Searched for Merlin autocockers and got this wonderful ai overview, very helpful
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And then some executive got paid a fat bonus for implementing it.
I’ve seen a few attempts at people trying to use AI in an occupational setting. It’s always been extremely underwhelming.Check out my YouTube channel for overview videos of the WGP Karnivor and WGP Orracle!
https://www.youtube.com/@ScrambledEggs71 -
What AI are you using?
AKA Paintball (short for Aaron K. Alexander, after its founder and lead designer) is a legendary brand in the paintball world, known for producing some of the highest-quality, precision-machined electropneumatic markers (paintball guns) in the early 2000s.
The company originated from LEADS Metal Products (a family-owned CNC machining shop started in 1986), and AKA specialized in high-end upgrades and full markers, like the Tornado valve for Autocockers, before releasing their iconic standalone guns.
Their flagship models were the Excalibur (a closed-bolt, ultra-quiet electropneumatic marker praised for its smooth, silent shot and reliability, often described as a “cleanly packaged Autococker” with dual Humphrey solenoids) and the Viking (an open-bolt poppet design known for high rates of fire and efficiency, sometimes compared to early Angels).
These markers were renowned for premium milling, low-pressure operation, and build quality that made them collector’s items today.
Production stopped around 2004-2005, largely due to patent lawsuits from Smart Parts over electronic marker technology, which hit many smaller companies hard. AKA shifted back to general machining, but the brand has seen a revival in recent years— the website (akapaintball.com) is active again, selling new parts, feed necks, regulators, and tool kits under what appears to be new ownership (linked to Destructive Customs).
Old AKA markers remain highly sought-after in the paintball community, often fetching premium prices on sites like eBay, PBNation, and Reddit’s paintball forums. Collectors love them for their aesthetics, performance, and rarity.
even gave photo examples. 🤷🏻♂️
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Tell me about Merlin Autocockers prompt.
The Merlin is a legendary high-end Autococker variant produced by AKA (Aaron K. Alexander / AKALMP) in the early 2000s, widely regarded as one of the pinnacle mechanical Autococker designs before the brand shifted away from full markers.
Building on AKA’s earlier successes with the Tornado valve and upgrades (like those used in the Splat Attack Revenge series), the Merlin was AKA’s first complete standalone marker released under their own name around 2001-2002. It featured a custom-machined body with sleek, rounded milling (often described as elegant and understated compared to flashier cockers), a larger internal air chamber for better efficiency, low-pressure operation, and compatibility with AKA’s premium parts like the Tornado valve (front-inserted in later versions), Lightning Bolt, clamping feedneck, and hinge frames.
Merlins were known for:
• Exceptional smoothness and reliability when properly timed
• High shot counts (claimed ~1200-2000 shots per tank depending on setup)
• Premium anodizing options (e.g., starburst, diamond dust, splash)
• Collectible status today due to limited production
Production halted around the mid-2000s amid industry challenges (including lawsuits), like AKA’s other markers (Excalibur and Viking). There were also custom “Works Merlins” (from Marty Garrison’s The Works) and collaborations/builds using Merlin bodies or kits.
Today, Merlins (and parts kits) are highly sought-after collector’s items in the Autococker community, often selling for premium prices on forums like MCB, PBNation, Reddit’s r/Autocockers101, and eBay. The revived AKA site still sells compatible parts (e.g., back blocks, LPRs, valves labeled for Merlin/VLM).
If you’re into mechanical cockers, a Merlin is considered “holy grail” territory—smooth, efficient, and beautifully machined!
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Chuck E Ducky tried it again just now and somehow got an even funnier response, maybe it's just broken for me?Comment
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Yeah Google AI is meh. Gemini makes a good video but it’s not super accurate.
Try Grok it’s way more accurate for information way less extra built into it. So it will give a more accurate answer vs the more popular one.
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Grok isn't great, especially considering the whole grokipedia fiasco where they just directly copied hundreds of thousands of Wikipedia pages and claimed them as their own -
I haven’t followed it. Wikipedia is being manipulated to so copy and pasting it is not a good call seems lazy. Honestly most of what we are being taught, and fed is mostly BS today. There’s more misinformation than there is truth so I take it all with a a healthy dose of skepticism. When we are fed real info it’s framed in a way to push a narrative or sell us something or to make us except something we know to be wrong.
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AI is garbage for most things. Young kid that works for me uses it for every thing and I'm surprised by how often it's wrong. Just adding to the shitification of the internet... I would really enjoy one of those AI refrigerators or microwaves though..Gas, Grass or Brass, no one rides for free...Comment
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Just going to leave this little nugget here
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i hate that AI fanbois think that AI is unbaised and thus better than a human's opinion. AI fanbois treat AI opinions as if they are some kind of authority.
when in reality, AI doesnt actually have an opinion, its literally just typing the next most probable word. its a complicated version of texting with the autosuggestion on. AI is worth less than *any* human beings opinion. not more.
its useful applications are extremely limited, and we were already using it for those things before chatGPT et al.
and of course when the bubble bursts, a bunch of people who said "this is dumb i dont want this" are going to have to bail out the entire economy again, so the rich fucks who are fucking morons and shoved this shit down our throats get made whole, or get even more money. the circle of life really. me, on my third once in a life time economic meltdown, bitter? no. tired of dumb fucks born on 5th base ruining my life every 10 years or so, cause they are dumb as fuck ... yes.Last edited by cockerpunk; 12-29-2025, 11:23 AM.Comment
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AI cant even do arithmetic, its not coming for your job. all of the industrial applications of AI already existed, and it was being used for all the real applications before this. -
Currently it can do basic at 99% accuracy however it still has trouble with Multi-digit/long arithmetic (80-95%). With the right tools to support it, it is highly capable beyond what most humans can do. It seems to have trouble with matching patterns when long arithmetic comes into play, but the tec is compounding in nature. Programming designed specifically for it is doing some interesting work. -
@cockepunk, while AI may not be coming for your job, it is causing severe disruptions because executives and senior managers do not understand what it can and cannot do. One of the reasons for my layoff this past year was a director who believed AI could handle NLP training without validating the training data. A large portion of my job involved validating sample customer review data and providing training datasets for our NLP system. My role was eliminated because the director did not understand that language is ever-evolving and that NLP must be continually trained to remain relevant. Now my previous co-workers have to try to do the work I was doing because the NLP model has not kept up with the change. NLP uses AI, but that AI has to be fed good data and an up-to-date model; otherwise, it outputs crap.
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Check out my YouTube channel for overview videos of the WGP Karnivor and WGP Orracle!
https://www.youtube.com/@ScrambledEggs71Comment
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I very much get vibes of Price and his motivational word salad guy from this
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