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Showing posts from February, 2006

Nanny State: Hams, You Can't See Your Web Sites

To: sites@securecomputing.com Subject: Remove from all lists, completely Ref: http://www.boingboing.net/2006/02/27/isps_in_iran_tunisia.html Ref: http://www.bloglines.com/citations?siteid=66&itemid=16801 Dear Secure Computing: You're blocking access to the ARRL website for users of your dumbware, SmartFilter? You have GOT to be kidding. Amateur Radio is a vital resource of national Red Cross / Red Crescent societies at the local , state , national and international levels, and is partnered with the federal Department of Homeland Security. Countless MOUs (Memorandum Of Understanding) document the value of Amateur Radio to local, state and national government agencies. Amateur radio operators need constant web access to get essential information in and out of disaster areas, yet YOU want to choke off access through including such sites as www.arrl.org www.rac.ca www.eham.net www.qrz.com www.qsl.net Maybe you haven't heard of the Boxing Day Tsunami, Hurricanes Katrina, Rit

[Democracy] Voting machines audit shows very high error rate

The OCR system used in vote-by-mail in Oregon has the lowest error rate of all systems' surely lower than the voting machines profiled here .

[Retail] Checkpoint Charlie at electronics stores

Ever wonder about the post-cash-register checkpoints at stores like Fry's, CompUSA, et al? One blogger's experience with excessive zeal by those loss-prevention checkers led me to an article from a loss prevention specialist who outlines do's and don'ts for legal and professional conduct by same . You can, apparently, Just Say No.

[Preparedness] Radio frequencies useless if they don't work

The next time you hear some politico blithering about 'spectrum' and 'compatability' for emergency responder radio, you'll understand how clueless they are if you've read this article . Don't coast on these excepts; there's a lot more meat in the entire article.. There are many lessons to be learned from how emergency communications performed, or failed to perform, in the wake of Katrina. The debate is burdened by a weighty status quo, bureaucratic politics, and the inescapable fact that emergency response most often is a local function, divided up among more than 60,000 state, county and city jurisdictions nationwide. {SNIP} But no one perfect frequency exists for all emergency communications; firefighters prefer the brick-and-concrete-penetrating abilities of lower frequencies, for example. No single frequency band can meet the public safety demand. {SNIP} Katrina, however, drives concerns about emergency communications down to an even more basic leve

[Computing] Evaluation of blank disc quality

Handy site, this: A ranking of CDR/DVDR quality .

[Shelter] Shipping Carton Corrugated Cardboard Geodesic Domes

The Burning Man set have upgraded plans for making Geodesic Domes from recycled shipping cartons . If you need expedient shelter, or want to add something to keep you dry to your 72-hour kit, these look interesting.

Death to Spam, redux

Here's a link to report splogs and other spam you find from a Google search to Google, thanks to the GregHughes blog .