Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Please advise on the most clear tutorials for working with skin textures? I’ve read several rather unclear guides on working with specific texture frequencies, would like to find something that’s easier to follow and implement.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion. And usually easier. (Robert Heinlein)
When people regularly die for expressing their beliefs, free speech does not thrive. When savages bent on eradicating free speech die, civilization endures. Last weekend, we studied the basics of making that outcome more likely. It was a good course.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
We’ve seen AR15 rifles with AK magazine, now we have AK based rifles that feed from AR magazines for ease of insertion and better availability. On the left, Amendment Arms Joshua MK5E, a milled AK-pattern rifle with monolithic rail, adjustable gas regulator and AR mag well.
It is set up with Primary Arms 2.5x prismatic scope, Viridian X5L light/laser (mounted above the boreline) and Troy offset backup sights. I will report more on it once I have more range time.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Alexis is a pretty good shot already, but she wants more practice. Not being able to drive herself to the range, she’s limited to airsoft and laser trainers. My SU16D airsoft just went with her, along with the Laserlyte kit.
The smaller circumference of the blue trainer is just right for her hands, but she still needs to remind herself to get a higher grip on it. Besides marksmanship practice, she’s getting more used to just handling the pistol safely.
She doesn’t seem at all excited about it, does she?
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Alexis has been progressing quickly with a 22-45, now she’s upgrading to a Volquartsen Scorpion, courtesy of the generous sponsor.
The RMR is a loaner, pending a more permanent solution. Extended, sprung floorplates are made by TK.
She seems pleased with the situation. This girl continues to impress me with her ability and attitude.
Preferred ammunition.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
A very handy little rifle, with minimal recoil and good accuracy. Does a number on bowling pins with 220gr subsonics at 50 yards, splitting them right in half. No blowback with suppressor.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Somehow, I always end up with portrait, even from a figure photo shoot.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Savage Rascal is one of my favorite little rifles. It’s accurate enough with iron sights, but really shines with a scope.
Two things make it better. 1)Rings of appropriately low height. 2)Some way to carry spare ammunition.
And, of course, it’s an even better rifle when handled by a shooter of Alexis‘ caliber.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
I have come to the conclusion that I need more magazines for that rifle. I have old 7 and 8 round magazines, and three newer 10-rounders…but all are starting to wear out. A good friend adjusted them for me, but they are unlikely to stand up to much more serious use. If anyone knows where I could get more of the magazines, preferably the factory models, please let me know. As far as I know, the magazine is common to the following rifle models: 140, 142, 144, 152, 250, 350, 352, 353.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
…nature’s danger warning, slightly subdued in this instance.
The rifle is an update of the Doublestar “teen gun” with Strike Industries forend for Mlock capability. Good ventilation and heat shields are pretty helpful to the gun with a pencil thin barrel. An older model Primary Arms red dot moved from another rifle. Magazine is Promag RM30 (with roller follower) obtained for testing.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
This is the first of several short stories in a series. Amie wrote several series, each featuring a quirky, distinctive character navigating the world where magic, legal precedents and an occasional use of judiciously applied firepower all coexist.
Please read, review and — if you like it — promote the ebook.
The cover model is the inimitable Jennifer Price.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
NCStar 3-9x compact BDC scope — a review of something affordable, for a change.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Pushers of gun control state the disarming the population is necessary for the safety of that same population. The punitive measures they are willing to employ to make that hypothetical safety happen look a lot like “he beats her because he loves her”. Or, as the old Soviet joke went: “We will fight for peace so vigorously that there’s won’t be anything left standing.” Gun control can only be enforced with other guns, so it’s all about concentrating military power in the hands of a small group that would keep others down forever. While some gun control supporters may be honestly deluded, many are lying from start to finish. I will address the lies one by one for the benefit of the bystanders wondering what this whole mess is about.
For one, “the population” is no more homogeneous than Nazis and Jews were in the 1940s. Certain people behave criminally and others do not. Consider yourself: would you physically victimize another person for either fun or for profit? Most normal people would not, so disarming them makes no sense. Those who would victimize others are pretty different from the rest of us in mindset. Typical gun control measures do very little to disarm them in practice because violent criminals are far more comfortable with taking risks to stay armed than the society at large. For the peaceable people, weapons are defensive tools, used extremely infrequently. For the violent, they are the means to make a living or to assert themselves. In the context of “gun-free” zones, that means regular residents will follow the laws because the chance of getting caught over time is too great, the punishments too dire. But a mass murderer doesn’t care about administrative procedures and will come in armed at will. The victims might charge an armed terrorist empty-handed, but they will not carry a weapon discreetly because they are afraid of the college authorities. Bravery born of desperation is an understandable phenomenon, but what does it say about the degree of intimidation practiced by college administrators and the cops who enforce the rules?
Gun control makes no distinction between offensive and defensive weapons. That is a deliberate obfuscation, designed to separate non-violent people from their defensive and recreational arms. Almost anything can be an offensive weapon because attackers get to choose the time, the place and the circumstances. A firearm can be replaced with a knife, a bottle of gasoline, strong hands, a vehicle, pretty much any object you can think of. A person could be stabbed to death with a few sheets of paper rolled into a sharp point. Defensive weapons are much harder to come by. Since attackers always have the initiative, often have the advantage of strength, numbers, mobility and training, the defenders have to count on superior tools and, hopefully, adequate training in their use. If you want to know what is considered effective by the experts, look at the Secret Service choices— submachine guns, pistols, shotguns, automatic rifles, precision rifles, plus body armor.
Gun control is unacceptable because it actively degrades defensive capabilities of non-violent people. They view a peaceful person with a pistol as a bigger problem than a violent person with bare hands or a shank, while the opposite is true. Degrading or eliminating the ability to protect self and family from human or animal predators is an utterly evil purpose. By design – not as an accidental side effect – gun control makes people helpless, fearful and dependent on the authorities who promise safety but cannot deliver it. The only way a person could be kept mostly safe by authorities is with the level of protection afforded to the president. Strange that the politicians enjoy their armed bodyguards instead of dismissing them to “reduce gun violence”.
The dependency is a feudal relationship revived — in theory, a feudal lord with his knights protected peasants and city dwellers from outside dangers, but in practice most of the military might has always been dedicated to domestic repression and brigandage. A disarmed population depends on the king or its close equivalents not only for defense against criminals — a protection often promised but seldom delivered — but also on their lives at the sufferance of the ruler. Everyone is in pawn to those who control the weapons, and that is why only nobles were permitted to wear swords in most Medieval societies. From the perspective of our “social betters”, the ability to have weapons or to control those who are permitted to bear them professionally is yet another privilege of political power. The most glaring example of feudal societies with guns are North Korea and Cuba: the elite is well armed, the rest of the population is disarmed, destitute and without any rights at all.
Going back to Nazis and Jews, we see that degradation of civilian self-defense capability tends to be total. In 1938, Jews were forbidden any weapons down to sticks. In today’s restrictive jurisdictions, residents are likewise forbidden batons, pepper spray and other non-firearm defensive expedients. Gun control pushers claim they are against “assault weapons”, yet none of them would support carry of obsolete firearms a century and a half old.
Seven rimfire cartridges or six charges of loose black powder and round ball, early 1860s technology. Gun control pushers wouldn’t approve of people carrying even that kind of antiques.
Some of the pushers say that they would be ok with muskets contemporary with the signing of the American Constitution, as if human rights are granted by it as opposed to just being acknowledged as self-evident. Even then, they are lying, as the laws they support forbid wearing even the oldest guns, such as 16th century wheel locks. Moreover, in the rush to destroy all defensive capability for the population at large, they legislate against carry of blades and against wearing of body armor.
Swords and chain mail aren’t ideal for self defense, but even they are banned from wear where guns are already banned. Anti self-defense bigots have gone further than even the Japanese army during the occupation of Okinawa: at least he peasants could defend themselves with farm implements, while people in modern restrictive jurisdictions are forbidden even rice flails (nunchucks). The intent isn’t just to ban “especially dangerous guns” but to disarm the population the way prisoners are disarmed, totally and with vicious enforcement. In many countries, possession of even a single shot .22 is punished more viciously than forcible rape, mainly because one subject raping another is no threat to the authorities, while any weapon is perceived as such.
To sum this up, disarming the population at large doesn’t make it safer. The number of weapons overall may decline, but they become concentrated with the mafia and with freelance criminals, and with the agents of the state. The state in position of the sole protector of the law-abiding not only fails to protect but abuses the monopoly on force.
Are guns in civilian hands dangerous? Yes, of course, that is their function! Fortunately, the potential danger is narrowly focused in both intent and in direction, manifesting itself almost exclusively against violent criminals, dangerous animals or rogue government agents, all worthy targets. To strip a free people of defensive capability is no different than destroying everybody’s immune system in response to a few allergic reactions. A sane person would prefer hay fever to AIDS, and would object strenuously to quacks who promote HIV as a cure for sniffles. Likewise, a sane person would rather have at least the option to be armed than be forcibly disarmed and rendered defenseless. Remember, no free man has ever been disarmed for his own good, despite an occasional claim to the contrary!
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Amie’s new book, a short story, is up on Amazon. It’s a cute plot and well written.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
This recent Polish film has the strongest visuals I’ve ever seen on screen. Slow-paced, it doesn’t drag. Acting is very good, the plot is compelling and the music compliments the action perfectly.
Visuals: 12/10 — every frame could be a museum-grade photo. The film is in B&W and very low in contrast except for a few spots. It looks like a 1960s photo animated.
Plot: 9/10 — though I may be missing some of the meaning.
Acting: 10/10 — the main actors and the extras all come across as being their roles rather than merely performing.
Music: 10/10
Sets and props: convincing.
Lighting: superb.
Very highly recommended. Netflix has is, as do other sites.
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
I need a way to tag all objects in my home to be able to find them quickly. Can RFID reader be used to locate items up to 10 yards from the reader, or is the method limited to very short range?
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
Just noticed last night that the clock increments very slowly. I re-set it around 5:3-pm yesterday, and it’s now nine hours behind. Any idea what could have caused it and how to fix it? (Windows 8)
