Modal: Annoyed

I'm setting up my new laptop at work, and it's driving me nuts with silly interface stuff.

We use SMS to keep software up to date. Because it is new, SMS is finding lots of stuff that needs to be updated. SMS can do most of the updates without interrupting your work, except...

Some genius decided to make the SMS window that tells you it is doing stuff locked to the foreground--You can work on other programs, but only after you move the SMS window out of the way.

On the other hand, Oracle has the exact opposite problem--It takes a while to install. Answer a question, wait a while, answer another question. Being an impatient sort, in a case like this I'm more than likely to go do something else while this happens. The problem: Some of these questions show up in another small centered window that doesn't have a toolbar button, or any notification that the window exists. If you leave the install window on top, no problem. However, if you go to another window and then return to the install process, the window asking a question is hidden behind the main install window. All you see is an install window that isn't doing anything. If it had a toolbar button, or would sit on top of the other install window it would be fine.

Someone decided that it is important to tell me that my virus definitions have been updated, and force me to click OK before I can go back to whatever I was doing. Often a couple times a day.

I'm not an interface expert, but it amazes me how bad the interface design of even major software can be, especially when the software does complicated internal stuff well.

Law as a game

This story shows a good part of what's wrong with our legal system. Some DA's are more interested in racking up a score of convictions than in serving justice. My guess is the DA doesn't actually intend to take this to trial and imprison these children, but by threatening that, he can get an easy plea bargain to a misdemeanor--Either that, or sitting in jail for a few days waiting to be tried on a felony is more punishment than an accurate charge could generate (in this case, it should have been handled in school)

We need to find a way to take away the worst of their weapons against decent people, without severely hampering how they deal with real criminals. I think the best way to do that would be to limit the ratio of original charge to plea bargain--If a prosecutor charges someone with rape or murder, they can't accept a plea of littering or disorderly conduct. I don't know what he exact ratio should be, but something like 50% of the penalty sounds reasonable. Probably also need something to prevent a points-scoring prosecutor from sending maxed-out charges to a jury, expecting them to drop most of them. Maybe a similar limit--Juries can only find one or two levels below what the prosecutor charges, otherwise either not guilty, or guilty without a sentence.

There should also be a real juvenile cutoff age, and anything that happens before cannot follow you forever. I'm not saying that if you're 17 and kill someone it's gone from your record when you are 18, but I do think stuff somewhere before around 14 or 15 should be expunged automatically after 5 or 10 years.

New Shooters

This is based on an original found at toolazytofail.com . Used with permission, edited to match my range and rules.

The Four Rules of Gun Safety

Study these rules carefully. These rules apply everywhere with every gun, not just at the range.

Rule One: Always assume that a gun is loaded and treat it as such.
Lots of people are shot with guns that they or someone nearby assumed was unloaded. If you are handed a weapon and do not intend to immediately fire it, check to make sure that the chamber is clear and there is no round in the magazine ready to be loaded—Even if the person handing it to you has just done that. Check it again before you hand it back. If you are aware that it is loaded, announce “It’s loaded” before it changes hands, even if you feel silly. I will show you how to do this for any weapon you will be handling before we start shooting.

Rule Two: Never point a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy.
If you are handling a weapon, you must be extremely careful to always point the weapon in a safe direction. The ground is a safe direction, but beware of ricochets if standing on a hard surface like asphalt, and angle the weapon so it is not pointed straight down or in the direction of a person. Be careful not to point the gun at any part of your body. Downrange is a safe direction, provided there is nobody standing in front of you anywhere on the range. The sky (also known as up) is not a safe direction, as what goes up will eventually come down.

Additionally, take care not to “sweep” the barrel in an unsafe direction when moving the firearm. It is very easy to unthinkingly cross the direction of the weapon over the person next to you while moving from one point to the next, so be mindful of your actions. I do not enjoy having loaded weapons pointed in my direction, and will inform you loudly should you do so.

This rule does not apply if the weapon in question is in a holster with the trigger covered, or is placed on a table and is not being handled. Guns do not “just go off” by themselves, and are only dangerous when handled by a person. If we are sitting at a table, for instance, and I remove my sidearm and holster (without removing the pistol), and place both on the table, you need not worry about it. I will still take care not to point the weapon in your direction, but if for some reason it ends up that way and you would like me to move it, I will not be offended when you ask.

Rule Three: Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire! KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO FIRE! This is the rule that is broken most often, especially when people have built-in bad habits from years of unsafe gun handling, or playing with toy guns. I will show you before I let you handle a weapon how to hold it with your finger straight and out of the trigger guard. If I see your finger anywhere in the trigger guard and you are not in the process of firing the weapon, I will correct you.

Rule Four: Be sure of your target, and what is behind it.
This is closely related to rule two. Are you sure that your target is something you’re supposed to be shooting? Are you sure that anything behind it is something that’s OK to shoot? Is there anyone or anything around that could move into your line of fire or that you could accidentally hit?

At the range we’ll be attending, it is OK to shoot at a paper target with a hill behind it. It is NOT OK to shoot at a leaf sitting near the top of the hill. It is NOT OK to shoot at something on the ground between you and the targets. It is NOT OK to shoot at the trash cans or the signs, or to intentionally shoot range scenery.

So that’s the safety talk. We’ll review the four rules and their justifications before we start shooting. Remember, I’m going to quiz you!

Guidelines for the range

• While we are at the range, I am the boss. You may be a friend, a relative, a co-worker or an employer, but we are attending a range that I pay for membership at, firing guns that I own with ammunition that I purchased. It is not about my ego and I am not on a power trip, but while I’m not an expert, I presumably have more experience with these things than you do, so you will follow instructions that I give you. We’re there to have fun and learn, but this is not Chutes and Ladders. Please attempt to remain serious and conscientious of your actions while attending the range as my guest.

• You will wear eye and ear protection at all times while a gun is being fired. I will always look behind me to check for “ears” being on, and I suggest you do the same.

• You will follow the Four Rules at all times at the range. If you do not, I will correct you. Please do not be offended if I am stern. I am not attempting to be condescending, and I’m not angry at you, I just don’t feel like standing in line at the emergency room today. If you perceive that I am acting in an unsafe manner, PLEASE ask me to explain what I’m doing. I will not be offended if you catch me breaking one of the Four Rules and correct me.

• We will be shooting at an unsupervised range. This means that there is a possibility that we will interact with other people during our time at the range. If we are approached and you are holding a weapon, you will hand it to me in a safe manner, and let me do the talking. If you are asked a question directly, answer directly and honestly. Humility and respectfulness are the words of the day for both of us when interacting with strangers on a firing range.

• If you repeatedly fail to respect safety while at the range as my guest, or fail to follow my instructions while handling firearms, we will pack it up and go home early. I’ve never had to do this, but I suspect that one day I will. Please do not spoil our fun day at the range and place a spot on our friendship by acting like an idiot. Thanks!

• If you see anything dangerous, yell “Cease-fire” or “Stop”. If anyone yells “Cease fire” or “stop”, immediately stop shooting, but keep the gun pointed downrange until you can set it down safely.

On the big day

• Blue jeans work best for the range, since you may have occasion to kneel on the ground to pick something up or while reloading. Khaki’s are OK too, as long as you do not mind either getting a little dirt on them or kneeling on the hard concrete in thin pants. Range rules say no open-toe shoes.

• I do not recommend a shirt with a loose collar because the hot brass shells that are ejected when you fire a semi-automatic pistol fly in an arc, and in some cases a collar acts as the perfect method of catching that hot brass, sending it down your shirt and inducing a dance not unlike that which a bee would cause. Holding a loaded gun while contorting and jumping around frantically is obviously not good. Women should be especially aware of this, as exposed cleavage is a magnet for hot brass.

• A hat is recommended, but not required.

• By the way: If you should happen to get stung by a bee, hit by a piece of debris, have a hot casing go down your shirt, or any other minor mishap, try to remain calm until you can safely set the gun down. However, simply dropping a firearm is better than waving it around, or worse, fumbling with a loaded gun for fear of losing your grip. I can clean, replace, or repair the gun. It is more difficult to replace or repair you. If the gun starts to leave your hands, LET IT DROP. Do not grab at a falling gun! Even a gun that is not drop-safe is more likely to go off in a bad direction by grabbing than by falling.

• I will provide all ammunition, eye/ear protection, and targets.

Gun Myths:

"I was cleaning it, and it just went off and shot someone"

This requires both a mechanical malfunction of the gun, and violation of the four rules of gun safety. There are various wordings of the four rules, but they are basically the same:

When handling a gun:

All guns are always loaded

This means that the other rules always apply--Never say "Don't worry, it isn't loaded" as an excuse to do something that wouldn't be safe with a loaded gun. If someone checks to see that a gun is not loaded, then hands it to you, you should check to make sure it is unloaded, then follow the rest of the rules anyhow.

Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy

This doesn't mean you must want to destroy everything you point at, but rather if you cannot live with the consequences of destroying something, don't point a gun at it.

Know your target and what is beyond

You must know where the bullet is going to wind up, and what it may destroy on the way there. Something that blocks your view, but will not completely stop a bullet does not relieve you of this responsibility.

Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target

If you are pulling the trigger of an unloaded gun, you still must choose a safe target and aim at that target. The target can be "the ground" rather than "that particular spot of ground".

Guns don't "just go off". Guns go off when handled. In almost all cases, they go off only when their triggers are pulled, in a few extremely rare cases they will go off when dropped (Almost all guns less than 30 years old are designed to be drop safe) or when decockers or other controls are used. They don't go off in a proper holster, or when sitting on a table or shelf. For this reason, I believe that guns that will be loaded often should be left loaded, but in a locked container--Less handling, less risk.

Politics

I've been trying to figure out where I fit politically. I seem to be more libertarian than either liberal or conservative. I think government should be a lot smaller--Federal should probably be half to 1/3 the size it is, not counting the military.

Top federal priorities should be:
Defense
Non-consensual Law Enforcement
Legal infrastructure--Courts, judges, etc
Infrastructure and long-term investment. Public buildings, roads, parks, etc.
Protection from state government
Promoting commerce

Lower priorities
Education. This is a lower priority only because I don't think the feds are all that likely to efficiently spend education dollars. I also don't see a really good way to use federal money to help locally--If you reward high-performers, you're de-funding the people who need the most help, if you help where it's needed the most, you essentially reward poor performance.

Health Care. This is a weird situation--I don't think it's a primary function of the federal government, but the finances of health care are currently insane. Those with health insurance are already subsidizing those without, in a very inefficient way. If the subsidy were moved and controlled (more preventative, less ER) I think it likely that my health insurance costs would go down by more than my taxes would go up.

The other option is a "pay or die" system. I personally would be reasonably OK with that, but it won't fly politically, and there are problems of people having to prove they can pay before they can have treatment.

The reason I specify "non-consensual law enforcement" is to distinguish it from busybody law enforcement like drugs, prostitution, gambling and other vices. If we spent less (resources) on victimless crime, we'd have more to spend where it will protect victims.

If drugs are legal, I think there will be far less property and violent crime and more room in prison to keep violent offenders longer. The drug addicts won't need to steal as much, and may be able to support their habit legally.

Prostitution should also be legal, partly to help protect prostitutes from being unfairly exploited.

I find state-run gambling offensive--The state should not be allowed to run a lottery (or a whorehouse, or a liquor store...) but should be able to (reasonably) tax and regulate privately run gambling. (or whorehouses....)

Federal coercion needs to stop. I'm talking about "pass these laws, or we won't fund your highways" type things. Intent also needs to be considered--Abuse of the interstate commerce clause to justify regulating things that should be left to individual states needs to stop.

Taxes should be primarily on spending.

This is a draft, and I'll likely come back to it later.