New 'Safe Gun' Tech

Here you will find an article about the new gun law in New Jersey.  I really applaud the idea of keeping guns in the hands of ordinary citizens so they can defend themselves while attempting to prevent criminal abuse of firearms.  I do have a couple of problems with this idea.

It wasn't very many years ago that BMW designed a car that opened and started with a fingerprint ID.  Let's imagine what would happen someone was carjacked with such a vehicle.  "The two youths kept the owner with them for quite some time so they could continue their drive.  At least until they figured out that they really only needed his thumb."

Fortunately BMW never took this feature to market.  Instead they went to electronic key fobs.  Nifty for the extra features that it brings to the car, but doesn't really increase the security of the vehicle.

The second problem with this law is it's exemption for police officers.  Police officers' guns get stolen too.  With every other gun in the state locked down and more prone to failure, why wouldn't the criminal walk up behind an officer, smack him to the ground with a pipe, and take his perfectly function, 100% mechanical gun?  If it's good enough for your citizens why isn't it good enough for your police?  I'll tell you why, they only way to get the law enforcement community on board for this kind of law is to offer them an exemption.  I don't really blame them.  Every gun is already a complicated device that is built to contain a rapidly expanding gas cloud at 23,000 psi or more to propel a projectile in a very specific direction.  Does this sound like a good environment to introduce electronics and radio signals into?  I know I don't really want it on mine.

The system put together by this company faces a similar problem.  It also faces the problem of radio signal interference.  Sitting here in my bathrobe I can think of two ways to steal this gun and use it for badness.  I'm sure I could think of more with a little more coffee.  I can also envision a small jammer unit that would prevent these guns from working when they are close to me.  A handy device to have, if I wanted to rob an otherwise armed citizen.

Keeping guns away from criminals is a great goal, but I haven't seen any way of actually doing it yet.

Tax Software

For the last three years I've been using the H&R Block tax software called Taxcut.  I've been pretty happy with it.  It's better than going to their offices and way better than doing taxes by hand.  Last year was the first year that it couldn't do everything I wanted it to do.  It was incapable of electronically filing my state taxes if I wanted to get credit for the insulation I blew in.  I went through the complete nightmare of filling out the state tax forms by hand..... and discovered that the credit would only give me about another $50 and because I was filing on paper, it would take almost six weeks to get my check.

This year I see that Taxcut has become H&R Block at Home.  It won't work on my primary desktop machine because I haven't upgraded my OS since W2k.  Sue me, it's incredibly stable.  It's also gotten a touch more expensive.  More than a touch actually, last year I bought a copy with my state edition for $35.  This year it was $45.  It really wanted me to spend $55 so I could chat with a live person about my taxes.

Really?  If I wanted to talk to someone, why wouldn't I just go to the H&R Block store?  I don't like people, I don't want to talk to them.  I would let this go if it didn't ask me to upgrade four more times.

The jury is still out on this software because I'm still waiting for forms from the mortgage, the bank, the IRA accounts.  Sometimes I wonder if computers are really worth it.  All these records are 100% electronic.  How come I can't get last years info until a month after it's all over?

An Interesting Study

I don't think there is a single person out there that wants criminals to have guns.  I certainly don't.  Many would like to legislate some way to keep guns away from criminals.  I can't think of a single way to make it happen that doesn't completely destroy a persons right to self defense.  This is a link to a study on criminal use of firearms.  It's worth reading.

Some Days

It took me 30 minutes to travel fifteen miles on an almost empty interstate today.  I could see a highway patrol officer, lights and sirens going traveling my way.  I never exceeded forty five miles an hour, and he never caught up.  Days like today make me think about moving south.  Maybe the Yucatan.

The 60th vote

Let's be clear here.  It doesn't take a two thirds majority in the Senate to pass a bill.  The only time you need a two thirds vote is when the minority is holding the majority hostage.  It makes me sad to think that even when two thirds of the country knows our health care system is completely broken and getting worse, we can't do anything to fix it.

It's not paranoia if they are really out to get you!

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