Saturday, December 3, 2011

A Praxis request from one Dink Blubbermeyer.

A couple of days ago I received a request for praxis advice from a "Dink Blubbermeyer." Being a little busy at that moment (and still busier now) I marked it for response (that is I did not delete it but left it in the in-box marked as unread), but did not have time to answer. I evidently did not answer him in the time frame which he expected, for he sent me a snarky follow-up email just after midnight this morning.

"Great hearing back from you on the below - guess it was too much to ask. Much obliged NOT dude."


His original request:

"Some questions from Absolved:

* do you know a source for kevlar blankets,IR thermal imitators & butyric acid?
* do space blankets really stop IR ?
* are flechettes effective for antipersonnel use or not?
seems buckshot would do the same thing Id say.
I have searched the above online with mixed results whats your view?"


I've always had a bad habit of over-promising and I used to be disconcerted that I couldn't be all things to all people, but that was back when I had time to worry about such things.

Would someone care to take Dink by the hand and guide him in his search? I'm afraid I just don't have the time at the moment.

Thanks,

Mike
III

8 comments:

ParaPacem said...

My suggestion to the irate writer:
As my old Yiddishe grandpa would say, you should go piss up a rope.

bondmen said...

My old Welsh grandpa from West Virginia used to say if you want to catch a squirrel just shake some salt on its tail. Mike I think you have a squirrel there needin' a bit o' salt! Alternative ending: tell him to pound salt!

Carl-Bear said...

Back when I was the editor of Doing Freedom! magazine, we'd get this every month (always from a nonsubscriber). Some were ballsy enough to demand customized plans (to include scaled drawings) solely for their use. Free.

My personal favorite was the guy who offered to pay me with a free classic car if I would assist him in stealing someone else's identity for the stated purposes of financial fraud and theft. Apparently he'd missed the part where that would violate pretty much every moral principle I hold, aside from being stupidly illegal. That one was pretty clearly a sting attempt (whether freelance working on spec or paid CI, I wouldn't hazard to guess), so I backtracked his IP address and other useful data and informed a few "law enforcement" agencies. For some strange reason (heh) after the LEs were informed I stopped hearing from him. And never heard a word of response from the LEs.

Then there was the clown who downloaded a freebie copy of one of my novels and insisted on his right to have a free sequel, too. Actually, there's a large class of those idiots. One went on a weeklong rant about how I don't own the words I write. I finally agreed and provided them with a link to my collected works...

Some assembly required.

The Trainer said...

Another answer to "Dink" might be:

"Ever hear of a 'Google' search and actually doing your own research as you might learn about another facet of independence?

Ever hear of being responsible for yourself and not expecting others to be your R & D (Research and Development) section?

If not, these suggestions offered as constructive criticism.

Oh, before I forget...blow it out your ass.

Have a nice day."

But hey, that's me.

Anonymous said...

Dear Dinky,

Git yerself a detailed map and a powerful flashlight.

Hint: You will also need to have both hands free and unencumbered to perform this operation.

Now, go practice your search somewhere that won't be a bother to the adults on this forum. ;^(



MALTHUS

W W Woodward said...

Best to ignore him. You very well may be the squirrel whose tail he may be attempting to salt. What with your ongoing gunwalker investigations and reports.

I've learned over the years that a little paranoia is a good thing.

[W3]

Dedicated_Dad said...

I'd be HONORED!

Here "Dink" - this should be a good place to start! -- see http://bit.ly/uiWhiY

Temnota said...

I suppose somebody ought to take a crack at answering a couple of the questions:

1. In most cases, flechettes take a while to stabilize no matter how you get them moving. At close range, you're as likely to hit your target with the side or fins of the projectile as the point. Keep it simple and use shot.

2. Pretty much any opaque material will block thermal radiation, as will ordinary window glass. Thermal imagers read surfaces, so unless you're close enough to the material you're hiding behind to warm it by radiation, or have draped it over yourself and are warming it by even-more-efficient conduction, nobody's going to see you.

What you have to worry about is the emissivity of the material, ie, how quickly it loses heat to the environment. Different materials, and different colors of the same material, have different emissivity and that difference will be visible to a thermal imager unless everything has had a looooong time to reach ambient temperature. You might not show up behind that space blanket but the space blanket itself will be a big rectangular blob that contrasts with its surround. Better to hide behind something that belongs in that environment, and keep enough airspace between you and your concealment to avoid heating it by radiation.

Don't worry so much about fooling the imager, the trick is to fool the operator.