Via Slashdot, the Met is reporting that cameras help solve six crimes a day in London.
I know this is a harder question, but shouldn't we be looking for ways to prevent crime? I don't have the reference handy, but I've heard that lights are a better deterrent to crime than cameras.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Book Reviews: Point of Impact & First Family
I've had some downtime around the holidays, so I read a couple of books.
First, I read David Baldacci's First Family. This is the fourth book in the Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series. I've read a handful of his books and I can't say they are that memorable. I enjoyed several of his other books in the Camel Club series, but all in all they are mostly escapist reading. I've had this one for a long time, but the last Camel Club book I read was so disappointing, I put off reading this one. His stuff is good enough that I've read more than one, but not so good that I feel compelled to ever pick up another of his novels. I think a good alternative (especially to the King and Maxwell series) would be Nelson DeMille's John Corey and Kate Mayfield from Plum Island
and subsequent books.
I got Stephen Hunter's Point of Impact for Christmas and burned through it. I had seen Shooter
, the movie with Marky Mark, so I had an idea of the plot. I really enjoyed this book. Not surprisingly, the novel had a lot more depth than the movie. In addition to more information about Bob Lee Swagger, you get the whole back story on Special Agent Nick Memphis. If you are into guns, you'll also appreciate Hunter's attention to details when it comes to the rifles and long range shooting. I definitely recommend it. Good thing, too, as I also got the next three books in the Bob Lee series as gifts.
First, I read David Baldacci's First Family. This is the fourth book in the Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series. I've read a handful of his books and I can't say they are that memorable. I enjoyed several of his other books in the Camel Club series, but all in all they are mostly escapist reading. I've had this one for a long time, but the last Camel Club book I read was so disappointing, I put off reading this one. His stuff is good enough that I've read more than one, but not so good that I feel compelled to ever pick up another of his novels. I think a good alternative (especially to the King and Maxwell series) would be Nelson DeMille's John Corey and Kate Mayfield from Plum Island
and subsequent books.I got Stephen Hunter's Point of Impact for Christmas and burned through it. I had seen Shooter
, the movie with Marky Mark, so I had an idea of the plot. I really enjoyed this book. Not surprisingly, the novel had a lot more depth than the movie. In addition to more information about Bob Lee Swagger, you get the whole back story on Special Agent Nick Memphis. If you are into guns, you'll also appreciate Hunter's attention to details when it comes to the rifles and long range shooting. I definitely recommend it. Good thing, too, as I also got the next three books in the Bob Lee series as gifts.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Winter is Coming
Winter is coming via an HBO series.
"Winter is coming" is the motto of House Stark from the "A Song of Ice and Fire"
series by George R. R. Martin that I've mentioned in a previous post.
I think "Preppers" would appreciate the attitude of the Starks.
I don't have HBO, so I may have to figure out a way to watch it.
"Winter is coming" is the motto of House Stark from the "A Song of Ice and Fire"
series by George R. R. Martin that I've mentioned in a previous post.I think "Preppers" would appreciate the attitude of the Starks.
I don't have HBO, so I may have to figure out a way to watch it.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
New Ham Radio Setup - A Short Checklist
After we got the ICOM IC-7000 connected and powered up, my father-in-law/elmer suggested a few best practices.
1. Turn the transmit power down. This is good for a few reasons. If you don't have a good match to the antenna you might burn out your finals. When you are doing basic testing, you don't need to push max power into a dummy load.
2. Set the microphone gain. It is always a good idea to make sure you aren't too hot into the mic. The other hams will let you know if you "need to back off the mic." The IC-7000 has an ALC (Automatic Level Control) to smooth out the peaks. (We actually transmitted into the dummy load to adjust the settings - see #3).
3. Transmit into a dummy load. My father-in-law brought his Bird Wattmeter along with a MFJ Dummy Load and we connected it to the radio. We watched the meter and checked that the expected output matched what the meter was reading. The Bird can do forward and reflected power readings, so you could calculate SWR if you like. We got good readings during our testing - 5W out looked like 5W on the meter.
4. Check the SWR on the antenna. He also brought his MFJ-259B SWR Analyzer, so we used it to check our work on the dipoles and the ground plane install. You'll want to make sure your power is turned down, the frequency is clear, and that you are transmitting within your privileges. An ideal transmission line would have a 1:1 SWR. On the 10M and 20M, we were close to 1:1.5. The 15M wasn't as good as of a match. I need to play with the length, but I've not had time. Of course, I've not tried to do much on HF, so it hasn't mattered a whole lot.
1. Turn the transmit power down. This is good for a few reasons. If you don't have a good match to the antenna you might burn out your finals. When you are doing basic testing, you don't need to push max power into a dummy load.
2. Set the microphone gain. It is always a good idea to make sure you aren't too hot into the mic. The other hams will let you know if you "need to back off the mic." The IC-7000 has an ALC (Automatic Level Control) to smooth out the peaks. (We actually transmitted into the dummy load to adjust the settings - see #3).
3. Transmit into a dummy load. My father-in-law brought his Bird Wattmeter along with a MFJ Dummy Load and we connected it to the radio. We watched the meter and checked that the expected output matched what the meter was reading. The Bird can do forward and reflected power readings, so you could calculate SWR if you like. We got good readings during our testing - 5W out looked like 5W on the meter.
4. Check the SWR on the antenna. He also brought his MFJ-259B SWR Analyzer, so we used it to check our work on the dipoles and the ground plane install. You'll want to make sure your power is turned down, the frequency is clear, and that you are transmitting within your privileges. An ideal transmission line would have a 1:1 SWR. On the 10M and 20M, we were close to 1:1.5. The 15M wasn't as good as of a match. I need to play with the length, but I've not had time. Of course, I've not tried to do much on HF, so it hasn't mattered a whole lot.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Government Openness and Individual Privacy
It is a simple equation: Liberty is a function of Privacy of the People and Openness of the Government. Liberty decreases with the loss of privacy or openness.
I cannot fathom any reasonable arguments that would persuade me to think video-taping the police should be illegal. Who watches the watchmen?
I cannot fathom any reasonable arguments that would persuade me to think video-taping the police should be illegal. Who watches the watchmen?
Friday, December 24, 2010
Why you shouldn't buy an iPad
Here are 10 Reasons you should not buy an iPad.
They include reasons like it is too expensive and that the new version (projected to be available in April) will be better.
I still want one.
They include reasons like it is too expensive and that the new version (projected to be available in April) will be better.
I still want one.
How to Write Applications that Admins can Manage
A Plea to Software Vendors from Sysadmins - 10 Do's and Do Not's
I would add #11 - Don't require admin rights on the local machine to run the application.
I would add #11 - Don't require admin rights on the local machine to run the application.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
470 Amateur Radio Net Trivia
I learned a couple of things tonight during the trivia part of the 470 Amateur Radio Net.
Before there was SOS and Mayday, ham radio operators used "CQD" to indicate a distress call. "CQ" is used as general call for making a contact - appending the "D" indicated danger or distress.
Spark Gap Transmitters were used as digital communication before CW.
Before there was SOS and Mayday, ham radio operators used "CQD" to indicate a distress call. "CQ" is used as general call for making a contact - appending the "D" indicated danger or distress.
Spark Gap Transmitters were used as digital communication before CW.
NASA CIO Letter to Santa
I'm not impressed with this letter to Santa by the NASA CIO. I thought I would give Ms. Cureton a second chance, so I watched her discuss cloud computing. She still didn't make me think she was a heavy hitter.
Maybe I should be CIO of NASA. I think it would be a cool gig. The first order of business would be to make everyone where gold, blue, or red shirts based on their role.
Maybe I should be CIO of NASA. I think it would be a cool gig. The first order of business would be to make everyone where gold, blue, or red shirts based on their role.
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