Surfin': Widget to Read This

This week’s Surfin’ reveals a new Amateur Radio widget for the Mac OS X. Read it here, then come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Surfin': Gobble, Gobble, Google

Wow! I was so busy this holiday weekend and I didn't even shop! And I was so busy that I forgot to blurb on about this week's Surfin', which talks about Google and my editor's fascination with Google's Elmer Fudd interface.

Which reminds me that on Thanksgiving Day, we took the bus to NYC and watched the Macy's parade. Elmer Fudd was not among the balloons in the parade, but we did see Snoopy, Scooby Doo, and the weird silver "Playboy Bunny" balloon!

Read this week's Surfin', then come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Surfin': More Space on the Radio

This week's Surfin' picks up where it left off last week with more astronomy and Amateur Radio connections. Read it here, then come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

online interactive sky chart

I am still following the progress of Comet Holmes. If the sky is clear, I go outside with my binoculars at night and view the skies.

I also check the Sky & Telescope Web site for news regarding the comet and anything else that is newsworthy in the sky. Today, I discovered that the web site has an interactive sky chart that allows you to "create a custom naked-eye map of the whole sky for any place on Earth, at any time of day or night, on any date from 1600 to 2400." Their sky chart works in most Java-enabled Web browsers.

You have to register with Sky & Telescope in order to access the sky chart (registering is no big deal and its free). Once you register, you can access the chart and customize it for your location, which takes about one minute to do.

I do have Stellarium on my Mac, which provides the same functionality, but I can access Sky & Telescope's sky chart from any computer with a browser and that can come in handy when I don't have my Mac at ready.

MacLoggerDX 4.3.2 released

Dog Park Software is pleased to announce that version 4.3.2 of MacLoggerDX has been released and can be downloaded here.



What's New in this version:

* Updated for Leopard
* Intermittent crash fixed
* Ten-Tec Omni VII S-Meter adjustment
* TS-480 S-Meter adjustment
* K2+XV50 Driver 50 MHz.
* HamCall fix for Hughes ISP
* Added 'Include Host in URL' check box in Station Info
* New Free Internet lookup format fix
* Yaesu FT-450 and FT-950 Drivers added.

Surfin': Space Cadets on the Radio

This week, Surfin’ discusses the connection between Amateur Radio and radio astronomy. After you read this week’s Surfin’, come back here to leave your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Comet Holmes

Read about the exploding Comet Holmes and last night, the sky was clear, so I took my old refractor outside to have a look.

The comet is visible with the naked eye. At first, you might mistake it for a dim star, but it is actually a fuzzy spot. Put the telescope on it and it is a gray fuzzy ball.

The comet is easy to find. Here is a map from the Sky & Telescope web site that will assist you in finding the comet.

stop Kevin Martin

"If FCC chairman Kevin Martin gets his way, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch will be able to go into the largest American city and buy the daily newspapers, the "alternative" weeklies, the neighborhood and suburban weeklies, the eight biggest radio stations, the most watched TV stations and the most popular websites. Then he can start making real money by producing the news and commentary for those different forums from one downsized, dumbed-down but dominant "local" newsroom.

"That's a local problem, with profound ramifications for already undercovered urban and low-income areas. But there's a national threat as well. Representatives, senators, even Presidents are elected on a region-by-region, state-by-state basis, so when the dominant media in a battleground state speak with one voice, the owner will shape not just the local agenda but the national debate."

Read the rest of the story here.

why I hate Chri$tma$

I am eating breaksfast and reading the newspaper. My wife turns on the television and is watching the Today Show from NBC.

I am startled to hear a Christmas tune during a segue into a commercial. After the commercials, the show starts up with the same Christmas tune playing and one of the female Today Show talking heads informs me that Halloween is over and the Christmas season is here (or some such).

What the...?

What happened to Thanksgiving?

It wasn't long ago, that the Chri$tma$ $ea$son didn't begin until the day after Thanksgiving! And I can remember when the countdown didn't begin until December 1.

If you listen to the media, Thanksgiving is now just a warm-up for the next day, the so-called "Black Friday," when everybody is supposed to show up in a frenzy at the mall at 6 AM to begin their Chri$tma$ $hopping.

They can all go to Hades, as far as I am concerned. This year, I will celebrate Christmas, but not Chri$tma$.

Surfin': RTTY, NEC, Verbs, and Nouns

This week, Surfin' covers a number of topics including RTTY contesting, antenna simulation software, verbs, and nouns. After you read this week’s Surfin’, come back here to leave your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.