On the Web : January 2004
If you enjoy reading 'On
the Web', your ham radio
club can publish this
column on an exchange
basis with SJRA. Contact
Ted,
, for the
exchange details.
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Our contributions to the South Jersey Radio Association club bulletin "Harmonics" includes lengthy Web addresses. As the URL's can be difficult or a nuisance to type into your Web browser, the postings here should make it easier to get to the Web sites SJRA members are interested in. Look for the posting at w2xq.com at the time "Harmonics" is scheduled for delivery in the south Jersey area. Questions, suggestions or contributions are always welcome. |
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USA County Hunting
After
working all 50 United States and then doing it again on all bands, the American
Radio Relay League will bless you, the radio amateur, with awards, plaques
and pins honoring these glorious achievements. The Worked-All-States application
and the assorted endorsements may be downloaded as Adobe PDF files from the
League Web site
-- but what if this is too easy? How about contacting all USA counties? There
are 3,077 USA counties and yes, quite a number of persons have contacted all
counties more than once. CQ
Magazine sponsors the USA
Counties Award - - note that you do not have to be a subscriber to CQ to
apply for the awards. The USA-CA award is offered in steps of 500 confirmed
counties, with a plaque for all counties. Pictures of W2XQ's endorsed certificate
award (#1337) and plaque (#421) are posted with the Web version of this column.
[Some of the more interesting stories
and outcomes were friendships made with
Russians chasing counties who, in turn,
helped clean out long-delayed Box 88
bureau 5BDXCC QSLs for me; call
recognition in the Russian CQ-M
contests; a 4X4 who came stateside and
visited, spent a few days with us, and
hand-delivered several 80m Israeli QSLs;
and virtual voice recognition of friends
on the 'net. But these are stories for
another time...]
The Mobile Amateur Radio Radio
Awards Club (MARAC) was organized in 1970 as a support group for county
hunting and mobile activity. MARAC offers many additional awards, including
the "2nd Time" award. For an overall read-me on county-hunting, Dennis Hall
KK7X, authors the popular County
Hunter Web site and the County Hunter column in WorldRadio.
He still found time to work all counties twice since 1989 and hand out 2000
counties from his own vehicles.
ZAP! Oops. Pump up the volume...
It's amazing what can be found on the Internet. Here's the
final question on the next Novice exam -- turn up the audio before clicking on the embedded photograph. It is an example
of what happens when a switch fails and the voltage exceeds the rating of the
open interrupter. This came via George Ford, K2QIJ, formally of Burlington Township
and the 147.15 MHz Westampton repeater. Thanks, George!
Missing Windows Files
How often have you downloaded and installed a shareware or freeware program,
attempt to run it and get an error message "Component --- is missing or is not
correctly installed." Arrgh! Now what? SnapFiles' "Missing Files" may have the
solution. Many common DLL files, the standard VB runtime files, and links to
other components -- Java and .Net files for example -- can be retrieved from
the Web
site and a list or link.
Sneakwrap
Ed Foster, a long-time PC columnist in
North America, uses the term "sneakwrap"
to describe software that is sold with
odious terms buried deep with the fine
print that no one ever reads and cannot
be seen until after the package is open.
McAfee, one of the largest software
companies selling security software is
pulling a dastardly deed charging
automatic renewals of subscriptions 30
days before the customer's subscription
expires. The story was posted on January
8, in case the URL has moved:
www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2004/1/8/93148/00437
It is well worth a read and you will get an
"attaboy" from your boss.
Quickies
Do you use a Mac? Clock programs are a dime a dozen, but there are a very few
that attract our attention because of the capability to format dates internationally.
You may know that we like Tardis
for Windows going back to Win 3.1. Now, for the Mac, look at iClock
with 30 different ways to format the time, 40, the date.
"We got him." Those three words spoken by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III, Coalition
Provisional Authority administrator exploded across the popular press in print,
video, and audio on 14 December 2003. Saddam Hussein had been captured in Tikrit
the day before; DNA tests and positive identification was made before the press
announcement. An early Christmas present for the military forces serving in
Iraq, the Bush administration and the American allies, we can only hope that
the terrorist attacks slow or stop. An alternative to the coverage on the American
television networks may be found in the foreign
English-language newspapers and the Coalition
Provisional Authority Web site in Iraq. I'm still digging around for an
English-language newspaper in Iraq.
In closing, a reminder. Current and back editions of "On the Web" are available
online. Enter and bookmark http://w2xq.com/links_hr01.html#sjraontheweb
to avoid the need to type in tedious URLs. Belated Happy New Year!
TRS Consultants - Keep up to date with breaking news during the month! Newsfeed help.
External links open in a new browser window.
Revised 14 January 2004
