Michael Z. Williamson's Blog, page 16
October 16, 2010
False Advertising!
Tony Stewart Racing is sponsoring the cheetah exhibit at the Indianapolis Zoo. Handsome creatures. All the ads feature a cheetah in a racing helmet.
http://editor.ne16.com/ZOO/cheetahs-helmet.jpg
Well, we went to the zoo today, and NONE OF THE CHEETAHS WERE WEARING THEIR HELMETS! Foul!
I figured it was just a promotional thing, so I went to the souvenir shop. They, did, in fact, have little stuffed cheetahs, but none of them were wearing racing helmets, either.
This is just totally unfair and has bummed me totally.
I think they're also missing a huge marketing opportunity, for both the zoo and TSR. I know a lot of car geeks who'd be on that if they did it.
Anyone know anyone at Tony Stewart Racing or the Indpls Zoo? Because I want my cheetah in a racing helmet, dammit.
Original Post
http://editor.ne16.com/ZOO/cheetahs-helmet.jpg
Well, we went to the zoo today, and NONE OF THE CHEETAHS WERE WEARING THEIR HELMETS! Foul!
I figured it was just a promotional thing, so I went to the souvenir shop. They, did, in fact, have little stuffed cheetahs, but none of them were wearing racing helmets, either.
This is just totally unfair and has bummed me totally.
I think they're also missing a huge marketing opportunity, for both the zoo and TSR. I know a lot of car geeks who'd be on that if they did it.
Anyone know anyone at Tony Stewart Racing or the Indpls Zoo? Because I want my cheetah in a racing helmet, dammit.
Original Post
October 13, 2010
The Awesomeness and Idiocy of Gunbroker Dealers
I like to spend money on guns. Since there's no point in hanging out on ArmsAmerica anymore, that means I spend a lot of time on Gunbroker.com. There's some great stuff there, and sometimes it even coincides with me having money.
The downside is that some sellers are…stupid.
Not just stupid, but world class morons.
The stupider they are, the ruder they get.
Here are some examples:
~~~
"We don't play the C & R game."
That's unfortunate. My C & R license was issued and is recognized by the ATF, and we don't regard it as a "game." Any firearm over 50 years old automatically qualifies. Modern ones can be hit or miss, so if this was modern I could see the caution, but, since you describe this as…here we go: "1928 Colt Special Police," I'm pretty sure we can figure it's over 50 years old. Like many "Crufflers," I have crap tons of disposable income to throw at my hobby. Dissing me just means you'll never see any of it, because I don't play the conceited cockbag dealer game.
~~~
"According to ATF, this has to go through a dealer not c&r."
Here's the relevant text from the ATF's website. It's over 50 years old, so requires no listing because anything over 50 years old is C&R. Signed: ATF.
"I talked to some guy at the gun show and he said no."
Well, if you're the kind of person who takes legal advice from "Some guy at a gun show," we have nothing to discuss.
~~~
"FFL required."
You describe this as 1896 mfr. That means it's outside the definition of a firearm and can't go through an FFL, anymore than a barbecue grill or a saddle. This makes it very complicated, because you're asking me to pay a dealer money to conduct a transaction he can't legally conduct.
"Anything that fires a cased bullet has to go through an FFL by law."
Nope. Nothing originally manufactured before 1899 is a firearm, by US law, and most state laws, too, and most foreign Western national laws.
"It's policy. Everything goes through FFL. No C&R."
Understood. It's my policy not to deal with idiots, especially if they want me to pay money to engage in an unnecessary and potentially illegal transaction. Please take the gun and insert it somewhere painful.
~~~
"This is an 1895 Chilean that I shortened the stock on and scoped."
Why did you do a stupid thing like that? However, I'm still interested if the price remains fair.
"Yeah, I know it was an antique, but I modified it, so that makes it a C&R."
Um, no. An antique never becomes a firearm unless you turn it into an NFA weapon. Even if it did, ATF gets to make that determination, not some guy with a hacksaw. Perhaps you shouldn't sell firearms, because I'm certainly not going to buy one from you.
~~~
"I don't know what this is. It says either 1888 or 1893 under the barrel. I can't really read it."
It's an 1893 Turk. You know, if you're not sure what it is, maybe you should find out before you decide to sell it. However, your price is fair. Box it up and ship it.
"No FFL no rifle."
We've been through this before. THAT'S NOT A @#$ING RIFLE, IT'S A @#$ING ANTIQUE. Sigh. Okay, let me call a friend, make sure we all agree this is an 1893 Turk, you send it to him, I'll drive halfway across town, and he'll just hand it to me sans paperwork, BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A @#$ING FIREARM.
~~~
"This is a 1923 Smith .32 snub. Surface corrosion, bore dark, lockup loose, hand doesn't engage on two chambers, noticeable barrel gap, cracked grips. Great project gun. I don't ship overseas or to APOs, FPOs, NJ, IL, CA, NY, MD, CT, DE. I only accept US postal money orders. Do not write anything other than the transaction number in the box. If you mention firearm or rifle or gunbroker or anything else, I'll return the MO and give you non-paying feedback. I only transfer through my FFL who charges $30, so you'll have to pay that, and $40 shipping, and $10 insurance, and $10 handling fee, and I'll need a mailed paper copy of the FFL, no scans or emails. I expect to receive all this within 15 days. I ship every Monday so if your payment arrives Tuesday it will take another week before I ship."
This means with all your fees and my FFL's fee I'll be paying $110 plus whatever the MO costs, have to do a lot of paperwork, and wait three weeks or more to get my gun, and you've ruled out half the population. This is for a gun worth possibly $75. I suppose I should be glad you didn't claim it was pristine, NRA 98%.
~~~
"This is a .44 Bulldog. I think it fires .44 Russian."
Sweet JEEZUS, no! It fires a .44 Bulldog, a bit weaker than a .25 auto, at 80 foot pounds. If you fire a .44 Russian in that, at 310 foot pounds, you'll have a grenade. Ah, I see you didn't post my correction on caliber, because advertising it as weak would reduce the sales odds. So, you're okay with your customers getting blown up, eh?
~~~
"Opening bid 98 cents. Reserve price, $1600."
You know, the whole point of a reserve price is lost if you tell me what it is. Why not just post $1600 as your starting bid, instead of wasting my time? I mean, you've allowed me to bid $5, $200, $1000, none of which will buy the gun, AND, you've told me so in advance. They also charged you for the privilege. What was the point of this? See the "Starting bid" block? Just set that to "$1600.00." There. Wasn't that easy?
~~~
"This is a barrel band for an M1 Carbine, and I'm desperate to sell, so $3."
Great. Thanks. Most of us like to get $25 out of ours. So you screwed yourself out of money, and us. Much appreciate it.
You know what Gunbroker really needs? A button you can push. Votes are tallied. Enough votes results in someone driving to your house and inserting the full length of a Garand barrel into your nether regions.
I volunteer.
~~~~~
This post is not attached to my official blog, because once again, the "professional" software has taken a massive shit. It sure would be nice if the professionals were as competent as the people at LJ.
The downside is that some sellers are…stupid.
Not just stupid, but world class morons.
The stupider they are, the ruder they get.
Here are some examples:
~~~
"We don't play the C & R game."
That's unfortunate. My C & R license was issued and is recognized by the ATF, and we don't regard it as a "game." Any firearm over 50 years old automatically qualifies. Modern ones can be hit or miss, so if this was modern I could see the caution, but, since you describe this as…here we go: "1928 Colt Special Police," I'm pretty sure we can figure it's over 50 years old. Like many "Crufflers," I have crap tons of disposable income to throw at my hobby. Dissing me just means you'll never see any of it, because I don't play the conceited cockbag dealer game.
~~~
"According to ATF, this has to go through a dealer not c&r."
Here's the relevant text from the ATF's website. It's over 50 years old, so requires no listing because anything over 50 years old is C&R. Signed: ATF.
"I talked to some guy at the gun show and he said no."
Well, if you're the kind of person who takes legal advice from "Some guy at a gun show," we have nothing to discuss.
~~~
"FFL required."
You describe this as 1896 mfr. That means it's outside the definition of a firearm and can't go through an FFL, anymore than a barbecue grill or a saddle. This makes it very complicated, because you're asking me to pay a dealer money to conduct a transaction he can't legally conduct.
"Anything that fires a cased bullet has to go through an FFL by law."
Nope. Nothing originally manufactured before 1899 is a firearm, by US law, and most state laws, too, and most foreign Western national laws.
"It's policy. Everything goes through FFL. No C&R."
Understood. It's my policy not to deal with idiots, especially if they want me to pay money to engage in an unnecessary and potentially illegal transaction. Please take the gun and insert it somewhere painful.
~~~
"This is an 1895 Chilean that I shortened the stock on and scoped."
Why did you do a stupid thing like that? However, I'm still interested if the price remains fair.
"Yeah, I know it was an antique, but I modified it, so that makes it a C&R."
Um, no. An antique never becomes a firearm unless you turn it into an NFA weapon. Even if it did, ATF gets to make that determination, not some guy with a hacksaw. Perhaps you shouldn't sell firearms, because I'm certainly not going to buy one from you.
~~~
"I don't know what this is. It says either 1888 or 1893 under the barrel. I can't really read it."
It's an 1893 Turk. You know, if you're not sure what it is, maybe you should find out before you decide to sell it. However, your price is fair. Box it up and ship it.
"No FFL no rifle."
We've been through this before. THAT'S NOT A @#$ING RIFLE, IT'S A @#$ING ANTIQUE. Sigh. Okay, let me call a friend, make sure we all agree this is an 1893 Turk, you send it to him, I'll drive halfway across town, and he'll just hand it to me sans paperwork, BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A @#$ING FIREARM.
~~~
"This is a 1923 Smith .32 snub. Surface corrosion, bore dark, lockup loose, hand doesn't engage on two chambers, noticeable barrel gap, cracked grips. Great project gun. I don't ship overseas or to APOs, FPOs, NJ, IL, CA, NY, MD, CT, DE. I only accept US postal money orders. Do not write anything other than the transaction number in the box. If you mention firearm or rifle or gunbroker or anything else, I'll return the MO and give you non-paying feedback. I only transfer through my FFL who charges $30, so you'll have to pay that, and $40 shipping, and $10 insurance, and $10 handling fee, and I'll need a mailed paper copy of the FFL, no scans or emails. I expect to receive all this within 15 days. I ship every Monday so if your payment arrives Tuesday it will take another week before I ship."
This means with all your fees and my FFL's fee I'll be paying $110 plus whatever the MO costs, have to do a lot of paperwork, and wait three weeks or more to get my gun, and you've ruled out half the population. This is for a gun worth possibly $75. I suppose I should be glad you didn't claim it was pristine, NRA 98%.
~~~
"This is a .44 Bulldog. I think it fires .44 Russian."
Sweet JEEZUS, no! It fires a .44 Bulldog, a bit weaker than a .25 auto, at 80 foot pounds. If you fire a .44 Russian in that, at 310 foot pounds, you'll have a grenade. Ah, I see you didn't post my correction on caliber, because advertising it as weak would reduce the sales odds. So, you're okay with your customers getting blown up, eh?
~~~
"Opening bid 98 cents. Reserve price, $1600."
You know, the whole point of a reserve price is lost if you tell me what it is. Why not just post $1600 as your starting bid, instead of wasting my time? I mean, you've allowed me to bid $5, $200, $1000, none of which will buy the gun, AND, you've told me so in advance. They also charged you for the privilege. What was the point of this? See the "Starting bid" block? Just set that to "$1600.00." There. Wasn't that easy?
~~~
"This is a barrel band for an M1 Carbine, and I'm desperate to sell, so $3."
Great. Thanks. Most of us like to get $25 out of ours. So you screwed yourself out of money, and us. Much appreciate it.
You know what Gunbroker really needs? A button you can push. Votes are tallied. Enough votes results in someone driving to your house and inserting the full length of a Garand barrel into your nether regions.
I volunteer.
~~~~~
This post is not attached to my official blog, because once again, the "professional" software has taken a massive shit. It sure would be nice if the professionals were as competent as the people at LJ.
October 9, 2010
The "Right Wing" Press
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_DxQvxg3JQ&feature=related
We see a poor little Palestinian boy run over by an Evul Jew.
However, here's the full video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_DxQvxg3JQ&feature=related
In this, we see several Western college-age photographers with expensive camera gear, discussions and planning, and kids throwing honking big rocks at cars, which is vandalism at least, rioting and attempted murder possibly.
And how does "muslim video" describe the full scene?
[quote] Israeli jew Zionist extremist hits kids with car - hit and run - Israeli terrorist jew
Leader of Jewish settlers in the East al-Quds (Jerusalem) neighborhood of Silwan has deliberately run over two Palestinian children and fled the scene.
The incident happened during protests that followed the Friday Prayers.
The Israeli car driven by David Be'eri, the leader of hardline Elad organization trying to settle Jews in Silwan, charged a group of Palestinian kids, hitting one boy full on and throwing another off his feet.
The boys, Imran Mansur, 11, and Iyad Gheit, 10, both sustained severe injuries and were rushed to hospital. The incident was recorded by photographers and journalists present on the scene.
The disturbing footage also shows that one of the injured boys resisted efforts to get him into a car and to the hospital. Palestinian youngsters fear getting into strangers' cars because they have seen their friends taken away by Israeli troops on a regular basis.
Israeli intelligence and police have been accused of torturing confessions out of Palestinian children, subjecting them to sexual abuse and removing the organs of injured Palestinians.[/quote]
Well, I've been ACCUSED of raping puppies, but not by anyone credible.
Seriously, this is the worst propaganda ever. You'd have to be retarded stoner to believe that bullshit.
Or a Palestinian sympathizer.
Sorry for the redundancy.
Original Post
We see a poor little Palestinian boy run over by an Evul Jew.
However, here's the full video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_DxQvxg3JQ&feature=related
In this, we see several Western college-age photographers with expensive camera gear, discussions and planning, and kids throwing honking big rocks at cars, which is vandalism at least, rioting and attempted murder possibly.
And how does "muslim video" describe the full scene?
[quote] Israeli jew Zionist extremist hits kids with car - hit and run - Israeli terrorist jew
Leader of Jewish settlers in the East al-Quds (Jerusalem) neighborhood of Silwan has deliberately run over two Palestinian children and fled the scene.
The incident happened during protests that followed the Friday Prayers.
The Israeli car driven by David Be'eri, the leader of hardline Elad organization trying to settle Jews in Silwan, charged a group of Palestinian kids, hitting one boy full on and throwing another off his feet.
The boys, Imran Mansur, 11, and Iyad Gheit, 10, both sustained severe injuries and were rushed to hospital. The incident was recorded by photographers and journalists present on the scene.
The disturbing footage also shows that one of the injured boys resisted efforts to get him into a car and to the hospital. Palestinian youngsters fear getting into strangers' cars because they have seen their friends taken away by Israeli troops on a regular basis.
Israeli intelligence and police have been accused of torturing confessions out of Palestinian children, subjecting them to sexual abuse and removing the organs of injured Palestinians.[/quote]
Well, I've been ACCUSED of raping puppies, but not by anyone credible.
Seriously, this is the worst propaganda ever. You'd have to be retarded stoner to believe that bullshit.
Or a Palestinian sympathizer.
Sorry for the redundancy.
Original Post
October 7, 2010
October 6, 2010
An Interspersed Commentary with Joe Konrath
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/09/acquisitions-editor.html?showComment=1285603115856#c3339534663794918758 from this thread.
Joe: The math doesn't add up. Long term, ebooks outsell and outprofit print.
Mike: That's an interesting theory. Baen heavily promotes cheap, un-encrypted e-books to a tech-savvy readership. Electronic copies are about 15% of my sales net, and that's with a significantly higher royalty (50% vs 10%). I think your claim only works for books that are not selling well in paper.
Joe: Plus, I wouldn't want to sell to a publisher who either a) keep your erights forever while paying you poorly or b) go bankrupt and force your to hire a lawyer to get your rights back.
If a publisher buys your book today, they MIGHT get it into bookstores that MIGHT still exist 18 months from now.
Mike: My contracts with two major houses call for 6 months. They've managed that for ten books. You're pretty convinced of this pending failure. I've been hearing of it since 1995. It hasn't happened yet.
Joe: If you're getting a big payday with money up front, take it.
If you're getting a modest deal, think hard.
Look, one of my basic tenets is: get your name on as many pieces of paper as you can. The more, the better.
That means getting a lot of books in print, getting reviews, blurbing other books, selling short stories, etc.
It also means virtual paper--websites, blogs, links, ebooks, etc.
Mike: I have a weekly online readership of 300,000 people. I'm pretty sure that's more than most of the commenters on this site, or most other writers, for that matter. I've had stuff farked and gotten half a million hits in 24 hours, several times. This has not led to thousands of additional book sales.
Joe: I think being in print is helpful. I love foreign sales, libraries, used books, and anything that can get my name in front of peoples' eyes.
But the biz is changing so fast, I think it's really risky and short-sighted to sign a book deal with a print publisher.
Mike: I think it's incredibly naive to bet the farm on something that's still in its infancy. Invest in it, sure. Refuse other money? No, thanks.
Joe: I wish I had my print rights back, but I doubt I'll get them anytime soon. In the meantime, I'm losing money.
Mike: This seems to be the political definition where, "not earning" = "losing."
Joe: Leisure and Medallion, switiching to ebooks models and giving up paperbacks, is a portend of things to come for all publishers.
Mike: Or, it could be they lack the infrastructure to move large amounts of paper. But even so, they're still publishing, just in a different format. They also both seem to be heavily invested in horror, which as a genre is tiny and marginal. Which comes back to "lacking infrastructure."
Joe: Would you want to be a Leisure author right now? Of course not. It's a mess.
Mike: This seems to contradict your previous comments. If they're a mess, clearly their model is flawed.
Joe: So why risk that happening with other publishers?
Mike: Any business venture is a risk. You're suggesting turning down money, in the hopes of either getting lucky, or doing scads of work and hoping to get lucky. That's a risk, also.
Joe: When the death spiral begins, it'll happen quickly. One big bankruptcy, and the house of cards will fall.
Mike: Publishing houses have gone out of business before. It's always bad strategy to base your plans on what you HOPE your opponent will do.
Original Post
Joe: The math doesn't add up. Long term, ebooks outsell and outprofit print.
Mike: That's an interesting theory. Baen heavily promotes cheap, un-encrypted e-books to a tech-savvy readership. Electronic copies are about 15% of my sales net, and that's with a significantly higher royalty (50% vs 10%). I think your claim only works for books that are not selling well in paper.
Joe: Plus, I wouldn't want to sell to a publisher who either a) keep your erights forever while paying you poorly or b) go bankrupt and force your to hire a lawyer to get your rights back.
If a publisher buys your book today, they MIGHT get it into bookstores that MIGHT still exist 18 months from now.
Mike: My contracts with two major houses call for 6 months. They've managed that for ten books. You're pretty convinced of this pending failure. I've been hearing of it since 1995. It hasn't happened yet.
Joe: If you're getting a big payday with money up front, take it.
If you're getting a modest deal, think hard.
Look, one of my basic tenets is: get your name on as many pieces of paper as you can. The more, the better.
That means getting a lot of books in print, getting reviews, blurbing other books, selling short stories, etc.
It also means virtual paper--websites, blogs, links, ebooks, etc.
Mike: I have a weekly online readership of 300,000 people. I'm pretty sure that's more than most of the commenters on this site, or most other writers, for that matter. I've had stuff farked and gotten half a million hits in 24 hours, several times. This has not led to thousands of additional book sales.
Joe: I think being in print is helpful. I love foreign sales, libraries, used books, and anything that can get my name in front of peoples' eyes.
But the biz is changing so fast, I think it's really risky and short-sighted to sign a book deal with a print publisher.
Mike: I think it's incredibly naive to bet the farm on something that's still in its infancy. Invest in it, sure. Refuse other money? No, thanks.
Joe: I wish I had my print rights back, but I doubt I'll get them anytime soon. In the meantime, I'm losing money.
Mike: This seems to be the political definition where, "not earning" = "losing."
Joe: Leisure and Medallion, switiching to ebooks models and giving up paperbacks, is a portend of things to come for all publishers.
Mike: Or, it could be they lack the infrastructure to move large amounts of paper. But even so, they're still publishing, just in a different format. They also both seem to be heavily invested in horror, which as a genre is tiny and marginal. Which comes back to "lacking infrastructure."
Joe: Would you want to be a Leisure author right now? Of course not. It's a mess.
Mike: This seems to contradict your previous comments. If they're a mess, clearly their model is flawed.
Joe: So why risk that happening with other publishers?
Mike: Any business venture is a risk. You're suggesting turning down money, in the hopes of either getting lucky, or doing scads of work and hoping to get lucky. That's a risk, also.
Joe: When the death spiral begins, it'll happen quickly. One big bankruptcy, and the house of cards will fall.
Mike: Publishing houses have gone out of business before. It's always bad strategy to base your plans on what you HOPE your opponent will do.
Original Post
True Story
1992, I was fresh out of the military, and became a local resident in IL. I needed to know about the candidates.
I called both local party HQs and asked for brochures.
The Republicans said I should drive downtown and pick them up myself.
The Dems sent them to me postage due.
...And that sums up American politics.
Original Post
I called both local party HQs and asked for brochures.
The Republicans said I should drive downtown and pick them up myself.
The Dems sent them to me postage due.
...And that sums up American politics.
Original Post
October 4, 2010
October 2, 2010
September 30, 2010
YHGTBSM
YHGTBSM
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/09/23/hey-soldier-youre-in-the-iphone-army-now/#ixzz10OopUZcm
Hey Soldier -- You're In the Smart-Phone Army Now!
Remember how the Army would pretty much issue only uniforms and boots to recruits who showed up for basic training? Well, some lucky soldiers will soon be getting something extra -- an iPhone or a similarly smart phone. "We actually have a pilot study going on right now where we're issuing these things to soldiers in basic training," Lieut. General Mark Hertling said as he pulled his iPhone from a camouflaged shoulder pocket at breakfast Tuesday. Several hundred newbie troops at Missouri's Fort Leonard Wood and Oklahoma's Fort Sill will soon get either the popular Apple gimcrack or an Evo Android smart phone to make their transition into the Army go a little more smoothly. "It has everything a soldier needs to know," Hertling says.
We are so fucked.
Read more
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/09/23/hey-soldier-youre-in-the-iphone-army-now/#ixzz10OopUZcm
Hey Soldier -- You're In the Smart-Phone Army Now!
Remember how the Army would pretty much issue only uniforms and boots to recruits who showed up for basic training? Well, some lucky soldiers will soon be getting something extra -- an iPhone or a similarly smart phone. "We actually have a pilot study going on right now where we're issuing these things to soldiers in basic training," Lieut. General Mark Hertling said as he pulled his iPhone from a camouflaged shoulder pocket at breakfast Tuesday. Several hundred newbie troops at Missouri's Fort Leonard Wood and Oklahoma's Fort Sill will soon get either the popular Apple gimcrack or an Evo Android smart phone to make their transition into the Army go a little more smoothly. "It has everything a soldier needs to know," Hertling says.
We are so fucked.
Read more
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