Beefy Miracle

I posted a little fun countdown in the bottom of the right column. It is titled Beefy Miracle. It is the name and date of the next release (version 17) of the Fedora Linux distribution. The following (next) version already has the name “Spherical Cow“.

There is a complex  method of how these release names are selected. I am not getting into the details here, but if you want to know, you can do some research on the Fedora website. The round cow also has a tie with spherical chickens and it all has to do with the way some engineers simplify a problem to engineer a solution. It begins as in, “My solution only works if we assume cows are spherical,  then ten cows will…” The joke is that cows (or chickens) are never spherical. Yes, the humor is a bit weird, but imagining what a spherical cow would look like is funny to me…  oops.

I have been trying to use Linux for most of my normal computing chores as I want to feel secure if I start to recommend the OS to any of my friends wanting a low cost software solution for a home computer. So this came to my attention. Do I worry about release names?

The weird release names are simply a way for the code writers to have a little fun with naming conventions. Some folks think it may detract from the “serious business” of writing a computer operating system. These same folks probably don’t have much of a outside life anyway, so they despise any form of “inside” humor, hehheh… :)

May 12th, 2012 | Tags: , | Category: Computer/Software, Musing | Leave a comment

A Day for Radio

psk31

I was happy today doing some Amateur Radio Operating. I have a computer in my home office that in this case is also my “radio shack”. No, not the electronic stores. The name comes from the ham and ship radio equipment location and operating positions. At one time because of the whine of M/G (motor generator or dynamotor) sets and loud snaps of electrical arcs jumping gaps (rotary and other) radio operators were usually segregated to operate from their own “shacks” out under their antenna arrays.

The term “shack” has just stuck as the name for any non broadcast radio station transmitter/operator location. Commercial broadcast radio has a “studio” where the content is created and the transmitting location is usually elsewhere.

Today I have my “rig” (transceiver radio) hooked up to my Linux computer. Any computer will do but Linux has a long history with the spirit of radio experimentation and getting the job done with lowest cost possible. I can’t beat the price of “free” for the operating system and the software.

The mode I was using is called BPSK31. It is a Phase Shift Keying of a signal with a baud rate of only 31.25. The B stands for Binary, a non error correcting version. There is also QPSK31 with (Q meaning quadrature) error correction but that mode is not heavily used. Most systems can easily switch between the two. More specific details are also found from the ARRL (American Radio Relay league) website.

There can be up to twenty keyboard conversations going on in the width of a single sideband voice audio signal. That was the case about noon today but as you see here after 11 PM it is pretty quite with only a few weak signals that look like railroad tracks. The random characters on the screen are just decoded noise. That’s how it goes. Once locked onto one of the (selectable) vertical “tracks” visible on the lower blue “waterfall”  screen (a simple mouse click), clean text will be decoded.

It is seldom necessary to use more than 15 to 30 watts of power for world wide communication when the signals are there.

Seen in the picture are several conversations (by keyboard typing) going on in 3KHz of bandwidth.

April 29th, 2012 | Tags: , , , | Category: Amateur Radio | Comments are closed

No Packing Needed

I purchased my house… again. It’s called refinancing. Glori and I signed (I counted them) exactly a zillion papers late yesterday afternoon. It’s called a closing because I think they closed and locked the doors after we left. Did you know it takes exactly an hour to sign a zillion papers? Well we know it is a fact and you have to be very fast.

No details to expose here. I don’t care to tell and there is no one else’s need to know. Lower interest of course and it was a good thing for us to do at this point in our home ownership and our life. The extreme financial scrutiny is a good sanity check for us as well as demonstrating the lenders are actually doing their homework these days.

It does feel good to have made it through the process. I think we both are glad (the day of) closing has come and gone, although there is a three day “remorse” period, I don’t think we need it.

The best part is there are no moving vans required.

April 26th, 2012 | Tags: , , | Category: Family | Comments are closed

Feeling Clean

I took a bunch of time awhile back to upgrade “The Hobbyist Machine Shop” from what was and had become a mishmash of HTML coding and various styling forms. I won’t go into the details as that information can be found elsewhere. What I did was use some of the latest web CMS (Content Management System) publishing tools available. This RamblinDan Blog is a form of CMS.

A few folks were kind enough to point out that the information was years old so why was I spending the time to update old information. I took no offense as after all it was my decision and I had considered the same thoughts before I started.

I finished it about a month ago and I am still really pleased with the results. Yes, I know it was worth the effort. The old stuff is presented much cleaner looking and especially the menu now works much better and is easier to maintain. Menus are really a big deal.

The new CMS system has already encouraged me to add several new articles. I can easily publish every picture (if I choose) in an expandable large format. I write a lot of text but I believe good photography is what makes a great website. The internet has become a very visual media.

So it is a “win” with preserving the old and a “win” with a much better system for creating and displaying the new. It feels really clean and fresh again with the entire web site now functioning under one professional looking standard. It is a good day to be an internet publisher.

April 19th, 2012 | Tags: | Category: Computer/Software | Comments are closed

Getting Down to Business

After I got all my tax work done, I was feeling so good that I tackled getting my The Hobbyist Machine Store (THMS) bookkeeping in first class condition. I worked on that second most favorite thing to do (next to doing the taxes) until bedtime last night. I got it finished.

I had the end of year (2011) balanced, closed and reports printed as needed for taxes, but I had let the first quarter of 2012 slide by without doing serious month end work. I can get by with that since my little business is a sole proprietor with no employees. The bookkeeping is accrual but THMS pretty much runs on a cash basis on sales and purchases. In-state sales are so low that Texas lets me report only once a year on sales tax. I did that in January.

My inventory is pretty much JIT (just in time) and I do some drop shipping so cash demand is low and cash turnover is good. I only stock rather fast moving items. I am considering investing more in inventory as I begin to contemplate when retirement from my main occupation might occur. Then I can spend a lot more time figuring how to buy in larger quantities and reducing cost for me and my customers.

The personal time spent in sole owner business management is considerable. I actually enjoy doing it but it does take away a lot of R&R time after putting in a 12 hour work day in my regular occupation. A person really has to like doing it. I have spent half my career running small businesses. I was in fact a trained business management consultant to about 20 HVAC contractors when I lived in New England (USA).

I currently work and devote most of my talent to a multibillion dollar worldwide corporation, earning a workable salary. So I have lived on both sides of the business tracks. Both have great advantages. But if you want to be independently wealthy, personal labor or working as an employee alone won’t do it. (That is unless you are a sports star or other overpaid performer.) Earning your fortune requires upper business management where you can share in profit from selling the work of others.

I currently could not make a survivable living with the low volume and margins from a simple one man business such as THMS. However, the money currently invested (without removing profit for my time spent) earns a better return than any other current traditional investment plan. That is a good enough reward for now.

April 10th, 2012 | Tags: , | Category: TAC/Schneider Electric, THMStore | Comments are closed
 
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