Random Nuclear Strikes

…at dinner this evening we learned that the State has placed an order for flyers announcing a mandatory 50% reduction in water usage, statewide, with the percentage reduction calculated in comparison to last year’s usage.

This is on an individual water-user basis to the tune of a $500 fine per citation, which normally would be ignored in our neck of the woods, but the State’s cleverly dragooned the local water districts into being unpaid enforcers, because if they don’t meet the target at the district level they’ll lose State funding.

Now, this is just what I was told, mind you.

Still and all, I’m chuckling because those of us who kept our lawns green all year, watered at night when the water cops sleep, and generally kept our water usage at normal levels are gonna be at quite the advantage over those suckers who ripped out their landscaping for that drought-tolerant cacti and pebbles motif last year.

It’s math, baby! I can drop my water use 50% and still take 40-minute showers every morning. I know people who are going to have issues flushing their toilets if this works out the way it was described to me tonight.

Well, it turns out that the source for this story is a a satire site that covers itself well and the story is a hoax.

The point still stands that SWATers deserve to be jailed for a good long time.

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Hopefully anyway, because SWATing needs to stop.

What many teenagers these days are considering a harmless prank, has landed one online gamer in more trouble than he could have ever imagined. In a Louisiana courtroom today, 15-year-old Paul Horner broke down in tears after a judge found the young man guilty on two counts of domestic terrorism and was sentenced to twenty-five years to life in federal prison.

Horner is the first person in history to be charged with what is known as ‘swatting‘, a growing trend in which a person anonymously files a false police report, such as a murder or bomb threat, in hopes of provoking the police to raid an individual’s home or business. Prosecutors in the case proved that Horner called in multiple false threats against rival online gamers, resulting in SWAT team raids of their residence.

“Swatting” is a new fad among gamers targeting those who “livestream“, broadcasting themselves and their game play live over the Internet to fans and in-game rivals alike. If a gamer is able to ascertain the personal information of a rival, by locating their IP and residential address, they will call in a dangerous threat to law enforcement and watch as the “livestreamer’s” house is forcibly entered by police.

Let’s see if getting put in the pokey until you’re gray above the ears gets these asshole’s attention.

They’re looking for volunteers for their social engineering experiment

Oregon to be first in nation to implement per-mole road tax

With EVs and other fuel-efficient vehicles saving consumers money at the pump, Oregon will be the first to issue a per-mile road tax to refill its coffers.

Automotive News reports the state will offer two options to its motorists: pay at the pump, or pay a 1.5-cent rate per mile traversed. The latter will be conducted through a device that plugs into a vehicle’s OBD port, then gathers mileage data to determine how much the motorist will pay in tax.

Right now, the program — set to begin July 1 — will be implemented by the Oregon DOT in partnership with Sanef ITS Technologies America and Intelligent Mechatronic Systems, the latter supplying the aforementioned OBD mileage reader.

Up to 5,000 volunteers will participate in the initial program, which will compare the tax paid at the pump to the miles driven. The results will be turned over to ODOT, which will then determine if a motorist is given a refund or an invoice based on said findings.

Oregon won’t be the only one to undergo a road tax program: over 10 other states are either in the process of passing legislation or conducting trials for such programs.

And because it is government, it will soon be both!

I suspect that people who are bad at math will make up over 50% of the test participants.

He predicts Apple will buy Tesla in 18 months.

Most convincing for me was that a passenger in a self-driving car will be facing a giant windshield/screen on which to run apps. 

The Apple car as a vehicle for app purchases. (Ducks)

Took pics of the new Jeep. They sucked. Bout ready to fly Tam in for some freelance work.

Here is a vid in lieu of actual content. This is what a mild lift and some tires do to the pic below.

Will try again today. Will also try to find something else to blog about.