LHS Episode #095: I Has the Dumb

Richard called this one of our best efforts to date, which means there must be some kind of worthwhile contained buried in all the tomfoolery somewhere. If you can find it, you'll be that much wiser for whatever it is we discussed. Silliness aside, we discuss some proposed FCC rule changes for the amateur radio community, the difference between hard and soft (symbolic) linking for our Linux segment, and answer questions and receive praise from several members of our audience. On the whole it turned out to be a pretty good episode, and we sure had a lot of fun doing it. Thanks to all our listeners for your support and for keeping us motivated to bring you ever more episodes of Linux in the Ham Shack.

73 de The LHS Guys

Show Notes #092

Introduction:

Announcements:

  • Texoma Hamarama will held October 26-27, 2012 at the Ardmore Convention Center in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Pre-registration ends October 20th.
  • The Augusta Hamfest will be Saturday, October 13, 2012 in Augusta, GA.
  • Scott, N8VSI, was the LHS ambassador at the Ohio LinuxFest, September 28-30, 2012. We look forward to hearing a report from Scott in the near future.

Topics:

  • Richard recounts his experience replacing a computer power supply. Moral? Don't be afraid to try repairing a computer yourself. Swapping parts is easier than you might think. For power supplies, pay attention to the wattage required. (Ed. Note: When in doubt, it's best to replace the bad supply with one that has the same or greater wattage rating.)
  • Departing from our usual topics, Russ and Richard discuss a couple applications for producing slide shows and panoramic photographs:
    • Imagination is a lightweight and simple DVD slide show maker for Linux and FreeBSD that's very easy to use, offers a wide variety of transitions, supports background music, and much more. Available in the Debian and Fedora repositories, and probably many others.
    • Hugin is a program that allows you to assemble a mosaic of photographs into a complete, immersive panorama, stitch together any series of overlapping pictures, and much more. It's cross-platform and easy to use.
  • Why Ham Radio? Richard talks about why you might wish to obtain an Amateur Radio License and how you can combine it with Linux, including:
    • Getting your ham license for our non ham listeners.
    • There are many modes of communication, including voice, Morse code, and many digital modes.
    • The ease of getting your license.
    • Why you should get your license.
    • How to get your license.
    • The Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) is a good source of information
    • Free practice tests are available at qrz.com
    • A list of certified Volunteer Examiner Coordinators is available at www.ncvec.org.
    • Test sessions can be found through the ARRL and many local radio clubs.
  • Russ describes Universal Plug 'n' Play devices (UPnP). Many new devices offer the ability to play media from UPnP servers. It makes sharing your media very convenient and easy, but can also be a security risk.

Feedback:

  • Pete, VE2XPL, sends a long email in response to episode 88, and covers such things as the Toonie, Alexandre Graham Bell, Brad Sucks, the wAVEgUIDES PodCast, SouthCARS, email addresses for LHS, and the MintCast.
  • Ted, WA0EIR, asked if there is a problem with the LHS mailing list as his attempts to post a message there "bounced". Yes, the mailing lists have been broken, but they're fixed now.
  • Larry Bushey of the Going Linux podcast says thanks for the great show, and admits they stole the LHS "badger" sound effect for use on their show. Episode 185 contains an example of their use of the Badger.
  • LHS was mentioned in a comment to a post at hak5.org.

Contact Info:

  • Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
  • Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
  • Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
  • Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
  • Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
  • LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
  • Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

  • "You Are You" by Fall Walk Run from the album Throwing It All Away, courtesy of Jamendo.
  • "Flash Back" by MattMigma from the album Phoenix, courtesy of Jamendo.