Ontario RAT Folding Pocket Knives
December 3rd, 2019My youngest son, Reed, chose an Ontario RAT-1 for his first knife six months ago. I’m definitely no expert on knives or EDC gear, but I’ve been so astonished by the quality, durability and low price of the Ontario RAT-1 knife, I wanted to tell you about it.
Reed is extremely hard on his tools in general and his RAT-1 gets the same treatment as everything else. He carries the knife on him every day, all day. He is constantly cutting, carving and whittling wood. He strips bark. He cuts rope. Despite my warning to him that he’s probably going to ruin the liner lock on the knife, he batons wood with it. Prying stuff with the tip, risking blade bends or breaks? Check.
Despite all of this, he is able to maintain the blade’s sharpness to such a degree that he uses it as a sort of quazi Exacto blade for his art work.
Here’s the knife after six months:
Earlier today, I sat down with Reed and we took the knife completely apart to clean and oil it and see how it’s holding up. It had a bit or dirt and sand between the handles and the scales. There was a small amount of surface rust on the tang near the pivot. We were able to remove the rust with a couple of drops of 3-in-One oil on a rag. Other than that, a bit of the black finish had rubbed off the clip and the little logo that was on the blade had also worn off. Despite batonning, the liner lock was perfect. With a hint of 3-in-One on all the metal parts, we reassembled the knife and it was ready to go again.
Before we took it apart and after reassembly, there was no play/slop in the blade at all when locked open. With a bit of adjustment on the pivot screws, we got the blade to line up perfectly centered between the scales again when closed, just like it came from the factory.
Come to think of it, that tiny bit of rust we encountered on the tang was probably due to Reed attacking some banana trees (which are full of water) with the knife. Some of the gunk around the pivot was probably old banana tree pulp.
I noticed that all the screws were set with blue Loctite from the factory. I didn’t have any Loctite so we didn’t replace it. I don’t know how necessary it is, but Reed had switched the clip configuration on the knife when he got it and, despite not replacing the Loctite then, those screws have not backed out at all after constant use for six months. (I wonder if to-Loctite or not-Loctite debates fester in weird backwaters of the Internet… I’m seeing a miasma of grey beards, suspenders and Pall Mall cigarette smoke.)
The Ontario RAT folding knives come in different sizes, colors, handle materials and blade steels. The RAT-1 is the big RAT, the RAT-2 is much smaller. I bought a RAT-2/AUS-8 for myself (black knife on the left in the picture below). I hardly notice it for EDC around our farm. I paid $25 for that knife, which is an unbelievable value in my opinion.
I thought AUS-8 was the way to go for the steel selection due to ease of sharpening and I have not been disappointed. Reed is able to maintain the edge sharpness very easily. D2 steel will hold an edge longer (apparently), but it will also be more difficult to sharpen and more prone to rust.
In summary, you can’t go wrong with the Ontario RAT knives.
Google Has 10,000 Employees Censoring YouTube Videos, Some of Them Starting to Believe Conspiracy Theories
December 3rd, 2019Via: RealClearPolitics:
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki tells Lesley Stahl what the video platform is doing about hate speech in an interview Sunday on the CBS newsmagazine program ’60 Minutes.’
Wojcicki told ’60 Minutes’ that Google employs 10,000 people to focus on “controversial content.” She described their schedule, which includes time for therapy. Stahl also said there are reports that the “monitors” are “beginning to buy the conspiracy theories.”
“What we really had to do was tighten our enforcement of that to make sure we were catching everything and we use a combination of people and machines,” Wojcicki explained. “So Google as a whole has about 10,000 people that are focused on controversial content.”
Lesley Stahl: I’m told that it is very stressful to be looking at these questionable videos all the time. And that there’s actually counselors to make sure that there aren’t mental problems with the people who are doing this work. Is that true?
Susan Wojcicki: It’s a very important area for us. We try to do everything we can to make sure that this is a good work environment. Our reviewers work five hours of the eight hours reviewing videos. They have the opportunity to take a break whenever they want.
Lesley Stahl: I also heard that these monitors, reviewers, sometimes, they’re beginning to buy the conspiracy theories.
Susan Wojcicki: I’ve definitely heard about that. And we work really hard with all of our reviewers to make sure that, you know, we’re providing the right services for them.
More: 60 Minutes: How does YouTube handle the site’s misinformation, conspiracy theories and hate?
Homeland Security Proposes Face Scans for All U.S. Citizens Entering or Exiting Country
December 2nd, 2019Via: Reuters:
The Trump administration intends to propose a regulation next year that would require all travelers – including U.S. citizens – to be photographed when entering or leaving the United States, according to the administration’s regulatory agenda.
The proposed regulation, slated to be issued in July by the Homeland Security Department, would be part of a broader system to track travelers as they enter and exit the United States.
The plan has already drawn opposition from some privacy advocates. Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union, blasted the idea in a written statement on Monday.
“Travelers, including U.S. citizens, should not have to submit to invasive biometric scans simply as a condition of exercising their constitutional right to travel,” he said.
China: Police Interrogate Man After He Criticized Them on Social Media
December 2nd, 2019Via: Ezra Levant:
China spies on social media conversations. Then they bring dissidents in for a real-life chat. I’d say we’re AT LEAST five years away from that over here, so no worries. pic.twitter.com/HjXzqsgr8S
— Ezra Levant ? (@ezralevant) December 1, 2019
India: Rampaging Monkeys Will Be Tracked Using Microsoft Facial Recognition AI So Worst Offenders Can Be Sterilized
December 2nd, 2019Via: Daily Mail:
Rampaging monkeys will be tracked using Microsoft face recognition technology so the worst offenders can be sterilised after causing chaos across India.
The booming primate population has reached crisis levels in recent years with spates of attacks on humans, including babies being killed by the animals.
Researchers at the Indraprastha Institute of IT (IIIT) in Delhi, working with new Microsoft artificial intelligence (AI) hope to track down monkeys which are causing carnage.
They are using Microsoft ‘AI for Earth’ to pass on data to organisations which can administer contraception or carry out sterilisation.
Effects of Noise on Vascular Function, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammation
December 1st, 2019Via: PubMed:
Epidemiological studies indicate that traffic noise increases the incidence of coronary artery disease, hypertension and stroke. The underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Field studies with nighttime noise exposure demonstrate that aircraft noise leads to vascular dysfunction, which is markedly improved by vitamin C, suggesting a key role of oxidative stress in causing this phenomenon.
Related: From Lawn Mowers To Rock Concerts, Our ‘Deafening World’ Is Hurting Our Ears
China Introduces Mandatory Face Scans for Phone Users
December 1st, 2019Via: AFP:
China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting Sunday, according to the country’s information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls.
In September, China’s industry and information technology ministry issued a notice on “safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of citizens online”, which laid out rules for enforcing real-name registration.
The notice said telecom operators should use “artificial intelligence and other technical means” to verify people’s identities when they take a new phone number.
A China Unicom customer service representative told AFP that the December 1 “portrait matching” requirement means customers registering for a new phone number may have to record themselves turning their head and blinking.
Trump to Designate Mexican Drug Cartels as Terrorist Groups
December 1st, 2019Wikipedia plot summary from Tom Clancy’s Clear and Present Danger, 1988:
The President of the United States, who is running for reelection, finds a fierce opponent in Ohio Governor J. Robert Fowler, who has rallied the American public behind his administration’s failures in the War on Drugs. This provides National Security Advisor James Cutter with an opportunity to help him initiate covert operations within Colombia with intent to disrupt the illegal drug trade there. Aided by CIA Deputy Director (Operations) Robert Ritter and CIA director Arthur Moore, the plan involves inserting light infantry troops of Hispanic descent into the country to stake out airstrips used by the cartel (SHOWBOAT), which then allows F-15 Eagles to intercept drug flights (EAGLE EYE). In addition, mobile phone communications between cartel management are intercepted through CAPER, which is also the communications arm for SHOWBOAT.
Via: AP:
President Donald Trump put the Mexican government on the defensive when he said he “absolutely” will move ahead with plans to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
Trump said in a radio interview this week that tens of thousands of Americans are killed every year because of drug trafficking and other activity by the cartels. But Mexico is pushing back, worried that such a step would allow its neighbor to the north to violate its sovereignty by operating unilaterally inside Mexico.
“I’ve been working on that for the last 90 days,” Trump said in a radio interview with Bill O’Reilly, who asked whether such a designation would be forthcoming.
O’Reilly had asked Trump if he would designate the cartels “and start hitting them with drones and things like that?”
Trump replied: “I don’t want to say what I’m going to do, but they will be designated.”
The Delayed Choice Quantum Eraser
November 30th, 2019Bacteria in Contaminated Walmart Pork Resistant to Multiple Antibiotics
November 30th, 2019Via: Newsweek:
Testing has revealed the presence of bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics in pork products sold at Walmart stores in the eastern U.S., according to a report.
Research conducted by non-profit World Animal Protection (WAP) identified several strains of bacteria in the meat, 80 percent of which were resistant to at least one antibiotic. Furthermore, the report found that 37 percent of the bacteria in the Walmart samples were resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics—and nearly 10 percent were resistant to six classes.
Worryingly, the report found that 27 percent of the resistant bacteria in the Walmart samples would be unaffected by antibiotics categorized as “Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials” (HPCIAs) by the World Health Organization (WHO). HPCIAs are antibiotics used when there are few or no alternatives to treat people with serious bacterial infections.
