You don't need to have plastic strong enough to withstand dozens or hundreds of firings, you need plastic strong enough to withstand one firing.

I can imagine 3D printing a shape with multiple one-shot barrels, adding some propellant, electrical detonator and a projectile to each barrel, then mounting the assembly on some kind of (probably 3D printed) grip. When all the barrels have been discharged, throw them away and mount another on the grip.

I've never told anyone how I've felt about working with them: "be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the arse you have to kiss tomorrow"

I don't know what it's like in the US, but a while ago I looked at re-qualifying as a high school teacher in NZ (I also have a PhD, and have taught undergrad courses solo). I would only have had to do a one-year course, and there were scholarships available for the subjects I was looking at teaching. Granted, that is a whole (academic) year of bringing in less money than I am now, but it didn't seem too onerous to me.

leads me to believe just one thing: the USA is buggered. They've gone so far down the road of partisan wankery, where no-one can ever admit they're wrong and anyone who thinks differently is an enemy, that they're incapable of doing anything.

Have another civil war and be done with. Just do the rest of the world a favour and leave us out of it.

While it's unlikely that any FBI agents would face charges of contempt of court, judges don't like being lied to, or having their orders ignored. Given the FBI's behaviour, I wouldn't be too surprised if the judge denied the extradition request solely on the basis of the actions of the FBI.

In short, the FBI are acting like arrogant bullies and they are going to destroy their own case.

And that is the biggest, most glaring, elephant-in-the-living-room hole in U.S. airport security. The last time I had the misfortune to go through Chicago O'Hare airport, there must have been 300 people packed into an area the size of a basketball court, all waiting to go through the TSA checkpoint. Never mind a nail bomb, the place was so packed that if someone had dropped a lit road flare, the panic and stampede would have caused casualties.

Not that I'm advocating dropping lit road flares in check-in lines, but if I can think of it, I'm sure someone else can.

And that post so beautifully embodies everything that is wrong with the USA that the author should receive an award for demonstrating just how inhumane a first-world country can become.

in almost 39 years on this planet, I'm ashamed to be a New Zealander.

People don't do advanced degrees like a PhD for the money (which isn't that great) or the recognition (which is hard to come by) but because they love the work.

Basically, if you love doing it, do it. If you hang in there, things will probably work out. If not, find something else to do with your life. A while ago I summed up in a blog post my thoughts on doing a PhD: http://computational-intelligence.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/hang-in-there.html

Just my $0.02.

I think it was Patton who said "Your job is not to die for your country. It is to make the other poor bastard die for his."

>DMCA notices are filed under penalty of perjury. Has anybody, ever, even a single case,
> been punished for filing a false takedown?

As I understand it, the perjury clause refers to the statement of the notifier that they
represent or are truly acting for the rights holder, not that what they claim is true. I
think that only requires a "good faith" belief that the material they wish taken down is
infringing.

Put them in parliament. They'd fit right in.

OK, a lot of comments from people saying they're not going to the US, and a few comments poking fun at them.

Thing is, I seem to recall reading that foreign tourism in the US has been declining over the last few years. A year or two ago I read that Air New Zealand was planning on flying direct from Auckland to Vancouver, with the stated reason being so people did not have to go through the hassle of US customs and immigration en route!

Make fun of the "I'm not going" comments if you like, but it seems that people really aren't going to the US now.

> This is pure fear mongering nonsense. The MMR vaccine is for diseases that doesn't do any of the above. Measels cause no real effects
> unless your child is immunocompromized, and has been eliminated in North America since 2002

The father of an ex-girlfriend of mine was deaf due a childhood bout of measles. This was before the measles vaccine was available, of course.

Measles still exists in other parts of the world, what happens if a carrier gets on a plane to the US, and people have stopped vaccinating?

Vaccines have nothing to do with autism. Absolutely nothing. There is absolutely no evidence that vaccines cause autism, and anyone who tells you otherwise is either an idiot or a liar.