I work with a K9 search and rescue team now and then. The team is very good at going deep into the woods looking for missing and/or dead people on scent trails that are sometimes over 24h old.

One of the ladies used a black tactical rig full of pouches. But instead of gun stuff it held gps devices, radios, dog treats, toys, water, collapsible bowls and a dozen other things for her and her dog.

So we geeked out for like five minutes over how useful it was. It’s a Condor Ronin Rig if anyone is curious

“We did our research!” (flat earthing intensifies)

I’m kidding I see your point

“tRuSt tHe sCieNCe!”

This is a joke of course…well kinda. When science is done well it can change the world. Who would be against that?

I don’t like the phrase because while the process of science seeks to be as factual and unbiased as possible those in the scientific community are still human. They are fallible, corruptible and can do things for their own personal gain or profit. So to me it could mistakenly misunderstood as “trust science blindly”

But “Trust the science that is validated by multiple reputable sources” just doesn’t roll off the tongue as nicely

When it was sms compatible it was a suuuuper easy sell for my family

“It’s way more secure when you text me but you can still text everyone else you know too. And we can still use it through wifi if cell service isn’t working for me.”

There’s something to that I think.

I ride a mountain bike. Not because I do hardcore mountain biking but because the flat country roads I ride are so full of potholes or simply unpaved it might as well be a trail. So I ride a bike that I know can handle the works parts of my riding. But I know I’m not riding the best bike for the majority of my use case.

Kinda (note I’m saying kinda) the same thing with trucks. People want potential capability wether or not they actually use it like it was supposed to. They use it for the same shitty roads, bad weather, and every so often actually moving things from place to place.

But they are way overkill for most people and most of them know it. There is a market for small trucks that is being ignored and I hope that changes in the future.

My area’s mall is pretty nice and like most malls it’s got plenty of area to walk, stores to explore, enough security to deter people from doing anything too crazy. It’s a great spot for middle school and high school kids! But if you don’t have a car how do you even get there?

There’s suburbs all around so it should be in easy biking distance and moderate walking distance. But it’s surrounded by 4 lane roads without a single crosswalk or even sidewalks. Busses don’t run there either.

So thanks to decades of car only design best non motorized way to get there is to take a kayak…yes a kayak…and use a creek to get to the area behind the mall and walk in from there. I only know that because my parents did it once to see if it could be done.

I got some of my trama from the TV cart! I watched 9/11 on that thing

Like what kind? Believing in higher powers doesn’t have to mean that you don’t belive in evolution/natural adaptation taking place over time.

If it was “God made everything in a few earth days and nothing changed” then yeah I feel you

I have traveled a decent amount. For new places using gps get around works but what’s key for me is building a mental map, especially when walking around on foot.

I’m going to rant a bit bear with me. Have you ever read a book that described a room (“The pub was cozy and small. A well cleaned bar gleamed along the wall to the side and the restroom door was across from it on the other”) only to give direction way later that throws off your mental image (“he took a sharp left and walked to the restroom”)? If it doesn’t match how things looked in your head it can be disorienting to the reader. I hate that feeling and the same thing can happen during navigation.

I make an effort to check maps of a city to get a lay of the land even though I know I have gps to help. I never fully memorise stuff but when I see any landmarks or streets they have some context and I know where it should go on the mental map. Sometimes I might be temporarily unsure of my exact location but I don’t get hopelessly lost.

Nothing comprehensive but the weapon holster company Trex Arms has a video review of the Einscan-SP that is like 5 years old.

Now I get that’s not super helpful but the interesting part is that they scanned a ton of handguns with combinations of optics, lights etc to make their holsters. They found out how tedious of a process it was so they made the files open source. So you can see the quality you’ll expect when you compare spec sheets to other stuff

It would potentially fall under “fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine” that would make it inadmissable for actual court cases but otherwise there’s nothing to stop people from gathering information that is available to the public

Yeah plastic is great for a lot of stuff. Car parts, backpack clips, buttons, trash cans etc. But one time use plastic is EVERYWHERE.

Right? Why do gatorade and pedialyte bottles have to be in crazy over engineered compared to cheap crinkly water bottles? Both one time use which isn’t ideal but thinner bottles would save the company money right?

I wonder if it’s a psychology thing, like having a high quality bottle means people thing whatever is inside is equally higher quality?

We can always do the “nothing beyond my immediate observation can be trusted” method like the flat earthers do

So the solar panel I have doens’t have an on board battery, just straight to usb. It makes it lighter and less bulky so I don’t mind.

I personally think most phones would be okay but I’ve read in a few places that some devices don’t play nice with the variations in electricity from the solar panel.

So the battery brick is the middleman.

I got a folding solar panel that I use to charge a big power brick and then use that to charge devices. The goal is to use the solar panel on long camping trips and in case of power outages.

The brick alone will keep my phone topped off for over a week

It might not be much but it’s still legal precedent that will hopefully help it reach critical mass. Like getting Al Capone on tax evasion

I forget what privacy podcast I was listening to but they said that privacy is important because you might not be under scrutiny now but could be.

After the Boston marathon bombing reddit was scouring footage and believed a particular person was responsible (“we did it reddit!”). They were wrong. People found his address, work etc and he was stalked and harrassed for days though he did nothing wrong.

You can bet he would have liked to disappear for a while, and a little extra everyday privacy in advance would have made that a lot easier.

May the odds be ever in your favor

The list is more summer sports. Imagine trying to play water polo lol