June 5, 2010
Web Radio
A WebSDR is a Software-Defined Radio receiver connected to the internet, allowing many listeners to listen and tune it simultaneously.
Websdr.org offers a list of such SDRs, such as this one at the University of Twente Amateur Radio Club in Enschede, NL.
Tune in! The 80-meter AM band is currently hopping over there, the Germans are talking about oil spills and XYLs.
Websdr.org offers a list of such SDRs, such as this one at the University of Twente Amateur Radio Club in Enschede, NL.
Tune in! The 80-meter AM band is currently hopping over there, the Germans are talking about oil spills and XYLs.
Venera
At a time when the US was turning its attention from the moon and towards Mars, the Soviet Union had an active exploration program for Venus, Venera. Running from 1961 to 1983, the program had setbacks from the first launch, but Venera 9 produced the first ever transmission of images from another planet. [more inside]
William Morris and the Kelmscott Press
The multi-talented William Morris' most famous achievement was the Kelmscott Press, which played a leading role in establishing the private press movement. Although the fifty-three books issued by the Press ranged from Shakespeare's poems to Morris' own work, one book remains prized above all others: the Kelmscott Chaucer. Published in 1896, and featuring illustrations by Edward Burne-Jones, the Kelmscott Chaucer was the most exquisite work of a press known for exquisite work. (Previous Morris.)
I am the Egg Man
The Canadian National Magazine Awards were presented last night in Toronto Ontario. The Yukon based "Up Here" won the prestigeous Magazine of the Year title while the bulk of the honours went to "The Walrus". [more inside]
Don't shoot like the police.
"In at least three states (Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland), it is now illegal to record an on-duty police officer even if the encounter involves you and may be necessary to your defense, and even if the recording is on a public street where no expectation of privacy exists. The legal justification for arresting the “shooter” rests on existing wiretapping or eavesdropping laws, with statutes against obstructing law enforcement sometimes cited." Previously. One of the illegal recordings, embedded in an article. [more inside]
Fossils from the future
The Feelies
Davis Souter's commencement speech at Harvard
Now-retired Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter got invited to deliver this year's commencement address at Harvard. He used the opportunity to expound on his legal philosophy and to give a not-too-subtle smack down to the originalists he so often argued with on the court. [more inside]
It's public radio. Your parents listen to it.
Terrifying!
Hey! Who's been eating my hydrogen?
Wal-Mart U
"I do math all day at Wal-Mart." From the Washington Post: "Under a program announced Thursday, employees of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club will be able to receive college credit for performing their jobs, including such tasks as loading trucks and ringing up purchases." Dilution of the meaning of higher education, or laudable way to spread credentials to people without the opportunity to attend traditional college? Or both?
H2omg that's awesome
Underwater Basejumping. That is all.
"Photography, which was a trade, has now become art."
Brian Duffy, one of the 'Terrible Trio' photographers of the 1960s, has died aged 76. Duffy, along with fellow working-class London boys David Bailey and Terence Donovan, revolutionised fashion photography with a brash, sexual, personal style and helped to define the Swinging Sixties. [more inside]
A rheometer designed to measure the amount and speed of blood flow through an artery
Anamika Veeramani just won the national spelling bee with stromuhr, continuing a long Indian-American streak which has included such memorable spelling bee moments as the Numb What? and the Pass Out.
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