Rep. Peter King (R-NY), not content with
questioning Muslim loyalty, has introduced
HR 607, the "Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011,"
to take away HAM radio from amateur operators, and sell it to he highest commercial bidder in order to fund some kind of separate internet for cops.
posted by Slap*Happy
on Mar 10, 2011 -
72 comments
Not the commercials you'd expect for the 2010 Utah State Fair. Check out those
hamhocks and don't for get to grab a
corndog while you're there. The TV commercials have since been
yanked by the fair's board. The director of the ads,
Jared Hess of Napolean Dynamite fame, claims
racism.
posted by maryr
on Sep 13, 2010 -
47 comments
Inspiration to do something with your holiday weekend: Steven K. Roberts is an interesting guy with a bit of a hobby problem. In 1983 his
recumbent bike sported "only" a security system, lights, a CB radio and a state-of-the-art
TRS80/100 laptop.
Winnebikeo would eventually evolve into
BEHEMOTH, the "Big Electronic Human-Energized Machine... Only Too Heavy". BEHEMOTH incorporated (amongst other things) HUD, cooling system,
small Sun SPARCstation, HAM Radio, credit card verifier, bubblejet printer, hydraulic disk brakes...
[more inside]
posted by Ogre Lawless
on May 21, 2009 -
28 comments
100 Best Icelandic Pop & Rock Albums all streamable in full for free. Icelandic state broadcaster RÚV and Icelandic subscription music website
tónlist.is have published what they, their team of experts and the Icelandic public consider to be the 100 best Icelandic rock and pop albums of all time. Björk, Sigur Rós, Múm and The Sugarcubes don't need much introduction but below the cut there are short description of the other artists.
[via RÚV] [more inside]
posted by Kattullus
on May 6, 2009 -
47 comments
"
Cochon 555 is a culinary event featuring 5 chefs, 5 pigs, and 5 winemakers in a friendly competition for a cause. Each chef will prepare a 70 pound heritage pig from head to toe for 200 enthusiasts." (flash site)
[more inside]
posted by mkb
on Apr 15, 2009 -
18 comments
On ham, with a fascinating (well, unless you're kosher) history of colonial curing methods.
posted by digaman
on Oct 19, 2007 -
46 comments
The
inside of Farmer John's hog rendering plant in Vernon, California, is among the worst places on Earth if you happen to be a hog, which is why the outside of the building is such a case study in
mural based irony. In 1957, perhaps as a trap to lure in unsuspecting piglets who had come to Los Angeles to make it in the movies, the folks at Farmer John's
hired Hollywood set designer Les Grimes to begin painting a mural on the outside of the factory, a job that he continued until his death 11 years later. The result, entitled "Hog Heaven", depicts a
pastoral wonderland, clearly a prime destination for any visiting out of town porcine rube. Surely one of the world's largest murals, the work stretches
around the entire square cityblock worth of slaughterhouse, and (legend has it) is so large that not unlike the Golden Gate bridge, no sooner is it done being painted than the painter must begin touching it up all over again.
posted by jonson
on Aug 6, 2006 -
36 comments
One might think that in today's world of cell phones, text messaging and the Internet, you shouldn't write off
ham radio just yet. Not only can
Morse code be faster than text messaging, but when
when you need it most, you can still communicate with the world [PDF]. If you're lucky, and the conditions are right, you might be able to chat with operators hundred of miles away thanks to
tropospheric ducting. There's more to ham radio than just the old chatter, though: you can use the ham radio bands to operate radio-controlled planes,
send and receive TV [PDF] (sort of),
wirelessly connect to networks, or
talk with astronauts.
posted by Godbert
on Aug 1, 2006 -
44 comments
Welcome To IOTA NA-178 Mission Control On behalf of IOTA Ham operators WorldWide, the SouthEast Farallon Island - Project NA-178 HAMS HELPING HABITATS project (conducted by K6VVA & K9AJ) will assist the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge ("The Refuge") by transporting materials and equipment via helicopter from the mainland for an important habitat restoration project on SouthEast Farallon Island ("SEFI"), as well as the return of old unwanted infrastructure water pipe from the Island for disposal.
If you thought Eco-tourism was passe, try a
DX-
pedition! Of course
hams have also put their personal concerns aside for other things, such as helping provide
emergency communications during natural disasters.
One thing you might not realize is our penchant for broadband Internet via BPL (Broadband over Power Lines)
may interfere with this hobby of radio enthusiasts.
posted by jackspace
on Feb 15, 2006 -
34 comments
Fancy way to build a satellite -- spend millions of dollars hiring engineers to carefully construct your
orbital gem, then millions more on a
massive rocket to loft it into space. BORING. Easy way to build a satellite -- shove a radio into a spacesuit and toss it off a space station. Meet
SuitSat 1.
posted by eriko
on Jan 26, 2006 -
32 comments
