I do not.

There should be a valid reason for removing access to anything in a free society. Having rifles be 5% of the weapon chosen for murders doesn't meet that standard, in my opinion.

I might not agree with them on most social issues, but at least my reps won't sell me out on pointless gun restrictions.

PC / Mac SHiFT Code for 5 Golden Keys in Borderlands 2:
K3WJT-BFBRW-S5RTT-TBBB3-9XWZ5

Xbox 360 SHiFT Code for 5 Golden Keys in Borderlands 2:
KBWTB-T6XSC-JJHBF-WXBJJ-WRWKF

PlayStation 3 SHiFT Code for 5 Golden Keys in Borderlands 2:
C3KTB-F6ZKB-KC5WJ-ZTKJ3-XC569

Agreed.  AMC appears to be much more penny-pinching than HBO, but that doesn't mean that GoT has a blank check.  Especially when, if HBO has a hit, they don't get to jack advertising rates up.  They have to rely on merch sales or renegotiated subscriber rates.

HBO does the same thing at times.  Maybe we can just *hear* the Battle on The Fist...  Special effects cost money. 

Repurposing thread:

New giant tarantula:

A new type of tarantula about the size of your face has been found in northern Sri Lanka. Scientists found the spiders — with a leg span up to 8 inches across — living in trees and the old doctor’s quarters of a hospital in Mankulam.

Covered in beautiful, ornate markings, the spiders belong to the genus Poecilotheria, known as “Pokies” for short. These are the tiger spiders, an arboreal group indigenous to India and Sri Lanka that are known for being colorful, fast, and venomous. As a group, the spiders are related to a class of South American tarantula that includes the Goliath bird-eater, the world’s largest.

Weeklong Deals:

Pacific Storm Pack -75% $14.99 $3.74 (67, 60)

DCS A-10C Warthog -50% $39.99 $19.99 (87)
 - Previously $9.99 during holiday sale.

Kung Fu Strike - The Warrior's Rise -75% $9.99 $2.49
 - DLC on sale

Making History: The Calm & the Storm -75% $4.99 $1.24 (70)

Funnily enough, Office Space is pretty close.  I write bank software.  Currently on contract working on software that the bankers use to perform account setups for a bank that's listed on the S&P 500.  No one knows the names of the companies that I've worked for directly, but the names of the banks that use the software are widely known. 

YouTube: It's time to pick a winner.

Fired up some Dirt 3.  They really like pushing the DLC integration. 

And I think the idea that "assault" weapons are the problem is ludicrous.  A lot more people die from handguns than long rifles or "assault" weapons.  And again, all of them are semi-auto, one bullet per trigger pull.  Extended magazines exist for pistols as well.

I'm willing to look at efforts to improve restrictions to licensing regulations.  But when the ratio is 17:1 of handgun to all rifle deaths, I see the focus on "assault" rifles as ludicrous.  I understand it's because of the visibility due to the recent shootings, but again, people in this country, and a lot of others, are more interested in doing something that has a high visibility than spending the time to do the right thing and actually have an impact.

They make 30 round magazines for M1 carbines as well. 

And banning weapons because they look scary absolutely sets a tone for how we view ourselves as a country.  It tells me that we're more interested in doing something, no matter how pointless or ill conceived, based on emotion rather than addressing the real causes of violence. 

And Europe has the same problems with massacres that we do, despite having much more draconian gun control measures, which are usually just as kneejerk in the response to violent events as we attempt to pass, but it doesn't seem to prevent these things.

Regarding the "assault" weapons, there is no functional difference between an AR-15 and a similarly calibrated hunting rifle. Both are semi-auto and only fire one round per trigger pull.

When the military wants to kill things, they use weapons like the M16 and the MP5, which are capable of burst and auto fire. Weapons with those capabilities are already highly restricted in civilian hands and not widely available with a LOT more hoops and regulations to go through.

I know the difference, and both have the same root. It's a joke, see.

It's a graphical representation of a hyperbola.

I always find it funny when I open something like a chocolate box and there's ammo or something else inside. You think they'd program it to avoid silly things like that

You're just not up on the future of chocolate ammunition.

People tend to be disciplined for their actions, not their thoughts.  It's when and how they voice their thoughts that get them in trouble.

I find him running into the hands of the gun control crowd a bit odd, even given his wife's issues, as he's a former Naval aviator.  Military types generally don't run that way, although I suppose naval members have less day to day experience with firearms than anyone except maybe Air Force personnel, and that only because they keep the Marines around to keep them in line.

Such a weird insect...  They were here in Tennessee a couple of years ago I guess.  Loud...

You can look forward to Brood XXIII in two more years if you're in the west part of the state.

That law abiding citizens can do completely legal things to acquire legal firearms?  Stop the presses. 

Snopes

Likewise, in 2013 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a number of different requests for quotes for various types of ammunition totaling about 1.6 billion rounds, to be purchased over the course of several years for training and use by agents of the DHS and other federal law enforcement agencies:

Federal solicitations to buy the bullets are known as "strategic sourcing contracts," which help the government get a low price for a big purchase, says Peggy Dixon, spokeswoman for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga. The training center and others like it run by the Homeland Security Department use as many as 15 million rounds every year, mostly on shooting ranges and in training exercises.

Brood II due for a spring emergence:

The group expected this spring, known as Brood 2, are the offspring of cicadas last seen in 1996. If they follow the same tracks as their parents, they'll emerge in Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

The genetic mechanism that prompts periodical cicadas to emerge kicks in every 17 years (or every 13 years for other broods) when the ground warms up to 64°F (18°C).

You folks have fun.  Down in Texas, we have another couple years before brood IV shows up.

688(i).

There's an Arizona Pinball Players League.  And ZapCon starts on April 6th. 

Did they accuse someone of being spammers?

You have to love the fact that those things never forward deploy.  They fly all of their missions from Whiteman AFB in Missouri. 

Oh, and as for Baby Pac-man...

Thanks for sharing, Crawley.  I missed the Dallas Pinball festival this year due to a conflict with the boardgaming, but I plan of going back.  Thanks for the excellent pictures and recap.

When you lay siege to a game, you don't get up and walk away. 

It's a coverup.  The baby seal had an extended clip in his pistol.

Carpool with Patrick Stewart

Robert Llewelly (Kryten from Red Dwarf) drives people around and they have a sort-of interview. 

It was very interesting to heat Stewart describe the photo-negative version of Othello that he put on in the States.  Truly, this video is a fun half hour for any fan of Patrick Stewart.

Let's provide some context.  The Former Presidents Act  was signed in 1958 because Harry Truman couldn't afford his office staff.  (History PDF).

in 1994, Clinton dialed back the Secret Service protection to 10 years post-office.  Obama restored lifetime protection to Bush, himself, and all subsequent presidents by signing a bill in January of this year. 

And there's a cap on how much the presidents get to spend on their staff. 

I have no issue with it.  I don't care what they make in their personal post-service lives.

Try thinking of straight ahead as down.

I picked it up.  I recently finished Dirt 2 at 100% and had a great time. 

I caught a few of the highlights yesterday including the wrong pit and rumblings that the two Red Bull drivers weren't exactly playing nice in the final laps.

Went straight from the F1 2012 demo to the European Truck Simulator 2 demo.

That reminds me.  I need to set an alarm for 2 a.m. Sunday morning so I can watch the Malaysia Grand Prix.

I ended up buying ETS2 on sale for $20, the most I've paid for a game in a while. F1 is in my wishlist.  I tried to stay up until the GP, but didn't quite make it.

Threw in some Civ V for my second ever session.  Seems decent, but I still need to learn the ropes.

Nada.  I played the heck out of Tiger Woods 12, barely played 13.  So if I want golf, I've still got plenty to play.