Friday, May 31, 2013

Running Form

I made the comment that my daughter had better running form than I did...


My "friend" found examples of other people with better running form...





Thursday, May 30, 2013

Leixen VV-808: First Hands On Review

m42duster took the plunge and ordered a VV-808. After playing with it for a few hours, his impression is quite favorable. Some highlights:

  • Easy to program manually
  • Front 4 buttons are programmable (short and long press)
  • Main knob is multi-function
  • Internal speaker is loud and has good tonal quality
  • Transmit audio received good reports
  • Display is easily readable

"So far, this little rig is pretty cool and should fit my intended use perfectly. I find it to be worth the money I paid." 
Click here for the full review.

Networked Devices at Home

I have marveled at how many devices I have on my network at the house. Beyond the usual smartphones, tablets, printers, game consoles, and even laptops; I now have my thermostat on my wireless. I can control the HVAC from anywhere via a webpage or app. It was pretty cool (no pun intended) to be on vacation and remotely change the heating/cooling schedule to save a few pennies since we were out of town. (I ended up not getting a Nest even though I still think it is neat.)

I had to get a new controller for my irrigation system - it was only as I was checking the thermostats program that I realized I should have asked about one with network connectivity. It would have saved a lot of running around the house - start zone 1, walk to check it, walk back to start zone 2, etc.

If I ever have to replace the cipher lock on my front door, maybe I need to upgrade to an August lock.

Mars

Mars... not MARS...

We can't get people to Mars yet, but if we do, hams are already wondering what propagation would be like and one speculates about how things might work.

Leixen VV-808: Alpha Display

Found this picture showing the alpha display here.


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Tek Recon-Soft

A NERF-like, Laser Tag-like, Call of Duty-like game - a real virtual 3D first person shooter. Kickstarter project is here.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Leixen VV-808: Software and Company Site

The VV-808 product page is here. And thanks to Steve, here is a link to the software download for the VV-808.
Leixen company profile (via Google Translate):

"Ray Line Electronics Co., Ltd. Quanzhou was founded in 2008, is a professional wireless intercom development, production and sales of high-tech enterprises. Company is located in radio communications developed coastal cities - Quanzhou, Fujian Province. Has developed a full range of "LEIXEN" series radios. Widely used in construction, telecommunications, public security, security, flood control, restaurants, residential property management and other departments and areas.

Since its inception, has been focusing on product quality and after-sales service, product appearance, performance and quality to invest a lot of technology to consolidate and development. Team of engineers with years of experience to provide a strong technical support."

Monday, May 27, 2013

"ICOM" Radios for everyone

Not really... a variety of fakes via a story by Hans about how to make your own ICOM.

Barter

My wife would agree...

LoneNutVolFan After the apocalypse, the remaining Trader Joe's dark chocolate peanut butter cups will be the $1,000 bill in the barter currency.Sat, May 25 17:10:08 from web


Name: Lone Nut
Location: Big Orange Country
Bio: Chuck Norris wears Chris Lofton pajamas.
Following: 1588 Followers: 951 Updates: 10717



Cross-over

So I post a little about ham radio and recently posted about the Ready Player One book that includes a lot of references to 80's video games and Easter Eggs.

Today, I read about this game that has a hidden message from one of its programmers: "DE JN1KTJ K."