Not bad for a few minutes work and a bit of cardboard...
I will of course, update this post if I find any problems with this modification. If you do this, and find issues, please let me know.
The Walther G22 has a terrible trigger, lots of take up, and a very mushy break. I saw it as an opportunity to practice my trigger control, and got pretty good with it. After a recent trip to the range I took it apart for cleaning, and decided to spend a bit trying to figure out a cheap, reliable, effective way to shorten the trigger pull. Previous attempts had been fruitless, but this time I actually figured something out.
Here's the problem with the G22's trigger;
The trigger bar is bent. I assume this is because it's easier to release the hammer when the right side has upward pressure, but since it's bent, and the break is hard, the bar bends under the pressure resulting in the most mush you can work into a trigger without actually trying to make a mushy trigger.
I had been focusing on thinking of a way to fashion a new straight trigger bar, but this time I thought about stopping the trigger bar from bending so much.
Enter cardboard;
To get the thickness of the cardboard right, keep rolling it up until there is significant drag on the trigger reset, then make it a bit thinner. The cardboard will be very snug because it'll be pushing downward on the trigger bar, but the horizontal motion of the bar isn't that affected.
Ideally, you would use something more solid like a small piece of wood with channels cut in it to hug the barrel profile, and the trigger bar.
At this point the trigger was much tighter, but after reassembly, I noticed it was even tighter. The break was still a little heavy, but now you knew where it was going to break and it was much easier to manage.
Here's the trigger breaking point before the cardboard;
Here it is, after;
I popped off to the range to put 100 rounds through it, and found no functional problems, and the tighter trigger made my groups noticeably smaller.
Not bad for a few minutes work and a bit of cardboard...
I will of course, update this post if I find any problems with this modification. If you do this, and find issues, please let me know.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Real-life tales from the other side of the Internet! Part 5
Scroll down so you can only see one new panel at a time, so you don't ruin it for yourself.
The longer I look at the last panel, the more I laugh.
Click for full size
The humor.
THE HUMOR!
The longer I look at the last panel, the more I laugh.
Click for full size
The humor.
THE HUMOR!
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Oh sweet jebus!
They have MINIATURE COWS?!
I wonder if they can be housebroken???
(ohpleaseohpleaseohplease)
I wonder if they can be housebroken???
(ohpleaseohpleaseohplease)
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Quote of the Gaming
The interesting thing to me is that most of what I hear in context to next-gen is “look at all the polys” or how “photo-realistic” the games are now. I would hope that we could use some of this amazing power in the hardware for better A.I., and I don't just mean A.I. that can kill me better. Better actors is a big challenge. Stop building movie sets and make a world we can interact with instead. These things are huge.
From Gamasutra.
I still want assassin's creed
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
Quantum Immortality
An explanation from (hilariously) HowStuffWorks.
Basically, it's like if Schrodinger's cat picked up a gun.
Basically, it's like if Schrodinger's cat picked up a gun.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Never saw all this in one place.
Ya know? I saw a lot of these things happening, and I didn't think too much of it, but seeing all these back-to-back really makes you wonder.
And now something for the technorati RP searchers; Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul!
I wait on bated breath for the inevitable pro RP comment spam.
And now something for the technorati RP searchers; Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul!
I wait on bated breath for the inevitable pro RP comment spam.
My OCD
A coworker and I were at my desk discussing a project we needed to complete, and he was struggling to describe a programming structure so he picked up a piece of paper, and searched for a pen. I handed him one of the Pilot Precise v7 pens I have on my desk.
He picked it up, stared at the blank paper, twirled the pen in his hand, and in one smooth motion flipped the pen around, pushed the tip of his forefinger under the straight metal clip on the pen top, and bent it outward at a 15 degree angle. He then pulled the pen back into a writing grip and started drawing the structure he had in mind.
I couldn't focus on what he was writing or what he was saying because I was focused on the acute 15 degree angle on my previously parallel pen.
Coworker: "We can figure the bitmasks by processing with an N factorial. Wow, that's the first time I've had to use that in years. What do you think?"
Me: "I think it took you less than three seconds to bend my pen clip."
Coworker: "What? Oh."
He bends the end of the clip back to within a few millimeters of the pen cap body, but the length of the clip remains slightly bowed.
Coworker: "There, it's fixed. Now how do you want to handle the processing for letters that have multiple permutations? I was thinking if we just wrote another hash for just the letter with the multiple possibilities, we could cheat and just process it again with the different hash."
Me, looking at the pen: "... It's not the same..."
I got over it and my mind returned to the task at hand, but as I write this I'm remembering many instances of trying to return bent pen clips to their original state all the way back to middle school.
Clearly this is my OCD.
UPDATE As we continued working, during lulls in the writing, my coworker would trace over his letters and numbers until they became illegible. I hate that.
He picked it up, stared at the blank paper, twirled the pen in his hand, and in one smooth motion flipped the pen around, pushed the tip of his forefinger under the straight metal clip on the pen top, and bent it outward at a 15 degree angle. He then pulled the pen back into a writing grip and started drawing the structure he had in mind.
I couldn't focus on what he was writing or what he was saying because I was focused on the acute 15 degree angle on my previously parallel pen.
Coworker: "We can figure the bitmasks by processing with an N factorial. Wow, that's the first time I've had to use that in years. What do you think?"
Me: "I think it took you less than three seconds to bend my pen clip."
Coworker: "What? Oh."
He bends the end of the clip back to within a few millimeters of the pen cap body, but the length of the clip remains slightly bowed.
Coworker: "There, it's fixed. Now how do you want to handle the processing for letters that have multiple permutations? I was thinking if we just wrote another hash for just the letter with the multiple possibilities, we could cheat and just process it again with the different hash."
Me, looking at the pen: "... It's not the same..."
I got over it and my mind returned to the task at hand, but as I write this I'm remembering many instances of trying to return bent pen clips to their original state all the way back to middle school.
Clearly this is my OCD.
UPDATE As we continued working, during lulls in the writing, my coworker would trace over his letters and numbers until they became illegible. I hate that.
Anti-blogroll update, and personal news.
DirtCrashr's blog, Anthroblogogy - on the brink of civilization, or off the edge... has been added to my jobbie on the right column.
Lately, work has been sucking up my blogging zeal, leaving me a dried husk of a blogger. Unable to write, I've been reading DirtCrashr's blog, and have found it to be thoroughly worth your time. His more serious posts are ripe with snark and written in a pithy cadence, and I enjoy that he still takes time to post off-beat or personal posts to keep things unexpected and light.
After I'm done with these projects(sssssssss) I'll head back to the beginning and read it all the way through, because I think it deserves it.
In other personal news, I'm cordite deprived. I'm trying my best to save money, and am have difficulty justifying turning some of that spendin' money into noise and smoke. Sure, I've got a membership to a very local indoor range, and I could just shoot my 22 for trigger practice and cheap cheap ammo, <3 year old>but I don't wanna!</3 year old> I want to shoot my M39, and I want to shoot my .45, and .45 is too damn expensive to justify, and the only place I can shoot my cheap 7.62x54r is two hours away. How can it be that I can't shoot my rifles in peace anywhere within 100 miles?! BLaRGh. I guess I just find something lacking from my 22. Maybe I should take the scope off. Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I'll do that then. Additionally, I've been thinking about Enfields for a while now. I fear I may have caught the milsurp bug. I probably got it from the last gun show... I'd forgotten about the Enfields for a bit, but yesterday Carteach0 had a video from discovery's top 10 battle rifles show, and I couldn't help but watch the Enfield video. Also, we watched Castles in the Sky, and the soldiers are all so obviously armed with Enfields.
Lately, work has been sucking up my blogging zeal, leaving me a dried husk of a blogger. Unable to write, I've been reading DirtCrashr's blog, and have found it to be thoroughly worth your time. His more serious posts are ripe with snark and written in a pithy cadence, and I enjoy that he still takes time to post off-beat or personal posts to keep things unexpected and light.
After I'm done with these projects(sssssssss) I'll head back to the beginning and read it all the way through, because I think it deserves it.
In other personal news, I'm cordite deprived. I'm trying my best to save money, and am have difficulty justifying turning some of that spendin' money into noise and smoke. Sure, I've got a membership to a very local indoor range, and I could just shoot my 22 for trigger practice and cheap cheap ammo, <3 year old>but I don't wanna!</3 year old> I want to shoot my M39, and I want to shoot my .45, and .45 is too damn expensive to justify, and the only place I can shoot my cheap 7.62x54r is two hours away. How can it be that I can't shoot my rifles in peace anywhere within 100 miles?! BLaRGh. I guess I just find something lacking from my 22. Maybe I should take the scope off. Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I'll do that then. Additionally, I've been thinking about Enfields for a while now. I fear I may have caught the milsurp bug. I probably got it from the last gun show... I'd forgotten about the Enfields for a bit, but yesterday Carteach0 had a video from discovery's top 10 battle rifles show, and I couldn't help but watch the Enfield video. Also, we watched Castles in the Sky, and the soldiers are all so obviously armed with Enfields.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Free health care is very expensive.
The Armed Canadian relates his experiences with "free" health care.
Save the link for your favorite "Don't be so heartless!" lib.
Save the link for your favorite "Don't be so heartless!" lib.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Overheard at work
Coworker: "This guy was a piece of work. He wasn't a douchebag, he was captain douchebag."
Everyone: Laughter
Me: "He was a 5th degree douchebag."
Everyone: Laughter
Coworker: "He meditated on top of a mountain."
Everyone: Laughter
Me: "He lived in a monastery for 7 years."
Everyone: Laughter
Coworker: "He attained douchebag enlightenment, and wanders the Earth as a aesthetic, spreading douche across the world."
Everyone: Hysterical laughter
Everyone: Laughter
Me: "He was a 5th degree douchebag."
Everyone: Laughter
Coworker: "He meditated on top of a mountain."
Everyone: Laughter
Me: "He lived in a monastery for 7 years."
Everyone: Laughter
Coworker: "He attained douchebag enlightenment, and wanders the Earth as a aesthetic, spreading douche across the world."
Everyone: Hysterical laughter
Tip for Perl coders
Do NOT use a function that decreases the readability of your code (WITHOUT COMMENTS) because it's fractions of a millisecond faster than a more readable function.
PERL IS QUICK AND DIRTY.
PERL IS AN INTERPRETED LANGUAGE.
PERL IS NOT THAT FAST.
IF YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT FRACTIONS OF A MILLISECOND GO PLAY WITH C.
That is all.
PERL IS QUICK AND DIRTY.
PERL IS AN INTERPRETED LANGUAGE.
PERL IS NOT THAT FAST.
IF YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT FRACTIONS OF A MILLISECOND GO PLAY WITH C.
That is all.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Quote of the impact
Have no illusions–gun control is about rich white folks making vain efforts at denying Hispanics and African Americans weapons by way of taking them away from whites, blacks, and every shade in between. It’s punishing all drivers because of the limited few who repeatedly drive and get caught with a BAC of 0.19 . It’s telling Arabs around the world they can’t fly on airplanes because of 19 crazed idiots. It’s denying you and me a glass of beer because Britney Spears can’t control herself. It’s telling glaucoma patients they can’t smoke a joint because crack dealers are killing people.
It’s what you do instead of something.
From Pro-Gun Progressive.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Better RDP brute forcing
Win.
I hated TS grinder with a passion.
UPDATE
Bugger. Seems it can't cope with a GP "Legal Notice" (banner). Oh well, it's still good.
I hated TS grinder with a passion.
UPDATE
Bugger. Seems it can't cope with a GP "Legal Notice" (banner). Oh well, it's still good.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Overheard at work
I walked outside into the smoke and ash of Irvine to find two coworkers smoking. I walked up to them and began coughing loudly.
Me: "Excuse me, could you put that out?"
Everyone: Laughter
Coworker: "Actually, you should be sucking on one of these, at least these are filtered!
But seriously, socal is on fire, and it's working its way up. We're having power outages all around us all the way up in Irvine. Meanwhile everyone is being advised to pack their shit or voluntarily evacuate.
Tough times.
Me: "Excuse me, could you put that out?"
Everyone: Laughter
Coworker: "Actually, you should be sucking on one of these, at least these are filtered!
But seriously, socal is on fire, and it's working its way up. We're having power outages all around us all the way up in Irvine. Meanwhile everyone is being advised to pack their shit or voluntarily evacuate.
Tough times.
Cocking hammers and big red noses
I was watching Dexter last night (which is a series I enjoy greatly, and would recommend to anyone) and there was a scene where two former Army rangers drew pistols into a Mexican Mexican-American stand off. One had a double-action Beretta M9 style pistol, and the other had a 1911 single-action. While the scene was meant to be quite intense, I couldn't help but notice that the Ranger with the 1911 neglected to cock the hammer. The trigger was very clearly a single-action, so I couldn't even excuse it as possibly being one of those blasphemous double-action 1911s.
I immediately slipped back into gunny mode and mentioned matter-of-factly to my significant other that the hammer was not cocked, which made the offending pistol about as useful as a large squeaky toy.
Of course, immediately after I said this, I realized that it really didn't matter because it was just TV.
After thinking about this I've decided it's OK to be bothered by it. All forms of cinematic entertainment requires you maintain some level of suspension of disbelief. It is the job of the directors, actors, and writers to make you believe what is happening on the screen, and thusly, be emotionally affected by what's happening. Any glaring inconsistencies disrupt this, and remove emotional attachment to the characters on the screen by reminding the audience that what they are watching is not real.
While it is possible to simply ignore inconsistencies like this, it's still a distraction.
For example; suppose a main character was about to go off to fight the climactic battle, one which he was unlikely to return from, and a supporting character suggested he wear a big red clown nose for luck.
The story wouldn't change, and when he's on his deathbed soliloquizing about his life, you may still be moved, but that wouldn't keep your eyes from darting between this dying grip on his loved ones and the silly red nose on his face.
The most annoying part of all this is that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know this stuff. I don't know everything about guns, in fact, I only started really learning about guns a few years ago, but I still know this stuff. It wouldn't take much for of the crew members to pool their acquaintances and find someone who knows something about guns and just have them sit around and remind them that single-action guns need to have their hammers cocked, or that a glock doesn't make a hammer cocking sound because it doesn't have a hammer.
Of course, this can extend beyond entertainment.
I immediately slipped back into gunny mode and mentioned matter-of-factly to my significant other that the hammer was not cocked, which made the offending pistol about as useful as a large squeaky toy.
Of course, immediately after I said this, I realized that it really didn't matter because it was just TV.
After thinking about this I've decided it's OK to be bothered by it. All forms of cinematic entertainment requires you maintain some level of suspension of disbelief. It is the job of the directors, actors, and writers to make you believe what is happening on the screen, and thusly, be emotionally affected by what's happening. Any glaring inconsistencies disrupt this, and remove emotional attachment to the characters on the screen by reminding the audience that what they are watching is not real.
While it is possible to simply ignore inconsistencies like this, it's still a distraction.
For example; suppose a main character was about to go off to fight the climactic battle, one which he was unlikely to return from, and a supporting character suggested he wear a big red clown nose for luck.
The story wouldn't change, and when he's on his deathbed soliloquizing about his life, you may still be moved, but that wouldn't keep your eyes from darting between this dying grip on his loved ones and the silly red nose on his face.
The most annoying part of all this is that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know this stuff. I don't know everything about guns, in fact, I only started really learning about guns a few years ago, but I still know this stuff. It wouldn't take much for of the crew members to pool their acquaintances and find someone who knows something about guns and just have them sit around and remind them that single-action guns need to have their hammers cocked, or that a glock doesn't make a hammer cocking sound because it doesn't have a hammer.
Of course, this can extend beyond entertainment.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Double quotes
Both from Larry Correia who is now in my bookmarks for blogs I need to read more often.
The problem with this is that most of America’s knowledge about guns comes from watching movies. Where if I shoot somebody with a .45, they fly backwards out the window, do a flip, roll fifty feet, and burst into flames.
To put this in perspective, when you shoot somebody in self defense, the goal isn’t necessarily to kill them, it is to stop them. You want the bad guy to stop doing whatever it is they are doing that caused you go pull a gun in the first place. Live or die is really irrelevant. You want them to leave you alone. Sadly, the best way to make somebody leave you alone is to shoot them in their vital organs, and that often results in the bad guy’s death. But that’s his problem, not yours.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
I want to throw up.
Video pulled from youtube, catch it on liveleak
I don't use the "C" word very often because I think it's a profanity that can't be used lightly (as most of my profanity is), but as I was watching this video I surprised myself when I called her by that word out loud.
At least that horrible woman got suspended for her "investigative" journalism.
I don't use the "C" word very often because I think it's a profanity that can't be used lightly (as most of my profanity is), but as I was watching this video I surprised myself when I called her by that word out loud.
At least that horrible woman got suspended for her "investigative" journalism.
Zero Punctuation on the Orange box
Yahtzee is back this week with a timely review of The Orange Box.
timely only because I recently purchased it
I wasn't that interested in the orange box until I became aware that it included Half-Life 2 and Episode 1 in addition to Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. I pushed off buying HL2 (painfully) because I simply couldn't see spending a small fortune getting a gaming box up to spec when it was just so I could play an entertaining game.
Meanwhile back in 2004; Half-Life 2 is very impressive in all aspects and stays very true to Half-Life's gameplay, scale, realism, style, length, and breadth. (and actually plays
Oh yeah, and Portal is a hilariously awesome, mind-bending game that is awesome. Did I mention it's awesome? But seriously, it's awesome.
Rich old white guys
We got into an minor debate at work, and my opponent opined that the founding fathers were simply rich white guys who stood to make money from a war because wars always bring money.
He is misguided on a few points, but this was totally off.
I dug up this old video and sent him the link.
He is misguided on a few points, but this was totally off.
I dug up this old video and sent him the link.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
California's second foot in the door.
Recently our Governator (R) (D) passed AB 1471 and AB 821, the microstamping and "lead ammo ban" bills.
For those who might not be up on our governor, he has been slipping for quite some time now, but he was still keeping do nothing feel good legislation from becoming law. I guess that is no longer the case. I must, however, commend him for putting his signature on them. Many thought he'd just let them sit until they were law. He wanted people to know exactly where he stood on the issue. Thanks Arnie. Now we all know.
For as misguided and heavy-handed as these bills are, they are not the end of the world. In fact there are several provisions that severely limit their applications. Microstamping requires that all patent issues be resolved, and grandfathers previously "safe listed" handguns to allow their continued purchase. The lead ammo ban is limited only to ammo used while hunting, and only effects certain areas of California.
The bills in their approved state are not that terrible. What they will become, however, is a whole other animal.
This was the second foot in the door to the complete ban of handguns, and then, guns. The first was the establishment of the "safe" handgun list, which required handguns to have certain safety features, and be submitted for testing and approval in California. Californians can only purchase a percentage of handguns on the market.
Anti-gunners are not interested in challenging the ownership of guns in California, they're having much more success imposing "common sense" restrictions. Most Californians who don't own firearms don't seem to be opposed to other law-abiding Californians owning firearms. This is probably why a simple ban was never proposed. Antis found that they could attract a lot more support for their bills if they simply proposed "safety restrictions." Who wouldn't want a safety feature, right? No big deal, right? Not quite. The new safety features made it harder for manufacturers to comply. Many simply eschewed California's market as too complicated and dangerous for them to get involved in. Some stuck through, and jumped through all the hoops to get their handguns approved for sale in California. Now they're adding more "safety restrictions." Who wouldn't want a safety feature, right? Eventually they'll make it economically inviable to sell handguns in California.
Handguns won't be banned. You just won't be able to buy them.
The lead ammo ban passing was a surprise to many, but some expressed nonchalance on California gun forums. "The ban only applies to hunters? Haha! Now the Fudds know how it feels!" Indeed. Yet again we find ourselves playing right into the anti's divide and conquer efforts. Somehow many in the gun community (hopefully a shrinking group) feel that the goal of anti-gunners is to oppress one group of gun owners while leaving the other alone. People keep talking about hanging separately, but some folks just don't get it. Your semi-auto rifle is an "assault rifle," and your deer rifle is a "sniper rifle." Anti-gunners are anti-gunners. They're not "anti-hunters" or "anti-recreational shooters" they are anti guns, and they want to get rid of them, big or small, fast or slow, new or old, black or wood. We'd have enormous political power as a group if we'd only get this idea through our collective skull. But all this has been said, many times before. Unfortunately, I don't think anything short of a ban on semi-autos and scoped rifles will ever really unite the gun community.
Please excuse my sarcasm in the next section, but just as there is a rift between hunters and shooters, there is a rift between California gun owners and non-Californian gun owners. I know this does not represent every non-Californian, but I think it needs to be said.
But, what does this mean to gun owning NON-Californians? Oh, nothing. It isn't as though California is the testing ground for laws such as these before they get picked up by other states, and then proposed federally. No, don't worry about that, just keep hoping that Commie-fornia will break off from America and fall into the ocean. Move along, nothing to see here... Oh wait... Whoops.
But hey, I'm sure it won't make it. That never happens.
Gun control doesn't work.
Gun control doesn't work.
Gun control doesn't work.
It's not about me keeping my guns, or any "cold dead hands" bullshit, gun control simply does not work on any level.
I'm really disgusted with this whole thing. This post seems a bit sub-par to me, but I don't feel like going over it again and giving it more unity, because I just don't want to have to reread it.
For those who might not be up on our governor, he has been slipping for quite some time now, but he was still keeping do nothing feel good legislation from becoming law. I guess that is no longer the case. I must, however, commend him for putting his signature on them. Many thought he'd just let them sit until they were law. He wanted people to know exactly where he stood on the issue. Thanks Arnie. Now we all know.
For as misguided and heavy-handed as these bills are, they are not the end of the world. In fact there are several provisions that severely limit their applications. Microstamping requires that all patent issues be resolved, and grandfathers previously "safe listed" handguns to allow their continued purchase. The lead ammo ban is limited only to ammo used while hunting, and only effects certain areas of California.
The bills in their approved state are not that terrible. What they will become, however, is a whole other animal.
This was the second foot in the door to the complete ban of handguns, and then, guns. The first was the establishment of the "safe" handgun list, which required handguns to have certain safety features, and be submitted for testing and approval in California. Californians can only purchase a percentage of handguns on the market.
Anti-gunners are not interested in challenging the ownership of guns in California, they're having much more success imposing "common sense" restrictions. Most Californians who don't own firearms don't seem to be opposed to other law-abiding Californians owning firearms. This is probably why a simple ban was never proposed. Antis found that they could attract a lot more support for their bills if they simply proposed "safety restrictions." Who wouldn't want a safety feature, right? No big deal, right? Not quite. The new safety features made it harder for manufacturers to comply. Many simply eschewed California's market as too complicated and dangerous for them to get involved in. Some stuck through, and jumped through all the hoops to get their handguns approved for sale in California. Now they're adding more "safety restrictions." Who wouldn't want a safety feature, right? Eventually they'll make it economically inviable to sell handguns in California.
Handguns won't be banned. You just won't be able to buy them.
The lead ammo ban passing was a surprise to many, but some expressed nonchalance on California gun forums. "The ban only applies to hunters? Haha! Now the Fudds know how it feels!" Indeed. Yet again we find ourselves playing right into the anti's divide and conquer efforts. Somehow many in the gun community (hopefully a shrinking group) feel that the goal of anti-gunners is to oppress one group of gun owners while leaving the other alone. People keep talking about hanging separately, but some folks just don't get it. Your semi-auto rifle is an "assault rifle," and your deer rifle is a "sniper rifle." Anti-gunners are anti-gunners. They're not "anti-hunters" or "anti-recreational shooters" they are anti guns, and they want to get rid of them, big or small, fast or slow, new or old, black or wood. We'd have enormous political power as a group if we'd only get this idea through our collective skull. But all this has been said, many times before. Unfortunately, I don't think anything short of a ban on semi-autos and scoped rifles will ever really unite the gun community.
Please excuse my sarcasm in the next section, but just as there is a rift between hunters and shooters, there is a rift between California gun owners and non-Californian gun owners. I know this does not represent every non-Californian, but I think it needs to be said.
But, what does this mean to gun owning NON-Californians? Oh, nothing. It isn't as though California is the testing ground for laws such as these before they get picked up by other states, and then proposed federally. No, don't worry about that, just keep hoping that Commie-fornia will break off from America and fall into the ocean. Move along, nothing to see here... Oh wait... Whoops.
Similar federal legislation is being drafted by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
But hey, I'm sure it won't make it. That never happens.
Gun control doesn't work.
Gun control doesn't work.
Gun control doesn't work.
It's not about me keeping my guns, or any "cold dead hands" bullshit, gun control simply does not work on any level.
I'm really disgusted with this whole thing. This post seems a bit sub-par to me, but I don't feel like going over it again and giving it more unity, because I just don't want to have to reread it.
Monday, October 15, 2007
To know fish.
One day a Zen master and his friend were walking near a river.
The Zen master gazed into the river and said, "Look at the fish swimming around; they are really enjoying themselves."
"But, you are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are enjoying themselves."
"You are not me," said replied the Zen master. "So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?"
The Zen master gazed into the river and said, "Look at the fish swimming around; they are really enjoying themselves."
"But, you are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are enjoying themselves."
"You are not me," said replied the Zen master. "So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?"
Brilliant idea.
Windbelt, Cheap Generator Alternative, Set to Power Third World
Check out the video. It's quite impressive.
Check out the video. It's quite impressive.
Friday, October 12, 2007
The Red Top
Please enjoy this silly short story. Every once something will happen, and I'll get an itch to write one. Best read as a voice over to a film noir. Loosely based on actual events :)
My eyes shot open to the piercing ring of an old telephone. I wasn't that old, but I was old enough to know that the ringtone captured the actual ring of an old rotary pretty well. It even had that faint ringing that persisted between rings. It was a shrill assault. But that's why I liked it. I was a private eye.
It was morning, and I caught an 11 on the clock as my body twisted in the cold bed to silence the noisy assailant. I was late. Again. Which meant I knew who would be calling. It would be Denise, and she would be angry. As I turned the phone over in my hand I silenced it and brought the screen close to my face. It was Denise. I sat up in bed and winced at old pains as I prepared to endure the new one in my hand. I pressed "Talk."
I wasn't prepared for what was coming out of the phone, so it took me a second to adjust. She wasn't yelling, but she was taking fast, and there was a lot of background noise.
"--rice! pep--- ---overs ref--- bottom!"
I don't like it when people call me when they can't talk.
"Denise, I can't hear--"
"It's--- red top-- wit--- bottom shelf."
"Denise, call me ba--"
"Can't-- need-- --Got it?"
"Denise! I can barely--"
"---Got it?!"
"Red top, bottom shelf."
*click*
What the hell?
It wasn't like her to skip an opportunity to yell at me. Denise didn't sound like she was in the office. She didn't even sound like Denise. What the hell was she talking about? Women.
The cold shower woke me up quickly. It always did. I stopped taking hot showers about two years ago. Ever since our hot water heater was stolen. Who the hell steals a hot water heater?
My stomach groaned as I finished dressing. It was empty, but that's not why it protested. It objected to the thought of yet another pot of bland instant ramen. It would rather go hungry.
At least we were on the same page.
I tried not to think about the strange call I got from Denise as I walked the four blocks to the office. The more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. She didn't usually make those kinds of annoying calls. Maybe it was my imagination, but she sounded a bit frantic. I figured my questions would be answered as soon as I checked the thing with the red top on the bottom shelf. Whatever it was. My stomach indulged in the thought that she was talking about the refrigerator. Denise hated leftovers so whenever she went out and had some food left, she usually brought it in for me. She was a doll. She was my only partner on this private eye farce of mine.
I hated that we had no work, but I hated more that I couldn't afford to pay her this week. It was a punch in the gut when she told me. I told her to go home, but she just ignored me. She said if she left I'd be closed up inside a month because I couldn't manage my way out of a paper bag. She said she'd have to go find a real job with a real boss who wasn't the bum I was. Then she sat down, pointed to my office, and yelled at me for still having unread prospects on my desk. Like I said, she was a doll.
The blinds were closed behind the large glass window on the office door. Denise usually opens them when she's in. I saw her car, so I figured she was down at that horrible deli on 22nd she likes for some damned reason. With the white blinds as a background the painting on the glass stood out. A magnifying glass over an eye, and "Sal Jacks, Private Eye" below it. It was too cliché for my tastes, but Denise liked it and it got the job done. I dug my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door.
The place had been tossed. It didn't look professional, just two or three Billys knocking everything onto the floor. Either looking for something or looking to leave a message.
"Huh." I hung my coat.
If I was lucky Denise would walk through door with a deli bag in her hand. But I'm not a lucky guy.
I looked across the office and spotted that red top Denise told me about. Leftovers in some tupperware lying on the floor next an open box of baking soda in front of the empty refrigerator. It looked like some kid of rice dish. She was a doll. Now I just gotta get her back.
I opened the door to my office and stepped over the broken glass on the floor. At least I didn't see any blood. But I didn't see any notes either. I tossed the tupperware onto my desk and dropped into my chair. The top drawer on my desk was open and empty. "Ahh, not my cigars..." I pulled the short cigarette out of my mouth, and opened the tupperware. Rice with ground beef and what looked like tomato sauce. This didn't seem right. They've got Denise and I've got nothing. Where's the threat? Where's the brick wall Billy to work me over and tell me what mess I'm in now? Where's the nasty phone call telling me I'll "never see her again unless"? This didn't seem right.
The worst part was, I couldn't do a damn thing until I got a knock on my door or a phone call. Well, that's not entirely true. I picked up the plastic fork.
The food was great, and my stomach was full. Maybe now I could figure out what the hell is going on. The phone rang. Finally.
It was the cops. Denise was dead.
Fell off a bridge. They didn't mention why she walked 11 miles from the office, wandered out to the middle of the bridge and tripped over the edge. They never did.
She was murdered. And the only clue I had was working its way through my lower intestine.
My stomach turned as I though about the cold entrée I had so carelessly eaten.
An entrée of trouble.
My eyes shot open to the piercing ring of an old telephone. I wasn't that old, but I was old enough to know that the ringtone captured the actual ring of an old rotary pretty well. It even had that faint ringing that persisted between rings. It was a shrill assault. But that's why I liked it. I was a private eye.
It was morning, and I caught an 11 on the clock as my body twisted in the cold bed to silence the noisy assailant. I was late. Again. Which meant I knew who would be calling. It would be Denise, and she would be angry. As I turned the phone over in my hand I silenced it and brought the screen close to my face. It was Denise. I sat up in bed and winced at old pains as I prepared to endure the new one in my hand. I pressed "Talk."
I wasn't prepared for what was coming out of the phone, so it took me a second to adjust. She wasn't yelling, but she was taking fast, and there was a lot of background noise.
"--rice! pep--- ---overs ref--- bottom!"
I don't like it when people call me when they can't talk.
"Denise, I can't hear--"
"It's--- red top-- wit--- bottom shelf."
"Denise, call me ba--"
"Can't-- need-- --Got it?"
"Denise! I can barely--"
"---Got it?!"
"Red top, bottom shelf."
*click*
What the hell?
It wasn't like her to skip an opportunity to yell at me. Denise didn't sound like she was in the office. She didn't even sound like Denise. What the hell was she talking about? Women.
The cold shower woke me up quickly. It always did. I stopped taking hot showers about two years ago. Ever since our hot water heater was stolen. Who the hell steals a hot water heater?
My stomach groaned as I finished dressing. It was empty, but that's not why it protested. It objected to the thought of yet another pot of bland instant ramen. It would rather go hungry.
At least we were on the same page.
I tried not to think about the strange call I got from Denise as I walked the four blocks to the office. The more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. She didn't usually make those kinds of annoying calls. Maybe it was my imagination, but she sounded a bit frantic. I figured my questions would be answered as soon as I checked the thing with the red top on the bottom shelf. Whatever it was. My stomach indulged in the thought that she was talking about the refrigerator. Denise hated leftovers so whenever she went out and had some food left, she usually brought it in for me. She was a doll. She was my only partner on this private eye farce of mine.
I hated that we had no work, but I hated more that I couldn't afford to pay her this week. It was a punch in the gut when she told me. I told her to go home, but she just ignored me. She said if she left I'd be closed up inside a month because I couldn't manage my way out of a paper bag. She said she'd have to go find a real job with a real boss who wasn't the bum I was. Then she sat down, pointed to my office, and yelled at me for still having unread prospects on my desk. Like I said, she was a doll.
The blinds were closed behind the large glass window on the office door. Denise usually opens them when she's in. I saw her car, so I figured she was down at that horrible deli on 22nd she likes for some damned reason. With the white blinds as a background the painting on the glass stood out. A magnifying glass over an eye, and "Sal Jacks, Private Eye" below it. It was too cliché for my tastes, but Denise liked it and it got the job done. I dug my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door.
The place had been tossed. It didn't look professional, just two or three Billys knocking everything onto the floor. Either looking for something or looking to leave a message.
"Huh." I hung my coat.
If I was lucky Denise would walk through door with a deli bag in her hand. But I'm not a lucky guy.
I looked across the office and spotted that red top Denise told me about. Leftovers in some tupperware lying on the floor next an open box of baking soda in front of the empty refrigerator. It looked like some kid of rice dish. She was a doll. Now I just gotta get her back.
I opened the door to my office and stepped over the broken glass on the floor. At least I didn't see any blood. But I didn't see any notes either. I tossed the tupperware onto my desk and dropped into my chair. The top drawer on my desk was open and empty. "Ahh, not my cigars..." I pulled the short cigarette out of my mouth, and opened the tupperware. Rice with ground beef and what looked like tomato sauce. This didn't seem right. They've got Denise and I've got nothing. Where's the threat? Where's the brick wall Billy to work me over and tell me what mess I'm in now? Where's the nasty phone call telling me I'll "never see her again unless"? This didn't seem right.
The worst part was, I couldn't do a damn thing until I got a knock on my door or a phone call. Well, that's not entirely true. I picked up the plastic fork.
The food was great, and my stomach was full. Maybe now I could figure out what the hell is going on. The phone rang. Finally.
It was the cops. Denise was dead.
Fell off a bridge. They didn't mention why she walked 11 miles from the office, wandered out to the middle of the bridge and tripped over the edge. They never did.
She was murdered. And the only clue I had was working its way through my lower intestine.
My stomach turned as I though about the cold entrée I had so carelessly eaten.
An entrée of trouble.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
BABIES EVERYWHERE!!!
Many things stay in my mind for a very long time;
one of them is this lady's angry face sputtering the word "BABIES!" for a fraction of a second. (0:22)
"Babies EVERYWHERE!"
one of them is this lady's angry face sputtering the word "BABIES!" for a fraction of a second. (0:22)
"Babies EVERYWHERE!"
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Quote of the Quote of the Quote of the Quote of the Quote of the Quote of the Quote of the Quote of the Quote of the Quote of the Quote of the
If I really did have mind control powers, I wouldn't be here playing with you! I would have a harem and be sitting in Fort Knox, rubbing my testicles on pure gold. Because I could!
Shamelessly stolen from James, who never ceases to entertain.
Quote of the Awesome
This quote comes to us from Larry Correia, who has a hilarious letter up bashing HK's holier-than-thou attitude toward the civilian market. Definitely worth the read!
HK. Because you suck. And we hate you.
HK. Because you suck. And we hate you.
Plus we’ve fired 100,000,000 rounds through one with zero malfunctions, and that was while it was buried in a lake of molten lava, on the moon.
Quote of the strengeness
...dreamy guitars lilt and sway as synths and steady hypnotic beats create a shimmering soundscape that brings space and time to a virtual stop.
Quite.
That is a very strange statement that I enjoy reading almost as much as I enjoy listening to the CD.
Sanitize your input.
You certainly don't want something like this to happen.
and don't forget input that is managed by java (direct POST modification bypasses java restrictions), and input that calls web pages by IDs for SQL queries instead of actual URLs.
and don't forget input that is managed by java (direct POST modification bypasses java restrictions), and input that calls web pages by IDs for SQL queries instead of actual URLs.
Quote of the WTF?!
This little gem comes to us from the illustrious Steve Ballmer, monkey boy himself. Boy is it a doozy.
Yeah? I'd like a few acres in a semi-rural area with a quarry with a 600 yard range, and plenty of varmints to shoot. Only difference is, I actually have a chance of getting my wish.
I would love to see all open source innovation happen on top of Windows.
Yeah? I'd like a few acres in a semi-rural area with a quarry with a 600 yard range, and plenty of varmints to shoot. Only difference is, I actually have a chance of getting my wish.
Blogrollamabob Updatification
My anti-blogroll at the bottom of the right column has received a long overdue update.
Before I get into the changes, let me remind you once again, that the "Blogs I Frequent" section does NOT contain anybody who links me and certainly does not carry the expectation that I be linked back. They are simply blogs that I see fit to visit almost every day, and carry my suggestion that your time will not be wasted by reading them.
The Unforgiving Minute
TD has a great mix of Geek, guns, politics, knifery, cookery, and general miscellany.
(and the weekend hotness ain't bad either)
Smallest Minority
Kevin consistently provides great write-ups on a variety of topics (most recent of which, a great piece on journalistic integrity), they always cover the topics well, and are full of info. Always a great read.
Armed Canadian
The Armed Canadian visits a number blogs you might not, and always has another great read or a fine bit of wit on a variety of topics.
The Firearm Blog
The Firearm Blog is relatively new to the blog scene, but is eager to impress with interesting posts on a wide range of gun topics. You'll find guns new and old, tips, tricks, reviews, links galore, and (of course) teh gun pr0n.
While I'm on the topic I'd like to say some positive things about a blog that has been linked ever since I kept links, Say Uncle. This blog links a lot of gunny goodness. He'll cover politics, news, guns, and pretty much anything else. Uncle's is easily the blog that I have the most clicks through. By the time I'm caught up, I've usually got somewhere between 5 and 10 new pages to look at, and they're usually all worth my time. Uncle covers a lot of info, usually with little comment which helps you quickly decide if it's something you want to read. It's a great linking blog.
Before I get into the changes, let me remind you once again, that the "Blogs I Frequent" section does NOT contain anybody who links me and certainly does not carry the expectation that I be linked back. They are simply blogs that I see fit to visit almost every day, and carry my suggestion that your time will not be wasted by reading them.
The Unforgiving Minute
TD has a great mix of Geek, guns, politics, knifery, cookery, and general miscellany.
(and the weekend hotness ain't bad either)
Smallest Minority
Kevin consistently provides great write-ups on a variety of topics (most recent of which, a great piece on journalistic integrity), they always cover the topics well, and are full of info. Always a great read.
Armed Canadian
The Armed Canadian visits a number blogs you might not, and always has another great read or a fine bit of wit on a variety of topics.
The Firearm Blog
The Firearm Blog is relatively new to the blog scene, but is eager to impress with interesting posts on a wide range of gun topics. You'll find guns new and old, tips, tricks, reviews, links galore, and (of course) teh gun pr0n.
While I'm on the topic I'd like to say some positive things about a blog that has been linked ever since I kept links, Say Uncle. This blog links a lot of gunny goodness. He'll cover politics, news, guns, and pretty much anything else. Uncle's is easily the blog that I have the most clicks through. By the time I'm caught up, I've usually got somewhere between 5 and 10 new pages to look at, and they're usually all worth my time. Uncle covers a lot of info, usually with little comment which helps you quickly decide if it's something you want to read. It's a great linking blog.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Quote of the Need
What's it [20mm rifle] good for? Hell if I know; probably useless for anything except turning money into noise, but that's never stopped me from dropping a wad of cash at the fireworks store.
From Tam
Monday, October 08, 2007
Sorry, no rights today; computer's down.
To those who would argue that a right inconvenienced is still a right, I link the following;
Gun sales resume as TBI check system operational
Whenever people talk about the right to keep and bear arms, there is usually an argument that if people eventually get their guns, there's no real obstruction of rights. Therefore, "cooling down" periods, the time it takes to run a background check (10 days in some states), or time limits on handgun purchases (1 per 30 days in California), don't interfere with your right to keep and bear arms.
How does that argument stack up against technical difficulties? As a member of the IT industry I've seen crashes so bad they've taken weeks to recover from. I can only imagine that government facilities, without a monetary incentive to bounce back, would suffer longer delays.
So the question is;
If no one could buy a gun for a day do they still have the right to keep and bear arms?
If so, or if not, why? What if it was three days? A week? A month? A year? At what point do we say that being denied the right to buy a gun (which most gun-restricting states still do not dispute) is being denied a constitutional right?
As a side note; if a woman in California is threatened by her ex-boyfriend, buys a small handgun, (and survives the waiting period) and fires a warning shot when her EX kicks down her door, the police will take her gun as evidence for the investigation, and she won't be able to buy another handgun until 30 days after her first purchase, while her EX remains at large.
Hat tip to David
Gun sales resume as TBI check system operational
After almost three days of being down, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s system for conducting criminal background checks on potential gun buyers is back up and running this afternoon.
Kristen Helm, a TBI spokeswoman, said a software issue “crashed the server” at about 1 a.m. Monday morning, halting all gun sales in Tennessee for almost three days.
Whenever people talk about the right to keep and bear arms, there is usually an argument that if people eventually get their guns, there's no real obstruction of rights. Therefore, "cooling down" periods, the time it takes to run a background check (10 days in some states), or time limits on handgun purchases (1 per 30 days in California), don't interfere with your right to keep and bear arms.
How does that argument stack up against technical difficulties? As a member of the IT industry I've seen crashes so bad they've taken weeks to recover from. I can only imagine that government facilities, without a monetary incentive to bounce back, would suffer longer delays.
So the question is;
If no one could buy a gun for a day do they still have the right to keep and bear arms?
If so, or if not, why? What if it was three days? A week? A month? A year? At what point do we say that being denied the right to buy a gun (which most gun-restricting states still do not dispute) is being denied a constitutional right?
As a side note; if a woman in California is threatened by her ex-boyfriend, buys a small handgun, (and survives the waiting period) and fires a warning shot when her EX kicks down her door, the police will take her gun as evidence for the investigation, and she won't be able to buy another handgun until 30 days after her first purchase, while her EX remains at large.
Hat tip to David
Didn't the Nazis do something similar to this?
Doc, what’s up with snooping?
Apparently the AAP feel it's the duty of doctors to grill children on their parents' illegal activities.
Well, so long as they're only asking about illegal activities, it's OK right?
Whoops.
If I would have told you that people you trust were encouraging your kids to tell them about your activities so they could report you to the authorities, you'd probably laugh in my face.
(I probably would have too)
This is just so wrong that it would almost be comical if it wasn't actually happening.
Good fucking luck to all of us. We're going to need it.
(BTW, I'm getting tired of having to say that.)
They’re watching you right now.
They counted every beer you drank during last night’s Red Sox game.
They see you sneaking out to the garage for a smoke.
They know if you’ve got a gun, and where you keep it.
They’re your kids, and they’re the National Security Agency of the Nanny State.
Apparently the AAP feel it's the duty of doctors to grill children on their parents' illegal activities.
“The doctor wanted to know how much you and mom drink, and if I think it’s too much,” my daughter told us afterward, rolling her eyes in that exasperated 13-year-old way. “She asked if you two did drugs, or if there are drugs in the house.”
Well, so long as they're only asking about illegal activities, it's OK right?
Debbie is a mom from Uxbridge who was in the examination room when the pediatrician asked her 5-year-old, “Does Daddy own a gun?”
When the little girl said yes, the doctor began grilling her and her mom about the number and type of guns, how they are stored, etc.
If the incident had ended there, it would have merely been annoying.
But when a friend in law enforcement let Debbie know that her doctor had filed a report with the police about her family’s (entirely legal) gun ownership, she got mad.
Whoops.
If I would have told you that people you trust were encouraging your kids to tell them about your activities so they could report you to the authorities, you'd probably laugh in my face.
(I probably would have too)
This is just so wrong that it would almost be comical if it wasn't actually happening.
Good fucking luck to all of us. We're going to need it.
(BTW, I'm getting tired of having to say that.)
Quote of the AWESOME
From The Brenda Fallacy
Hat tip to James
A shotgun in the house seems to be the thing for taking care of those pesky home invaders...plus, imagine their surprise when they find me there to meet them in the dark of night. A pissed off me, with fuzzy slippers and a pink shotgun, shouting, "Stay on the tile! Stay on the tile!" (much easier to mop up later.)
Hat tip to James
Friday, October 05, 2007
Thursday, October 04, 2007
They're doing it!
It's awesome again! Looks like the show starts at 8pm pst!
I'm at a loss for words.
Just... soooo... much... awesome!
EDIT: Oh sweet and sour Jesus this shit is good. I'm going to have to rip the entirety of the shows so I can listen to them later and burn them to CDs so I can listen to previous shows in the car. Thank god for Mplayer!
I'm at a loss for words.
Just... soooo... much... awesome!
EDIT: Oh sweet and sour Jesus this shit is good. I'm going to have to rip the entirety of the shows so I can listen to them later and burn them to CDs so I can listen to previous shows in the car. Thank god for Mplayer!
Music radio had a good run.
I don't exactly have popular tastes.
This makes listening to music on the radio an exercise in frustration. What's that? You say you're playing that new pop song by that new pop artist? Great! It's kinda catchy! What's that? You're playing it again? What's that? You're going to stop just short of playing it back to back?! Hey, thanks for that. After all, if people didn't want to listen to the same song over and over again, they'd probably just change the station to one of the other 10 music stations owned by the same company, playing the exact same bullshit songs over and over. People usually listen to the radio in short blocks, around two hours, if you listen beyond those blocks, you realize that they're playing the same songs they just played. Try it, and keep long slender objects out of reach so you don't try to jam them into your ears after hearing that new hit single for the 11th time today.
Even when the music is tolerable, "deejays" can't help but interrupt over and over to remind you that they are, in fact, playing music. Or they take advantage of the rule that you don't talk over vocals, and when a song is starting out and building to the vocals, they feel free to yammer about nothing in particular over the first 45 seconds of a song. What really pisses me off, is when they're not trying to squeeze in announcements or information, they're just relating a story associated with the song. Ah, so when you first heard this song you liked it a lot? Please tell me more, Mr. Deejay. Additionally, instead of just holding down the button and telling us the story all at once, tell us the story in 4 second bursts so the music fades in and out annoyingly over and over. By the way, Mr. Deejay, after you've finished your story, feel free to continue to speak though you've nothing to say! Bonus points if you can continue saying things like "Yeah...", "Sooo..." and "Yep..." until just before the vocals start and quickly say the name of the show and the station and release the button with the satisfaction of knowing that you are a completetool douchebag. (a tool would just say the station name; you bore us, and interrupt our music before saying the station name.)
Stations available run the gamut of music; oldies, rock/alt, country, rap/r&b, jazz/easy listening and... Oh, wait. That's it. Being a fan of electronic music I'm forced to suffer through Green Day's Time of your life, which is the 200th time in my life I've heard the damn song, before they actually consider playing a song I might actually enjoy. But every few years a station will pop on the dial that actually plays electronic/dance music, and for 6 months, life is good. No, life is awesome. Having great music to listen to when driving here and there or reading at home really makes a difference in my mood. Which makes it all the more wrenching when 6 months from the station's founding, I'm listening to my favorite music at 11:59pm, and at 12:00am I'm suddenly listening to mariachi music. Fuck you guys. How many truckloads of money did Clear Channel back up to your station to buy you out and eliminate you as competition? It isn't as though people didn't like the station because when the station shuts down and you flip to one of the "popular" stations that wouldn't play electronica if you chained it to a burning car as it rolled slowly toward a cliff siding a canyon filled with jagged rocks, broken glass, and salt; and surprise surprise, they're playing music straight from a playlist they snatched from the warm, dead hands of the dearly departed station. As if to say, "Hey, we hate what happened to that poor station too, but we've got what you need! I'd like to say this goes on for a week before they return to the same bullshit music, but it's usually about three days. Why mix up their "winning" line up of new pop song, old pop song, and popular 90's rock song, unless they thought there were ears to be bent? In my short life, I've seen this happen THREE times. After the last time I stopped listening to music on the radio.
Fortunately, I'm usually able to find independent stations that play interesting music. I'm not talking about the "Super Indy, Independent music radio that is totally not owned by some huge corporation so don't even bother looking at who funds us... please"-station, I'm talking about college radio stations. These are great for some interesting music, but you don't get any guarantee that you'll hear what you want. Fortunately, these stations usually have an electronic or semi-electronic night show.
After my most recent loss (which was surprising because the station had been around for a long time), I found a station that fulfilled my specific trance/dance/lounge/jazz taste. Another college station that could barely reach my area. After trying to catch a station name through the static that interrupted the music every 5-8 seconds, I found the station online, and it has an internet radio station. My DecTOP is going to get plugged into the sound system so I can stream constantly and just turn it on whenever I want to listen at home. Awesome. The station is KSBR, and is currently playing some easy listening... I'm guessing that awesome starts in the evening (PST), right now it's generic smooth jazz. Check it out later.
With my mounting frustration with radio, I'm finding the idea of paying for radio to be more and more attractive. I'd get the kind of music I want whenever I want, with (likely) minimal intrusion from "zany" deejays trying to make themselves memorable in some way so they don't get replaced when people realize they're just monkeys that push buttons.
This makes listening to music on the radio an exercise in frustration. What's that? You say you're playing that new pop song by that new pop artist? Great! It's kinda catchy! What's that? You're playing it again? What's that? You're going to stop just short of playing it back to back?! Hey, thanks for that. After all, if people didn't want to listen to the same song over and over again, they'd probably just change the station to one of the other 10 music stations owned by the same company, playing the exact same bullshit songs over and over. People usually listen to the radio in short blocks, around two hours, if you listen beyond those blocks, you realize that they're playing the same songs they just played. Try it, and keep long slender objects out of reach so you don't try to jam them into your ears after hearing that new hit single for the 11th time today.
Even when the music is tolerable, "deejays" can't help but interrupt over and over to remind you that they are, in fact, playing music. Or they take advantage of the rule that you don't talk over vocals, and when a song is starting out and building to the vocals, they feel free to yammer about nothing in particular over the first 45 seconds of a song. What really pisses me off, is when they're not trying to squeeze in announcements or information, they're just relating a story associated with the song. Ah, so when you first heard this song you liked it a lot? Please tell me more, Mr. Deejay. Additionally, instead of just holding down the button and telling us the story all at once, tell us the story in 4 second bursts so the music fades in and out annoyingly over and over. By the way, Mr. Deejay, after you've finished your story, feel free to continue to speak though you've nothing to say! Bonus points if you can continue saying things like "Yeah...", "Sooo..." and "Yep..." until just before the vocals start and quickly say the name of the show and the station and release the button with the satisfaction of knowing that you are a complete
Stations available run the gamut of music; oldies, rock/alt, country, rap/r&b, jazz/easy listening and... Oh, wait. That's it. Being a fan of electronic music I'm forced to suffer through Green Day's Time of your life, which is the 200th time in my life I've heard the damn song, before they actually consider playing a song I might actually enjoy. But every few years a station will pop on the dial that actually plays electronic/dance music, and for 6 months, life is good. No, life is awesome. Having great music to listen to when driving here and there or reading at home really makes a difference in my mood. Which makes it all the more wrenching when 6 months from the station's founding, I'm listening to my favorite music at 11:59pm, and at 12:00am I'm suddenly listening to mariachi music. Fuck you guys. How many truckloads of money did Clear Channel back up to your station to buy you out and eliminate you as competition? It isn't as though people didn't like the station because when the station shuts down and you flip to one of the "popular" stations that wouldn't play electronica if you chained it to a burning car as it rolled slowly toward a cliff siding a canyon filled with jagged rocks, broken glass, and salt; and surprise surprise, they're playing music straight from a playlist they snatched from the warm, dead hands of the dearly departed station. As if to say, "Hey, we hate what happened to that poor station too, but we've got what you need! I'd like to say this goes on for a week before they return to the same bullshit music, but it's usually about three days. Why mix up their "winning" line up of new pop song, old pop song, and popular 90's rock song, unless they thought there were ears to be bent? In my short life, I've seen this happen THREE times. After the last time I stopped listening to music on the radio.
Fortunately, I'm usually able to find independent stations that play interesting music. I'm not talking about the "Super Indy, Independent music radio that is totally not owned by some huge corporation so don't even bother looking at who funds us... please"-station, I'm talking about college radio stations. These are great for some interesting music, but you don't get any guarantee that you'll hear what you want. Fortunately, these stations usually have an electronic or semi-electronic night show.
After my most recent loss (which was surprising because the station had been around for a long time), I found a station that fulfilled my specific trance/dance/lounge/jazz taste. Another college station that could barely reach my area. After trying to catch a station name through the static that interrupted the music every 5-8 seconds, I found the station online, and it has an internet radio station. My DecTOP is going to get plugged into the sound system so I can stream constantly and just turn it on whenever I want to listen at home. Awesome. The station is KSBR, and is currently playing some easy listening... I'm guessing that awesome starts in the evening (PST), right now it's generic smooth jazz. Check it out later.
With my mounting frustration with radio, I'm finding the idea of paying for radio to be more and more attractive. I'd get the kind of music I want whenever I want, with (likely) minimal intrusion from "zany" deejays trying to make themselves memorable in some way so they don't get replaced when people realize they're just monkeys that push buttons.
Bed bath & beyond + $8 = Rifle Rack?!
Clicky for larger size
I defy you to do better for $8
These are called curtain holdbacks and would normally be... holding... curtains? They're better than most of the single rifle racks I could find which were little more than stands with shallow "u" shapes, which wouldn't be very helpful in the event of an earthquake.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Soon... Soon...
I've been suffering through slowly dying copies of copies of CDs only available in Japan for some masochistic reason.
I was wincing at the skipping of one of my favorites when I switched back to radio and cursed the luck that made it impossible to purchase goods and wares from Japan. At which point I considered driving into a pole to punish myself for never once considering that whole "internet" thing.
All this time, and I was just 5 minutes from salvation...
It should be here soon.
I was wincing at the skipping of one of my favorites when I switched back to radio and cursed the luck that made it impossible to purchase goods and wares from Japan. At which point I considered driving into a pole to punish myself for never once considering that whole "internet" thing.
All this time, and I was just 5 minutes from salvation...
It should be here soon.
What THE FUCK?!
WARNING: The rant mode is ON and turned to 11.
REPEAT! RANT MODE: ELEVEN!
Target Lawsuit Given Class-Action Status
What the fuck?
What the fuck?!
WHAT THE FUCK?!
I'm just about ready to stand next to these guys and encourage them. I WANT this kind of idiotic ADA bullshit to be brought to the light of day so everyone can start to realize how RETARDED the whole idea is! Today, when EVERYTHING is a disability, you can't argue that everyone has to cater to YOU. It's impossible.
But don't worry, I think I've got a winning idea to bring a head to this idiocy;
Nutritional facts are NOT blind-person accessible.
They're federally required to be printed on comestibles, (think of all the lives saved!) and blind people are legally defined as disabled under the ADA, and since these nutritional facts are UNREADABLE by blind people, they should sue, and require that every nutritional fact label include a braille version. That's right, I want all this information to be reprinted IN BRAILLE, ON THE PACKAGING.
I want to see one foot of braille attached to a god damned stick of lip balm.
I must have a case, because if a blind guy can't read a private company's website, he deserves cash money.
I just need to come up with some idiotic "disabilities" and sue everyone under the ADA. Perhaps I should develop a phobia of the ground, and require all publicly available businesses to have a helipad installed on their roof. Maybe I should be wheelchair-bound and deathly afraid of ramps, requiring all publicly available businesses and services to accommodate my idiotic fear or physical malady. Maybe color-blind people can sue all companies that produces goods that use more colors than they can see! Maybe if I cut off my thumbs, I can sue the manufacturers of ALL ITEMS THAT REQUIRE THUMBS TO OPERATE. I wouldn't have any thumbs, but for the money I'd be given, I could pay someone else to play Halo for me!
Lets see, since websites not being readable by the blind is an issue; what ELSE is not readable by the blind? Cell phones. ATM card swipers with digital buttons for PIN entry. Restaurant menus. Highlighting. Tie-related warnings on paper shredders. Text on paper media that comes out of a printer (sue the printer manufacturer!). DVDs. Movie theaters. Traffic lights. CARS! the list goes on.
Maybe not speaking English could be determined to be a disability! What about dyslexia! If I can't read text, the company that printed the text needs to provide a person to stand there and vocalize all the text on all the products they produce!
RANT OVER!
probably... this really pisses me off, so I promise nothing...
OK. The class action suit complains that the site did NOT provide software that would vocalize the content of the web page. You know where you can find software that vocalizes the text on a browser?
THE FUCKING INTERNET
The FIRST result points to a browser that can *gasp* READ WEB PAGES TO YOU! Holy fucking shit, I might just die. You're saying that I have a disability, and someone has developed some software to make my life easier, AND they've made it available to me for FREE?! FESUS JUCKING CHRIST! It's almost as though when I make a MINOR effort, I can find solutions to my problems WITHOUT PURSUING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST A PRIVATE COMPANY! I could even (gasp) buy a braille terminal and read the text on my computer??? Of course that would require me to get off my BLIND ASS and actually TRY instead of playing victim!
There are plenty of disabled people in this country who are living normal or near-normal lives of self-sufficiency or near-self-sufficiency. My guess is that these guys resent idiotic lawsuits that pervert the spirit of the ADA (which, being a free market kind of guy, I barely agree with in the first place).
Die in a fire,
ExistingThing
NOTE: This post is NOT available in braille unless you MAKE AN EFFORT to convert it!.
REPEAT! RANT MODE: ELEVEN!
Target Lawsuit Given Class-Action Status
The plaintiffs fault Target for not adopting technology used by other companies to make Web sites accessible to the blind.
What the fuck?
What the fuck?!
WHAT THE FUCK?!
I'm just about ready to stand next to these guys and encourage them. I WANT this kind of idiotic ADA bullshit to be brought to the light of day so everyone can start to realize how RETARDED the whole idea is! Today, when EVERYTHING is a disability, you can't argue that everyone has to cater to YOU. It's impossible.
But don't worry, I think I've got a winning idea to bring a head to this idiocy;
Nutritional facts are NOT blind-person accessible.
They're federally required to be printed on comestibles, (think of all the lives saved!) and blind people are legally defined as disabled under the ADA, and since these nutritional facts are UNREADABLE by blind people, they should sue, and require that every nutritional fact label include a braille version. That's right, I want all this information to be reprinted IN BRAILLE, ON THE PACKAGING.
I want to see one foot of braille attached to a god damned stick of lip balm.
I must have a case, because if a blind guy can't read a private company's website, he deserves cash money.
I just need to come up with some idiotic "disabilities" and sue everyone under the ADA. Perhaps I should develop a phobia of the ground, and require all publicly available businesses to have a helipad installed on their roof. Maybe I should be wheelchair-bound and deathly afraid of ramps, requiring all publicly available businesses and services to accommodate my idiotic fear or physical malady. Maybe color-blind people can sue all companies that produces goods that use more colors than they can see! Maybe if I cut off my thumbs, I can sue the manufacturers of ALL ITEMS THAT REQUIRE THUMBS TO OPERATE. I wouldn't have any thumbs, but for the money I'd be given, I could pay someone else to play Halo for me!
Lets see, since websites not being readable by the blind is an issue; what ELSE is not readable by the blind? Cell phones. ATM card swipers with digital buttons for PIN entry. Restaurant menus. Highlighting. Tie-related warnings on paper shredders. Text on paper media that comes out of a printer (sue the printer manufacturer!). DVDs. Movie theaters. Traffic lights. CARS! the list goes on.
Maybe not speaking English could be determined to be a disability! What about dyslexia! If I can't read text, the company that printed the text needs to provide a person to stand there and vocalize all the text on all the products they produce!
RANT OVER!
probably... this really pisses me off, so I promise nothing...
OK. The class action suit complains that the site did NOT provide software that would vocalize the content of the web page. You know where you can find software that vocalizes the text on a browser?
THE FUCKING INTERNET
The FIRST result points to a browser that can *gasp* READ WEB PAGES TO YOU! Holy fucking shit, I might just die. You're saying that I have a disability, and someone has developed some software to make my life easier, AND they've made it available to me for FREE?! FESUS JUCKING CHRIST! It's almost as though when I make a MINOR effort, I can find solutions to my problems WITHOUT PURSUING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST A PRIVATE COMPANY! I could even (gasp) buy a braille terminal and read the text on my computer??? Of course that would require me to get off my BLIND ASS and actually TRY instead of playing victim!
There are plenty of disabled people in this country who are living normal or near-normal lives of self-sufficiency or near-self-sufficiency. My guess is that these guys resent idiotic lawsuits that pervert the spirit of the ADA (which, being a free market kind of guy, I barely agree with in the first place).
Die in a fire,
ExistingThing
NOTE: This post is NOT available in braille unless you MAKE AN EFFORT to convert it!.
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS
Recheck your rifle's bore the day after you clean it after firing corrosive ammo. You think you got it all? Check again.
It takes almost no time, and can save yer damn rifle! DO IT.
Concordantly; CLP does NOT seem to dissolve the salts from corrosively primed cartridges, and I was 10 minutes late for work today.
It takes almost no time, and can save yer damn rifle! DO IT.
Concordantly; CLP does NOT seem to dissolve the salts from corrosively primed cartridges, and I was 10 minutes late for work today.
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