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Twitter: Yet Another Web Thing

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I was just starting to play around with Twitter, mostly to understand what it does. I have been reading about it in the PC magazines and hearing about it via various tech podcasts. About the same time, I noticed that Jeff KE9V mentioned it on his blog.

Twitter is another form of Internet communication commonly referred to as “social networking.” Back before the Internet was invented, our social network consisted of actually talking with people, usually face-to-face or maybe on the telephone. For many amateur radio enthusiasts, we also used wireless radio technology to chat. (Remember when “wireless” meant big iron radios that only qualified experts could use?) Of course, mostly we chat about our radios, so some people question the meaningfulness of that particular social network.

Then the Internet and email came along. Your email address book quickly becomes the definition of your email social network. Email distribution lists popped up for many topics and interests groups (“social networks”). More recently, Yahoo! Groups has attracted hundreds of different ham radio groups to that system. Yahoo! Groups provides file sharing and other features, in addition to the usual email list.

Somewhere along the line, sites such as AOL popularized the Instant Messaging (IM) concept. This was initially just text messaging but more recent versions of IM include voice messaging and file sharing.

Real social networking sites combine a wide range of features such as chat, email, video, file sharing and blogging to allow you to “keep in touch” with people and issues you care about. The most popular social network sites in the US are Facebook and MySpace. These sites let you define who you are connected to and who you want within your inner circle. Like most college-age students, my kids have latched onto Facebook as the way to connect with their friends and share photos and information. (I recently got a Facebook account but my daughters are not sure that this is a good idea….they said something about parents stalking their kids.)

Enter Twitter. Twitter is basically a microblog that lets you spit out the latest thing on your mind….what you are doing, what you are thinking, what you just discovered. It is a random flow of consciousness….or drivel….up to 140 characters at a time. Anyone interested can “follow” you and your comments. It has the flavor of a social network because you define who you want to see comments from (presumably related to people / issues you are interested in). See this video for a quick tutorial on Twitter.

OK, so what does this have to do with ham radio? Every one of these systems, from email to Yahoo! groups to twitter, have ham radio enthusiasts using them. In other words, there are communities, I mean “social networks”, that relate to amateur radio. The problem is that most of them are struggling to reach critical mass. Yahoo! Groups, which is fairly limited and has a number of issues, has gotten over this hurdle. The others are a bit hit and miss.

I am not sure where this leads and how useful this stuff is. For me personally….I am overstimulated. There are too many systems, too many emails, too many logins/profiles to create and maintain.

Now let me get back to twittering.
http://twitter.com/robtwitte

73, Bob K0NR


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Visit to Akihabara

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Every once in a while, I pass through Tokyo, Japan on business travel. When the schedule permits, I make a trip over to Akihabara (AKA “Electric Town”), the center of electronic and computer gadgets in Tokyo. This place is amazing, offering everything from resistors to wide-screen televisions (and, yes, ham radio equipment). The only thing I can compare it to in the US is Fry’s Electronics….but it it more like a multi-vendor Fry’s that spans many blocks. They have small shops that are very specialized…..such as focusing only on transformers or coaxial cable. It is amazing what you can find there.

Last weekend, I was staying in Shinjuku and made a quick trip over to Akihabara. Assuming you know the basics of the JR train system, it is an easy ride from Shinjuku Station (or Tokyo Station) to Akihabara. (Akihabara has its own train stop.) For ham radio equipment, you have to aware that the Japanese version of the radio may be set up differently than the radio sold in your home country. For example, the 2M band in Japan goes from 144 to 146 MHz, so VHF radios sold there will usually be enabled for transmit in that range. Just as important, with the weak dollar there are not really any great bargains for ham gear in Tokyo. You can probably buy the right radio in the US for the same or less cost.

What I look for in Japan are radio accessories that are hard to find in the US. It seems that Japan is the land of gadgets, so there’s always some little antenna, adaptor or other gizmo that catches my eye. I guess I am saying that I go to Akihabara for the experience and the occasional gadget purchase. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday for an electrical engineer geek.

My big purchase for the weekend is a $5 screwdriver that has a continuity tester and a AC voltage sensor built into it…typical Akihabara gadget that I could not pass up. More information on Akihabara is shown here and here.

73, Bob K0NR

My Hard Drive Would Never Fail

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I powered up my PC a few days ago and it gave me a very blank stare. Actually, it had one small message for me: operating system missing. Hmmm, that did not sound too good.

I investigated further…booted the computer from a CD. Did “chkdsk” which told me my hard drive was Missing in Action.Lucky for me, I had just backed up the My Documents folder a few days earlier, so in theory I had all of the important stuff saved away. After messing around with the computer for a while, I came to the conclusion that I would have to format the hard drive and reload everything. Even then, I wasn’t sure the format was going to work….maybe the hard drive was totally dead.

It turned out the format worked and I spent the next couple of days reloading Windows XP (thank goodness I found the recovery CD that shipped with the computer). Then I reloaded the My Documents folder without any trouble. The thing I miss the most right now is my email address book, which disappeared. I have an older copy backed up somewhere so I’ll try to reload that one. In the future, I’ll add the address book to the backup strategy.

I count myself lucky that I had all the docs backed up but it is still a major pain to reload Windows XP and all of the applications. It will be weeks before I get it all done.

73, Bob K0NR

This Blog is Moderated

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I have this blog configured so that all comments are moderated. It seems that without this, spammers and scammers like to post all kinds of useless stuff. So when you post a comment, it may take a day or two for me to notice it and process it. (It depends on my schedule, of course.)

I generally approve any comments that have substance. If you just rant and rave, it will go into the bit bucket. I usually reject anonymous comments, so please include your first name and amateur radio callsign when you post a comment.

I do appreciate your thoughts, so keep them coming!

73, Bob K0NR

Here Comes Digital TV

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Although I am very much a techie, I often lag in adopting the latest consumer technology. I don’t need to be the first one on my block to own the latest gizmo, since that usually means paying more for less, compared to waiting until next year. However, since our household has this pressing “need” for a new television, it forced me to confront this business of Digital TV and HDTV.

The FCC has decided that good, old analog TV will end in February 2009. Many, but not all, television stations are already transmitting in digital format, whether high definition or not. After February 2009, the analog transmitters will be pretty much shut down. This makes me wonder how this is really going to play out as the general public seems to be rather clueless about the great analog-to-digital switch that is coming. Sure, they are starting to buy those super-sized big screen HDTVs to watch The Big Game. But do they realize that the little 19-inch color tube will go dark in 2009? Consumer information is starting to show up on various web sites telling the general public about the change. The NTIA is running a coupon program to subsidize converter boxes to keep those old analog TVs running. It seems that the feds felt a little guilty taking Grandma’s TV away while pocketing the money from selling the vacated spectrum.

This will directly affect viewers that receive the signal over the air. Television viewers that get their signal from cable or satellite are likely to be buffered from the change to digital by the settop box that decodes the signal for them. I also stumbled across an exemption for Low Power TV stations and translators. Translators are used in rural areas to retransmit television signals from the larger metro areas. Apparently, the FCC decided to not force the digital transition out in the sticks.

We brought the DTV home and hooked it up. Its role in life is to be the kitchen TV, where there happens to be no convenient TV antenna jack. (I’ve got a decent VHF/UHF TV antenna on the roof of the house that picks up signals from two major cities, Denver and Colorado Springs, but the coax doesn’t go to the kitchen.) Anticipating the problem, I bought a $10 “rabbit ears plus UHF loop” antenna to get the TV on the air quickly. I figured this would be a dismal failure and the next job on the list will be fishing RG-6 cable up through the wall. To my surprise, the DTV picked up all of the Colorado Springs stations flawlessly. And I do mean flawlessly…that’s the thing about digital…the signal is either there or not. Previously, on analog TV, we’d see all kinds of interesting lines and snow come and go, depending on the phase of the moon and the multipath distortion off the nearby mountains. But the digital picture is rock steady. Really impressive. I temporarily hooked the DTV to the roof antenna and the Denver stations popped in picture perfect as well.

One by one, the analog stuff in my house is converting to digital. The biggest exception: amateur radio equipment.

73, Bob K0NR

Mobile Phones Hit 50% of World Population

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Holy Freaking Cow! Try to count all of those cellphones. From Reuters:

HELSINKI, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Worldwide mobile telephone subscriptions reached 3.3 billion — equivalent to half the global population — on Thursday, 26 years after the first cellular network was launched, research firm Informa said. Since the first Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT) networks were switched on in 1981 in Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Norway, mobile phones have become the consumer electronics sector with the largest volume of sales in the world.
“The mobile industry has constantly outperformed even the most optimistic forecasts for subscriber growth,” Mark Newman, head of research at Informa said in a statement.

This does not necessarily mean that half of the people in the world have cellphones…some people own more than one. But still, who would have thunk it? No wonder 2 Meters is so quiet….everyone is busy yakking on the phone. In the race for number of wireless devices, the cellphone has beaten the 2M handheld. See my posting about my cool dualband rig.

Now, if we could just get people to use the vibrate mode on the phones, so I don’t have to listen to several billion obnoxious ring tones.

73, Bob K0NR

How Much Money Does NASA Spend?

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Right up front, I admit I am a fan of the US Space Program (see info on working the International Space Station on 2M FM). This does not mean that I think NASA always spends the taxpayer’s money effectively,but I basically support the US Government spending money on space exploration. Thus, my interest was snagged by a recent survey that shows the American public is clueless about how much money NASA spends. The question posed was what portion of the national budget is allocated to NASA?

According to The Space Review:

NASA’s allocation, on average, was estimated to be approximately 24% of the national budget (the NASA allocation in 2007 was approximately 0.58% of the budget.)

I wonder how I would have answered the question. I probably would have gotten it wrong but would have put NASA’s budget in the one to two percent category.

Even more telling is this item from The Space Review:

In October of 2006, on the 49th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, CBS News anchor Katie Couric summarized this attitude when she concluded her nightly broadcast by saying, “NASA’s requested budget for 2007 is nearly $17 billion. There are some who argue that money would be better spent on solid ground, for medical research, social programs or in finding solutions to poverty, hunger and homelessness… I can’t help but wonder what all that money could do for people right here on planet Earth.”

Thanks, Katie…that is really insightful reporting (NOT). The NASA budget is roundoff error in the federal budget, so it will not make the difference in solving poverty and homelessness. I think the basic problem is that when the dollars get above about about $100M, the general public can’t really comprehend the number. They just lose track of the relative magnitude since it is so freaking big. You might as well be saying “we are spending a bazillion gazillion dollars” on NASA. While $1 trillion is 1000 times bigger than $1Billion, it all pretty much sounds the same.

I think there should be a short math quiz at the voting booth….otherwise, we’ll end up with people voting on stuff that they are incapable of understanding. Uh, oh, too late.

73, Bob K0NR

Whatever Happened To The Electronics Hobbyist?

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In Electronic Design magazine, Louis Frenzel wrote an article, “Whatever Happened to the Electronics Hobbyist?”

Electronics used to be one of the greatest hobbies ever. There were literally hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of people who used to play around with electronics as an avocation or part-time interest and activity. There were at least a dozen magazines supporting this group and plenty of parts and kits suppliers to keep them happy. Kids learned electricity and electronics in school. As a result, when they ended up getting the bug, they ended up not only adopting electronics as a hobby, but also made it into a career. You don’t see too much of that going on anymore. So what the devil happened to the electronic hobbyist?

Louis goes on to say that electronics tinkering at the component level has largely disappeared but that the “Systems Hobbyist” is alive and well. This is a good article, with insight into the electronics hobby, including ham radio. Worth reading…click here.

73, Bob K0NR

The FCC and the Jamming of Cellphones

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CellAntenna, a manufacturer of cellular radio communications solutions, has filed suit in U.S. District Court to force the FCC to allow broader sale of RF jamming equipment (CNET News.com article here). At first look, the argument is compelling: terrorist bombs can be detonated by remote control using cell phones, so let’s jam the phones. Currently, the FBI has access to cellphone jammers that can be deployed but state and local law enforcement is prevented from using these devices. (CellAntenna markets these jammers, so they have a vested interest in expanding their market.) Shouldn’t all law enforcement organizations be able to turn on bomb-blocking jamming equipment?

But here is the context: The Communications Act of 1934 (amended as recently as 1996) provides federal oversight of the radio spectrum. Congress correctly concluded that the radio frequency spectrum needed regulation for the public good. That is, having people transmit on any old frequency any old time they wanted would result in general chaos in the RF world. CellAntenna is asking that the FCC’s authority to regulate the spectrum be overturned. This is a really, really bad idea.

Should the FCC allow local police to jam cellphones? Maybe. But there are plenty of other frequencies that terrorists could use to detonate bombs. Do the police get to jam all of those frequencies, too? Heck, a terrorist could set up an RF control link on one of the local police frequencies. Do they get to jam your WiFi network, your cordless phone, the frequencies of other police and fire departments, etc? This is a real slippery slope, which is why we have a government organization set up to regulate the spectrum and the use of radio transmitters.

But wait there’s more. Some folks would like to use jammers to enforce electronic gadget politeness in public places such as theaters or concert halls. Rude behavior associated with wireless communications devices is generally perceived to be a problem. Most of us have been annoyed by the person that decides to take a cellphone call during a movie or concert. CNET reports that France has authorized the use of jamming devices to enforce cellphone-free zones. Certainly, there are people in the U.S. that would like to see this happen here.

OK, I have to admit, maybe I am just jealous that I don’t get to have a cellphone jammer. This could be really handy for those times when people are practicing rude cellphone behavior, whether on the street or in a theater. Or maybe when I see someone driving down the highway with a phone stuck in their ear and not paying attention to traffic, I could just shut that call down. Hmmm, maybe I could get to like this idea.

73, Bob K0NR

Results of The Free Software Experiment

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Over one year ago, I decided to buy a new notebook computer for use with ham radio and other personal projects. In the past, I’ve been a typical user of Microsoft products, including Windows, MS Office, Internet Explorer, etc. The Open Source movement has been interesting to me and I often wondered about using some of these free software programs.

I bought an HP/Compaq Presario 2200 computer and proceeded to load it with “free” software. I was on a quest to determine how far I could go without paying a cent for software. My basic rules were:

  • Don’t pay anything for software
  • Avoid free braindead software that forces you to upgrade to the premium ver$ion
  • Don’t cheat the system by using hacked software

The first decision I encountered was whether to use Linux or Windows XP. The computer came loaded with Windows XP, so I considered that “free”. I have used technical computers with the Unix operating system at work, so I am still tempted to bring up a Linux system here at home. For now, I decided to stick with Windows since there is quite a bit of freeware available on that OS and it was already installed.

For the main software applications, I quickly zero’d in on OpenOffice, Firefox and Thunderbird. These apps seem to be the real leaders in their respective areas.

OpenOffice

From the OpenOffice.org web page:
OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute.

I had high hopes for OpenOffice and it is a reasonably good piece of software. I had used MS Word for many years (currently using Word 2003) and was pretty much a power user of that software. The word processor portion of OpenOffice (OpenOffice Writer) has enough features to compete with Word and even has a few advantages such as outputting in pdf format. I lived without Word on my new PC for about 7 months and only used OpenOffice. Ultimately, I had to give in and install Word. There were just too many places where OpenOffice was not quite compatible with the industry standard. Graphics inserted into documents would mysteriously get mangled or would print incorrectly when transferred to Word. Word is the defacto standard so OpenOffice is, by definition, incompatible. Frankly, my life got much simpler after installing Word. For users that don’t care about Word compatibility, I can highly recommend OpenOffice.

While the compatibility issues of the OpenOffice word processor are kind of a problem, the OpenOffice spreadsheet is a real mess. The feature set and user interface is quite different from Excel and is a distant second in terms of overall functionality. Fortunately, my spreadsheet usage is very basic, so I have been able to just live with OpenOffice.

Overall, I give OpenOffice a “B-” grade.

Firefox
My experience with Firefox, the web browser, has been excellent. I am very happy with version 1.5 and look forward to 2.0. The tabbed interface and the extensions that are available are a real plus. Also, there have been fewer security problems with Firefox compared to Internet Explorer.

Overall, I give Firefox an “A” grade.

Thunderbird
I am on version 1.5 of Thunderbird and continue to be very impressed. This email client is quite flexible in handling multiple pop accounts and supports extensions and themes. See Why You Should Use the Mozilla Thunderbird E-Mail Program. My only complaint on Thunderbird is that its spam filtering could be better. I don’t know that this is a ding on Thunderbird in that spam is a continuing challenge for everyone. Still, I’d say having a stronger spam filter is the best thing they could do to improve the email client.

Overall, I give Thunderbird an “A” grade.

Other Software
What other free software do I have on my PC? There are quite a few ham radio software packages out there, many of them free: EchoLink (ham radio voice-over-IP), Morse Runner (CW contest simulator), MorseGen (generate Morse code on your PC), WinMorse (converts text to Morse code audio file), SatScape (satellite tracking software) and UI-View (APRS software).

What are your favorite free software packages?

73, Bob K0NR

The Death of (Broadcast) Radio

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Back in April, I wrote about how various sources of audio are Competing for Ears. John Dvorak in his PC Magazine blog recently wrote about The Death of Radio. Interesting, he did put a slight plug in for the “underappreciated amateur/ham radio community.” (Thanks, John.) But his main point is that broadcast radio sucks. I agree, for the most part. It is the rare broadcast station that is really worth listening to. Most of them have way too much advertising and the program formats are too constrained.

73, Bob K0NR

Competing for Ears

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In the online world, you’ll hear people talking about competing for eyeballs. That is, web sites, blogs, advertisers, search engines, etc. are all trying to get people to look at their stuff. This is an extension of television, where broadcasters attempt to capture your attention and have you watch their channel.

I’ve noticed that I have a similar issue with audio sources…there is extreme competition for my ears. Here are the things that I find myself listening to, all of which are screaming out for more than their fair share of attention (in no particular order):

  • AM/FM car radio with CD player
  • HiFi Audio system at home (includes AM/FM receiver and CD player)
  • iPod mp3 player (music / podcasts)
  • Mobile telephone
  • VHF/UHF FM Mobile Ham Radio Transceiver
  • VHF/UHF FM Handheld Transceiver (HT)
  • HF Ham Transceiver
  • Police/Fire Scanner
  • Weather radio
  • Notebook PC Sound Card (mp3 music, etc.)

I have left out some potential audio sources that have fallen out of favor:

  • Shortwave receiver
  • Walkman (cassette tape)
  • Discman (CD player)

Of course, there are some very important non-electronic devices that must be listened to:

  • Wife
  • Kids
  • Other people

There are two main chunks of time when this audio competition exists. The first is when driving my car. Clearly, we live in a mobile society, spending way too much time driving from place to place. I tend to listen to audio content while driving since it helps make use of the time and is (mostly) compatible with driving. Other media such as books or video displays are not recommended while driving.

The second chunk of time is when I am doing something around the house that doesn’t require complete concentration. I like to have something to listen to in the background. Often this is music but it might just as well be other audio sources.

What does this have to do with ham radio? Plenty. I find that my ham transceivers are getting displaced by these other audio sources. It seems that there is no end to alternative things to listen to and my on-the-air radio operating is declining. The biggest winner is my iPod, offering an endless supply of commercial-free music and a wide variety of podcasts, all customized to fit my listening preferences. There are even podcasts about ham radio, so ham radio is competing with itself.

The biggest loser is good old AM/FM broadcast radio. I find myself turning off the AM/FM radio, tired of the stale format and endless commercial advertisements of the broadcast stations. I really think broadcast radio is in deep trouble.

Is this just a trend or just a fad? I think it is a trend. What do you think?

73, Bob K0NR