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Robots in disguise

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It’s certainly impressive when someone spends an entire week stacking dominoes, but watching them fall over for half an hour gets a little dull after the first few minutes. So domino masters Hevesh5 and Kaplamino teamed up to create a series of seemingly impossible domino tricks that are far more impressive than any Guinness World Record attempt.

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Gravity is still the main power source for most of these tricks, but at other times a slight breeze or the subtle vibrations from a domino toppling to the floor is all that’s needed to keep a chain going. Hopefully this video inspires other domino stackers to stop chasing word records, and instead put more thought into their domino runs, because I could watch these for hours.

[YouTube via The Awesomer]

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My Brain Refuses to Believe These Domino Tricks Are Real

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5 things no one tells you about starting a startup

Note: This article was originally posted on NRA Blog 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part two of a two-part series. To learn how to draw your pistol from concealment safely and effectively, read Part 1 by clicking here.

USA -(Ammoland.com)- Nothing is more important than firearm safety, and for that reason we’ll first revisit the NRA Gun Safety Rules. While training, especially for novices, I recommend using an unloaded firearm on the range or other prescribed shooting area. Never practice drawing from concealment in a public space, even with an unloaded firearm. Also, always be aware of your surroundings, and never point the firearm in an unsafe manner. Keep your muzzle downrange at approved targets only, even if you’re not pulling the trigger. Before holstering, check to ensure your gun is unloaded, and keep it unloaded throughout the exercise.

At this point, you’ve drawn your firearm and put sights on a target. If using an unloaded firearm and following the gun safety rules, you have either simulated a trigger pull or “dry fired” your gun, completed your post shooting ritual (i.e., follow target to the ground, immediate scan, deep scan, reload, press check, de-cock, or re-engage mechanical safety), and are ready to place the pistol back into the holster.

To learn the holstering process you need to learn this mindset first; therefore, we will do it together as a chant.

“Reluctantly re-holster, reluctantly re-holster, reluctantly re-holster… Amen.”

There will never be a contest on the planet to see who can get their gun back in the holster the fastest. You also don’t want to create bad habits of putting the gun away too quickly. There may be instances where threats are not neutralized by your initial shots, and additional threats may remain imminent. Therefore, don’t be so quick to put the gun away.  In addition, this will provide an opportunity to feel any sort of irregular resistance that can be caused by clothing or other obstruction that could create a hazard.

Now that you understand that you need to “reluctantly re-holster,” the process of re-holstering is a reverse from the draw stroke. Your support hand should come back to your chest, preventing you from pointing a gun at your own hand when you start moving the gun back to the holster. The hand holding the gun should then insert the gun back into the holster.

Before you start pushing into your holster, rest your thumb on the back of slide or the hammer for both safety purposes and to ensure proper seating in your holster. If you are using a holster that features retention straps to retain the gun, you need to go around the holster and start the holstering process with the muzzle of the gun entering the holster from behind the straps.Once the gun is securely in the holster, then secure your straps.

Once you are able to do this from an open-carry position safely, you can begin donning garments to conceal the gun. There are basically two types of garments covering the pistol: an open-front (i.e., unbuttoned shirt), or a closed-front (i.e., buttoned up shirt, sweat shirt, untucked t-shirt). Many people who use open front garments will sew weights into the bottom of the shirt, so that when the hand sweeps the garment , the weights carry the garment away, clearing a path for your grip to the pistol. If the open front concealment garment is a jacket, adding items to front pockets, such as keys, will accomplish the same thing.

There are numerous techniques you can use to clear the garment away; I’ll cover three. One method consists of hooking the garment with the bottom two fingers of the shooting hand. Another technique entails making your shooting hand flat — known in military circles as the “knife hand” — and sweeping the garment out of the way.

The third technique, of which I am most comfortable, is a claw-type technique, or what I like to refer to as the “Indiana Jones Temple of Doom Kalima” technique. The tips of all the fingers (including the thumb) press into the center of the chest, sweeping the garment out of the way. Try all these and see which consistently works best for you to move the garment out of the way and give you the best position on your gun.

Closed-front shirts need to be lifted from the bottom out of the way to access the gun. Most people that decide to carry this way tend to ditch the undershirt, as it may get caught up in the draw stroke. When possible, both hands should to do the lifting. Special note for those that appendix-carry: you will need to lift your shirt high to the chest with the support hand.

Body structure and the potential restrictiveness of the clothing will dictate where one grasps to start the lift. With my particular build, I lift from the center with my support side hand. Smaller-framed individuals with more flexibility are likely able to reach a little farther across their body where their gun sits in the holster to lift the clothing with the support hand.

Professional shooter Karie Thomas shared the following tip for women: “Ladies, you may want to consider a camisole to wear underneath the closed front garment that you can tuck into your pants when practicing this on the range. This way you will not be exposing your sides, stomach, and other areas you would like to keep private. If you typically do not wear an under camisole in public, then you will need to practice this dry in your home without the camisole.” 

A base layer or “second skin”-type athletic shirt may also accomplish the same effect as a camisole. Remember, you need to lift the clothing high enough so the gun can clear the holster. Rule of thumb: lift, then lift it more, just to be sure. Once you’re able to clear the garment, go back and start applying the draw stroke techniques mentioned in the beginning when you started out “running slick.”

If any of these concepts seem foreign or unfamiliar to you, or you feel you’re not ready to train on your own, consider enrolling in a training course! Find an NRA Training course taught by NRA Certified Instructors in your area by visiting http://ift.tt/1DsWr9e. For those that have taken fundamental training or have baseline knowledge, consider training at the next level by enrolling in an NRA Personal Protection In or Outside the Home course. Lastly, for those ready to learn advanced concealed carry and self-defense principles, enroll in NRA Carry Guard Level 1 training. Good luck, and safe training!

This post Drawing A Pistol From Concealment, Part 2: Re-holstering And Apparel Choices appeared first on AmmoLand.com Shooting Sports News .

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Drawing A Pistol From Concealment, Part 2: Re-holstering And Apparel Choices

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Steven Crowder Asks College Students to Change His Mind About Guns [VIDEO]

On a shelf in my garage sits a truly shocking collection of oil filters, including those for cars I don’t even own. I’m not sure I have a good explanation for my obsession, other than simply that oil filters are beautiful contraptions. Here’s why.

Before you judge me, hear me out on this—oil filters are far cooler than I bet you ever thought. There’s a crap ton of variation between brands on things like gasket material, anti drain-back valve material, media material, spring type, end-cap material, and pleating number. I think I’ve probably spent a hundred hours watching oil filter tear downs (like the one below) on YouTube.

But it’s important stuff! You can’t have small dirt particles getting caught between bearing surfaces; that’ll destroy your engine in no-time. The oil filter plays a huge role in keeping your engine from croaking after, for example, sand from a leaky air induction system gets into your precious crankcase.

How Oil Filters Work

Your engine’s oil pump pushes oil into the filter—which is sealed to your engine’s oil filter housing with a square-section round ring like the one shown below—through a number of radial holes in the filter’s metal “base plate.” The pressure generated by that pump is enough to push an anti-drainback valve—which sits just on the other side of the base plate—out of the way, at which point oil can enter the filter.

Once in the filter, the oil surrounds a cartridge, which consists of a usually-metal center tube surrounded by cellulose-based or synthetic pleated fibers, sealed off by metal, plastic or fiber end-caps. Once oil has passed through the base plate holes, through the anti drainback valve, and has surrounded the filter element, it passes through the pleated medium, through the holes in the center tube (shown below), and back up through the exit at the top of the filter.

The two most interesting parts of an oil filter are the anti-drainback valve and the bypass valve. The anti-drainback valve, shown below, makes sure the filter traps oil when the engine isn’t running. It’s essentially a nitrile or silicone one-way check-valve that prevents oil in a filter—particularly one that’s mounted sideways or upside-down—from flowing back into the sump. This means, when you come to start your engine back up, you’ll get instant oil pressure to lubricate your parts (i.e. you won’t risk a “dry start”).

The second interesting valve is the bypass valve, or release valve, whose job it is to allow oil to bypass the filter cartridge, flowing unencumbered by the filtration material. The point, here, is to ensure that high oil filter pressures—like those that might occur if the filter element has reached its capacity (like if it’s been left on a car for too long, and has clogged with dirt) or if the oil’s viscosity is too high (especially in cold conditions)—can open up a valve to allow for adequate engine lubrication under all conditions.

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Also inside an oil filter are leaf or coil springs (that’s a leaf spring below, while the schematic at the top of this section shows a coil). Those springs simply act to push the cartridge up against the anti-drainback valve.

Another important thing to mention is the efficiency rating that you see on oil filter boxes (like the one shown below). That efficiency rating is simply a measure of the percentage of ~20-micron dirt particles that the filter can capture over a certain duration. You can read more about that efficiency test, called ISO 4548-12 (which is 86 minutes in total and requires both up-stream and down-stream particle counting), test here.

So those are the technical reasons why I’m so into oil filters. But there’s also a much less scientific justification: I just think they look fantastic. I mean, look at this classic Purolator red metal filter; it’s gorgeous!

If you’re yearning to learn more about how filters work, and how they’re made, Fram has two great videos on the topic on YouTube. Here they are:

And the sequel:

Surely I’ve convinced you that my oil filter thing isn’t that weird? No? Dammit.

via Gizmodo
Here’s Why Engine Oil Filters Are So Fascinating

Josh puts a 1000 rounds through the recently released Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact Pistol.

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- I admit that I was pretty excited when I heard that Smith & Wesson was coming out with their new M&P 2.0 Compact series of pistols.

I love me a good, mid-sized 9mm, but up until now I had lost a bit of interest in the genre due to, well, a rather boring and dry market filled with what is basically variations of the same gun. I found myself with a whole day, one thousand rounds, and a brand new 2.0 Compact 9mm to put through its paces.

Before I start this review, I need to address the elephant in the room when it comes to the factions I know will be reading this. The proverbial elephant comes in the form of the Glock 19 and its variants. I know that many of you are looking for a head-to-head comparison, but I will save that for the YouTube guys and the clickbaiters. What I will say about it is that, in my educated and concise opinion, S&W has done what others apparently can’t do, which is release a significant and new product that customers have been wanting instead of a cosmetic modification of an existing design.

Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact

See, friends, I’m not a guy that likes to nitpick. I’m not slamming any products or pushing one over the other. All I’m saying is that there is a mediocrity that has taken a hold of segments of this industry and, unlike so many others, Smith & Wesson has managed to innovate not just in design and materials, but is actively giving other companies a run for their money by invading established niches in the market.

The S&W M&P 2.0 Compact Pistol is more than just a new addition to an established line; it is the pistol that we’ve all been asking for for years and finally someone has delivered. I’ll go down the list in detail, but know that the bar has been set for a 15+1, 4” pistol. The trigger is beyond great, the sights are steel, and the grips are actually designed for human hands. It may have taken a long time, but the wait was worth it.

Since this gun is so new and there are soon to be a bunch of Tactical Timmy types that disparage it in favor of their preferred ‘wheapon shhhystem’ while digging their hands into a bag of Cheetos, I will be the first to say that this thing is as close to perfect out of the box as I could ever hope a handgun to be.

Now, here’s where ‘perfect’ in the context of ‘perfection’ comes in. Most people would agree that an ideal pistol would be lightweight, powerful, accurate, compact enough to conceal yet large enough to shoot easily, hold as much ammunition as the size allows, be corrosion resistant, and have minimal recoil. The ideal gun would be adaptable to a variety of end-users and be easily maintained. Some bloggers and ‘experts’ have theorized that due to our technology, we reached peak on handguns a while ago and there was no more room for improvement. Suffice to say, Smith & Wesson must’ve missed that memo.

The 2.0 Compact easily meets all the above criteria and exceeds any other production gun out there as far as the standard features. The pistol has an ideal barrel length at 4”, holds 15+1 rounds standard, and features an exceptional set of ergonomic traits that make it the most user-friendly handgun of its type on the market.

I find that, above anything else, the all the competitors to the M&P line have had a hard time dealing with the simple and easily changed grip swells. This feature is a huge reason as to why the line has been so successful and it affords any shooter the option to quickly and easily customize their own gun at no cost. The 2.0 Compact needs no grip reduction or stippling. The texture of the grip is aggressive and there is no slippery places to allow the gun to shift in the hand while firing.

The pistol comes equipped with an updated version of the classic M&P trigger and it is about the crispest and cleanest breaking factory triggers I have ever tried. The 2.0 trigger is a segmented, two-part design that has a clear and tactile reset that allows for very quick follow-up shots.

It is hard for me to illustrate to you across text just how well this gun handles. The grip fits the hand and doesn’t exceed it. The trigger pulls naturally and doesn’t bite the finger. The sights are easy to use and, on my example, are spot-on at 25 yards. You can really tell that you’re dealing with all-steel internals, as there is no creaking of plastic or flexing in the frame when firing. The gun simply shoots.

I had to get familiar with the Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact quickly in order to get this review out, and the honeymoon was short but sweet. I fired a hair over 1000 rounds in a single session through this gun using ammo from a variety of makers. I only allowed cool-down when I had to pick up my brass to avoid slipping on it. A full half of my shooting was done with Sig Sauer’s excellent V-CROWN and FMJ ammo. For the uninformed, Sig Sauer makes some of the very best ammo on the market today. They are still new to the ammo scene, but I’ve been won over. Not only was the Sig Sauer ammo accurate, averaging 2.5” across all loads for 10 shots at 25 yards, it was also supremely reliable.

In regard to reliability, I had zero failures with the gun to speak of. The gun, right from the box, ran like a sewing machine and chewed through box after box after box. I didn’t bother cleaning or even wiping it down before heading to the range, which I did immediately after picking it up. The course of fire I put it through lasted for hours with no mercy. As soon as I got the mags loaded, I started shooting.

Accuracy didn’t change across the time of shooting. I did my initial accuracy testing while the gun was cold and fresh from the box, and that accuracy didn’t change even in the last fifty I fired for group at the end of my first range test. Ammo from Hornady, Sig, and Lehigh Defense ranging from 70 grains to 147 grains all cycled and fired without issue and hardly a difference in point of aim.

All loads were fired over an Oehler 35P chronograph on a 75 degree day while five feet from the muzzle. Velocity is an average of ten shots. Accuracy is in inches at 25 yards from the bench.

• Lehigh Defense 70gr HERO——————————————1670fps——1.75”
• Lehigh Defense 90gr Xtreme Defense +P————————1454fps——2.05”
• Hornady 147gr XTP—————————————————-987fps——-3.20”
• Hornady 135gr Critical Duty +P————————————1125fps——2.20”
• Sig Sauer 115gr V CROWN——————————————-1242fps—–2.15”
• Sig Sauer 115gr FMJ—————————————————1220fps—–3.10”
• Sig Sauer 124gr V CROWN——————————————-1158fps—–1.70”
• Sig Sauer 124gr FMJ—————————————————1125fps—–2.25”

As I mentioned, the majority of my testing came from Sig Sauer’s ammo. As such, I developed a very clear picture of what the gun could do with this specific brand and it gave me a glimpse as to how easily a person can master this weapon. The size, sights, and trigger made this pistol so easy to fire and control that, when combined with the familiar Sig loads and a grip insert that actually fit my hand, I was able to breeze through drills with unbelievable accuracy. The gun just points and shoots so well that I felt like I was dreaming.

A final note on accuracy- I’m a pretty darn good shot and I’ve become accustomed to the awesome accuracy that can be generated by today’s guns. What really struck me about this weapon was just how easily it grouped and how few fliers I had. I get some guns in that just can’t hold a group when hot, but that was not the case here. I fired the weapon at close range and there wasn’t really a challenge in shooting groups. The clusters were so similar that I had to back out to 25 yards to see a difference in group size, and even then they were so close in size that I didn’t consider them to be significantly different.

This is a match-grade production pistol that genuinely surprised me in the accuracy department and I fully believe that there is better accuracy to be had even with the already impressive results. A thousand rounds can get you used to a gun, but it takes time to get to know it individually and that is when you can really wring it out.

This might seem like a bit biased of a review to some of you, but you need to understand that I shoot lots and lots of guns almost every single day of the week and have a very clear idea of what makes one worth it or not. I had a hell of a good day with the Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact Pistol and I lamented when I had ran out of ammo and I lamented further when I came home and had to type this out with fingers sore from hours of enjoyment. As I type these final words, the gun in this article is sitting right next to my laptop, just begging me to wrap my hand around it again. This is a gun that wants to shoot, and you’re going to want to oblige it at every turn when you go pick one up from your favorite retailer.

Special thanks to:

• Smith & Wesson
• Sig Sauer
• Hornady
• Lehigh Defense

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Bonus Look Video: NEW! Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact- The True Glock 19 Killer?

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About Josh Wayner:

Josh Wayner has been writing in the gun industry for five years. He is an active competition shooter with 14 medals from Camp Perry. In addition to firearms-related work, Josh enjoys working with animals and researching conservation projects in his home state of Michigan.

This post Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact Pistol Review – VIDEO appeared first on AmmoLand.com Shooting Sports News .

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Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Compact Pistol Review – VIDEO

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How to use ‘unsupported’ Thunderbolt 3 docks and enclosures on Sierra and High Sierra

The Orionid meteor shower is in town this week, and its visit will peak over the weekend, as trips usually do. If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the best light shows in the solar system, Jane Houston Jones of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has recommended (via Time) that if stargazers look up from their phones today—October 20—they’ll get quite a show:

The Orionids peak on October 20—a dark, moonless night. Look near Orion’s club in the hours before dawn and you may see up to 10 to 15 meteors per hour.

That is a high hourly rate for meteors. And according to Space.com, these ones will be some of the best (meaning fastest) and brightest out there. This is because Earth is going straight through the orbit of debris produced by Halley’s Comet, which is what creates the Orionids shower in the first place:

The particles come from Comet 1P/Halley, better known as Halley’s Comet. This famous comet swings by Earth every 75 to 76 years, and as the icy comet makes its way around the sun, it leaves behind a trail of comet crumbs.

It’s sort of like we’re being sprinkled by fairy dust, or comet poop. This rain of magic is coinciding with a first-quarter moon, which means visibility is even higher than usual. It’s worth keeping in mind that expert opinions differ on when, exactly, will be peak viewing time; NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke narrowed down the time frame for viewing to 2 a.m. on both the 21st and 22nd, which is a little different than Jones’ estimation. But even if you miss the absolute peak, you’ll be able to see the show any night with good visibility between October 15th and 29th.

As far as viewing location, the Orionids can also be seen just about anywhere on earth with a visible sky, though you may need to brush up on your astronomy to find them:

If you find the shape of Orion the Hunter, the meteor shower’s radiant (or point of origin) will be near Orion’s sword, slightly north of his left shoulder (the star Betelgeuse). But don’t stare straight at this spot, Cooke said, “because meteors close to the radiant have short trails and are harder to see — so you want to look away from Orion.”

And yes, they should also be visible from the city, but light pollution could be a problem. For best results, start driving out of town at 1:30 a.m. (your eyes need about 20 minutes to adjust to the dark outdoor light), and don’t look back until you see the stars fall from the heavens.

via Lifehacker
Here’s How to See the Orionid Meteor Shower This Weekend

via Dilbert Daily Strip
Comic for October 20, 2017