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El Chapo's Son Released by Outgunned Mexican Forces
Remarkable escape of El Chapo's son: 'It's like a bad Netflix show'
Escape, it seems, is a trait shared in the Guzman family.
So is embarrassing the government of Mexico.
Joaquin Guzman Loera, the drug lord known as El Chapo, eluded the grasp of the government numerous times – in tunnels, behind closets, beneath bathtubs and through steep ravines in the remote mountains of Sinaloa. He even managed to escape prison, twice.
The latest family member to escape apprehension – El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzman Lopez – managed his own feat of government humiliation this week, when cartel henchmen forced a patrol of at least 30 members of government forces to release him after he had been captured.
The stunning surrender – with Mexican forces badly outmatched, taken hostage by outlaws and forced to let loose a prominent suspect in their custody – began with a siege on the city of Culiacan on Thursday by members of the Sinaloa Cartel, once headed by El Chapo. Videos of fierce gun battles in the street, armed men blocking roads, residents fleeing to safety and clouds of black smoke rising from burning vehicles swamped social media.
Christmas wish list video
Pat's stated purpose for making that video is anti-gun. But, a large number of people have observed that the video is nothing more than gun porn. In fact, I borrowed the title for this journal entry from a commenter on another forum.
I think that Patrick Smith is confused about his gun gender, LOL!!
Renoir Laptop APUs and Threadripper 3
AMD 4th Gen Ryzen APU 'Renoir' Family - 7nm Zen 2 CPU + Navi GPU Cores Combined
Coming to the details, the 4th Gen Ryzen APU lineup would be replacing the 3rd Gen APU lineup which is based on the Zen+ core architecture and Vega graphics architecture. The 4th Gen lineup, codenamed Renoir, would feature support on FP6 (Notebook) and AM4 (Desktop) platforms. The current AMD Ryzen notebook lineup is based around the FP5 socket and since FP6 is a whole new socket change, we can expect a drastic change to the feature set of the Renoir generation of CPUs. There's a large list of FP6 Ryzen 'Renoir' APUs listed which include the following:
AMD Ryzen 9 B12 (45W)
AMD Ryzen 7 B10 (45W)
AMD Ryzen 5 B8 (45W)
AMD Ryzen 9 PRO B12 (15W)
AMD Ryzen 7 PRO B10 (15W)
AMD Ryzen 5 PRO B8 (15W)
AMD Ryzen 3 PRO B6 (15W)From the looks of it, AMD would be segmenting their 4th Gen Ryzen notebook lineup into regular consumer and PRO consumer variants. The regular variants would feature a 45W TDP which is a bump from the existing 35W TDP while the PRO variants will feature a 15W TDP. What's interesting here is that AMD is planning to go up to Ryzen 9 on their notebooks as AMD wants to take the fight to Intel's 45W Core i9 parts.
I cannot say for sure what the "B**" notifier stands for but it could be telling us the core count for each specific processor. If that is the case, then AMD would be offering up to 12 cores on their flagship notebook processor compared to Intel's current Core i9-9980HK which comes with 8 cores and 16 threads. AMD Ryzen 7 APUs would feature 10 cores, Ryzen 5 would feature 8 cores and Ryzen 3 series would feature 6 cores. There may be some entry-level quad-core variants but they aren't mentioned in this particular list. We recently covered how AMD wants to disrupt the note-book sector now that they are completely dominating Intel in the desktop market.
I don't know if I believe this one. There could be more variants than what's listed, but 6-12 cores (which is speculation based on the B12/B10/B8/B6 code) seems aggressive. I expect a low-end 4-core somewhere in the Renoir notebook lineup, and I would be surprised to see 10 or 12 cores. But there's probably nothing stopping them from doing it. The Picasso monolithic chips have about a 210 mm2 die size. Inside Zen 2 chiplets, 4 cores with 16 MB of L3 cache is about 31.3 mm2. Maybe there is enough room to throw in 12 cores, a memory controller, multimedia engine, GPU cores, etc. It's possible that 10 or 12 core versions could ditch the integrated GPU in favor of an RX 5500 discrete GPU, as seen here.
Previous leaks have suggested Vega instead of Navi graphics. Which would be a little dumb if true. Now we're back to Navi.
A 45W TDP is a little high but this can just be configured lower by the manufacturer. See Intel's TDP-up and TDP-down. There are gaming laptops that have Ryzen desktop chips in them with sufficient cooling and/or lower clocks.
Moving on to the desktop parts, we know that AMD will be offering their HEDT 3rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper CPUs starting with a 24 core and 48 thread SKU. The list includes a 16 core / 32 thread and 32 core / 64 thread models too.
16-core Threadripper could be useful for more memory channels or PCIe lanes, but it does encroach on Ryzen 9 3950X.
Now coming to the WRX80 series, we are looking at a pure workstation lineup. Even the processors built around this platform are spec'd similar to the EPYC 7002 variants, featuring 8-channel DDR4-3200 support in UDIMM, RDIMM, LRDIMM flavors. The platform would support 1 DIMM/channel featuring support for up to 2 TB of memory. There wouldn't be any OC support like the TRX40 series but you get 96-128 Gen4 PCIe lanes with 32 switchable lanes to SATA. The Group 'B' series processors which are the workstation lineup for the WRX80 platform will also feature a 280W TDP but different temperature range of Tcase Max temperature of 81C and Tctl Max of 100C.
Threadripper 3 could top out at 48 or 64 cores, but you might not see them in 2019.
Don't we all just love happy endings?
Man shoots granddaughter's boyfriend during violent home invasion, JPSO says
A Bridge City man shot his granddaughter’s boyfriend in the groin with a shotgun after the boyfriend forced his way into a house and violently beat the man, authorities said.
Miguel Ramirez, 25, of Marrero, was arrested early Monday at a Kenner hospital where he sought treatment for his wounds, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Ramirez is also accused of kidnapping his 22-year-old girlfriend after attacking her grandfather, 66.
The violent confrontation began Sunday night when Ramirez and his girlfriend were involved in a “physical altercation” somewhere in New Orleans, according to Rivarde. No details were available Thursday about that incident.
After the fight, the couple went to her grandparents’ home on 15th Street in Bridge City about 11:30 p.m. to pick up their three young children, according to Rivarde. The woman went into the house to get the kids, who are under the age of 5.
The woman told her grandfather about the altercation and asked him to contact authorities for help.
But before he could call 911, Ramirez stormed into the house and began beating the grandfather, authorities said. The grandfather suffered a broken nose, severe swelling around his eyes and bruising on his face.
Ramirez then grabbed his girlfriend and dragged her out of the house, according to Rivarde.
“The grandfather, fearing that (Ramirez) is going to harm his granddaughter, gets his shotgun and fires one time,” Rivarde said.
Ramirez managed to get to his vehicle and drive off with his girlfriend.
The grandfather didn’t realize that he had wounded Ramirez, who had been shot in the groin and thigh, Rivarde said. He called 911 to report the home invasion.
Meanwhile, Ramirez drove to Ochsner Medical Center in Kenner. Emergency room doctors there notified authorities about the gunshot wounds, and Sheriff’s Office investigators arrived.
Ramirez was later booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on counts of home invasion, second-degree battery, simple kidnapping and domestic abuse-child endangerment. He was being held without bail Thursday, according to jail records.
A shotgun isn't my first choice of weapon, but they are effective!!!
Half a Phone
True RNG for the Orange Pi Zero, Part 3
The next circuit I've begun experimenting on is Aaron Logue's circuit. The annoying thing about this and many other circuits of its type based on PN junction breakdown noise is the requirement for a 12V supply, which I've been using a power brick and a 7812 regulator to obtain. Because at one point I had a brain fart, I managed to fry my Orange Pi Zero. I missed one stupid wire that connected the 12V supply I was using to the 5V rails on the breadboard... to which the Orange Pi was also connected, and then the magic smoke left my poor Orange Pi... $20 up in smoke. Rest in peace.
So I ordered a new Orange Pi Zero, which I received today, and resumed my experiments as soon as I managed to solder the GPIO headers onto it. This time making VERY sure that there were no stray wires to the breadboard that would send higher voltages to the 5V supply rails, I hooked the OPi up to the breadboard again, and damn if it didn't give a lot of very good randomness. It's far more effective than the LM393 circuit that is used by the XR232-USB, as it only requires a single level of von Neumann debiasing to obtain randomness that is good enough for all the statistical tests I've been using to validate its performance.
The only problem is that I now need a place to get 12V. Either I use a boost converter to get 12V out of the 5V that I can get off the OPi, or keep using the 12V supply brick from my experiments but also use it to power the OPi with a 12V to 5V buck converter. I thought the latter would be easier, but the problem is that the trusty old 7805 linear converter I use for my TTL circuits will melt if I attempt to down-convert 12V to 5V at 500 mA, unless I use a heat sink that is probably going to be too big to fit inside the case. So I also managed to get a few small 12V to 5V switching converters (smaller than a TO-220 package), but alas the ones I got can't handle the current drawn by the OPi either. Seems that a buck converter that can actually handle the OPi's current draw might be rather larger than can fit as well.
So now I have to find a small boost converter that can boost 5V to 12V. The rated current needed here is far more modest (of the order of µA), so such a module might be smaller, but one that might suit is hard to find. I have a boost converter module based on the LM2577 but it is much too big to fit in the case. The circuits involving the MAX232 that I've used before to get 18V are also too large. I've found one possible boost converter module that might suit but it is a bit more expensive, but we'll see how this goes.
Zen 3 Breathing Room, and Navi Ray Tracing Support
Rumor : AMD Zen 3 Delivers 8%+ IPC & 200Mhz Higher Clock vs Zen 2
Not stunning, but could end up as a 13-14% overall performance increase. (1.08*(4.1/3.9)) = 13.5% for the 3800X.
If true, Zen 3 is a nice breather for AMD. Not a fantastic increase, but still somewhat better than the Zen+ increase.
Rumor : AMD Bringing Ray Tracing Support to Navi in December
Hardware acceleration of raytracing is confirmed for PlayStation 5. This is not that. The generation of desktop GPUs after Navi might have dedicated acceleration (Navi 2?).
Microsoft's DirectX Ray Tracing is mentioned, but not Vulkan (yet).
This would be a replacement for Vega, which is used in enterprise GPU products. AMD has basically split the consumer and business product lines, with RDNA (Navi, Navi 2...) being focused solely on gaming GPUs. Maybe Arcturus will be known as GCN 6th gen, beats me.
ATF’s Definition of an AR-15 Lower as ‘Firearm’ In trouble
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/11/us/ar-15-guns-law-atf-invs/index.html
He sold illegal AR-15s. Feds agreed to let him go free to avoid hurting gun control efforts
By Scott Glover, CNN
Updated 7:07 PM ET, Fri October 11, 2019
(CNN)For more than a year, Joseph Roh illegally manufactured AR-15-style rifles in a warehouse south of Los Angeles.
His customers, more than two dozen of whom were legally prohibited from possessing a firearm, could push a button, pull a lever, and walk away a short time later with a fully assembled, untraceable semi-automatic weapon for about $1,000, according to court records.
Roh continued his black-market operation despite being warned in person by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that he was breaking the law.
But five years after raiding his business and indicting him, federal authorities quietly cut a deal with Roh earlier this year and agreed to drop the charges.
Why?
The judge in the case had issued a tentative order that, in the eyes of prosecutors, threatened to upend the decades-old Gun Control Act and "seriously undermine the ATF's ability to trace and regulate firearms nationwide."A case once touted by prosecutors as a crackdown on an illicit firearms factory was suddenly seen as having the potential to pave the way to unfettered access to one of the most demonized guns in America.
Federal authorities preferred to let Roh go free rather than have the ruling become final and potentially create case law that could have a crippling effect on the enforcement of gun laws, several sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Each requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case and its possible implications.
The guns are sometimes assembled from separately acquired parts. Under federal law, the one regulated individual part of a firearm is what's known as the frame or receiver — a piece that, among other things, provides a housing for the hammer and firing mechanism of a gun.
Though incapable of firing a round, the part is considered a gun in its own right and is subject to the same restrictions as a fully intact firearm. Manufacturers must stamp it with a serial number and licensed dealers are required to conduct background checks on prospective buyers. The restrictions are intended, in part, to keep felons and other people prohibited from possessing firearms from acquiring them piece by piece.
AR-15s, however, do not have a single receiver that meets that definition. They have both an upper and lower receiver — two parts as opposed to the single part described in the law.At issue in Roh's case was whether the law could fairly be interpreted to apply to just the lower receiver of the AR-15, as the ATF has been doing for decades.
'There is a disconnect'
Though the trial lasted less than a week, Selna deliberated for more than year. In April, he issued a tentative order in which he determined that the ATF had improperly classified the AR-15 lower receivers in Roh's case as firearms.
He rejected the prosecution's argument that the ATF's interpretation of the regulation describing a receiver could reasonably be applied to the device at issue in Roh's case.
"There is a disconnect," the judge wrote.
Selna added that the combination of the federal law and regulation governing the manufacturing of receivers is "unconstitutionally vague" as applied in the case against Roh.
"No reasonable person would understand that a part constitutes a receiver where it lacks the components specified in the regulation," Selna wrote.
Therefore, the judge determined, "Roh did not violate the law by manufacturing receivers."
Interesting that the gun control lobby is unable to define "assault weapon" or "assault rifle", while at the same time, the ATF is also unable to define "firearm".
As a sidenote, how many are aware that a muzzle loading rifle is NOT considered a "firearm"? http://guide.sportsmansguide.com/adventures/muzzleloader-considered-firearm/
Tiptoeing Around Hunter Biden
Tiptoeing Around Hunter Biden (archive)
So far, none of the Democratic primary candidates have taken a hard swing at Mr. Biden, focusing instead on the impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump. But a few are, quite delicately, trying to raise some concerns. Former Representative Beto O’Rourke suggested, albeit mildly, that Hunter Biden’s work posed a problem, telling reporters, “I would not allow a family member, anyone in my cabinet to have a family member, to work in a position like that.”
Senator Cory Booker called Mr. Biden “truly an honorable man” on CNN last week, adding, “This is in no way can besmirch his character, his honor and his incredible service to this country over decades.” But, he noted, “I just do not think that children of presidents, of vice presidents during an administration should be out there doing that.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar took a similar position when asked whether she’d be comfortable with the child of her vice president sitting on the board of a foreign company. “I can promise you right now, my own daughter, who’s only 24, does not sit on the board of a foreign company,” she said, also on CNN. “But that is not the issue. The issue here is what the president is doing.”
Much of the rest of field has largely dodged the question. Senator Elizabeth Warren initially said she didn’t know when asked whether her ethics plan would prevent a top official’s child from getting a job with a foreign company. Since then, she’s pivoted back to Mr. Trump when asked similar questions. And Senator Kamala Harris, when asked about the issue, has taken to simply saying: “Leave Joe Biden alone.”
FYI: This was posted the same day that Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were indicted.
Overly Determined Stalker
Stalker 'found Japanese singer through reflection in her eyes'
A Japanese man accused of stalking and sexually assaulting a young pop star told police he located her through the reflection in her eyes in a picture, according to local media reports.
The man said he had identified a train station reflected in the singer's eyes in a selfie she posted online.
The 26-year-old then waited at the station until he saw his victim and followed her to her home, police said.
[...] The suspect told police that after zooming in on the image of her eyes, he used Google Street View to identify the station.
He also said he had studied videos the woman shot in her apartment, looking at details such as the placement of curtains and the direction of natural light coming through the window to try to determine exactly which floor she lived on, reports said.
Blame the 30+ megapixel phone cameras.
#CNNHeroes #Inspirational
