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Comment Re: self-flying planes (Score 1) 270

Not according to the FAA (I hear that CASA in Australia is updating the reg's regarding "dark night flying", so things might be different outside the US).

There is no requirement for a visible horizon when flying VFR at night. Please reference VFR Weather Minimums. Flying anywhere near those minimums is crazy as far as I care, as it's really easy to progress into IFR conditions.

Regardless of whether it's legally VFR or not, I'd feel much more comfortable being IFR rated in those conditions. I'd want the option to call in for a pop-up IFR clearance if the weather deteriorated. The limits I place personally are much more stringent than the FAA reg's, seein' as I'm a low hour "strictly for the hobby and love of flying" pilot.

Comment Re: self-flying planes (Score 4, Informative) 270

What ^ he said.

I've flown VFR on a dark night with no visible horizon. It's an unsettling feeling when there's a lit road in the distance, at an angle to the real horizon. Your eyes naturally attune to the road, and tell your brain the aircraft is banking. Your inner ear says you're level. After a few moments, that part of your brain that handles balance starts to freak out and throw its hands up in disgust with the conflicting information.

It takes willpower to trust that the artificial horizon on the attitude indicator is indeed correct, despite that voice in the back of your head whispering that it could be broken and you should trust your eyes instead.

Comment Re:A Series of Tubes (Score 4, Funny) 458

I had a neighbor a while back that used "F*$% Off", then encrypted it with 64 WEP.

Someone (who shall forever remain nameless) "hacked" it, accessed the configuration page via the default credentials, then renamed it "Not polite to swear in public". Shortly thereafter, the router went down and its SSID hidden.

Comment Re:Start by... (Score 1) 309

And then you're party to this nonsense. Maybe you can sleep with that on your conscience. I know I can't. Knowing I'd be putting my company at risk by not complying with the order (and thus all of my employees) would make it a hard decision. I suppose it's a good thing I'm not running the show, because I'd still stand up and be civilly disobedient.

Comment Re:Due Process (Score 1) 1737

"I should think not.... the purpose of prisons is to contain and reform criminals into productive citizens. If anything, I should expect the wrongly imprisoned to emerge a more god-fearing more moral person than they were when they got put in there by mistake."

I think you need to step into a prison. I have family who work in correctional facilities, and their opinion is the opposite of yours. Methinks you're looking through rose-tinted glasses.

Comment Re: not 'self defense' (Score 1) 1737

"Why did Martin lay wait in ambush?"

We don't know that he did. Zimmerman says he did. Martin can't exactly defend himself. There are no third party witnesses detailing the beginning of the assault.

And therein lies the problem. There's not enough evidence to say either way, and there's that "Reasonable Doubt" issue that the jury has to worry about.

Personally, I believe that Zimmerman created the situation, and should lie at fault. That may not be enough to convict in a criminal trial, but I hope the likely civil trial nails the guy to the wall.

Comment Re:Someone start a defense fund (Score 1) 955

"The fact that the program is actually not even really that bad"

That's not a fact. That's your opinion.

My opinion is that the program violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, usually considered the highest law of the land. It's a touchy subject ("protect the citizens from the terrorists" versus our fundamental right to privacy), which is why I suspect the Judicial branch doesn't want to touch the subject with a ten foot pole, tossing out the earlier lawsuits on a technicality and refusing to make a decision on them.

I'd also argue that it's the responsibility of citizens and any member of government to actively resist any program that violates the U.S. Constitution. Blowing the whistle is certainly an action of actively resisting. If that makes him a criminal, then there's something wrong with the law.

Comment Re:When you have a culture that promotes (Score 1) 1168

Adam Lanza did not have access to an assault rifle. He had access to a semi-automatic rifle that happens to be styled after an assault rifle. He also carried two handguns.

Are you going to ban my bolt action hunting rifle because I can fire it *almost* as fast as a semi-automatic? After practice, the bolt can be cycled pretty quickly; maybe a couple of seconds faster. Take away the need to aim, and I bet it can be done quicker.

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