Don't dismiss the injury liability associated with this product. Knock it off the bistro table, and it's likely to take your barrista's toes off! (the pointy-end of a razor blade is about 2um wide... a veritable brick, by comparison.)
Thank you. What are the terms for licensing this philosophical gem? (that's important, because you can claim copyright on this phrase for the next 130 or so years.)
Agreed. "Treat others as you want to be treated." That's a lovely idealistic and academic notion. It's also one that requires everyone in the society to accept. One act of douchbaggery will lead to a cascade failure of this construct.
My folks tried to take this social high-road back in the 70s. They were treated like doormats, until they couldn't take any more and had to defend themselves from the hordes of predatory-types.
If you own a hammer, you are a potential murderer. Kitchen knives? Potential murderer. Shovel? Potential accessory to potential murder (assuming you don't potentially commit said potential murder with the shovel directly.)
I have a suggestion... just declare the entire world to be "jail" and be done with it. Everyone can be sentenced to not-leave-the-planet for the rest of their lives.
In the US, Law trumps Contract. If you look at Article 1, Section 8, and actually read the words the way they are written, you'll notice something specific.
Congress shall have power... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
Consider a slight modification to the original text:
"Congress shall have power... To promote the Progress of Science and Useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries in exchange for the aforementioned works entering the public domain at the terminus of the exclusivity period."
That second version is an actual contract - offer, acceptance of offer, and consideration. Doing so would have broken the "Law Trumps Contract" construct necessary for the legal system to work. The guys who authored the US Constitution were pretty smart. They didn't promote a contractual structure to be a peer of Law. The official wording makes no mention of an offer or consideration. It's just a statement - Congress may do "this." That statement is most certainly not-a-contract.
So while you may want to interpret it as a contract, which I believe was the implicit intent, it legally is not. That's unfortunate, because all of the retroactive copyright extension legislation would be in material breach of contract... if there was a contract.
As for stealing our cultural heritage, yeah, they're doing that... only it's not "stealing" because the law allows them to. Copyright legislation is busted, and without significant change, the situation will persist and worsen. However, I'm not sure how you fix it without elevating a contractual construct to that of Law.
My 2009 Subaru is reporting 28-29 mpg pretty regularly - that's the average over the tank as measured by the ECU. That'll drop to 26 mpg in heavy stop-and-go traffic. My neighbor's 2010 Mazda 3 is getting 33-34 mpg. Can't say that my AWD is hitting my fuel economy "pretty hard." I'll take the Subaru over a big SUV any day. My Soob tows well too. Can't fit a sheet of plywood in the back, but that's why I have the trailer.
High school was effectively prison. "Hey, let's get the D-Block gang back together 10 years after we're all released!" No thanks. My life peaked after I got away from that bureaucratic structured-behavior hell-hole. The friends I had from that time are still my friends, and this may be a shock to some, I still interact with them directly.
If a high school reunion is a good thing for you, by all means, participate. But don't bitch that I don't embrace it, nor complain that I'm ruining *your* reunion by not attending.
Through fusion, lighter elements like hydrogen and lithium may be combined (nuclear). This process will provide a net energy output up to "iron."
Through fission, heavier elements may be disassociated (nuclear). This process will provide net energy output down to "iron."
When all you have left is iron, making something else via nuclear methods requires the addition of energy. Thus, "everything decays to iron" represents a lowest energy state from a nuclear perspective. But don't worry, the heat death of the universe won't happen for a long while.
If you've met Bob, or worked with APRS for any length of time, you'll know that APRS is a bit of a moving target. (Props to Cmdr. Bruninga for making it a reality, but he does have a bit of a "shoot from the hip" reputation.)
That's the beauty of software these days. You purchased the hardware, which you have in your possession. You didn't purchase the software. You purchased a "license" to the software. Sony is still providing you with software, albeit in updated form. They fixed a bunch of bugs, and added new "features." What's not to like?
This is the fundamental problem with software "sales" as they currently exist. They're a hybrid sale/license, such that the laws associated with sales and licenses don't really apply well. The software industry hops to the side that benefits them the most. Oh, you want to sell your copy of SuperMetalHaloBrothers ? Sorry, you *licensed* the software, and the license is non-transferrable. Oh, your kid munged your CD for SuperMetalHaloBrothers and, since it's licensed, you'd like to just get replacement media? Sorry, you *purchased* the item and you'll need to re-purchase it because the original item was destroyed.
I believe the biggest issue, and the reason this scam was possible in the first place, was that the production and repair departments had separate accounting systems. Or at least they were segregated enough that they were effectively separate. Probably had to do with the way WIP (work in-progress) is accounted for as required by the IRS. New production goes into the accrual system, where repairs are not inventory items.
I can't say that I was briefed on the specifics. I wasn't. However, I was told that He was in a position to break the chain of continuity for the accounting system when the equipment was returned. His specific responsibility was to receive the equipment, and initiate the task of returning it to the production queue. If he only did the first half, and he "forgot" to do the second half, no one would be the wiser unless they did a cross-system audit of the books. I don't know why the de-booked sale didn't leave an orphaned production unit in the system. Perhaps He and She occupied two positions that were supposed to be check-and-balance counterpoints. If you compromise both of those, you can defeat the oversight system.
I'm sure the audits were coming. Even a $100M company will notice a $500k unresolved discrepancy on the books. They'll write-off $50, not $500k.
Lesson to would-be equipment thieves - don't try to dupe the accountants. They have the skills to balance the books, skills acquired over years of training. Skills that will make them a nightmare for people like you. That's ALL they do. They WILL spot the problem, and they WILL find you.
About a decade ago, a couple was running a similar scam at my job. She worked in sales as an order processor - basically the back-end of the sales process that initiates production orders. He worked in the repair department as a line manager. She would initiate a product order, and set it up with a genuine customer account, but a bogus "ship to" address. The product ($40k+ telecom test gear) would be manufactured and shipped, closing the loop on the production accounting end. UPS would try to deliver the product, but fail. It would be returned to the company as "undeliverable"... to the repair department where He would intercept it. The undeliverable shipment would be de-booked from the sales accounting system. At this point, they had moved a piece of equipment off the production floor while maintaining the integrity of the production accounting system. Undeliverable equipment was supposed to be returned to the sale-able product queue, but only after inspection by the repair group. He would step in and take the equipment out of the system, preventing the asset from being re-introduced into the production/sales pipeline.
Manufacturing production was big enough that the float concealed the missing items. You'd have to reconcile the production, sales, shipping, and repair accounts to try to spot the anomalies. This scam persisted for a few years, slipping a couple of units out the door on an occasional basis. They finally got pinched when one of the phantom manufacturing units showed up on a repair order. It was fairly new, and the customer was attempting to get warranty service. Warranty repairs were handled by a different sales entry person, who couldn't resolve the actual sale of the unit to... anybody. There was a very stealthy internal investigation which was coordinated with the State Police. He and She were arrested in the office when they tried to remove the bogus equipment from the facility.
They ran their scam too long. Had they moved somewhere else, I doubt any prosecution would have happened. Almost every bit of evidence would have been circumstantial. They got nailed because the Police observed them executing the scam, and grabbed them in the parking lot with the equipment in their possession. Best guess was that they swiped about $500k of equipment.
Hydrocarbon chains are an excellent way to store energy - gasoline, diesel, propane, ethanol, butanol, etc. If you look at energy density from either a volumetric or mass basis, they're hard to beat. Super capacitors are nowhere near as energy dense, and Mr. Fusion is still only a Hollywood pipe dream.
Where you get your feedstock for the hydrocarbons and how you use them is the real trick. If you're intent on using fossil crude as a basis, you're going to be releasing lots of locked-up material into the environment. If you're intent on being inefficient with the hydrocarbon fuel, well, that's just lazy/stupid/cheap-bastard.
Fossil crude is still pretty damned cheap as a feedstock, which is why it still dominates the fuel supply chain. If it were more expensive, or harder to obtain, or non-existent anymore, you can bet the oil companies would be all over the bio-whatever forms of their current product offerings. You want to be environmentally sensitive? Be efficient in how you use energy, from the fuel in your car's tank to the wood you burn in your fireplace. We'd be in a much better situation if people weren't so damned wasteful. (Note - efficient behavior is seldom the least expensive option.)
I was looking for the "logistics" details. They're proposing a mixed-use application. Residences require furniture and other durable goods, and the meatbag residents require a number of consumable goods. While building through the water table presents an interesting engienering challenge, the long-term support logistics are even more challenging. Are they expecting to bring all peopl and materials in through the subway system? There had better be several maintenance and service decks similar to the utilidor structures found under Disney World. Materials transportation within the structure will require serious thought too. I would expect there to be a warehouse and loading dock transfer station on the surface somewhere, you know, convenient for the trucks. Every building I've ever seen has a service entrance.
Jobs creation in the midst of economic downturn. It appears to be a race to the bottom, the result of which won't manifest itself until after the next presidential election.
The DC Metro system services DC. If you're trying to get into or out of DC, it's a great thing. However, the moment you want to go from Tyson's Corner in VA to Bethesda in MD, the hub-and-spoke architecture becomes a liability.
One of the biggest liabilities of public transportation in the US is that it's horribly biased toward local transportation. The DC Metro train will always stop at every station (I'll conveniently ignore the "express" trains that skip a couple of stations at peak hours, only because they really don't address the root-cause issue.) There is no practical method for bypassing Metro Center or Union Station if you want to move in a non-radial direction. Adding an outer loop that just connected the end terminus stations would radically alter the useful dynamic of the station. Such a proposal isn't a new thing. However, the WMATA isn't chartered with supporting the 'burbs with 'burb-convenient amenities. WMATA is concerned with public transportation within DC and the surrounding areas in VA and MD. Once you move beyond those boundaries, there's no coherency at all. For example, if you move the example destination from NASA Goddard to, say, Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, MD, or possibly up to BWI Airport, the fun really begins. In addition to the busses and trains required to get you to Greenbelt, you now will cross from Prince George's County (WMATA jurisdiction) to Howard County. At the county line, you'll need to change busses because WMATA isn't chartered with providing service outside of PG county. In Howard County, you'll get a transfer bus to a transfer terminal in Laurel or Columbia, change busses once or twice, blooming the end-to-end transportation time to 4+ hours EACH WAY. Driving via the highways or back roads will take an hour to these locations, tops.
It's much, much worse than this in the US. If you'd like to try it yourself, the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority has a nifty trip planner that allows you to determine exactly how time-inefficient public transportation is in the capitol of the US. If you'd like the Executive Summary, I have included a sample trip from the Germantown MD transit center to Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt MD. This represents a pretty typical commute for a DC suburbanite.*
- Bus Departs from GERMANTOWN TRANSIT CENTER at 12:00pm
- - Arrive SHADY GROVE STATION at 12:16pm
- Rail Departs from SHADY GROVE METRO STATION at 12:26pm
- - RED LINE RED LINE Rail towards GLENMONT METRO
- - Arrive METRO CENTER METRO STATION at 1:00pm
- Rail Departs from METRO CENTER METRO STATION at 1:16pm
- - ORANGE LINE ORANGE LINE Rail towards NEW CARROLLTON
- - Arrive NEW CARROLLTON METRO STATION at 1:44pm
- Bus Departs from NEW CARROLLTON STATION at 2:00pm
- - Arrive NASA MAIN ENTRANCE ON GREENBELT RD at 2:29pm
So this one-way trip consumes 2.5 hours. By comparison, Google Maps indicates that this trip by car is 31.8 miles and costs about 41 minutes (via I-270 and I-495.) I have no desire to spend 5 hours per day using public transportation for *any* reason.
* you can save the "move closer to work" snarkiness for someone who lives in FantasyLand.
Ham radio is no longer "banging brass," though you'd think that was all there is if you watch crummy movies like Independence Day.
I took the license exam with Code, and the VE said "Hey, you did great, you should take the General exam." I hadn't studied for it, and really wasn't prepared. He offered "What have you got to lose?" So I took the test, passed, and he followed with "Excellent, the Extra exam will only cost you another 15 minutes." I chuckled... he didn't. So I took the Extra exam, and passed with a flying D-minus. "Well, that's nothing to write home about, but congratulations anyway!"
I would have taken the license exam in my yoot, but studying code from 45-rpm records really didn't work for me. The newer code methods did. Can't say that I use code much at all. I'm more involved in packet radio and fun math things like FEC. There's a packet protocol that adds FEC to AX.25 while maintaining backwards compatibility. Phil Karn has developed a really amazing satcom protocol called BPSK1000, which was incorporated into ARRISSAT-1. There's definitely a growing software component of amateur radio.
No, no, no. The system is designed to punish those who oppose it. You need to change your public-facing statements such that you are in compliance with the system.
I want to control the World and my first action once elected as Emperor of the World is to prosecute every Goddamn Georgia (US) legislator who violated his oath of office to the fullest extent of the law.
Take a hint from Miranda - anything you say can and will be used against you. Why would you provide your opponents with ammunition?
DTMF would be an obvious choice, as both silicon and software are readily available. Oh, and the intermodulation issues were resolved decades ago. Doing something custom might be an interesting academic exercise, but it won't gain you an advantage in this application.
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Don't dismiss the injury liability associated with this product. Knock it off the bistro table, and it's likely to take your barrista's toes off! (the pointy-end of a razor blade is about 2um wide ... a veritable brick, by comparison.)
Thank you. What are the terms for licensing this philosophical gem? (that's important, because you can claim copyright on this phrase for the next 130 or so years.)
Agreed. "Treat others as you want to be treated." That's a lovely idealistic and academic notion. It's also one that requires everyone in the society to accept. One act of douchbaggery will lead to a cascade failure of this construct.
My folks tried to take this social high-road back in the 70s. They were treated like doormats, until they couldn't take any more and had to defend themselves from the hordes of predatory-types.
The Gotham Garage guys need to sell Ford Futura upgrade kits and accessories. Also, tailfins and noses for your mid-90's Corvette.
"Any resemblance to DC Comics vehicles is purely coincidental."
If you own a hammer, you are a potential murderer. Kitchen knives? Potential murderer. Shovel? Potential accessory to potential murder (assuming you don't potentially commit said potential murder with the shovel directly.)
... just declare the entire world to be "jail" and be done with it. Everyone can be sentenced to not-leave-the-planet for the rest of their lives.
I have a suggestion
Consider a slight modification to the original text: ... To promote the Progress of Science and Useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries in exchange for the aforementioned works entering the public domain at the terminus of the exclusivity period. "
... if there was a contract.
... only it's not "stealing" because the law allows them to. Copyright legislation is busted, and without significant change, the situation will persist and worsen. However, I'm not sure how you fix it without elevating a contractual construct to that of Law.
"Congress shall have power
That second version is an actual contract - offer, acceptance of offer, and consideration. Doing so would have broken the "Law Trumps Contract" construct necessary for the legal system to work. The guys who authored the US Constitution were pretty smart. They didn't promote a contractual structure to be a peer of Law. The official wording makes no mention of an offer or consideration. It's just a statement - Congress may do "this." That statement is most certainly not-a-contract.
So while you may want to interpret it as a contract, which I believe was the implicit intent, it legally is not. That's unfortunate, because all of the retroactive copyright extension legislation would be in material breach of contract
As for stealing our cultural heritage, yeah, they're doing that
My 2009 Subaru is reporting 28-29 mpg pretty regularly - that's the average over the tank as measured by the ECU. That'll drop to 26 mpg in heavy stop-and-go traffic. My neighbor's 2010 Mazda 3 is getting 33-34 mpg. Can't say that my AWD is hitting my fuel economy "pretty hard." I'll take the Subaru over a big SUV any day. My Soob tows well too. Can't fit a sheet of plywood in the back, but that's why I have the trailer.
High school was effectively prison. "Hey, let's get the D-Block gang back together 10 years after we're all released!" No thanks. My life peaked after I got away from that bureaucratic structured-behavior hell-hole. The friends I had from that time are still my friends, and this may be a shock to some, I still interact with them directly.
If a high school reunion is a good thing for you, by all means, participate. But don't bitch that I don't embrace it, nor complain that I'm ruining *your* reunion by not attending.
To expand this a little -
Through fusion, lighter elements like hydrogen and lithium may be combined (nuclear). This process will provide a net energy output up to "iron."
Through fission, heavier elements may be disassociated (nuclear). This process will provide net energy output down to "iron."
When all you have left is iron, making something else via nuclear methods requires the addition of energy. Thus, "everything decays to iron" represents a lowest energy state from a nuclear perspective. But don't worry, the heat death of the universe won't happen for a long while.
If you've met Bob, or worked with APRS for any length of time, you'll know that APRS is a bit of a moving target. (Props to Cmdr. Bruninga for making it a reality, but he does have a bit of a "shoot from the hip" reputation.)
Mayor McCheese seeks a restraining order to prevent you from disclosing his trade secrets.
Wow, I had forgotten about Captain Crook and The Professor.
That's the beauty of software these days. You purchased the hardware, which you have in your possession. You didn't purchase the software. You purchased a "license" to the software. Sony is still providing you with software, albeit in updated form. They fixed a bunch of bugs, and added new "features." What's not to like?
This is the fundamental problem with software "sales" as they currently exist. They're a hybrid sale/license, such that the laws associated with sales and licenses don't really apply well. The software industry hops to the side that benefits them the most. Oh, you want to sell your copy of SuperMetalHaloBrothers ? Sorry, you *licensed* the software, and the license is non-transferrable. Oh, your kid munged your CD for SuperMetalHaloBrothers and, since it's licensed, you'd like to just get replacement media? Sorry, you *purchased* the item and you'll need to re-purchase it because the original item was destroyed.
I believe the biggest issue, and the reason this scam was possible in the first place, was that the production and repair departments had separate accounting systems. Or at least they were segregated enough that they were effectively separate. Probably had to do with the way WIP (work in-progress) is accounted for as required by the IRS. New production goes into the accrual system, where repairs are not inventory items.
I can't say that I was briefed on the specifics. I wasn't. However, I was told that He was in a position to break the chain of continuity for the accounting system when the equipment was returned. His specific responsibility was to receive the equipment, and initiate the task of returning it to the production queue. If he only did the first half, and he "forgot" to do the second half, no one would be the wiser unless they did a cross-system audit of the books. I don't know why the de-booked sale didn't leave an orphaned production unit in the system. Perhaps He and She occupied two positions that were supposed to be check-and-balance counterpoints. If you compromise both of those, you can defeat the oversight system.
I'm sure the audits were coming. Even a $100M company will notice a $500k unresolved discrepancy on the books. They'll write-off $50, not $500k.
I've got SteamPunk running through my veins ... no seriously ... inside me. No, that's not a metaphor anymore.
(*twirls handlebar moustache *)
Lesson to would-be equipment thieves - don't try to dupe the accountants. They have the skills to balance the books, skills acquired over years of training. Skills that will make them a nightmare for people like you. That's ALL they do. They WILL spot the problem, and they WILL find you.
... to the repair department where He would intercept it. The undeliverable shipment would be de-booked from the sales accounting system. At this point, they had moved a piece of equipment off the production floor while maintaining the integrity of the production accounting system. Undeliverable equipment was supposed to be returned to the sale-able product queue, but only after inspection by the repair group. He would step in and take the equipment out of the system, preventing the asset from being re-introduced into the production/sales pipeline.
... anybody. There was a very stealthy internal investigation which was coordinated with the State Police. He and She were arrested in the office when they tried to remove the bogus equipment from the facility.
About a decade ago, a couple was running a similar scam at my job. She worked in sales as an order processor - basically the back-end of the sales process that initiates production orders. He worked in the repair department as a line manager. She would initiate a product order, and set it up with a genuine customer account, but a bogus "ship to" address. The product ($40k+ telecom test gear) would be manufactured and shipped, closing the loop on the production accounting end. UPS would try to deliver the product, but fail. It would be returned to the company as "undeliverable"
Manufacturing production was big enough that the float concealed the missing items. You'd have to reconcile the production, sales, shipping, and repair accounts to try to spot the anomalies. This scam persisted for a few years, slipping a couple of units out the door on an occasional basis. They finally got pinched when one of the phantom manufacturing units showed up on a repair order. It was fairly new, and the customer was attempting to get warranty service. Warranty repairs were handled by a different sales entry person, who couldn't resolve the actual sale of the unit to
They ran their scam too long. Had they moved somewhere else, I doubt any prosecution would have happened. Almost every bit of evidence would have been circumstantial. They got nailed because the Police observed them executing the scam, and grabbed them in the parking lot with the equipment in their possession. Best guess was that they swiped about $500k of equipment.
Hydrocarbon chains are an excellent way to store energy - gasoline, diesel, propane, ethanol, butanol, etc. If you look at energy density from either a volumetric or mass basis, they're hard to beat. Super capacitors are nowhere near as energy dense, and Mr. Fusion is still only a Hollywood pipe dream.
Where you get your feedstock for the hydrocarbons and how you use them is the real trick. If you're intent on using fossil crude as a basis, you're going to be releasing lots of locked-up material into the environment. If you're intent on being inefficient with the hydrocarbon fuel, well, that's just lazy/stupid/cheap-bastard.
Fossil crude is still pretty damned cheap as a feedstock, which is why it still dominates the fuel supply chain. If it were more expensive, or harder to obtain, or non-existent anymore, you can bet the oil companies would be all over the bio-whatever forms of their current product offerings. You want to be environmentally sensitive? Be efficient in how you use energy, from the fuel in your car's tank to the wood you burn in your fireplace. We'd be in a much better situation if people weren't so damned wasteful. (Note - efficient behavior is seldom the least expensive option.)
Did they come up with a catchy name for this Delegated Content Evaluation Authority? Might I suggest "whuffie?"
....)
(Yes, I was reading Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom last night
I was looking for the "logistics" details. They're proposing a mixed-use application. Residences require furniture and other durable goods, and the meatbag residents require a number of consumable goods. While building through the water table presents an interesting engienering challenge, the long-term support logistics are even more challenging. Are they expecting to bring all peopl and materials in through the subway system? There had better be several maintenance and service decks similar to the utilidor structures found under Disney World. Materials transportation within the structure will require serious thought too. I would expect there to be a warehouse and loading dock transfer station on the surface somewhere, you know, convenient for the trucks. Every building I've ever seen has a service entrance.
Jobs creation in the midst of economic downturn. It appears to be a race to the bottom, the result of which won't manifest itself until after the next presidential election.
The DC Metro system services DC. If you're trying to get into or out of DC, it's a great thing. However, the moment you want to go from Tyson's Corner in VA to Bethesda in MD, the hub-and-spoke architecture becomes a liability.
One of the biggest liabilities of public transportation in the US is that it's horribly biased toward local transportation. The DC Metro train will always stop at every station (I'll conveniently ignore the "express" trains that skip a couple of stations at peak hours, only because they really don't address the root-cause issue.) There is no practical method for bypassing Metro Center or Union Station if you want to move in a non-radial direction. Adding an outer loop that just connected the end terminus stations would radically alter the useful dynamic of the station. Such a proposal isn't a new thing. However, the WMATA isn't chartered with supporting the 'burbs with 'burb-convenient amenities. WMATA is concerned with public transportation within DC and the surrounding areas in VA and MD. Once you move beyond those boundaries, there's no coherency at all. For example, if you move the example destination from NASA Goddard to, say, Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, MD, or possibly up to BWI Airport, the fun really begins. In addition to the busses and trains required to get you to Greenbelt, you now will cross from Prince George's County (WMATA jurisdiction) to Howard County. At the county line, you'll need to change busses because WMATA isn't chartered with providing service outside of PG county. In Howard County, you'll get a transfer bus to a transfer terminal in Laurel or Columbia, change busses once or twice, blooming the end-to-end transportation time to 4+ hours EACH WAY. Driving via the highways or back roads will take an hour to these locations, tops.
It's much, much worse than this in the US. If you'd like to try it yourself, the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority has a nifty trip planner that allows you to determine exactly how time-inefficient public transportation is in the capitol of the US. If you'd like the Executive Summary, I have included a sample trip from the Germantown MD transit center to Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt MD. This represents a pretty typical commute for a DC suburbanite.*
- Bus Departs from GERMANTOWN TRANSIT CENTER at 12:00pm
- - Arrive SHADY GROVE STATION at 12:16pm
- Rail Departs from SHADY GROVE METRO STATION at 12:26pm
- - RED LINE RED LINE Rail towards GLENMONT METRO
- - Arrive METRO CENTER METRO STATION at 1:00pm
- Rail Departs from METRO CENTER METRO STATION at 1:16pm
- - ORANGE LINE ORANGE LINE Rail towards NEW CARROLLTON
- - Arrive NEW CARROLLTON METRO STATION at 1:44pm
- Bus Departs from NEW CARROLLTON STATION at 2:00pm
- - Arrive NASA MAIN ENTRANCE ON GREENBELT RD at 2:29pm
So this one-way trip consumes 2.5 hours. By comparison, Google Maps indicates that this trip by car is 31.8 miles and costs about 41 minutes (via I-270 and I-495.) I have no desire to spend 5 hours per day using public transportation for *any* reason.
* you can save the "move closer to work" snarkiness for someone who lives in FantasyLand.
Ham radio is no longer "banging brass," though you'd think that was all there is if you watch crummy movies like Independence Day.
... he didn't. So I took the Extra exam, and passed with a flying D-minus. "Well, that's nothing to write home about, but congratulations anyway!"
I took the license exam with Code, and the VE said "Hey, you did great, you should take the General exam." I hadn't studied for it, and really wasn't prepared. He offered "What have you got to lose?" So I took the test, passed, and he followed with "Excellent, the Extra exam will only cost you another 15 minutes." I chuckled
I would have taken the license exam in my yoot, but studying code from 45-rpm records really didn't work for me. The newer code methods did. Can't say that I use code much at all. I'm more involved in packet radio and fun math things like FEC. There's a packet protocol that adds FEC to AX.25 while maintaining backwards compatibility. Phil Karn has developed a really amazing satcom protocol called BPSK1000, which was incorporated into ARRISSAT-1. There's definitely a growing software component of amateur radio.
Take a hint from Miranda - anything you say can and will be used against you. Why would you provide your opponents with ammunition?
DTMF would be an obvious choice, as both silicon and software are readily available. Oh, and the intermodulation issues were resolved decades ago. Doing something custom might be an interesting academic exercise, but it won't gain you an advantage in this application.