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Hobbies (General/Chat)

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  • USFA Zip 22: How a Garbage Gun Destroyed A Good Company

    09/30/2018 12:01:38 PM PDT · by Simon Green · 8 replies
    Forgotten Weapons ^ | 09/14/18 | Ian McCollum
    USFA used to be the producers of probably the best Single Action Army reproductions on the market – but then the company owner decided to pursue a crazy whim and embarked on the Zip 22 project. This was to be a very modular and very inexpensive little pistol with lots of cool possibilities. Problem was, the thing was a malfunctioning piece of junk that handled like a lumpy 2×4. To make it cheap and easy to make, Donnely (owner of USFA, and apparently the actual designer of the Zip) eschewed the use of either an extractor or ejector. Furthermore,...
  • Monthly Cooking Thread - October 2018

    09/29/2018 5:48:07 PM PDT · by Jamestown1630 · 204 replies
    I recently discovered Raclette – which term can refer to a type of cheese, a kind of dinner party, or a unique table-top grill. As a dish, Raclette is similar to Fondue, and evolved from the practice of Swiss cowherds taking cheese with them as they tended their herds in the mountains, and melting the cheese over campfires to eat on bread. Traditional accompaniments are potatoes, gherkins, pickled onions, and various cured meats. It looks like a fun way to entertain in that it’s a dish or dinner where everyone is involved in choosing and cooking their own portion; but...
  • Two 1970 Plymouth Superbirds parked for over 30 years could be worth $500,000

    09/29/2018 6:57:49 AM PDT · by ETL · 162 replies
    FoxNews.com ^ | Sept 20, 2018 | Gary Gastelu | Fox News
    Sometimes a bird in the hand will get you two in the bush. And by “bush” I mean garage. An Ebay seller is currently auctioning a pair of 1970 Plymouth Superbirds that were stored for over 30 years until he purchased them after a chance meeting last month. He’d just paid $187,000 for another one of the iconic muscle cars at a car auction in Maine when someone sidled up to him and told him about his secret stash. Within days, he’d bought the pair for an undisclosed amount and dug them out of the cluttered, dusty garage they’d been...
  • Hand Gun advice (Vanity Question)

    09/29/2018 1:41:00 AM PDT · by Fai Mao · 97 replies
    Fai Mao
    A simple question on pistols. This past week my 5 foot 3 inch less than 100 pounds, soon to be 60-year-old Chinese wife said that for her birthday next month she'd like to learn how to shoot a pistol. This was completely out of the blue. Are there any recommendation for a low recoil easy to use handgun for a petite woman (Approximately the size of a tall, skinny eight-year-old)with osteopenia who has never fired a gun before?
  • Happy National Drink Beer Day 2018

    09/28/2018 4:11:14 PM PDT · by CaliforniaCraftBeer · 44 replies
    WFLA.com ^ | September 28, 2018 | NBC News Via CNN
    How are you observing the holiday?
  • From Model T to Model 3: How Driving Changed Over a Century Most Important Car Year You Were Born

    09/27/2018 12:01:14 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 19 replies
    www.popularmechanics.com ^ | Sep 26, 2018 | By Ben Stewart
    A century of four-wheeled mobility.
  • World's first FLYING CAR that can turn into a plane in less than a minute and soar along at 100mph

    09/27/2018 6:54:36 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 57 replies
    www.dailymail.co.uk ^ | Updated: 22:04 EDT, 26 September 2018 | By Tim Stickings
    The world's first flying car is set to go on the market with pre-sales scheduled to begin next month. The first of the two-seat hybrid-electric vehicles, which can switch between driving and flying modes in less than a minute, will be delivered to customers next year. According to manufacturer Terrafugia, which belongs to the parent company of Volvo, the Transition can fly up to 400 miles (640km) at top speeds of 100mph (160kmh). The price has not yet been determined but preliminary sales for the first of the pioneering models will begin in October, according to China's news agency Xinhua.
  • Grandpa Comes to Shelter to Brush Cats and Kittens and Falls Asleep with Them Every Day for 6 Months

    09/22/2018 5:53:13 AM PDT · by vannrox · 42 replies
    Love Meow ^ | 18sep18 | Amy Bojo
    Grandpa Comes to Shelter to Brush Cats and Kittens and Falls Asleep with Them Every Day for 6 Months Terry from Wisconsin came to Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary in Green Bay, Wisconsin six months ago, and he just kept coming back. When he returned, he didn't come empty-handed. Safe Haven Pet SanctuaryHe brought his very own trusty brush so he could help groom the feline residents there, but little did he know that his regularly visits quickly became an adorable fixture at the sanctuary. When Terry heard about the cage-free, no-kill cat shelter, which specializes in rescuing kitties with...
  • It’s a Car Bloodbath Out There, but a Few Large Sedans Can Claim They’re Having a Good Year

    09/15/2018 2:41:55 PM PDT · by jjotto · 50 replies
    The Truth About Cars ^ | September 14, 2018 | Steph Willems
    [excerpted]...passenger car market share dropped to 30.6 percent in the month of August as a tide of crossovers, trucks, and SUVs continued swamping the automotive landscape. Few automakers can say their traditional passenger cars are making headway against the current... ...The Ford Taurus is not among this crowd of holdouts. Scheduled for death and talked about only by fleet managers, its sales dropped 16.8 percent over the first eight months of 2018. Its Lincoln Continental stablemate? Down 29.2 percent. At General Motors, where sales reporting is a quarterly phenomenon, Chevrolet Impala sales fell 11.7 percent at the end of the...
  • Michigan man discovers glowing, florescent rocks called "Yooperlites"

    09/12/2018 4:44:36 PM PDT · by Eddie01 · 37 replies
    cbsnews ^ | Sept. 7, 2018 | CAITLIN O'KANE
    Erik Rintamaki was searching for rocks on a Michigan beach last summer when he made what he calls a "mind blowing" discovery. Resting among the thousands of pebbles covering the Lake Superior beach, Rintamaki saw a glowing rock. The gem and mineral dealer told CBS News he often goes rock hunting. But on this particular June night, he found a rock unlike any other — a florescent orb that he later named "Yooperlite." Like lava glowing through cracks in the earth, a glowing light seeped out of the lines in the small rock. Rintamaki knew this couldn't be the only...
  • What Democrats Still Don't Get

    09/11/2018 12:22:23 PM PDT · by real_patriotic_american · 37 replies
    Townhall ^ | September 11, 2018 | Allie Stuckey
    Since the election, there has been ample speculation about how Trump “happened.” Last week, Obama offered his hypothesis: resentment and paranoia on the right. He lamented the destruction of the Republican Party and the ensuing demise of America because of the divisiveness and bigotry propagated by the president and those who support him. It seems that most on the left agree with Obama’s view. Progressives purport that enthusiasm for Trump is bolstered by “white fragility”— an insecurity that white voices, once dominant, are now being drowned out by increasingly influential minority groups bolstered by demographic changes. Trump is their “white...
  • Mississippi homecoming queen boots game-winning extra point

    09/09/2018 4:29:08 AM PDT · by Islander7 · 19 replies
    AP ^ | 9/8/2018 | AP
    OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) — One Mississippi high school senior had to quickly discard her crown after being named homecoming queen — and put on a football helmet. Kaylee Foster was crowned homecoming queen of Ocean Springs High School before Friday night’s football game. She then put on her football uniform and later kicked the winning extra point to lead her team to a 13-12 victory over George County High School, local news outlets reported.
  • Tyler Childers/ Oneida

    09/08/2018 10:53:52 AM PDT · by waterhill · 2 replies
    Youtube ^ | 9/08/2018 | youtube
    A most excellent young songwriter. Kentucky born Tyler Childers. This is real Americana. Enjoy.
  • Rock Island Auction Co. to Sell THE Greatest Battle Implement Ever Devised

    09/07/2018 12:41:28 PM PDT · by Simon Green · 34 replies
    Guns.com ^ | 09/07/18 | Logan Metesh
    It is said that General George S. Patton called the M1 Garand rifle “the greatest battle implement ever devised.” That may very well be true. If it is, then M1 Garand rifle serial number 1,000,000 should be considered “THE greatest battle implement ever devised.” Why the emphasis? Simple: that gun belonged to the inventor himself – John Garand. (Incidentally, all of us may or may not have been pronouncing his name incorrectly for decades. The article below is from 1943. However, Garand’s son noted a different – more common – pronunciation in 1999. You decide!) When Garand retired on April...
  • Straight From the Grave: An Iconic Engine Design Makes a Comeback [Inline 6!]

    09/06/2018 1:25:26 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 89 replies
    www.popularmechanics.com ^ | Aug 21, 2018 867 | By Matthew Jancer
    Once upon a time, the straight six was a dominant engine design. Jaguar put them in its best cars, Jeep built its late 20th century reputation upon them, and almost every humdrum family car or pickup truck in America had one as standard—then they nearly died out. For years, V6 engines were killing off the straight six, also known as an I6 or inline six, and the entire design appeared destined for oblivion. But Mercedes-Benz has performed a resurrection. It brought back the straight six in the form of the M256, an entirely new engine design, to replace many of...
  • Vanity Post- Freeper help needed

    09/06/2018 7:31:38 AM PDT · by MissEdie · 26 replies
    Self | 9/6/2018 | MissEdie
    Freepers I need your help, ya'll really helped me out when I was planning a trip for my 9 year old daughter's birthday!! I need ya'lls help again. I am trying to arrange a trip to Disney World in Florida; she really loves animals so I want to take her to the Animal Kingdom and Sea World. I do not want to go in the summer because of the heat and crowds. I went to the Disney website but I was overwhelmed by the choices, so I am asking for advice and input on planning this trip.
  • Warning (if you use Firefox esr) do not update to Firefox 60 unless...

    09/05/2018 10:38:14 AM PDT · by daniel1212 · 54 replies
    Wed, 09/05/18 | daniel1212
    unless you want to loose the extensive capabilities provided via classic Firefox extensions. If you did not want to loose you extensions with the advent of (the fast but relatively handicapped) Firefox Quantum, do not update to Firefox 60 esr, which will actually be an "update" (downgrade for power users) to Quantum. Which means most of your extensions will not work, including, Tab Mix Plus 0.3.8.6 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tab-mix-plusReduce tab width; Enable multiple tab rows; Change how active tab looks, etc.Memory Restart https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/memory-restart/ Shows how much ram FF is using, and enables easy restart to flush memory.ColorfulTabs https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/colorfultabs/?src=search/ Make tabs distinctive. Options...
  • Software Engineer Hacks a Knitting Machine to Create Massive Stellar Map

    09/03/2018 7:05:54 AM PDT · by BenLurkin · 14 replies
    Space.com ^ | September 3, 2018 07:54am ET | Chelsea Gohd,
    By hacking a domestic knitting machine, a software engineer advanced modern knitting and made a massive equatorial star map in tapestry form. Australian software engineer Sarah Spencer spent years hacking and programming a 1980s domestic knitting machine for fun. This hobby grew into much more, however, as Spencer developed a new computer algorithm that did something never before accomplished with such machines. Her accomplishment — knitting with bird's-eye backing using one knit per pixel in three colors — might not mean much to anyone outside of the knitting community. But this achievement allowed Spencer to make something truly out of...
  • Hello 'WOS': Windows on Arm now has a price (Windows runs on non-x86 processors at last)

    09/01/2018 9:24:32 PM PDT · by dayglored · 11 replies
    The Register ^ | Aug 31, 2018 | Andrew Orlowski
    Full Windows on new Qualcomm silicon at last IFA Microsoft's long journey away from Intel reached escape velocity this week, as the first traditional laptop machine with Qualcomm's Arm processor was revealed by Lenovo, in the shape of the Yoga C630 WOS."WOS" stands for "Windows on Snapdragon", how Qualcomm prefers to call "Windows on Arm", and since it's Qualcomm Inside, not Intel Inside, it gets to call the shots.This is the second "always connected" PC from Lenovo to run a Qualcomm chip, but the first to run the Snapdragon 850 processor. Officially announced last year, the Microsoft-Qualcomm alliance Always Connected...
  • Monthly Cooking Thread - September 2018

    08/31/2018 4:04:00 PM PDT · by Jamestown1630 · 118 replies
    Isidore Verheyden - 'Afternoon Tea' I’ve always been attracted to the various forms of traditional English Tea Time, and found that Chef John of ‘Food Wishes' has done a video on making clotted cream at home. His method is very easy, and just involves heating the cream in the oven at low temperature for many hours, cooling, chilling, and then skimming off the solids that rise to the top. I’m sure it’s not as good as the authentic product enjoyed in Devon or Cornwall, but it looks pretty good. This is very simple, but takes many hours over several phases, so...