Land-line analog telephone service was ubiquitous in most of the 20th Century. This hardware is now commonly Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS).  This was our primary means of communication. It was simple, robust, and reliable. A few users still have landline service, although most landline service has migrated to digital means over a public Internet connection, with a modem at the user’s residence converting the digital data back to analog and providing ringer voltage to operate the bell. A lot of these telephones and associated equipment still exist, and are sitting in basements and attics. They could be easily pressed…

On September 17, 158, Dutch sailors claimed the island of Mauritius for the Netherlands. They named it after Maurice, Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau — September 17, 1776: The Fortress Presidio of San Francisco was founded in New Spain to gain a foothold in Alta California and secure the San Francisco Bay. — Today, September 17th, we celebrate Constitution Day in these United States.  This is in remembrance that on September 17, 1787, the US Constitution was signed by delegates at the Philadelphia Convention. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 120 of the…

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I can still smell the gravy. It would wake me up in the early morning darkness, causing me to scramble out from beneath the itchy wool blanket on my cot and shuffle into the kitchen of the cabin. My grandmother would be there, bent over the stove as she stirred the bubbling pan. She’d smile at me and then hand me a plate of biscuits and sausage smothered in the white, tar-thick culinary magic she created. I’d wolf down my plate and with the gravy sticking to my ribs and the first rays of sunlight sparkling in the air, I’d…

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Q. We are a father-and-son NRA member tandem in search of an answer regarding the branding of an M1 Garand rifle. We own an M1 rifle that has markings indicating it was a “lend lease to England,” and it also has a .308 barrel/sleeve. The barrel markings do not indicate “NATO 7.62” as other U.S. Navy M1 models do. There are markings near the rear sight, barrel and receiver, but they do not clearly indicate the origins or history of the rifle. What does the “SA-52” marking on the area near the rear sight signify? A. Your rifle’s serial number is the first…

From cars to cellphones, as a product gets more sophisticated, it usually also gets more expensive. And, as modern handguns get more modular and optic-ready, their prices tend to go up. Sometimes you want simplicity but not at the expense of quality or functionality. The minimalist Taurus G2c has been one of the most popular compact handguns on the market, with more than 1 million sold in the United States to date. With the GX2, Taurus seeks to provide more modern features, better usability and increased reliability while sticking to the price point that contributed to the G2c’s popularity. The…

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