Yeah I’m not really trying to hide from the govt, but I would vote on limiting their power if given the chance. Anyway, what I don’t want is every corporation I deal with (car, bank, phone, apps, isp, etc) to track me so excessively.

If the govt did get curious it would take zero leg work, just ask those companies that are very willing to hand over my data to damn near anyone, or hold onto it long enough to have it stolen.

So with that in mind limiting corporate surveillance and limiting ease of govt surveillance is essentially the same thing, but the govt has the ability to put in the work and get you if they really wanted to.

Idk how the new user experience is now but back when I first downloaded it I wanted a hybrid of sat imagery when cell signal allowed, with an overlay of offline OSM data. This was for two reasons, hiking and to see if the mapping in that hike area needed any major land use edits.

Anyway I had to fiddle with the menus and settings for a while to get the overlays where I wanted it to be. Don’t get me wrong I was able to figure it out but for users who want to install and go it can be understandably frustrating

Osmand is really cool and it’s really capable but I understand that it isn’t for people who don’t want to tinker a bit to make things work just right for them.

For that Organic Maps is what I recommend.

It’s like $20 for cheap devices that talk to your phone via bluetooth. They have standalone devices too to fix that potential vulnerability.

I’m messing around with a few rn. Heltec V3s and TBeam Supremes.

My grandma told me of a relative that came to visit them in the US from Eastern Europe (Slovakia I think) after the Soviet Union dissolved.

One thing they noticed is that he always wore his shoes. Even when staying at home. Even to bed. They asked why and he explained that it was to give him a chance of escape if the Secret Police came and he was surprised that our family didn’t have to do something similar.

“Oh no I eat garbage and rarely do physical activity why oh why do I hurt when I do even the smallest things?” - Me, before I started getting out and doing things.

What happened that time?

Not so much of the physical building, but I bet the designing isn’t too big of a stretch. Think something like procedural generation to make 2/3 of a floor plan and have humans make sure it makes sense and add details.

Yup, many shows just milk themselves to death.

(guys they mean the sudden changes in road quality)

So I’ve driven fire trucks and similar sized vehicles. If I’m trying to get the truck in a driveway and have two lanes to work with I can go nose first. I go into the lane opposite of the target driveway to swing the front end into the driveway. It definitely takes both lanes if you don’t want to make a 100 point turn, Austin Powers style.

If it’s a tiny road or only one lane then I have to back in. I approach by getting as close to the target drive as possible and then swing the nose away from that side of the road, lining up at a better angle when I start backing. This pic shows it well but you don’t need nearly as much space irl. Your just go slower and cut the wheel harder. The back tire could be just a bit above and to the left the #3.

My point is you can get into a lot tighter spaces backing in. There’s a reason why forklifts steer from the back. The truck in the pic should have backed in or started over.

Arma players are more at home with km than miles because they never leave the basement to use it irl

(jk I am that guy)

.9mm mechancal pencils (.7 breaks too easy)

That’s not what I’m saying. He had a pretty good “why” for having easy access to weapons until he was checked into a mental institution. If he was a danger to himself or others I bet they could have prevented him from getting weapons. I’m interested to see why they chose not to or how their attempts failed.

I admit it was a deviation from the subject and might have been confusing. Every time this guy’s background is brought up people tend to think military training is some forbidden knowledge that citizens don’t have access to, which isn’t the case at all.

Go anyway, the western US is beautiful.

Yup. I used to be a vol firefighter. If your response time for any emergency service is under 5min you’re very lucky. But often even that isn’t enough. You need the tools and skills to do what you can until help arrives. Fire prevention, medical and self/fam defense. Until they get there it is up to you, and many people don’t realize that.

Sounds like a legal nightmare

Extensive firearms training is a bit of a stretch. Yes combat jobs get plenty of range time, but many only get a basic refreshers as needed (before deployment)

But yes military bases are pretty strict compared to outside the fence

People get wrapped around the axle about this. If you don’t know the military doesn’t turn you into John Wick. Most people in the military have never been issued a gun outside of qual, but all are given a bare minimum level of training just in case things got dire.

Annual (if that) weapons training is basically “don’t tk your buddies 101” a bit of shooting to prove you can and cleaning after. You only get more if direct combat is your actual job, or will be soon.

Just like anything else if you want to get good you have to put in some effort on your own time.

Very accurate