Kalimat al-Mutafalsif

As I mentioned before, I'm putting together an AR-15, and my next few posts will be the story of how its been put together. I'm also using this project to test out Picasa, so I'll use that to post my images (just as soon as it finishes scanning a few of my automated rip folders, such as icanhascheezburger, forgot I had all them!)

Before I begin, I'd like to link to a schematic which can be found here. This way when I mention random parts you can find them and play along!

This first post is about the lower assembly, which is the buttstock, lower receiver (has the hammer, trigger, magazine well, etc). At this point I'd like to note I'm using a great book by Walt Kuleck and Clint McKee, The AR-15 Complete Assembly Guide, its got nice pictures and very very good detail on how you'll screw stuff up if you don't listen. Well worth the $17!

Parts

Lower Receiver
I bought a DPMS stripped lower receiver from a local gun enthusiast, which cost $158.73 after taxes, cable lock fee, etc. On the AR, this stripped lower receiver, meaning it is just the frame, no trigger, hammer, nothing on it, counts on its own as an assault rifle, because it has the serial number on it. So I walked out of there with a piece of metal in a locked dry box with a cable lock through the mag well, to make it 'safe' to transport.

Lower Receiver Bits
I'm not too particular about my trigger yet, so I also picked up a DPMS Lower Receiver Parts Kit for $56.99 (Don't buy anything direct from DPMS by the way, you can always find it cheaper). Some may ask why I didn't just buy a completed lower receiver, but I wanted to understand how everything works, and say I built every inch of this gun.

Buttstock
All that was left was the stock, and I snagged a Command Arms 6-position stock assembly, for $92.99. Its a very nice stock, and am quite happy with the sturdiness of it, as well as the function. It has rails on the right side, and a 4 battery storage area on the left side (can be swapped for more rails) which is more functionality than I'll need for a while. Went on in about 5 minutes, including forgetting to put a detent in, and having to redo it.

Assembly
The assembly was easier than I expected in terms of simplicity (piece X goes in slot Y), but harder in terms of executing it (piece X really does not want to go into slot Y, and X's spring is fighting me too). It took about two hours, including redoing a few steps to make sure it was right, flinging detents all over the room as I learned why they say to do something one way, and searching my house for various tools I thought I already had.

The trigger guard's been the hardest part so far, since its roll pin just did not want to go in, and required a "motivator". After that went in, I put in the magazine catch, so I could mount the gun on a handy little bench I have, and then moved on to the trigger and disconnecter. Somewhere in there the bolt catch went in, and that's where I stopped last night. This morning I got up and put in the hammer, safety, pistol grip, and buttstock. It was very straight forward, but like I said above, there are a few places where you really should get a tool to do the job for ya, like the front take-down pin. Otherwise you're gonna shoot the spring all over the room, and don't even think about finding the darn detent afterwards!

So now I've gotta go order all the upper parts, a receiver, bolt/bolt carrier, barrel, and some hand guards. I'll be getting a scope eventually, but may pick up flip up sights due to cost for this first build, not sure. I have pictures of the whole process, if you know how to get a hold of me in real life I'll pass on the URL.

This past week saw the release of Geert Wilders' "Fitna". I'd like to quickly say this post is not endorsing that film, the author of it, or any specific religion. I hope, instead, to point out what the film has actually accomplished, and look at the issues surrounding it. I'd also like to point out that I fully support all basic human rights, including those of Freedom of Speech and Religion. I won't be giving a link to the video as I don't support it. In addition, those viewing it might be disturbed by a few scenes (beheadings, hangings, close range gun shots) and I don't want my site affiliated with any of that. Read below the cut to see my analysis.

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I've finally figured out what it is that sets me on edge regarding Apple. For as long as I can remember there's been this little nagging inside of me that, hey, there's just something not right about this company. I'll preface this with the fact that I'm not an Apple person, though I have used Macs and will probably own one within the next year (need something small and portable for coding). I'm also not completely up to date on everything Apple's been doing, just the really big news items.

Anyway, I finally figured out that its all about control. We all want control of our lives, of our money, of ourselves, and that's natural. But Apple wants complete control over their products, even after you buy them, and that's wrong. What am I referring to? The "awesome" press conference today where Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone SDK plan.

Quick recap of the plan: Developers pay $99 a year (or more for an enterprise license) to use the SDK. Once they have something, it must be distributed through the Apple App Store. To get into the App Store, each must be vetted by Apple to make sure it conforms to their policies.

Now you know my feelings on DRM. I hate it. If I buy something, I expect the rights to do with it as I please. Steve Jobs feels the same way, or so he says. I've long argued that he doesn't really mean that, but now I kind of think he does. See he specifically says DRM on music is wrong. He also points out that they don't own the music anyway, so they can't control it. What Steve Jobs wants is for everything Apple owns to be DRM'd and everything else to be free! Don't believe me?

- Apple computers (I'm talking 90's era when America and the world were getting in good with computers) were sealed with Torx screws. So what? Well at the time, and still, an average human being has no clue what that is (they've never had to crack an XBox to mod it) nor do they have Torx screw drivers to open it.

- FairPlay, the DRM created by Apple, is supposed to be a good system. Yet Steve Jobs, in the article I quoted earlier, claims that to release it worldwide would be to have someone reverse engineer it, and break it. Clearly a few things are going on here. First off they're banking on some form of security by obscurity which any good security professional would laugh at. Second they're betting that people can't break FairPlay if they don't have the source, which is wrong also. And third they're trying to protect their handy little algorithm from the rest of the world. Why was iTunes never released on Linux when it originated on the Mac (a Unix core)? My guess is because Apple is afraid someone would reverse engineer it and they had to protect their secrets.

- The iPhone. Gosh, where to start. Sell a locked phone, on only one network, that you get kickbacks from... Why not allow any service to use it? (I've heard from an Apple employee its because some services need specialized packages by the provider. That's all fine, but its not that other networks were given the chance to implement those packages, its that the phone was locked, period).

- This SDK. Now, its not uncommon to pay to use someone's SDK. I've got no problem with that, you spend money to make money as my brother just pointed out. My problem comes with the fact that they have to go through the app store. I'm sure this is done in the name of "security", 'cause iTunes has never been infected before. Oh wait, it has. Why can't an independant coder such as myself offer a download from his mobile phone equipped website? Why must I use their store? (Oh, and you can post free apps, at least they're not forcing you to charge).

- The store. The reason you have to go through the store is so Apple can vette your product, and make sure you're not bypassing their locks! What a wonderful little software depot they run here, so long as all the developers drink the Koolade. I can understand trying to make sure people don't get past a few boundaries, they point out VoIP over the cellular network to get past minutes plans. I'd like to point out my cheap little Razr can do that to bypass the minutes plans (a quick google search turned up this link, but I remember thinking about setting up my desktop to handle calls last summer from a website I was reading at the time, so I know there's more home-grown solutions).Oh yea, and the store takes a 30% cut.

How does any of the above not point to Apple controlling its products? Sure, companies do that, they control their products. But few companies give me such a shiver when I hear of each new ploy than Apple does. And the worst part is, all the coverage I've seen of this plan has been good, not a single piece has questioned Apples need to vette every developer's contribution, or for them to take 30% for doing nothing.

For once, and I shudder to say this, I have to like Facebook's model better. Put the API out there, let the public go crazy, and keep it free! You get just as much content, you get a much wider variety (unlike the few whack biscuits I saw who said this would "spur creativity" within the iPhone community), and you get community interaction. What's more to love? With this plan you'll get the people who planned on writing for the iPhone anyways, along with businesses who just want to replace their Blackberries. Of course, those are the people who wouldn't try to do something shocking and free with their phone, so maybe that's why Apple wants only them. Forget the hackers that might do something cool, lets go the safe and greedy route.

So here's to you Steve Jobs! If you truly believed what you said in your article on music, you'd think twice about this plan. Every year Apple turns more and more into what they always thought they were fighting, the mindless overlords bent on controlling their populace.

I've neglected this blog lately not due to lack of programming, but because I'm only coding on projects that I've already discussed on here. I had planned to do a mundane post about new features on the DungeonRunner character viewer, but then I stumbled across some stories that work well together.

Remember the 'equipment malfunction' during the Super Bowl a few years back? How it was a severe understatement, as well as a stupid excuse for a dumb plan? The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) has just made a digital version. They traditionally blame college students for all manner of atrocities, everything from wanting to watch legal DVDs on their Linux machine to downloading movies. A wee bit ago (2005) they announced shocking statistics that proved college students were responsible for 40% of all illegal movies downloaded. This led to a campaign of terror at many big-name schools, as well as lobbying to force Congress to add in stipulations for cracking down on file sharing in new higher education funding. It turns out, they were wrong. Taken from their statement:

While in the process of recently updating that study with current data, we discovered there
had been an isolated error in the LEK process two years ago that resulted in an inflated
number for piracy by college students. The 2005 study had incorrectly concluded that 44
percent of the motion picture industry’s domestic losses were attributable to piracy by
college students. The 2007 study will report that number to be approximately 15 percent...

That's right, they had a little math error, and inflated the number by 3 times its value. That's a nice sized oops. Of course they're very apologetic, but that doesn't really change the fact that after the 2005 study MPAA increased its lobbying in Congress to punish college students. This increase resulted in two bills now going before Congress, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007, which will require schools to crack down on filesharing or lose all federal financial aid, and the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property, which will increase fines and create a new federal agency devoted to tracking down 'large-scale' infringers. Thankfully both of these bills haven't been passed yet, there's still time to call your representatives and tell them to vote it down! Do you want your kid's college losing financial aid because they haven't devoted enough resources to tracking down music downloaders instead of teaching your kid? Do we really need a new Agency (your tax dollars at work!) to protect the money of MPAA or RIAA?

There is an upside to all this, believe it or not. Amazon is releasing its MP3 service now. It sells MP3's (no issues with having to change format for iTunes, Windows Media Player, or any other player) that are DRM free! Plus it has songs from the four big labels, the first DRM free site to do so. And, though it may vary by song, the songs are cheaper than Apple's DRM'd music (I saw hot new singles at 89 cents each). This is a huge win win situation. Not only are the songs relevant (3.3 million and counting), and cheap, but DRM free and supported by a major company! I'll be supporting this site for sure, if more people use Amazon as opposed to your other favorite (lets say iTunes, remembering that all Amazon songs can be put into your iTunes library as well) hopefully the industry will get the idea that DRM is bad.

Here's a great example of our nation's colleges selling out their students and bending over to RIAA's demands. I just had an email passed on to me that originated from Indiana University's Associate Vice President for Information & Infrastructure Assurance dealing with file sharing that is just plain sad. It shows a complete lack of caring for their students, as well as a lack of understanding about the laws involved. Oh, as well as the worst tag-lines for anti-file sharing I've ever heard!
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Every now and then I'll be taking a shower and some song will come to me. Typically its whatever was playing before I went to bed, or some commercial jingle. Sometimes its actually creative. Had the idea for a Bob Dylan remake the other week, and just now got around to writing the whole thing. Without further ado, 'Tapping on my Keyboard':

Nothing's left for me to do
They say that I'm to be abhorred.
Unless they realize its untrue
I'm stuck here tappin on my keyboard.

Tap-tap-tappin' on my keyboard
Writing down my last request
Tap-tap-tappin' on my keyboard
Til they come for my arrest

Nothing's left for me to say
When people want me in the ward.
Now all my rights have gone away
I'm stuck here tappin on my keyboard.

Tap-tap-tappin' on my keyboard
Writing down my last request
Tap-tap-tappin' on my keyboard
Til they come for my arrest

Meaning
The original song (lyrics found here) was from the movie "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid", and used in the death scene of Slim Pickins. My version is written from the standpoint of a hacker who faces criminal charges thanks to a wonderful society where hackers are assumed evil and never have good motives (not unlike the plight of Christopher Soghoian last fall, in fact his case is what I was thinking of while writing this).

A friend just pointed me to a really interesting development in the fight against RIAA. Apparently William and Mary stood up to their John Doe subpoenas and the judge actually threw the case out. A quick snippet follows, the full article can be found here, as I'm about to go to sleep.

"Plaintiffs' motion and accompanying brief neglect to mention that Congress provided a framework for subpoenas to identify internet infringers in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 'DMCA'), specifically 17 U.S.C. § 512(h)," wrote the judge. "Section 512 of the DMCA establishes safe harbor provisions for four categories of internet service providers ('ISP') based on the function which the ISP performs with respect to the infringing material—'transmitting it per § 512(a), caching it per § 512(b), hosting it per § 512(c), or locating it per § 512(d).'"

And in English....

In order for a subpoena to be issued under the DMCA, according to Judge Kelley, the record labels must first issue a DMCA takedown notice to the ISP: in this case, William and Mary. However, since the college did not host, cache, or transmit the music in question, there's no place for a takedown notice... and no room for a subpoena to be issued.

What does this mean? It means William and Mary is safe for students. I'm not condoning piracy, but this means that if, for instance, your computer was trojaned, and used to download media which is entirely possible, the students wouldn't be out on their own!

Of course, any good dark net would try to recruit a student or two on that campus to be their go to person for new music, or just install proxies on some select computers, but that is neither here, nor there.

Friday night I went over to a friend's apartment for a nice dinner, as his parents were coming through town on their way home. It was a nice evening, though I didn't really jump into the conversation until it turned to more technologically oriented ideas. One topic we got onto was music downloading, or "piracy", as my friend ran afoul of RIAA at one point in time. By that, of course, I don't mean he DID download anything, merely that they claimed he did, and his school was too scared to offer any form of defense. I ended up butting heads with my friend's dad on this topic, as I think RIAA has stepped way over the boundary of protecting their property and now is just using scare tactics trying to keep online music purchases from taking off any more. Now, at the time I really couldn't think up a good argument articulating why I felt so strongly against RIAA (besides just their tactics in general, I mean why I dislike their underlying ideals), and how to get across to someone in their early 50's who may have never bothered to download music, legally or otherwise, what the real issues are. Luckily I always replay conversations in my mind for days afterwards to rethink my positions and prepare myself should that topic ever come up again.

Just before America started the Revolutionary War, many colonists took up the slogan "No Taxation without Representation" because the American colonies were being taxed by Britain, yet given no say in the British Parliament. The British claimed a 'virtual [funny they should use that word] representation' by British representatives across the ocean. James Otis is recorded as having said "Taxation without representation is tyranny." What he meant by that is if some power can take a group's money, and yet give them no way to express themselves, they are no better than slaves under a dictator. Most Americans, would agree what was happening was unjust, and our fighting against those policies was justified.

Now imagine that RIAA is Britain back in 1765, and the colonists are music lovers. Don't quite see the comparison? Try this. The 'Taxation' that we're speaking of is the price of buying music, or movies in any format, hard or soft copy. Obviously it is necessary to pay for these, otherwise there'd be no music out there. However, the 'Representation' is the customer's rights. In our current society they don't exist. Hence we have a case where the consumer is being taxed ($12 for a CD), but then getting no representation (No rights to copy that CD for themselves, and if things go as RIAA plans something like a one CD per one player could happen). Wow, all of a sudden our outlook changes. Now its not tyranny, but necessary for our country. Congress even took time our of their busy schedule to write 15 major American universities to pressure them to expel more students for downloading.

I know exactly what will be said at this point. "Aha! You said downloading, it is illegal and therefore your whole argument is invalid!" That's interesting, as a major event in our (American) history would be the Boston Tea Party, where 90,000 lbs of tea (worth 10,000 pounds) were dumped into the harbor. 8,000 soon-to-be Americans cheered when they saw this. It is important to note this took place on the night of the biggest protest they had held against the British, it wasn't just 5 guys in Indian costumes acting on their own. Yet we are proud of that moment, many see it as one of the sparks for the American Revolution!

Lets jump back to today. We have millions of music lovers oppressed by crappy DRM schemes, the DMCA, and RIAA's lawyers who go so far as to set up fake music sites to catch and sue people. Yet we now accept that as the norm, and absolutely warranted to protect the sacred intellectual property. I put forth that something must be done to end this tyranny, as something was done over 200 years ago. With a big enough outcry the RIAA will be forced to recognize that what they're doing won't fly. With enough calls to your representatives they will understand that to keep signing things such as the DMCA, and writing letters asking for good students to be expelled for downloading one song will mean the end of their time in public service. The government is in place to serve the people, not the lawyers or the greedy, and it is time for RIAA's tyranny to end. I am not advocating any illegal action, obviously the choice to download music is your own to make, but it did take illegal actions for our country to be free, so I won't limit my call by criminalizing downloading either.

So tell me, how do you feel? If you were back 200 years ago, would you have cheered when they dumped that tea overboard? Or would you have said that property is sacred, and the rights of those being oppressed should take a back seat to the law?

EDIT: Ideas for how to get this 'revolution' to work. Boycott major labels that institute the worst DRM. Call your congress representatives. Refuse to buy music online unless it comes DRM free (While Apple supports this now, I'm boycotting their service as they make you pay a higher premium to get your rights). Encourage friends of yours that are in a band to look up the Creative Commons license for their work. Petition your favorite band to write their label and express discomfort at the scare tactics RIAA is using now. IF you download illegally, do it in such a way that you can't be caught, the more RIAA catches people the stronger they become (Yes, it is entirely possible to acquire DRM free music undetectably. No, I won't tell you how).

Now here's an interesting story I ran across today. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is asking lowly Bill Gates to "show mercy" to a Russian school teacher, Aleksandr Ponosov, who's being charged with software piracy. Now in this country you might be thinking, "Who cares?" In Mother Russia this crime carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, but a Russian prison in the Urals is a far cry from the nice warm places we've got here. Especially for white-collar criminals.

The story gets better. This poor man, literally, is charged with stealing $10,000 worth of software. There is a good chance he makes as little as $100 a month (judging by comments I've seen from people living in Russia) which shows just how ridiculous Microsoft prices are. This man works for the school, and bought a few computers assuming they were legal. In return, he might spend 5 years in the Gulag (might be an exaggeration, might now be) for trying to help his school.

Ok, and now for the part that really blew my mind. A former world leader begging Bill Gates not to punish this man. How sad is that when a software company gets pleas like this from such (former) powerful men? To this Microsoft supporters who say its not too powerful, please think again. Gorbachev didn't think to go inside his own country to the prosecutors involved, no he went to where the real threat was, Redmond, Washington. Of course Microsoft ducked this plea for help by saying they didn't file civil charges, and this was all Russia's doing. Right, and I'm sure this had nothing to do with it? Filing a bunch of law suits worldwide... and then when one guy wasn't specifically charged you claim you didn't do it. Also, when there's surveys claiming Russia to be the second worst offender of piracy, I find it hard to believe Microsoft wouldn't want in on that.

Hey, I just thought of a solution... everyone chip in, and lets mail a box of Linux distros (some are specifically geared towards education) to Russia, and let them decide which way to go. Spend more than a teachers yearly salary on software, or take this free route and avoid dealing with the evil that is Microsoft.

I hate those new Mac commercials. "Hi I'm a PC, hi I'm a Mac"... ring a bell? I found out (via slashdot) that there's new ones for Britain. I watched 'em, and sure enough its the same stupid argument. PCs are only used for work... too virus ridden, etc. Why is that such a stupid argument? Here goes...
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