Gratuitous Gun Pr0n #268...

It's been a long time coming. Suppressors, as well as short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and AOWs are (at least for now) over-the-counter purchases from an FFL in Indiana. Walk into Indy Arms Co., do a NICS check*, and walk out with an AAC Ti-Rant 9S to screw on an FN 509 Tactical.

*Technically if I had an Indiana LTCH issued in the last five years rather than the lifetime permit I got back in '08, I wouldn't even have had to do the NICS check.

Not Paying Off?

It appears that the only sector of the economy seeing big gains from AI are AI companies. If you took the "Mag 7" AI companies out of the S&P 500, then the resulting S&P 493 isn't looking so hot.

Needless to say, some people are getting increasingly worried that things are getting kinda tulip bulb-y out there.

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Meme Dump!

Meme Dump!

Tab Clearing...

• The Essex-class carriers: Workhorses of victory in the Pacific... and beyond.


• Data and privacy in the age of autonomous weapons.


• Airbnb hosts mad they can't use guests as housekeeping staff anymore.

Friday Meme Dump!

Tab Clearing...

• Metaphor alert.


• Why higher fertilizer prices are here to stay.


• Chinese-owned rental cars recorded Norwegian military drill.

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Your Feel-Good Story of the Day....

An Irishman lost his wedding ring while vacationing in Italy.

Three Italian "hobbits" launched an epic quest to find and return it.

Dudes rock.

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Meme Dump!

Hump Day Meme Dump!

Hmmm...

Seems sus. Looks like a stunt mule.

Like a flying robot bartender.

Let's not forget that 13 years ago, the famous pretengineer bought the "submarine" Lotus Esprit prop car from The Spy Who Loved Me and said that he was going to turn it into a working vehicle and, uhhhh... Let's just say that was the first inkling I had that maybe he was a bit more hot air than automotive engineer.

Meme Dump!

Back to the Meme Office!

Stainless Steel Rats

“We must be as stealthy as rats in the wainscoting of their society. It was easier in the old days, of course, and society had more rats when the rules were looser, just as old wooden buildings have more rats than concrete buildings. But there are rats in the building now as well. Now that society is all ferrocrete and stainless steel there are fewer gaps in the joints. It takes a very smart rat indeed to find these openings. Only a stainless steel rat can be at home in this environment...”

― Harry Harrison, The Stainless Steel Rat

The latest version of the MapQuest App has a layer that will show the locations of various smart surveillance cameras. It's good to see the occasional tech company remember Silicon Valley's old subversive roots. (The latest version finally supports Android Auto, too.)