January 29, 2021

Well This Bodes Ill

Yesterday there was a bit of confusion regarding Space-X's test flight (which failed to transpire). Specifically,  there were conflicting reports that the FAA had or had not rescinded their flight authorization at the last minute. 


Well, Space-X does appear to be in trouble with at least one other branch of the government, the Justice Department. 

It seems that they are being investigated for workplace discrimination. Specifically, they are accused of refusing to hire non-U.S. citizens

They're gonna be prosecuted for not hiring foreigners at an ITAR sensitive firm, and one of the Few U.S. firms with a global technological lead in its fields.  There is no info on what the nationality is but as this doesn't seem to have been an issue until president Djo Bai Din came into office, I would be very interested in knowing that crucial fact. 

UPDATE: Via Scott Lowther comes this article which contains a SCRID copy of the D.O.J. complaint.  

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January 13, 2021

Good Grief! It's Real.

We covered the rumors of the Kel-Tec P50 before. And expressed skepticism that anything this cool could exist. Commenters reported seeing magazine articles on it, but now there is confirmation from Kel-Tec themselves via The Gun Hipster Network



Sadly, Kel-Tec will not be getting it to market before January 20th, so there is still some doubt as to whether it will ever be available. 

Without handling the thing it's hard to make any judgements on handling, but the mag change looks flakier than it should be, not because its bad in concept, but because it opens SO wide that in the dark it looks like there's too big an area that the mag might go. It's certainly not "hand finds hand".  

Still, that's what practice is for and a pistol shooting 50 rounds of 5.7x28 for under a grand is quite compelling and a potential budgetary hazard. 

I'd been looking at an 1858 Remington, and then THIS goes and happens.  

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December 23, 2020

Mr. Kellgren: QUICK! Get it to Market Before January 20th!

I don't know if this is a joke or not. 

It's not on KelTec's website as I type this.
 



But it seems to be a new development, and given that it's allegedly a Kel-Tec product, it's a more plausible notion than it would otherwise be from less whimsical manufacturers. 

But if this is real, and there's really a pistol coming out in 5.7x28 NATO, one that uses the 50 shot P-90 mags, well, I'm afraid my cashflow is likely to take a hit. 


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November 24, 2020

Damnit! It's 2020! Where's My....Oh.

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October 20, 2020

Oh. So THAT'S Why.


I had always wondered about that.

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January 26, 2020

Happy New Year Again

To our Chinese friends and those on their calendar, we here at Brickmuppet Blog hope your first full day of the year of the Iron Rat is hangover free.




Art by Crystal Herb who works through Eight Studio.

May the coming year bring you hippyness happiness...


Art by Catxuan, who is also on bilibili, Hueban, and can be supported at Art Station.

Health...


Art by Gomzi,

and...uhhh...kittens?



Art by Shigaraki, who can be supported via Booth.

...and finally, may all of your affairs in the coming year be in ship-shape.




more...

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No Bridezilla Will Ever Have Anything So Perfect As This

A wedding in The Philippines  gets some spectacular fireworks thanks to a sudden eruption the Taal volcano.



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October 21, 2019

HIJNS Akagi Found



Discovered yesterday, by the Research Vessel Petrel 18000 feet beneath the surface of the Pacific, the wreck of the flagship of Japan's once implacable Kido Butai sits in the middle of the craters she made when the vessel came to the end of her long fall from grace.

Akagi and her sisters sallied forth expecting to spring a trap and oversee the killing blow against the U.S.N. and the capture of the most important pile of sand and albatross nests in the world. Instead, the loss of of this vessel and 5 others at the hands of a numerically inferior and diffidently equipped scratch force of U.S. Navy planes dumbfounded the Japanese and ended their rampage across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Over the next three and a half years there would be more battles and the Japanese would even win a few, but this battle ended the Japanese forward momentum and the loss of so many aircrew was a blow from which Japan never really recovered.

Japan's hope for success in her folly ended with the death of Akagi and her sisters.

Kaga was found last week:



There is a very good overview of this battle from the perspective of the Japanese here.




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August 06, 2019

"I always wanted a pony. But after the accident, I got to BE the pony!"


Can't find the artist, but the girl's name is Mako Shimano. The centaurcycle is called a G.U.M.B.A and the source is an ad for a Toyota dealership in Gunnma Prefecture Japan.
An ad that fills me with equal parts skepticism and want.

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March 13, 2019

Cesar and Nero

Neat!
Some sculptor in Spain, using the extant sculptures as models, is creating hyper-realistic busts of the Roman Emperors.   

Julius Caesar


Nero

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November 18, 2018

Mary Shelly Should Sue.

Via Moe Lane, the Library of Congress has restored the 1910 Frankenstein, and, since it predates Steamboat Willie, they have made it available for free download. 


I note some subtle differences from the book.

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May 01, 2018

Things They Tried to Warn us About in 1978

Even then they foresaw the perils of the Googleplex.



Naturally, being the BBC, they blamed it all on the Catholics.

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May 21, 2016

It's the 21st Century! WHERE IS MY....Oh!


Steven was recently disappointed to learn that the word "hoverboard" had been defined down by people who lack either vision or an understanding of the language. 

Fortunately there are those working to rectify that.  


In other, more meta news: I edited the recent post that was speculating about practical applications of scientifically facilitated hybrid vigor. This was mainly to provide proper citations. However, in the process, additional expository graphics pertinent to the subject matter were  uncovered and added.

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April 14, 2016

Some Truly Good News

This is a couple of days old, but it is still awesome news.


The National Space Society takes great pleasure in announcing that its 2016 Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award has been won by acclaimed science fiction author Dr. Jerry Pournelle. This prestigious award selected by an international vote of NSS members will be presented to Dr. Jerry Pournelle at the 2016 International Space Development Conference (ISDC). The public is welcome to attend the conference and see the award presentation at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The ISDC will run from May 18-22, 2016.


Pournelle is one of the best of the hard SF writers and he has worked tirelessly since the late '60s to defend this nation and make us a space faring society. He worked on space policy for two presidents, and was instrumental in getting the DC-X off the ground. In addition to his visionary and entertaining novels and short stories, Dr. Pournelle has been a tireless advocate for making humanity a multi-planet species. 



This is truly well deserved and it is uplifting to see it has come to pass.

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October 26, 2015

In Another Totally and Utterly Unexpected Development...

The death toll in Mexico from the most powerful hurricane ever recorded appears very likely now to be approaching...naught






As a rule I dislike with increasing intensity whenever zeroes show up in these sorts of statistics, unless there's just one of them by itself in which case it's a joyous thing. 

Math is weird that way. 

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October 24, 2015

I Swear....

None of those typos were there when I proofread this morning's posts.

All fixed now...

 
...so it's time for some JUSTICE!


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Eileen Must Make The Gatekeepers Shudder


Ren'py has improved dramatically since I last poked around with it, (before the computer was hit by lightning). The whole process is even more intuitive than it used to be. The engine now allows mini-games in one's visual novel.

"...and embedded video!"


Eileen (the engine's helpful tutorialbot) doesn't look all that disruptive, but what was once the purview of tech giants and big publishing houses has been freeware for some years and is remarkably user friendly. It's still improving steadily.

Of course, Sturgeon's Law remains in force, so this will result in a lot more crap flooding the market...but this will be a function of a lot more stuff getting made, which means that there will be more potential for those rare gems both by virtue of sheer numbers and the low threshold for experimentation. 

All in all, things like this and other tools may be a bigger development in the long run than people realize. Creators have increasing potential to do an end run around those who today often presume to be custodians of societies creativity and stifle that which they find uncongenial. 

We still have no flying cars or O'Neal colonies, but take heart, Eileen here is proof that our future is not inevitably a dystopia...yet. 

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July 12, 2015

Oh My. Yes! PLEASE...

...please don't screw this up!

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June 24, 2015

I've Got Nothing

To compensate for this quiescency (and to get Mum-Ra off the top post) here is Sakuya annoying the hell out of Rob Paravonian.


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May 21, 2013

OK. Here Is The Real Scoop on This Story

The story going around with this pic is that some HOA would not let a fellow fly an American flag  and this was his response...



Now HOAs  are a pernicious blight upon our civilization and and those that run them and think they are swell are bad and should feel bad.  Thus there is a lot to like about this story. However, this story breaks down upon the slightest thought. The quidnuncs that form Home Owners Associations are going to have as one of their first despicable acts, strict rules on what colors their victims can paint their houses. Thus this made little sense unless the fellow was just going whole hog in an effort to stick his thumb in their eye.



It turns out after 2 minutes of image searching that this is actually a dispute with a local historical society. Historical societies that enforce repair regulations are like HOAs with government sanction so this is actually even a better story than the fake (assuming Captain America here doesn't end up in jail).

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