Shared posts

19 Jun 22:10

A Former Marine Corps Weapons Instructor on the Desirability of Guns for Self-Defense

by John Scalzi

Turns out he has a few cogent reservations. I would agree with them.

Relatedly, I suspect it would surprise a number of people to know I don’t have a philosophical issue with gun ownership. Own them if you like; please take substantial training with them and learn to operate them responsibly, since they really are designed to kill things, including people. I live in a rural area that has a large amount of gun ownership; on many evenings I can hear my neighbors having target practice. There’s never been a problem. I prefer a bow myself.

Likewise, gun ownership, sensibly practiced, as part of (but not solely comprising) an overall security regimen? Sure. Keep the weapon instructor’s reservations in mind; he has experience on the matter. There are lots of ways that introducing a gun to a self-defense situation can go very wrong.

On the other hand, gun as fetish object? Creeps me out. When I see a picture of some dude hoisting some big damn gun about, often with appallingly poor trigger discipline, the first thing that comes to my mind is not look out, we have a badass on our hands, but, rather, here’s a dude who’s afraid of every fucking thing in the world. The big damn gun is like the eyes on the wings of a butterfly or a pufferfish sucking in seawater — a way to look bigger and maybe not get eaten. By whom? By whomever, man, I don’t know — when you’re afraid of every fucking thing in the world, I guess you spend a lot of time worrying about getting eaten.

So wait, are you calling me a coward? I hear some of these dudes saying, hoisting their guns. No, not a coward. Just afraid.

I’m not afraid! I have a big damn gun! Yes, well. Whatever makes you feel not afraid, chuckles.

You wouldn’t be saying that if I were in front of you, with my big damn gun! Indeed, I probably wouldn’t, because when people who are afraid of every fucking thing in the world wander about with big damn guns, bad things have an increasingly likely chance of happening. I’ll just go have lunch in Chipotle until you wander off, if it’s all the same to you.

Knowledgeable about guns? Sweet. Geeked out about guns in all their varieties? Hey, everyone’s a geek about something, and this is one of your things. Rock on. Wanting to share the joys of responsible ownership and use of guns with others? I am all for positive role models with these particular machines. Please do. Have to display yourself with your guns and/or can’t bear to part with them for a moment? Dude, you’re afraid of every fucking thing in the world.

I’m gonna be thinking that every time I see that picture of you with your big damn gun. I doubt I’ll be the only one.


19 Jun 21:35

twentypixels: Why We Still Need Print Newspapers It’s hard not...





twentypixels:

Why We Still Need Print Newspapers

It’s hard not to bask in the glow of the Internet when it provides you with such a convenient way to access such a vast amount of news and information. But here are some things that your digital news can’t do~

19 Jun 20:31

High Score

by Mark
Infinull

sim-spreadsheet

2014-06-20-Highscore

Here’s a fun thing for you! KC Green and Anthony Clark’s new comic “Back” launched on Wednesday!! Read the first update here and let’s all share in this experience from the ground floor!

19 Jun 08:40

Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories
19 Jun 08:20

shrieking-affliction: Diogenes was the shit.  He was easily one...



shrieking-affliction:

Diogenes was the shit.  He was easily one of the best philosophers ever.  He made himself the least wealthy person, hence living in a “Barrel”.  He also, upon seeing a child drinking from a river with his hands, smashed his only wooden bowl claiming to be “Bested by a child”.  He did public stunts to make a point towards customs and norms including eating in the marketplace in Athens which was generally not acceptable.  When Plato described humans as “Featherless Bipeds” he plucked a chicken and brought it to him, saying “here’s your man”.  Plato changed that description to “Featherless bipeds with arms”.  

And here’s where it gets real.

Diogenes the Cynic became well known all over.  In fact, Alexander the great, the one man who could have anyone killed just because, went out of his way to find him.  Upon meeting Diogenes, whom was laying on the ground, he said something to the extent of “Ah, the great Diogenes!  Is there anything that I, Alexander the Great, can do you?”.  Diogenes’ response was a crude “Yes, Get out of my sunlight.”

But, however, Alexander came back another time, to find Diogenes sifting through a pile of bones.  Alex inquired “Diogenes, what are you doing sifting through that pile of bones?” Diogenes the Cynic responded “I’m trying to distinguish between the bones of your father, and that of a slave.  I cannot tell the difference.”  An insult that any man would want the other beheaded for indeed.  But no, not Alexander.  

Alexander went on to later say that if he were not Alexander the Great, he would wish to be Diogenes.

Dude’s a motherfuckingbadass.

18 Jun 21:44

"Studying the brain is like working in a toy store. Nothing...



"Studying the brain is like working in a toy store. Nothing could be more fucking fun."
"What do you think is the greatest weakness of the brain?"
"That’s a lousy question! I’m not answering it."
"Why is it a lousy question?"
"What do you want me to say? Road rage? That we get pissed and shoot people? That the newest parts of our brain should have been in the oven a little longer? How’s that going to help you? If you ask a crappy question, you’ll never get a decent answer. You need to ask smaller questions— questions that give you a pathway to finding some pertinent information. The major advances in brain science don’t come from asking crappy questions like ‘What is Consciouness?’ They come from microanalysis. They come from discovering pertinent information at the cellular level."

18 Jun 00:43

Buy One, Get One Furry

Buy One, Get One Furry

Submitted by: (via samanis)

Tagged: fur , dogs , huskies , brushing
18 Jun 00:34

«Imagine» в картинках

Можно включить перед просмотром:


16 Jun 19:29

#309714

<bizzy> i just made an ec2 ami of android gingerbread
<bizzy> now i can run my telephone in the cloud
<bizzy> its a new world of mobile data and adaptive architecture as code
<danh> i think you're joking but im not sure
<bizzy> my saas-model android will disrupt the existing mobile space
<bizzy> simply access your telephone over any standard web browser (including mobile)
<bizzy> now you can make calls even on the go right from your smartphone
16 Jun 09:42

1111comics: Why the long face?

Infinull

I feel like it would be trademark or maybe patent infringement, not copyright, but whatever.



1111comics:

Why the long face?
15 Jun 20:02

June 15, 2014



13 Jun 06:56

Photo



12 Jun 17:26

Saddest Turtle Bets It All

Saddest Turtle Bets It All
12 Jun 08:46

Dungeons & Dragons & Philosophers III: Ladies' Night at the Dragon's Den




Arendt made one last attempt to save her alignment by saying she was just following party leadership, so shouldn't be held accountable, but it didn't go over well.
12 Jun 08:35

Mark Hamill, As The Joker, Tells Luke Skywalker He's His Father

by Luke Plunkett
Infinull

"Get used to it kiddo."

Is it weird that it sounds like the Joker's voice is more "right" than Luke's?

Read more...








10 Jun 10:49

06.10.2014

Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic

Copy this into your blog, website, etc.
<a href="http://explosm.net/comics/3584/"><img alt="Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic" src="http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Comics/Rob/zombie.png" border=0></a><br />Cyanide & Happiness @ <a href="http://explosm.net">Explosm.net</a>

...or into a forum
[URL="http://explosm.net/comics/3584/"]
[IMG]http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Comics/Rob/zombie.png[/IMG][/URL]
Cyanide & Happiness @ [URL="http://explosm.net/"]Explosm.net[/URL]
<—- Share this comic!

06 Jun 22:42

Twitter account that de-bullshitizes linkbaity headlines

by Cory Doctorow
Infinull

These guys kind of win the internet.

The @Savedyouaclick Twitter account decodes linkbaity headlines so you don't have to click on things that aren't likely interesting to you.

Sexism. RT @Slate: What we found while lurking on an anonymous college message board for two years will disgust you:

— Saved You A Click (@SavedYouAClick) June 5, 2014

I'm foursquare for headlines that are punchy and intriguing, but I'm also a believer in "attention conservation" -- a headline should try to convey both the substance and the fascination of the piece, but not by withholding information that, if you had it, would dissuade you from clicking altogether.

He was happy to be there. Really opened up. RT @eonline: John Legend opens up about Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's "beautiful" wedding!

— Saved You A Click (@SavedYouAClick) June 6, 2014

Population-based cap on liquor licenses. RT @Slate: Why is it so hard to get drunk in Boston?

— Saved You A Click (@SavedYouAClick) June 6, 2014

It's abuse that can cause psychological damage. RT @voxdotcom: The case for banning spanking

— Saved You A Click (@SavedYouAClick) June 5, 2014

(Image: Bull Itch, Emilio Labrador, CC-BY)

06 Jun 10:20

flatandsassy: Eventually the 20th Century History class at Starfleet Academy stops being a fringey...

Infinull

I've been watching Voyager recently... and this is so true. (It's probably more true for DS9 & TNG though)

flatandsassy:

Eventually the 20th Century History class at Starfleet Academy stops being a fringey elective and becomes a required course, and all the cadets are like “this is so irrelevant, why do we have to learn this” and anyone who’s been around for a while is like “there is an 812% chance that you will time travel to the 20th century during your Starfleet career”

"but the temporal prime directive" 

"At the very least you will get trapped a holodeck program based on the 20th century, and you will need to know all these weird idioms"

"But why is it only the 20th - "

"We don’t know why it’s only the 20th century we have a whole corps of scientists trying to figure out what’s happening with that it seriously makes no sense but in the meantime, knowing how to work a combustion engine is pretty much guaranteed to save your life so get the hell on that."

05 Jun 00:02

Using Science To Make The Perfect Cup Of Coffee

Infinull

lol, I brew my coffee for 24 hrs (cold-brew)

image

04 Jun 06:46

Fish

[Astronomer peers into telescope] [Jaws theme begins playing]
02 Jun 23:19

Why We Send Robots To Mars To Search For Water

Why We Send Robots To Mars To Search For Water

02 Jun 17:26

Logic gates made from pulleys and weights

by Cory Doctorow

Alex Gorischek's Pulley Logic Gates is a brilliant and delightful demonstration of attaining a set of logic gates with pulleys, weights and string, using materials you can buy cheaply so you can try it out yourself. Watch this video: the gates build in complexity and ingenuity as they go along, and by XOR, I was actually cheering (and it gets even better than XOR!). (Via JWZ)

31 May 23:50

Critter

Infinull

I don't think that's how it happened, but I don't have any evidence to prove otherwise.

30 May 08:05

05.30.2014

Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic

Copy this into your blog, website, etc.
<a href="http://explosm.net/comics/3573/"><img alt="Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic" src="http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Comics/Rob/plan.png" border=0></a><br />Cyanide & Happiness @ <a href="http://explosm.net">Explosm.net</a>

...or into a forum
[URL="http://explosm.net/comics/3573/"]
[IMG]http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Comics/Rob/plan.png[/IMG][/URL]
Cyanide & Happiness @ [URL="http://explosm.net/"]Explosm.net[/URL]
<—- Share this comic!

29 May 21:26

Space Beach

Space Beach
29 May 05:04

HELP LEVAR BURTON BRING BACK READING RAINBOW!!!

HELP LEVAR BURTON BRING BACK READING RAINBOW!!!

LeVar Burton has started a Kickstarter campaign to bring back Reading Rainbow. And, everyone at here School of Fail pretty much wet their pants with joy. We grew up with that show, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, so our normally dead and uncaring eyes cried joyous tears of nostalgia and hope. And, here's why:

Submitted by: (via Kickstarter)

28 May 05:28

stardust-and-fish: smolderingtroyler: heartyglobe: nobody...



stardust-and-fish:

smolderingtroyler:

heartyglobe:

nobody says it but we all know what this is about

This picture is weirdly genius

LOL

23 May 23:33

Working In Science Seems Discouraging

23 May 23:15

Photo

Infinull

Spider Jerusalem's Glasses.



19 May 19:27

May 19, 2014