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qjkxbmwvz @startrek.website
Posts 2
Comments 416
GPL violation follow-up - some bad news and some good news
  • Yeah, but this is (according to OP) faster, which saves money. And, because it's open, if there are features that could add serious value, they could be added in-house.

    But yeah, perhaps a bit of a pyrrhic victory.

  • “No One Wants to Work Anymore”, and Other Distasteful Fictions
  • The irony in some of these budgets is that you can eat pretty affordably...if you aren't overworked, and can afford to spend a huge chunk of your time cooking. But because you're working two jobs, this isn't the case.

    Bulk rice and bulk dried beans are dirt cheap. Bulk vegetable oil, coconut milk, potatos/onions/garlic are all cheap. Homemade Thai curry is cheap and delicious, but ain't no one got time for that after working a double shift. Homemade Mexican rice and refried beans are likewise cheap and delicious, but they too take time.

    And of course, if you're spending bare minimum on rent you're probably sharing a kitchen with a handful of other folks (or you only have a personal hotplate), which also sucks for cooking.

    So if you live in a nice house with a nice kitchen and aren't overworked, yeah...food can be pretty cheap.

  • Idaho library bans minors from entering without parental consent
  • California has some good rules on the book about this: https://www.scu.edu/library/policies/confidentiality/

    AFAIK this applies to minors with a card, too. I have heard that in my city when a librarian gives a minor (I think over age 13?) a card, they make a point of saying, "we will never tell your parents what books you check out" (or something like thay). Obviously federal law trumps this (looking at you, Patriot Act...) but there are some places in this country sorta doing the right thing, which is heartening!

  • Good LTE/5G dongle for Linux?
  • My carrier is Google Fi --- one perk is that they will give you free data-only sims (up to 10 I think?) and you just pay for the data you use like any other data. I have used old Android phones in USB tether mode this way, and it works just fine. So, rpi+old/cheap phone should do the trick.

    One fun bonus is that if you tether over USB it will work as a WiFi dongle, too --- the failover from WiFi to cell should happen on the phone, transparently iirc. Not sure if that affects you.

    Caveat is that I did this a while ago, and their pricing structure may have changed. Finished to be a great deal but has slowly become another carrier with not much to differentiate it...

  • On the Internet, what is a dead giveaway that someone is actually a kid?
  • Lol, comment removed. It ended with, "...support for the Chinese Communist party" as a way of finding out someone is a child.

    Which was then removed in a, dare I say, childish act of moderation.

    (Which is fine, the folks at .ml are welcome to censor as they see fit, of course, and I'm sure this comment isn't long for this world.)

  • Producing fuels from 1,500 degrees of solar heat: world’s first plant opens in Germany
  • Super cool. Chemical fuels (hydrocarbons or even plant oils) have ridiculous energy density, which is nice for e.g. cars but absolutely crucial for fast, long-range air travel. I don't think we'll be saying goodbye to jet engines for a long time, and it's awesome that we have ways of making fuel in a somewhat sustainable fashion.

    The US Navy has experimented with this, but I think the idea is to use nuclear power instead of solar energy. Makes sense for an aircraft carrier with a big reactor and thirsty jets.

  • Tube Tester at Convenience Store!
  • I have an old (probably '60s) hifi amp. It's awesome. Replaced the selenium rectifier with silicon, replaced a few caps, and put fresh tubes in it.

    It sounds...basically the same as modern solid state stuff to my untrained ear. It's pretty cool that in a sense we "solved" the problem of amplification back then. Most of the speakers of the day were probably complete crap by today's standards (unless you had something upscale like a pair of AR-3s), but a well designed amplifier from the era holds up well.

  • San Francisco @lemmy.world qjkxbmwvz @startrek.website

    Sutro Tower lights changed color?

    Noticed a few days ago that Sutro Tower's red blinking lights are now white. Just asked them on their website form, but wondered if anyone else knows the story with this.

    Personally, I miss the red ones!

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    Recommendations for first HF rig?

    Howdy!

    I got my Technician in early 2000s, and last year finally upgraded to Extra. Looking to set up a very basic shack.

    I'm looking for an HF setup, with most of my use probably using digital modes, but would like the ability to use voice.

    Current transceiver is on loan from girlfriend's dad, a Ten-Tec Scout 555 --- 50W HF unit with separate modules for each band. One limitation of this is that the modules set the mode, so it's LSB on 40m, making e.g. FT8 not possible (without some hacking of code or perhaps hacking the module).

    Antenna is end-fed with an off-the-shelf 49:1. Currently only have 20m half-wave, but have just enough room for a 40m half-wave in the attic, which is the ultimate goal.

    For digital modes, it looks like there are sort of 3 classes of radio:

    • "full digital" where the radio has e.g. a USB port and handles audio, transmit, and frequency set.
    • Some computer-control with RS232, but uses computer audio+adapter to transmit.
    • No digital, use adapter to transmit. This is what the current setup uses (and it works great!)

    I'm leaning towards a conventional transceiver, e.g., something from ICOM, Kenwood, Yaesu, (or others) rather than an SDR unit. I'd like the ability to go up to 50-100W if possible.

    I don't have a hard-and-fast budget; would like to keep it <$1000 if possible; mostly just looking at used transceivers. Something like a Kenwood TS-590 looks pretty amazing and very "plug-and-play" (but pushing up against price). Something like a Yaesu FT-920 looks pretty feature-rich too; and even something more affordable like an ICOM 706 or even a 725 is probably more radio than I need. Or just grab a new 7300 and call it a day!

    Anyway...clearly, I don't know exactly what I want, but figured I'd ask folks with more experience if they have any wisdom. Thanks!

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