idiot or fear monger?

For days, the local television weather gurus and their talking head counterparts in the news departments have been predicting that a huge storm, a classic "Nor'easter," was going to strike our neck of the woods today. As the big storm approached, the chatter on the local television stations got louder and louder striking fear into the hearts of the citizens and causing a run on bread, milk, and gasoline at the local convenience stores.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has been downgrading the storm for the past two days. If you compare the NWS forecasts with the stories coming out of the local television stations, you would think they were talking about different weather events.

So, why are the television stations sticking to their stories and still predicting a big storm?

Are they just fear mongers, who are trying to scare people to such a degree that they will stay tuned to the local television stations so not to miss any of pearls of wisdom dripping from the local newscasters' mouths and more importantly, the countless advertisements and commercials that surround those rare pearls?

Anyway, this morning, I am eating breakfast, reading the newspaper, and listening to the local news on WVIT - Channel 30. WVIT is still playing up the storm big time and they have a reporter named Amy down on the shoreline in New Haven reporting on the weather conditions on/in Long Island Sound.

Amy is really agitated about the deteriorating weather conditions and to make her point, she says that two hours ago (at 7 AM) the beach where she was standing was not covered with water, but that now (at 9 AM), that same spot is inundated with surging water!

I shout back at Amy, "It's called 'high tide,'" but she does not hear me and prattles on with her report. (High tide in New Haven was at 10:02 AM today.)

So, was Amy just doing her job and being a good little fear monger for WVIT or is she just an idiot and does not know about high tides?

Surfin': Mapping Hams

Maybe "Hamming Maps" would be just as appropriate for the title of this week's Surfin'. In either case, you can read it here, then come back and leave your comments (if any) here.

God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut

I don't read as much fiction as I should.

I read tons of fiction when I attended college, but after I graduated and got more and more into ham radio and computers, I read less fiction and more non-fiction in order to learn about and keep up with technology. However, I usually dropped whatever I was reading whenever there was a release of a new book by Kurt Vonnegut.

By far, Vonnegut is my favorite author. I've read and enjoyed most of his books and I learned something from each one. But, Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday. There will be no new Vonnegut books to read and the world will be worse for it.

new cool map tool

Google My Maps is a new map tool that allows you to personalize Google Maps and share them with other Internet users

My Maps went live a few days ago and being a map guy from way back, I immediately started playing with the tool and in a short time created a map for the local historical society, which I webmaster for. The map is a work in progress, but if you peruse what I have done so far, you will get the idea.

Surfin': Hamming at CE0Y

"Hamming at CE0Y" is the title of this week's installment of Surfin'. After you read it, you can leave your comments (if any) here.