Blackberry REACT August 2009 NewsletterQuick ClicksEmergency Radio iPhone appEdge Rift has an application for iPhones and second generation touches that provides feeds from emergency radio frequencies for a thousand places, including Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties. Since feeds come from all over the US, you can listen in on police, fire, and EMS radios in New York, LA, Chicago, and much more. The free version lets you listen to a few cities, but includes San Jose. The ninety-nine cent version gives you the whole shebang. The included list is searchable, which is a good thing since the Ses are waaay down, and you can set up a list of favorites to listen to. Additionally, there’s a ‘nearby’ button so you can listen in on frequencies near your location. A Morse Code Garter
Keep this in mind for your honey for anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, or other gift-giving extravaganzas. It’s sure to please. How to make us of old computer hardwareWe all know recycling is the new new thing, so here are photos of new uses for old junk: turn your CRT monitor into a hamster cage, grow sprouts in your keyboard, turn your printer into a bread box, and much, MUCH more. Some really creative stuff here. Don’t put metal in a microwaveI note that this video is titled “Step 2, Attempt 2: Smelting Iron Ore in a Microwave.” I don’t know what happened at Attempt 1, but in the name of all that is holy, don’t try this at home. Best headphones everThe review claims they sound better than a $200,000 audio system owned by a friend. At a fraction of the cost: only seven grand. Tubular. Suggestion for our new comm vehicleGreat lighting and many antennas. How Intel makes chipsA few months ago I posted an old black and white movie about making vacuum tubes. Here’s the up-to-date imagery on making computer chips from sand to finished product. Now keep in mind how ironic this will look in 50 years. New experience in CD-R failuresDo you have archival files on CDs you wrote? Check this article. A guy was transferring files from CDs written in 2000, 2001, and 2002 to fixed disks, and he had 15 failures out of 173 disks. Things today’s kids will never knowThere were knobs on radios, and you could turn one knob and change stations, with static in between them; the TV set had knobs, too – one was called Vertical Hold, one changed channels – and the channels were single-digit; the sounds of a dot-matrix printer and a phone modem; phones ring because they used to have bells that rang; taking your exposed film to a drug store and waiting for the process film and prints to come back. Work satellites with Nancy EngNancy posts a couple of photos of herself with handmade Yagi and an audio file of a contact, along with directions on how to make contacts via satellite. USS Hornet photo gallerySince the Hornet picked up the Apollo 11 astronauts, it’s getting some press, too, on the 40th anniversary. This is Wired’s photo gallery. Events
UpdatesKen Della Santina will bring refreshments for the August meeting. Louise and I will be out of town on the September meeting, and Eric will take over. Programs
|
