I hate getting head colds. They start as a sinus infection, cause my right ear to plug up, then move to the throat to reside there as an irritating cough that lasts for days.
Since moving to the higher thinner air of Colorado, I get them very rarely and have almost to be injected with a concentrated sample to contract one. Or receive a kiss from my daughter.
One is now winding down. Thanks very much to chlorpheniramine maleate, dextromethorphan hydrobromide, pseudephedrine, and some menthol.
I have to be very careful with these medicines, they make me giddy. A single dose of Nyquil will have me sailing for days, with my pupils cranked open as if I'd dropped windowpane. People will see me and ask, "Did you get your hair colored, Fûz?" or "Hey, nice dental work!", whispering to each other after I pass, "what's different about him?" as if I were the guy who just got his Cialis scrip. Subjective time seems to slow down because I swear I can see the office computer's screen flicker under the influence, but not when I'm free of OTC cold meds.
Guaifenesin we simply cannot do any more. It makes my ribcage feel like it's inflated with helium and one careless move will unmoor me from the Earth. Meanwhile, my voice has taken on a Barry White growl.
I'll be glad when this is over.
20040414
My Skype username is Patriotbrewer
Am eager to try out the nifty Skype, a free P2P encrypted internet telephony client. Somebody gimme a call in the evenings, Mountain time.
Marshalbanana from Greece has been trying to reach me but we haven't connected yet. With a name like that, though . . .
Marshalbanana from Greece has been trying to reach me but we haven't connected yet. With a name like that, though . . .
20040413
It's the harmonics, stupid
Wired's shorticle on electronics forbidden on aircraft elicited the harrumpf factor.
"The operating frequency of these devices is well below the range of aircraft systems." But if these devices are digital, their myriad transistors are being turned from full-off to full-on, to signify the binary ones and zeros that trigger other transistors in turn in the construct we know as code. Whether that code drives the video of a GameBoy or the audio of an MP3, or a spreadsheet, makes little difference.
When a waveform of full-off to full-on and back is created, it wants very badly to divide itself into an infinite number of sine waveforms whose frequencies are multiples of the fundamental on-off frequency, with amplitudes decreasing as the frequency increases. If you have a lowly 16 MHz square wave clock, it will want to break apart into sine waves of higher frequency. They aren't intended, they just happen, and good design will seek to reduce the amplitude of those harmonics, or the power at which those harmonics escape the device.
The issue returns to frequency and power. What frequency or range of frequencies is being emitted by these devices, and at what power? Then, what frequencies, at what power, will disturb a commercial aircraft's systems?
It was our luck to have been employed on a project where the engineers intentionally overdrove a part so its harmonics were stronger, because one of those harmonics was desired as a clock frequency for the product. The manufacturer of the part improved it to reduce the harmonic output. It could not longer be mis-applied that way. The PCB had to be relaid, we missed milestones, the financing was withdrawn, the project cancelled.
On the bright side, this got Fûz laid off, forcing a relocation from NY to Colorado. The harmonics created by square waves have offered me a wild, sinusoidal rollercoaster ride.
"The operating frequency of these devices is well below the range of aircraft systems." But if these devices are digital, their myriad transistors are being turned from full-off to full-on, to signify the binary ones and zeros that trigger other transistors in turn in the construct we know as code. Whether that code drives the video of a GameBoy or the audio of an MP3, or a spreadsheet, makes little difference.
When a waveform of full-off to full-on and back is created, it wants very badly to divide itself into an infinite number of sine waveforms whose frequencies are multiples of the fundamental on-off frequency, with amplitudes decreasing as the frequency increases. If you have a lowly 16 MHz square wave clock, it will want to break apart into sine waves of higher frequency. They aren't intended, they just happen, and good design will seek to reduce the amplitude of those harmonics, or the power at which those harmonics escape the device.
The issue returns to frequency and power. What frequency or range of frequencies is being emitted by these devices, and at what power? Then, what frequencies, at what power, will disturb a commercial aircraft's systems?
It was our luck to have been employed on a project where the engineers intentionally overdrove a part so its harmonics were stronger, because one of those harmonics was desired as a clock frequency for the product. The manufacturer of the part improved it to reduce the harmonic output. It could not longer be mis-applied that way. The PCB had to be relaid, we missed milestones, the financing was withdrawn, the project cancelled.
On the bright side, this got Fûz laid off, forcing a relocation from NY to Colorado. The harmonics created by square waves have offered me a wild, sinusoidal rollercoaster ride.
20040412
Screw it up for us and you screw it up for your enforcers too
I remember when an over-ten-round magazine cost less than thirty bucks, say, for a wondernine like the Beretta 92 or Browning P35 or the countless Glocks. I could find them anywhere, like Dershem's in Bellefonte, or Grice's or Bob's Army-Navy in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.
This was before the '94 AWB. It was even before the AWB was deliberated.
Prices started climbing as soon as the laws were proposed, and they kept climbing until, for all intents and purposes, the prices on some of these over-ten-round capacity magazines approached infinity. New ones could not be had at any price.
Ironically, since demand among the civilian sector approached zero, the manufacturers for these products found themselves serving a much smaller legal market, the police and gummint buyers. Said manufacturers could not keep their assembly lines busy so they scaled production back to the point where economies of scale no longer applied. Prices for the cops and the gummint climbed too.
High-volume magazines already imported or manufactured before the ban because of certain demand remained inexpensive, such as those for M16, AK, G3, and FAL. But they're the exception.
If, insh'allah, the AWB sunsets as anticipated, it may take some time for the supply to ramp back up for the return of legal private demand for high-cap magazines. But police departments everywhere were Taking It in the shorts for these ten years, paying triple or quintuple what they used to for replacement magazines for their sidearms. All in return for receiving a privileged status as the only lawful owners of new-production magazines.
It's happening again, as new blog-rollee Heartless Libertarian points us to Geekwitha45's report. The introduction of a new, badly needed cartridge for Uncle Sugar's service rifles is delayed because no manufacturer wants to undertake the project of supplying the magazine for it without the legal demand from private citizens.
Maybe next time policemen will remind themselves that supporting that ban has cost them and their departments, in real dollars and perhaps officers' lives, and maybe they'll think twice before allowing themselves to be used politically for similar bans in the future.
This was before the '94 AWB. It was even before the AWB was deliberated.
Prices started climbing as soon as the laws were proposed, and they kept climbing until, for all intents and purposes, the prices on some of these over-ten-round capacity magazines approached infinity. New ones could not be had at any price.
Ironically, since demand among the civilian sector approached zero, the manufacturers for these products found themselves serving a much smaller legal market, the police and gummint buyers. Said manufacturers could not keep their assembly lines busy so they scaled production back to the point where economies of scale no longer applied. Prices for the cops and the gummint climbed too.
High-volume magazines already imported or manufactured before the ban because of certain demand remained inexpensive, such as those for M16, AK, G3, and FAL. But they're the exception.
If, insh'allah, the AWB sunsets as anticipated, it may take some time for the supply to ramp back up for the return of legal private demand for high-cap magazines. But police departments everywhere were Taking It in the shorts for these ten years, paying triple or quintuple what they used to for replacement magazines for their sidearms. All in return for receiving a privileged status as the only lawful owners of new-production magazines.
It's happening again, as new blog-rollee Heartless Libertarian points us to Geekwitha45's report. The introduction of a new, badly needed cartridge for Uncle Sugar's service rifles is delayed because no manufacturer wants to undertake the project of supplying the magazine for it without the legal demand from private citizens.
Maybe next time policemen will remind themselves that supporting that ban has cost them and their departments, in real dollars and perhaps officers' lives, and maybe they'll think twice before allowing themselves to be used politically for similar bans in the future.
20040409
Selling federalism
A friend of mine at work often accompanies me to lunch. He's a lapsed-Catholic-turned-evangelical, and likes to discuss the finer points, if you will.
I've been introducing him to federalism, especially in the context of his support of the proposed Defense of Marriage amendment to the US Constitution---he supports, I oppose.
Secularism is a hard sell to him, federalism is even harder, BTW. But it's working. Wanna know where I pick articles to forward to his email inbox?
Volokh Conspiracy. At least 6 posts over the last two months. Strangely enough, whatever point we're discussing at lunch, when I get back to my computer and graze over VC, there's a new post that supports my point. Copy and paste, and wait for him to come out of his office and review how the post applies to our discussion.
NB: there are other sites I'd forward content from, but these here nippernet computers go through a filtered proxy server that excludes opinion sites. It lets sports scores and the latest William Hung mpegs through, but no opinion. No Reason, no Cato, no IJ. No NRA (but Violence Policy Center comes through---wonder, should I hire a lawyer? Or just complain to NRA?). No Instapundit. Whatever you guys at VC do, do not call yourselves an opinion site.
I've been introducing him to federalism, especially in the context of his support of the proposed Defense of Marriage amendment to the US Constitution---he supports, I oppose.
Secularism is a hard sell to him, federalism is even harder, BTW. But it's working. Wanna know where I pick articles to forward to his email inbox?
Volokh Conspiracy. At least 6 posts over the last two months. Strangely enough, whatever point we're discussing at lunch, when I get back to my computer and graze over VC, there's a new post that supports my point. Copy and paste, and wait for him to come out of his office and review how the post applies to our discussion.
NB: there are other sites I'd forward content from, but these here nippernet computers go through a filtered proxy server that excludes opinion sites. It lets sports scores and the latest William Hung mpegs through, but no opinion. No Reason, no Cato, no IJ. No NRA (but Violence Policy Center comes through---wonder, should I hire a lawyer? Or just complain to NRA?). No Instapundit. Whatever you guys at VC do, do not call yourselves an opinion site.
Dr. Rice badgered by assholes; film at eleven
Nine-Eleven commissioners bitch-slap a National Security Adviser before a national audience, with applause from the gallery no less, and get interviewed later on television.
Well, if I did that, I'd get on TV too. But I'd be wearing handcuffs.
Idea courtesy blogson Scotsman.
Well, if I did that, I'd get on TV too. But I'd be wearing handcuffs.
Idea courtesy blogson Scotsman.
There's millions of 'em on all three sides of us, imam! ---That means we've got those kufr right where we want them, Ahmed!
Professor Alan Gilbert was Peter Boyles's guest this morning, and both of them described the Fallujah action as a Perfect Storm, capable of uniting all Iraqis against the US occupation, growing to proportions that would force Uncle Sugar to contemplate leaving Iraq.
I pointedly disagree. Can't back it up, can't substantiate it. But here's the WUTT! take: the Sunna are getting their yarbles out. The Shi'a are getting their yarbles out. The Saddam-less fedayeen are getting their yarbles out. Not all the Iraqis are galvanizing to evict the Yank-led coalition, just all of the anti-Yank-led coalition Iraqis.
They're a distinct minority, mostly in towns that were intentionally bypassed the way Hitler should have bypassed Stalingrad. They've been waiting for a moment when political factors are right, when a signal atrocity would make a noticeable change in US public opinion of the occupation. The Blackwater event was it. Unfortunately for them, US public opinion does not respond the way it used to, they way their plans call for. This turning point will not turn their way.
It's been a few months since I've heard "flypaper" mentioned, but maybe this is when we roll all of that flypaper up into a few discrete balls and incinerate them. The few flies still in Iraq after that will remain a harrassing threat.
Essential to the success of the incineration: sealing the frigging Iran border.
WUTT! stands firm on its prior assertion, made in another venue, that this madness will not be over before American GIs bring home Persian wives.
I pointedly disagree. Can't back it up, can't substantiate it. But here's the WUTT! take: the Sunna are getting their yarbles out. The Shi'a are getting their yarbles out. The Saddam-less fedayeen are getting their yarbles out. Not all the Iraqis are galvanizing to evict the Yank-led coalition, just all of the anti-Yank-led coalition Iraqis.
They're a distinct minority, mostly in towns that were intentionally bypassed the way Hitler should have bypassed Stalingrad. They've been waiting for a moment when political factors are right, when a signal atrocity would make a noticeable change in US public opinion of the occupation. The Blackwater event was it. Unfortunately for them, US public opinion does not respond the way it used to, they way their plans call for. This turning point will not turn their way.
It's been a few months since I've heard "flypaper" mentioned, but maybe this is when we roll all of that flypaper up into a few discrete balls and incinerate them. The few flies still in Iraq after that will remain a harrassing threat.
Essential to the success of the incineration: sealing the frigging Iran border.
WUTT! stands firm on its prior assertion, made in another venue, that this madness will not be over before American GIs bring home Persian wives.
20040407
NYPD Hiring!
Mark A R Kleiman is concerned that valuable infantrymen are being recruited away from US armed services, after having been trained to be valuable infantrymen at public expense.
Well then, what of this?
Granted, Mark's concern was voiced in the context of the Blackwater employees (former military men) murdered in Fallujah.
Should this be stopped? I see little difference between this and non-compete clauses that were common when cable TV applications engineers were a hot commodity. What makes me valuable to one employer will to another employer, and I'm free to change employers if I can find one whose overall package is better.
Bringing the discussion back to territory that is familiar to me, I see a parallel between this issue and broad civilian gun ownership. Uncle Sugar trains hundreds of thousands of people to use lethal force responsibly. Immediately, Uncle does so for his own specific purposes, namely to field a competent army. But the training, if done well and kept up, becomes available to the civilian sector through the men and women who seek employment as sworn peace officers, commercial security guards, and armed citizens.
People who have not received this training, people who do not own firearms, and people who have not sought and received permission to CCW benefit from those who do. In fact, people who would never dream of receiving such training, people who object to widespread gun ownership, and people who want to outlaw all forms of concealed carry (except for agents of the government) derive a benefit.
Providing the training, even to personnel who will return that investment directly to Uncle Sugar for only another year or two then pursue richer opportunities, should not be counted as a net loss to Uncle, but as a net gain to all of us.
Well then, what of this?
NYPD Hiring! Take Free Exam at Camp Lejeune, Wed., April 7th
You’ve protected THE WORLD’S GREATEST NATION. Now,
protect THE WORLD’S GREATEST CITY. Don’t miss the
opportunity to take our FREE EXAM at Camp Lejeune,
Wed, April 7 - 1800 hours, Marston Pavilion, 730
Seth William Blvd, Camp Lejeune, NC. Call:
1-800-550-3836. Please bring military I.D. The NYPD
is continuously hiring and test scores for all
active military will be kept indefinitely. If unable
to attend apply online at:
http://tracking.military.com/cgi-bin/outlog.cgi?url=http://www.nypd2.org/html/recruit/policeofficer.html
by April 16 for the New York City exam. Or call 212-RECRUIT.
Granted, Mark's concern was voiced in the context of the Blackwater employees (former military men) murdered in Fallujah.
Should this be stopped? I see little difference between this and non-compete clauses that were common when cable TV applications engineers were a hot commodity. What makes me valuable to one employer will to another employer, and I'm free to change employers if I can find one whose overall package is better.
Bringing the discussion back to territory that is familiar to me, I see a parallel between this issue and broad civilian gun ownership. Uncle Sugar trains hundreds of thousands of people to use lethal force responsibly. Immediately, Uncle does so for his own specific purposes, namely to field a competent army. But the training, if done well and kept up, becomes available to the civilian sector through the men and women who seek employment as sworn peace officers, commercial security guards, and armed citizens.
People who have not received this training, people who do not own firearms, and people who have not sought and received permission to CCW benefit from those who do. In fact, people who would never dream of receiving such training, people who object to widespread gun ownership, and people who want to outlaw all forms of concealed carry (except for agents of the government) derive a benefit.
Providing the training, even to personnel who will return that investment directly to Uncle Sugar for only another year or two then pursue richer opportunities, should not be counted as a net loss to Uncle, but as a net gain to all of us.
20040405
Our lives, fortunes, and sacred bandwidth, updated
Donald Sensing despairs over the Republic now that freedom of political speech is in peril from campaign finance reform. Agreed. So WUTT!'s proposal?
Maybe enough bloggers will, on or before 2 September, publish something that might violate the law if it were posted on 3 September. Then in posts from 3 Sep onward, keep referring to each others' 2 Sep posts.
Throw in a few citations of the Officially Sanctioned Media's post-3 Sep reporting as well.
Point out inaccuracies therein, e.g. "No, Kerry voted FOR it in October then spoke AGAINST it in May," to keep citing voting records up over and over again, but carefully couching our posts as responses or corrections to, or criticisms of, each others' posts, not examinations of the officeholders themselves.
Then call the Federal Election Commission, and turn each other in. Insist upon an investigation of every possible meta-reporting offense.
Update: Geekwitha45's comments and email to me disclose my embarrassing ignorance of BCRA. It does not regulate private activities, including bloggers, so my proposal does not incur the FEC's wrath.
OK. So we bloggers can still participate. I paid NRA a handsome sum to be one of their Lifers. I expect a return on my investment. Political research on the issues of our common interest, and publication of that research, is part of what I paid for. They're still allowed to collect the voting records, but they can't take out ads to present them. They can give the records to me and a few thousand other bloggers, and we can post them. Nothing illegal there.
Further, we can sell them steeply discounted ad space on our blogs to present their research there. Then they're breaking the law, and perhaps so would we be.
I use NRA as an example here, other incorporated outfits would fit the space just as well.
If anyone is actually prosecuted, we then discuss the prosecution itself, and the evidence presented. Then complain to the FEC about each others' meta-meta-reporting during the blackout period.
Distributed denial of service attack, but via analog voice, upon Bad Law.
Maybe enough bloggers will, on or before 2 September, publish something that might violate the law if it were posted on 3 September. Then in posts from 3 Sep onward, keep referring to each others' 2 Sep posts.
Throw in a few citations of the Officially Sanctioned Media's post-3 Sep reporting as well.
Point out inaccuracies therein, e.g. "No, Kerry voted FOR it in October then spoke AGAINST it in May," to keep citing voting records up over and over again, but carefully couching our posts as responses or corrections to, or criticisms of, each others' posts, not examinations of the officeholders themselves.
Then call the Federal Election Commission, and turn each other in. Insist upon an investigation of every possible meta-reporting offense.
Update: Geekwitha45's comments and email to me disclose my embarrassing ignorance of BCRA. It does not regulate private activities, including bloggers, so my proposal does not incur the FEC's wrath.
OK. So we bloggers can still participate. I paid NRA a handsome sum to be one of their Lifers. I expect a return on my investment. Political research on the issues of our common interest, and publication of that research, is part of what I paid for. They're still allowed to collect the voting records, but they can't take out ads to present them. They can give the records to me and a few thousand other bloggers, and we can post them. Nothing illegal there.
Further, we can sell them steeply discounted ad space on our blogs to present their research there. Then they're breaking the law, and perhaps so would we be.
I use NRA as an example here, other incorporated outfits would fit the space just as well.
If anyone is actually prosecuted, we then discuss the prosecution itself, and the evidence presented. Then complain to the FEC about each others' meta-meta-reporting during the blackout period.
Distributed denial of service attack, but via analog voice, upon Bad Law.
20040402
Yeeeehawwww!
Free WiFi in the hotel room in Cheyenne!
Which reminds me: I have been reading the lessons learned reports from OIF, and one of the concerns is that the increased use of UAVs is congesting all of the satellites, to the point that DoD cannot deploy many more UAVs without hitting the capacity limit. Combine this with the desire to expand the use of Blue Force Tracker and Iridium satellite phones, and we'll be at or past the limit of available secure bandwidth in that theater.
The demand for bandwidth right down to the individual rifleman, loggie, firedog, or dirtboy is growing, so the congestion will only get worse.
We're going to have to move more of our wireless comms off the satellites, but to what? Well, how about developing a concentrator on a UAV, so it can be piloted in an orbit tastefully stood-off from a headquarters area, and let it route the calls either back to the ground or up to the bird? An unmanned airborne cell tower. Embed the security into the clients---the phones, pagers, PDAs---so the UAV is not a gigantic classified COMSEC item that must be recovered if it crashes or is shot down.
Which reminds me: I have been reading the lessons learned reports from OIF, and one of the concerns is that the increased use of UAVs is congesting all of the satellites, to the point that DoD cannot deploy many more UAVs without hitting the capacity limit. Combine this with the desire to expand the use of Blue Force Tracker and Iridium satellite phones, and we'll be at or past the limit of available secure bandwidth in that theater.
The demand for bandwidth right down to the individual rifleman, loggie, firedog, or dirtboy is growing, so the congestion will only get worse.
We're going to have to move more of our wireless comms off the satellites, but to what? Well, how about developing a concentrator on a UAV, so it can be piloted in an orbit tastefully stood-off from a headquarters area, and let it route the calls either back to the ground or up to the bird? An unmanned airborne cell tower. Embed the security into the clients---the phones, pagers, PDAs---so the UAV is not a gigantic classified COMSEC item that must be recovered if it crashes or is shot down.
20040401
Late-breaking:
After follow-up interviews with Ms Seiler, Madison Police have released an updated sketch of her alleged abductor:
Anyone who has seen a person answering this description is urged to contact the Madison Police Department.
Anyone who has seen a person answering this description is urged to contact the Madison Police Department.
20040331
You must choose
We appreciate the carefully constructed point here:
That's Sgt Mom, with WUTT!'s Quote for the Day.
. . . those who do not speak against, are in danger of being assumed to agree with the perpetrators of the next jihadist atrocity.
That's Sgt Mom, with WUTT!'s Quote for the Day.
20040329
If she were ten pounds heavier, I'd be dead
Meet Recluse:
She's our oldest cat, we took her and her littermate The First Otis in when we closed on our first house, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in 1993. Our litter training skills were such that Recluse had to be chased and caught from time to time, to be moved to the litter box. On one such occasion, she snagged one of her front claws in the carpet, and as she fled, the claw held and she flipped herself over.
She has not forgiven me. She never will. She spends her entire day under our bed, with occasional forays to water, litter, or food. Whenever I enter the room, she bolts.
If she had just a few more pounds on her, she'd tear my throat out in my sleep.
She's our oldest cat, we took her and her littermate The First Otis in when we closed on our first house, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in 1993. Our litter training skills were such that Recluse had to be chased and caught from time to time, to be moved to the litter box. On one such occasion, she snagged one of her front claws in the carpet, and as she fled, the claw held and she flipped herself over.
She has not forgiven me. She never will. She spends her entire day under our bed, with occasional forays to water, litter, or food. Whenever I enter the room, she bolts.
If she had just a few more pounds on her, she'd tear my throat out in my sleep.
Hey, I work for a living!
Posting has been light recently. We posted a sudden upsurge last Thursday and Friday because, well, Fûz took some leave as his orders were about to end, and he was waiting for indication of whether he'd be kept on orders. Thursday and Friday were to be devoted to a leaking automatic transmission in the Fûzboat, learning how to operate a sewing machine, and getting in line with the Milfwagens to drop off and pick up Daughter Units at school.
Fûz's orders were renewed for another 90 days, so Thursday was spent downloading and running the AF's replacement for The Execrable FormFlow so he could submit new leave paperwork. Friday was spent getting his orders amended, and having a new DoD ID card prepared. Without further gory detail, Thu and Fri were shot in the temple.
Upside, Fûz continues to draw salary for another three months. And we made it to the Knights' fish fry.
Update: On 1 April, we received the auth for 360 days. And the transmission still leaks after installing a new pan gasket.
Fûz can blog from work, in a limited fashion, in between feeding Toad and chasing Boy and stretching Middlechild and reading to Firstborn, and letting Barbaloot nap. But he gets to go to Undisclosed Combat Readiness Training Center and work with Cadre again for a few weeks.
Fûz's orders were renewed for another 90 days, so Thursday was spent downloading and running the AF's replacement for The Execrable FormFlow so he could submit new leave paperwork. Friday was spent getting his orders amended, and having a new DoD ID card prepared. Without further gory detail, Thu and Fri were shot in the temple.
Upside, Fûz continues to draw salary for another three months. And we made it to the Knights' fish fry.
Update: On 1 April, we received the auth for 360 days. And the transmission still leaks after installing a new pan gasket.
Fûz can blog from work, in a limited fashion, in between feeding Toad and chasing Boy and stretching Middlechild and reading to Firstborn, and letting Barbaloot nap. But he gets to go to Undisclosed Combat Readiness Training Center and work with Cadre again for a few weeks.
20040328
Quote for the day
Allah, as Muslims view him, is omnipotent, above logic and reason, unrestrained by natural law. He can decree at any moment that evil is good and two and two make five. People are subject to his arbitrary and tyrannical rule and can do little more than plead for mercy. Nations who worship such a God, it turns out, are themselves governable only by a tyrannical ruler.
Tom Bethell, American Spectator, March 2004, "The Living Hell of Bill Moyers" (sorry, no URL directly to issue or the article).
20040325
But tomorrow, Madame, I will be sober
We despaired in a recent post that carbines of the AR15 family can get a new lease on service with Uncle Sugar if only the cartridge were changed to something that delivers lethality at greater range. One new cartridge is under serious consideration by our esteemed Uncle, another has been proposed, both fitting neatly within the physical constraints of the existing carbine and magazine, needing little more than a new barrel, bolt, and magazine follower to lose the "poodle shooter" pejorative.
Either the 6.5mm Grendel (the preferred solution here at WUTT!) or the 6.8mm Remington SPC (the likely successor) would be a major step forward.
But as the borrowed Churchill quip implies, we can change the caliber but the carbine will still be an AR15. It taps propellant gas from the barrel, and ducts it half the length of the weapon back to a chamber inside the bolt carrier to operate the action. This reduces the weight and parts count of the weapon, but dumps propellant gas inside the action where it can foul it and cause malfunctions.
The AR15 also uses a cocking handle that rides inside the top of the upper receiver. It is difficult to use this cocking handle with the non-firing hand while the firing hand keeps a consistent grip. The movement of this control also interferes with placement of a cheekrest. Aftermarket upper receivers are available with cocking handles on the left side of the receiver, like the FAL's, instead of on top at the rear.
Rather than replace the AR15 family carbines already in Uncle's arsenal, we propose instead to refit them, both to change the cartridge to a non-poodle shooter, and to remove these two design details. Mr and Mrs Taxpayer may thank WUTT! for the tens of millions of dollars saved.
The existing upper receiver can be retained, if has the rails for the removable carry handle.
Everything from the upper receiver forward goes away. The new barrel bears a block, in place of the front sight, that offers short Picatinny rails at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock around the barrel's circumference. A gas piston inside the block taps the propellant gas and points it rearward. The rails offer ample space to mount sights, lights, designators, even a recoil- or muzzle-operated digital camera.
Instead of the loooooong gas tube sprouting from the gas block, an operating rod with a cylinder in its front end mates to the piston at the front, and passes into the upper receiver at the rear. The rear fits inside the bolt carrier key. Heckler and Koch have already designed this part and offer it as a retrofit for M4 carbines.
A replacement upper handguard has room for the operating rod, and includes a folding cocking handle. This handle can swing either to right or to left, to grab the operating rod and cycle it. The handle does not reciprocate with the operating rod.
A rear block surrounds the barrel immediately in front of the gland nut that tightens the barrel to the upper receiver. It has a short Picatinny rail at 12 o'clock, and a channel under that to take the operating rod and guide it, and retain the upper handguard. At 6 o'clock, it has hardpoints that lock bipod legs in place.
The lower handguard looks just like a lower handguard, but it is split into quarters, right and left. These are extensible legs of a bipod. The legs hinge where they attach to the front sight block.
A vertical foregrip, a GL, or a shotgun can be installed in place of the lower handguard, of course.
Important: the Picatinny rails do not surround the barrel along most of its length like on the current M4A1. The rails, and the handguards fastened to them, trap too much heat on the barrel. In prolonged action, the barrel gets hot enough to ignite a cartridge as soon as it's chambered, known as a cook-off.
The receiver-mounted cocking handle is removed, and a plastic plug installs in its place. Ears from the plug reach around to the rear of the sight rail on the upper receiver, to fasten tightly there. The plug provides a press-fit between upper and lower receivers when they are closed, and could be fashioned as a flip-up reserve rear sight, calibrated for the new caliber.
Either the 6.5mm Grendel (the preferred solution here at WUTT!) or the 6.8mm Remington SPC (the likely successor) would be a major step forward.
But as the borrowed Churchill quip implies, we can change the caliber but the carbine will still be an AR15. It taps propellant gas from the barrel, and ducts it half the length of the weapon back to a chamber inside the bolt carrier to operate the action. This reduces the weight and parts count of the weapon, but dumps propellant gas inside the action where it can foul it and cause malfunctions.
The AR15 also uses a cocking handle that rides inside the top of the upper receiver. It is difficult to use this cocking handle with the non-firing hand while the firing hand keeps a consistent grip. The movement of this control also interferes with placement of a cheekrest. Aftermarket upper receivers are available with cocking handles on the left side of the receiver, like the FAL's, instead of on top at the rear.
Rather than replace the AR15 family carbines already in Uncle's arsenal, we propose instead to refit them, both to change the cartridge to a non-poodle shooter, and to remove these two design details. Mr and Mrs Taxpayer may thank WUTT! for the tens of millions of dollars saved.
The existing upper receiver can be retained, if has the rails for the removable carry handle.
Everything from the upper receiver forward goes away. The new barrel bears a block, in place of the front sight, that offers short Picatinny rails at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock around the barrel's circumference. A gas piston inside the block taps the propellant gas and points it rearward. The rails offer ample space to mount sights, lights, designators, even a recoil- or muzzle-operated digital camera.
Instead of the loooooong gas tube sprouting from the gas block, an operating rod with a cylinder in its front end mates to the piston at the front, and passes into the upper receiver at the rear. The rear fits inside the bolt carrier key. Heckler and Koch have already designed this part and offer it as a retrofit for M4 carbines.
A replacement upper handguard has room for the operating rod, and includes a folding cocking handle. This handle can swing either to right or to left, to grab the operating rod and cycle it. The handle does not reciprocate with the operating rod.
A rear block surrounds the barrel immediately in front of the gland nut that tightens the barrel to the upper receiver. It has a short Picatinny rail at 12 o'clock, and a channel under that to take the operating rod and guide it, and retain the upper handguard. At 6 o'clock, it has hardpoints that lock bipod legs in place.
The lower handguard looks just like a lower handguard, but it is split into quarters, right and left. These are extensible legs of a bipod. The legs hinge where they attach to the front sight block.
A vertical foregrip, a GL, or a shotgun can be installed in place of the lower handguard, of course.
Important: the Picatinny rails do not surround the barrel along most of its length like on the current M4A1. The rails, and the handguards fastened to them, trap too much heat on the barrel. In prolonged action, the barrel gets hot enough to ignite a cartridge as soon as it's chambered, known as a cook-off.
The receiver-mounted cocking handle is removed, and a plastic plug installs in its place. Ears from the plug reach around to the rear of the sight rail on the upper receiver, to fasten tightly there. The plug provides a press-fit between upper and lower receivers when they are closed, and could be fashioned as a flip-up reserve rear sight, calibrated for the new caliber.
Name those guns
Airborne Combat Engineer shows a few photos and asks readers to name them.
The first is named in a comment to the post.
The other photo is of a Spanish CETME Model 58, precursor to the HK G3. CETME parts kits are being imported and assembled on domestic receivers as semi-auto rule beaters. They're OK as long as they don't have the dummy muzzle brake welded on the muzzle. The welding hoses up the tempering and warps the barrel. And the original rear sight sucks.
What do we get if we have won? Addition to the blogroll?
Update on 1 April: We did not win. But we are Priority 3 on ACE's blogroll. We reciprocate.
The first is named in a comment to the post.
The other photo is of a Spanish CETME Model 58, precursor to the HK G3. CETME parts kits are being imported and assembled on domestic receivers as semi-auto rule beaters. They're OK as long as they don't have the dummy muzzle brake welded on the muzzle. The welding hoses up the tempering and warps the barrel. And the original rear sight sucks.
What do we get if we have won? Addition to the blogroll?
Update on 1 April: We did not win. But we are Priority 3 on ACE's blogroll. We reciprocate.
Idea number 229: reason for a mini iPod
We heard today that cardiovascular exercise and music, combined, improve cognitive skills. If this is true, it's a genuine practical reason for Fûz to get a mini iPod.
We have little use for downloaded music, at least within the Denver metro area, because AM and FM serve our needs just fine, Fûz listens to talk much more than music, and we're too damn stingy to buy CDs that have only one or two good tracks on them (there are a few exceptions). So it's hard to justify a dedicated MP3 player unless a killer app can be found, say, something that can help Fûz learn a NATO- or CENTAF- interest foreign language.
Are language study programs available in MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format? Yes, they are. The apps might not be "there" yet, they're oriented towards desktop study or they're just MP3 files of spoken language. The respect that the iPod is getting these days suggests that it has the processing power to be much more than just a music player.
Developers, and geeks at the service academies, listen up: somebody with deep pockets is ready to buy this in volume. Never mind the phraselators that will do the translating for you, there is no substitute for an instructed human brain. In the end, economies of scale can make instructing the human brain cheaper. Make a gadget that you can attach to the soldiers so they drill on language while they PT, and you'll know that the training will take. Better still, the soldiers will be able to summon that skill during periods of stress and exertion (when it's needed) because that's when it was learned. If Uncle Sugar provides the application and support, the GIs will probably provide their own iPods---we are Early Adopters.
Mere playback of spoken language will not be enough. It would need interactivity, for example it asks a question in the language of study and the student thumbs through a menu of spoken answers and chooses the right one; the app tracks the right and wrong answers. When it docks, it uploads the exam results, and downloads new lessons. The exam results can be channeled back to a wetware language instructor, who can guide the student with whatever intensity the student can handle and will pay for.
In release 2, increase the processing power and add a microphone, so the student speaks the answer and the app/device can improve pronunciation, either through its own intelligence or piped back to the instructor. Randomly speed up, garble, shout, or heavily inflect the speech and see if the student can keep up. You get the idea.
Is this starting to sound like it needs a high-end Palm instead?
The Rocket eBook is a dead letter at this point, too damn heavy to take on a run, not enough capacity, no apps. Anybody desperate for one?
We have little use for downloaded music, at least within the Denver metro area, because AM and FM serve our needs just fine, Fûz listens to talk much more than music, and we're too damn stingy to buy CDs that have only one or two good tracks on them (there are a few exceptions). So it's hard to justify a dedicated MP3 player unless a killer app can be found, say, something that can help Fûz learn a NATO- or CENTAF- interest foreign language.
Are language study programs available in MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format? Yes, they are. The apps might not be "there" yet, they're oriented towards desktop study or they're just MP3 files of spoken language. The respect that the iPod is getting these days suggests that it has the processing power to be much more than just a music player.
Developers, and geeks at the service academies, listen up: somebody with deep pockets is ready to buy this in volume. Never mind the phraselators that will do the translating for you, there is no substitute for an instructed human brain. In the end, economies of scale can make instructing the human brain cheaper. Make a gadget that you can attach to the soldiers so they drill on language while they PT, and you'll know that the training will take. Better still, the soldiers will be able to summon that skill during periods of stress and exertion (when it's needed) because that's when it was learned. If Uncle Sugar provides the application and support, the GIs will probably provide their own iPods---we are Early Adopters.
Mere playback of spoken language will not be enough. It would need interactivity, for example it asks a question in the language of study and the student thumbs through a menu of spoken answers and chooses the right one; the app tracks the right and wrong answers. When it docks, it uploads the exam results, and downloads new lessons. The exam results can be channeled back to a wetware language instructor, who can guide the student with whatever intensity the student can handle and will pay for.
In release 2, increase the processing power and add a microphone, so the student speaks the answer and the app/device can improve pronunciation, either through its own intelligence or piped back to the instructor. Randomly speed up, garble, shout, or heavily inflect the speech and see if the student can keep up. You get the idea.
Is this starting to sound like it needs a high-end Palm instead?
The Rocket eBook is a dead letter at this point, too damn heavy to take on a run, not enough capacity, no apps. Anybody desperate for one?
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