In Matt Parker’s recent video he looks into some interesting properties of the shapes commonly found in nature in bee’s hives:
Continue reading “Matt Parker’s new Video on Math Beeing Interesting”Pine64 PineTime review
PineTime is one inexpensive yet very useful “smart watch”. If you want one that is open source, unlike those from Apple or Google, you will be glad to see this watch which is not only inexpensive but has software you can change (if you buy a dev kit version and know some wiring…)
Continue reading “Pine64 PineTime review”Pat 0.11 Review and setup… the long awaited update!
If you have used Ham radio and are on Linux, you most likely have used the Winlink program Pat, an open source interface to use Winlink over internet (and some radios if you have that set up). The long awaited new release now includes the forms feature! and other improvements! If you haven’t set it up here is a quick review:
Continue reading “Pat 0.11 Review and setup… the long awaited update!”Government publication shows practical ways you can prep for an EMP
Chances are you have seen a movie or book recently covering the topic of an EMP – an Electro-magnetic pulse from a faraway nuke that could cause outages and damage. While most of what you hear will either be dismissive of the possibility, or a horror story of years of electronic wasteland, the reality could be more in the middle and is something folks can prepare for, according to a US government publication linked in the documents section of the SHARES site.
The SHARES system is a HF long range ham radio service but there are several recommendations in the document that just about any civilian should be considering, not just radio maintainers and organizations:
Continue reading “Government publication shows practical ways you can prep for an EMP”Only a few days before T-mobile auto-opts-in advertising with your information
If you’ve been following the Purism mailing list you probably know now that on Apr 26 T-mobile will be able to use your data for “anonymized” advertising targeted to you. What does that mean for you and what can you do to opt out?
Continue reading “Only a few days before T-mobile auto-opts-in advertising with your information”Severe weather alerts with a simple Python script
If like many you have been starting gardens and planting rather than traveling and visiting in recent months, there is one important thing to consider lately – severe weather reports including frost on your crops. I noted there was a little red (!) alert icon on an Android weather widget, but there seems to be no such alert for desktop computer or Linux computer or phone. It is a fairly simple to make this alert though with a simple script:
Continue reading “Severe weather alerts with a simple Python script”Introducing the new EMP-proof Ham Radio Repeater Listing
If you have been using Amateur radio for some time you may know about the app connected to hearham.live repeater listing, which lets you keep an offline record of radio repeaters and a topo-map, on your Linux computer, tablet, phone, or even Android phone. But what would you do during an EMP or solar event causing extended downtime and damage of all computer devices?
Continue reading “Introducing the new EMP-proof Ham Radio Repeater Listing”5 reasons to order the new Swytch kit ebike kit
Swytch is a relatively new company building small and lightweight electric bicycle kits. Like most other electric bicycles, it offers a bit of a boost while pedaling, with hardly any noise or extra complexity of messy liquid fuels. So why might you want an assist from a Swytch kit installation..?
Continue reading “5 reasons to order the new Swytch kit ebike kit”Listening for a callsign on DMR with Hearham.live
These past few weeks have certainly been trying for some communities with power outages, winter weather and utility failures. Ham radio is a very good way to communicate in your local community, but what if lots of other people are on the local repeater? What if you want a notification if your child or buddy is calling you, but not every other kerchunk or distracting story on the local repeater? If you have a DMR digital radio and id and digital repeater nearby, the tools on Hearham.live may help – and help save your battery leaving a radio on all day 🙂
Continue reading “Listening for a callsign on DMR with Hearham.live”Winter is a good time to think of prepping
As you may have seen on the news, this winter has been an especially hard one for folks staying home, staying apart, and now with icy weather causing blackouts it has been even harder in some areas. Time to stay home may give you more time to stay at home, focus on what matters, and more time to read and to be prepared… ideally before you need to be.
Continue reading “Winter is a good time to think of prepping”