What do I get?

Offline Callsign Database

If you need a program to look up callsigns while being offline, check out CallWin. I'm going down the rabbit hole that is HRD since I am playing with PSK31 and I am amazed at the little features it has for lookups.

Via the 470 ARG Facebook page

No-Nonsense Technician Class License Study Guide - In Print

The No-Nonsense Technician Class License Study Guide is now available in print for $12. Becoming a ham doesn't have to be expensive.

New Toy from HRO

I got my order from HRO!!!

Authors@Google: George R.R. Martin

I missed the live streaming, so I'm watching the interview now.

Coal Creek Armory II

This makes no sense to me:

"SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! Coal Creek Armory is opening a new location 1 mile off I-40 on Gallaher Road in Kingston TN! The new location will offer everything our Knoxville store has including an indoor A/C & Heated range!"

So they are opening a store between Frontier Firearms and the interstate?

Via CCA's Facebook Page

Red State, Blue State

Business Insider's Chart of the Day shows which smartphone is getting the Electoral College votes for each state. (Sadly, there are no red states.)

If my math is correct*, then we have:

245 - Google/Android
134 - Apple/iOS
83 - RIM/Blackberry
44 - Too Close to Call

*It isn't. I missed something (besides Alaska and Hawaii.)

The US Government Family Budget

Attributed to Dave Ramsey:

"If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, & are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand."

Why is this so hard to understand? No wonder the S&P downgraded the US long term debt.

Via SaysUncle

From the Everything Has a Cost and Unintended Consequences Files

3D is the next big thing™. I don't actually believe that. For me, it was fun to see the first time at Disney World in some of their shows, but I don't need something to jump out at me every few minutes just because the show is in 3D. I got a lot bigger thrill in going from a 2D to a 3D advanced graphics card (the FPS went through the roof!) when I was playing Quake 2 oh so many years ago. And HD TV has been a great move up.

There are people who are betting a lot of money on 3D in movies and on TV, but here is where it gets fun.

So "the advent of 3D projectors is severely cutting the amount of light that reaches the screen because projectionists are not changing out the 3D lenses for 2D screenings as they should." Using the wrong lenses creates sub-optimal 2D pictures. If you read the article, it goes on to say that they have put so many controls in place that it makes it difficult to make the swap between movies. They are afraid that the bad guys are going to rip them off, so they spend lots of effort to make things difficult - on the evil-doer and the guy who has to support the projector.

The article sums it up this way:

"So in this case, Hollywood's threat model of losing revenues through unauthorized copying and redistribution overpowered its *other* threat model of losing business to home entertainment systems and Blu-Ray. At the projector level, I'd have thought the latter was the worse threat."

I think our default position for so many things in our lives is to make them more secure, but given our inability to evaluate risk, we often create more problems than we solve. I preach it at work and home - keep things simple. Some complexities are required, but others we impose upon ourselves.

Game of Thrones for Dummies

Spoilers a plenty if you've not read the book and/or seen the series. Mildly entertaining and mostly correct - worth the watch if you are struggling to keep all the players straight.