Solar Charger with USB

I like the Lady Ada/Adafruit kits. I've built the Minty Boost. I could try the USB, DC & Solar Lipoly charger and since it will do up to 1A, it would work with my fancy UV-3R USB cable.

Blogging

I know I am special - just like everyone else. But this post from the Simple Dollar mailbag got my britches in a bunch. Would I like to get rich blogging? Sure, but I'd like to become rich from winning the lottery, too. I figure my chances at becoming rich from blogging are about the same as winning the Powerball. My blog is less than a year-old, so I am really pleased that anyone reads my posts. I have seen modest increases month-over-month, but at this rate, I will be retired before it would make money. Back to the mailbag and my answers...

"Q2: Starting a blog
I have a great idea for a blog, one that no one at all is doing and i am in the process or being or trying to be an expert on this such topic.

I would be very surprised if someone wasn't already doing it. If no one is doing it then you may have such a niche that you couldn't expect to make enough money from this endeavor to replace your day job. Also, you might want to work on your grammar and proof-reading.

Problem is, time, i don’t have any or enough to do it. I went out and bought a website all gung ho to do it, and never got around to it.

I suggest a time-machine.

I was able to get a refund from the web-company for the service but not for the domain name. Which i believe i technically still own for a year, since i did pay for it.

Yes, you own the name until the term expires.

My question to you is, is there a way i can start up a blog that wont cost me anything or much at all, and then maybe one day move it all over to my own site.

Yes, a quick search should reveal that Blogger, Wordpress, and others are popular services.

Also, is there ways to make money blogging when your on or using a free blog site?

Yes, a quick search should reveal that many of the free services allow you to run ads.

I’m an IT professional and have been for 17 years so i know all the tech speak.

You are a what? And you can't come up with some of these answers on your own?

I’d really love to get out of this field and into a full time job of blogging such as you do. Its just really hard to find the time.

Assuming you were 18 when you started working, then you are 35 now. That makes you too old, I would have thought, to be part of the entitlement generation. Life is hard. There aren't enough hours in the day. Time to put in some effort if you want to make something happen.

Did you start out on a free blog spot?"
- Dennis

Funny choice of words - "free blog spot" considering you were asking if free services existed.

Enough venting from me... grumpy mode off. Back to the normal grind.

Nothing like being Open-minded

Now you see it and now you don't, courtesy of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

It's not like the guy was being a jerk. His post was well written and moderate in tone - especially compared to the original post - OMG PONIES!

Running

As I've mentioned, I've started running. I've been doing it for about two weeks and have racked up about 20 miles including participating in a 5K.

I stumbled across 10 Life Lessons from a Reluctant Runner and have to say that I agree with most everything she says.

1. The endorphinss really do make a difference - not only right after running, but I feel better all the time.
4. Last time I did any consistent running was about 7 years ago. After about 2/2.5 miles my knees would start hurting. I got some cool new kicks with the help of the guys at Runner's Market and have had almost no knee pain. It is amazing how much difference a shoe makes.

Space Shuttle

I've seen this movie. It stars Bruce Willis. Yippie Ki-yay!


Expensive. Bureaucratic. Even so, I can't help but romanticise NASA and the space prgram. Sixty cool pictures of the space shuttle's history here.

Jack FM 2 Meters

So I got all these repeaters programmed into my UV-3R this evening. Purely by chance, I left the radio set to 145.370 (W4KEV).

This is, by far, the funniest repeater I have heard. (Once again, I acknowledge that I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old boy.) I've heard two announcements so far...

The first is a woman's voice announcing the repeater's info by encouraging you to stop playing with your rubber duck and move out of your mother's house. She ends with the phrase "helping hams not be so gay."

The next is a woman's voice doing Morse code - dits and dahs. A man comes on and says nice dits.

If you visit the W4KEV page, you will notice he is associated with 95.7 Jack FM. And now it all makes sense.

Improv Everywhere - Carousel Horse Race

More good stuff from Improv Everywhere.



Via Rachel Held Evens Blog.

NKT-R3: UHF Micro Handheld

These VX-3R clones must be growing on trees. The NKT-R3 is a UHF 70cm only rig, but shares the popular micro HT form factor. One interesting note, it looks like the charger is made up of the wall wart and a USB cable. I would assume you can charge this radio via USB. I need to track down the power specs and see if the DC power plug is the same as the UV-3R. Like most of the Chinese handheld transceivers, this one includes an LED flashlight function or as they call it "LED ICLUMINATION".

Hongnanke Product Information
409 Shop
eHam Reviews
ALE.CX Review - almost didn't link because of the horrible background, but the information is good.

Cement Pond Ballistics Testing

You might be a redneck if you do your ballistics testing in your cement pond. Love it.

Repeater Websearch

It is tools like the Amateur-Radio.net repeater websearch that make me doubt the need for a dead tree list of the repeaters. Of course, if the lights go out, I'll might be real glad I have a list on paper.