September 13, 2007
Really...It's a HYBRID!
Now this is how people should use those high-dollar engineering degrees! Make sure to scroll all the way way down to the bottom, even if you don't read the entire article. I'm going to have to award bonus points for that one.
Labels: blah
// posted by wayne @ 9/13/2007 05:47:00 AM 
April 12, 2007
Greedy Buggers
Generally, if I'm on the internet, I'm listening to internet radio through iTunes. Lately, I've been hearing a lot of promo spots on 1.FM's Channel X and Rock104 about the copyright royalty board's decision to basically bow down to the RIAA and effectively double the royalty rates for internet broadcasters when compared to the terrestrial crap-lords who push the same 15 canned songs over and over again. I find this so disturbing that I took the 15 minutes to go to SaveNetRadio.Org and use their link thingy to email rep. Tom Cole, and I highly recommend you do the same. But make sure to email your rep. I don't think Tom is going to really care if you happen to live in New Jersey.
If you haven't checked out what netradio has to offer, you need to go get a copy of Winamp or iTunes and start listening to (mostly) commercial free, very genre-specific radio stations. No matter what flavor you like, I guarantee you can find a station that suits your fancy, even if Hindi trance is what floats your boat. Mmmmmm. Variety without all the crap. Now that's worth 15 minutes of your time.
And in unrelated news, tomorrow is the big day! At 00:00 UTC on 13 April (which is actually the same as 7pm central on the 12th) I take the FCC's Amateur Radio Operator's exam. To prepare for this I've been doing practice tests for the last two weeks and I just took all 12 of them back-to-back at QRZ.com. Each test is 35 questions and each took me about 6 minutes. Average score for all 12 tests was 97.85% so I'm feeling pretty good about passing. To hedge my bets, I've made a list of all the questions I missed and will be reviewing them tomorrow before the test. After I pass, all I have to do is wait for my name/license to show up in the FCC's universal licensing database and I am clear for transmission. I've even procured my first radio: a Kenwood TH-F6A tri-band, hand-held transciever (ht). Yeah, it's a 'walkie-talkie' but it transmits on 3 of the bands I'll be allowed to work, has a second wide-band receiver (that picks up everything except cellular) and it's smaller than a deck of cards. It is one of the best-rated ht's available and K5SNG hooked me up with a suh-weet deal on the radio, spare battery pack, quick charger, accessory mic, programming cable and carry case. I can hardly wait.
If you haven't checked out what netradio has to offer, you need to go get a copy of Winamp or iTunes and start listening to (mostly) commercial free, very genre-specific radio stations. No matter what flavor you like, I guarantee you can find a station that suits your fancy, even if Hindi trance is what floats your boat. Mmmmmm. Variety without all the crap. Now that's worth 15 minutes of your time.
And in unrelated news, tomorrow is the big day! At 00:00 UTC on 13 April (which is actually the same as 7pm central on the 12th) I take the FCC's Amateur Radio Operator's exam. To prepare for this I've been doing practice tests for the last two weeks and I just took all 12 of them back-to-back at QRZ.com. Each test is 35 questions and each took me about 6 minutes. Average score for all 12 tests was 97.85% so I'm feeling pretty good about passing. To hedge my bets, I've made a list of all the questions I missed and will be reviewing them tomorrow before the test. After I pass, all I have to do is wait for my name/license to show up in the FCC's universal licensing database and I am clear for transmission. I've even procured my first radio: a Kenwood TH-F6A tri-band, hand-held transciever (ht). Yeah, it's a 'walkie-talkie' but it transmits on 3 of the bands I'll be allowed to work, has a second wide-band receiver (that picks up everything except cellular) and it's smaller than a deck of cards. It is one of the best-rated ht's available and K5SNG hooked me up with a suh-weet deal on the radio, spare battery pack, quick charger, accessory mic, programming cable and carry case. I can hardly wait.
Labels: blah
// posted by wayne @ 4/12/2007 04:33:00 AM
