In a tiny box of electronics, with removable front panel for the dash
(eg, ICOM IC-706 Mk.IIG, Kenwood TS-2000 or Yaesu FT-897D or similar) is:...for the unlicenced:
- monitor various VHF/UHF stations (emerg. services, etc.)
- Shortwave receiver
- AM [ & FM ] broadcast receiver...if you become a licensed Amateur (a.k.a. Ham) Radio operator:
- VHF/UHF comms with repeaters all over the country/world - US, Canada & beyond
(each provides a way to meet-the-Locals, as you pass through / by each place)
- Internet-link repeaters (if you'r within range of one, you can "dial-up" others
- eg, in places you're headed for (even in different states & countries -or-
maintain comms with folks back home, ie, if they have licenses & gear that can
access a nearby IRLP-repeater)
- "hunt" for satellites passing overhead (cf HeavensAbove.com's Amateur satellite
page for times & freq's to watch, no matter where you are) - a great time[sink
for the kids;-)
If you find one, use it as a repeater (for voice) or digipeater (for eMail)
- with the right antenna & tuner, "hunt" on HF for other Hams around the world
(like an open-ended Skype search, & chat in voice-mode)
- even if you can't always talk with all the stations you'll hear, enjoy listening!
(eg, new/unfamiliar accents, languages, local ideas, "on-air" tips for radio &
lots of other issues)
- [Kenwood TS-2000 only] connect a notebook (or smaller) computer to use Packet-
Radio & possibly APRS (to get weathe or to locate other nearby stations - both
home or mobile); contact satellites passing overhead or use them to store-and-
forward your eMail, when there's no Internet cafe nearby
- lots more... too many to list... Google is your friend here.;-)
Oh, it's gotten VERY EASY to get a first (Foundation Class) Amateur/Ham License
Enjoy the warmth of friendly, local voices... ready to offer travel tips...
generally without wanting to fleece you as you pass through their town/city
What better way than to round out a new / young programmer's
knowledge than to work with a more experienced colleague?
Compare & contrast notes & techniques as you go... & learn.
I don't mean to accept all that's put on the table (screen),
but to have the author right there to ask the odd question -
now & then - has to be an improvement on having the source.
Yep, as we read in a recent article on OpenBSD's attempts to
get (typically: non-Asian) hardware makers to release source
and/or info needed to write drivers, having the source alone
may not be enough for understanding, at least in such cases.
Go for it & get what you can from the experience.
PS What we need is more Pair Teaching (not only the less exp'd
teacher would gain, but so would students... more than one
perspective on the subject matter has to be a win for them)
So, we read that VoIP providers have to insure that they don't give users the "false security" of being able to make Emergency Calls (since, in most cases, a VoIP system won't send caller's location details)
Some ADSL modems have POTS-phone ports (for analog- telephones and maybe FAXs) built-in, along with the more common router features & ports - in Australia, ISP Internode offers Agile's NodePhone VoIP service using Billion 7402-VGP (has 2 phone ports that work even when the computer is switched Off).
I'm told that this Billion VoIP-ready, Modem/Router has a so-called "Lifeline" feature that just switch- es Emergency Calls to the landline - bypassing VoIP service & its ADSL connection.
QUESTION: Is it only Agile's NodePhone that can use
the "Lifeline" feature(s)?
Or, can Skype & other VoIP services do so
as well?
(I see the seeds of an Open Source S/W de-
velopment project here & maybe several..)
Irrespective of whether lotsa Finnish saunas "harden" the skin -
as an earlier poster quipped - reports from autopsies of long-
time cell-phone users suggest that a better test of the effects
of cell-phone use would focus on the brain, where such autopsies
have apparently revealed small brain tumors on the side of most
cel-phone use.
When will we have more studies of cell-phone use's affect on
brain-cells?
After noticing that the author's download server had gotten SlashDotted,
I took the time to browse the book's History.
I was taken aback to find that he had acted (IMHO) sheepish in response
to someone else's input of the form: "It needs more pages" ('reminds me
of the Emporer's line - in Amadeus - "It needs more notes"...both mind-
less comments on a work by people not interested enough to get -inside-
the heads or hearts of the creators).
For all kinds of reasons, writing bloated books (with "more pages") just
doesn't work for me:
- while carrying a ref. book to a work site: the more pp's the heavier
- when trying to find info: the more words needed to be read, the slower
- when promoting a FOSS Op Sys: the bigger their book(s), the harder the sell
- until the publishing world goes all electronic: more trees must die
- while authors get paid (or books get sold) by the word (page) counts:
* dead-tree versions will be unnecessarily more costly
* less time is available for more creative endeavors
* the signal-to-noise ratio will be lower than optimal
* the risk of authors getting RSI is higher than optimal
In sum, it just seems like we're following the commercial crowds, ie,
rather than designing elegant creations that we can be 100% proud of.
Still, I want to THANK the Author for releasing this book via the CC.
And [for us] where's something, preferably OSS,
that does IM & VoIP as well as Skype on a closed LAN?
We don't want to lose INTRA-office voice & text contact
whenever the Internet is unavailable or bandwidth to it
is low (eg, in Australia's Outback, & we DON'T want to
pay high Satellite rates to get what we want here;-)
of course, after a student had sold insurance to
their friends & relatives, they couldn't meet
their sales quotas... and got replaced by the
"next generation" of student salespeople.
ABC / Radio National's "Science Show" did a story on an Australian
scientist, who falsely reported data from "experiments" that
had never been conducted, ie, committed scientific fraud.
An ethical Asian female co-researcher quite rightly
"blew the whistle" on the unethical researcher.
The results:
- He (the "bad guy") is STILL employed by his university / research institute
- She (the "good guy") LOST funding & access to her research facilities & experimental animals
- One of the investigative journalists announced that
HE'LL WILL NEVER REPORT ANOTHER CASE (see below)
He's host of ABC's weekly "Health Report" show:
Norman Swan: "I will never do a case of scientific fraud
ever again.
And the reason for that is just
the failure of institutional responses.
If the University of NSW can get away with
something like this what is the point?
Im not going to do another one because
I just dont think that the institutions in
this country have responded seriously to this."
(Just imagine the kind of world it would be, eg, if ALL
journo's, police, judges, et al. felt like this guy...)
Some years ago, I read (in official info, received from the Swedish Institute) that
almost EVERYTHING produced by a Swedish gov't dep't, authority, etc. is freely
available for public access.
There used to be an SI Fact Sheet (or 3) on all of this, but I couldn't find it
after 8 minutes at SI's web site...
(Perhaps Sep 11th has changed Sweden's openness? 'hope not...)
Surprisingly enough, openness applied even to such sacred cows (in other lands)
as [most of] the Prime Minister's mail & [most] individual's tax records (useful,
after all, to family-tree researchers).
While living/working in the Kingdom of Sweden over 5 chilly "winters," I tested the latter
claim... walking into the local tax office (Lokallaskattemindigheten, from memory...)
and - in English - asked to use the Office's "public computer terminal" - still speaking
English.
In about 5 minutes, whoever was using a computer terminal finished and I was escorted
inside, to a place with 2 or 3 computer terminals. A "Public (ie, limited / read-only)
Access" card was sweeped-in, for my terminal, and I was given practically unlimited access
(in time spent at the computer terminal).
Of course, I had to know enough Swedish to be able to understand the prompts & commands
needed to get to some sample data records, by my own & some few friends' and colleagues'
data.
I understand that only the names of children born out of wedlock would have been hidden
from me; also, data may be hidden at certain points in the processing cycle (eg, before
it is verified as accurate?)
The only cost became payable only if I had wanted to print out some of the date I found
(rather than copy into my notes, by hand).
(I wonder if - today - one could use digital cameras to photograph data while displayed
on screens, or - better - whether USB-disks can be used to gether much more information
in a more convenient & useful manner...? Does anyone know?)
The openness was said to go far beyond the example mentioned above...
Any publicly-funded report was to be freely available - on request - at various depart-
mental libraries.
Even corporate libraries could be pursuaded to loan some of their materials (via Inter-
Library Loan arrangements) to individual borrowers, in the community.
The idea was, I understand, that an informed public was a basic tenet of [Social] Democracy.
I didn't happen to stumble on any reports on the costs of supplying such information, or
of not providing it.
Has anyone got up-to-date info on how it is in Sweden today?
Freedom of Information laws in Australia are VERY dim...
A very recent (like this past week) Law Report
(another fine radio program on the ABC's domestic
Radio National network) covered an on-going case,
in which The Australian newspaper (or was it another one?)
has been seeking some non-controvertial info -
from Treasury - that several years old and related to
First Buyer's Grant (ie, for home buyers).
In that case, the Treasurer used his ministerial powers to (simply) -declare- the sought-after documents "Subject to "
It's up to the highest court in the land to decide
whether - for such info, as was requested here -
such ministerial "edicts" are to be deemed sufficient to keep files closed,
ie, before a court has ruled.
So, normally, gov't data - at least when thought
capable of embarrassing the gov't - is quite confidential & very hard to acquire
by those outside of gov't!
Slashdot Mirror
In a tiny box of electronics, with removable front panel for the dash
(eg, ICOM IC-706 Mk.IIG, Kenwood TS-2000 or Yaesu FT-897D or similar) is:
- monitor various VHF/UHF stations (emerg. services, etc.)
- Shortwave receiver
- AM [ & FM ] broadcast receiver
- VHF/UHF comms with repeaters all over the country/world - US, Canada & beyond
(each provides a way to meet-the-Locals, as you pass through / by each place)
- Internet-link repeaters (if you'r within range of one, you can "dial-up" others
- eg, in places you're headed for (even in different states & countries -or-
maintain comms with folks back home, ie, if they have licenses & gear that can
access a nearby IRLP-repeater)
- "hunt" for satellites passing overhead (cf HeavensAbove.com's Amateur satellite
page for times & freq's to watch, no matter where you are) - a great time[sink
for the kids
If you find one, use it as a repeater (for voice) or digipeater (for eMail)
- with the right antenna & tuner, "hunt" on HF for other Hams around the world
(like an open-ended Skype search, & chat in voice-mode)
- even if you can't always talk with all the stations you'll hear, enjoy listening!
(eg, new/unfamiliar accents, languages, local ideas, "on-air" tips for radio &
lots of other issues)
- [Kenwood TS-2000 only] connect a notebook (or smaller) computer to use Packet-
Radio & possibly APRS (to get weathe or to locate other nearby stations - both
home or mobile); contact satellites passing overhead or use them to store-and-
forward your eMail, when there's no Internet cafe nearby
- lots more... too many to list... Google is your friend here.
Oh, it's gotten VERY EASY to get a first (Foundation Class) Amateur/Ham License
In USA: http://arrl.org/
In SE: http://www.ssa.se/
In AU: http://www.wia.org.au/
Enjoy the warmth of friendly, local voices... ready to offer travel tips...
generally without wanting to fleece you as you pass through their town/city
(At least, I think it was Dutch...)
The idea was to make adjustable (but NOT self-adjusting) glasses
that could be fitted to anyone.
I prefer a "general" & "generally affordable" solution -over-
a "cool" one that poops out when its batteries die...
My 2 cents (if a bit OT)
What better way than to round out a new / young programmer's
knowledge than to work with a more experienced colleague?
Compare & contrast notes & techniques as you go... & learn.
I don't mean to accept all that's put on the table (screen),
but to have the author right there to ask the odd question -
now & then - has to be an improvement on having the source.
Yep, as we read in a recent article on OpenBSD's attempts to
get (typically: non-Asian) hardware makers to release source
and/or info needed to write drivers, having the source alone
may not be enough for understanding, at least in such cases.
Go for it & get what you can from the experience.
PS What we need is more Pair Teaching (not only the less exp'd
teacher would gain, but so would students... more than one
perspective on the subject matter has to be a win for them)
If he had been using the subj. modem device,
his emergency call might have been put through
to 911 directly, with Vonage out of the picture.
The feature is known as "Lifeline"...
So, we read that VoIP providers have to insure that
they don't give users the "false security" of being
able to make Emergency Calls (since, in most cases,
a VoIP system won't send caller's location details)
Some ADSL modems have POTS-phone ports (for analog-
telephones and maybe FAXs) built-in, along with the
more common router features & ports - in Australia,
ISP Internode offers Agile's NodePhone VoIP service
using Billion 7402-VGP (has 2 phone ports that work
even when the computer is switched Off).
I'm told that this Billion VoIP-ready, Modem/Router
has a so-called "Lifeline" feature that just switch-
es Emergency Calls to the landline - bypassing VoIP
service & its ADSL connection.
QUESTION: Is it only Agile's NodePhone that can use
the "Lifeline" feature(s)?
Or, can Skype & other VoIP services do so
as well?
(I see the seeds of an Open Source S/W de-
velopment project here & maybe several..)
...then we can surely do what it takes to make them work for people,
/. article, developers just need to start
who happen to need a bit of accommodation.
As suggested in a recent
communicating with Folks with Disabilities (FWD's, a.k.a. PWD's)
It's just that easy. And... from experience... I can tell you:
It can really make you appreciate what you take for granted, ie,
finding out how life can be without sight or the ability to walk.
Mind-expanding... a bit like emerging from one of those "gotta
crawl on your belly" caves, on a spelunking trip...
Both are better than drugs, I'd suggest...
I seem to recall reading that SDF -had- Linux, in a past life,
but - after an intrusion - -now- use NetBSD or the like.
They'd surely have something useful to say about Linux v BSD
security.
Does anybody know any of their admin's of the times to ask?
FYI: sdf.lonestar.org is a long-time "free" Shell provider
(I have NO pecuniary interest in their organisation)
Designers, here's an idea for you...
Let a notebook computer open like a book,
ie, with 2 facing LCD screens.
Perhaps the outside could look & feel
like a hard (or, perhaps, soft) cover book,
as well.
Higher-end designs might add the "Essence
of Olde Book" to touch the reader's nose.
An all [FLASH-] RAM memory storage system
with clear, non-reflective LCD screen coating
to make outdoor reading [in the shade] work.
Perhaps the design could include a multi-
format audio player (eg, for author intro's
or full/partial talking book functionality.
What'cha think?
I just read that osCommerce's overall design is hard to change...
ie, without having to fiddle with over 10 source files.
So, I wonder if osCommerce may not be utilizing the magic of CSS?
Cf: http://www.csszengarden.com/
I continue to be impressed (when not amazed) how much a CSS change
can influence a site's look, if not its feel...
Irrespective of whether lotsa Finnish saunas "harden" the skin -
as an earlier poster quipped - reports from autopsies of long-
time cell-phone users suggest that a better test of the effects
of cell-phone use would focus on the brain, where such autopsies
have apparently revealed small brain tumors on the side of most
cel-phone use.
When will we have more studies of cell-phone use's affect on
brain-cells?
After noticing that the author's download server had gotten SlashDotted,
...both mind-
I took the time to browse the book's History.
I was taken aback to find that he had acted (IMHO) sheepish in response
to someone else's input of the form: "It needs more pages" ('reminds me
of the Emporer's line - in Amadeus - "It needs more notes"
less comments on a work by people not interested enough to get -inside-
the heads or hearts of the creators).
For all kinds of reasons, writing bloated books (with "more pages") just
doesn't work for me:
- while carrying a ref. book to a work site: the more pp's the heavier
- when trying to find info: the more words needed to be read, the slower
- when promoting a FOSS Op Sys: the bigger their book(s), the harder the sell
- until the publishing world goes all electronic: more trees must die
- while authors get paid (or books get sold) by the word (page) counts:
* dead-tree versions will be unnecessarily more costly
* less time is available for more creative endeavors
* the signal-to-noise ratio will be lower than optimal
* the risk of authors getting RSI is higher than optimal
In sum, it just seems like we're following the commercial crowds, ie,
rather than designing elegant creations that we can be 100% proud of.
Still, I want to THANK the Author for releasing this book via the CC.
My 2.2 cents... what'cha think?
i might not agree with all you've said, but that last bit is dead right:
..me thinks.
the australian gov't is notorious for not giving people what they want,
as the case of 'morning after pill" ru486 [usedto induce abortions.] shows:
we've just seen passage of a bill that might - in a year or so, make ru486 available here; it hasn't been all these years!
way behind the times
- File-sharing programs & networks...
- SKype's VoIP...
- (etc.)
There must be some commonality between
the many P2P protocols out there, yes?
Isn't it time, now, to handle P2P
as a unified "layer" in Linux, etc.?
There must be a way to make all the
P2P programs run more efficiently,
in less memory space than they do
today...
My 2 cents... hopefuly not -too- far
Off-Topic to be considered by dev'rs.
They must be doing something right - ie,
if they can leave eXtremeProgramming.org
untouched (& feel it's just fine) since
early 2004, eh?
OK, so Skype ISN'T OSS...
So, where'is the best OSS counterpart to Skype?
And [for us] where's something, preferably OSS,
that does IM & VoIP as well as Skype on a closed LAN?
We don't want to lose INTRA-office voice & text contact
whenever the Internet is unavailable or bandwidth to it
is low (eg, in Australia's Outback, & we DON'T want to
pay high Satellite rates to get what we want here
What are our options?
TIA
of course, after a student had sold insurance to
their friends & relatives, they couldn't meet
their sales quotas... and got replaced by the
"next generation" of student salespeople.
History repeats itself...
ABC / Radio National's "Science Show" did a story on an Australian
2 50.htm
scientist, who falsely reported data from "experiments" that
had never been conducted, ie, committed scientific fraud.
An ethical Asian female co-researcher quite rightly
"blew the whistle" on the unethical researcher.
The results:
- He (the "bad guy") is STILL employed by his university / research institute
- She (the "good guy") LOST funding & access to her research facilities & experimental animals
- One of the investigative journalists announced that
HE'LL WILL NEVER REPORT ANOTHER CASE (see below)
He's host of ABC's weekly "Health Report" show:
Norman Swan: "I will never do a case of scientific fraud
ever again.
And the reason for that is just
the failure of institutional responses.
If the University of NSW can get away with
something like this what is the point?
Im not going to do another one because
I just dont think that the institutions in
this country have responded seriously to this."
(Just imagine the kind of world it would be, eg, if ALL
journo's, police, judges, et al. felt like this guy...)
Excerpt from The Science Show:
"What happens to the Whistleblowers?"
The program aired on 3 September 2005.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ss/stories/s1451
So, I'd say the MIT researcher could do well
in at least ONE Australian research university.
Australia's embarrassing tradition continues...
- After WW 2, AU accepted Nazis from Germany,
apparently forgiving their atrocities [as long as
they brought enough of their spoils to live well here]
- today, at least one Australian research institution
seems to forgive scientific fraud [as long as they
can still attract research grant money]
"Past is Prologue"
Since employees use the tools provided by their employers, &
...could these guys argue (in an IR could) that:
:-)
contractors use tools that they provide for themselves,
- they are really contractors
- they own rights to their code
- get court to agree
- PROFIT
(Subj asks it all...)
The Subj is the Question & point of my post.
Nothing to see here, folks. Move along...
Is Sweden still as open as it was in the 80's?
Some years ago, I read (in official info, received from the Swedish Institute) that
almost EVERYTHING produced by a Swedish gov't dep't, authority, etc. is freely
available for public access.
http://www.si.se/templates/StartPage.aspx?id=3
If that link has died/changed, pick your language at the top of the site at:
http://www.si.se/
There used to be an SI Fact Sheet (or 3) on all of this, but I couldn't find it
after 8 minutes at SI's web site...
(Perhaps Sep 11th has changed Sweden's openness? 'hope not...)
Surprisingly enough, openness applied even to such sacred cows (in other lands)
as [most of] the Prime Minister's mail & [most] individual's tax records (useful,
after all, to family-tree researchers).
While living/working in the Kingdom of Sweden over 5 chilly "winters," I tested the latter
claim... walking into the local tax office (Lokallaskattemindigheten, from memory...)
and - in English - asked to use the Office's "public computer terminal" - still speaking
English.
In about 5 minutes, whoever was using a computer terminal finished and I was escorted
inside, to a place with 2 or 3 computer terminals. A "Public (ie, limited / read-only)
Access" card was sweeped-in, for my terminal, and I was given practically unlimited access
(in time spent at the computer terminal).
Of course, I had to know enough Swedish to be able to understand the prompts & commands
needed to get to some sample data records, by my own & some few friends' and colleagues'
data.
I understand that only the names of children born out of wedlock would have been hidden
from me; also, data may be hidden at certain points in the processing cycle (eg, before
it is verified as accurate?)
The only cost became payable only if I had wanted to print out some of the date I found
(rather than copy into my notes, by hand).
(I wonder if - today - one could use digital cameras to photograph data while displayed
on screens, or - better - whether USB-disks can be used to gether much more information
in a more convenient & useful manner...? Does anyone know?)
The openness was said to go far beyond the example mentioned above...
Any publicly-funded report was to be freely available - on request - at various depart-
mental libraries.
Even corporate libraries could be pursuaded to loan some of their materials (via Inter-
Library Loan arrangements) to individual borrowers, in the community.
The idea was, I understand, that an informed public was a basic tenet of [Social] Democracy.
I didn't happen to stumble on any reports on the costs of supplying such information, or
of not providing it.
Has anyone got up-to-date info on how it is in Sweden today?
( cf: http://www.sweden.se/ for gen'l info )
Does anybody in the Geek Community (GC) really
need -another- T-shirt?
Of course, if it says something like:
"I support Katrina victime,
why not do the same?"
I guess it might help...
Lamp, Apache, MySQL, PostSQL, etc.
'runs in text-mode on slow machines with 64 MB
Check DistroWatch.com for the latest version.
Freedom of Information laws in Australia are VERY dim...
A very recent (like this past week) Law Report
(another fine radio program on the ABC's domestic
Radio National network) covered an on-going case,
in which The Australian newspaper (or was it another one?)
has been seeking some non-controvertial info -
from Treasury - that several years old and related to
First Buyer's Grant (ie, for home buyers).
In that case, the Treasurer used his ministerial powers to (simply) -declare- the sought-after documents "Subject to "
It's up to the highest court in the land to decide
whether - for such info, as was requested here -
such ministerial "edicts" are to be deemed sufficient to keep files closed,
ie, before a court has ruled.
So, normally, gov't data - at least when thought
capable of embarrassing the gov't - is quite confidential & very hard to acquire
by those outside of gov't!
Oh, Background Briefing is a reputable
current events radio program on the ABC's
(domestic) Radio National network.