On Gun Control

On Gun Control

Criminals have guns because it’s a convenient tool that does the job. No other reason at all. You can drive a nail with a wrench, but you really want to use a hammer. You can saw wood with a pocket knife, but you’d really prefer a Circular Saw.

Even if we somehow managed to get rid of every gun in the world, and there was no way to get another one, “criminals,” would simply find another weapon. There are hundreds of instances in history where certain types of weapons were banned, yet that didn’t stop criminals from finding tools just as effective at ending a person’s life. Just look at Feudal Japan as a (repeated) example, swords are banned, so what did bandits use? Staffs, cudgels, sticks, and rocks. And they still managed to terrorize the country side, leaving hundreds of thousands terrified to leave the safety of their homes, and forcing leaders to band together to wipe out the scourge.

Humans are going to keep killing humans, that is the sad fact of our stupid species. Short of mind chipping everyone and pumping us full of mood altering drugs, it’s going to continue to happen no matter what. Gun Control, whatever form new laws take, will only salve the emotional torture that the victims families are going through right now for so long.

The even more unfortunate truth, and one that many people in this forum seem to forget, is that old saying “If guns are outlawed, only criminals will have guns.” Restrictive laws like Japan’s will only create a huge black market, and “DIY” gun culture. You’ll see zip guns being built in home garages and sold on street corners alongside meth and cocaine. We’ll see news stories “Feds seize 15,000 guns at border crossing. Estimate .001% reduction in the number of weapons!”

What you will not see is any reduction in unfortunate tragedies like this, and many fear, you will in fact see a drastic INCREASE in such.

That is why the Pro-gun crowd and the anti-gun crowd disagree. Both sides are combatting an unknown fear – both of which are rooted in reality.

 

 

How EA lost a potential Customer

How EA lost a potential Customer

Admittedly I am not the hardcore gamer I was even a decade ago, and certainly not anywhere like I was in the 1990s. But there are a few intellectual game properties that I still have a soft spot for after all these years. Many of these amazing properties are now owned directly or indirectly by EA. I even was a major member of a well known Forums dedicated to one of EA’s most famous MMO games.

So I’ve known about Warhammer MMO for quite some time. For whatever reason I thought it was not available for Mac. Anyways, I go to sign up for the free trial. But, it says my email address is already signed up, but gives me no way to recover my password from this page. Twenty minutes of searching I finally end up on the main EA web page and am able to recover my password from there.

I do that but then find that I still can’t create an account for Warhammer. It says my email address is already in use. But I can’t find a link to the Warhammer game off of EA’s web page so that I can try to use the cookies that are already enabled.

Next attempt is to login from the Mythic web page. But apparently this can not be done. At all. So I try the Origin’s page. This allows me to login, and now I can create an account on the Warhammer page.

Great!

So I download the client. Unpack it. And it immediately crashes. No error message. Nothing in the log files even. So I reboot, remove it and all the misc files that are strewn about by the installer. I reboot again, download again and install again.

Same problem. So now I’ve wasted about an hour to play a game that I’d been looking forward too for years.

These are just a lot of small problems, but they all add up. I would potentially signed up for the game for a month long period at a minimum. Perhaps even longer if I really liked it. If I, a reasonably competent IT guy with some years of experience can’t get the game to work, how can the non-technical make it work?

Jack Daniel’s Honey Whiskey

Jack Daniel’s Honey Whiskey

Just had Jack Daniel’s new Honey Whiskey at a Christmas party last night. I’m not really into whiskey in general, but I had to try really hard to limit myself to only two drinks. The honey added a very nice aroma and flavor to normal whiskey drinks.

Comments on Honolulu

Comments on Honolulu

I’m on my first trip to Honolulu. I find it an interestingly juxtaposition of a city for several reason.

First, there are the natives. The overthrow of the Hawaiian Royal Family is either seen as another example of American Capitalism backed American Imperialism, or an successful attempt by the natives themselves to throw off the shackles of Monarchy and join Democracy. All the history signs in the city on statues talking about the last Royal Family, simply state that there was an revolution. I’m looking forward to visiting the Dole Plantation (supposed seat of the American Capitalist forces behind the overthrow,) too see what is said about the revolution there. My guess based on literature so far is that little to nothing will be stated, and the focus of the Plantation will be 100% about the crops they grew.

Except for at Pearl Harbor itself, there is no mention of WWII anywhere on the island. The USS Arizona Memorial was interesting, and brought tears to not just my eyes, but quite a few others too. It was almost exclusively Americans there, most of who were seniors. A few Japanese people were about, and the few Hawaiians I saw all seemed to be employees.

Natives are very much a minority in town. Most people here are mixed race, or pure Japanese. Native Hawaiian culture surrounds us, but it’s all watered down and touristy. Nightly Hulu Shows on the beach, lei’s on all the statues. But most interestingly, not in the food. Everything is either Japanese inspired, or WWII short ration inspired. Lots of rice, cheap meat with teriyaki sauce, brown gravy. Few vegetables or salads on menus. And, much fewer fish options that I expected.

Japanese people are everywhere. At least 3 to 1 compared to everyone else together. Those working with public contact speak English very well – usually with very little accent. I also noted that employees will be primarily one race or another. Dining is also staffed along racial/cultural lines. Places geared towards Americans, (Cheese Burger in Paradise, Margaritaville, Planet Hollywood, etc,) are staffed by Americans with a Japanese or Hawaiian employee or two. The Hello Kitty Seafood Buffet (seriously, even has a “licensed by” logo near the name) is 100% Japanese. I’m assuming Hello Kitty herself is also Japanese, but I’m not sure how you’d tell.

The main strip along the beach is definitely geared towards affluent tourists. High End dining (not always good dining though,) high end shopping, high end high-rise hotels. Sidewalks are paved with flagstones and meander back and forth around water features. Gas lit tiki torches cluster under palm trees. It’s all very serene, and somewhat surreal at times.

But two blocks in the scene changes. Lower end dining (and somewhat better tasting,) lower end shopping – IE Three T-Shirts OR Two Bikinis for $20.

The big hotels all double as shopping malls. The first two or three stories are completely devoted to dining or shopping. This caused a bit of problem at check in, as I was confused walking in – the signs said “Front Desk,” then they changed the nomenclature to “Reception,” so I spent a good 30 minutes trying to figure out where to even check in.

Another thing I never saw in the tour books – prostitution. First night here I didn’t get into the hotel until near midnight local time. The hotel’s restaurants were closed, so I walked along the street looking for something, anything open and edible. There was a group of three girls standing on the corner right across from the police station. A bit further down the street, a fairly pretty, but VERY thing blonde accosted me in the middle of the side walk and flat out said “Wanna come to my room for some fun.” Two blocks down further, another blond, quite a bit chubbier this time tried to talk to me. I politely said “No Thank You,” and walked by. As I was coming back (not able to find anything edible that direction,) she started getting mad that I was walking by again, and demanded for me to come over to her! Still further on, another girl physically blocked my way and moved to block me as I tried to get around her, even after I said “No thanks,” twice.

There were a few Japanese girls working too, but they would only approach Japanese Guys, and even then, only the young ones, mid-twenties and younger.

I asked a police officer about it, and he said that as long as they don’t make trouble they let them do their thing because it helps bring in the tourists. He did ask me to describe the one who blocked my way and said he’d go talk to her as that was going too far.

Scenery wise, I’m having a hard time getting into things. I don’t find the ocean that interesting in general. What scenery there is in the immediate area is covered with huge blocky hotels. The beach scenery is non-existent. I’d try to talk more to some of the Japanese People, but my Japanese is pretty much limited to “Ready the forward laser gun! FIre!,” and “Good Day, do you speak English?” Two phrases that will only get me so far.

I’m looking forward to discovering the rest of the Island. I’m hoping that things will be different once we get further away from Honolulu.

Worst recruiting email of the week

Worst recruiting email of the week

from: sandra.washburn@insphereis.com (I’m assuming this is a mail serve address for sending emails and collecting replies)

——-
Good Afernoon,

We are seeking sales associates for our growing office. Successful candidates must be highly motivated, have proven

leadership abilities, customer service attitude and integrity. A desire for professional development, a willingness to learn and

exceptional people skills are essential to this position. We offer strong potential for growth and advancement.

Our culture can be described as highly energetic and fast-paced.

This requires each individual on our core team to be self-motivated and self-directed. We are solution-oriented and always

focused on results. Promotions are from within and based on performance, not seniority!

Qualifications:

. Ability to work in an independent environment.

. Driven by achievement and financial rewards.

. Financially stable.

. Proven success driving business results.

Regards,

Andrea Bailly
Office Assistant

InsphereISSM

(503) 246-5260
andrea.bailly@insphreis.com

——

Areas of failure
1.) No information about who the company is.
2.) Email address in signature is spelled wrong.
3.) “Office Assistant”?
4.) Their website has an annoying autoplay video that stutters badly. Even after letting it cache.
5.) Trying to recruit sales people from the IT crowd, a group of people who tend to have a lot of money and time already invested in their careers.

Over all, not quite as bad as American Income Life but much worse then the other 15 emails I’ve gotten from Insurance Companies looking to hire sales reps.