Google+ Plus Google Search

And this is where it gets interesting... Google+ seemed to be an also ran when it comes to social networking. Now that they are integrating your Google+ information into their 600 pound gorilla - search - this thing might just take off.

I've played around with the "Show Personal Results" and haven't been blown away, but I see the potential.

Everything You Need to Be a Ham

Paul, AE5JU, posts his list of everything you need to know to get your ticket:

Go to this site:

http://www.w5ddl.org/

And on the left side you will see links to Classroom Presentations (in
PowerPoint) for Tech and General, as well as links to practice exams for Tech,
General, and Extra class. If you don't have PowerPoint, there is a link for a
free PowerPoint Viewer.

In each of those two links you will find both the separate chapters, as well as
a zip file containing all of the chapters.

Here is another site with classes:

http://www.rarchams.org/class/technician/chartsppt09/index.htm

There are also courses of study that may be subscribed to at:

http://www.hamtestonline.com

(NOTE- When you print out these guides, yes, print them... take a Magic Marker and black out all the wrong answers. This way you study only the correct answers and everything else looks unfamiliar. Seriously, print, black out, study. Just take my word for it and do it.)

Study Guides - right click on these links and Save As:

Tech:
http://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010_Tech_Study_Guide.pdf
General:
http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=358
Extra:
http://abacus.nmsu.edu/~shoran/PDF/Extra%20Class%20Amateur%20Radio%20Course.pdf
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Instructor%20resources/ExtraClassSylalbus2009jan-\AD7FO.pdf
http://w5jck.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=28
http://www.nyc-arecs.org/2008-2012%20Extra%20Study%20Guide.pdf
http://kb6nu.com/extra-class-easypass-how-everybody-can-be-an-extra/


Podcasts:
http://hamradioclass.com/
http://hamradioclass.com/shownotes/

Practice Tests:
http://www.qrz.com/ham/
http://www.radioexam.org/
http://aa9pw.com/radio/
http://www.eham.net/exams/
http://www.w8mhb.com/exam/
http://www.hamtestonline.com
http://hamexam.org/

Testing Locations
http://www.w5yi-vec.org/exam_locations_ama.php
(Search by State)

http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml
(Search by State, Country, or Zip Code)

Baofeng UV-3R: Rounding Problem in the Software

The latest version (1.10) of the UV-3R/UV-X4 software fixes a bug where frequencies are rounded incorrectly.

N3DNO's Antenna Calculator

N3DNO's Antenna Calculator - A simple web page application that will calculate the length information needed for a vertical, dipole, or three element yagi.

via N4JTQ on the 470 ARG Facebook Page

Send to Kindle for PC

I saw Amazon's Send to Kindle for PC and got very excited. It allows you to send files from your computer directly to your Kindle via a right-click or print option. I have all sorts of PDFs - books, manuals, diagrams, and other documentation that I like to put on my Android Nook. Sometimes I use Dropbox. Other times I plug it in and use it as a USB hard drive. I thought this might take some of the pain out of doing file transfers.

Unfortunately, the fine print bites me:

You can download archived personal documents from your Kindle Library on Kindle Keyboard, Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle for iPad, Kindle for iPhone and Kindle for iPod.

Apparently, there isn't support for the Kindle App on every device.

Cool Call Sign

His e-mail address beings with "loco4christ@" and his call is KZ4GOD.

Quotes of the Day

Click for the context:

1. When I reach the Pearly Gates, I want the first thing I will hear to be "Unload and show clear." 

2. But brother, if you ever find yourself collecting chili recipes for guinea pig you should take a long, hard look at your life and ponder how you ever came to give up on the world.

Watching

Continuing on today's theme of watching, I found this scary infograph about the data a phone company collected about a customer in Germany. (See the interactive version here.)

Or the government could team up with a mobile phone company to track you via Silent SMS texts.

So big companies are tracking you. The government does lots of tracking.

I think we'll see more things like this neat bit of technology (Escort Live) that help level the playing field...

"Escort Live (an accessory for Escort radar detectors) not only detects police speed traps, it also broadcasts their times and locations to other Escort Live owners. They (the traps, not the owners) show up on a map on the phone’s screen, thereby creating a speed-trap social network. The police can’t be thrilled."

Google Stock Drops

Google stock drops... some say because of Motorola. If it is because of Motorola, then it is because they split off the most valuable segment - ham radio!

Cameras Everywhere - Sousveillance

Clive Thompson talks about sousveillance:

"Sousveillance is the monitoring of events not by those above (surveiller in French) but by citizens, from below (sous-). The neologism was coined by Steve Mann, a pioneer in wearable computing at the University of Toronto."

I like the term and the balance of power it suggests.

Examples of videos providing evidence of when people do bad things is all around. Most commonly, we think of catching people in positions of authority misbehaving as in the video below:

Sometimes it even gets people fired -  like the officer that threatened to kill permit holder in what seemed to be a simple incident.

LawDog points out that doing good may have a price. Even knowing the potential consequences, I would hope that I would be like Mr. Green, who recorded the video above, and do the right thing.