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Ham and Software - Communities of Creativity?

Posted by Cliff on from the share-your-anecdotes dept.

lgreco asks: "I've been thinking about the similarities between the community of early ham radio operators and software developers. Both communities produced a lot of useful technologies that found applications beyond the scope of a 'just a hobby'. Ham radio operators built their own equipment and experimented with modulation and propagation techniques. The results of their efforts today are used in a variety of radio communication applications, from cell phones to marine radios. Similarly, hackers developed concepts of computing that are now universally accepted tools of productivity. Both communities share an enthusiasm for technical creativity and up until recently there was even some overlap between the two groups. Are there any interesting stories about the creativity of either groups (that relate to the other group perhaps) that should be recorded and documented?"

7 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. Topic... by Demanche · · Score: 2, Funny

    Made me hungry .. then I realized I wasn't on a food site :

    --
    Mod me down im a newf (wiki)
  2. Out of the loop by AndroidCat · · Score: 4, Funny
    and up until recently there was even some overlap between the two groups.

    I didn't get the memo. When did the split occur?

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  3. Tasty by secretvampire · · Score: 4, Funny

    [Homer]

    Mmmmmmmmmm.....Ham radio.....glaaaaaaaaaarrgh...

    [/Homer]

  4. Bless them! by Otter · · Score: 4, Funny

    Whenever I'm configuring a new Linux kernel on Saturday night, evading my wife's attempts to drag me out the door or into bed -- I always get to the "Amateur Radio" section and think "Hah! What kind of dweeb do they think I am?"

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  5. Answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    Are there any interesting stories about the creativity of either groups (that relate to the other group perhaps) that should be recorded and documented?
    Surprisingly, no. Next question.
  6. MSOD (Morse String Of Death) by BoulderDad · · Score: 5, Funny
    This happened to me just a few weeks ago. I was monitoring payload comms for a high-altitude research payload that we had built, and all the data comms went through a Linux box that was routing traffic to the payload.

    Everything was going smooth as silk in mission control and then... lost connection to the payload from the mission controller station... I go to the linux router, and its LOCKED UP... nothing... screen is frozen with my windows up, no mouse movement...

    CAPS and SCROLL led's are blinking in unison... some kind of code... maybe a number? I start trying to write down dots and dashes, but my autonomic response is to try to copy is as morse code... I get characters... then I scrawl out...

    F A T A L E X C E P T I O N

    !!! Linux was sending me morse code via the keyboard LEDs! That's a new one on me. It didn't send any kind of diagnostic code, not that it would've helped me. But knowing that it was a fatal exception was actually the right information, because I knew it was appropriate to immediately restart the machine.

    So instead of the Windows blue screen of death, it's the linux "Morse String of Death" (MSOD?) !

    -K0DUG

    dit dit

  7. Put this in your metadata and smoke it by claussenvenable · · Score: 1, Funny

    Seriously! I was expecting an article on the similarities between software development and the painstaking process of crafting a fine, smokey Black Forest or a deliciously spicy-hot Coppa -- or at least something about ham in re spam.

    Take that, semantic web!