Gong Xi Fa Cai

Via Vero Telecom:

2015 is coming, Vero Telecom wish all of you have a wonderful 2015. 

In 2015, Vero will continue to provide you the best quality products and good service. I believe that we will have more cooperation chances in the future. 

Jan.1st,2015 is not actually our New Year, in China, we have Chinese lunar calendar，and our new year which we also called “Spring Festival” is on Feb.19th. 

During the Spring Festival, we say “Gong Xi Fa Cai” when we meet people, it means wish you good luck and make money. 恭喜发财！ 

Listen the song “Gong Xi Fa Cai”.

WarSting

WarSting: A Wi-Fi scanning sword for Hobbits:




Via Slashdot.org

HT Feature

Here is another feature for the Chinese to incorporate into their next HT: remote coffee starter.

Adonit Jot Script Evernote Stylus on Sale

I've got 18 hours to decide if I want to pull the trigger on the "Adonit Jot Script Evernote Edition Fine Point Stylus." It is currently $45 instead of the regular price of $75.

Hot Jobs in Knoxville

Woo hoo!

Computer and Information Systems Managers are expected to be the hottest job in Knoxville between now and 2020.

IT: As Seen By

In case you don’t reddit, an awesome summary of IT: pic.twitter.com/BRKHgfbG0w
— Nick Craver (@Nick_Craver) December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas!

One of my favorites and my usual Christmas post..

Adafruit and Heathkit

Adafruit looks at Heathkit:

"There are not as many people who know about Heathkit now, so when we saw a year ago that something new might be happening with the brand (again) we and many others got very excited. It’s puzzling as to what’s really going on though. 

Maybe our post about this will shed some light on this electronic history mystery which is Heathkit 2014. We hope we find out what the plans are for Heathkit, who owns it now, and if this legendary and loved brand is going to return to the educational electronic market."

Heathkit responds:

"Our friends at Adafruit Industries have been doing some sleuthing, and we agree- it's time for an update. Happily, there's plenty to report. 

Exciting things are happening in the Heathkit labs. We're pleased at the great feedback from our beta-testers on a range of quality products we've been actively developing. As you know, we had hoped to get several of these new products out for the Christmas market, but our team is creating so many new ideas that we've been slowed by the sheer work of creating patents (by law we must file them before we may sell our new products, or even advertise them). We remain hard at work, and as excited as ever to ship finished new products meeting Heathkit's high standards. 

Meanwhile, our team has been expanding. More top-notch technical advisors and advisors have joined the effort, and hand-picked interns have been learning the ropes while earning money for their college degrees. We've been carefully building supply chain relationships to keep quality high and prices low, and exploring exciting partnerships that we look forward to announcing. Our soldering irons remain hot, and are being put to good use. 

We know you're as eager as we are to see the newest Heathkit designs released. (Of course thousands of Heathkit® products are bought and sold each week-- we participate in this market ourselves, and monitor it closely). For any enthusiasts not yet on our Heathkit Insider email list, that list will be the first place that new product availability is announced. Head over to the FAQ section on our official website to learn how to join the mailing list and also to read the answers to Adafruit's questions about Heathkit intellectual property. We look forward to building out this FAQ section as more information becomes public. 

It's been an enormous amount of hard work, but our team has risen to the task. You can be confident that as true Heathkit devotees ourselves, we want nothing more than to honor the legendary name that's graced workbenches and homes for generations. We look forward to providing more news soon. 

Until next time,
The Heathkit Team"

Via reddit and reddit.

Misuta

And on the topic of names, Hans has spotted another name for the Baofeng now Pofung radios: Misuta:

"Two models are on display so far: the Misutā Samurai, and the Misutā Hero. Both are, of course, UV-5Rs, with reverse LCDs. Prices are about the same."

Xiegu X108: Better Update

From Fred (VE3FAL):

"Those who have already received the updated radio say it is like night and day between the first batch and the second. Audio on SSB is much cleaner and clearer and the over-driving of the front end has been fixed. AM is also much better sounding according to those using the radio. 

The firmware has been changed as well so the microphone buttons can be programmed by the end user to their choice and option for buttons on the microphone, as well a cw side-tone volume control has been added into the menu options."

And from Ed's Import Communications site:

"-this radio is out of stock- 

the factory is replacing all previously sold radios and stock should return in mid-December"

And also this:

"Xiegu is pronounced 'zee goo'"