Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper’s bell of an approaching looter.
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The Gateway Brand Returns…Badly
The Brother shared this article from ArsTechnica about Acer reintroducing the Gateway brand for a line of new laptops. They were less than impressed. From the article:
Back in 2007, Taiwan-based PC manufacturer Acer bought the once-iconic Gateway brand in order to stick a thumb in the eye of rival OEM Lenovo and increase its US market presence. In the 13 years since, the Gateway brand has languished largely unused, while Acer built up its own name in the United States directly. The cow is officially back now, though, with a new line of mostly budget, Walmart-exclusive Gateway laptops.
The new line ranges from $180 to $1,000, and several models seem interesting – but when we looked closer, we found a familiar and not particularly attractive name behind the brand. Gateway is also making two models of Android tablet – an 8″ GWAT8-1 which doesn’t appear to be available retail yet, and a 10″ model available at Walmart for $67. Trying to find more detail on the GWAT8-1 led us to a surprising discovery – it’s actually made (or imported) by EVOO.
In June of this year, we reviewed and absolutely despised a $140 EVOO laptop – a device powered by an AMD A4-9120e CPU, just like the cheapest model of Gateway laptop in the table above. The new GWTN116-1BL has twice the RAM and storage compared to the effectively uncooled, drastically underclocked, and absolutely bletcherous EVOO EV-C-116-5 – but when we went sleuthing, we discovered shipping records indicating that it, too, is an EVOO system.
And of course the kicker:
An Acer representative confirmed later that, although Acer does own the Gateway brand, it is not directly involved in the production or manufacture of these devices.
My first computer (that was mine, not one of the family computers) was a Gateway. My family bought Gateway systems for a long time. For the nineties, Gateway was exactly that, a great gateway for people purchasing their first computers. It is disappointing to see such an iconic brand treated so shabbily.
Borepatch Blogshoot?
The infamous Borepatch proposed a Central Florida blogshoot. That piqued my interest. Partly because I thought Borepatch was living up near the Georgia border. Then, he suggests using Manatee Gun & Archery.. That is very close to the Ward Estate. Very close. Very interesting.
Then Miguel muses about making the trek up from the south end of the state. Well, that might be worth trying to find some ammo. Not that I haven’t had much luck in that department.
When the Cabela’s flagship store is showing no ammo, you know it’s bad.
Metal Tuesday – Serenity – My Farewell
Another decent song from a new band. Well, new to me, at any rate.
Monday Fiction – Zombie Strike – Part 5 – Chapter 38
Mexico City, 27 June 2010, 2312 Hours Local: Countdown: 1 Year, 5 months, 3 days
Jessica Montgomery instinctively went limp as the Humvee was violently flipped. Her body slammed painfully against the restraints. After the first couple of seconds, the violent motions completely disoriented her. Jess couldn’t tell which was up, down, or even left or right. All she could do was feel the pain. She watched helplessly as the soldier sitting next to her bounced between the ceiling and the floor before being flung out the window.
Just as suddenly as it started, the Humvee came to rest. Her body hurt all over. It reminded Jess of the time Mateo let The Steve go all out during a hand to hand combat lesson. Jess managed to access her PDA and trigger the pain meds. Oh, how she wanted to just lie there and wait for the medicine to take effect. Mateo’s relentless instruction over the past several months kicked in. Gingerly, Jess found the releases and undid her restraints. More pain as she fell a short few feet. The truck was upside down. Thank God, she’d kept her helmet on. It could have been much worse.
She crawled to the door of the Humvee. It was partially open from the force of the blast. Jess peered through the shattered glass. In the odd green palate of nightvision, Jess saw the lower half of someone in a minion’s ninja suit. The minion’s casual stride was all female. Slightly behind the minion were half a dozen zombies standing like decaying statues. Jess felt a thump above her and heard the screeching howl of a gollum. This was worse than any of the tactical problems she’d faced in training. Only this time, if she was wrong, she wasn’t going to just get that annoying look from the adults. She would end up a zombie.
Jess slowly drew her pistol. There wasn’t time for an elaborate plan, or even a simple one. She aligned the three glowing dots at the minion’s legs. If Jess was going down, she would at least take that one with her. The pain medications finally kicked in, and she felt the edge of her hurt go numb. Jess felt a predatory smile spread across her face. This must be what Collin felt when he stalked someone. The anticipation of waiting to spring the trap. Jess forgot what she was planning next as the cab of the Humvee exploded with sound.
The soldier riding shotgun emptied his M4. The roar was deafening in the close confines of the vehicle cab. Jess’s head throbbed, and she nearly dropped her pistol. Her hearing protection must have been damaged at some point. Jess shook her head to clear the fuzziness. She needed to get into the fight. A brilliant green beam blew out her nightvision. In fact, it wrecked most of her electronics. Frustrated, she tore off her helmet. A sudden breeze alerted Jess that the front half of the Humvee had been sheared off and thrown at least twenty yards away.
Jess knew she should have been scared. Hell, she should be paralyzed with terror. Instead, a cold rage surged through Jess. Her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness, but the minion’s casual walk and darker clothing drew Jess’s eye. Jess brought the pistol up again. Her finger brushed the trigger in a gentle squeeze. Jess heard the muted scream of pain and surprise. The minion dropped to the ground, writhing in agony. Instantly, the zombies with the minion staggered towards the wreckage of the Humvee. Each let out the unmistakable sound of a hunting moan. Jess had to work quickly. Every zombie within earshot of those moans would now be homing in like a missile.
Jess half crawled, half rolled over the sharp edges of torn metal. The scrapes and cuts burned as sand and dust rubbed into them. Jess did her best to ignore the pain as she came up into a kneeling stance. No longer needing the element of surprise, Jess flicked on the flashlight mounted on her Kimber. She had a good ten yards. Jess took a deep breath, sighted on the closest zombie, and squeezed. The bullet lanced cleanly through the bridge of the zombie’s nose before shredding the brain. The zombie collapsed like a marionette as its strings were cut. Jess was already transitioning to the next zombie. This one went down with a shot straight through an empty eye socket. The third received an unintentional double-tap. Numbers four and five went down with single shots each. Jess laid her sights on the last zombie.
She barely caught the glint out of her eye. Instinctively, Jess ducked and brought up her arm. The obsidian hatchet splintered Jess’s bracer. The force of the blow drove her to the ground. Her pistol skittered across the asphalt. Jess turned to see the gollum above her, holding its axe above its head. The blade came down unbelievably fast. Oh God, this was how Jack Winchester died. Jess closed her eyes. She heard the axe coming down and then stop. There was no pain, not even the dull thud sensation she feared. After a few seconds, Jess opened her eyes. The obsidian axe was hovering six inches above her head. The gollum was frozen like a statue. Its eyes were fixed on something behind Jess.
"We meet again Little Sister," a deep voice said in her mind. The voice felt warm and safe. The gollum scampered back as the giant dog stepped protectively over Jess’s prone form. The gollum hissed and waved its axe as if to threaten the animal. The dog barked once. The gollum scrambled back. It turned to run, but barely got a few yards before two more giant dogs pounced on it. It was fascinating and horrifying to watch the two dogs savagely dismember the gollum. As each part of the gollum was ripped free, it withered to dust in seconds.
"You have to be more careful, Little Sister," the voice said again as the dog sat down next to Jess. "You are needed in the future." The giant animal panted patiently as Jess’s mind processed all that had just transpired. She watched transfixed as four more of the giant dogs emerged from the darkness. Their matty brown coats were strangely easy to see in the darkness. It was almost as if they glowed. Two of the animals hunched over the wounded minion and snarled menacingly. The other two gently pulled Slim from the wreckage of the Humvee and gently laid him on the ground.
"Who are you?" Jess finally managed to say as she turned back to the dog that saved her.
"We are Coyote’s pack. Or at least part of it," the voice answered. "Listen very closely Little Sister. That one knows where the Foul are going." The dog nodded towards the moaning and sobbing minion. "You must find the Key, Little Sister. You must have it in your hands before dawn breaks. If you don’t, then there will be much more death before this journey ends."
"What is the Key?" Jessica demanded, "Why do you have to be so cryptic?" The dog looked sadly down at her.
"We wish we could tell you," the voice answered, "Coyote only tells us these few things, so that we can tell you. Your pack comes. Don’t forget." The giant dog bent down and licked Jess across the face. Jess recoiled at the warm slickness. Then, the animals were gone, as if they vanished into thin air. Jess stood up at the sound of roaring engines and screeching tires. She froze in mid-step. She was moving. Her pain wasn’t gone, but it wasn’t any worse than after a hard sparring match. Her hand reached up and touched where the giant dog licked her. What had he done to her?
The area went bright as daylight as several Humvees surrounded the battle scene. Jess blinked at the sudden light. Strong arms enveloped her and lifted her off the ground. She recognized the ferocious hug as Quentin. As he set her down, Mateo greedily snatched her into another hug.
"I thought we lost you there," Mateo whispered into her ear. She could feel his tears on her cheek. Jess knew she should be mad at her foster father for scaring off the one guy she had fallen in love with. At that moment, she let go of her anger and just reveled in the warm hug. When Mateo let go of her, Jess saw that the Army and Zombie Strike had quickly secured the area. The Steve and an Army medic were tending to Slim. Collin and Sport were holding their weapons on the minion who was having her leg tended by another Army medic. Apparently, everyone had figured out who the bad guy was.
"After your Humvee was hit, zombies just came out of the woodwork," Mateo said as Jess watched all of the activity. "We tried to get back to you as fast as we could." Jess’s eyes locked on to Billy. His armor was dented and smeared with fluids that Jess didn’t even want to think about. Mateo was talking about the battle, but Jess didn’t hear him. She had nearly been killed more times than she could count in the space of a little over an hour. Giant dogs saved her twice and then talked to her. She had no idea how or if she was going to survive tonight, but she knew what she needed to do. She stormed away from Mateo. She loved her foster father, but this was it. Soldiers and teammates got out of her way as she crossed the battlefield. Billy turned just as she approached. He started to reach out to her, but stopped as his eyes met Mateo’s. Jess grabbed Billy’s head and forced him to meet her eyes.
"Billy, do you love me?" Jess asked, quietly, but forcefully.
"Yes," he answered, like he was relieved to finally acknowledge what he felt, "But Jess, we can’t—" Jess cut off his protest as she yanked down his head and kissed him.
Friday Quote – Larry Correia
A friend of mine who is a political activist said something interesting the other day, and that was for most people on the left political violence is a knob, and they can turn the heat up and down, with things like protests, and riots, all the way up to destruction of property, and sometimes murder. But for the vast majority of folks on the right, it’s an off and on switch. And the settings are Vote or Shoot Fucking Everybody. And believe me, you really don’t want that switch to get flipped, because Civil War 2.0 would make Bosnia look like a trip to Disneyworld.
Notorious RBG Passes
Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Friday, September 18.
First, and most importantly, let me express my condolences to her family. Cancer fucking sucks, and it hurts to watch your loved one suffer. It hurts when they pass away, even if you might feel some relief that the suffering has ended. I hope the family holds on to happy memories of her in the days, weeks, and years to come.
Second, while I may have vehemently disagreed with RBG on her interpretations of law, I never doubted her as a suitable juror and legal mind. Everything I’ve read from her and about her reinforces my opinion that she was a capable and honorable opponent.
Like her close friend of many years, Anthony Scalia, RBG passes away during a contentious election year. I was listening to one of my politics podcast when I got the news. I suddenly felt as if what I was listening to was suddenly obsolete. The difference between now and 2016 is that the Republican party holds both the Senate and Presidency. They will get the chance to ram their nominee through. But should they?
From a constitutional standpoint, there’s nothing procedurally wrong. There is no wording prohibiting such action in situations where the incumbent president was not likely to win re-election. More so regarding when the Senate was expected to flip between party controls. I also don’t doubt that Democrats would do the same damn thing if they were in the exact same situation. They would just have the media showering them with adulation about their courage. To be fair, McConnell’s actions after Merrick Garland was nominated were more appalling to me. I am still of the opinion that Garland should have been at least given a hearing.
I’m also seeing a lot of nut-picking on my Book of Face feed. I know it’s nut picking when the same few crazy tweets are held up over and over again as representing the whole. I don’t think there are whole swaths of the left ready to go to civil war, or burn the place down. As much as I hate to say it, there will be violence. Some of it will be bad violence.
Which detracts from the legacy of a great woman.
Bucky
On Monday, Sept 21st, I lost my cat Bucky. Fuck cancer. Fuck kitty cancer.
Bucky came to me fourteen years ago with his brother Ghost. They were part of a litter from a feral momma cat that my friend had brought in so Momma Cat could give birth indoors. My wife at the time had moved out maybe a few months before the two tiny kitties came into the house. Even then, Bucky was clearly the dominant one.
Fast forward a bit. My friend needed a place to stay after his divorce. He brought with him three female cats and a thirty-pound dog. Bucky was my street-punk cat who brooked no shit from any of the other animals. Including the dog. Then we were joined by friend’s new girlfriend and her pug. Bucky was in charge of the animal herd – and proved it multiple times. This era was also when Bucky got his first taste of beer. That cat loved his beer.
Bucky was a big cat. At his largest, he was pushing fifteen pounds. Which he used to prove his point when he wanted your attention. Which he did, but only on his terms. It was I want attention. Thank you. Nip.
Then came Irma. I made the decision that instead of riding out the storm by myself in a house I wasn’t too sure about, I would evac to The Brother’s place. Bucky had not been outside the house in probably a decade. He didn’t understand why I was putting him in this tiny cage. He didn’t understand why I was throwing him into the noisy metal box. He didn’t understand why the noisy metal box was moving. My big, strong, silent cat began to let out the most horrible sounding cry of distress. I would grow used to it over the next few years as he was forced to move from The Brother’s house back to mine. Then when we moved him down to what would become his final home.
I was worried when we were moving him into a house with several cats who were already established. Yeah, I should have known better. Within moments of being sprung from isolation, Bucky established himself as alpha of our clowder.
The last few months, you could see something was wrong. The Wife mentioned he was breathing harder than normal. He developed a cyst under his eye. We took him to the vet to get it removed. She took a look at his x-rays and told us that there was some cloudiness in his lungs. There wasn’t anything we could really do, so we kept him comfortable. Then, our normally voracious eater and demander of treats, started getting very finicky. We took him in Monday. He’d lost almost a pound and a half in less than six weeks. The cloudiness had taken up almost all of his lungs. After an excruciating period, The Wife and I made our decision. We spend a good ten to fifteen minutes giving our Bucky attention. If you didn’t know he was sick, he would have seen almost normal. Purring and happy that we were there.
Miss you my friend.
Metal Tuesday- Iron Saviour – Condition Red
This one came across my mix, and much to my surprise, I hadn’t previously shared it.
Monday Fiction – Zombie Strike – Part 5 – Chapter 37
Mexico City, 27 June 2010, 2200 Hours Local: Countdown: 1 Year, 5 months, 3 days
Jessica Montgomery’s eyes snapped open at the sound of the animal snarl. Her assailant froze in horror, his wide eyes focused on something behind her. Jess rolled onto her belly and came face to face with the largest dog she’d ever seen. It kind of looked like a German Shepard, but tan and light brown. Oh yeah, and it was the size of a pony. It stared at Jess’s assailant with teeth bared and muscles rippling. The animal should have terrified her, but she just felt very safe.
The gunshot startled her. Jess felt the bullet pass over her. A splotch of red blossomed on the animal’s shoulder. The creature didn’t even shudder from the impact. It almost seemed to smile just before leaping over Jess. The man let out a terrified scream. Jess heard bones crunching and the scream stopped instantly. Jess twisted around. The animal was gone. The man was still on the ground.
"Sweet Savior, what was that monstrosity?" Slim asked as he slumped down next to Jess. She stared at the tall Brit for a moment. She had been so transfixed by the creature, Jess had completely forgotten about her Zombie Strike teammate.
"Are you okay?" Jess asked.
"I’ll survive, but I’m bloody getting tired of being banged about every time we sortie out," Slim answered. The two helped each other up and found their rifles. Jess would have time to figure out the giant dog later. Zombie Strike should have started their attack on the zombies brought by the recent firefight. Jess and Slim found a small building that looked relatively unscathed. The two scaled up onto the roof. The battle was evidently underway.
"Lead, Rifle is back up," Slim reported as Jess set up her weapon.
"Thank God," Mateo breathed over the radio. His command voice returned with the next sentence, "We’ve linked up with the Army. How much more are we facing?" Slim scanned through his scope. Jess took a brief second to make sure Billy was with the rest of the team. There he was, fighting six zombies with a baton in one hand and a Glock in the other. She smiled as she watched him casually destroy the half dozen zombies. He was just so graceful.
"Lead, I’m estimating a couple hundred walkers," Slim said, "They’re too thick for me to get a good estimate on crawlers."
"That’s what I thought," Mateo said, "You’re on over-watch." Zombie Strike and the soldiers formed a loose half-circle. Billy, as one of the team’s close-quarters specialist anchored one end. Quentin, who could have been mistaken for a human wall, anchored the other. The soldiers made up the center. They were pouring a lot of fire downrange. The Zombie Strike team were methodically whittling at the front edge of the zombie horde. Small piles of re-killed zombies grew as the team went about its work.
"Target 0-3-0," Slim said in a low voice. Jess brought her rifle to bear on a zombie that slipped between the Army’s and Collin’s field of fire. She brought it down and cycled the bolt. Slim was giving her new coordinates as she felt the next round chamber. A zombie got too close to Sport. Jess vaporized its head. The fight raged as the humans fought off ten times their number in zombies. She concentrated on taking down the ones that managed to get just a bit too close to the line. The team’s fire shrank the horde until it was just a few pockets of stragglers. Those were quickly finished off. Jess and Slim rejoined their team after picking their way through the ruins to avoid crawlers and possibly buried zombies. Mateo and Collin were talking to one of the soldiers. The Steve was busy tending to the soldiers injured in the firefight against the drug gang earlier. Quentin was opening a crate.
Billy stepped in front of her. The world seemed to stop for a moment as she looked into his dark eyes. Eyes that silently asked if she was okay. Jess answered with a smile. Relief washed over Billy’s face. She felt him take her hand. Even in the middle of a destroyed city, it all felt magical. She heard footsteps behind her. Billy looked up and suddenly went cold. He yanked his hand away. Jess could only stand there stunned as Billy turned and walked off. Anger seethed through her as she put the pieces together. Jess whirled around to face her foster father. Mateo was still glaring at Billy’s back.
"Matt, why did you do that?" Jess asked keeping her arms tucked across her chest to keep from punching Mateo. He looked down on her, and suddenly it all made sense.
"You told him to stay away from me," Jess said in her coldest voice.
"He’s five years older than you," Mateo shot back. He silenced her next volley with a hand gesture. "He’s an adult and you are not. This is not the time or place to discuss this. We will have this talk after we’re through here." His tone made it clear he was speaking as her team leader, not her foster father. Jess seethed, but it wouldn’t do any good to scream at Mateo. It would have been a lot easier if they all weren’t in the middle of trying to stop their shadowy nemesis from fulfilling an ancient prophecy of doom.
"The Army says they’ve seen Giant," Mateo announced as the team gathered around. Jess opened her forearm armor bracer to access the PDA underneath. "Some of the Colonel’s men spotted something matching Giant’s description heading towards this area." A box appeared on the map as Mateo highlighted the area.
"Just Giant?" asked Quentin.
"No, he’s brought some friends along," Mateo answered. The map flipped to an image captured by a nightvision camera. Giant was easily recognized. Four others were dressed in similar costumes. That made them minions. Another six were only wearing loin cloths. The painted runes showed clearly in the image. Gollums. Jess swallowed as she remembered the last time she encountered the nearly indestructible creatures. Ironically enough, it was here in Mexico City during the fight at the museum.
"Bloody hell, six gollums," Collin said, echoing the team’s thoughts, "Well this certainly got more interesting. In the Chinese sense of the word." Jess suddenly understood why the Chinese saying of May you live in interesting times was a curse instead of a blessing.
"What about giant dogs?" Slim asked. The team turned to him. Slim quickly explained to the group. As he finished, Billy barked out a laugh.
"Don’t worry about them," Billy said, "There isn’t time to go into it now, but trust me. We don’t have anything to fear from them."
"Okay, if you say so," Mateo said, "The plan is to find Giant, find out what he’s after, and grab it before he does. If we have to fight, best bet will be divide and conquer." There were no questions. The Army was kind enough to give the team a lift to the target area. It was clear that Col. Allen, the commander of the Army’s anti-zombie force didn’t want his troops going up against Giant and his group. Jess couldn’t blame him. Jess and Slim were loaded into the back of a Humvee. As the convoy sped along the devastation, Jess began thinking about Billy. More to the point, how she was going to convince Mateo to stop interfering. She knew her foster father was trying to protect her. To his credit, her last boyfriend had been killed fighting zombies, and she’d taken it hard. Why couldn’t Mateo see she was stronger now?
Jess was ripped from her thoughts as the Humvee rocked violently and then rolled over.