LinkedIn and Microsoft

Here is the first result of the acquisition...

New #Windows BSOD leaked pic.twitter.com/eWzX9Bap1G

— Neil Studd (@neilstudd) June 13, 2016

Carry Permit Holders at UT

The following e-mail went out from the UT President:

New Safety Policy about Firearms on Campus On July 1, a new state law takes effect that allows Tennessee’s public colleges and universities’ full-time faculty and staff, who have handgun-carry permits, to carry handguns on campus. I want to share information about the law and the new safety policy we have adopted in response. Safety Policy 0875 addresses how UT applies the many different state laws regarding firearms and clarifies when an employee may and may not legally carry a handgun on University property. The policy, which also takes effect July 1, expands on the following key provisions of state law: Full-time UT employees with valid Tennessee handgun-carry permits may carry handguns on UT property, if: They are not enrolled as students; and They notify the law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over the UT property on which they will be carrying a handgun Employees must display their handgun-carry permits on request of law enforcement officers Employees must not: Carry a weapon other than a handgun Carry a handgun openly or in any other manner in which the handgun is visible to ordinary observation Carry a handgun at certain times and locations, such as: Stadiums, gymnasiums or auditoriums where University-sponsored events are in progress In meetings regarding disciplinary matters or tenure I encourage you to review the policy in its entirety and answers to frequently asked questions provided here. Additional information about implementation efforts will be shared soon by each campus and institute. Questions can be directed to the law enforcement contacts listed within the policy. I understand strong feelings exist regarding guns on campus and want to assure you of our unwavering commitment to the safety of our faculty, staff and students as we implement this change. Thank you for your attention to this important matter. I appreciate everything you do for the University. All the best, Joe

Wouxun KG-D901 (DMR): BuyTwoWayRadios.com Unboxing

Hams have a good option in the TYT MD-380, but I'm excited to see the comparisons with the Wouxun KG-D901. If you are already in the Wouxun ecosystem, this may be an easy choice for you since the KG-D901 shares accessories with radios like the KG-UV9D.

Tennessine

Tennessine:

"One of the newest members of the periodic table will likely have a familiar sound to it, even if the spelling might be a bit off: Tennessine. 

Proposed as a nod to researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, and UT who helped confirm its existence, element 117 would be only the second to be named for a state. Since the name Tennessee has its origins in the name of the Cherokee village of Tanasi, it also becomes the first element with Native American roots."

Gadgets

Gadgets are dead. Long live the (cheap) gadgets.:

"Amazon doesn't need to make money on the Echo itself, as long as it drives more commerce to its retail business. Same with Google: as long as the Chromecast gets more people to watch YouTube videos and download more stuff from Google Play, they don't have to make money from the gadget itself." 

"This trend isn't going to kill off the smartphone, or the PC, or the tablet. But it means lower-cost gadgetry that lasts a lot longer. We're only seeing the early stages of this shift now, but it has a lot of potential to shake up how we think about and how we buy our devices."

Ugly Color

I'm thinking about adding some color to my blog.

Raise

I want a $10k/year raise for being a ham.

W9WSW: DMR for Beginners

A super-brief intro to DMR with a bunch of links to more info. https://t.co/YOWUDWvPoJ

— W9WSW (@w9wsw) June 9, 2016

Baofeng BF-F9: On Woot

At the end of May, Woot was selling the Baofeng BF-F9 for about $40. It generated quite a thread on the UV-5R Yahoo Group. There was some worry about unlicensed folks getting their hands on the radios, since they were promoted on Woot. I guess the thinking was that Woot has a diverse audience that might be interested in the cool toy/walkie talkie, but have no interest or knowledge of the licensing requirements to transmit. (Also, speculating here that this is different from Amazon or other web sites where people are more likely to be intentionally searching for radios instead of having one pop up on the page.)

k4rgn shared this note:

As someone who ordered a Baofeng from Woot yesterday before they sold out, I just received an email from Woot saying: 

"Dear Potential Hammie, So you bought the BaoFeng Ham Two-way Radio Transceiver from us very recently! Thank you! Listen to your hearts content! But we somehow forgot to offer a little reminder that HAM radio transmission requires a license! And if you send without it, you're gonna get in trouble with the FCC. Read here for more: http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed . If you already knew all that, excellent! But if you didn't know that, we want to give you a chance to get a refund. Just email support@woot.com by June 3rd, 10 AM CST and say I CAN'T HAM-DLE IT! and we'll cancel the order and get you your money back, just like that. Or, of course, you could get that license and learn the wonderful and majestic world of HAM. Wouldn't that be fun? Huh? Wouldn't it? It's up to you, Woot.com" 

Congrats to whoever provoked Woot to send this.

I think it is nice that they sent the note, but I believe the obligation is with the buyer. I'm trying to think of analogies with cars or guns. I'm pretty sure I showed a license to purchase my last car, but that was more a piece of the financial transaction. It wasn't to prove I was permitted to drive. I'm pretty big on personal responsibility and since there is a real (however unlikely) case that the radio could be used as a receiver only, I have no problem with them being sold on Woot.

Hopefully, we'll add even more folks to the hobby.

Streaming DMR

Posting this again as it seems timely...

Hose Line:

"Hose line is an online streaming platform for the HAM radio Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) Brandmeister network. The project is still under heavy development, so if you encounter bugs, please try again at a later stage."

Via @PD0ZRY