The Dutch IRS has been giving away tax software for almost a decade now. It's not Open Source, but starting next year, it will be platform independent (Java based). Although it won't be GPL, at least we'll be able to file our taxes again:)
That depends on where you live, actually. In the Netherlands (where I am from), local clubs provide training/courses. If you speak Dutch, check out www.vrza.nl and www.veron.nl. If you are state-side, the ARRL takes care of that; www.arrl.org for more info.
On the other hand, if you already have basic skills in electronics, chances are that you do not need club training, but you can go straight to the exam. However, you say that you are in to the social aspects of it, and that is where local training is strong at. You'll meet all kinds of beer (uhm... people) and you'll be up and running in no-time.
This is what I did in '96, and passed first try. A couple of years later, I did my 12 WPM code requirement and I am now PA5KL (cept class 1).
As far as where to get equipment: again it depends on where you are. Here in.nl, most stores have changed to internet outlets only. Ebay has a lot of stuff at any time too.
I must concur with this. Currently, Cisco systems is building a huge new site just outside Amsterdam. The only limit on the growth in that particulary industrial area is the rate at which they can get electricity lines put up:)
That is kind of frightening by the way, until recently we have always been shouting for more bandwith. Now that I have cable modem at home with download rates going over 250Kb/sec, I dont worry about that so much. I wonder if power failures are going to be the next major annoyance:)
Interest in Technology?
on
On to Mars
·
· Score: 2
The problem that is acknowledged in this article is a problem that is much more fundamental than whether we should spin circles around the earth, or move on to other planets. Especially over here, in The Netherlands, technology has slowly become a "bad word". Everything seems to be possible to the majority of the people, so why make all the fuss about it? I can take a small plastic device from my pocket, punch in a number of buttons and talk to someone who is on the other side of the world. I can disclose information by switching on my computer and click a few times with a mouse. How hard can going to space be? Naturally, not expensive enough to worry about.....
It is exactly this attittude that is rather dangerous in my opinion. Every new step takes more effort, and if we are not willing to put the effort in that, we will lag behind in our progress. The main reason behind this lack of interest, and as a result of that, lack of investments, is the fact that people are loosing interest in technological developments.
Still, there are a ways to get people interested in technology. I am not old enough to know the feeling that I might have gotten when we heard the first mysterious beep-beep-beep from the Russian Spoetnik satellite. Still, a few years ago, a similar satellite was launched into orbit by amateur radio operators. It made the exact same beep-beep-beep sound as the original, and I could almost imagine how people must have felt.
The space shuttle SAREX experiment is an experiment in which the space shuttle crew tries to communicate with schools by using amateur radio (sarex = shuttle amateur radio experiment). MIR has had a wireless transceiver on board that can be used to communicate with terrestial HAMs since almost the beginning. Within the HAM community, the thrill of experimenting with technology is very much alive. Unfortunately, at least in Europe, amateur radio seems to be loosing ground.
So, what does this mean? Start young. Get people involved with technological experiments that are somewhat spectacular. In my physics classes, the most exiting this that we got to do was boil a glass of water, or put some lenses in parallel. If that is the level you teach to young people, it is not strange that they do not care. Invest more in good and enjoyable education, and the results will pay off!
There is one major problem with geostationary satellites and that is that they are at a distance of several tens of thousands of kilometers. For one-way communication such as TV broadcast, that is not a problem. When you use them for two-way communication such as telephony, the delays will get so large that they are noticable. Especially when the conversation is going back and forth quickly that is a realy problem. But we digress from the orignal post;)
Interesting. While in northern Italy last summer, I watched a US Army Major I was traveling with use a satelite phone continuously for several hours.
You are probably right, but the system that he was using is probably a system that consists of more than one satellite. More or less comparable to cell phones. The Iridium network is such a initiative. They make sure that at any one time at least one satelite is visible over the horizon. Problem is that Iridium is a public network and not a military one. I dont know if the military has similar networks of their own.
You are right that not all shortwave communications will disappear. My remark was mainly aimed at the general degradation of HF usage.
It is interesting to observe though that some military organisations are starting to expand their presence on shortwave again. Satellites have the nasty habit of passing only once every 90 minutes and then being only visible for about 12 minutes when they have a maximum elevation of 90 degrees. And of course, if you are playing soldier on a spot where there is no 100% satellite coverage, this is a very real problem. This became clear when the operations in Yugoslavia were at their peak.
Rumor have it that the US army is even starting to train morse code operators again....
Well, finding the location of these stations is not so easy as you might say. Shortwave signals are refracted by the atmosphere, which is the first reason why it might be harder to pinpoint the origin. In worst case, you aim your antenna at the last bouncing point somewhere in the earth atmoshpere.
The second reason is that because of the good propagation conditions on shortwave, you can hear the signal coming from two sides. The earth is more or less round, so you have a short path propagation and a long path propagation.
The third reason is that the signals don't necessarily(sp?) originate from the country that is responsible for transmitting them. In the case of US stations, it is very possible that they are broadcast from one of the allied countries in Europe or the Pacific.
Also, if you want to triangulate a shortwave station by car, you must realise that it very possible for shortwave stations to reach for several thousands of miles. To illustrate this, I spoke to an Argentinian operator from the Netherlands only last weekend, and I only used a power of 100W. These number stations habitually use several kilowatts. Triangulating a station which is several thousands of miles away needs pretty large legs on the triangle.
Of course, this doesn't mean its impossible to determine the direction of HF signals, its just a nicer challenge;)
Numbers stations on shortwave have been active for decades now. A lot of speculation has always gone around regarding where they are coming from. Years ago, the prevailing opinion was that they were North-Korean spy stations broadcasting data to field agents.
Shortwave listeners have always been very interested in these spooky stations. There is an organisation called World Utilitity Network (WUN for short) and they publish a newletter every week with this kind of information. It can be found at http://www.wunclub.com/. For the un-initiated: with the term utility station we mean shortwave radio (30 MHz) users that are not amateur radio operators.
There are many more resources out there on the web. Without any doubt, they are rather exciting to listen to. Sadly, the current tendency is that shortwave communication is phases out by a lot of these organisations in favor of satellite communications.
A small addendum to this: The review was performed by Siemens in Walldorf. As far as my sources tell me, Siemens Walldorf == SAP about as much as Chicago is linked to the automobile industry.
Right. SAP started out as a financial/logistics packages, but by now has evolved into a huge ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) packages. Basically, SAP is supposed to allow you to monitor/control almost every aspect of your business process. Usually, SAP installations are multi-million projects that involve business processes redesigns and other unpleasant stuff for people involved.
Bringing SAP to Linux is a major breakthrough for Linux in business though.
Slashdot Mirror
The Dutch IRS has been giving away tax software for almost a decade now. It's not Open Source, but starting next year, it will be platform independent (Java based). Although it won't be GPL, at least we'll be able to file our taxes again :)
That depends on where you live, actually. In the Netherlands (where I am from), local clubs provide training/courses. If you speak Dutch, check out www.vrza.nl and www.veron.nl. If you are state-side, the ARRL takes care of that; www.arrl.org for more info.
.nl, most stores have changed to internet outlets only. Ebay has a lot of stuff at any time too.
On the other hand, if you already have basic skills in electronics, chances are that you do not need club training, but you can go straight to the exam. However, you say that you are in to the social aspects of it, and that is where local training is strong at. You'll meet all kinds of beer (uhm... people) and you'll be up and running in no-time.
This is what I did in '96, and passed first try. A couple of years later, I did my 12 WPM code requirement and I am now PA5KL (cept class 1).
As far as where to get equipment: again it depends on where you are. Here in
-Kees
I must concur with this. Currently, Cisco systems :)
:)
is building a huge new site just outside Amsterdam. The only limit on the growth in that particulary industrial area is the rate at which they can get electricity lines put up
That is kind of frightening by the way, until recently we have always been shouting for more bandwith. Now that I have cable modem at home with download rates going over 250Kb/sec, I dont worry about that so much. I wonder if power failures are going to be the next major annoyance
The problem that is acknowledged in this article is a problem that is much more
fundamental than whether we should spin circles around the earth, or move on
to other planets. Especially over here, in The Netherlands, technology has slowly
become a "bad word". Everything seems to be possible to the majority of the
people, so why make all the fuss about it? I can take a small plastic device from
my pocket, punch in a number of buttons and talk to someone who is on the other
side of the world. I can disclose information by switching on my computer and
click a few times with a mouse. How hard can going to space be? Naturally, not
expensive enough to worry about.....
It is exactly this attittude that is rather dangerous in my opinion. Every new step
takes more effort, and if we are not willing to put the effort in that, we will lag behind
in our progress. The main reason behind this lack of interest, and as a result of that, lack
of investments, is the fact that people are loosing interest in technological developments.
Still, there are a ways to get people interested in technology. I am not old enough to know
the feeling that I might have gotten when we heard the first mysterious
beep-beep-beep from the Russian Spoetnik satellite. Still, a few years ago, a similar
satellite was launched into orbit by amateur radio operators. It made the exact same
beep-beep-beep sound as the original, and I could almost imagine how people must
have felt.
The space shuttle SAREX experiment is an experiment in which the space shuttle crew
tries to communicate with schools by using amateur radio (sarex = shuttle amateur radio
experiment). MIR has had a wireless transceiver on board that can be used to communicate
with terrestial HAMs since almost the beginning. Within the HAM community, the thrill of
experimenting with technology is very much alive. Unfortunately, at least in Europe, amateur
radio seems to be loosing ground.
So, what does this mean? Start young. Get people involved with technological experiments
that are somewhat spectacular. In my physics classes, the most exiting this that we got to
do was boil a glass of water, or put some lenses in parallel. If that is the level you teach to
young people, it is not strange that they do not care. Invest more in good and enjoyable education,
and the results will pay off!
There is one major problem with geostationary satellites and that is that they are at a distance of several tens of thousands of kilometers. For one-way communication such as TV broadcast, that is not a problem. When you use them for two-way communication such as telephony, the delays will get so large that they are noticable. Especially when the conversation is going back and forth quickly that is a realy problem. But we digress from the orignal post ;)
Interesting. While in northern Italy last summer, I watched a US Army Major I was traveling with use a satelite phone continuously for several hours.
You are probably right, but the system that he was using is probably a system that consists of more than one satellite. More or less comparable to cell phones. The Iridium network is such a initiative. They make sure that at any one time at least one satelite is visible over the horizon. Problem is that Iridium is a public network and not a military one. I dont know if the military has similar networks of their own.
You are right that not all shortwave communications will disappear. My remark was mainly aimed at the general degradation of HF usage.
It is interesting to observe though that some military organisations are starting to expand their presence on shortwave again. Satellites have the nasty habit of passing only once every 90 minutes and then being only visible for about 12 minutes when they have a maximum elevation of 90 degrees. And of course, if you are playing soldier on a spot where there is no 100% satellite coverage, this is a very real problem. This became clear when the operations in Yugoslavia were at their peak.
Rumor have it that the US army is even starting to train morse code operators again....
Well, finding the location of these stations is
;)
not so easy as you might say. Shortwave signals
are refracted by the atmosphere, which is the
first reason why it might be harder to pinpoint
the origin. In worst case, you aim your antenna
at the last bouncing point somewhere in the
earth atmoshpere.
The second reason is that because of the good
propagation conditions on shortwave, you can hear
the signal coming from two sides. The earth is
more or less round, so you have a short path
propagation and a long path propagation.
The third reason is that the signals don't necessarily(sp?) originate from the country that
is responsible for transmitting them. In the case
of US stations, it is very possible that they
are broadcast from one of the allied countries
in Europe or the Pacific.
Also, if you want to triangulate a shortwave
station by car, you must realise that it very
possible for shortwave stations to reach for
several thousands of miles. To illustrate this,
I spoke to an Argentinian operator from the
Netherlands only last weekend, and I only used
a power of 100W. These number stations habitually
use several kilowatts. Triangulating a station
which is several thousands of miles away needs
pretty large legs on the triangle.
Of course, this doesn't mean its impossible to
determine the direction of HF signals, its just
a nicer challenge
Numbers stations on shortwave have been active
for decades now. A lot of speculation has always
gone around regarding where they are coming from.
Years ago, the prevailing opinion was that they
were North-Korean spy stations broadcasting data
to field agents.
Shortwave listeners have always been very
interested in these spooky stations. There is
an organisation called World Utilitity Network
(WUN for short) and they publish a newletter every
week with this kind of information. It can be
found at http://www.wunclub.com/. For the
un-initiated: with the term utility station we
mean shortwave radio (30 MHz) users that are not
amateur radio operators.
There are many more resources out there on the
web. Without any doubt, they are rather exciting
to listen to. Sadly, the current tendency is that
shortwave communication is phases out by a lot of
these organisations in favor of satellite communications.
A small addendum to this: The review was performed
by Siemens in Walldorf. As far as my sources tell
me, Siemens Walldorf == SAP about as much as
Chicago is linked to the automobile industry.
Right. SAP started out as a financial/logistics
packages, but by now has evolved into a huge
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) packages.
Basically, SAP is supposed to allow you to
monitor/control almost every aspect of your
business process. Usually, SAP installations are
multi-million projects that involve business
processes redesigns and other unpleasant stuff
for people involved.
Bringing SAP to Linux is a major breakthrough
for Linux in business though.