Happy Thought of the Day

My buddy, Slim, always likes to be the ray of sunshine on otherwise gray days...

The Keynesian School of Economics Leads to Violence:

The problem is that eventually the socialist/Keynesian school runs out of other people’s money to spend. They can’t raise taxes high enough, and the market forces them to pay ever higher interest rates to access public markets. When governments increase spending, businesses cut back. The net present value tables always catch up to them.

At this point in the cycle, they generally have created a situation where there are haves and have nots. Forced to cut spending on the people that receive a government check, those people riot.

2-Step Verification for Google

After reading this and confirming that Eric Schmidt is not in my friend list on Facebook, I have activated the two step authentication for my Google accounts. Now logging in requires two factors - something I know (the password) and something I have (my mobile phone). You can register a computer for 30 days, so you don't have to repeat the process all the time.

It is not too intrusive on the main Google pages, but not all of their apps are configured to require the code from your mobile phone. In those cases, Google creates a special, complex password that you must use.

I just cannot imaging losing all the work from the past year. I have been doing the poor man's backup, but I was sending to the Gmail account that is tied to the blog. I even commented then that might not be the best strategy. I'm off to change that now.

Hacking

I wish I was smarter... with all the inexpensive hardware available now (Kinect, Arduino, Rasberry Pi, etc.) you could build anything you could dream up.

Ham Radio Deluxe

As suspected, Ham Radio Deluxe may no longer be free. The new owners are conducting a survey to see what people might pay. You can vote here.

Interstates

Looks like the Tube map... Flickr set here.

Created by Cameron Booth

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.