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Here’s all the new stuff in Apple’s latest security document

TwinDB Backup supports encrypted backup copies since version 2.11.0. As usual the tool supports natively backup and restore operations, if backup copies are encrypted the tool takes care of decryption.

Installing TwinDB Packages repository

I will work with CentOS 7 system to show the example, but there are also packages for Ubuntu trusty and Debian jessie.

We host our packages in PackageCloud which provides a great installation guide if you need to install the repo via puppet, chef etc. The manual way is pretty straightforward as well. A PackageCloud script installs and configures the repository.

curl -s http://ift.tt/2nboXIn | sudo bash

Installing twindb-backup

Once the repository is ready it’s time to install the tool.

yum install twindb-backup

Let’s review what files the tool actually installs.

# rpm -ql twindb-backup
/opt
/opt/twindb-backup
...
/opt/twindb-backup/bin
...
/opt/twindb-backup/bin/twindb-backup
...

The RPM installs the files in opt because we use OmniBus to package twindb-backup. We package with the tool itself its own python, dependencies. That way we make sure there are no conflicts, no surprises due to different modules versions etc.

The post installation script also creates a cron config and a sample tool configuration file.

# cat /etc/cron.d/twindb-backup
@hourly  root twindb-backup backup hourly
@daily   root twindb-backup backup daily
@weekly  root twindb-backup backup weekly
@monthly root twindb-backup backup monthly
@yearly  root twindb-backup backup yearly

# cat /etc/twindb/twindb-backup.cfg
# NOTE: don't quote option values
# What to backup
[source]
backup_dirs=/etc /root /home
backup_mysql=no

# Destination
[destination]
# backup destination can be ssh or s3
backup_destination=ssh
keep_local_path=/var/backup/local


[s3]

# S3 destination settings

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=XXXXX
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=YYYYY
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
BUCKET=twindb-backups

[ssh]

# SSH destination settings

backup_host=127.0.0.1
backup_dir=/tmp/backup
ssh_user=root
ssh_key=/root/.ssh/id_rsa

[mysql]

# MySQL

mysql_defaults_file=/etc/twindb/my.cnf

full_backup=daily

[retention]

# Remote retention policy

hourly_copies=24
daily_copies=7
weekly_copies=4
monthly_copies=12
yearly_copies=3

[retention_local]

# Local retention policy

hourly_copies=1
daily_copies=1
weekly_copies=0
monthly_copies=0
yearly_copies=0

[intervals]

# Run intervals

run_hourly=yes
run_daily=yes
run_weekly=yes
run_monthly=yes
run_yearly=yes

Preparing Encryption Key

We use GPG to encrypt the backups. The tool doesn’t manage the keys so it’s all user responsibility to create and save a backup copy of the key.

Let’s generate the key first.

# gpg --gen-key
gpg (GnuPG) 2.0.22; Copyright (C) 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

gpg: directory `/root/.gnupg' created
gpg: new configuration file `/root/.gnupg/gpg.conf' created
gpg: WARNING: options in `/root/.gnupg/gpg.conf' are not yet active during this run
gpg: keyring `/root/.gnupg/secring.gpg' created
gpg: keyring `/root/.gnupg/pubring.gpg' created
Please select what kind of key you want:
(1) RSA and RSA (default)
(2) DSA and Elgamal
(3) DSA (sign only)
(4) RSA (sign only)
Your selection? 1
RSA keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.
What keysize do you want? (2048)
Requested keysize is 2048 bits
Please specify how long the key should be valid.
0 = key does not expire
<n> = key expires in n days
<n>w = key expires in n weeks
<n>m = key expires in n months
<n>y = key expires in n years
Key is valid for? (0) 0
Key does not expire at all
Is this correct? (y/N) y

GnuPG needs to construct a user ID to identify your key.

Real name: Aleksandr Kuzminsky
Email address: backups@twindb.com
Comment: Key for encrypting MySQL backups
You selected this USER-ID:
"Aleksandr Kuzminsky (Key for encrypting MySQL backups) <backups@twindb.com>"

Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? O

You don't want a passphrase - this is probably a *bad* idea!
I will do it anyway. You can change your passphrase at any time,
using this program with the option "--edit-key".

We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform
some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the
disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number
generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.
We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform
some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the
disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number
generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.
gpg: /root/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg: key 8564B88A marked as ultimately trusted
public and secret key created and signed.

gpg: checking the trustdb
gpg: 3 marginal(s) needed, 1 complete(s) needed, PGP trust model
gpg: depth: 0 valid: 1 signed: 0 trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 1u
pub 2048R/8564B88A 2017-03-28
Key fingerprint = 441E 4B7A FD92 C0D5 4C6B 0C89 4AE0 849C 8564 B88A
uid Aleksandr Kuzminsky (Key for encrypting MySQL backups) <backups@twindb.com>
sub 2048R/0CE02576 2017-03-28

We don’t use passphrase for the key.

Preparing twindb-backup configuration

We need to change default config. Let’s review the changes.

[source]
backup_dirs=/etc
backup_mysql=yes

It’s always nice to save backup copies of /etc. If you don’t want to backup directories, comment out backup_dirs.

# Destination
[destination]
# backup destination can be ssh or s3
backup_destination=s3
keep_local_path=/var/backup/local

We store backups in s3 and we will also keep a local copy (for faster restore time).

[s3]

# S3 destination settings

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=XXXXX
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=YYYYY
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
BUCKET=twindb-backups

We will store backups in S3, so change these options to your key and bucket values.

[mysql]

# MySQL
mysql_defaults_file=/etc/twindb/my.cnf
full_backup=daily

The tool uses a defaults file to connect to MySQL, so specify it here.

# cat /etc/twindb/my.cnf
[client]
user=root

Don’t forget to chmod 600 /etc/twindb/my.cnf.

The config also tells how often to take daily full copies. The hourly copies will be the difference between the last full copy and the current state. It’s so-called differential backups.

To encrypt the backup copies add a [gpg] section

[gpg]
keyring = /root/.gnupg/pubring.gpg
secret-keyring = /root/.gnupg/secring.gpg
recipient = backups@twindb.com

It specifies where GnuPG can find private and public keys of the recipient.

Optionally you may want to change local and remote retention policies, but the defaults should be good enough.

Test backup run

Now let’s run the tool manually to see how it works.

# twindb-backup backup daily

The tool should produce no output unless there is an error.

Listing available backup copies

The tool can tell you what backup copies are available now.

# twindb-backup ls
2017-03-28 05:32:40,412: INFO: ls.list_available_backups():22: Local copies:
/var/backup/local/d312b5e3a877/status
/var/backup/local/d312b5e3a877/daily/files/_etc-2017-03-28_05_32_26.tar.gz
/var/backup/local/d312b5e3a877/daily/mysql/mysql-2017-03-28_05_32_30.xbstream.gz
2017-03-28 05:32:40,417: INFO: ls.list_available_backups():33: hourly copies:
2017-03-28 05:32:41,087: INFO: ls.list_available_backups():33: daily copies:
s3://twindb-backup-test-0/d312b5e3a877/daily/files/_etc-2017-03-28_05_32_26.tar.gz.gpg
s3://twindb-backup-test-0/d312b5e3a877/daily/mysql/mysql-2017-03-28_05_32_30.xbstream.gz.gpg
2017-03-28 05:32:41,687: INFO: ls.list_available_backups():33: weekly copies:
2017-03-28 05:32:42,269: INFO: ls.list_available_backups():33: monthly copies:
2017-03-28 05:32:42,831: INFO: ls.list_available_backups():33: yearly copies:

The encrypted copies have .gpg suffix. Note the local copies are not encrypted.

Restore MySQL from backup

Now we have a backup copy s3://twindb-backup-test-0/d312b5e3a877/daily/mysql/mysql-2017-03-28_05_32_30.xbstream.gz.gpg. Let’s restore MySQL database from it.

# twindb-backup restore mysql s3://twindb-backup-test-0/d312b5e3a877/daily/mysql/mysql-2017-03-28_05_32_30.xbstream.gz.gpg --dst restored
...
170328 05:39:49  innobackupex: completed OK!
2017-03-28 05:39:49,566: INFO: restore.restore_from_mysql():354: Successfully restored s3://twindb-backup-test-0/d312b5e3a877/daily/mysql/mysql-2017-03-28_05_32_30.xbstream.gz.gpg in restored.
2017-03-28 05:39:49,566: INFO: restore.restore_from_mysql():356: Now copy content of restored to MySQL datadir: cp -R restored/* /var/lib/mysql/
2017-03-28 05:39:49,566: INFO: restore.restore_from_mysql():357: Fix permissions: chown -R mysql:mysql /var/lib/mysql/
2017-03-28 05:39:49,566: INFO: restore.restore_from_mysql():359: Make sure innodb_log_file_size and innodb_log_files_in_group in restored/backup-my.cnf and in /etc/my.cnf are same.
2017-03-28 05:39:49,566: INFO: restore.restore_from_mysql():362: Original my.cnf is restored in restored/_config.
2017-03-28 05:39:49,566: INFO: restore.restore_from_mysql():364: Then you can start MySQL normally.

Now we have a restored database in restored directory that we can copy to /var/lib/mysql

# ls -la restored/
total 30756
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root     4096 Mar 28 05:39 .
dr-xr-x--- 5 root root     4096 Mar 28 05:39 ..
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root     4096 Mar 28 05:39 _config
-rw-r----- 1 root root      262 Mar 28 05:39 backup-my.cnf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  5242880 Mar 28 05:39 ib_logfile0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  5242880 Mar 28 05:39 ib_logfile1
-rw-r----- 1 root root 18874368 Mar 28 05:39 ibdata1
drwx------ 2 root root     4096 Mar 28 05:39 mysql
drwx------ 2 root root     4096 Mar 28 05:39 performance_schema
drwx------ 2 root root     4096 Mar 28 05:39 test
-rw-r----- 1 root root       89 Mar 28 05:39 xtrabackup_checkpoints
-rw-r----- 1 root root      562 Mar 28 05:39 xtrabackup_info
-rw-r----- 1 root root  2097152 Mar 28 05:39 xtrabackup_logfile

The post Howto Encrypt MySQL Backups on S3 appeared first on Backup and Data Recovery for MySQL.

via Planet MySQL
Howto Encrypt MySQL Backups on S3

Three home invaders dressed all in black and wearing masks and gloves probably thought they’d easily overpower the owner of a Broken Arrow (OK) home.

They clearly didn’t count on the homeowner’s adult son being there, armed with one of the best home defense firearms ever designed, an AR-15.

Three would-be robbers were shot and killed Monday when an Oklahoma homeowner’s son opened fire on them with an AR-15, authorities said.

Wagoner County sheriff’s deputies were called to the home in Broken Arrow, southeast of Tulsa at around 12:30 p.m. local time. When they arrived, they found the three dead suspects and two uninjured residents.

Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Nick Mahoney said the suspects enetered the home through a glass back door with the intent to burglarize it. It was not immediately clear why they picked that home.

Mahoney said the suspects encountered the homeowner’s 19-year-old son, who opened fire after an exchange of words. Two of the suspects died in the home’s kitchen while a third was found in the driveway.

It was not immediately clear whether the suspects were armed, but Mahoney said the preliminary investigation indicated the shootings were in self-defense. The homeowner’s son volunteered to give a statement at the sheriff’s office.

A forth suspect, believed to have been the wheelman for the three deceased home invaders, has since been arrested.

BA homeowner shoots and kills three intruders. @KTULNews http://pic.twitter.com/XBtsr9mZ8a

— Burt Mummolo (@MummoloNews) March 27, 2017

19-year-old Americans armed with variations of Eugene Stoner’s rifle have been killing bad guys  since 1964.

The most common AR-15 configurations we see on today’s civilian market, featuring collapsible stocks, 16″ barrels, and standard capacity 30-round magazines, give homeowners a light recoiling, very controllable and precise semi-automatic rifle. The very common 55-grain M193 round FMJ “ball” round fragments in both tissue and in building matters at home defense distances.  Hollowpoint rounds designed for varmint hunting, law enforcement, and home defense, such as Winchester PDX1 “Defender” line can be even more devastating to bad guys, while breaking up faster when encountering build materials.

AR-15’s are more powerful and carry more rounds than handguns, while their bullets run the same or less risk of over-penetration and creating downrange injuries as most handgun rounds. AR-15s are far less punishing to shoot than shotguns loaded with quality defensive ammunition, and get back on target faster for follow-up shots if needed.

Commonly paired with a red-dot optic and a weapon light, AR-15s excel at battling bad guys both day and night, and are easily controlled by shooters of nearly any size or stature.

“America’s rifle” was used to save two lives in Oklahoma today, and enabled a single teenager to quickly triumph over three criminals.

The post Three Home Invaders Discover World’s Best Home Defense Weapon appeared first on Bearing Arms.

via Bearing Arms
Three Home Invaders Discover World’s Best Home Defense Weapon

via Planet MySQL
Video: 9 Tips to Building a Stable MySQL Replication Environment

via Ars Technica
StarCraft remaster unveiled, and original SD version becomes free-as-in-beer

 

[NOTE: Citizens’ Defense Research’s next class in Alliance, Ohio is the weekend of April 1-2. They’re currently running a “BOGO” (buy one seat in the class, get the next seat free) offer from now until Monday at 11:59PM EST. If you’re within driving distance, I’d suggest going for the reason’s below. Make sure you select the $450 option]

Thanks to my job, I get to do a lot of very cool firearms training classes and media events sponsored by manufacturers. From aerial target interdictions to storming a prison cell block full of terrorist robots while wearing night vision gear in the dead of night, to shooting machine guns and $25,000 precision rifles, I’ve had a blast. Literally.

It’s all very cool, and I’ll jump at my next training opportunity or media event and I’ll love every second of it, but I also know that while these experiences are both fun and educational, they don’t provide a lot of knowledge that can easily translate well to my everyday life. After all, I can’t just call up a Little Bird and start blazing away with a suppressed AR-15 if I’m with my oldest daughter and we’re approached by an apparent mugger when at the local Walmart…

… as cool as that may be.

That’s why Citizen Defense Research‘s Contextual Handgun: The Armed Parent/Guardian is probably the most relatable class I can recommend to the readers of Bearing Arms. We’re simply not tooling around in plate carriers with an AR-15 in our hands and a pistol on a drop-leg rig in our daily lives, but we do run to the grocery store with our husbands and wives, dinner at a restaurant with our spouse and kids, and run errands with a gaggle of rug rats in tow, often several times a week.

Colloquially called “TAP/G” by graduates, the class is the first I’ve taken that has taken the real-world context of being the armed defender of our families out in public, typically with a concealed handgun.

That’s the normal, daily context of our lives that most shooting schools simply haven’t fully addressed, and what “TAP/G” is specifically designed to provide:

A fast-paced course designed around the thought, “What if my children are with me when I get into a shooting?” Contextual Handgun: The Armed Parent/Guardian discusses with students the hard/soft skills necessary to solve the commonly observed shooting problems associated with fighting with our children present. Are some of the most commonly held best practices for if we are attacked when we are alone actually going to put our loved ones at risk when they are present? Students will be shown WHY the context we find ourselves in as a parent can change our tactics. This skill-intensive two-day course covers application of practical handgun skills in a family environment. Topics include, but are not limited to; types of attacks, avoidance skills, handgun terminal ballistics and the importance of accuracy, one-handed access/shooting skills, shooting past/around no-shoots, clearing family members from lines of fire, best practices for dealing with a close-range assault while loading/unloading children from the vehicle, malfunction clearances and more with the end result being students better capable of delivering fast, accurate, fight-ending fire on demand.

My review of the “alpha” class (the very first one they taught, full of new shooters, and highly skilled instructors, and advanced hobbyists) was absolutely glowing, and with good reason. I’m the doting father of two girls, and the husband of a loving wife. While I’ve trained to fight on my own or with other highly-skilled individuals, The Armed Parent/Guardian is the very first class that focused entirely on how to defend my family. But as good as I thought that first class was last year, instructors Melody Lauer and John Johnston have done a lot of work to refine and enhance the focus of the course, and those who have taken it recently have posted their own reviews, suggesting this class—designed for us, not SWAT teams or pipe hitters—is only getting better.

I’d strongly suggest that if you carry a concealed handgun and have a family, and you’re thinking about taking a training class that focuses on the way you live your life, that you take a look at the Citizens’ Defense Research web site and see if they’re offering a course in your area.

The post Because Being A Good Parent Might Mean Shooting People… appeared first on Bearing Arms.

via Bearing Arms
Because Being A Good Parent Might Mean Shooting People…

I know, I know Purim has passed and it’s not yet Pesach, but if you’ll indulge me just a little I’ll explain. First we need a bit of background.

When the Hebrews left Egypt, HaShem, the G-d of Israel had just delivered the enslaving nation of Egypt ten, count ‘em, ten devastating plagues, split the sea and drowned the Egyptians as they pursued the now freed Hebrews. NO sane nation wanted to mess with them. The qualifier, did you catch it? Sane. From Aish.com, and I’m going to be quoting quite a bit from this one article.

Remember what Amalek did to you as you were leaving Egypt. He happened upon you, and struck the weakest people trailing behind, when you were exhausted. And he did not fear G-d. (Deut. 25:17-18)

G-d said to Moses: Write this remembrance in the book… that I will surely erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. (Exodus 17:14)

To understand, we have to go back to the time of Jacob our forefather. Jacob had a twin brother Esav, who was a lifelong rival ― so much so that Esav sought to kill Jacob (see Genesis 27:41).

The Midrash says that when Esav was getting old, he called in his grandson Amalek and said: “I tried to kill Jacob but was unable. Now I am entrusting you and your descendents with the important mission of annihilating Jacob’s descendents ― the Jewish people. Carry out this deed for me. Be relentless and do not show mercy.”

True to his mission, Amalek has historically tried to destroy the Jews. For example, in Exodus 17:8, Amalek attacked the Jews out of pure hatred ― Amalek lived in a distant land and was under no imminent threat.

So what does Amalek have to do with Purim? The Scroll of Esther (3:1) identifies Haman as the descendent of Agag, King of Amalek. Haman’s desire to wipe out the Jewish people was an expression of his long-standing national tradition.

I’m sure we’ve all heard of the vehicular and stabbing attacks. It’s been all over the new, right?

A young Falestinian woman carried out a vehicular attack at the Gush Etzion Junction. She veered out of her lane, drove at great speed towards the bus stop at the junction and tried to run over soldiers standing there. The soldiers guarding the location shot at the car and wounded her. A solider received minor injuries. Although with that lot, it could mean she ran over his leg a couple times. Their idea of minor injuries and all.

The stabbing attack? A Falestinian named Bucket O’ Chum 1, from Beit Fajjar, and a friend, carried out a stabbing attack at the Ariel Junction; both were killed.

This is life in Israel, the media finds it of no interest that cars are used as weapons of mass destruction against Jews on a regular basis. A knife attack against a group of Jews? Cnn (fake news): Ho hum. Did the Kardashians get new sunglasses? Isn’t it odd how these stories never seem to make the mainstream media?

But there was another attack too wasn’t there? This one in London. A Bucket of Chum that had converted to the religion of pieces got a car and drove over Westminster bridge and mowed people down, just like the pieceful Falestinian girl that barry ridiculed Americans for wanting to vet the women and children. Damn skippy. Bucket O’ Chum 2 has killed I think it’s 4 people, injured more than 40 people. Just like the pieceful Muslim in Ohio. And just like that one he jumped out of his car with two knives and begin to stab.

Bucket O’ Chum’s stabbing victim was a much admired Police officer, husband and father, Keith Palmer. In America this might raise many eyebrows as we would be wondering why didn’t Officer Palmer shoot Bucket O’ Chum. But this is gun free utopia England. Officer Palmer was defenseless, you read that right. He was unarmed. He had to wait for other officers who were armed to shoot his attacker, and despite the fact that they were very close, it was still too late. Seconds really do count, and Officer Palmer didn’t have them. Want to know who shot Chum #2? A close protection officer for Defense Secretary Michael Fallon. Because you see, politicians are important, other people? Meh. Would you like to know what Defense Secretary Mr. Michael Fallon said about the incident?

“’They did not get into Parliament. They only got as far as the gate. They did not breach the security of the House of Commons and he gave his life to protect the security of our democracy.”

BULL FEATHERS!!! He died for no d*mn good reason! He died for political correctness, he died because the foolish people of Britain confuse the teeth. They can’t discern the protective teeth of an armed citizen or Police Officer from the teeth of the wolves that have come to tear them to shreds. For that matter, if there had been ONE, just ONE armed citizen on that bridge, is it possible Bucket O’ Chum wouldn’t have ever made it to Parliament? We will never know, but it sure might have changed the odds. For that matter, did they do a “universal background check” before the car was rented?

Oh but there is more ticked off to go:

Former Met firearms officer Roger Gay said Britain may need to move away from the idea of ‘traditional’ unarmed policeman in important locations.

He told Sky News today: ‘In my opinion, I would have all of them in that location, I think, should be armed. What you have there, and I hate to use the term, is perhaps a sacrificial pawn.

No, you idiot. He was a Police Officer, husband and father made defenseless by your idiotic policies. But at least this guy thinks they should consider arming all of the officers, at Parliament. Because, hey, they’re important.

In raids across Britain today they have picked up 8 people for “suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts,”.

And it will not end. As “Mad Mommies” virulently spill their insane bile against schools considering changing some of their policies to make their students at least a tiny bit harder to kill, remember it will not end. There will be other targets, in any country and because kids are taught in school to fear an inanimate object as being evil and to embrace a culture that part of it’s people say they want to kill Jews and Christians in many places, it will continue unopposed.

While Jacob believes that G-d runs the world and there is an absolute standard of morality, Esav believes that life is random ― and morality is therefore subjective. Esav’s hatred for the message of morality actually forms the basis of all anti-Semitism. Just as the Jews stand for the principle of caring for the vulnerable and weak, Amalek is the opposite ― “attacking the weakest people trailing behind” (Deut. 25:18).

……

So why do we have to stomp out Haman? Because we must recognize our enemies and fight them. Not because we enjoy war, but because part of being a “good person” is to actively seek the destruction of evil.

There are evil people actively working to eliminate G-d consciousness from the world. Know your enemy and fight against it. “Erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens” (Exodus 17:14).

It really, really is about good vs. evil. And we are to fight evil, we are to oppose it. And political correctness is evil. It keeps people from discussing issues that can endanger their lives, and from considering solutions that could save it. Please, Abba, no more defenseless victims, please let people begin to discern good from evil and act accordingly.

עם ישראל חי

Am Yisrael Chai

via The Zelman Partisans
Amalek, Haman and a Bucket of Chum

This weekend, DC and Warner Bros. will reveal the next trailer for Justice League—and they’re going to spend the next two days reminding you of that with a ton of new posters and little snippets of footage. Here’s the first batch, focusing intensively on Atlantis’ king, Aquaman himself, followed by Batman and the Flash.

The new footage is very brief, but features new shots of Jason Momoa in action as Arthur Curry (including getting his giant trident—is it really a trident with all those extra prongs on it though? A quindent?—tossed to him by Batman). It’s short, but appropriately epic for the film’s larger-than-life take on the character.

There’s also two new posters—one generic one of the Justice League emblem, and another of Aquaman clad in armor.

The armor’s not new—he wore it in the first picture of the team shown at San Diego Comic-Con last year. But it’s probably our best look at it yet, considering since then we’ve mainly seen Aquaman running around topless, as the King of the Oceans is wont to do. It’s a bit too green compared to Arthur’s traditional look, but still, suitably scaly and whatnot.

We’ll update this post with more snippets as Warner Bros. doles them out, ahead of the latest Justice League trailer dropping this Saturday, March 25.

Updated 3:09: We were treated to another teaser for the trailer, this time featuring Batman. Who just loves to perch on meaningful, high statues.

And here’s the poster.

Update 7:40 pm: Now, The Flash is in the mix with his own poster and teaser.

We’ll add more as they come out.

via Gizmodo
Get an Even Better Look at the Justice League Ahead of the New Trailer (Updated)

A home invader in Miami Gardens (FL) experienced a sudden change of heart yesterday after kicking in the door of the home, only to find a mother insider with a pump-action shotgun in hand, protecting her children.

A Miami Gardens woman possibly saved her children’s life earlier this month after an intruder broke into their home.

Surveillance video obtained Tuesday by Local 10 News shows a man entering the home March 4 while the mother of two was inside with her 10-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son.

The mother didn’t hesitate to grab her shotgun.

“I will do anything to protect my family,” the woman, who does not want to be identified, said.

The woman, who did not fire her gun, said she is still shaken up and frightened about the ordeal.

“All of the sudden I hear some banging noise. I thought it was my dreams or something,” she said.

The woman said her instincts kicked in.

As her security cameras captured the man attempting to break into her home, she quickly rushed into her bedroom and grabbed her shotgun to protect her children.

“They were screaming and crying hysterically, because they were afraid of anything happening,” she said.

The burglar quickly realized that he was in serious trouble after making it inside the home.

“He was running for his life and kept looking back, making sure I wasn’t going to shoot him in the back,” the woman said.

The only thing that kept the man alive during the home invasion was the fact that she didn’t want to kill him in front of her ten and three-year-old children.

I rather strongly doubt he’ll be back.

The post Burglar Flees For His Life When Momma Breaks Out Her Shotgun! appeared first on Bearing Arms.

via Bearing Arms
Burglar Flees For His Life When Momma Breaks Out Her Shotgun!

By Tom McHale
The MantisX Firearms Training System , it’s like having your own professional competitive shooting coach, even when you’re shooting alone.

USA –-(Ammoland.com)- Can we all agree that dry fire practice is the best way to rapidly improve one’s shooting skills? Can we also agree that most of us do it about as often as Colin Kaepernick earns doctoral degrees in political science?

I think most of us take the attitude that whatever we lack in training and skills we can make up for in sheer desperation.

Structured dry fire practice is arguably the best way to improve your shooting skills rapidly. Without all that explosion stuff going on in front of your face, you can focus on developing a perfect trigger press. More importantly, you can easily see if your gun moves and your sights some off target as you press the trigger. When shooting real ammo, you can certainly see the results of your shot on target, but with all the commotion, you have no way to know exactly what went wrong and when – until now. Hold that thought for a second.

Over the past year, I’ve been experimenting with some different ways to improve my handgun skills safely from the comfort of my home. One such solution has been the LaserLyte Quick Tyme target set and LaserLyte Trainer Cartridges. The cartridges fit in your regular handgun and fires a laser beam at the reactive Quick Tyme targets every time you press the trigger. It’s a neat system that gives you instant feedback on hits and misses. It’s also fun, so you tend to practice more frequently. It’s a great system that tells you the absolute basic results – hits and misses.

Technology marches on, however, and this year at the annual Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show I stumbled across a new, and very promising, training tool – the MantisX Training System. It goes far beyond hit and miss tracking. Let’s take a look.

MantisX Firearms Training System

The MantisX Firearms Training System takes a radically different skills improvement approach to the simple measurement of hits and misses. Instead, it’s designed to analyze your (for lack of a better word) micro-movements just before, during, and just after you press the trigger. The system will tell you how much you moved, and in what directions, with precision far beyond what the human eye of even a seasoned coach can see.

The idea is to monitor a series of shots and give you instant feedback on all those details.

Here’s how Mantis-X works. The MantisX Training System is a high-tech electronic coach. It’s a small and lightweight device that mounts on the front rail of most any pistol or rifle. Inside are some fancy sensors and electronics that detect the movement of your gun milliseconds before, during, and right after your trigger press. These movements are recorded and beamed to your tablet or smartphone via Bluetooth. Fancy software analyses that data and shows you different graphical post-mortems of your shot, in excruciating detail. You’ll clearly see exactly what you did for each shot in a string and the aggregate “quality” of all your shots.

The best way to explain how this works is to walk through the process. The MantisX Training System rechargeable using the included USB cable. When you turn it on, it’ll want to connect with the smartphone app that you download for free. Once the connection is established in a second or so, you can configure settings in the app to tell the system what kind of gun you have, whether you shoot right or left-handed, whether the unit is mounted on a bottom, side, or top rail. Yes, that means you can stick it on a rifle too.

There’s one setting that warrants extra special attention. You can tell the MantisX unit whether you’re dry firing, live firing, or using a CO2 pistol. Yes, you got that right. This system is not just a dry fire tool; you can use it at the range to help fine tune your actual shooting performance. The CO2 option is pretty nifty too as you can use an air pistol charged with gas (and pellets or no pellets) to practice at home with a bit of recoil sensation.

I’ve been using this system in all three modes. It works. It’s addictive. It appeals to your inner competitive nature. When this thing scores you, your first natural reaction is denial, but that’s quickly followed by a desire to do it again and improve.

When you begin a firing session, MantisX will record the movement of your gun off target and assign numerical scores based on how far off you drifted before, during, and after your shot. This data is represented several different ways in the app. You’ll get a raw numerical score, which is the quick and dirty indicator. You’ll also see charts that show you direction and frequency of movement relative to the bullseye. You’ll also see a different representation of hold movement versus trigger press movement. That helps you identify and fix shot anticipation issues. Last, there’s a view that shows a graphical track of muzzle movement before, during, and after the shot. All of this info is captured and stored so you can monitor performance over time to see how you’re improving and identify chronic problem areas.

The app even offers advice and suggestion based on the analyzed results.

The dry fire function worked really well. The device had no trouble detecting trigger press and capturing data on every shot. Sure, when I practice dry fire, I can easily game the system, so to speak, and execute a pretty good trigger press with minimal gun movement. Those charts in the MantisX app look (relatively) flat and scores are high. However, the real value in this system was in seeing what I really do when I’m not thinking about it. Having the MantisX system track me while drawing and firing, executing multiple double-action shots, and other dry fire drills was an enlightening and somewhat humbling experience.

Where the MantisX Firearms Training System really shines is at the range.

With all the speed and commotion of live fire, it’s very difficult for the shooter or observer to identify minor mistakes. No worries, the MantisX unit measures and records everything you do, no matter how fast and furious your shooting routine. For example, if you’re trying to clear a steel plate rack in record time, you’ll get a detailed analysis of what you did right and wrong after you’re done. While you may still hit the target, if your technique is off, you’re going to miss that one periodically. The system will help you spot those technique issues that result in “just barely” hits.

The system comes packaged in a nifty little Pelican 1010 Micro Case so you can toss the whole thing in your range bag and not worry about knocks and bumps or gun oil leaks. Assuming you’re serious about skills improvement, it’s also affordable with an MSRP of $149.99. That’s not many boxes of ammo when you think about the upside of years of “free” skills improvement.

This sensible use of technology is one of the most useful training tools I’ve seen in a very long time. It’s like having your own professional coach, even when you’re shooting alone.

About

Tom McHale is the author of the Insanely Practical Guides book series that guides new and experienced shooters alike in a fun, approachable, and practical way. His books are available in print and eBook format on Amazon. You can also find him on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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MantisX Firearms Training System ~ Smart Shooting With Your Smartphone