Blackberry REACT March NewsletterQuick ClicksAether Log BookThere is a plethora of logging software for Windows, but there are fewer reasonably priced offerings for the Mac. Aether is $39, and is available as a free download with a limit of 30 entries so you can try it out. I have not used it, but it appears to do all the usual stuff a log book is required to do, including Cabrillo formatting, rig control, callsign look-up, and so on. Gear bagsLouise and I seem to travel more than some folks, and I'm always looking for better ways to carry our stuff. For those not interested in looking like combat soldiers, MOLLE and BDU may have no meaning, so we'll ignore those acronyms and just call this a wallet. It's a small bag that is configured to carry pens, small flashlights, MP3 players, and what-have-you. Here's a set of photos showing the bag configured by a medic for his IV-starter kit. The wallet has straps for attachment to belts or backpacks. It's eight bucks, so it costs more to ship it than it's worth - buy more than one or buy other stuff with it. How an atomic clock worksWith a photograph and a video. The U.S. uses a Cesium Fountain Atomic Clock to measure whatever it is that time is. Here's how NIST does it. Bluetooth CB radioHonest. I couldn't make this stuff up. Cobra has announced a Bluetooth-enabled CB radio for $190. You can make and answer telephone calls on the radio using buttons on the microphone. Emergency Response PipedreamSomeone (it's not clear who) has come up with a "life in a barrel" survival kit which may contain a tent, porta potty, cooking gear and stove, and other stuff. The site is not clear on what the kit contains, and the information is given in those airplane evacuation card illustrations with too few words. No word on what happens when they drop one on you from the plane flying overhead. Houseboat after the Big One?One of my neighbors has a boat at a nearby marina. He says if our houses collapse in an earthquake, he'll just live aboard. Sounds good to me. This article has some fantasy houseboats, but just scroll right down to photos of jury-rigged homes afloat for some ideas on living on the Bay when your house is rubble. Actuall photos of some scary things afloat. I'd sleep in my life jacket - if I could sleep. Interesting claims for mobile phonesAccording to this article, you can use your mobile phone to unlock your car if it has remote keyless entry, you can dial 112 for emergencies even if the phone is locked, and more. I haven't tried any of these, so check it out before you need it .Ham radio on The Twilight ZoneYouTube has a segment from one of the episodes on paranoia with Claude Akins and Jack Weston featuring fear-mongering with ham radio in the basement. I'd forgotten how overwrought and melodramatic some of the episodes were. Was the fear of communism that great in the '50s? And while you're on YouTube, drop by and watch Pete Smith's 1939 short film on ham radio. Hand-cranked telephones, winding coils with an egg- beater, and more. How different Ma looked back then. And while we're in the Thirties, here's Molly Friedrich's steampunk take on those old headphones you see in Pete Smith's flim. She's looking for information on those headphones she found (they really are 30s style), so if you have any accurate information to send her, please do. The headphones are steel and bakelite and canvas and leather, and they have names like Cannon-Ball Empire and SUPERIOR. Molly's converting them to hook up to your MP3 player. Cardiac Today's Device of the MonthAutoPulse is a battery-powered device that does CPR better than humans do, the maker claims. Strap it around the chest of a victim of SCA (I didn't even know there was an acronym for sudden cardia arrest), turn it on, and it takes over the burden of compressing the chest. I can't find any information on price, though. Another 10-day survival car kitThis was written a year or two ago and mentions the Kim family. As is always the case, I have a few disagreements on the list (hand holding a metal cup over a sterno heater till the water boils), but there are several ideas I liked (keeping garbage bags and twist ties in the car for garbage - keeps down the smell). The trick on this page is that the author budgets $25 for the full kit. Another thing that gives me pause is that the author doesn't include water - instead, he suggests purification tablets and using water you find near your car. In this area during the winter, that may make sense so long as you have a way to collect and store the water. I hesitate to bet my life I'll be stranded by a water source, though. We will be victims in the next big earthquakeIt turns out that much humanitarian aid is misguided; think if Katrina, and the failed attempts at aid to the people still in New Orleans (which got all the headlines) and the rest of the Gulf Coast (which also suffered devastating damage that no one ever reported). And it's still not fixed. According to the two articles in those links, aid organizations sent canned ham to Iraq and Afghanistan in food packages; local people do most of the rescue work long before aid workers arrive; most clothing sent to victims is inappropriate (this is not further explained); and relocating disaster victims is not the best alternative. If you're expecting useful aid after an earthquake devastates the peninsula, read these articles and plan on self-help. We eat while we're out on callsI used to work in an office where one of the guys had his lunch made for him every day by his wife. She always made a sandwich and put the bread and meat together, then put the lettuce and tomatoes in a separate bag because they made the bread soggy if she put it all together in the morning. She was right; I'd never thought of that, but it was true. The boxes in this link are for bento meals, and they have separate compartments for everything. If you are called out for a day's volunteering, you might consider getting a "Laptop Lunch Bento Box Set" to keep your meal portions separated. If you need ideas, here's the flickr group for laptop lunches. Note that there are over 3,600 photos from the over 600 members. If you want to keep your lunch cool, consider the Bento Sleeve with Ice Pack. 600 members in a photogroup about lunchboxes! Photos of bento lunchboxes! I'm lucky if I have a paper bag the right size. After looking at the flickr photos of what other people eat for lunch, my self- esteem is suffering. A peek inside Seattle's Emergency Management CenterSeattle was hit with a quake in 2001 that woke up the city leaders: 6.8 magnitude. This link is to a transcript of the news report, and there is a link to open a window and see a tape of the broadcast; I recommend watching the video, as there is more on it than in the transcript. Note that although the city of Seattle maintains that it's communications inter- operability problems are solved, they still maintain a ham radio station in the EOC as a back up. Their portable water system is given short shrift, and I'd like to know more about it. Surviving a suitcase nukeI've posted material from TED before. Here is a summary of a presentation by Irwin Redlener, MD, on how to survive the explosion of a suitcase nuclear bomb. Dr. Redlener's concern is that the USSR is leaking small amounts of uranium and plutonium at a steady rate, and you don't need much for an atomic bomb. If one goes off in your area, Dr. Redlener has a few tips on what to do in the minutes after the detonation. Pneumatic Antenna LaunchersThese guys tell you how to convert one of those tennis ball shooters (normal people use them to teach youngsters how to hit the ball) to a launcher to get your wire antennas up in the trees safely. Oddly enough, many municipalities have ordinances prohibiting ownership of slingshots and bows. Events
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