Archive for the 'Other' Category
Concealed Handguns!
I’m fortunate enough to live in a country that allows the ownership of firearms, and lucky enough to live in a state that allows a person to carry a “concealed handgun”, after proper certification of course.
This past Saturday, my day began way too early! 5:30 am is not exactly my preferred time to wake up on Saturday. In fact, I believe waking up that early on a Saturday should be a crime, but I digress.
A fellow martial artist, my father and I all agreed to take a “concealed handgun” course in order to earn our own certification to carry concealed handguns. The initial course is about 10 hours total, 8 or so being a typical lecture/classroom environment, while the other 2 was actual training and certification on a live firing range. At the end of the 10 hours course, a test was administered serving as the main means of “feedback” to ensure that we comprehended the material. Needless to say, everyone of us passed with flying colors both the written and the practical portions!
The basic class breakdown was like this:
- the basic rules of any firearm, something most people this day and age should be familiar with.
- rules of the firing range and how to handle our weapons while on the range.
- (The best part in my opinion!) Using a handgun, we were tested at our firing proficiency at what I recall being 3, 9, and 12 yards.
- Another couple hours of legal discussion. The two instructors made sure to cover the laws regarding concealed handguns, including but not limited to:
- places we can & can’t carry
- properly identifying yourself as a “Concealed Handgun License” (CHL) holder to a police officer.
- Rules regarding the use of “Deadly Force”; when & when we can/can’t use it legally.
- Legal ramifications for breaking any laws
- Suspense, Revocation, Expiration & Renewal of a CHL.
The instructor also explained to us exactly what to expect after having had to use “Deadly Force” on someone. Its not pretty, but if its your life or the life of a loved one on the line, then its totally worth protecting by any means!
Although some my disagree with carrying a concealed handgun, and I may rarely ever carry one, I still believe this 10 hour course and the certification was extremely valuable. Now all thats left is having to submit the paperwork to the proper authorities, and of course purchasing myself a new gun. (My old 1902 Colt .38 ACP is far too valuable to carry around and fire in this day and age.)
No commentsDragon Laptop Helps Save earth!
I stumbled across a technology blog that was giving away a pretty great laptop a week or so ago. The author asked everyone interested to submit a short, concise, story describing how that laptop would improve their productivity and lives. No where did he state it had to be true…below is my short story entry.
Ever since before I can remember, I’ve been preparing myself for the inevitable invasion of earth by some strange Sci-Fi creatures. Traumatized by years of media featuring creatures of all shapes, sizes, and origins has left me scarred for life.
Inventorying the weapons and weekly target practice is just a normal part of my weekly schedule, along with Martial Arts training three times a week! Plenty of food and water stored in a basement, and a four wheel drive truck/mobile command centre capable of crossing rivers, I’m ready! Or so I thought…having seen this wonderful piece of technology, I have discovered the potential benefits of its use in my preparations, and wish to procure one to integrate into my mobile command centre immediately.
No hero can fight off an alien invasion or underground monsters without knowing his enemy. My strategies and analysis of these potential invaders have come from careful study of their anatomy and weapons via VHS & DVD. However, with the aid of a high definition format, like Blue Ray, I will be capable of obtaining a much clearer and precise view of the invaders to aid my studies and refine my attack strategies. Taking out an evil ghostly pirate ship may be common knowledge in the ‘old days’, but these days one must be properly prepared using modern means.
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Seagate Hard Drive Hardships! Resolved!?
After almost a month and a half of dealing with a troublesome, faulty set of hard drives, which I’ve chronicled here and again here, I’m happy to announce that the replacement drive sent by Seagate arrived in much better condition than the previous two sent out by NewEgg.
Since receiving the new drive, its been installed and functioning beautifully. The read/write times are faster than the previous one, and finally no more hiccups during video playback!
I don’t really know if this batch of drives experienced issues due to poor manufacturing by Seagate, or some horrible streak of bad luck, but what I can verify is NewEgg’s sub par packaging for this delicate piece of equipment. Having read through Seagate’s own packaging instructions, I realized NewEgg might be to blame.
As my original post describes, NewEgg shipped the drives in a cardboard box filled with packing peanuts, and the drives were in the electrostatic bag, wrapped in profuse amounts of bubble wrap and tape.
Seagate clearly states:
“Enclose the static-protected drive(s) in 2-inch foam rubber in a corrugated box. DO NOT USE foam packing pellets, bubble wrap, or newspaper.
Warranty is void if the SeaShield cover or top cover, or any seal or label is removed or damaged, if it is improperly packaged, or if the drive experiences shock in excess of its Gs rating.”
I’ve never had any issues with NewEgg, but such blatant disregard for proper packaging and care of my hardware doesn’t speak very highly of them. According to Seagate, there is a possibility of my drive having had its warranty voided due to NewEgg’s negligence.
I finally have a working 1TB drive installed in my PC, and I would gladly purchase a Seagate drive in the future. However, I must reassess my allegiance to NewEgg after this discovery, and the hassle it created.
Having paid close to three hundred dollars for this drive, I would expect to receive something in working condition, and proper packaging, despite its OEM status. Having to wait close to two months before receiving a functional drive, after paying an additional $8.43 for shipping the first drive back to NewEgg, followed by $21.24 for shipping the second drive to Seagate doesn’t sit well with me at all, especially since in my opinion, all of this could have been avoided had NewEgg properly packaged the drive the first time around.
No commentsHow To Fight Jyuuken Style
While “Jyuuken” may not actually be a real form of martial arts, at least to my knowledge, it seems to be a very popular form of fictional fighting style heavily based upon kung-fu/Kenpo and the principles of Chi/Ki energy, which are directly linked to the ancient belief of Chakra.
In many cultures and in some martial arts, it is believed that your power comes from the release/flow of Chi/Ki energy from specific Chakra points in the body. To inhibit the flow of natural Chi/Ki energy in a person is believed to cause dire effects on the physical body, such as aches and pains, depression, or even disease, and paralysis. The opposite holds true if you constantly work to improve the flow of Chi/Ki energy. It is believed that regular practice of Chi/Ki flow sustainment, “can significantly increase the strength, intelligence, and vitality of the practitioner, as well as inuring him/her to all forms of diseases.”
While some claims of the power of Chakra Chi/Ki energy may seem a bit far fetched, many resemblances, in function and location, can be found between the multiple Chakra points, and the human body’s own endocrine system.
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Seagate Hard Drive Hardships! Cont.
Even after all the troubleshooting, diagnosis, and tests run on the drive that came back stating the drive was perfectly healthy, it looks as if my initial suspicions were correct in regards to my new hard drive mentioned in my previous post.
*Click**Click**Click* is not suppose to be a “normal noise” on any hard drive that I’ve ever encountered, despite what I’ve read about this particular model of Seagate Drives.
SMART Detection Errors began popping up, and even Windows Vista detected the errors. I rechecked the status of my drive using Seasoft’s Sandra Lite that was mentioned in my previous post. The software concurred with Vista’s findings, displaying an enormous amount of Read/Write Errors, Seek Errors, and all kinds of issues which pointed to imminent failure.
It seems as if the Read/Write heads on the drive are failing, and they are gradually decreasing in performance, bringing about significant slow downs and hiccups during normal operation…
I’ve initiated a return to Seagate after verifying my drive’s warranty status here ; I should be receiving a replacement in the next few days.
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