Tawe TMD blog is live

This is a blog for Tawe TMD thingummybobbins.  Also, all my SLA 3D Printer Project posts will reside here from now on.

SLA 3D Printer Log 1: Projection, Projection...

In between dreaming of a house where model trains bring me pre-mixed Robinson's squash and keenly observing the cathartic tidal wave of backlash against Dungeon Keeper Mobile I have received a 720p projector from Ebay, costing £250.  Before launching into the specifics of how to use it, let's examine the unit itself.

The book is A4 width (and 2cm shorter lengthways) for comparison, and the unit weighs 1.13kg

The unit is actually 206 x 162 x 75mm (lxwxh), feels like a quality implementation despite it's low weight and is highly intuitive to operate; this isn't surprising when we learn that this model (Nobo X22PW) is simply a rebranded Optoma TW330, which is going for £410 at time of writing.  That is excellent value for money given that most projectors in that range will be 1024x768 native at most, not 1280x800 native (keep an eye out for native resolution, most projector sellers claim their model will "handle" 1080p, but this is done through upscaling and will make your movie look anything but sharp).

*Review Interlude*

The unit is surprisingly quiet in spite of the fan having to keep a 2200 lumen lamp from exploding (not a hint of facetious here), and that lamp gives plenty of brightness even on std-mode with 1700 lumens.  It is audible, but it quickly fades away during gaming since the noise has no irritating frequency (that goes out the window in bright mode, I suggest just turning up the brightness in windows).  Having played Medal of Honor: Airborne on it I can say that it eco-mode might not be to everyone's taste but with lamps costing around £90 I think most can sacrifice 29% brightness for 66% more lamp life.  This is also a Single-Chip DLP model so it suffers from a little colour separation during fast motion (highly noticeable when you shake your head viewing a black background); finally I would like a better contrast ratio than 2000:1 for more defined extremes in the colours, but I'm rapidly disappearing down a rabbit hole here.

*End Review Interlude*

Back to the point at hand, 1280x800 will allow for a detail level of 0.1mm per pixel for a build area of 12.8cm x 8.0cm; I'm looking for a minimum resolution of 0.05mm seeing as I design for FUD on Shapeways (0.1mm Resolution), giving a build area of 6.4cm x 4.0cm.  One of my ideas up to this point was to traverse the projector along a vertical rail, utilizing a redundant RAMPS axis to adjust the build area/resolution balance, but I forgot to account for projector focus; what's worse is that the minimum distance I could get the projector to focus was around 28cm, which gives an image of 197.5mm x 124mm - well above the 64mm x 40mm required.

Despite this, the brightness of the resultant screen area was highly encouraging.

In order to attain this build area, I need to add an adjustable lens with at least 3.0x magnification.  DSLR lenses can be had used for around £50, given that a UV filter is a common accessory it may be that the lens can transmit UV without hindrance, but apparently DSLRs have UV filters of their own and there may be some in the lens too - an optical testbed will be required to fully investigate the matter, as well as some actual 3D resins (no VOCs, please).

Free Ideas Bucket 1.0

I intend this project to be completely open-source, that means any and all STLs and diagrams related to the build will be available royalty-free and not on my Shapeways Shop; if *you* would like to sell it, go ahead but be prepared for a hard time making money given that the models are free and Shapeways can be used by a Bonobo.  Anyhoo, I present my current list of ideas:

• A standalone built-in computer, either a Raspberry Pi, it's more powerful compatibles or even a full-on x86 PC.  This is to allow the printer to run without having to keep either my PC or Laptop running with it all night.
• An ultrasound sensor to detect the resin level in the bath and adjust the build platform starting point to suit, this is only relevant to top-down designs.
• A touchscreen on top of the machine, adjustable to either face outwards (for desk use) or upwards (for floor use).
• Gullwing doors...  just because...

That concludes the first of hopefully many buildlogs to the SLA 3D Printer Project.  The ultimate aim is to largely free me from having to use Shapeways for every.  single.  solitary.  step.  in the R&D Process for Tawe_TMD.  It's always the way when you make something that you trip up on things you couldn't have predicted, but even if I flounder and fail, I can always watch Zero Punctuation across my wall.

Sirens of the 1080p screen, and the prints of reason.

As far as temptation goes, getting a new PC is up there with crisps positioned but a few feet away after 3 hours of CAD.  I say temptation because my current aim (and New Year's Resolution mind you) is to be able to subsist upon my own business alone - not to have to rely on a job to pay my bills.  I have already made inroads towards this with my Shapeways Shop Tawe_TMD but I've hit a snag:  Research and Development.

I am currently developing my first proper product, which is a Metropolitan Ex-Twin Brake Van from the turn of the century in N gauge (1:148); the body is pretty much sorted out, pending any minor alterations for functionality.  The chassis also pretty much looks like the final iteration, so the bulk of the work is now done leaving me with the R&D associated with functionality - and boy was I in for a ride!

Each one of those strips on the side is 0.1mm high by 0.25mm wide.

In the UK it takes around 3 weeks from order to delivery, in the latter stages of R&D (tweaking) this holds true even for minor changes like increasing the distance between the axle holes; this is doubly frustrating when a mistake is made, such as an item being wrongly printed, this being the direct inspiration for this post and the potential project I will get to in a moment.  Shapeways solved this issue with haste and care and I applaud them for such attention, however, I consider it a call to action for a proper solution.

That solution is my very own SLA (Photo Lithography) 3D Printer; this isn't as difficult as it sounds, because according to many Youtube videos and This Instructable, it is entirely possible to print a 3D object using nothing more than a Z-carriage, a beaker of resin and a DLP Projector.  Feature sizes can be minute, too:  a 1280 x 800 DLP projector (£250 from Ebay) can result in objects up to 12.8 x 8 cm in size with a resolution of 0.1mm in the X and Y; you can even get higher resolutions simply by reducing the distance between the Projector and the resin (e.g:  6.4 x 4 cm with and XY res of 0.05mm).

I have made a not-terribly-professional case study into this idea and found some interesting facets to the idea of running a 3D printer like this:

I was never noted for relishing writing novels...

For the record, here's some additional information for those looking to check all this out (I did this on many assumptions):

• 1 Metro Brake Van = 2656 mm³
• I set a budget of £200 for materials, this includes minor electronic items like stepper motors, and any 3D prints for special parts.
• I don't know what I will coat the build platform with, but it will need to hold things during printing whilst peeling off when done.
• I assume Council Tax to be included with the Rent.
• Food + Taxes is broken down thus:

1. Food = £30/week or £120/month
2. Income Tax = £38.12/week or £165.19/month from here (assuming gross earnings of £15,000 a year)
3. The rest is for other things like electricity, gas, water which I can't be stuffed to calculate, but the remaining £164.81 should cover it

• As for printing, I am assuming a perfect run of setting up supports (SLA prints need copious support material, maybe not in the case of the Metro Brake but I'll apportion it anyway), a successful print owing to a reliable non-stick application (that's what the Sylgard 184 is for - It stops the print from adhering to the resin basin in bottom-up designs), and finally a flawless post-processing run (fat chance...).

It is quite clear to me that running this printer to print Metro Brake Vans to sell is not a viable proposition - even with sufficient resolution, the time spent in preparation will ensure absolutely no free time, an unacceptable situation when this business is intended to help me achieve financial freedom.  3 hours per print sounds low compared to 3 weeks, but remember that Shapeways is taking on all the work in those weeks, and I am free to make new designs while my Metro Brake goes on sale.  This printer makes much more sense for Functional Testing, i.e:  making minor changes around the coupling area or testing strengthening ribs.

To any aspiring Shapies, I say this:  If you have passionate pride in your work, be prepared to test and test and test - go so far as to intentionally break your redundant testing models to reveal weaknesses.  On the note of final presentation, don't be like many of the modellers on this virtual superstore of human creativity and only upload the STL with some token renders; this really shouts "That'll do, next!", and is that the attitude you would tolerate from a carpenter?  An engineer?  A NEST team?  One of the best ways of showing that you have done such testing is to upload a Youtube video that will show it running.

I hope that PC temptation doesn't get the better of me...

Do you keep a PC lineage?

One of the benefits of Asperger's Syndrome (sadly one which you don't necessarily appreciate when scared to death of being discovered as such when talking to people) is that I keep a mental Rolodex of all the PCs I have ever owned.  This is off the top of my head mostly, so don't expect the strictest of accounts:

0th PC:  Mum's Socket A Machine

• CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 1833MHz
• Motherboard:  Some Abit model...
• RAM:  I suspect 1GB DDR-266 since it could at least play MOHAA on XP...
• GPU:  Nvidia Geforce 2 MX 64MB
• HDD:  ~80GB EIDE
• Resolution:  1024x768

This PC isn't strictly mine, hence the fact that it's my 0th PC.  While this is the PC that got me into gaming, I could hardly wait to be able to mutter 12-year-old swears about the rangers in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault without my dad browbeating me, having heard me in the same room (taking the computer away was like meta-death to me).

1st PC:  1st PC?...

• CPU:  AMD Athlon XP 1700+ 1467MHz
• Motherboard:  Abit KV7
• RAM:  1GB DDR-333
• GPU:  ATi Radeon 9500 Pro 128MB
• HDD: 80GB EIDE
• Monitor:  Viewsonic VX924 1280x1024

My first PC...  so goddamn old the CPU doesn't even have a sticker on my case's CPU lineage:

Unrelated items:
1)  The Pentium II Xeons were installed when my case allegedly housed one of the PCs rendering Lost in Space.
2)  The central barcode - Apparently scans as 'SEC' o.O
3)  Right items - random stuph that has ended up in my PC over time.

That said, this PC was instrumental in allowing me to graduate from muttering at MOHAA to screaming unspeakable possessed noises at it instead (seriously kids, DON'T attempt MOHAA on hard when you're 12).

Talking about this PC also reminded me of what stuff I also had in it:  for the longest time, or what felt like it, I had an all-copper Cooler Master HSF with the noisiest freaking fan I have ever heard aside from delta fans; combine this with barely-effective dual heatpipes at a time when a 1.6V CPU was considered a "Low Voltage" model (1.75V being the norm for AMD CPUs), and you have a genuine waste of space!  A waste of space that was replaced not before time by a Zalman Flower cooler and suspended 92mm fan ;)

Maximum Overclock:  ~1.8GHz

2nd PC:  SWAG in the proper sense of the word...

• CPU:  AMD Sempron 64 2800+ 1.6GHz
• Motherboard:  Some Socket 754 make
• RAM:  1GB Generic DDR2-667
• GPU:  ATi Radeon X1300 128MB
• HDD:  250GB SATA-1
• Monitor:  Viewsonic VX924 1280x1024

Not a great deal is known about this PC because it was so goddamn poor, plus the fact that at 15 I had pilfered a small trust fund to...  ahem...  fund it.  It spent several months (anything from 3-6 months from memory) stashed in my dad's shed after Maplin refused to return it (lack of receipt ;) ).

Maximum Overclock:  Did Not Attempt

3rd PC:  The Advanced Massive Dominator

• CPU:  AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.2GHz
• Motherboard:  Abit Fatal1ty AN9 32X
• RAM:  Bizarre mismatch of 1GB Generic DDR2-667 and 2GB Super Talent DDR2-800
• GPU:  ATi Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB
• HDD:  250GB SATA-1
• Monitor:  Viewsonic VX924 1280x1024

Now we're getting somewhere!  Definitely a moment of pride for me since I now had a PC that could toast those Netburst heathens!  The defining title for this PC?  Battlefield 2 :P

Some notable facts about this PC:

1. The RAM Mismatch is down to me being completely unable to afford a replacement 4GB or even 3GB kit (DDR2 is still an anomaly of DDR pricing, with DDR2 costing more than either DDR or DDR3); I had to ship it in from the US, as well.
2. The Motherboard had a separate daughter-card for audio output - ostensibly for a cleaner audio signal; It was mounted on an offset PCI-e 1x slot that was also flipped round.  As well as this, 2 x 40mm fans were in the I/O panel, never turned on since they were just too fecking loud!
3. This was the first PC that was housed in my current TDZ 2000 GX1 case, before that it was in some no-name "Gaming" case which didn't even have a single 120mm fan mount, relying on 80mm fans throughout.  I ended it's tenure properly by giving it a puddly, poorly executed gold paint job.

This PC now enjoys a peaceful retirement as my dad's main PC, with the exception of the monitor, but that's another story!

Maximum Overclock:  ~2.6GHz

4th PC:  Defection Part 1

• CPU:  Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66GHz
• Motherboard:  ASUS P5K Premium WIFI-AP
• RAM:  4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 Dual Channel
• GPU:  ATi Radeon HD 4850 512MB
• Sound Card:  Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi SB0770 OEM
• HDD:  750GB Samsung HD753J
• Monitor:  Dell S2209W 1920x1080

Yep, you read that; I bought Intel for this PC; was definitely impressed with a lowly 65W TDP under the previous 90W TDP, as well as it's increased efficiency in all regards.

This is the point it began to dawn on me that I'm not very lucky when it comes to overclocking - I only managed to squeeze some 600MHz out of this CPU when others were reaching 1GHz increases >:(

Nevertheless, this was the first foray into 1080p and DirectX 10 (I was with ATi so ADD A POINT ONE!!!).  S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the game de jour with it's DirectX 10.1 adding sooooo much improvement to it's notorious performance issues; not that this was too much of a celebration since before I discovered how to turn noprefetch on I suffered hourly Blue-screens, sometimes within minutes of startup.

Interesting fact regarding the HD 4850 - I modded it's BIOS to overclock it permanently so that it would remain that way without needing the intervention of Rivatuner.

Following this was a stupid, ill-thought-out attempt to sell these bits in order to upgrade; forgot to account for depreciation and the fact that I used an iCute 600w (now forever rebranded iFryAllYourCircuitry with thanks to Autobot on the Bit-Tech Forum), which I suspect treated the VRMs to under-spec voltages for several years - this caused the motherboard to die on the poor fuck I sold it to, don't ask me how VRMs can "get used to voltages", it's the only theory I've got...

That left me without a PC for 1.5 years...

Maximum Overclock:  ~3.2GHz

5th PC:  Defection Part 2

• CPU:  Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz
• Motherboard:  ASUS P8P67 B3 stepping
• RAM:  8GB Corsair DDR3-2000 (running 1866) Dual Channel (2GB x 4)
• GPU:  Nvidia Geforce GTX 560 1024MB
• Sound Card: ASUS Xonar DG
• HDD:  750GB Samsung HD753J
• Monitors:  Dell S2209W and Viewsonic VX924

And so we come to the end of this carousel of silicon to my current machine:

What can I say?  2 screens is liberating enough to justify 2 desks :)

You know what, fuck it, I'll let you go TMZ on the internals:

A veritable nest of wires can be beheld...

A healthy PSU fan transplant - yes, it is possible!
Thankfully un-furrying a CPU cooler is much easier with an air duster.

Among the car-accident wiring and wholly ineffective sound-deadening foam there's an Air Penetrator in there somewhere...

The collapsed defeat of a Perks For Pocket Change post, will probably just leave it like that TBH.

That Sharkoon 1000 80mm fan really showed off a good shutter; god I love my camera!

This is my current gaming/CAD machine; she runs very well and Windows 7 is remarkably smooth given that it's on a 6-year-old HDD.  The dual-screen setup is odd in that the screen heights are dissimilar both in resolution (1080 vs. 1024) and in physical height - this leads to the pointer seeming to jump vertically when crossing the border.  The best thing about it though is using it in CAD, being able to view both the model and some research material at the same time is such a breeze to say the least; the other thing it's good for is to view a slideshow of railway station pictures during a loading screen, as well as a few gadgets to monitor CPU, Memory and GPU utilization.

Maximum Overclock:  4.6GHz at 1.425V - toasty and risky...

I hope this recollection stirred fond memories in you all, especially if you began in the BBC micro era or similarly early days.  I for one love to tell stories like this and I'm only 22!  Being an OAP suddenly sounds so much more fun...

Unloved...

5th of September since I made my last post; I don't think I would have made a great deal of sense if I kept posting anyway, looking back over my blog really did illuminate how whimsical and silly my choice of words was still is.

To compress events into a nutshell (Why not just say "long story short?", oh yeah, it would be derivative... and dull), I have been job hunting for the past months and have finally landed a Christmas temp job at BHS:  Simply put, I pull trolleys out, stack shelves, retrieve stuph from the stockroom, repeat.  Occasionally there is a customer query or Fitting Room duty where I can stand there and just exist in between dealing with customers; try it sometime, just stand somewhere alone or lie down with your arm over your eyes (my preferred napping method) and let you and your mind just be.

It's an okay job, but I didn't count on how it tires you out - I don't feel as exhausted after a long walk, cycling 10 miles and back to towns you haven't even seen in nearly a decade or even taking the train to Hull...  from Camberley.  It's bizarre to think that raw enthusiasm can dull the weariness from virtually anything you feel passionate about, whereas after a "regular" job your first instinct is to just crash in bed and watch NerdCubed.  Yeah, not a great endorsement there, but there is one major reason why I took it up:  to give my projects a sorely-needed shot-in-the-arm.

Like playing "Engagement Ring Extortion Hunt"!

In all seriousness though, I really need to increase the scope of my work.  Incidentally I completely failed to divulge the business idea my pal DigiShark along with me and another friend went into:  Kryian Cases.  Basically we decided to start a PC Case business and we were all eager to get going, me especially given my sore need for a new PC case.

It may not have cable-routing holes or a even enough width to house my CPU cooler with the side window on the inside, but it has A SHAPEWAYS SPARK!!!

To cut to the chase, we floundered because we were stupid with our money; rather humourously this is resulted in the threat of debt collectors on DigiShark's doorstep since he owes them money for the storage unit we rented.  The point is that I really feel I can take up the gauntlet (famous last words), not necessarily with PC cases but in other fields like my Tawe_TMD Shapeways operation, although my favourite idea of the moment is to develop R/C Aircraft plans and sell them online along with laser-cut wood packs on Ebay (probably through the Tawe_TMD ebay page since it ought to be used for something, right?).

I've run into a bit of a rut with respect to Tawe_TMD, I've discovered that copying plan views of carriages into 3D models for eventual printing is not something I want to be doing as my main source of income - 2 to 6 hours a week is where I'll draw the line since I need to make room for other business operations.  I think it is that I lack an outlet for my creativity in this line of work given that all I need to do is follow a plan.  Designing R/C aircraft will hopefully allow me to express both my imagination and my skills in creating aircraft, and I can finally transition properly from X-Plane 10 to real life; prepare for Eldritch Abominations that somehow fly in spite of their freakish forms!

Whew!  If you've stayed with me through this self-absorbed expulsion of literary gas I'm impressed with you, impressed enough to treat you to the adorable dog Ruby nuzzling under a sofa cover:

Death to interchangeability! And other stuph about my identity...

Seeing this video above got me thinking as to who I really was:  Geek or Nerd?

If you are like me I guarantee that you've come under fire from people who are lauded as "high society" in Secondary School (Guys who want women to be socks and girls who want their men like dividend stocks; basically, both are scum).  Due to the fact that they are usually legendarily thick and unable to close their mouth, they would have called us both with reckless abandon - Incidentally, if one dared to point out the difference, he'd got violently excommunicated for being a "literary faggot".

Anyway, I detest improper use of words like the use of "Gimp" to describe not a male sex slave but "Not cool, nerdy, ugly, stupid. This word can apply to people, places, things, or ideas." (Urban Dictionary), so this is my simple take on the Geek vs. Nerd dilemma based upon the highly-scientific evidence of this video (Well who would you ask? That pusher by the gate who hasn't gotten it up in since the Thatcher era yet has an entourage of squealing sluts wherever he goes?):

• Geek = Trivial Extrovert - This person tends to identify with a crowd based around a bizarre, non-mainstream subject matter; Trekkies, Sonic Fans and PC gamers all fall under this umbrella.  Basically these are ordinary people following something extraordinary.
• Nerd = Immersed Introvert - These people prefer to practice their craft on their own and are usually obsessed with something other people find trivial and orthodox; Railfans, Pleasure Pilots and Stamp Collectors are all found here.  Put simply, these are the extraordinary who find interest in the ordinary.

My personal theory regarding how these interact is that the Nerds invent things by tinkering with the mundane, then the Geeks will latch onto the resulting production and support it, eventually making it mainstream.  Keep in mind that these two do in fact blend together to form no distinct black/white but a very granular spectrum throughout the grey; My personal estimate for my Geek/Nerd ratio is 30:70.  What's yours?

One last note, there is no such thing as an 100:0 or an 0:100, just like there are no men completely masculine or women completely feminine.  The aforementioned "high society" may even suggest they are neither, but that'll be proven wrong as soon as they are spotted in a football shirt or a wonky picture with their friends of them topless with "S.L.U.T.S." painted in lipstick across their bellies (lol, geeks for hedonistic sex).

Hitler makes the music, Putin doles out the drinks.

Small update before we dive in:  massive sabbatical recently on this blog, since the 19th of July it seems; this was due to my withdrawal from my Swansea University Aerospace Engineering course and that shook up all my plans.  I failed one crucial module which I could have done the resit for but I just didn't feel like I wanted to go in the academic direction anymore and anyone who reads this knows that academia is nowhere to be found in my writing style (if you ask me, academia can best be described as "expand your sentences ten-fold, lest you want people to call you thick").  I have been looking for a job but all I've got is a couple of people looking to "forward my CV", basically the career equivalent of the bint who flirts with you only to leave when you get her a drink - boy am I tired of employers who don't take the trouble to tell you that you haven't made the grade...

I'm willing to bet my net worth (I hope someone bites, it's severely negative currently) that you have come across the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, and the new laws banning grown-ups telling kiddies that gays are worthy of anything more dignified than having a soldering iron shoved up the bum... maybe a little more brutal than reality, but the gist is there I hope.  Beans has done a similar post on this, raising the excellent point that it is fruitless standing up against one evil (this) while gleefully accepting another up the tailpipe (china's blasé attitude towards human rights), that makes you a political hypocrite, far from destroying your credibility these days that seems to make people respect you for being a "smooth talker".  However, I fear that in this case it is a question of economics - plenty of women buy cut-price fashionable label shoes and stuph, in spite of the fact that they are frequently made in 19th century visions of penal colonies in the 1950s.  The reason why we tolerate "Made in China" so much is because we simply do not have the time to conduct private investigations into where all our shit comes from, while the Olympics are in the laser-like public gaze every time they rock up; now we have all the time in the world for international finger-waving!

I'm going to bring my money to the table here, there are only two kinds of people who think too deeply into this shit - Flamboyantly out'n'proud gay people, and Overtly "Straight" people.  You really have to get a load of the "Straight" people, don't you; these are the people in prison who rape other men but, no no no no!  The OTHER bastard is Gay!  Seriously!  Why else would he accept my dick (in spite of my 3 equally disturbed buddies holding him down, as well as the fact that we are all grotesquely muscular and we only target people when there is absolutely no chance of retribution)?  I'm just showing the pitiful freak his place, after all...

If I seem to go against my "Bros" in the male gender, deal with it; there are lessons to be learned here for Western Society in that we men must not allow ourselves to become too mired in manliness.  Too much of the masculine can in fact be dangerous to society just as too much femininity is suffocating and stifling.  One will see a dog-eat-dog world where the weak are simply expunged from the face of the earth and the other will make everyone "play nice" in a superficial manner, where the people who make entire lives out of callous manipulation are the ones who get all the status.  Enticing?

In other words, Russia has too much of the masculine at play, with it's high murder rate, endemic sexism and grand-scale political corruption.  Amongst all this machismo and much more besides, such as not looking when crossing a dual carriageway (no legs, no problem, right?), it would be quite apt to compare modern Russia to Nazi Germany - think about it:

• Country is in incomparable turmoil caused by failure of leftist, rather feminine ideals (1991 fall of the soviet union)
• Political Personality (Putin) promises restoration of former glory, uses this to scale power ladder whilst forgoing any scruples with respect to the political process
• Once power is obtained a "Cult of Personality" quickly takes root, complete with pop songs designed to break minds in the most subtle and efficient manner possible
• Laws are then passed under the guise of protecting dem kiddies from dem darn purvurts in this case, and a litany of anti-jew laws in Germany circa 1933-1939 - This is where we are now, anything beyond this point is considered my personal prediction
• Putin will progressively drive the screws down on dissent, all the while heightening his cult to hysterical levels of popularity
• Russia's politics and foreign policy becomes more and more aggressive, annexations of neighbouring territories will be meekly accepted by the UN because "it was the old USSR, after all"
• Line is crossed, war begins
• Lots of people killded
• We all chant "Never Again!" and make another bullshit international conglomerate to replace the UN

Maybe this is more than a little bit nihilistic, but I can quite easily see this happening.  Russia is definately erring towards Fascism and the deeply patriarchial society seems to be quite pleased with it since 75% of Russians support the laws in spite of the fact that it labels LGBTs as paedophiles by default; may I direct sir's attention to a similar potential in Britain with regards to UKIP, skip to number 5 for a comprehensive list of fascist tenets:

ElectricUnicycleCrew is well worth a subscription, by the way; to a man only just starting to form decent political opinions, this is a guy who's history of ranting and political commentary begun in his early teens at a level I see myself reaching in about 5 years, if that.

So yeah, what Fry pointed out (again far better than I ever could) about Russia is spot on; I fear that Russia may be dancing to the Hitler Disco soon given that half the worlds Racist Skinheads live there: