https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvPa_yEEd4E

That video is in real time, not time lapse (timer is down the bottom). Note just how quickly temp goes from 200 degrees celcius (hot oven) to over 800 deg cel.

I counted maybe 14 cars that went past the crossing, plus the 2 engines, that could be 800' it took it to stop. If he had applied the emergency brakes he still wouldn't have been able to stop in time and probably would have caused damaged to either the wheels, track or both. He was going relatively slowly (it was a populated area with crossings) to stop that quickly with 10k ton behind..

I wonder if they have training and stats on how everyone in their right mind would be long gone from a vehicle that's been stuck any length of time.

The mind link was never more present after the smartphone came out. I watch mobile noobs taking several minutes to type what I can in seconds.

SC2 pro gamers clock in at over 400 APM, with records over 800. 300 APM is about where you want to be before you even consider yourself a competitive player!

But we're not sure yet, right? That doesn't mean it isn't possible, but you will def need to practice, just like the pros.

I really like the concept of using 2 directional pads to make keystrokes. If you can play a bullet hell game, why is that type of movement not considered probable?

I've played airsoft like this for a few years now off an on so feel well enough qualified to comment.

It's largely a matter of range. Most sites allow up to 500fps on snipers (and some american ones go up to 800 or so I believe), but they have a minimum engagement range (usually about 25 meters, presumably more for the silly american ones).

Basically, non automatic sniper rifles are allowed to be significantly more powerful than the 330fps (400 in some countries) other weapons are limited to, but as a result can't be used at short range (that's what pistols and compact SMG's are for!).

If you are close to the minimum range limit and it hits unprotected skin, they sting really badly, enough to draw a little blood sometimes. It's not entirely dissimilar to being whipped by a wet towel, excruciating for about half a second then it tails off to just stinging and swearing.

If it hits your vest, glasses, hat etc. then it wont really hurt at all (but you still felt it you cheating bastards! ), likewise if you are out beyond 50meters or so as the power drops off with range as you'd expect. (My brother can sometimes make shots out to 70-80meters with a VSR but you can barely feel it)

Shoot at point blank and your target can be forgiven for walking over and punching you in the face....right after they stop swearing and get up off the ground. (entirely possible to penetrate exposed skin at that range)

In practice though, trying to storm a building/room vs automatic rifles etc. tends to be far more painful an experience than being sniped. Unless that is someone snipes the inside of your nose sideways on (it hurt as much as you imagine it did).

We also once had a guy knocked clean out by a grenade launcher to the face at point blank . But it was a Co2 powered thing and I believe they aren't allowed inside buildings any more (can't think why).

Re: paintballs, in my much more limited experience, they are waaaaay worse than BB's if they are full power and reasonably close range. Concussions, broken bones and broken skin are all entirely possible (though not likely), but bruises and welts are basically standard issue.

I believe some sites run compressed air guns (rather than Co2) at much lower power levels, so I imagine they are a lot more tolerable.
Paintballers tend to be more on the extreme sports side of things (wheras airsoft tends to be more biased towards military geeks/gamers), and so many sites have a bit of a "pain is weakness leaving the body" attitude to power levels.

In the UK at least the velocity limit for paintballs at competition level is 300fps, for most airsoft sites the limit is 330fps. You only have to look at a BB vs a paintball to see what a discrepancy in energy that equates to!!!

The point that was made about us expending 800 billion from our economy to keep these bases running doesn't seem accurate to me. I expect a large percentage of the money spent to keep these bases running is paid to people that are part of the US economy so really that money is just churn in our own economy.

It is real effort though, so if the point of the story was supposed to point out how much time and man power we are putting behind these operations then I totally agree it seems like we could be doing better things with this effort.

Infrastructure projects anyone?

Its a matter of chicken vs egg. They don't need huge military expenditures because security is provided by the US. But if they and all their neighbors had to provide sufficient defense, mostly against the people who are most likely to invade them (i.e. their neighbors), you get an arms race like you have with India/Pakistan, North/South Korea, Iran/Saudi Arabia. The indirect savings and the refocusing of capital and human resources away from the military in all of these allies countries makes the world a much safer place, since war no longer becomes the go to solution for states to resolve differences.

US bases do fall into 2 categories. Allies who don't want to get invaded again, and enemies who lost and became allies. As for Kuwait, that didn't work out well for Iraq, and Kuwait is still independent and an ally. Ukraine has no US bases, Russia would go ballistic if there were (surprisingly appropriate use of the word). ISIS is the anomaly, but right now you can put that down to the fact that Obama really, really doesn't want to put US troops on the ground (think he would hesitate if ISIS invaded England or Australia for example?), and that Iraq's military is trying to handle this as much as possible on their own and clearly having trouble.

I don't know if we need all 800 bases currently or if some are just vestigial. I'm not qualified to give an opinion on the necessity of them, though

So that's what a meow sounds like when it's scaled up 800%. The purr sounded more memorable.

I think every kid needs to go through something like that.

I used to shoot pest rabbits around our house (in the country, far from any neighbors) with a BB rifle. Went through safety training, was always very careful, etc. etc.

One day I saw a rabbit hiding under a row of trees between myself and the back side of my house. I never shot towards the house / people / whatever, always away from. But, the rabbit was there. I could have walked around the trees, but the rabbit probably wouldn't have been visible from the other side. Plus, the land sloped up so there was a bit of a hill/grade between me and the house, not to mention the thick tree branches and underbrush. BBs almost never went clean through a rabbit, they'd get lodged in the body.

So, I rationalized all that. Five pumps instead of ten, make sure I hit the rabbit so the BB doesn't go through, plus I'm aiming down into the ground so even if I miss the BB will probably lodge in the ground or hit a tree or brush. Should be fine. Do it.

I pull the trigger, rabbit runs away, and I hear a really loud "thump". The BB had ricocheted off the ground and hit right in the dead center of a huge sliding glass door on the back of the house. Safety glass, so I saw it spread out in little spiderweb patterns from the impact point in the center over the course of about 30 seconds or so, and then all fall into a pile of glass bits.


So of course I run to my dad and said "no, I was totally aiming *away* from the house -- must have had a really unlucky ricochet off of the flagpole or something!" He just smiled and said "really?" and then explained that I'd be doing chores and mowing the lawn to help pay to replace the glass door -- which ended up being about $800.

But you can bet your ass that I never aimed even remotely in the direction of a house, car, or anything else that I didn't want to shoot after that...

Well each of the four engines is €800, and at 5.7m wingspan it's over half the size of a piper cub (11m wingspan)... the cost probably wasn't that far off. I didn't look up any of the other components though.

The next video shows it with upgraded engines, that cost almost €1200 each... in this one the engines weren't powerful enough for three bladed propellers like the original, hence the upgrade.

57.4 million subscribers x $7 month = $401,800,000 monthly.
Did I compute that right?

Consider that profit against no bricks and mortar stores, or front counter employees - making overhead and expenditures relatively small.

Supersonic P-800 Yakhont Cruise Missile Launch has been added as a related post - related requested by kulpims.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/Supersonic-P-800-Yakhont-Cruise-Missile-Launch

Can they please stop that small child from playing with a ball next to a road? Also, a Felicia was my first car, for £195 from an old man who bought a new smart car for himself and wanted to give his old one to a young lad rather than a dealer who offered him £800 to renege.

There already are reasonable restrictions.

(I can't really ask to be exempt from laws that don't even exist. But I can ask for those new laws to not be written.)

Consider this.
Maybe /you/ are not special.
Maybe /you/ are not in this world to do with other people's lives how /you/ see fit.
Maybe /you/ should take the very advice you would give to violent offenders, and just leave people in peace.


Yes, this country has clusterfuckish problems.
But guns are not the cause.

We have a very high percentage of uneducated people. For example, my high school, in one of the nicest areas of the entire country, with the super easy U.S. curriculum, with the super relaxed and curved U.S. grading policy, 30% of kids that entered never graduated. And that's one of the better examples in the country.

The problem isn't even the education system. It's cultural. Kids show up to socialize, and smart kids get made fun of. Often they have no parental pressure to perform either. No amount of money can fix that kind of schooling, because it's not a schooling problem.

They don't just miss out on an education that helps them obtain gainful employment. The concepts of empathy and solidarity are essentially omitted.

There is a proverbial horde out there, many under strong financial pressures. Having the same consumer impulses that most people here have, they resort to augmenting their incomes with questionable activities.

The median *individual* income in the U.S. is around 26k / year. Half the population makes less than that... The cheapest unassisted rent in my area is ~800/month. Go to new york, and you could be paying 1600/month each with 3 other people for a rat hole. After water, electricity, food, fuel, you'd be wiped out. Any emergency (broken down car, medical expenses, whatever), and you are in the hole.

The nice areas you see on TV are a minority. Most of the country is a po-dunk shit hole, full of people that get desperate the moment things go bad. Which leads to restricted activities, and that tends to lead to violent encounters.

We have a very high percentage of arrested/jailed people.
When you're arrested, even if not convicted, you're not acceptable by a large proportion of jobs. The police even call your employer right away to let them know you've been arrested. You are essentially marked.

Like I said, 1 in 18 men are in the system. That's a LOT of people. Other than those on parole, they aren't working. Those that are working aren't making much money (on account of the undereducation and arrest record), and will likely be back in the system.

BTW, more than half of them are in jail for an activity that never even involved another person.
Most are there for harmless stuff.

Once these people do get out of jail, if they weren't already under financial pressure, they likely now are, and will stand a good chance at reinforcing the problem population.

(eg. Person with their life more or less in order goes to jail for having a bag of drugs, then they get out, can't get a job, and they need to resort to sketchy crap to make ends meet. Maybe get into violence, but often just return to jail.)

But, it's not by accident. Our jails are for-profit, with people in government making money from the jailing industry. Either by campaign contributions, lobbying, or by having financial stake in the companies.

The most self-serving thing the government can do, is keep the problem going, and tell people that they should rely on the government to fix it by getting tough. Then the govies make money on the jailing side, and they reinforce their public mandate.

The jailing companies themselves put inmates to work making cheap goods (ever bought a t-shirt that was made in the U.S.? It was probably inmate labor.), and then 'charge the inmates rent', effectively paying them a penny a day. Modern slavery.

All along the way, the taxpayers are paying the bills, and it's just a giant trough to feed from.

I hope you can imagine why I'm averse to making more ways to jail people that aren't being a problem.

It's also why I'm inclined to make drugs legal (pretty much try Portugal's approach). So as to bring that trade into the light, and end the gangster turf wars (which are a high proportion of the gun violence).

A lot of this could be fixed long-term by social engineering, using media to elevate the prestige of education and productivity. But we know that that is not going to happen when there is no money to be made on it.

-scheherazade

I've built just this device, but far better for $800-$1200 USD max, and this was around 2005.

It can be difficult to build these, but my experience doing so is almost a decade old (fuck you, time!). Despite that, this person is clearly selling the construction quality over the technical ability. As far as building your all-inclusive emulation box, especially considering the world today, the difficulty of doing such is negligible.