I've had the same experience when I got my first binoculars at 13.

I was able to see all the way across the street to Kim's bedroom window!

Damn! Could she scream.

I'm basically done with defending WikiLeaks as well, after the shit they pulled with the leaks of Turkish data. Completely irresponsible, that one.

However, WikiLeaks doesn't need credibility -- the data does. And the data they published vis-á-vis Clinton/Podesta/DNC is, as of now, solid. There was one fake document, but that was shown to have been injected by someone other than WL.

"Strong bias" -- oh, I do have a strong bias. Plural, as in biases, actually. For instance, I'm disinclined to take anything the US intelligence agencies say at face value, given how they manufactured more than one casus belli. I don't put much weight into (un-)official statements in general, but especially since all the misinformation they spread about issues like the coup in Honduras or the actions of Nazi militias in Ukraine.

In this particular case, however, my argument is much simpler: Occam's razor seems much more likely than malicious intent. Propaganda outlets on both sides are run by people. Maybe the propaganda outlet Sputnik intentionally twisted the content of email, or maybe they just fucked up, like people are wont to do. Maybe someone intentionally fed Trump this bad info, maybe his people are just as incompetent as he is.

There are too many parts in this that include people who have more than once proven themselves to be utterly incompetent, or in complete ignorance of even the concept of truth. I don't think Trump gives a shit about truth or facts, he strikes me as the typical blowhard who spouts whatever shit comes to mind, and spins stories on the fly like a 4-year-old when caught red-handing.

No need for a conspiracy there, with all this incompetence, naiveté and plain disregard for facts.

So when they keep on pushing the Russian angle in this, it just seems like a desperate attempt to conjure up the old unifying enemy. Why worry about Russian propaganda when there's plenty on FOX and MSNBC/CNN? Why worry about Russian hackers when you accept the unbelievably insecure method of eletronic votes, partly without paper trails, and completely controlled by private companies?

It's just very strange to an outsider like me to see them focus on perceived external influences when the internals are a complete clusterfuck. And this presidential election is the biggest clusterfuck I've seen in 30 years, which doesn't mean much, admittedly.

That said, we can't just be looking at it from the outside with binoculars, not when people are back to full-blown Cold War rhetoric. When the ruling class in the US and/or the ruling class in Russia start their pissing contests and other forms of grandstanding, it's usually brown people who pay the price, like they have been in Syria for the last couple of years. And Libya. And Yemen. And Somalia. And Afghanistan, And Iraq. And Pakistan.

Personally, all the rhetoric about "standing up to Russian aggression" and similar nonsense makes me keenly aware that the bridge just outside my hometown was constructed with a shaft to place explosives in, to slow down advancing Soviet troops... so yes, I would very much like to bitch-slap all these warmongerers on both sides, but particularly the ones in the US since they are currently the ones racking up the highest death toll.

Edit: I should have made it clearer. Yes, WL is absolutely biased against Clinton and they do seem to act in support of Trump. Assange in particular. Which bums me out to no end, since I actually met the guy in person when they presented WL at the 26C3.

[author flagged as a spammer - redacted]

I get a similar feeling holding an expensive camera or pair of binoculars etc etc over a big drop. Feels like they might slip out of my hands at any moment.

If its something I dont really care about dropping, like a small coin or a pebble or something then I dont get that anxiety at all.

I had binoculars as a kid. Nice ones too. I don't think I looked up into the sky even once...

Just bought each of my kids a pair of binoculars two weeks ago.

Now I feel validated by NdGT that I'm a good dad!

OK, so here's the thing:
- Taily wags when your excited, not when you're happy: it reacts to heart rate.
- That's not a flying lawnmower, that's a remote control single-wing model aircraft built to look like a lawnmower. There's a propeller on the front. It cannot cut grass.
- Babywings - ok, call it a straightjacket if you must, but haven't you all heard of swaddling clothes? Like from Jesus in a manger type stories? Yep, swaddling clothes involve tightly wrapping a baby in fabric to restrict their arm movements. Why? Because their poor motor control / skills mean that their arms flail uncontrollably and unsettle the child. Having them wrapped up allows them to relax, and to rest. Yes, this practice has been around for thousands of years.
- That vehicle is parrot *operated*, not parrot powered.
- Binocular soccer was a one-off stunt for a Japanese gameshow, it's not a real thing.

Very useful to trim clouds.

The binocular soccer got me folded in four.

>> ^Quboid:

It seemed odd to me that in Mass Effect, all these alien species can speak in a way we understand, look humanoid, stand bipedal, breath what humans breath and even mate ... and now I find out that it's much, much worse.


It is entirely believable to me that for a species to be capable of developing the technology needed for space travel they would have passed through an evolutionary stage not too dissimilar to what we are now. Our bipedalism, binocular vision, social-animal, child-rearing nature all contributed a lot to bringing us to where we are now.

Octopi, dolphins, and birds can all be pretty damn smart--but there's a lot standing in their way of ever building a rocket, even if they were every bit as smart as us.

Maybe if they all collaborated...

OMFG

we have 1
it ate my binoculars

>> ^deathcow:

My Saint Bernard puppy ate a large part of a pair of binoculars today.


Hahahaha

My Saint Bernard puppy ate a large part of a pair of binoculars today.

I love going outside on a clear night with a pair of binoculars and looking at Andromeda.

FYI they were taking a picture of me (and my no-hands binoculars).

Oh sure.

A plane that you can see though? Obviously men designed it.

I mean, now we're going to have to warn women boarding this plane wearing skirts that they're subject to being viewed by men on the ground with binoculars.