HALOSCAN

At the advice of "Josh", I added HALOSCAN trackback and commenting today. This is a dramatic step for me, because I don't know how well it's going to work or how (or whether) it will affect commenting on this site. It's nice that it adds trackback capability to the page, but mainly I added it to get better control of Blog Spamming (See below.)

If there are no obvious negative repercussions, I'll see if I can remove the code-word filter from the comments. I've not had any complaints about this security feature, but I just don't like to put speedbumps in the path of people who have something to contribute to the various topics hosted here.

With HALOSCAN, I should be able to identify blog spammers and prevent them from ever again spamming the blog. We'll see how this works out.

In other news:
the blog which made IPSC videos was so well received, I plan to offer videos from the 2005 CROC match here in the near future.

Also, I'm working on establishing web-pages which host these and other videos. There are two possibilities:

1. I install PHOTO GALLERY software which can host both *.JPG and videos, perhaps expanding the service to provide a gallery for, at least, the Columbia Cascade Section so others can contribute their own photos. This way, we're not limited to the photos and videos I provide.
2. I install a real website on the ARPC-IPSC server (hosted by Brian B.) and put the photo links there. Then I can make the blog entries shorter, include a link on the sidebar to the gallery, and only use the blog to announce the addition of new photos and videos. That way, the connection to the videos doesn't 'drop off' in a couple of weeks when the 'announcement' blog-article goes into the archive. The downside of this it that it's going to cost Real Money, either because the best available FreeWare (Blue Vue) mandates webhosting at eight bucks a month . . . the webpages don't actually create HTML coded pages, but are encrypted so that they can only be hosted by Blue Vue . . . or I have to buy a decent web-hosting software package such as MS FrontPage at around $200.

There's a third possibility: I do both. The photo gallery software I've tentatively selected requires the Host to do the actuall installation, and I haven't talked Brian into it yet. That makes gallery hosting a reduced possibility, but it's still alive.

The web-authoring is also still an attractive option, because I don't need to convince someone else to do the work. Just to pay the bills! Fortunately, I work on a university campus, so there's a possibility that I can but web-authoring software at 'academic' pricing, which represents a significant reduction in cost. This actually supports my professional geek-ism, because the skills I would learn in web-authoring might directly be applied to the things I do every day in the office, and I would be using the same tools which are available at work. (I obviously can't use the tools available at the office, because there are departmental policies which preclude using university resources for personal projects. The university has no restrictions on HOW or in WHAT projects I use the software which I buy through them at 'academic pricing' because it obviously increases my professional expertise . . . which is all to the good for them.

Note: Today I spent a lot of time at work learning how to make a mainframe program format fonts in reports. It's a geek thing, don't worry about the details. But the point is, as I exclaimed delightedly to my boss, "this job requires me to learn all these nifty new things, and they pay me to do it. How kewl is that!"

Way kewl.

Some days, I REALLY like my job.

Amazing Grace

Schadenfreude.

That's what it is.

I zero ONE lousy 145 point stage in a club match, and my so-called friends are all over me like flies on puppy poo-poo.

Here's the good news:
I filmed a couple of the stages.

Here's the bad news:
SWMBO filmed the stage I zeroed.

The really good news:
it's my blog, and my camera, and my SanDisk media . . . I don't have to air my dirty laundry in public. (And I won't because it's freakin' embarassing.)

Here's the really really good news:
Chris Y. of TeamDarkside, a member of the Unofficial IPSC List, has suggested that I use Windows Movie Maker to edit my movies. I can also title them, and then cut the size of the files so that I don't have to offer you the option of either (a) download umpteen-MB files, or (b) forget the whole thing.

It took me two hours to edit and convert eight video files from HUGE 4 or 5mb (or 10mb!) files to tiny 2mb files. I'm going to present them here in the original MPG format and also in the edited, and much smaller, WMV format. I suspect that the MAC users among us can view one but not the other. Anybody who Has A Clue about Mac can let me know which formats are/are not convenient for them.

These videos will cover two stages: Steel Presidente, a 12-round (60 points) all-steel stage with a mandatory reload between 6-target arrays, and Side To Side, a 23-round (115 points) stage with the targets spread out in roughly 3 arrays, lots of down-range movement, one disappearing target and three Pepper Targets.

The video from each stage will be provided in the two formats: MPG will be 4 or 5 MB (or 10MB), probably more than you are interested in seeing unless, of course, you are the Shooter; and WPV, about 2MB and edited to remove all the "ARE YOU READY, STANDBY, " and "IF YOU ARE FINISHED, UNLOAD AND SHOW CLEAR" etc. folderol at either end of the film.

(Actually, some of this is worth watching, but you need a weird sense of humor to appreciate it.)

NOTE:
On my computer, when I click on the WMV link it immediately starts Windows Media Player and runs the film as soon as it completes downloading ('buffering'). Apparently you can save it via the LIBRARY/ADD function of WMP. Since all of these files exist several times in my computer, it's possible that I'm running versions already downloaded. YMMV. Clicking on the MPG links starts a download dialogue in almost every case. I'll learn the fine points of managing these files later. Right now, I'm just interested in making videos available through the internet.

Okay, the first stage is "Steel Presidente".

First we have SWMBO, a C-Open shooter, running the stage in 12.07 seconds with a couple of make-up shots. Not her very best stage, but she gets style points because, well, she looks good no matter what she does. (Anybody here read Robert B. Parker? SWMBO reminds me very much of Susan Silverman. Don't 'front me on this; she can be my Susan even if I'm not up to Spenser-quality guyness.)

Film available in 5mb MPG, or in 2mb WPV.

In comparison, Norm the Ungrateful (one of the two Match Directors for this FUN MATCH, in conjunction with Alan . . . which makes this the Norm-Al match) shoots the same stage but he gets some really inexplicable help from The Range Gods in "Norman's Magic 5th Bullet".
Film available in 5mb MPG, or in 2mb WPV.

Okay, that's enough of that.

Next we go to another stage, "Side To Side". This is the 115 point stage where you get to shoot on the move. Some do, some don't. Essentially, this is a view of the various styles and personal Solutions to the Shooting Problem as demonstrated by six different Open Division competitors. The equipment is about the same . . . everybody is using an STI Open Gun in .38 super, except that (A) Norm's STI is chambered in 9x19 Major, and (b) Gary Shadenfreude's shooting an Open Glock in .38 Super.

A little more background:

There are two crucial arrays in this stage.

First, you start out shooting at two static IPSC targets, then a Pepper Popper which activates a disappearing IPSC target (DT). You can only see the Pepper Popper from the left side of the Bianci Barricade (BB), but you can see the DT from either side . . . although you have to lean far past your natural balance point to engage the DT from the left side, you can address the DT faster. On the other hand, it takes you longer to exit the shooting box, because you're on the 'wrong side'.

Question: is it better to shoot the DT from the Left side of the BB, or move to the right side to engage it? There may be a test at the end of the class, so take notes.

After that point, you move downrange and engage three static IPSC targets. These are mere fillers, because they're close and, although they represent a potention "180 trap", you have to be a real dork to do other than get good, fast, easy hits.

Then you have a LONG run down to the extreme downrange end of the bay, at the end of which there are four IPSC targets partially covered by no-shoots. This is not a problem for MOST folks (it was for me . . . I nailed a no-shoot and had to waste time making up the miss).

But between here and there, you get to engage two Pepper Poppers, one of which is forward-falling. Question: do you shoot them from the extreme uprange position from which you engaged the previous three easy static IPSC targets, or from the last position from which you stop to enage the final array of static IPSC targets hiding behind No-Shoots? Or from somewhere in between? Hint: from where you can engage the final array, you have to move back a step or lean WAY back to see the two Pepper Poppers. No final test, it's a matter of personal preference and how good you REALLY think you are.

We'll be discussing the various approaches as we see the videos, because these ARE the kind of questions that every IPSC shooter faces, and must answer based on his own estimation of competence and confidence, on most stages.

For lack of a better criteria, I'll present these videos in the original shooting order. Oh, and I'll also cite the number of points earned out of 115 possible, the penalties (usually zero), and the time required by each shooter to complete the stage. In order to provide perspective, I'll give the overall place of finish as well. You decide which approach is 'best'.

First Shooter:
Film 2495, Gary
Herr Shadenfreude chooses to engage the DT from the right side of the BB, and to engage the Pepper Poppers (PP) from the same place he engages the 3 static targets. Time: 23.35 seconds, 108 points, no penalties: B-Open shooter ends up in 21st place for the stage.
Film available here in 5mb MPG, or here in 2mb WPV.

Film 2496, AJ.
There was a hesitation while engaging the first array, and a make-up shot on the Pepper Popper which activated the DT, because AJ is experiencing some "Loss Of Dot" problems with his aging OK sight. Other than that, he ran the stage about the same way as did Herr Shadenfreude. Time: 28.08 seconds, 83 points, 40 penalties: C-Open shooter temporarily loses his Dot and ends up in 45th place. (I've done worse; in fact, I did worse today.)
Film available in 6mb MPG, or in 2mb WPV.

Film 2497, The Geek.
Engaged the DT from the right side of the BB, moved out of the starting box with some hesitation. Engaged the two PP on the move, caught a No-Shoot on the last array and had to make up the shot, incuring a NS penalty (10 points) and wasted another half-second. Time: 17.71 seconds, 101 points, 10 penalties: B-open shooter looks pretty good until the end of the run where he demonstrates a basic inability to keep the hits in the stinkin' brown cardboard, had to take an extra shot to make up for a miss/noshot hit, ending up in 13th place for the stage.
Film available in 10mb MPG, or in 2mb WPV. (Okay, it's a 10mb film. SWMBO was running the camera, and she flatters me with extra footage. What's not to like?)

Film 2498, SWMBO.
SWMBO engages the DT from the left side of the BB, by cranking herself too far out of balance: multiple misses on the DT. Waits until she is completely downrange and has engages all other targets (without hitting the NS targets, thank you very much) before she handily engages/hits the two Pepper Poppers in the left-hand corner. Looks good for most of the stage, floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee. Motto: "I'm low on estrogen, and I Have A Gun". Behave yourself. Time: 23.31 seconds, zero penalties, 101 points. Finishes in 24th place, and gets big-time style points because, well, she's got style whatever she does.

Film available in 5mb MPG, or in 2mb WPV.

Film 2499, Norm.
Abbie-Normal takes the DT from the right side of the BB, and the Pepper Poppers on the move . . . with extra make-up shots. Thank GAWD he has extra rounds in the magazine. Lookin' good, styling, great stats. Time: 16.37 seconds, 113 points, no penalties = 5th place for the stage. I liked the guy until he turned out to be so talented, and I rue the day we suggested "Hey, Norm, ever think about shooting an STI?"
Film available in 4.5mb MPG, or in 2mb WPV.


For the Ultimate Shooter:
Film 2500, Big Dog.
He had some undefined problems getting the first shot off, which slowed him down a second or two. But he took the DT from the right side of the BB, which positioned him perfectly to get 'out of the box' quickly, and engaged the PPs on the move. He's got a fast trigger, and makes it look easy. Too easy. Excellent run on the stage. Time: 22.80 seconds, 111 points, zero penalties. Big Dog ended up in 19th place overall, and at the end was applauded by SWMBO. You have to look at the MPG file to see the start, and hear the accolades, of course. (The MPV files only give you the bare-roots performance version of the stages.)

Film available in 5mb MPG, or in 2mb WPV.

Note that these photos and videos are not available for commercial purposes. All photos, images, files and videos are copyright 2005 by Jerry the Geek.


UPDATE: January, 2006
In case you haven't been a regular follower of this blog (this is one of the most popular articles over the past year, and is often reached via internet search), there are a LOT more IPSC Videos now available on this blog. Click here to see them all. Note that this gallery website is updated on a regular basis . . . visit often, okay?

North to Alaska

No More Concealed Carry Permits Needed!

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Starting Wednesday, handgun owners won't need permits to carry concealed weapons in the seven Alaska cities where they're still required. There also will be no more restrictions on keeping a firearm in a vehicle.

A new state anti-gun control law that goes into effect will essentially bar municipalities from passing gun laws that are more restrictive than state law.

The National Rifle Association, which helped Republican state Rep. Mike Chenault write the legislation, says except for the concealed weapon permit requirements, most Alaska city and state gun laws are the same.

What the NRA wants to do is prevent cities from passing more restrictive laws in the future. It calls it state pre-emption, and Alaska will be the 44th state to have such a law on its books.

"We are looking to make it uniform to all 50 states," said NRA spokeswoman Kelly Hobbs. "Without it, it creates an unfair, inconsistent and confusing patchwork of local firearm ordinances."

In the immortal words of SWMBO:

WOO-HOO!

Is there such a thing as spamming a blog?

Marketing Software Blog: Is there such a thing as spamming a blog?

Yesterday I wrote, with regret, that in order to prevent my blog from being inundated by unauthorized commercial advertisements, I had decided to establish a filtering protocol which would hopefully prevent automatic entry for these . . . people.

Someone who called himself Bruce Riddell (perhaps in response to my action, but perhaps not) commented:

Do you think that blog spam is a problem?

Then you should read today's blog article.
Is there such a thing as spamming a blog?

--
Posted by Bruce Riddell to Cogito Ergo Geek at 10/15/2005 06:55:10 AM

I went to the link (which has been deactivated here) and read what he had to say.


Yesterday I got a comment in my blog from someone accusing me of spamming his blog.

(Geek: It wasn't me. Apparently I'm not the only one he's been spamming, but whomever left a comment on HIS blog seems to have ticked him off. Read on.)

What happened was, I was using my automated blog submission software BLOG LINK GENERATOR to post my custom targeted comments into approximately 100 blogs.

This software finds keyword relevant blogs by searching for all the blogs listed in the Internet search engines that have the chosen keyword in the title. The software then adds a link back to your web site by adding a link to the selected keywords within your posted comment. Using this software to submit your comments to literally hundreds of keyword related blogs at the touch of a button is a real time saver!

(Geek: I'm glad HE is happy with the results. It means nothing to him that the bloggers who provide a media for his parasitic activities resent his uninvited intrusions.)

Anyway, getting back to the point..... I got this comment on my blog accusing me of spamming his blog. I told him that he should be happy for the comments (spam) in his blog. I told him that even though he thought of these comments as spam, that in truth they are valuable, keyword rich, relevant content!

It is absolutely true that the search engine robots travel the blogosphere looking for web sites (blogs) with fresh, keyword rich content and when it finds some it rewards that site for it. In the robot's eyes it can only see the quantity of keyword related content. It doesn't see any spam.

(Geek: well, the 'fresh, keyword rich content' should stand by itself. It usually isn't intended to provide a media-culture for parasitic automated spam software. It's unclear how Comment-Spam constitutes a "reward" for the original blogger.)

I also told this blogger that the fault was partly his. He should have set up his blog in such a way that wouldn't have caused all the comments made on successive days to appear on the same page. If he really objected to repeated posts from the same person appearing on the same page then he had several options of what he could do..

1) He could write a comment on my blog accusing me of spamming his blog. (this is the option he picked)

2) He could have thanked me for my comment thereby adding more content to my blog and he would have increased the search score of both of our blogs.

3) He could have changed the settings on his blog to require validation, members only registration and other options that would have made automated software comments fail.

4) He could have written in his blog more often to keep his content fresh. He could then have set up his blog to only list his ONE blog post per day. This would have limited the comments to that one day only.

(Geek: "The FAULT was partially his"? Does this tacitly admit that there is an unwanted situation, for which fault may be assigned? This lends itself to interpretation. As an afflicted Blogger, I have a slightly different view of these 'options':

1. Comment his blog? I don't want to encourage him by adding traffic to a purely commercial enterprise which is hitching a ride on my readership.
2. Thank him for his comment? It wasn't something that he submitted as a thoughtful contribution to the thoughts I had provided. It was just an advertisement inserted without prior knowledge or permission to use my efforts as a venue for his commercial enterprise. For this, I should thank him? This guy is like the telemarketeers in a boiler room, blind-calling people to sell them something that they don't want.
3. Change the settings on my blog because he is abusing the open-forum style I had hoped to proliferate? Sure, I finally did that. I didn't want to, because it makes it more difficult to establish an open-forum for dialogue on the issues I consider important. I'm hardly likely to thank him for making me lock my doors, draw the blinds, and hide out in my home.
4. I should change my blogging style just to keep HIM from abusing my forum? This is rich. First he suggests that I should blog more than once a day, then he suggests that I publish only one blog article a day . . . just so I can more easily edit out his unwanted commercial advertisements. Frankly, I very much resent his arrogance even more than I do his intrusions. That his suggestions are self-contradictory only makes it more obvious that he is scrambling to justify his nefarious activities in his own eyes, NOT that he truly feels justified for the reasons he has so pondorously expostulated.
   

Anyway, I told him that If he were to ban all automated posting on his blog then he would be shooting himself in the foot. If it weren't for all the automated comments that were being posted to his blog then he would have had NO POSTS AT ALL!

Did I mention to you that almost ALL of the comments on his blog were made by different people also using automated blog linking software?

(Geek: No, Bruce, you didn't mention that. Nor does the blogger find solace or satisfaction in the implication that 'If it wasn't for my commercial comments, he would have "NO POSTS AT ALL!' Note this is a paraphrase. His suggestion that there is no readership of the blogs to which he attaches himself is insulting and demeaning. Further, he suggests that he is, in fact, performing a service to the blogger. Read on.)


I doubt that this blogger realizes that his ego drivel is only interesting to himself and that he is totally missing the real point of owning a blog. As a marketer I believe that the real point of running a blog is to appeal to your true audience which is the search engine robot that is eternally traveling the blogosphere looking for new content. That's it! Period. If you're writing for any other reason then you're endulging in an egotistic venture that is sheer vanity. Think about it!

(Geek: "ego drivel" is about as demeaning and insulting as it gets. There is little one can say which better demonstrates the arrogance and egocentricism of the blog spammer; to suggests that a blog's 'true audience' is a 'search engine robot' is to state that NOBODY reads the blog for the content. Why would a blog spammer wish to advertise in a blog that nobody reads? Could it be . . . vanity?)


Well, that's about it..... I guess that I've alienated just about everyone. You probably realize by now that I believe that blog comment spam can be viewed as a good thing. That is why I don't put up any barriers to auto commenting software. SPAM AWAY!

If anyone is really offended by my opinions, please leave a comment in my blog. I don't mind getting some free additional content :)

# posted by Bruce Riddell : Saturday, October 15, 2005

(Geek: Actually, I was offended before I ever read this self-justifying bullshit. I don't mind that he assumes a privilege that he denies others . . . the privilege of asserting himself with null-content comments . . . without permission, against the expressed wishes of his involuntary hosts, and with total disregard of their sensibilities. I don't even mind that he's trying to profit from someone else's efforts.

I just wish he, and other bottom feeders like him, would get . . . off . . . my . . . back!)

Comments

With great regret I announce that comments now require word verification.

This is an option which will not allow comments to post unless a 'hidden word' is duplicated in a field on the comments form.

This is the mildest version of spam-filtering available, and I have imposed it only because my blog is slowly being taken over by spammers.

Every day I receive copies of comments submitted by people who have no interest in the context of this website. Their only interest is to promote their own commercial websites. I have made every effort to inform them that their advertising is neither encouraged or accepted here, but they persist.

While they were commenting in 'current' blog articles, it was not too difficult to review all of the articles and remove their comments. I even tried humor, to high-light that I was removing their comments but held no ill will. No joy, they continued their predations on the content of this website. Now they are commenting in 'archived' posts, and it is impossible for me to edit these in detail on a daily basis.

Spammers are vandals, they litter the landscape of diarists with no regard for the authors or the honest participants of the dialogue. They do it to make money, which is not necessarily a base interest except that they usurp control over another's interests even when they know their efforts are not welcome.

I take this step with great reluctance, and in full awareness that I may dissuade people who read this because they are interested in the subject by making it more difficult to comment. If you are not a spammer, and are moved to comment on this website, please understand that I would allow increased spamming rather than to discourage your contribution, if it was possible for me to keep this website clean of commercial advertising.

My hope is that this will at least decrease the amount of comment-spam to which you, who read because you are interested in the subject, must deal with. Please bear with me as I attempt to deal with this plague of varmints.

var·mint (vär'mĭnt)
n. Informal.

One that is considered undesirable, obnoxious, or troublesome.

[Variant of VERMIN.]

IPSC Shooting: What's It All About?

Mr. Completely has kindly linked to several of my IPSC posts, and one his posts generated some comments. I've taken the liberty of copying the comments, and also my own response, because it occurs to me that the sport LOOKS a lot scarier than it really is. I apologise to Mr. Completely for stealing his entire comments content, but I wanted to make sure that the true image of IPSC competition is represented.

At 4:17 PM, DirtCrashr said...

Those guys look awful close to the targets! I have to sit or stand 200 yards away and don't even get to use a scope. ;-( If you were that close, how much back-spatter would you get on you?

At 7:45 PM, The Conservative UAW Guy said...

Man, that looks like a blast.
Never shot that way before...

At 10:53 PM, Josh said...

I shot IPSC once, then switched to IDPA. At least there I can compete with a stock Springfield XD without getting smashed by guys with 6" race 1911's.

At 9:28 PM, Jerry The Geek said...

It was very thoughtful of Mr. Completely to link to these posts, and I'm grateful.

IPSC is unlike any other sport . . . even IDPA. The reason the photos and videos are being posted to the internet is so that folks who have never heard of it know it exists, and so that those who have heard of it but never attended an IPSC match get to see a little bit of what it's like.

Yes, the targets are close in the pictures you see. But, DirtCrashr, you should remember that it's entirely possible to miss the high-scoring zones of the targets at even very close distances. Of course, these targets are all made of cardboard, so there's no problem with "back-spatter". When we shoot at steel targets (as we often do), the IPSC rules require that we stay at least 10 meters away from the targets. Yes, we do still get bullet fragments bounced back to us from time to time, which is why the rules require us to use safety glasses.

Josh, I know a LOT of people who compete in IPSC with a stock Springfield XD, and they often don't receive as high a score as people who compete with race guns. But the race guns are not competing against the "Production" guns. Just as does IDPA, IPSC has competitive divisions. Revolvers compete against revolvers only. Production guns (Glocks, S&W, Springfield XD, etc) are restricted in modifications they can make to the guns, number of rounds they can carry in their magazine, equipment placement on their carry belt, etc. Limited 10 may only have 10 rounds in the magazine. Limited can have as many rounds in their magazine as they can cram into a 140mm Magazine, but they must be a "production" model (not a 'prototype') and must use iron sights. Open guns ("Race Guns") can use dot-sights, compensators, and can carry as many rounds as they can cram into 170mm magazines.

But when you're shooting for score, your only competition is those people who are using similar equipment. Just like IDPA.

And IPSC is a safe shooting sport. We don't put ourselves in the position where we may perform an unsafe act. If a competitor violates any of several rules of safe gun-handling, he is immediately stopped by the Range Officer and is not permitted to continue competing in the match. The Range Officer follows the competitor through every step of the stage (just like the Safety Officer in IDPA) and will not permit unsafe actions.

Finally, to The Conservative UAW Guy . . . most people have never shot that way before. But it's addictive. And fun. And people who shoot in competition are among the safest, and finest, people in the world.

(The pictures which are referenced above are those which depict a shooter in the Jungle Run at the 2005 Croc Match. You should go to Mr. Completely's blogsite to see everything in context.)

I take three points from this brief exchange:

1. "Those guys look awful close to the targets! I have to sit or stand 200 yards away and don't even get to use a scope. ;-( If you were that close, how much back-spatter would you get on you?" Translation: IPSC looks scarey, and you could get hurt, and how hard can it be when you are so close to the targets?
2. "I shot IPSC once, then switched to IDPA. At least there I can compete with a stock Springfield XD without getting smashed by guys with 6" race 1911's." Translation: IPSC is Elitist.
3. "Man, that looks like a blast. Never shot that way before..." Translation: "Man, that looks like a blast. Never shot that way before..."

The image of IPSC must deal with #1 and #2. Generally, these impressions are based on limited experience. People who shoot should logically be receptive to the idea that ALL shooting sports are worthwhile and have value, even though it may not be appealing to them personally. Yet, we frequently see that people who have accepted one shooting sport are not inclined to accept the validity of another. The person who wrote comment #1 appears to be a rifleman, and doesn't accept (or understand) the attraction of pistol shooting The person who wrote comment #2 seems to have had a bad experience in his single trial of IPSC shooting, and is evermore biased against it for reasons which have no grounds in fact.

I'm not sure that we can ever recover the acceptance of these people, and that's saddening. They like to shoot, but they will likely not be receptive to any kind of recruitment to IPSC competition unless they meet someone who competes in IPSC and who they trust.

I think that means that we must all make positive efforts to meet and make friends with people who are involved in other shooting sports. We may not recruit them to IPSC competition, but at least we can present to them the comcept that we are no different from them, we just have different but similar interests.

Person #3, however, seems to have an open mind about shooting competition. I've visited his blogspot, and perhaps I'm biased in his favor because he likes to write (and writes well), and he likes guns.

Well, when you think about it, what higher praise . . . ?

MWG: FREE AR-15 Magazines

MWG: AR-15 Magazines, Ruger 10/22 Magazines & Mini 14 Magazines

H/T: Earthworm

The MWG Company is . . .

the manufacture and distributor of the 90 Rounder High Capacity Magazines for the AR-15 / M16 & Mini 14, the 50 Rounder magazine for the Ruger 10/22 and quality gun accessories such as Rifle Scopes and Rifle Stocks for the discriminating shooter in the competition, varmint and tactical disciplines.

Earthworm sent me the link, because I'm the only blogger he knows. (Poor Earthworm, must watch television when he could be reading Geek-length purple prose about IPSC shooting here at Cogito Ergo Geek.)

If I link to the MGW website on my sidebar, and write a daily entry and hyperlink it to their website, they will send me two new AR-15 magazines for free.

Here's the deal:

MWG Company is giving away 100 AR-15 MAGAZINES to people who have a Blog and link to our site. That’s correct, use your first amendment right, speaking your mind in your Blog could get you a 2 FREE 10 Round or 5 Round AR-15 MAGAZINE (a $36 Value with free shipping). Simple just add the keyword “AR-15 MAGAZINES” to your side bar and one daily entry and hyper link it to http://www.mwgco.com.

Once you have added the link to your Blog, E-mail us the URL of your Blog, Name and Address to webmaster@mwgco.com. We will review your site and if your one of the first 50 people who meets the rules we will mail you a 2 FREE AR-15 MAGAZINES .

That Simple!

The Rules:

1. You must have a Blog that has a been active for over 3 months.
2. The key word “AR-15 MAGAZINES ” must be linked to http://www.mwgco.com
3. The key word “AR-15 MAGAZINES ” must be viewable on the side bar through out the site and one daily entry.
4. E-mal us the URL of your Blog, Name and Address at webmaster@mwgco.com. Please include if you want a two 10 Rounder, 5 Rounder or combo.

Participating Blogs:

nothingspectacular	the griz lives on	RedneckAsianGunfanatic:
Justins Guns And Stuff	gandalf23	Ry Jones
tjic.com	SayUncle	The Smallest Minority
TriggerFinger	Mostly Cajun	Hell In A Handbasket
comedian	one-in-a-row	lewisofarabia
AngryLittleAsianBoy

Okay, I think I've pretty much accomplished most of it. Now all I have to do is to email them, and let them send me the magazines (a $36 value). Kewl.

Only problem is, I don't have an AR-15. Earthworm doesn't, either. He said if I sent them to him, he would give it to his local 'Junior Program'.

More kewl ... they have a Practical Rifle Junior Program in Jersey?

But that's a lot of trouble.

Tell you what. When I get the magazines, I'll toss them in my range bag (or in the GeekJeep) and bring them with me to local IPSC matches. The first one who comes up to me at an IPSC match and says "Hey, Geek, I have an AR-15, give me the magazines!" gets them.

I won't hold them for anyone, and it only works if I have the magazines with me.

You won't know when I have them, and I have no idea how long it will take MGW to decide to send them to me.

I'll announce the winner here, and maybe even include your picture (if you're the winner, and if you don't object to having your picture taken. Of course, if you DO object, you're a wuss and I'll tell the world about it. Think it over.)

I figure MGW is doing this to announce their website. I'm doing this for the same reason, to know who's reading my website.

I'll keep you posted, and maybe I'll even tell you when/if I receive the magazines.

On the other hand, maybe not.

And if I don't receive the magazines in what I consider a 'reasonable time', I'll let you know about that, too.

In the meantime, you can practice saying the secret phrase. Remember, if you don't say the magic words . . .

"Hey, Geek, I have an AR-15, give me the magazines!"

. . . I'm not obligated to give you the magazines.

Croc Match Videos I

For months, I've been threatening to post IPSC Match Videos online.

I have software and an IP which allow me to post photos, but the movies are a lot more complicated.

Now, thanks to Brian B. (whose name I can't spell correctly), I have access to a IP who not only provided the server but also a lot of coaching so that The Geek can share videos with everyone.

(H/T to SWMBO, who actually filmed movies at the 2005 Croc Match.)

Right now, I have about 200MB of movies, mostly from the Croc Match. Here are the first few videos. Please download the files and save them on your PC, rather than attempt to view them directly. In this case, "BandWidth" IS a serious consideration, and when the files are accessed in any way other than 'download', it makes the data access run slower for everyone.

Be advised that the maximum download rate is something like 97 KB/s and these files run from 7 to 15 MB. I'll try to keep you informed about the subject, the file size, and the significance of each video.

THE DOORS

This is a 62-round-minimum, 310-point Comstock stage which requires the competitor to do a LOT of movement, keep track of rounds shot and rounds remaining in the magazine, and find the very best solution to the shooting problem based on his or her own strengths . . . and magazine capacity. The back wall, built with orange perforated snow-fencing, features ports which are partially blocked by doors. In the far right and left hand corners of this back array, Pepper Poppers are situated at extreme angles. When they are shot and knocked down, they move the doors to partially obscure one port and completely open another port right next to it. When you are shooting a 10-round max capacity class (Limited 10 or Production), you are forced to do a 'standing reload'. Also, the arrays which feature the Pepper Poppers also have 4 IPSC targets, which means that you need a minimum of 9 rounds to successfully engage all targets. Even if you're shooting a hi-cap gun, you require a minimum of 17 rounds to complete both adjacent arrays without reloading.

Designed by Marty Lee, this stage challenges the competitor to not only keep track of round-count and perform reloads ONLY when needed, but because it requires a lot of movement it tempts the competitor to push the 180-line when moving backwards to engage the three sloped targets hiding behind barrels at the uprange end of each side. Whether the competitor if moving uprange or downrange, it's entirely possible to DQ on this stage because it is loaded with 180-traps.

Besides that, it's a HUGE stage. In future posts, we'll see gun jams, DQ's, and competitors searching their pockets for that last magazine in order to complete it.

But first, let's watch the match winner, and the winner of Production Class, as they work their similar-but-different approaches to this Monster Stage.

(Look at the videos, or the still at the end of the post, to get a 'feel' for the stage. The still-pictures of Yong Lee and Darrion Holliwell were taken on the Jungle Run stage, and are included only to identify them.)


The first video (I'll only include two, as a trial) is Limited GM Yong Lee shooting the stage in Bay 4 at the 2005 Croc Match. Click on this link to download it.

(Same file available from the URL shown below)

http://jerrythegeek.arpc-ipsc.org/5CrocV/HPIM2211.MPG

(File size 8.28MB, download time 1:30 at 97 KB/s,Video time 43 seconds.)

Well, that went well. You'll have to look at a lot of videos to see THIS stage run any faster. Actual run time was 21.96 seconds for 283 points, and since Yong Le won the stage he was awarded the maximum 310 points.



Here's what it looks like when shot in Production Division. The shooter is Darrion Holiwell, who rode down from the Seattle area to shoot this Oregon match.

http://jerrythegeek.arpc-ipsc.org/5CrocV/HPIM2210.MPG

(File size 8.48MB, download time 1:30 at 97 KB/s,Video time 43 seconds.)

Can you see the awkward choices the Production Shooter has to make in deciding when to reload? About 9 or 10 seconds into the stage, he has to make a reload to shoot only four (4) rounds at two IPSC targets (not visible in the film.)

Darrion completed the stage in 36.81 and earned 274 pounts for a stage total of 179.0563 points and a 38th place for the stage.

For comparison, I completed the stage (shooting Open with hi-cap mags) in 27.22 seconds and 274 points, but I racked up 70 points in penalties for missed shots which earned me a stage score of 49th place and 162 stage points.

No videos exist of my run on this stage. It cost me a lot to make them disappear, but it was worth it.

Future posts will eventually NOT display the entire URL, but will only show the highlighted link to the file. Just click on it, follow the instructions on the pop-up. If your browser doesn't support this click-and-download option, please email me (address at the bottom of the page) and let me know. I don't mind showing the URL, it just makes the post seem kind of cluttered.

Here's a look at the stage without all the action:

October Blogmeat

FLYING WITH AMMO
Publicola has done his homework on recent TSA regulations concerning flying with ammo. Seems there are existant laws that still apply. Of course, that doesn't mean that you can figure out how to put your handloads 'in the original package'.

PENNY ALCOHOL BACKING STOVE
Mark Jurey *(no, I've never heard of him either) tells us how to make a perfect "Penny Alcohol Backpacking Stove" out of three beer cans. H/T Waddcutter.

Yes, I've read the directions. No, I don't understand them. But I appreciate the "First, drink three Heinekins" part of the directions. Apparently, you can't follow the directions without the beer.

(Is this anything like the classic directions for Hassenpfeffer? "First, catch a rabbit.")


CARNIVAL OF CORDITE
Gullyborg is hot to trot with some fascinating links (including some Birdman Weapons Systems stuff that I haven't seen before . . . and much that I have) and a sh*tpot of Gratuitous Gun Photos. Check it out here. It's worth it if only just for the pictures. No, I didn't contribute this week. Again.




WTF?

Canoe has it's photoday picture up, here's a piece of it.



Naw, The Geek isn't showing this! It's a fly in the ointment!

Go here to get the whole thing, and shame on you!



Tanks For The Memories

Am I the only one who is interested in Tanks?

I mean, besides The Donovan, who is the (h/t) source for this website.

Photos of WWII ("The Big One") tanks, gratuitously displayed and lovingly detailed.
I'm liking this, it's on my permanent bookmark.

Here's a sample:



BookBinder

Finally, here's a link that proves you can get information here that you can't get anywhere else.

There's probably a reason for that.

Uh, no, I'm wrong. This is (h/t) from Ghost of a Flea.

You can make book on it.

Target Taper Alternative

The Unofficial IPSC List has noted that CED offers a different target taper, which is, in the minds of some people, superior to that previously sold by TargetTaper.COM.



The "Quick Patch" target taper (above) sells for $79.95, compared to $44.95 for the T-4000 Target Taper (below).

One advantage of the Quick Patch model is that it " . . . will handle most brands of full size patches available on the market today." The pasters shown in the Quick Patch picture looks like the kind of pasters which you can get from Target Barn for hand-patching targets.


The price from Target Barn for these pasters is $3.50 per two rolls of 500, making it competitive with the price from CED.

I have to admit, I do prefer these pasters because they're bigger than those used by the T-4000 Target Taper. It doesn't make much difference usually, except that the larger pasters make it EASIER to completely mask a .45 caliber bullet hole. Why? The pasters for the T-4000 are easily 3/4 inches on one dimension, but only about a half-inch on the other. The Target Barn pasters mentioned above seem to be about 3/4 inch square.

Also, the larger patches provide more area to stick to the cardboard, and may stay on the target more reliably when sloppily applied.

On the other hand, the patches sold by CED for the T-4000 cost just $2.50 for a 1000-paster roll. Compare this to the $3.50 price for 1000 of the larger pasters, which cost 40% more.

The Quick Patch gun costs about 80% more, the patches used for the Quick Patch cost 40% more.

(Also, you can buy a new T-4000 plus 25 rolls of tape [12,500 pasters] for $92.95 in the "Club Kit". The same price will buy you a new Quick Patch $79.95 and $13 worth of pasters . . . 3,000 pasters and you have a dollar left over to fritter away as you please.)

On the other hand, those who have used both prefer the Quick Patch for ease of use, and I have already cited the advantages of the larger pasters.

I suppose your choice will be a matter of personal preference. I've managed to get along fine with the T-4000 for three years, and after going through about 100 rolls of pasters the taper is still working fine, so I probably won't change. However, The Hobo Brasser has been experiencing problems with the tape jamming in his T-4000 for several months, and nobody can figure out what the problem is.

On the other hand, he has feeding problems with his Caspian, too.

Target Taper

Last week I ordered another box of brown target tapes from targettaper.com



I bought my Target Taper from them about three years ago, and it has worked great. I use a box of tapes (25 rolls, $50) in a little less than a year.

I was down to my last four rolls of tape, so I went to the website at http://targettaper.com/ and put in my order. They have an online order page, which I used, but I didn't give them my credit card number because I noticed it was an unsecured website. I wasn't comfortable with sending my credit card number when it isn't an encrypted transaction. Instead, I clicked "I'll Send A Check" and completed the order, then printed the order. I wrote out a check for $50. Then I thought again, and sent an email describing the process and a warning that this was NOT a second order, to the email address displayed on the web page (creativesales@ridgenet.net, which I note is no longer active) with a copy to myself. I printed out THAT document, and stuffed all the paperwork and the check into an envelope and sent it to the address given on the webpage. It was so fat, I put two stamps on it.

Job well done, what?

This morning, as I was walking to my office from the parking lot, I got a call on my cell phone. It was someone from Competitive Edge Dynamics (CED), and he wanted to talk to me about my Target Taper order!

The story is, CED has been selling the Target Taper and tapes here "for years", according to the guy on the phone, and they finally just decided to buy the silly old company. Unfortunately, my order came in right in the middle of finalizing the project (I love these managerial buzz-phrases - don't you?) CED told me that the Target Taper (TT) guy was suppose to take his website down, or stop people from ordering there, or otherwise no longer sell the product, but he doesn't seem to have got around to that little detail yet.

As a consequence, CED did receive my order, but the TT guy got my check. That is, CED assumes he got my check.

But TT had been selling the tapes for the stated cost of $50 (CED charges $49.95), and didn't bother to tell you what the Shipping and Handling charges (S&H) will be. CED is much more businesslike, so they're charging the $49.95 plus NINE DOLLARS S&H from Pennsylvania. They don't mention that S&H charge until after you have completed the order, by the way. I just tested it, I didn't take the test transaction down to where they ask you how you're going to actually pay for the bloody thing.

So, here's were we stand right now: Me (GEEK ), Competitive Edge Dynamics (CED), and the old business Target Taper (TT):

• CED has GEEK order, promises to ship immediately
• TT has GEEK check, and isn't saying anything to GEEK or to CED
• GEEK has no tapes, no money, but fine promises
  
• CED trusts GEEK about the check, but will bill said GEEK for the S&H
• CED will negotiate with TT to get the check
• GEEK will believe it all when he sees it

The bottom line is some GEEK advice:

Don't sent any orders to TargetTaper.com

Target Taper makes/made an excellent product, but since they're apparently no longer in the business of selling that excellent product, I would STRONGLY advise you to take your tape gun orders directly to the CED website, do not pass go, do not send money to TT. You may send your order to TT as long as the website remains active, which it is at the time of this writing . . CED is obviously receiving the orders . . . but unless you're just so lonely that you'll do anything to get an 8:30 am phone call from a vendor asking "WHERE THE HECK IS MY MONEY?" (in the very nicest way of course) you might seriously consider taking your business directly to the new owner and pay the S&H like a gentleman.

Once again, this link will take you DIRECTLY to the place where CED will sell you all the tapers and tapes you could use:

http://www.cedhk.com/show.php/Object605

Yes, I realize I could have said all of that in about three terse sentences and a link.
But what's the fun in that?

Administrivia

GOOD NEWS!

Kim du Tuit may have closed his website, but there is a "new website" under the name "The Nation Of Riflemen" available. There has been no transitional message, but the 'look and feel' of the original website has been preserved.

So have the politics, the attitudes, the gratuitous gun pictures, the photos of sultry movie-type babes, etc etc etc.

I don't know who the 'new editor' is, but I have a sneaking suspicion that his background is "African American" and his initials are KdT.

YMMV.


MORE GOOD NEWS!

I've added the Day By Day Cartoon to this weblog. As a courtesy to those with modem access [envision smug GeekSmirk here], I've placed it in the FOOTER, so that access to the most recent post(s) will not be delayed while the DBD image is downloaded and displayed. Just scroll to the bottom of the page. I see no reason to EVER click on the link (see the sidebar on the right) but I'll leave it there anyway.


INCIDENTAL SIDE NOTE:
As this weblog evolves, I've added more and more links, options and helpful tools such as the 'look up your IPSC classifier record" function in the sidebar, and links to books & movies (even sometimes music albums) which I've found interesting.

I would sure like you to believe that I do this as a service to you, assuming that you have similar interests to my own. That's partly true, but I've found that I often call up my own blog when I want to access a frequently viewed website and I don't care to look through my browser history log for the URL. In fact, I've cheated the Columbia Cascade Section out of some traffic to that website (sorry, Mark) by linking directly to the Match Results websites of the clubs in that section. I did this when my only online access was via AOL/Modem, and I didn't care to wait for the background . . . however scenic . . . to load. Since this website is ALWAYS up when I'm browsing, it's a lot quicker and easier to click ONE link instead of following the CCS website framed webpath.

If you are an IPSC competitor and would like to see direct links to interesting websites here, let me know. I'm inclined to be choosey about which links I feature, if only because my sidebar is sometimes longer than the content pages! But I'll certainly consider it and, if it's a webpage that I like to visit, I'll add it to the sidebar and announce it here.

Maybe I'll even give you credit for the suggestion, if it's good, such as:



And if it's totally bogus (or worse, Commercial, I'll give you the Thumbs Down:

Blue Skies in Albany

I shot a match today.

No big deal, I do it every weekend when there's a Club Match. And there was nothing particularly amazing about this match, except for the second match in a row there was NO RAIN!

That may seem like a small thing to you, sitting in your big chair in front of the computer. But it was a very important part of our day, for Those Of Us Who Were There.

I wish I had taken more pictures today, but unfortunately SWMBO was not in attendance (having taken the day off to organize her new home), and I couldn't count on her to do part of the picture-taking chores. I missed her for other reasons, of course, but as it turned out I spent most of my photo-time taking videos . . . which I can't display on this website (nor link to, but that will change momentarily. Or so I am reliably informed by The Webserver Guy, Brian B.)

As a consequence, I can only offer photos of three of the six stages presented today. I'm delighted to be able to do this, because I've just established a credit account with my Image Server, IMAGESHACK, which allows me to gang-load photos. You'll have to bear with me while I abuse this new-bought privilege; it's nice to be able to upload a dozen photos at a time, as I have been doing all evening.

By now, you are aware that the main purpose of this article is to show some pictures of people shooting IPSC. It may not be a Noble Purpose, but I like to shoot and I like to see other people shoot. This venue allows me to relive the events that add such richness to my otherwise mundane life.



The match winner (to nobody's special surprise), Grand Master Rob S., is shown here shooting the "Podium" stage. I believe the actual name of the stage is "HOW FAR?" as is defined in the match results page conveniently provided on the Internet within hours of the end of the match. Just another service of ARPC, and Webmaster Brian B. (who PROMISES that I'll have web hosting for my videos "real soon now".) This was the last stage of the day. There's a podium in for the starting box. You start with the pistol on a shelf in the podium in front of you, and all reload magazines must be taken from the podium. Four IPSC targets. Shoot two rounds per target, reload, repeat, reload, repeat. Twenty four rounds, 120 points, real tough for revolver shooters (of which we had one at the match today.) RO is Norm the Ungrateful.



Here's Trevor O., a school teacher who is an A-Limited and A-L10 shooter in his premiere match as an Unclassified Open shooter. He's using a compensated Glock with a slide-mounted dot-sight in unclassified Open division. He kicked my B-Open butt, as did a number of other competitors today.



In another stage ("Da Ding") you get to shoot through three ports at eight-round arrays consisting of two IPSC targets and three Pepper Popper. Behind the middle Pepper Popper there's a forward-falling US Popper. Very challenging, especially if you don't realize (as Rob S. didn't) that it's not going to fall 'normally'. Here, Caryn S. prepares to beat the snot out of me with a sizzling 13.50 second time. Oh, yeah, I beat her TIME, but I had a couple of misses which pretty much proves ... something. (I think it proves that she's a better shot, and a better competitor, than I am. You think?)



Here's the view through the left port of "Da Ding".



On the third stage (stage 4, "Loud Star", which was the last stage our squad shot today) Caryn is in the starting box and preparing to beat my butt yet one more time. Well, actually this was one of the few stages where I managed to squeak ahead of her, but the final results put her well ahead of me. She's a fine competitor, and I enjoy squadding with her and Rob because they both teach me lessons in competitive shooting which I somehow never manage to learn.

In this stage, you engage four IPSC targets from the starting box, then there are four more downrange (along The Wall, which is the stacked concrete blocks) to engage as you move downrange. When you get to the end of the way, which with a series of vision barriers forms a narrow hall, you find a Texas Star with four plates on the five arms, plus another static plate.

Why is the stage called "Loud Star"? That's because the concrete wall bounces the noise of every shot back at you, only to be turned into a thrumming noise by the visquine barrier four feet away from it. Shooting in this corridor is an exercise in Noise Abatement Gone Wrong, courtesy of Mikey the Mad Stage Designer.

The worst thing about the day was that SWMBO couldn't be there to share the experience. The best thing? NO RAIN!

I almost wish it had rained, so SWMBO wouldn't feel that she had missed a good match.

Good match.

Sorry, SWMBO.

Dundee Mudders

Two weeks ago, I shot a match at the Dundee club. Fourth Saturday, be there rain or shine. You know the drill.

Turned out to be a clear, dry day despite having occured after Labor Day. The rule of thumb in Oregon is that you can expect no weather more clement than 'rainy' after the first weekend in September, but we got lucky.

Except that the creek through the Jungle Run was running full, and the Dundee folks found fit to put a target right above the creekbed in that stage.

Most folks managed to be either faster or slower than the resulting mud spray, but a few of us timed our charge past the target just right so we got the splatter.

Jerry V. was the Best Of The Messed.



Brent R. caught a few drops.


And The Hobo Brasser even found himself wearing the Mud of Glory (click for hi-res . . . there's not enough mud to show up on a thumbnail. One Drop on his shirt, and he considers himself A Mudder. Sheesh!)


I had Jerry V. take my picture, but it disappeared somewhere between here and there. Nevermind, take it from me that I was THERE when the Hit hit the fan.


Those who weren't splattered were either moving too fast or too slow. They didn't get splattered, and I personaly believe that their glee at viewing our splattered shirts is nothing short of schedenfreud. Bad Karma, guys.


Norm The Ungrateful cleverly wore a shirt which didn't show mud . . .




And Rod C. is the Sultan of Smug.



But wait, there's more!

One of our juniors, Chris C., found himself in a very bad place during the Jungle Run. He had a double-charge, or something, which blew up his Glock. Can you say "Ka-BOOM!"? Sure you can.

Chris handled the results of Evil Ammo exceptionally well. Sure, he dropped the Glock into the mud and ate the trip to Dairy Queen (Match DQ), but it turned out okay otherwise. The KaBOOM! jammed the case in the gun, jammed the slide, broke the Mag Release mechanism. When we recovered the pistol from the mud, we couldn't rack the slide to clear the gun. So we bagged it, Chris and this father Jeff took it to the safety area, and with some help from GlockSmiths on the range managed to pull the slide off and extract the barrel. The revealed case wasn't obviously split, but it took some doing to remove it.


(Don't get too worked up about the round-in-the-barrel at the Safety Area. It was impossible to work on the gun anywhere else, and Chris had already been DQ'd. The gun was patently non-functional.)



In a later stage, Chris and his father Jeff are shown with Chad and KC McD. watching other shooters. Everybody seems to be having a good time; perhaps because they are watching someone shoot the Texas Star and they're just glad it's not their turn to deal with the challenge.



Walt and Stephan seem to share this attitude, perhaps because they've already shot the stage and have dealt with the worse the Star has to offer.



It was a good match, a challenging match, and while there were few memorable action photos, we saw a lot of people having fun no matter what difficulties they had to deal with.

That's what we came out for, after all.

Getting muddy was just an added bonus.

UPDATE: Comments-Spammer Alert!

Tyler the Rash Guards Guy ... this sight does not accept comments advertising commercial websites. Especially from YOUR lame website, which has been Geekatized and designated . . .

Croc Match Pix Offer

I've received several requests for copies of the photos which SWMBO took at the Croc Dundee "Banzaii Ballistic" match last month.


I've decided to make them available.


As it stands,

I have over 2GB of photos, mostly stills but also some videos, of the match. This includes the awards ceremony, the shooters' meeting, photos of the stages before the match, fathers & sons, etc. ad infinitum.

The bulk of the pictures are people actually shooting stages. SWMBO tried hard to get at least one photo of everyone, even if they were only in group shots and even if the people weren't actually competing. It's impossible if she managed to achieve her goal, but she took enough pictures that there's at least an even chance that if YOU were there, your picture can be found. Somewhere.



(There are a lot of videos of people either doing very well, or screwing up. Since the eight stages average over 50 rounds minimum, the most common error is forgetting to reload when planned, or for some other reason having to make a standing reload. There's also at least one Match DQ, and at least one "Broken Gun".)

We intend to use a few of these photos to illustrate an upcoming article which we will submit to the Front Sight Magazine. Only a few of the hundreds of pictures will be used, if the article is accepted. And of course, the magazine will not be able to publish videos.

I also intend to make some of the photos and videos available online, when I have worked out the details of establishing a host server (in process, I received confirmation that the storage WILL be available, up to 10GB . . . but that's in the future and I don't intend to include more than a select few of these pictures there.)

That means that most of these pictures won't be seen by anybody else, and it seems as if there is some demand for copies from people who competed at the 2005 Croc Match.



So if YOU have any interest in acquiring a set of these pictures (probably either 3 or 4 CDs, depending on how many are left after I edit out the few out-of-focus and redundant pictures), let me know by emailing me at
jerrythegeek@comcast.net

If there is enough interest, I will make copies and send them to you.



To pay for materials, postage, and our time in photographing and editing the photos and cutting the CDs, I will ask for a nominal contribution of . . . mmmmmm . . . ten dollars. Does that sound fair? That will cover the cost of materials, and postage, and won't begin to pay for my time in duplicating the CDs. I don't have a duplicating service available, these CDs will be duplicated one at a time using Roxio. This is a cottage industry, at best. We're all amateurs here.



No guaratees that you will even be in the photos, folks. And, since I don't have releases from anybody for display of their images, these are NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DUPLICATION, AND MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED BY ANY MEANS FOR PUBLIC DISPLAY! (All images copyright 2005 by Jerry the Geek.) The people in the photos will not be identified, nor will the stages.

To make it interesting, and to fill unused space on the 700MB CDs, I'll probably include the match results and (if I can find the) the stage descriptions. Perhaps some public-domain videos of firearms-related 'incidents' may be included also. These last will be 'stuff' I have downloaded from the web, because I found them interesting.

I also have two CDs of pictures taken by other people: Ron Downs and Norm Bright. If they give me their permission, I will include some or all of the images they have provided me, as well. This will add at least one more CD to that package.

If you are interested, and have emailed me asking for a copy, I'll send you my snail-mail address. You can send me a check for ten dollars ($10 US) and I'll send you the set of CDs.


Jerry the Geek

Airhead Oregon

Methamphetamine addiction is problem in Oregon.

According to the Salem (Oregon) Statesman Journal in a September 16 article, 75% of inmates in the Marion county (Salem) jails and work-centers "reported problems with meth addiction".

Apparently the efforts of state and local police to shut down Meth Labs are insufficient to stem the flow of methamphatamines to your friendly neighborhood Crystal addict.

So what did Oregon do?

Having no better targets, the Oregon Legislature (which meets every two years, and need to do SOMETHING to justify their office) has decided to limit the supply of precursor chemicals upon which meth labs depend.

They passed a law which required retailers to take Sudafed and Drixoral, and any other decongestant which includes pseudophines and methamphetamines, off their shelves and only sell them directly over the counter. To buy these cold remedies, the consumer must ask for the OTC medicine by name and present ID. The purchase is entered into a log, along with the identifying number on your driver's license or other such appropriate photo ID.

That doesn't seem to be cutting down on the supply to the meth labs, so the Oregon legislature passed ANOTHER law, which will come into effect in 2006. This law "requires people to have prescriptions for cold and allergy medications that can be converted into methamphetamine."

In a recent interview with MS-NBC, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski had an interesting exchange with the hosts, Ron Reagan (may the REAL Ronald Reagan rest in peace) and Monica Crowley :

MONICA CROWLEY, HOST CONNECTED COAST TO COAST: Well governor, you’re come up with a creative way to combat this problem, you’ve signed into law legislation that would require people to have a prescription for what was formally an over-the-counter medication.

Tell us how this works, lets say someone has a cold and they need, say, Sudafed, are they going to have to go to their doctor and get a prescription?

KULONGOSKI: The answer to that is yes, let me just tell you that about 18 months ago, I created a meth task force in this state composed of the law enforcement community, prevention specialists, correction, and they came up with a report at that time and I went to the board of pharmacy over about a year ago, and I asked them to put all of these pseudoephedrine cold remedies behind the counter where the pharmacist would actually keep a list and require an I.D.

There wasn’t a prescription required at that time, but the legislature had just met, and one of the requests that we made to them was to make pseudoephedrine listed under our system as a class three drug, that would require a prescription.

Now one of the things I have to tell you already, there are over 40 new products without the pseudoephedrine chemical in it that are utilized for colds. So the pharmaceutical industry can actually address this issue quite easily, because they are already coming out with products that do not have pseudoephedrine in them.

REAGAN: Now governor, as well meaning as these steps are, you know that you are going to have critics out there, saying aren’t you inconveniencing the wrong people here. You’re inconveniencing the pharmaceutical companies I suppose to some extent, and just cold and allergy sufferers. And the methamphetamine users and makers are going to break into drug stores and just steal the stuff if they can’t buy it. How do you respond to that?

KULONGOSKI: Well my answer is, if you’re asking me if this is an inconvenience to some of our citizens than yes, I’ve never denied that, but let me suggest to you is one of the ways that we can address this epidemic is asking for a shared sacrifice of all of out citizens. You know the difference between what the states do and what the federal government does is very critically important to each of the states and by that I mean when our children are impacted the most are by these home meth-manufacturing labs.

Where the children of these parents are subject to abuse and neglect, they’re crawling around, they’re living in this environment where this meth is cooked, these children’s lives are being destroyed, it’s a tremendous cost to all of us as citizens, the cost to us is about 15-20 thousand dollars to clean up one of these home grown meth labs. The fact is, they’re showing up in our corrections system, I just talked to the director of the department of corrections, and hi budget is being strained by what is referred to as meth mouth -- this stuff is battery acid, it eats you teeth out -- and these people are showing up in our corrections system, are we are having to pay the cost to have to put implants into their mouth.

So what I’m trying to suggest is in fact, the best thing for all of us is to share in the solution to this problem on the local level. The federal level, that’s what I’m waiting for, I want a much more aggressive posture by the federal government to tell both the pharmaceutical companies, and these other countries that produce these major

Essentially, what Ted The Med is saying is that:

1. This Meth thingie is costing Oregon Voters a lot of money, and
2. We don't know what to do about it, so
3. We've passed laws which inconvience the voters and
   
4. Cost them money when they have to use their insurance co-pay to get prescriptions
5. Just so it looks as if we're doing something to solve the problem, even though
6. We're not, actually.
7. PS: I hope to GOD the voters are dumb enough to buy this Big Lie.
8. Just to make sure, we're not going to let them actually VOTE on it.

So, the citizens of Oregon will not only have to produce identification in order to buy Sudafed and Drixoral, but now they will have to go to a doctor and get a prescription for a LIMITED amount of what was originally an Over The Counter medicine. When they go to the Doctor, they had BETTER have insurance (even though the Oregon Medical Insurance for People who Don't Have A Job, such as retireees, has been discontinued because it was 'too expensive'). And even if they have insurance, it's going to require that they "Co-Pay", which means a minimum amount of money for the doctor visit . . . probably about $10 to $15 . . . will come out of the pockets of the "patient" who has a cold or allergy problem. This is the kind of problem which previously has been resolved by the patient saying "Damn! I"ve got a cold, but I've got to go to work. I'll just pop down to the drug store and buy some Drixoral. My nose will quit running, and I can go to work without a hankie."

Now the same person has to get a doctor's appointment, to get a prescription, and the same OTC medicine which use to cost $5.99 for a week's supply costs two or three times as much because of the need to co-pay the visit.


But HEY! It's all in a good cause, right?

And it's just our personal contribution (according to Ted the Med) as Good Citizens in order to Stop The Meth Problem ... which the combined forces of Federal and State Law Enforcement Agencies haven't made a DENT on in the past five years!

So, even though the prescription requirement isn't active yet, how's it working so far? I mean, the new law prevents the Drug Dealer Army from buying Sudafed off the shelf, so this should cut down on the amount of Meth available to drug dealers, right?

That should cut down on the amount of Meth available to the Oregon Addicts, right?

Wrong!

Washington pair nabbed on I-5 with meth cache - September 30, 2005

A routine traffic stop on Interstate 5 led troopers to a six-pound stash of methamphetamine and cash Thursday morning.

At 7:46 a.m., Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Bill Matson stopped a 1995 Ford Explorer heading northbound on the freeway near milepost 39 just north of Medford. He had clocked the Explorer traveling 84 mph in a 65 mph zone, police said in a news release.

The driver, Victorino Santos-Andres, 18, of Lacey, Wash., could not produce identification, prompting Watson to take him into custody.

"Enough probable cause was then established to lead us to search the vehicle," Watson said.

An OSP drug dog named Cookie was dispatched to the scene. Cookie aided troopers in the discovery of six pounds of methamphetamine and around $6,000 in cash hidden in the vehicle’s rear storage compartments, officials said.

OSP drug enforcement officials estimate the value of the drugs to be between $30,000 and $40,000.

Santos-Andres was arrested on charges of manufacturing, possession and delivery of methamphetamine. He was also cited for failing to carry a driver’s license.

He was lodged in Jackson County Jail, where he remained late Thursday in lieu of $68,000 bail.

The passenger, Baltazar J. Vazquez, of Olympia, Wash., was arrested on charges of manufacturing, possession and delivery of methamphetamine. He was lodged in jail, where he remained late Thursday in lieu of $75,000 bail.

Officials from Immigration and Naturalization Services determined that both men are illegal aliens. They told troopers that they were returning to Washington from California, Watson said.

"It’s one of the larger seizures of the year so far," OSP Lt. Gregg Hastings said.
OSP troopers have lately seen an increase of drug trafficking on Interstate 5, particularly in Southern Oregon, Hastings said.

OSP is concerned with the number of daytime drug busts in the last few months. Until recently, most drug finds have been at night, Hastings said.
"This is just more evidence that drugs are being transported around the clock in this state," Hastings said.

Got that?

" . . . drugs are being transported around the clock in this state . . ."


Legal folks-with-a-cold are now being required to jump through hoops to buy cold and allergy remedies, and it's only going to cost them more in the future. In the meantime, because of the Open Borders policy of the U.S. Governement, Meth is being "transported around the clock in this state."

This sounds like something that the Feds should be addressing. So what's their contribution?

To Fight Oregon's Growing Meth Problem

Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) today announced that the U.S. Senate has approved legislation they championed to stop the creation, distribution and use of methamphetamine. The Combat Meth Act, which Wyden and Smith cosponsored along with U.S. Senators Jim Talent (R-Mo.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), has been included as part of the Fiscal Year 2006 Commerce, Justice Science (CJS) Appropriations legislation. The CJS appropriations bill now moves to a conference committee to work out differences between it and the House version of the bill. The Combat Meth legislation will provide resources and tools to help law enforcement officials and prosecutors to pursue and punish producers and distributors of Meth, increase community awareness of the Meth problem, and establish new treatment options. The Oregon Department of Human Services has reported that Meth use is the biggest drug problem facing Oregon child welfare today. Meth is the second-most treated drug addiction among Oregon teens.

"The deadly problem of Meth is eating away at the social fabric of our state, and today's action by the Senate is a big step forward in rebuilding that fabric in a variety of ways," said Wyden. "Fighting Meth use and distribution requires a multi-pronged approach, and the Federal government needs to do its part to support the good work of communities throughout Oregon to make headway in fighting this pernicious epidemic."

Yeah, Ron Weyden (D-ORE) and Gordon Smith (R-ORE) are taking the fight to the hallowed halls of Congress.

I've got a lot of faith in those two yahoos.

PS: Did I mention that Oregon is a "Blue State"?

UPDATE: Comment-Spammer Alert!

In the final chapter of Les Audacious, Avaricious, Avalance of Advertising from Our Old Friend Femme, after today I will no longer merely disable these comments which have been submitted for no better purpose than to promote commercial websites. I'll just delete them ... immediately, and permanently. I've let a few of them hang around in limbo, but they DON'T DIE IMMEDIATELY and I'm getting tired of dealing with them.

Of course, I've been having some fun at their expense, but I don't think I want to let the embedded links stay in the comments any longer than necessary.

This is the last step before requiring the application of technical security issues.
I only pray it works.

Bob Hope Says It all

H/T to Extreme Wisdom (who strives to present "The Best" to bloggers everywhere, and whose espoused goal is to be linked to by Instapundit).

Too bad, you've been linked to by The Geek.

It's an 8mb film clip, and I refuse to provide the direct link to the film clip. It's such a good commentary on DemocRats, and the comments are so worth reading, I'll let you get it from the original source. He deserves the credit, you deserve access to the comments.

Note: Brian B. suggested today that he can provide video hosting on an Albany Rifle & Pistol Club (ARPC) URL. If this works out, I'll include this and other political/RKBA/IPSC videos for your future enjoyment.

I'll keep you informed.

Note #2: Turn the volume UP!