Today, in 1994, Linus Torvalds released v 1.0.0 of the Linux Kernel. And the rest, as they say, is history.
No word what Bill Gates was doing......
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Happy Birthday Linux!
Today, in 1994, Linus Torvalds released v 1.0.0 of the Linux Kernel. And the rest, as they say, is history.
No word what Bill Gates was doing......
Automotive Work Today
Not much, really. Have to change the spark plugs and serpentine belts on the YF's car. No points or cap/rotor, as her Nissan Sentra has the "Coil On Plug" design, so all I (should!) have to do is carefully remove the coil assembly, remove the old plugs, put the new ones in, and put the coil back on. She got the dreaded "Check Engine" light the other day, so I put my OBD-II scanner on the connector, and it read out "Cylinder #3 Misfire". Hmmmmm.....47,000 miles on the original plugs, so probably time to change them even though the Service Manual says they're good for 105,000 miles ( !!!! ). Cleared the fault code, and it's been running happily ever since. On the other hand, I could probably just give it an "Italian Tune-Up" and it would be good for a while, BUT...she's big on replacing consumable parts if there's the slightest doubt they might be bad, and *I'm* big on "Happy Wife, Happy Life", so I'll swap them out.
The serpentine belts might take a little longer. When she got her oil changed last week the guy was like "OMG!!! You NEED your belts changed NOW!!!!", so she called me. Rather than pay the oil change place $85 to install new belts, I told her to decline the "service", and bring the car home. Were the belts *that* bad? NO....glazed a bit, but no cracks or missing ribs on the drive side.
Got 4 new plugs, and both belts, for $54 at the Autozone down the street, so today I get to play mechanic.
Hmmm...where'd I put my silicone dielectric grease?
The serpentine belts might take a little longer. When she got her oil changed last week the guy was like "OMG!!! You NEED your belts changed NOW!!!!", so she called me. Rather than pay the oil change place $85 to install new belts, I told her to decline the "service", and bring the car home. Were the belts *that* bad? NO....glazed a bit, but no cracks or missing ribs on the drive side.
Got 4 new plugs, and both belts, for $54 at the Autozone down the street, so today I get to play mechanic.
Hmmm...where'd I put my silicone dielectric grease?
Friday, March 12, 2010
Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis
This is quite a good read over at American Thinker. For those of us that tried to find out more about HRH Obama before the election, it confirms what little we could find, and expands deeper upon it.
Great read, link courtesy of The Liberty Sphere and Sipsey Steet Irregulars.
Great read, link courtesy of The Liberty Sphere and Sipsey Steet Irregulars.
Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
America Under Socialism
From our good friends the Sipsey Street Irregulars comes this.
Read the whole thing. It's amazingly prophetic.
Reagan warned us of this years ago in his speeches.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Obama At The Bat
Shamelessly copied from Obama Cartoons with a tip 'o the hat to Texas Fred, and with all due respect to Ernest Thayer.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Hello Radio.......
WELL.....I was having great fun in the ARRL International DX Contest this weekend running my Kenwood TS-950SDX, and then the YF turned on the TV. A few minutes later she came in saying I was coming in over the surround-sound speakers. Since I had just changed bands from 15 Meters (21 MHz) to 20 Meters (14 MHz), I thought maybe something was more sensitive to the different frequency in use. I went back on 15, and had her go listen while I sent a "test" transmission.
No dice!
I come in *equally* well on both bands, and don't bother the video one bit. Since the home theater setup is fed from a Verizon FiOS cable box with HDMI for the video (I disabled the HDMI audio pass-through in the Onkyo receiver), and a TOSLink optical cable for the audio, I've now got to figure out where the RF is leaking in to the system.
My computer speakers in the shack don't pick anything up, her computer speakers don't pick anything, and her son's computer speakers and stereo don't pick anything up. And I've asked the neighbors on both sides if I ever bother their TV's, and they've said no.
The Onkyo receiver is the likely culprit at this time, as the AC line cord is only two conductors, so the receiver really isn't grounded. Luckily it has a *real* ground connection on the back panel, so I'll try tying that to one of the other pieces of gear in the home theater setup that has a ground connection.
In the meantime, I'm going to fire up my FlexRadio Systems 5000A, and see if the problem goes away. The Kenwood runs a solid 150 Watts output, and the Flex is set for 100 Watts max.
Sometimes you just have to back off the power a wee bit, and the RFI will go away.
No dice!
I come in *equally* well on both bands, and don't bother the video one bit. Since the home theater setup is fed from a Verizon FiOS cable box with HDMI for the video (I disabled the HDMI audio pass-through in the Onkyo receiver), and a TOSLink optical cable for the audio, I've now got to figure out where the RF is leaking in to the system.
My computer speakers in the shack don't pick anything up, her computer speakers don't pick anything, and her son's computer speakers and stereo don't pick anything up. And I've asked the neighbors on both sides if I ever bother their TV's, and they've said no.
The Onkyo receiver is the likely culprit at this time, as the AC line cord is only two conductors, so the receiver really isn't grounded. Luckily it has a *real* ground connection on the back panel, so I'll try tying that to one of the other pieces of gear in the home theater setup that has a ground connection.
In the meantime, I'm going to fire up my FlexRadio Systems 5000A, and see if the problem goes away. The Kenwood runs a solid 150 Watts output, and the Flex is set for 100 Watts max.
Sometimes you just have to back off the power a wee bit, and the RFI will go away.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
McDonald v. Chicago
Turk Turon has been standing on the steps getting great photos, and is keeping a running blog on this important case.
Drop on by his place, and see the latest!
Drop on by his place, and see the latest!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Three Per Cent
Most of the visitors to my little place in the blogosphere undoubtedly know about "The Three Per Cent".
If you don't, I'd like to ask you to read this piece written by a man I truly admire.
One term Mike brought up was "Gramscian". which I'd never heard, and being a good teacher, he suggested we look it up ourselves.
So, I did, and leaned that it comes from the name "Antonio Gramsci", an Italian philosopher and political Scientist. Now since I was schooled in the Hard Sciences (Physics and Engineering), I tend to chuckle a bit when I see the term "Political Science". It's too much like "Jumbo Shrimp" for me not to laugh, but I went ahead and read his bio anyway.
Very interesting stuff there. In particular, he's the guy that came up with the term "Cultural Hegemony", which is basically a fancy term used to describe the dominance of one social group over another, in this case, a "Ruling Class".
Now when I read this, it just about knocked me over. It's exactly what I've been feeling from the "candidates" the Left has been pushing on us for years. It first struck me when I listened to John Kerry give one of his speeches. It was quite clear to me that the man was talking down to his audience, and I, for one, deeply resented it. There are other things I despise about John Kerry, but his tone of voice and demeanor on the podium struck me like a ton of bricks. Al Gore kinda sounded the same to me when he was on his "Global Warming" stump, but he can also pull off the "Fatherly" bit better than Kerry ever could.
But I digress.....
One other thing that I found interesting as I looked up Gramsci and followed the links, was that they all have Marxism in common. And considering the friends and acquaintances of our "President", it looks like the USA has finally got a bona fide "Ruling Class" leader. One who cares not for the people who voted him in, but only for his own agenda.
God bless, Mike, and keep up the Good Fight by writing these pieces that get the rest of us to THINK, and in inspiring those of us who truly believe in the Republic of our Founders.
If you don't, I'd like to ask you to read this piece written by a man I truly admire.
One term Mike brought up was "Gramscian". which I'd never heard, and being a good teacher, he suggested we look it up ourselves.
So, I did, and leaned that it comes from the name "Antonio Gramsci", an Italian philosopher and political Scientist. Now since I was schooled in the Hard Sciences (Physics and Engineering), I tend to chuckle a bit when I see the term "Political Science". It's too much like "Jumbo Shrimp" for me not to laugh, but I went ahead and read his bio anyway.
Very interesting stuff there. In particular, he's the guy that came up with the term "Cultural Hegemony", which is basically a fancy term used to describe the dominance of one social group over another, in this case, a "Ruling Class".
Now when I read this, it just about knocked me over. It's exactly what I've been feeling from the "candidates" the Left has been pushing on us for years. It first struck me when I listened to John Kerry give one of his speeches. It was quite clear to me that the man was talking down to his audience, and I, for one, deeply resented it. There are other things I despise about John Kerry, but his tone of voice and demeanor on the podium struck me like a ton of bricks. Al Gore kinda sounded the same to me when he was on his "Global Warming" stump, but he can also pull off the "Fatherly" bit better than Kerry ever could.
But I digress.....
One other thing that I found interesting as I looked up Gramsci and followed the links, was that they all have Marxism in common. And considering the friends and acquaintances of our "President", it looks like the USA has finally got a bona fide "Ruling Class" leader. One who cares not for the people who voted him in, but only for his own agenda.
God bless, Mike, and keep up the Good Fight by writing these pieces that get the rest of us to THINK, and in inspiring those of us who truly believe in the Republic of our Founders.
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Yawn....just more Kabuki Theater, but interesting reading, nonetheless. Read All About It Here.....
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Every so often when I'm checking my PiAware ADSB receiver/display I'll notice an aircraft with a flight path that catches my eye. I...