Saturday, October 13, 2007
MS Windows time.
Take note next time you are copying a file, or installing a program (sometimes this displays a timer as well) the progress timer is quite interesting to pay attention to. Initially it might say there are 5 minutes remaining until the file is finished copying over, however a few seconds later (real world time) the timer will display a remaining time that has changed drastically from the original. So it may go from 5 minutes initially to maybe 2 minutes in the span of a few seconds.
Then a few seconds later it will change again, but not to a shorter amount of time remaining but to a longer time remaining then originally displayed. Probably it will change to 6 or 7 minutes, then drop again and basically continue fluctuating until there are about 20-30 seconds left. At this point it will actually display the correct time remaining.
But when the timer reaches 0 seconds left it will sometimes linger there for 20-30 seconds, basically lying to your face. It shows as being done, the status bar and the timer showing the process being completed, however the window displaying the status of the progress is still opened and you can clearly tell the computer is still processing this.
I call this Windows time, or Microsoft time, an inaccurate and totally untruthful display of time on your computer when it is performing certain operations. I would think by now, in 2007, Microsoft would of fix this, or come up with a way to implement a timer that does not lie to your face. I am sure they see it too when they use it at work, everyone sees it. I mention this to people sometime and when I do they usually pause for a moment, think about and agree with me, 'you're right, I never thought about that, but yea it does lie to you' is their usual response.
I guess people don't think about it at all, but I work with computers, and usually deal with Windows time everyday and it does get annoying after a while. Windows lies to people.
Friday, October 5, 2007
That's a big cannon you have there...
I thought I’d post a picture from
Thursday, October 4, 2007
And...you care why?
Why do people, religious people especially, care so much about how other people live their lives? On top of that most law makers are religious, some are “very” religious, and therein lies a problem, they make laws which interfere with people’s lives they do not agree with.
The Iraqi scarf...
I thought I’d share a short story from
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Hate much?
Monday, October 1, 2007
Zombies...
I am a fan of many movies, many stories of fiction and non-fiction. But one genre of particular interest to me, or I should say one that stimulates my imagination in many ways is Zombie movies.
I own a small collection of WWII era rifles, M1 Garand, M1A carbine. Lee Enfield, Mauser K98, Moisant Nagant and a .22 semi-auto Marlin. Two of the WWII rifles also have a bayonet, I believe this to be a sufficient defense against zombies. My wife can wield most of these as well, the .22 semi-auto rifle is actually hers.
This is self explanatory, you do not want to stay boarded up in your house, and it will only end in your death. Either you die slowly due to starvation or lack of water, or being eaten by zombies. Hopefully you have a reliable vehicle and hopefully it a decently powered one as well.
Our friends live about 500ft down the road, they are a married couple as well, and they own several firearms as well. They own a shotgun, a 9mm Glock and a .38 revolver. So all in all we do have a lot of firepower against zombies. However if your friends or family do not live close by, hopefully someone else who you trust does. If not, this may be a little more difficult for you.
When you encounter hordes of zombies on the road, in urban areas especially, a regular civilian vehicle does not have the necessary horse power and mass to plow through dozens, hundreds of zombies. However a 5ton military truck, with a 250HP diesel engine should suffice in plowing through hundreds of zombies. Also, the National Guard armory happens to be only about 4 miles from my residence. Hopefully your Nation Guard Armory is close as well, if not attempt to secure some other form of vehicle which can get the job done.
In the event of a Zombie outbreak, it is every man for him self. The purpose of securing a Wal-Mart is very important if you want to stay alive. There is food, clothes, more guns and more ammo including many other miscellaneous items that will be very useful through your stay there. Here I have to go into more detail however as securing a Wal-Mart and keeping it for your self is no easy task.
a) When you arrive with your friends to a Wal-Mart you will have to be ready to encounter hordes of Zombies and possibly normal people. You will have to take the place by force of course. As you drive up, attempt to take out as many zombies with your newly acquired vehicle as possible by the entrance you will be entering through. Park the truck in a way where it can block the entrance but you can still enter, thus securing your rear from surprise zombie attack. This way one of your teammates (friends) can stand on the bed of the truck (which is quite tall so no zombies will be able to reach that high) and provide rear security.
b) Once inside do not under any circumstances split up, that will end in certain death for all of you. You need to stick together to provide continuous cover for each other while you clear the store isle by isle. However, before you start clearing the store, you must lock it down. Which brings me to the next point.
c) Lock all the doors and secure them first before you attempt to clear the store of any zombies. It would be quite pointless to start killing zombies in the store when other entrances are still open, you’d eventually run out of ammo and die.
d) To secure the doors, don’t just lock them, you will have to make sure the door are not broken into easily, you can reinforce them later. Now just close them lock them and stick a table in front of it, basically any heavy object that can cover the door and temporarily hold it. If it is a glass door, like all Wal-Marts have make sure to stack furniture or other items to block those. Again, you can come back later once the store is clear and reinforce the glass doors or any other doors with a more permanent solution.
e) Once the doors are secure, start clearing the store of any zombies left. No doubt you will encounter many zombies just going around locking the doors. But trust me, there will be more, among the isles, in the warehouse, bathrooms, places you didn’t even think there would be a zombies, there probably is one. Again, stay together, cover each other, and move cautiously and deliberately.
f) Once you are sure the store is secure, go ahead and get some more ammo and guns. If after securing the doors you are running low, head for the section of Wal-Mart with the ammo, and replenish your supply. You can never have enough ammo, always have more than you think is enough.
g) If you followed these directions correctly, you should be safe inside, make sure to retrieve your friend outside on the truck if you haven’t done so already. Post guard (lookout) on the roof to keep an eye on the situation outside. You always want to have good intelligence on your surroundings. You are safe inside from the zombies, but you might not be from other people trying to get in.
h) Do not let anyone else in! If you let anyone else in you just fucked yourself. People act differently under stress or during an end of the world disaster situation like this one. It only takes one idiot to undo your perfectly carried out plan. It may be difficult seeing someone in trouble and you knowing that you can help them, but as I said one of the people you let it will no doubt be an idiot and get you all killed. Plus, more people means you will have to share you limited supplies on top of that you do not know what state of mind people are in. Someone can already be infected and slowly turning into a zombie and an un-needed risk.
i) At this point you can attempt to contact your family or anyone else you care for. Realistically, they are most likely dead or just assume they are. But it does not hurt to try and call them, but do not try rescuing them as much as you will want to, as soon as you go out of your crudely makeshift fortress your chances of being killed are almost certain. If they can get to you, this would be the one exception of letting someone in. However make sure to brief them on the situation immediately. However if one of them are infected (bitten) do not let them in, this will be a hard decision, but know that they are already dead at this point. Letting them in increases your chances of being killed by them when they do turn into a zombie.
j) The only thing left to do now is continue to survive. Do not cling to the hope of a rescue by anyone. Tune into a radio station (if any are on the air) for news and developments on the situation.
Hopefully with this plan I drafted you will be able to keep your self, friends and family alive. Just remember to be ready for any surprises and un-foreseen events. As Publilius Syrus once said “It is a bad plan that cannot be altered”.
I hope you enjoyed reading this, I did writing it and I hope a Zombie outbreak never becomes a reality. But in the event it does, I do hope this guide or plan with serve it purpose.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Think of the children
Recently a bill was passed which would insure children who have no current medical coverage. The bills total cost amounts to $35 billion, a high figure, but when one thinks of the purpose of this bill the cost should not be an issue.