November Blogmeat

Since my writing tonite seems to be related to the stuff that other bloggers have found, I'm going to switch to a BLOGMEAT format!


One in a Row has early returns from San Francisco's Proposition H.
What does it say? Well, as of this writing (21:20 on Election Night), they have 36,000 votes and less than 10,000 returned ballots. I'm not too concerned . . . so far . . . that the measure to prohibit posession of firearms within the San Francisco City Limits is winning 3 to 2.
It's a SCAM, folks!

UPDATE:
November 9, 2005
The passage of Proposition H in San Francisco caught me unaware. I knew those people were crazy, and I knew that they were stupid, but I had no idea of the extent of their mania.

I use to live there, in the early 1970's. I met some fine folks, and I loved the town. Hated the politics, hated the crime, and I missed 'real weather' so I finally moved.

The weather was just blah. Occasional rain, lots of cold winds, but I admit I was enchanted by the Fog Monster slithering down the main west-east thoroughfares on its way from the ocean to the Bay.

Crime was more than your typical bank robberies and muggings. I was living in Oakland during the Zebra Killings and the Patty Hearst/SLA business. I was there during the Black Panther shootout in Oakland. And I was there when my next door neighbor was mugged in the Safeway parking lot by two middle-school girls. My car was burglarized twice, once while it was sitting in the enclosed parking lot of the apartment house where I lived and which I managed; it was obviously one of my neighbors. Later, someone slit the convertible top 'just for the hell of it'.

The politics, even then, defied imagination. Obviously, the current generation has completely succumbed to the Nanny State mindset which we saw evolving during the period when I lived there.

I got out just in time.



Publicola is incensed that many of his readers come from RKBA-repressed areas . . . DC, California, Illinois, NJ, etc. He asks why, if these read are interested in gun-blogs, they still live where they do?

I'm sure there are good reasons, but darned if I can intuit them.


Vile Bill (Firing For Effect) writes about a pig roast and a Jungle Run!

Hey, this idea is catching on everywhere, and from the many photos Bill provides, it looks like a tough stage..

I'm glad to see that Bill is posting more and more lately, not only because he is an IPSC shooter but also because he always has something interesting to say.

Incidently, he is willing to trade total ownership of his blog for an SVI. Good luck, Bill.

Oh, and before I forget, Bill has joined the Gun Blogs Ring, as I have (see the link array at the bottom of the page, just below the Day By Day cartoon.) His link hasn't yet appeared, but take heart Bill. It took three weeks before they got around to 'certifying' my link. I think this is a worthy effort, if only because it provides a good way to cycle through all your favorite gun-blogs quickly and easily.

My blog is worth $8,468.10.
How much is your blog worth?

And Bill is responsible for the reference to the "How Much Is Your Blog Worth" bot, included here.


Syd at Front Sight, Press offers his usual brilliant collection of RKBA-related links, including this article about Alito's decision that the ban against private ownership of full-auto firearms is unconstitutional! (Scroll down to "SUPREME COURT NOMINEE SAMUEL ALITO'S VIEWS COULD IMPERIL MOST FEDERAL GUN, AMMO, AND EXPLOSIVES LAWS")

Remarkably, this article was featured in SFGATE, those wonderful folks who support Proposition H (See above).

For John Roberts, it was a "hapless toad'' in the path of a California housing development that represented the limits of the federal government's power to regulate activities within a state. For Samuel Alito Jr., it was a machine gun.

In a lone dissenting opinion as a federal appeals court judge in 1996, Alito argued that the federal ban on possessing machine guns was unconstitutional -- a stand described by both admirers and detractors Tuesday as one of the most revealing cases in the lengthy judicial record of President Bush's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Not so remarkably, the SFGATE article strongly features a quote from "The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence", formerly known as HCI.

. . . Dennis Henigan, legal director of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said the opinion is "perhaps the most powerful evidence that Judge Alito is very much a right-wing judicial activist'' willing to disregard congressional judgment. Another critic, Douglas Kendall, executive director of the Community Rights Counsel, said Alito's opinion is disturbing for reasons that have little to do with gun control.

The case "suggests that he will impose rather significant limits on federal authority'' over interstate commerce, the basis for a wide range of laws, said Kendall, whose Washington, D.C., organization supports regulation of the environment and public health. He said the issue of federal power is critical to two cases the Supreme Court plans to review this term testing the limits of the government's authority to prohibit pollution of wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

Emphasis mine, and obviously I think that the comment that Alito is "... willing to disregard congressional judgement ..." is the salient quote of the article. I can't think of a better reason to install Alito to the Supremes!

Alito began his dissenting opinion by suggesting that the majority was treating the Supreme Court's 1995 ruling as "a constitutional freak'' rather than a recognition that the Constitution "still imposes some meaningful limits on congressional power.''

Alito is looking better all the time. Go read the entire article, and decide for yourself whether he's a loose cannon.

The second quoted paragraph demonstrates HCI's The Brady Center's disenguity; how much credibility can we give to an organization which calls itself the '"Center To Prevent Gun Violence", and then tries to hide its anti-RKBA activism under the guise of an organization which "... supports regulation of the environment and public health." These folks have no shame, no shame at all.

In fact, they quoted RINO Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to boister their nebulous criticism.

And I so appreciated the article that I wrote an email to the reporter who wrote it.

UPDATE: December 29, 2005
I fulfilled one of my New Years Resolutions ahead of time, by re-editing this article to change the Judge's name from Alioto (a former Mayor of San Francisco, and a well-known fish-house owner) to Alito, which is the name the judge was born with. I do so reluctantly because I was getting a LOT of hits from search-engines. It seems that I'm not the only one who can't spell Alito's name properly. That's why I've seeded this update liberally with references to "Alioto". If I didn't, I would miss those guys!

Gullyborg (Resistance is Futile!) tosses his hat in the ring to be known as the Jack of Spades.

This is in response to a blogger meme for Hallmark Cards for Bloggers (h/t Arron per Hugh Hewit).

Me? I'm bidding for the Four of Clubs. Four clubs in the Columbia Cascade Section of USPSA (ARPC, TCGC, Dundee and COSSA). How hard can it be to represent a minor sport in a minor state?

The Lost Action Hero?

Hat Tip to Cowboy Blog

You scored as Batman, the Dark Knight. As the Dark Knight of Gotham, Batman is a vigilante who deals out his own brand of justice to the criminals and corrupt of the city. He follows his own code and is often misunderstood. He has few friends or allies, but finds comfort in his cause. Batman, the Dark Knight 83% James Bond, Agent 007 71% The Terminator 67% The Amazing Spider-Man 54% Captain Jack Sparrow 54% Maximus 50% Neo, the "One" 50% Lara Croft 46% El Zorro 42% William Wallace 42% Indiana Jones 42% Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com

Frappr

Hat Tip to Tyler at .45 Caliber Justice

Shooting the Texas Star

A few weeks ago, I commented on another blog that there was a good way to shoot the Texas Star target array.


My preference is (assuming the Star is not moving) to shoot the top plate, then to shoot the top descending plate. That plate is descending because that side has more plates. It's heavier. Shooting that plate shifts the balance, so the OTHER side is then heavier. Consequently, the rotation slows, stops, and changes direction. Continue to shoot the top descending plate, and it slows down the movement of the arms so you don't have a difficult fast-moving target for your next shot. Finally, if you do it right (shoot fast, don't miss!), you finish by shooting a stationary plate at the bottom of the array.

I demonstrated this in my Dundee match article, and when you hit your targets consistently it makes it look easy. Well, it is.

* * *

Somewhere, I got hold of a rather large MPG-format file that shows a series of shooters shooting the Star in a completely opposite manner. That is, they shoot the lowest plate first, and then kind of catch whatever they can. The file is 10mb, and I link to it here even though it's not reasonable to download it unless you have high-speed broadband internet access.

(Thank you, Comcast!)

These guys make it look so easy. I sure wish I knew where it was filmed, and who the shooters are. They're much better shooters than I am.

Here's another MPG-format video, 1.4mb, showing someone shooting the star during an actual match. Crank the volume WAY up here.

Finally, for something COMPLETELY different, here's a video I mentioned several months ago. No stars here, but a Las Vegas LEO (Clark County Sheriff's Deputy?) has a little trouble with trigger control while supporting another LEO in the act of cuffing a suspect.

There's a lot of sirens involved, you'll want to turn the volume DOWN a bit.

UPDATE:
Originally I advised shooting the top RISING plate, instead of the top DESCENDING plate. That was clearly wrong, so I corrected the error and also added some more descriptive commentary. Also, I added the link to the referenced Dundee match article, for convenience.

By the way, the 'large' video showing several people shooting the star looks to me as if it were filmed in Texas. I make this assumption because of the design on several of the shirts, because one of the shooters looks very much like Penny Riggs, and because they all shoot so well!

Interesting websites about guns and shooting

One of the things I've been doing lately is looking for interesting new websites. I focused on those shooting-related blogs hosted by Blogger.

The first one I found is one that I knew immediately I should have linked to long ago: Matt Burkett's "Shooting Thoughts". I've corrected my lapse and it now has been included on my sidebar under "Gun Bloggers Outside the PNW" (Pacific North Wet).

On top of the blog today is an extended article Matt wrote about the "JP Rocky Mountain 3 gun World Championship". After describing the match, Burkett goes on to give "tips from the match for multi-gun shooting".

Actually, I never understood the difference between "3-gun" and "multi-gun" competition until I read an article in the current Front Sight Magazine this week. In his "From The Editor" column (Page 5, November-December 2005), Dave Thomas describes it:

The difference between "3-Gun" and "Multi-Gun" is that a 3-Gun match is comprised of specific stages for specific firearms while multi-gun blends at least some stages together. In 3-Gun an aggregate championship in each recognized division is awarded as well as individual firearm championships (handgun, shotgun, and rifle) for each division. A Multi-Gun match recognizes only the aggregate championships by division.

If I understand this correctly, 3-gun matches have rifle stages, shotgun stages, and pistol stages. You shoot only one kind of firearm on each stage. At the end you have rifle winners, shotgun winners, and handgun winners (plus division awards, etc.) In Multi-Gun competition there are no Rifle, Shotgun or Handgun winners because they are used in combination in each stage, making it impossible to determine which part of a stage score was earned using which firearm.

Personally, the "Multi-Gun" competition sounds a lot more interesting to me. But I'm just a Geek, so what do I know? However, I HAVE competed in "Practical Shotgun Only" matches, and they were a kick. Literally.

Another blog I reviewed was Nebraska Views, hosted by "CMZNEB". In the four months he has been online, he has posted only three articles but they're worth reading. I wish he would post more, he has some interesting things to say.
First he wrote "Why I don't belong to the NRA anymore . . .", and I half-agree with most of his reasons.
Then he wrote "Why do NE Police Chiefs oppose CCS?". Apparently, he actually attempted to contact a half-dozen police chiefs and/or sheriffs with the question. Most of them didn't reply, but those who DID reply had some interesting things to say.
Finally, last month, he wrote "Gun Shows . . . Worth A Visit? Here he had two eminently quotable quotes: "I have yet to find a great deal at a gun show..." and "One thing you can count on for sure is seeing an interesting crowd of people at gun shows."

Maybe if I send him the link to this article, he will be encouraged to continue writing.

Next up is McGinnis, who describes himself as a " gun toting liberal. There are more of us than you think, but election day is never easy." He has two blogs.
First is (not surprising) the Gun Toting Liberal blog. It's an interesting concept, and I wish he had explored it. He had one blog article, in which he said

The Gun Toting Liberals now have a blog. We are so hip.

Unfortunately, he never posted to that blog again. I'm sure the gun toting liberals of the world have a lot to say, but not here.
The other blog was a lot more productive. Here he describes his Journey to USPSA B-Class. It's a worthy goal, and if he has continued to put as much into practice as he details here, he has made it by now. In August and September, 2004, he developed a plan and then described what he did to follow the plan. He documented his draw-times in practice, and evaluated his progress (but not WHY he progressed.) After a few weeks, he was distracted by his thesis and by the realization that it requires sacrifice and priority to get live-fire range time. By June of 2005, he had allowed his USPSA membership to lapse but stated that he was "...one 60+ classifier away from B-class in production".

Nothing from him since then. Where-ever you are, McGinnis, I hope you made your goal. You showed a very personal side of yourself, and I'm grateful for your contribution. Maybe it IS easier to make B-class in Limited 10 than in Production, but unless you resume blogging we'll just never know.


Not-so-interesting IPSC-related blogsites:

Shooting with Woody.
First . . . and last . . . blog:

First time

Starting this seems pointless.

I guess it was. He hasn't posted again in the past year. This only goes to show that it ain't easy to run an IPSC blog, folks.


This is about the point when I realized that "continuing this seems pointless". There are tens of thousands of bloggers registered with Blogger, twelve of them list IPSC as an interest, and six of them (many duplicates) list USPSA as an interest. Most of them don't blog at all, some only a few times, and most of the blogs don't have much (or any) IPSC/USPSA related material.

Most important, and the point of this article, is that you have to keep shooting to maintain an interest in The Game. I haven't blogged for two weeks, nor have I shot a match for two weeks. I think there's a correlation there.

Sunday I went to the range and did some practice. I had some new Winchester brass I wanted to load and shoot before I reloaded it for match use, so I burned some of it up working on draw-and-first-shot times. I found a lot of things I was doing wrong, including not getting the dot on the target when I mounted the gun, and rushing the first shot. There's not a whole lot of difference in time between a 1.48 second C-hit and a 1.55 second A-hit, but when you allow yourself to become speed-oriented you lose track of your own personal limitations. That explains why I had so much trouble getting first-shot hits on steel at my last match.

And that link explains why it's important to keep to a regular regimen of writing. You can build on your earlier work, and use it to demonstrate points which occur to you later.

I'm so bored. I can't wait until the ARPC match next Saturday. I may even clean the pistol.

It could happen.

End of the Blogging Hiatus

There may have been a few of you who noticed that I haven’t been writing lately. By “Lately”, I mean since October 23 . . . two full weeks!

The reason I haven’t been writing is that I didn’t feel like it. Not a good excuse, but I’ve been engaged in a few other projects which took up too much of my free time. Also, there haven’t been a lot of IPSC matches in the CCS section lately, and I didn’t ‘feel like’ talking about anything else.

Or maybe it was just writer’s block.

Here is a short list of the things I’ve been doing which have taken up so much of my time:

• trying to develop a website at jerrythegeek.arpc-ipsc.org


• trying to establish a GEEK Photo Gallery on that server or on that website


• adding HALOSCAN commenting system to avoid spammers


• searching for new and interesting websites that I can link to

The website isn’t working yet. I bought MS FrontPage, but I can’t use the full publishing capabilities because my server doesn’t support it. That means that all the macros which are embedded in the code don’t work, so the templates need to be re-written. For example, the table-formatted link buttons are just not there! I have a lot of work to do before I get all the bugs out, and what little I DO have that works is mostly just a skeletal structure. Even getting the links right is a learning experience for me. Some Geek, eh?

The photo gallery software I chose is powerful, and it’s free. I chose it because it allowed *.mpeg and *.wmv formatted video files to be posted. It also requires installation on the server, and apparently that isn’t going to happen. The alternatives are to either build my own webpages, or use an existing gallery (such as Kodak Gallery) to host the still photos and THEN build my own webpages for the videos. I’ll probably choose the latter.

I’m not sure if the HALOSCAN code is working yet, because I haven’t blogged since I installed it. We’ll see what happens when I have a few comment-worthy articles posted, but I strongly suspect I still have some code changes to make before it’s fully functional.

In an ironic note, the week after I installed HALOSCAN, BLOGGER came up with new functionality on their Comments processing which provided exactly the kind of controls I was looking for. That is, the comments would be routed to me FIRST, and I would choose which would be accepted. This imposed a delay between the time a reader posts a comment and the time when it actually displays, which is not my first choice.

I have found a couple of interesting websites which I haven’t linked to before, and those will be the subject of another post in the immediate future.

Finally, this article represents another new blogging technique. I’m writing this on my MS-WORD software, and publishing it directly to BLOGGER. It’s a lot easier to compose, and it has a HUGE advantage in the immediate spell-checking and grammar checking. (But I have a lot of words to add to my dictionary, such as ‘blogging’ ‘webpages’ and ‘wmv’. In fact, I just did that!)

So this is something of a test of that new technique, and as soon as I figure out the possibilities of using the word processor for creating a new article, I’ll start playing with the techniques for editing in pictures and links.

UPDATE:
Gee, this looks funny. IT adds comments and trackback BEFORE the post, as well as the full comments-options lines at the end. Unfortunately, while I'm reasonably certain that this is caused by the interface between MS-Word and Blogger, it may have to do with the incomplete installation of Haloscan coding.

I'll play with this for a while, just to see what it looks like when I use the old technique of writting directly via Blogger post-editing. I may end up deleting this post, eventually, because while it's fun to try new toys . . . it's kind of boring to read about it.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

WE HAVE A WINNER!: FREE AR-15 Magazines

Cogito Ergo Geek: MWG: FREE AR-15 Magazines

When I pulled into the parking lot at the Dundee match on Saturday, BARSOOM was standing beside the driver's door, staring into my window before I even got the engine turned off.

I rolled down my window . . . cautiously . . . and he shouted

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

Well, you can't argue with such moral rectitude. I jumped out of the Geek Jeep ("Geep"), opened the back door, and gave him the unopened package of two 10-round magazines which MGE had sent me on Monday (I received them on Wednesday).

Because of the pre-match confusion, I arranged with BARSOOM to meet after the match and take his picture with the magazines, for the Blog.

However, because of the POST-match confusion, we both forgot all about it until the next day.

Unless he can send me a picture between now and then, I'll meet him at the GLOCK match at ARPC next weekend, and take the photo for publication on this blog.

I'm sure MGW will appreciate it, and so will Earthworm who was kind enough to inform me of the offer.

Stay tuned for Chapter Three in the continuing story of Barsoom and the MGW Magazines!

October Dundee IPSC Match Videos

On Saturday, the Croc Dundee club in Dundee, Oregon -- also known as the Chehalem Valley Sportsman's Club (CVSC) of the Columbia Cascade Section of USPSA -- presented their regularly scheduled club match. This was also the monthly Points Match, which means that scores are recorded for the annual CCS Points Race. At the end of the competitive year, the competitors with the highest scores (percentage points in each Points Match) in each Division/Class are offered the Section's allotment of entry slots to the USPSA National,

Because these Points Matches are the most important matches in each month, special care is taken to ensure that the highest quality of stage design, construction and match administration are adhered to. Nobody gets a 'gimme' hit; if there is a question about any hit, the overlays come out and everyone puts their nose to the target to determine if it's in, or if it's out.

We had twelve competitors in our squad, including two young men who were shooting in what turned out to be their second IPSC match, ever. (They did a fine job, and we'll welcome Jason and Steve to come back and shoot with us anytime.)

I took the opportunity to film a few shooters, and will present here some small (1mb or 2mb, max) videos. Of course, I only filmed the more experienced competitors, and many of the film clips show flaws either minor (hesitation over calling a shot) to medium (miscounting rounds, leading to a standing reload).

One competitor took a nose-dive in the gravel during the "Steel Blues" stage. He was advancing very aggressively to a shooting position, misjudged his traction in the surface, skidding into and tripping over a shooting box. He sprawled and slid some more, taking most of the abrasion on his weak-hand and his strong-hand forearm. We all remarked on what an admirable job he did in keeping the muzzle downrange and the gun out of the dirt. When he realized that nobody was going to stop him, he bounced up and finished the stage in 19 seconds total. (I took over 20 seconds, shooting too conservatively and making up too many missed shots on the steel.) He was almost as disappointed that nobody had a camera running as he was that he couldn't talk anybody into giving him a reshoot for "Range Equipment Failure".

I was disappointed, too, because it would have made an excellent video clip. But I was VERY happy that he had no injuries other than some minor abrasion (didn't even draw blood) and he handled the gun so professionally that no DQ conditions were extent, nobody was in any danger at any time.

If he hadn't fallen, he would have had at least one of the top 3 scores in the match. Sometimes, I think IPSC almost qualifies as an "XTreme Sport".

Moving on to The Main Attraction: Click on the thumbnails to download the WMV files.

Our first clip was taken during the Classifier Stage. On CM99-18 (High Standards), a 24-round Virginia Count stage, there are three full-face IPSC targets which are engaged in two strings.
First String: Starting at the 15-yard line, engage each with 2 rounds free-style, reload, engage each with 2 rounds strong hand only.
Second String: Starting at the 7-yard line, engage each target with 2 rounds free-style, reload, engage each with 2 rounds weak hand only.

There are two key moments in this stage: reloading, and weak-hand shooting. The problem with weak-hand shooting isn't just how well you can shoot left-handed (for example), but also how quickly you can transfer your pistol to your weak hand.

Here's one shooter on his second string, who not only bobbled the reload slightly, but as a consequence had some trouble with the transfer. He was NOT happy with his time for that string. (Turn your volume up when you watch CLASSIFIER BLUES!)



The next star is Jerry the Geek, "Bobbing for Alphas". It's too bad that some people just can't call their shots with any confidence.

Also Bobbing for Alphas is Nick, shooting his first match in Open Division. He's been shooting Limited 10 since Cooper was a D-shooter, but he thought he would try sharing the Open Glock in Major-9 with his son, Ryan. Ryan knows how many rounds he has in the magazine; Nick thought it was impossible to run dry. Hard lesson to learn.

Down in the Rifle Pits, SWMBO had "No Misses" in the CAR WARS stage.

Nick recovered nicely, did everything exactly right, and made it look easy.

We then moved up to the Croc Bay and watched The Geek embarass himself on "Steel Blues". (This is the stage where Nick slid into the final shooting position . . . and beat The Geek anyway!)

Finally, Big Dog shows us just how awkward it is to shoot far targets with a lot of hard-cover obscuring the majority of the target face. Also, he demonstrates how easy it is even for competitors who always shoot hi-capacity magazines to lose track of round-count.

We really enjoyed this match, and Match Director BARSOOM did a great job of making sure everything was just right, even up to and especially including the weather. (More on that in a subsequent post.)

Of Arms and the Law: CEO of Brady Campaign resigns, citing stress of losses

Of Arms and the Law: CEO of Brady Campaign resigns, citing stress of losses

Congress may decide in conference to ease District of Columbia gun restrictions (H.R. 3058). The House will vote Wednesday on shielding gunmakers from liability suits (S. 397). And last year, Congress let the assault weapons ban (P.L. 103-322) expire.

It's enough to make a gun-control advocate quit.

"It's not an easy job to get up every day and duke it out with the gun lobby," Michael Barnes, president and CEO of the Brady Campaign and Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said Tuesday, "but it's very important."

Barnes resigned this week.

(Emphasis added)

It's enough to cause Kim du Tuit to do the Happy Dance. Farewell, auf wiedersehn, Ta-ta, good-bye, don't let the screen door hit you in the butt on the way out you hidden-agenda hypocritical gun-control loser! The world will be a better place without you.

Hat Tip to Smallest Minority, respectful nod to ArmsAndTheLaw, and thanks to Daphne Retter, Congressional Quarterly Staff.

The Gun-Control Goof Squad is getting smaller, folks.

I like it like that.

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: