LHS Show Notes #042

Feedback:

  • This will be an all-feedback episode, ala the Going Linux show.
  • Warren, N0XLT, wrote to Russ back in May. He's catching up on the podcasts, and wonders what programs are available for Linux with similar features to Ham Radio Deluxe or DX Labs,, such as rig control, logging, digital modes, etc. Fldigi, xdx, xlog, gpredict, Hamlib and more have been mentioned on previous episodes. Our hosts discuss.
  • Google alert: LHS was mentioned at K7JM's web site. Thanks, John.
  • Google alert: LinuxPR press release for Southeast LinuxFest, and Russ was a presenter.
  • Bob, no call, enjoys the podcast. He wonders why the Ogg version of the podcast doesn't play on VLC under Windows. Russ has tested the Ogg files with VLC on Windows 7, Mac OS-X and Linux. Maybe a newer version of VLC will help. Let us know what you discover, Bob.
  • Danny, KJ4UHI, is a new linux user and uses Orca as a screen reader for the visually impaired. A future episode will cover Linux accessibility tools for the handicapped. Any listeners with experience with Orca or other accessibility software, contact us!
  • Jonathan, no call, recently listened to Episode 38. He is a daily Orca user, and offers his assistance. Thanks, Jonathan.
  • John, KF6EFG, wrote asking for a small section of the show that covers changes to the licensing and privileges regulations over the years, and trends in the hobby. He also notes that the web site has been slow. (The ARRL has a nice band plan map on their site.)
  • Doug, KB3TOA, met Russ at the Dayton Hamvention, and is catching up on old episodes. He's trying to follow the show on Twitter. Follow the podcast on Twitter with the user name "lhspodcast". Doug also sent a donation. Thanks, Doug! Listen to a future episode for the results of the drawing.
  • Danny asks how he might hear the unedited podcast. Click on the LHS Up All Night link under the Streaming Audio heading on the right side of the page. You'll need an application that will play an Ogg stream, like Totem or VLC, etc. Or join us on UStream for the live show.
  • Danny also asks if Richard is kidding about wearing a kilt, and if not, is it from Utilikilts?
  • The Northwest Tasmania ATV Group has been running episodes of LHS on Tuesday evenings. Thanks, guys! They operate on a linked repeater system and IRLP nodes 6616 and 6124.
  • Lynn, K5AVJ, asks what people use for calendaring. Paper? Phone app? Web app? Program? Smart phone? Mozilla Sunbird, Apple iCal, Mozilla Lightning, Google Calendar, and Scalix are some possibilities.
  • Listeners William and Frasier made donations to the show. Thanks!
  • Larry Bushey of the Going Linux podcast commented on the web site that he listens to the podcast and loves us, too.
  • Don, WS4E, writes that he's been a long-time listener to LHS and Resonant Frequency. He's tried many ham radio applications under Linux. What are the current favorite programs for rig control, logging, digital modes, award tracking, etc. That will likely be an entire episode. (And see the links earlier in this show notes page.)
  • "xPureEvilx" in the chat room asks what is the best Linux distribution for an older, slower machine? Richard recommends Crunchbang Linux Lite. He uses it on his 133MHz Dell Latitude with 128MB of memory. There are others, like Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux. Check out Ted's site, https://wa0eir.ham.org, and look at his applications, too.

Contact Info:

  • Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
  • Leave us a voice mail at 1-888-455-0305  or 1-417-200-4811. Note the new number!

Music:

LHS Show Notes #039

Announcements:

Donations:

  • We received donations from Peter, Walter and Maddie (daughter of Bill, KA9WKA).  Thank you!  Donations help defray the hosting expenses.
  • Jim, W9GNG, sent Richard a noise gate!  Thank you, Jim!
  • LHS merchandise is now available at https://www.printfection.com/lhs.  There are a variety of shirts, mugs and other items.  Every item purchased will help the podcast.  If you're interested in caps, wall clocks, or hoodies with the LHS logo, visit our store at https://www.cafepress.com/lhspodcast.  A portion of each sale goes to the podcast.  If you visit Dayton wearing or carrying an LHS item, you could win a prize!

Feature:

  • Resonant Frequency is still on hiatus as Richard is still in the process of moving the site to a new host.  Watch the LHS web page for more information as it develops.
  • Ubuntu 10.04 will be released on April 30.  Russ has the second beta test version running and discusses the new theme and other changes.  It boots much faster, but once running, it seems slower than the previous release, at least on his hardware.
  • Pete, VE2XPL, in the chat room asks which version of Linux would run best on his 500MHz Pentium II machine.  Richard recommends trying Crunchbang Linux Lite.  Russ agrees, and suggests that just about any distribution might work with one of the light-weight window managers, such as FVWM or XFCE.  Other possibilies are Damn Small Linux, or one of the netbook remix distributions.

Feedback:

  • Danny, KJ4UHI, writes and leaves an audio message about Frostbite Systems and passing his Technicians license test.  He asks where he might get recordings to study Morse code. Richard discusses various options.  There are some Linux applications, like cwcp.
  • Gary, KE2YK, also left an audio message. Visit his Random Oscillations blog, and his online store at https://www.ehamstore.com/.
  • Mark, KC4GIA, wonders about Linux support for syncing his Zune audio player.  Our hosts discuss this.  One possible source of information is the Zuneboards site.

Contact Info:

  • Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
  • Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-429-4069, or record an introduction to the podcast and have a chance at winning $25.

Music:

LHS Show Notes #037

Announcements:

  • Texas LinuxFest is Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Marchesa Event Center in Austin, Texas.
  • OGGCamp will take place at The Black-E in Liverpool on the 1st and 2nd of May.
  • The 2010 Southeast LinuxFest is set for June 12-13 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC.
  • Due to problems with the existing service provider, the LHS website has moved to lhspodcast.info.
  • iTunes will be okay, but all other RSS feeds will need to update as the content is moved.
  • The new email address is info@lhspodcast.info. Messages will go to both Russ and Richard.
  • The last four episodes are in the RSS feed, but older episodes are unavailable at the moment. They will be there eventually.
  • Russ is working on making all the episodes available via BitTorrent.
  • Look for Richard at Texas Linux Fest on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Marchesa Event Center in Austin, Texas.
  • Russ and Richard will be at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention, May 14-16, in booth 265 in the North Hall (NH0265). We hope to see you there!
  • Russ will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest, June 12-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC. Richard may be there, too!
  • Peter and Paul, who run hamtests.org, hamtests.net, and hamtests.co.uk are consolidating the websites. Please use hamtests.co.uk for everything. Tell them you heard it here, first.
  • Wayne, aka Azimuth, KB7CFD, reminds us of the Idaho State Convention 2010, April 23rd through 25th, 2010 at the Holiday Inn at Boise Airport, 3300 S. Vista Avenue, Boise, ID.
  • Resonant Frequency is on hiatus.

Feature:

  • Our guest tonight is Stormy Peters, executive director of the GNOME Foundation.
  • By the way, GNOME is pronounced "guh-nome".
  • Stormy discusses the purpose of the foundation, her role in it, and the GNOME project.
  • The Ubuntu 10.04 release will change the default location of the window controls in the "Light" theme.
  • GNOME 3 is expected in September, 2010. New features include the GNOME Shell and the Activity Journal using the Zeitgeist engine. It should be available as a beta test option in Ubuntu 10.04.
  • Stormy and our hosts discuss some of the new features in GNOME 3, scheduled for release in September, 2010.
  • Check out Episode 011 of the Today in Tech Radio podcast for GNOME 3 installation tips.
  • There will be, in GNOME 3, a "dock-like" area on the desktop to receive notifications without changing the focus of your active application.
  • To become involved in the GNOME Project, visit the GNOME Project website. GNOME will also have a presence at the Texas LinuxFest.

Feedback:

  • John, EI7IG, writes about the music in the show, and likes it. He also thinks the show has become too long. Russ responds.
  • We received a donation from Carlie toward the noise gate for Richard. Thanks, Carlie.
  • Gary, KE2YK, gives a glowing review of LHS in his blog KE2YK's Random Oscillations. Thanks, Gary!
  • Gary also writes about CrunchBang Linux and S******x Air.
  • Dave, M0DCM, writes he is a new Ubuntu user. He runs xastir, too. He recently found the podcast and has nearly caught up on all the episodes. He's introduced Linux and LHS to his father and his local radio club, Charlie Delta Amateur Radio Club. Thanks, Dave!
  • Mark, KC4GIA, is a long-time Linux user and expresses his appreciation for the podcast. He recently found WebSDR.org, which is a Software-Defined Radio receiver connected to the Internet, allowing many listeners to listen and tune it simultaneously. He wants to know if there are any Linux programs to allow him to use his Zune. (Look for more on these subjects in the next episode.)
  • MonsterB mentions LHS on monsterb.org. Thanks!
  • Audio feedback from Travis, KD5UND. He's recently switched to S******x Linux. He's also promoted the LHS podcast on his local net, too. Thanks, Travis!

Contests:

  • $100 for the winning Linux in the Ham Shack logo submission.
  • $25 to a random audio introduction to the podcast recorded on one of the phone lines.
  • See the website for more details.

Music:

LHS Episode #012

Logging applications are finally on tap for Episode #012. We take a look at a three interesting QSO logging applications, one graphical and the other two console based. And while we know that could have been a show all on its own, we packed in three different perspectives on CrunchBang Linux. Yes, that's right, three perspectives. We've invited a special guest to give us his impressions of CrunchBang Linux on the Acer Eee PC netbook platform. Richard explores CrunchBang on a standard PC using the Live CD image, and I talk about running the Live CD and installing CrunchBang in a virtual machine.

And that's not all. We address listener comments, feedback, questions and talk with the live guests in our chatroom. It's the longest and most action-packed Linux in the HAM Shack yet, and we're just getting started. Thanks for listening, and don't forget to keep the feedback coming.

73 de K5TUX