Ryan Byrd’s Ramblings

We went down to Las Vegas to catch the SHOT Show last weekend. Awesomeness abounded:

And then we have the H&K Grenade Machine Gun (GMG) which fires high impulse 40mm (40 x 53 mm) grenades: http://www.hk-usa.com/military_products/gmg_general.asp

I know it’s a commercial, but it’s pretty awesome. Slow motion explosions never get old.

time to put a bar of soap or an egg in the microwave…

Using only a four-minute hourglass and a seven-minute hourglass, measure exactly nine minutes, without the process taking longer than nine minutes.

Can you dig it? Rumor has it that Google asked that question to an engineer applying for a job there recently.

Here are some other tricky interview questions:

• Utah Tech Interview
• More Utah Tech Interview questions
• Tricky Interview Questions
• Dropping Eggs from Skyscrapers
• How would you move Mount Fuji?
• Poisoning People
• End of the World
• Technical Interview Questions
• Google interview questions
• Programming Interview questions
• PHP interview questions
• Tech interview question
• Reverse a string
• Another tech question
• Algorithmic delight
• Top 25 Oddball Interview questions of 2011

how’d you do?

Fotoshop by Adobé

Let’s talk Women in Boots. I’m not talking galoshes, or cowboy boots, or Uggs or so-called boots-with-the-fur. I’m referring to knee-high, leather English riding boots. Horse boots. They’re all the rage, I observe, and confusingly so.

Either there is a dramatic upsurge in female equestrianism or I have no idea. It would be as if men started wearing football helmets for no particular reason at all. Just ’cause. For men it would be ridiculous, but somehow woman are getting away with it.

Function. Maybe horse boots provide some sort of feature that ordinary height boots don’t? Is it the case that these tall boots massage away pesky upper-calf cramps? Perhaps they offer protection from UV rays or mosquitoes or rattlesnakes? If I know anything about women, I doubt it all, because form FOLLOWS function for ladies.

Fashion. Maybe women are wearing English riding boots because the English are sophisticated and women want to be high-class. Using that logic, men should similarly sport shin guards because soccer players run fast and who wouldn’t like to be more athletic?

Preparedness. When I’m working on a construction project out in the garage, occasionally I take a trip to the Home Depot and pick up a tool.  I might only marginally use the tool for that particular project, but specialized tools are good to have around for future projects. Maybe women just want to be prepared IN CASE of a quick getaway on a trusty steed?

What am I missing?

This was my team’s winning entry for this year’s office Holiday Decoration Contest.

I think it turned out well.

okay, it was bonaire. i’ll post more pics and videos of the trip soon.

Click image for full resolution.
– another custom comic by yours truly.

I’ve been saying it for years on my Diamond  Boycott site– as much as the slick mall jewelry store salesmen would have you believe, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GUARANTEE A DIAMOND IS CONFLICT FREE. “What,” you say, “that’s why we have the Kimberly Process!” The Kimberly Process is complete nonsense and is as ineffectual as a process could be. Here’s some proof:

The Huffington Post is reporting today:

An International NGO at the forefront of investigating the illicit trade of blood diamonds has announced it will be leaving the United Nations-backed Kimberley Process.Global Witness said in a statement Monday that the group is pulling out of the conflict-free diamond certification program due to what they called its inability “to evolve and address the clear links between diamonds, violence and tyranny.”

and

Nevertheless, Reuters reports the program can’t guarantee diamonds are conflict-free, pointing to several abuses across Africa where companies still mine for rough diamonds despite reported human rights abuses… “The scheme has failed three tests: it failed to deal with the trade in conflict diamonds from Cote d’Ivoire, was unwilling to take serious action in the face of blatant breaches of the rules over a number of years by Venezuela and has proved unwilling to stop diamonds fueling corruption and violence in Zimbabwe.” … Despite Human Rights Watch and Global Witness citing abuses in Zimbabwe’s mines, the Kimberley Process still gave the green light in November for two companies to export diamonds from the Marange diamond field in Zimbabwe, according to the BBC.

Surprise surprise.I’m been writing about the shortcomings of the Kimberly Process/conflict-free certification for years.

Please, please, stop buying diamonds today. Pledge NOW to end your financial support of rape, war and terrorism through the world. Bullets cost money, and 75% of that money comes from naive Americans spending two month’s salary to the price-fixing de beers monopoly.

I wish I had a megaphone…

1. One of my travel companions said this, “All food should stand on it’s own. If it needs any type of sauce, it’s not good.” He said this while eating plain fries and a naked hot dog in a bun (the hot dog was in a bun, not him.) Relatedly*, his statement is completely insane and hot dogs without ketchup are incredibly nasty. Hot dogs WITH ketchup are horrible enough. For the love, cover that thing up, man.
2. Flying still sucks. The seats are too small and engineered to be uncomfortable. The stewardess still aren’t hot. There is lots of waiting, and I hate other people and their kids.
3. The TSA still takes nude photos of everyone, even if their propaganda tries to convince you otherwise. The TSA is evil and they need to be disbanded.
4. It is hard to sneak coral out of Bonaire.
5. Airlines still think we’re stupid and they still show us how to buckle our seat belts.
6. The Atlanta airport sells fruit Mentos candy for $2.19. I don’t know those thieves how they sleep at night, though I suppose it’s on gold-plates pillows
7. Christmas Trees in the Caribbean weird me out.
8. American scuba divers must love Nerd candy. It’s available throughout the island at every supermarket. Pepperoni, on the other hand, is in short supply. Bonaire ran out of pepperoni on day 2 of our trip. There was NONE on the ENTIRE island. I have no idea how this is even possible.
9. Bonaire wifi pretty much sucks
10. Hollywood has lead us to believe that all scuba divers are hot-bodied, adventurous 20 somethings. NOTHING could be further from the truth. I’m just sayin’, there are a lot of octogenarians with a penchant for bottled air…
11. If you talk to the right bartender, pure Colombian blow (powder cocaine) and Jamaican cannabis can be readily had. $6 for a gram of coke! For comparison, I’m told a gram of highly tainted** blow will set you back $60 to $100 in New York city.

*Not a real word
** http://www.thepoisonreview.com/2011/06/29/dramatic-pictures-vasculitis-caused-by-levamisole-contaminated-cocaine/