The Wonderful World of Amateur Radio
So this past weekend the Red River Radio Amateurs had their annual Hamfest. After many suggestions that I take the test and get my FCC license, I studied up and headed out there. I had no idea what to expect, so I brought along a friend to keep me company. When I got there, a gentlemen from the National Weather Service was giving a presentation on WSR-88D (basically, Doppler Radar). That was the first sign that I was in the right place. As we walked through the doors to the flea market area, we knew we were in the right place. Rows of tables lined with radio equipment, computers, electronics parts, and odd stuff that just looked cool. We walked around, finding some interesting items. There was a low-voltage tester that looked about 50-60 years old. It was in a solid metal case, and just looked really cool. We also found an old Commodore 64 (we think...) for sale for $25. But the best would probably be a couple of VHF radios for near $100. Had I gotten my license, I would have gotten a radio there and called it good. Unfortunately, the testing was late in the event, and so most of the good stuff was gone by the time I was license-bound.
I did successfully get my Technician class license. I'm going to be studying up for the General class exam so that I can have access to the lower frequency bands (the ones that go farther distances, like Italy and Spain). Right now I have access to most everything in the 50Mhz+ bands, and am cutting my teeth on VHF (2 meter). I was fortunate to find a gentleman in Fargo that was willing to sell his old handheld to me for a great price. It is a Yaesu FT-11R 2m handheld with a load of features. I also received an offer for a mobile VHF unit, but it was more expensive, and I knew that the handheld would work out of the box with no power concerns (Mobiles need a power supply, like a car, or a bench supply. I have no bench supplies, and I'd like to use it outside the car.) I'm concerned that the handheld's battery is not very good, but I'm still playing with it and seeing if I can power it without a battery (like...from a car).
All in all, I'm having a great time. I'm meeting new people (unfortunately I haven't gotten to put faces to call signs yet) and learning a lot about this quite huge world of Amateur Radio.
It’s that time of the month…
Everyone's favorite quick-firing deal site Woot! is having a Woot-Off! Head on over to www.woot.com to see what it's all about!
Fire Up the Woot Trackers…
Yes, kiddies, it's that time of the month! Head on over to Woot! to watch the best time-waster online!
OMG WOOTOFF!
You guessed it. There's a woot-off going on. Head on over to Woot.com to find out the latest item up for sale!
(PS: if you need a woot-off tracker, click here)
Vigilante Bookstore
If you're an NDSU student, and don't want to sell your textbooks back to the NDSU Bookstore, might want to check this out:
You probably received an email on it already. It's run by a couple friends of mine, so yes, your stuff is safe. Encryption nerds.
Don’t even worry about it
I'm actively messing with some template stuff. If you're bored, you can keep hitting F5 until it settles down.
On Vista 64-Bit…
You are allowed to shed a tear. I have switched over to Windows Vista Business 64-bit on my personal full-time use desktop. Many of you probably know that I hate Vista. I still do. The ONLY reason I switched over, is for the 64-bit compatibility. For those of you who don't know what the heck 64-bit is, here's a quick explaination.
In the modern computing world, there are two different classes of operating systems. For the longest time, 32-bit was the only type of operating system available. 32-bit refers to how memory is addressed inside the computer, and how CPU instructions can access memory. A technical limitation of most 32-bit operating systems (Any Windows before XP, most Vista installs that come on store-bought computers) is a 3.25 GB memory limit. Even if you pump a computer full of 16 GB of memory, it will only see up to 3.25 GB. 64-bit, in contrast, allows for a much higher memory limit (on the order of 2 TB I think). I have 4 GB in my desktop, and now with Vista 64-bit, I can use all 4 GB, and add more (4 more GB went on sale last week, and made me think more about the switch).
So the question arises: why not use Windows XP 64-bit? Well, I did consider it. Drivers were available for most of my products, but not all of them. Also, Windows XP 64-bit is buggy, and was one of Microsoft's first 64-bit operating systems. Usually Microsoft's first try at something has a lot of problems, and is lacking in a lot of things. Vista 64-bit is a little more polished, and I'm finding that Vista is being supported by more and more things.
I have not COMPLETELY switched, though. I will be running Ubuntu 9.04 on my laptop (full time, no extra Windows partition). It does have a Windows VM for some products I use at work that are Windows only. I have also retained my XP Pro installation on this desktop so that if Vista just pisses me off too much, I can switch back for some relief. So far I haven't run into any incompatability (out and out things not working), but I just don't like the way Vista has reorganized everything. The jump from Win 98 to Win XP was major, but simple. Very few things were moved around, everything still had the same look and feel. The control panel names were the same for the most part. Vista was terrible to switch to. Add/Remove programs (begins with A, top of the list) has been replaced with Programs and Features (begins with P, some place deep in the list). It's little things like that that annoy me with Vista.
Alright, enough ranting. I just can't wait for Windows 7. I call it "Vista that doesn't suck so bad". RC comes out May 5th to the public, out now for TechNet and MSDN subscribers.
Feedburner!
I've now switched the RSS feeds over to FeedBurner. With this, also comes some ads. I have to make money somehow, so I went with the ad route. Don't worry, they're perfectly harmless.
On Building an Ubuntu Mirror
Today, at work, I began building something very interesting. An Ubuntu mirror. Virtually.
So what exactly is an Ubuntu mirror? In simplest terms, an Ubuntu mirror contains all the packages necessary to run the open-source free Ubuntu operating system. Mirrors are typically run by universities and research organizations for the benefit of the users of Ubuntu. Mirrors can also be run for home users that want a faster connection to Ubuntu packages.
I am experimenting with apt-mirror, which is Ubuntu-specific (mirror-type systems exist for a lot of things). Apt-mirror was pretty easy to install, and simple to configure. Once it pulls its initial set of packages (on the order of 50GB), I can start using it to update our Ubuntu servers.
Now as far as the virtually part goes, this computer doesn't actually exist. It's running on a virtual machine server, using shared resources, and shared drive space. Virtual machines are a really nice way to utilize every clock cycle and every ounce of hard drive space. They can save a lot of money in the long run.
I do apologize for the short post. I really should work on this a lot more. I'm busy though, just like everyone else.
About Me
Greetings! I'm an IT professional that decided to purchase his own domain name and website. Isn't that what everyone does?
Leukemia Fund Donation
- I love Dropbox because Syncs homework to all my machines. http://t.co/jXkDITuZ
- I will not throw up today. There I said it.
- @DIRECTVService HD Feed, still doing it now. Seems to affect music more than voice.
- @directv Any reason channel 231 is having audio issues? All my other chans are fine.
- Just hanging out. (@ Sanford Hospital) http://t.co/w74fWte7
- I spent a couple of hours at a house fire tonite. Now to rest up for a long day tomorrow.
- Curling up in front of @RedZoneChannel and ready for some football!
- @Simply_A_Muse_D Was it you that knew the owner of Dickey's BBQ?
- @Simply_A_Muse_D sorry I was helping Nancy. And yes, this was sent from the iPad.
- @Simply_A_Muse_D got back on Friday. Was very warm, very busy, and I'm glad to be home!