Tweet, tweet, you’re fired

I’ve blogged before about not saying anything on the Internet you’d be ashamed to say in front of your mother. In an age when the concept of privacy is dead it’s inadvisable to have mouth diarrhea. Just ask “Cisco Fatty.” He got fired for an inadvisable comment on twitter. Now he lives on as an Internet meme whose half-life will probably follow him to the grave.

Unfortunately, it’s also a lesson even people apparently smart enough to get offered a “fatty paycheck” are incapable of learning. So let’s review: The Internet is not your BFF. Everyone has a “My boss sucks” moment. But the prudent know to express this sentiment away from the keyboard because they also have the “My boss knows how to use the Internet” sense they were born with.

“Cisco Fatty” and all those who came before, and those who will inevitably come after, are breaking the cardinal rule of the Internet: Never post anything you wouldn’t say to your mom, boss and significant other. Alas, if that message hasn’t sunk in by now, it never will. And thanks to Twitter further eroding the wall between your big mouth and a moment required to download some good sense, the Internet is now empowered to get you fired faster than ever.

I have a different take on Cisco Fatty and his fired brothers and sisters of the Church of the Running Mouth. In a century of inevitable social upheaval due to technologically driven changes to social mores we’re probably all going to be fired at one time or another. This should be no big deal. We have to remember that many Americans in the 1950s had the expectation of taking a job and keeping it for three or four decades after which they would receive a gold watch and a pension. If they hadn’t already been sucked into a machine cog or dropped dead of a heart attack they might look forward to as much as two to five years of blissful retirement before dying of high cholesterol or some other medical condition that wasn’t well understood back then. And that was only 60 years ago.

These days, a job is mostly just a job. You’ll work on projects. You’ll even finish some of them. And then you will be downsized and find another job. The important thing is – are you learning to be discreet when the situation calls for discretion? Are you learning to speak at the opportune moment? Are you learning to pontificate in a manner that will market your ideas and yourself effectively? If not, you may find yourself in Cisco Fatty’s shoes; fired before you even show up. At least someone will make a parody video to amuse millions of others at your expense.

Hitler rants about Twitter and Cisco

How’s your progress on that PMP certification you’ve been saying you were going to get for a few years now? Maybe you should be working on that instead of watching the Hitler/Cisco Fatty video. On the other hand civilization might be collapsing. Go ahead and be yourself while you still can. Honesty is the best policy and maybe you’ll learn something about the world by being truthful. The memes they keep a changin’.

Xbox 360 “support” fails to impress – in fact, Xbox 360 support sucks

I love the games available for my Xbox 360. I have more than 50 titles and I’ve spent countless hours playing titles like Fallout 3, Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto IV and so on.

Unfortunately, Xbox 360 systems won’t function without a hard drive. And hard drives tend to fail. Especially if you have a dusty house. I have 15 dogs and my house collects about 15 times as much dust as normal. My Xbox 360 has failed twice in three years.I’ve had it repaired each time. The most recent failure of my original Xbox 360 happened outside the extended warranty period. Time for a new Xbox.

Order a new Xbox 360 Elite (red edition) with Resident Evil 5 included from Newegg.com. It arrives and I try to swap out my working 120GB hard drive from the old failed Xbox 360. I get a message stating that the system needs to update. The update runs. System reboots and then I get a message saying the update cannot be applied. Damn it. I call tech support. The tech support is probably in the Phillipines. When you call you get one of those infuriating automated recording systems that is supposed to have voice recognition but forces you to listen to Xbox Live advertisments while you’re trying to figure out how to get a human being on the phone.

The first human being to come on the phone after about 10 minutes of robot voice keeps putting me on hold to “check on that for your sir.” Great. After about the fifth hold session without a single helpful suggestion as to how I can resolve my problem, the phone give me a dial tone. I’ve been disconnected. Great. I call back. Another 15 minutes of my life are wasted renavigating through the robot to get to the Filipino. I have nothing against Filipinos. I do have issues with offshoring when they won’t tell you where they are from for “security reasons” – dude, I just gave you my home address and telephone number! Don’t give me bullshit. I’m not coming to the Phillipines to kill you. I just want my damn Xbox 360 to work. WTF!

After an hour of punching buttons and being putting on hold I’m told that a) you cannot swap a hard drive from a broken Xbox 360 to a new Xbox 360 for “licensing reasons” and b) you can order a free transfer kit online to move your content from one hard drive to the other. I’d like to offer a big FUCK YOU to whoever decided to inconvenience me in this way. It makes me much more likely to spend time looking for a company that doesn’t force me to jump through giant flaming hoops to use content I have paid out the ass to use. Redownloading all my content not to mention losing all my saved games every time a hard drive fails is retarded. Why isn’t there a simple, affordable backup mechanism for the Xbox 360? WHY! This is idiotic – someone at the research and design arm of Microsoft Games should have figured this out a long time ago. It will take me hours to re-download all the additional content I’ve purchased through the Xbox Live service. What the hell man? What’s more important – keeping customers loyal or making sure it is nearly impossible to move saved content around?

To compound my irritation with the people at Xbox and their Filipino support division the new hard drive that shipped with my limited edition Xbox was dead in the water. Yeah. It was defective out of the box. The tech told me to just return it to my retailer for a replacement. Why not ship me one overnight and let me return the defective one to you? I’m now disinclined to purchase another console owned by Microsoft. When you make it hard for me to enjoy any continuity in my gaming experience you make it hard for me to remain your customer.

Vocus PR: all spam, all the time?

This blog and thus my email address have somehow been added to Vocus PR’s spam program. Perhaps you’ve suffered the same fate. Maybe you’re anxious to get off their list.

Here are the critical pieces of information you need:

US Headquarters
4296 Forbes Boulevard
Lanham, MD 20706
Phone: 301.459.2590
Fax: 301.459.2827
Toll Free: 1.800.345.5572
e-mail: info@vocus.com

Don’t bother with the Vocus e-mail, although it might be helpful if you forward every piece of spam you receive to abuse@vocus.com for a while with VOCUS: REMOVE MY E-MAIL ADDRESS FROM YOUR DATABASE in the subject line.

One would think a “new media” public relations firm would be a bit more savvy than to set up a system where contact data for bloggers is arbitrarily collected and resold to various firms who then spam the bloggers. For instance, the latest press release I received was from a data sensor company:

BOURNE, MA, March 18, 2009 — Onset Computer Corporation (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today announced a line of new Wind Sensor Adapters for connecting the company’s research-grade weather stations to RM Young, Inc.’s wind speed and direction sensors. The new adapters extend the range of wind monitoring applications that are possible with Onset weather stations, while broadening the company’s weather sensor product offerings.

“While we already offer a number of research-grade wind sensors, linking up with RM Young sensors opens up many new harsh-environment applications such as wind site evaluation, wind turbine performance monitoring, coastal weather monitoring, and air quality monitoring,” said Paul Gannett, product marketing manager for Onset. “Customers can now combine best-in-class data logging weather stations with some of the industry’s most robust wind speed and direction sensors.”

Hey guess what Vocus! I don’t blog about Wind Sensor Adapters. Why are you passing my data along to a company that sells a product I don’t cover? I blog about the military. I blog about guns and gun rights. I blog about transhumanism and technology. Come on.

It would be nice if I understood how the Vocus system works in more detail. Is there actually any focused targeting going on, or am I the victim of random PR, as others have suggested?

National cybersecurity director quits over dispute with NSA

Sometimes, the only checks and balances keeping American government honest are other government agencies. That’s a sad statement if you really think about it – how honest do you really think the federal government manages to be when it answers only to itself? The new director of the National Cyber Security Center has resigned after a year at the post. He found it hard to do his job because the National Security Agency didn’t want him to do his job.

The intelligence culture embodied by the NSA is “very different than a network operations or security culture,” said Beckstrom in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Computerworld. Allowing a single agency such as the NSA to handle all top-level government network security and monitoring functions poses a significant threat to “our democratic processes,” he said. “Instead, we advocated a model where there is a credible civilian government cybersecurity capability which interfaces with, but is not controlled by, the NSA.”

Much like the CIA, the NSA is a gigantic and shadowy organization. The NSA seems to be better at keeping secrets and has a bigger budget that its more maligned little cousin. Wonder what all they are doing with your money and in your name? Probably worth thinking about. Whether you can do a damn thing about any of it is not clear. If the director of an oversight agency gives up it indicates that change will not come easily to the NSA. Nothing fights harder than a cornered bureaucrat with a license to kill and a nearly unlimited budget.

Quick and dirty guide to buying an assault rifle

With a new “assault rifle” ban just around the corner, it is a good time to think about purchasing your first, next and/or possibly last defensive rifle designed for all around lethality. Let’s be clear what we are talking about. This is your “shit just hit the fan” rifle. This is your things have collapsed but somehow I’m still here and we need to pick up the pieces and rebuild rifle. This is the rifle you will use to keep the barbarian hordes from raping and pillaging your land, castle and family (should they ever appear over the horizon). This is the rifle you’ll use when you join the neighborhood militia (if you neighborhood ever needs to start one). This is the rifle you are buying because the founding fathers thought every American should be involved in guarding against tyranny and that self-defense was a God given right. You know that’s still true now.

Let’s get down to brass tacks. Which assault rifle is best? The short answer is: depends what you want to use it for. Personally I own a .223/5.56 and a .308 weapon. The .223 is what I bought first because that’s the round the U.S. military uses for day to day stuff. As I learned more, I realized that the .223 might not be the best round. So I bought a .308.  Now I have choices. You’ll find endless arguments over calibers, penetration and various other factors. Every rifle and caliber has pros and cons. Here are some basics I consider important.

Calibers

The two most available rounds are 5.56 and 7.62. These go with the M16 and the AK47 respectively. Both of these types of ammunition are widely available around the world and there are millions of rounds floating around the U.S. If you buy a weapon that fires 5.56/.223 you’ll probably be able to get ammo for it in the U.S. no matter what the political situation is. I would guess the same is true of 7.62 ammo. Here is a discussion of the relative merits of 5.56 versus 7.62 ammunition that merits reading. The end result is that statistically a larger round is more likely to kill you. Either one will kill an enemy in a pinch but 7.62 packs a bigger punch. Because of the Geneva conventions, these rounds are mostly full metal jacket. That means they do not break up inside the target. That makes them less effective at killing opponents than many non-military rounds, many of which are designed to shred whatever they hit by expanding on entry.

The topic has been talked to death a time or two. As I’ve noted before, all rounds are trade offs. The 7.62mm side of the debate tends to pretend that .308 is some kind of death ray and skip over the possibility you’ll have to double tap with .308 as well. And they tend to act like 5.56mm is guaranteed to fail without double tap. Both premises don’t hold up reliably — just statistical tendencies. For an AR/carbine role, I’ll take the 5.56mm round all day — especially if I’m a notional operator who has the range time and training to use my M4 or other weapon to the fullest. As for an M4 in 7.62×51mm . . . too much recoil. Autofire is obviously bad, but even in semi it’s going to kick like a beast, which means that I’d better not need to double tap (or better not miss) because it’s going to take me longer to put the weapon back on target while the other guy is trying to kill me. The proposed 6.8mm round seems like a good idea to me — it takes bullet weight towards .308 without fully sacrificing the idea of a handy and compact assault rifle to the full size bullet, but stays light enough to carry lots of ammo and recoil soft enough to make the a minimal issue in rapid fire.

If you want to be practical I suggest purchasing something that shoots one of the two mentioned types of ammo – 7.62 or 5.56. A gun without ammo is just a big club. If the sky really does fall and you find yourself living in a Fallout 3 type environment it’s likely you’ll be able to trade for bullets of these two types. Maybe some others as well but this is a quick and dirty guide to assault rifles not a novel length diatribe. You want a quick and dirty weapon that will help you defend civilization if and when it collapses.

Costs

Costs are variable. They are rising due to unfavorable political conditions and the fact that a lot of these things are going to be black market soon. You’ll still be able to buy am “assault rifle” if you really want one but it will cost three times as much and more important, will be illegal. Military style rifles are good for hunting humans. That’s what they were designed for. If you buy right now, you’ll pay anywhere between $500-2500 for a rifle. Depends which features you want, how many magazines you buy, etc. Remember again, a rifle without ammo is useless. Budget for at least 500 rounds of ammo and keep it stored in a cool dry place. If you’re not already a good shot budget for 2,900 rounds and get some range time under your belt. In case you are wondering where I’m pulling my numbers, Marines are trained to hit a target with iron sights at 500 yards in two weeks with 200 rounds a day, not including Sundays. That means that with a competent friend instructing you (or a paid instructor) you should be a rifle expert in about 2,400 rounds. You’ll probably pay about 50 cents a round for ammo in either variety if you buy today. Ammo availability and pricing is subject to political whims just like access to guns.

Rifles

There are literally dozens of types, configurations manufacturers and variants. If you want an AK47 from a U.S. manufacturer here is a handy list. If you are partial to the M16 variants (the civilian version is called an AR15 instead) then here is that list. DPMS and Bushmaster have my loyalty. Any of their AR15 products will hold up well if you give them a little basic maintenance. I have no practical experience with AK variants and would welcome feedback on them. You don’t really need a scope or any other assorted garbage that can be hung from one of these rifles. A good sling, ammo and a cleaning kit are plenty to haul around.

The Process

The actual mechanics of legally purchasing a firearm vary from state to state. Most states will treat you better if you hold a concealed carry permit issued by the state. For instance, I live in Georgia. Because I am a CCW holder I can walk into a gun store and pick a weapon, fill out the official federal form in about 10 minutes, and walk out with the weapon and as much ammo as I can afford. Some places make you wait a while while they check up on you. Some places let the local constable decide if you are worthy of your second amendment right to bear arms. Some states (Massachusetts comes to mind) won’t let you have a military style rifle at all. You can check out your state laws here. Bear in mind that real assault rifles fire on full automatic or burst mode. These modes are currently federally restriced and require a Class III license. A Class III license requires the holder to give up Constitutionally guarenteed rights. Read Unintended Consequences for more information about federal gun laws and the slow death of American’s gun culture.

Mindset

Why would a civilian ever need an assault rifle? The short answer is because government has them. Are you going to shoot down an AC130 gunship or an Apache attack helicopter with a 5.56 or 7.62 semi-automatic rifle? No. Are you going to send a political message about your mindset by buying and refusing to surrender one of these weapons? Absolutely. This country was founded by people who were tired of being ordered around. A citizen with an assault rifle is hard to order around and even the most dedicated authoritarian is not going to abuse his or her authority when confronted by a group of citizens with these weapons. It may be scary to think about such a scenario but it’s also important to think about such a scenario. There are petty tyrants everywhere and checks and balances must always be present to keep them from rising to power. Assault rifles represent freedom of choice. They indicate independence. They radiate assurance. They are guaranteed by our founding document and in my opinion every citizen should own one and take the time to learn how to use it responsibly. Rights not exercised are always taken away by busybodies, do-gooders and powermongers.

Go learn more.

Get your questions answered at armedpolitesociety.com. Watch video reviews and AR versus AK comparisons at nutnfancy’s YouTube channel.