Crunchified

I am consistently impressed by how quickly and easily Costco's handheld scanners (seemingly straightforward red line 2D type) can read my membership barcode that is printed really narrow and tiny on my membership card. I guess hardware matters!

Haha, well played from an Amateur Extra!

I've always considered amateur radio to be the "national parks" of radio spectrum. Maybe better termed as "international parks," since the vast majority of nations embrace it much as we in the United States do. Ham radio is certainly an important player in average-Joe diplomacy, in which we can still engage in dialog with radio technicians and operators from practically all the countries of the world without the government and mass-media filters we normally have to deal with. Even though much of our discussions are centered on radio topics and family life (politics are usually kept aside), the mere fact that we are talking in a relaxed format with folks from almost anywhere is a joy to experience!

If removing an archaic restriction is "bolstering amateur radio" then what does the FCC call the recently imposed $35 fees for new or modified ham licenses that up to now had been one of the few government courtesies left?

Plenty of stories of old hams that became dysphagic following a stroke, but could still chat with fellow hams using Morse - whether using simple finger movements in the hospital or months later on-the-air.

"While there are 54 recognized countries in Africa, none of them begin with the letter "K". The closest is Kenya, which starts with a "K" sound, but is actually spelled with a "K" sound. It's always interesting to learn new trivia facts like this."

You have got to be kidding me.

Really? Spelled with a "K" sound? This crap could've come from straight out of my Facebook feed!

I wonder if there's a cloud of Timex watches taking a licking out there...

Here in the US, while unit pricing is commonly displayed, I frequently find that a store will use a wide variety of units, thereby negating the ability to easily compare items in this way. For the same type of product I may see cost per ounce, cost per pound, cost per each, cost per dozen, etc. for various sizes and brands. It's maddening, insulting, and probably in most cases malicious.

No Z80 on this list?!

The qualities many people seek in a laptop is superior battery life alongside decent performance, solid build, and good ergonomic design. Apple sells this in spades. Comparing the size of Apple's market of business users with the market of "Everyone [who is] doing serious AI and science" reveals a gargantuan disparity in numbers. And even then, I'm pretty sure you can get plenty of serious AI and science work done on a higher-end Macbook Pro.

This kind of deal is quite smart - there is a big incentive for TMSC to increase yields quickly, reducing overall costs all around. This really leverages Apple's long-term commitments to purchase high-end chips into huge investments into TMSC's manufacturing processes. The economies of Apple's scale are very apparent here!

This is a vehicle that sells for around €6000 ($7000), and to lease it for four years at €20/month you'll have to make an upfront down payment of about €2700 ($3000). Whether or not that's a good deal depends on the usual factors, like your cash-on-hand and your costs of financing.

I was around for all this. Things were different back then - in my opinion, considerably worse.

Gates wanted a locked market (for himself/Microsoft, of course) on ALL personal computing. Back then MS-DOS', then Windows', market share was practically 100% (or at least 80+%).

The next step was to dominate the apps, which led to effectively proprietary file types for the documents, spreadsheets, etc in Microsoft Office applications. This prevented competitors from opening and/or editing MS file types in their own products, stifling any new approaches to these standard business applications.

At this point, things were very rosy for Microsoft, and it was generating huge profits from these locked-in markets.

Then came the rise of the consumer internet, threatening MS' cozy applications world. Distributed client-server applications over the internet would be a nightmare (i.e. threat to the profit machine) if Gates' MS couldn't gain a handle on them. So Gates made sure there was his Internet Explorer included on every machine he controlled so that he could build in proprietary handles and functions that other browsers couldn't emulate.

I suppose the rest of the story is a little more apparent to us.

As a long-time ham, I can attest to the problems with interference. In my experience, worldwide military radar systems and shortwave broadcasters have been the worst problems in the past.

This new system incorporates digital modulation techniques that generate square waves. Such square waves contain harmonic overtones that will reach far outside the assigned frequencies at levels that will cause interference (as is apparent from the FCC applicant's system description). Hams use digital modulation methods, too, but at power levels and bandwidths that tend to keep the problems under control.

Also, I am not quite sure why the FCC seems to have such global authority here - hams across the planet (especially in the highly financialized northern hemisphere) will have to deal with this, not just Americans. I expect this will also have to pass muster with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) before it has a chance to operate globally.

The need for this system has such limited public benefit that it's hard to justify how such inherently scarce open RF spectrum should be allocated to already wealthy financial institutions for private profit-seeking ventures that produce virtually nothing of public value. I understand why they want it, but this should be a hard NO as I see it right now.

I always awaken Alexa before I fart, in the hope that she will someday recognize me.

Are you all quite sure that "How does anyone in our government allow this nonsense?" does not refer to the government's safety regulators and their alleged duty to keep cars reasonably safe?

War crimes vs necessary evils appear to be in the eye of each beholder. Heh, consider the U.S.' War Between the States, a/k/a Civil War, a/k/a War of Northern Aggression. Even nearly 160 years after, there's plenty of cultural controversy over who was evil and who was in the right. Even recent government banning of old flag motifs, tearing down of statues, and renaming of domestic military bases hasn't taken the wind out of those old sails.

Hasn't this been the case for some years now?

In any case, I look forward to the LED bulb that can keep my cat warm in the garage (covered by a terra cotta pot and inside a cardboard box), or survive in the back of my oven (which can sustain 550°F/290°C).

Because the publishers/producers took the risk. They paid you for your work, didn't they? Move on instead of complaining. Yes, it's hard finding work in the entertainment biz (much like sports and arts), but having to pay more residuals than bargained-for only takes away opportunities for you and others to get more work.

Again, I am not against residuals, but a contract is a contract and the right to contract is between individuals. Any "force" (unions, government) that twists and turns the right to contract is anti-individual, anti-freedom, and most certainly a group vs group powerplay that does not give the average individual any advantages - only the empowered individuals gain anything (at the expense of the unempowered).

Likely because it's less risky for the publisher, as opposed to a big up-front payment for something that might not sell as well as expected. As an author, which approach would you prefer?

Residuals are fine if you can negotiate them. More power to you! But to complain about not getting paid for something without having to lift a finger to earn it is the height of conceit. Do The Work! Entertain us with new and interesting creations! The move towards rewarding work (such as the trends of musicians touring and performing instead of relying solely on recording) is a healthy one!