My subscription to Life expired, but I still have a subscription to Mad.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Surfin': Got User Interface?

In this week’s Surfin’, we consider the user interface of Amateur Radio software. After you read that, come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

what a deal!

When we were kids, my sister and I were allowed to stay up late on Friday nights to watch The Twilight Zone, which was on at 9:30 Eastern Time. But we had our marching orders: as soon as the show ended at 10 PM, we had to go straight upstairs to bed.

To make ends meet, both my mother and father worked. Dad worked days (7 AM to 3:30 PM) and Mom worked nights (5 to 10 PM). Dad did not want my mother driving alone at night, so he drove her to and from work ever day including Fridays, which left us kids home alone to watch The Twilight Zone, while Dad crossed town to pick up Mom.

Needless to say, two kids home alone watching The Twilight Zone was a scary proposition and after many episodes of the show, going upstairs to our dark bedrooms was not very inviting. But, we loved the show, continued to watch it, and managed to go upstairs to bed sooner or later... usually later.

Today, my wife, sister, and I went to a couple of tag sales and at one, I found a box containing 25 VHS tapes of The Twilight Zone collection. Most of the tapes had four episodes, some had three, and they were the cream of the crop. I recognized the titles of many of those episodes that made it difficult to go upstairs to bed nearly 50 years ago.

When I asked the lady running the tag sale, how much for the tapes, she said I could have the box full for $1. What a deal!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Surfin': LOU on SDR and GPS

In this week’s Surfin’, we consider two initialisms that are on the cutting edge of Amateur Radio. After you read that, come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Where are the Sunspots? Are we in for a Quiet Solar Cycle?

So what's up with our Sun? Is it going through a depression? It seems as if our closest star is experiencing a surprisingly uneventful couple of years. Solar minimum has supposedly passed and we should be seeing a lot more magnetic activity, and we certainly should be observing lots more sunspots...

Read all about it here.

Surfin': Mastering the Keys of Amateur Radio

In this week’s Surfin’, visits the Web site of a master designer, builder and restorer of telegraph keys. After you read that, come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Supreme Court restores habeas corpus, strikes down key part of Military Commissions Act

In a major rebuke to the Bush administration's theories of presidential power -- and in an equally stinging rebuke to the bipartisan political class which has supported the Bush detention policies -- the U.S. Supreme Court today, in a 5-4 decision (.pdf), declared Section 7 of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 unconstitutional. The Court struck down that section of the MCA because it purported to abolish the writ of habeas corpus -- the means by which a detainee challenges his detention in a court -- despite the fact that the Constitution permits suspension of that writ only "in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion."

Read all about it here.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Kucinich presents Bush impeachment articles

An Ohio Democratic lawmaker and former presidential candidate has presented articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush to Congress.

Thirty-five articles were presented by Rep. Dennis Kucinich to the House of Representatives late Monday evening, airing live on C-SPAN.

Read all about it here because you won't read about it in the mainstream media, which is in bed with Bush and his crew.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Surfin': Relive the Lives of Dead Electrical Dudes

In this week’s Surfin’, learn about all the dead radio and electrical dudes. After you read that, come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control

Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors

A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November...

...But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US. President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated. But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US troops if he is elected president in November.

Read all about it here.

Monday, June 2, 2008

double rainbow


An intense thunderstorm passed through here early Saturday night and a rainbow appeared near the storms end. I photographed the rainbow and to my surprise, when I viewed it on my computer, I realized it was a double rainbow.

I e-mailed the photo to Geoff Fox, K1GF, the weatherman at WTNH, and he showed the photo during the 10 PM news on channel 59 and the 11 PM news on channel 8.