NeonCat

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• Commented on Chairs made from crates that are better than the chairs shipped in the crates
  Most pallets that I have seen are in pretty bad condition. They're usually made of the cheapest wood available and are frequently knotted, warped, cracked, etc. Yes, you can make furniture, even nice furniture, from them, but it will take...
• Commented on Rats in the urban ecology
  Oddly enough, on my radio right now Billy Corrigan is singing about how despite all his rage, he is still just a rat in a cage....
• Commented on An Insider's View of the Fort Hood Tragedy
  Strictly speaking, I don't think this is terrorism. Terrorism is violence aimed at civilians to change policies. This would fall into "going postal" or "treason" depending on the motivation of the gunman/shooter....
• Commented on An Insider's View of the Fort Hood Tragedy
  Innocent until proven guilty, no matter what. It's a good principle....
• Commented on Fort Hood Shooter bought "cop killer" at "Guns Galore"
  There are many calibers of armor piercing ammunition available, not just the type used in the pistol. Protective armor is rated according to its ability to resist penetration. I don't think the people who got shot were wearing body armor,...
• Commented on Couple survives car crash in their house
  Allegedly, yes....
• Commented on Working cigarette lighter cufflinks
  I have one of these lighters but there's no cuff-link apparatus attached. I'll try to live with the disappointment....
• Commented on Latvia says no more British bachelor parties
  Y'know, when I think of places to have wild and crazy blowouts, the Baltic states do not come to mind. Is the Mediterranean too touristy for these people?...
• Commented on Music downloads offered on Chinese military's new website
  Songs are a good way to teach illiterate or subliterate people information. It's also good if it is easy to march to. The three main rules and eight points are an excellent example of winning hearts and minds and completely...
• Commented on Six String Nation, the chronicle of Voyageur, a remarkable, unifying, synthesizing Canadian guitar
  I don't know, this is like how Project Satan got started…...
• Commented on Holy Vending Machine
  Unless the miniature Bible also contains a Russian phrase book, I don't want it....
• Commented on Guinea pig hair comb and other taxidermied accessories
  Not wonderful! NOT WONDERFUL!!! You could wear this to G-Force and make the kids cry. Then the adults would (at the least) give you incredibly dirty looks. You would have to talk about how you are trying to teach the...
• Commented on Ian McDonald's brilliant Mars book, DESOLATION ROAD, finally back in print
  Without Cory, I might never have read Out on Blue Six by the same author, which lead me to Desolation Road, which is, indeed, a damn good read....
• Commented on Best Made Axes are for show
  I'm sure it's a fine ax but I think you could spend less for a decoration, or for something just as useful, such as http://www.drillspot.com/products/67212/True_Temper_1126400_Michigan_Axe I find the pic of Carrie Nation on their page distasteful. Damn busybody vandal -...
• Commented on Gun-wielding pharmacist responds to drugstore cowboy
  Reminds me of this pharmacist who was open late at night when I was a kid. He always wore twin revolvers, gunslinger style, and no one ever robbed him. @ Brother Provisional Actually, the worst outcome is the robber will...
• Commented on Le Whif, a chocolate inhaler
  I am reminded of the Breatharians as mentioned in ye olde SubGenius tome High Weirdness by Mail by Ivan Stang, except they were a fraud and not a gizmo....
• Commented on Help save Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic from US immigration hell!
  How did it ever get to the point that a bureaucrat at INS can judge whether a marriage is legitimate or not? Even more, why should it matter? If I wanted to serially marry foreigners for money so they could...
• Commented on Expensive watches from Baselworld
  Whenever there's a watch post, there's the inevitable "I have a cellphone, watches are the suck". OK. We get it. You don't want a watch. Fine, good for you. I'd rather have a watch than a cellphone, but then I...
• Commented on Apocalypse Then: Carrington Events, giant solar storms that destroy the power grid
  Pretty scary. One thing did occur to me though: is there any way to build large arrays of wires in very northern areas and use them to generate electricity? If it can melt transformers couldn't it be used for energy?...
• Commented on Science of the "laughing cure"
  "Dad always said laughter was the best medicine. I guess that's why several of us died of tuberculosis."-Army Man...
• Commented on Beer2-D2
  It's definitely cuter, though not sexier, than the original Heinekin minikeg ads....
• Commented on Spacebat slips the surly bonds of life
  Poor little guy!...
• Commented on People who use barrels to catch rain from their roofs breaking law, says State of Colorado
  They can pry my water out of my clammy, wrinkled dead hand. Anyone who gets fined by the various states for "diverting" rainwater should light giant propane torches all over their property whenever it precipitates so that not one drop...
• Commented on SuperHeadz Plamodel, a snap-together DIY 35mm camera
  Sprue would make a great name for a hobbyist magazine....
• Commented on The Applause Machine
  When the batteries get low, is the applause sarcastic?...
• Commented on LED light mine
  Is that Dr. Manhattan in the second picture?...
• Commented on Morning tech deals highlights
  @ #4 Well, we frequently did, but tended to fight ourselves more than we fought the English, much like the Irish. And I don't know how you can call the English limp-wristed, considering that until after WWI they were definitely...
• Commented on Space Junk's Threat
  The trouble, of course, is that all the debris is very, very diffuse, so nets/Kevlar "sponges" (I don't know if anyone else has thought of this, a big heap of Kevlar that just absorbs junk)/rockets spraying water will require huge,...
• Commented on Mark Dery's Pyrotechnic Insanitarium revival
  @ Mojave I encourage everyone to be nice to machines. Thank the automatic soap dispenser today, and maybe the metal ones won't run amok tomorrow. I do worry about all the civilization FUD being a self-fulfilling prophesy....
• Commented on Visualizing $1 Trillion as an endless field of bales of C-notes
  You know, Noen, I only wish there were as many libertarians as you think there are. I know, we are the evul o' the earth, with our bizarre ideas about how free markets work and how economic freedom tends to...