Interesting article about how some Republicans are switching sides because of their dissatisfaction with Bush. The NC Veterans for Kerry group has a number of Republicans who are saying the same things, and choosing Kerry.

Bush is his own worst enemy.

Interesting research shows that ground squirrels emit ultrasonic warnings when threatened. The chirps the squirrels make are in the 50-kHz range, far above the typical 20-kHz height of human hearing. The researchers speculate that this may apply to all squirrels, as well as birds and other species previously not considered to use ultrasound.

There could be practical uses for this research. For instance, with the availability of DSP chips, it is easy to build a gadget which could be a highly effective squirrel repellent. Unlike the usual scent-based methods, a good squirrel scream could be reproduced artifically with ease. Put a motion detector on it and you’re in business! My only question is whether the PCM coding of the waveform would be accurate enough to fool them, since even we dumb humans aren’t fooled into thinking that music from a CD is live.

On a different note, researchers have made progress on a useful shark repellant. This only makes me wonder … would a shark scream scatter squirrels?

Michael Moore seems to like attracting controversy. My buddy Scott has already pointed out how Moore plays fast and loose with the truth. Now Moore is in trouble again by doctoring a newspaper headline in his Fahrenheit 9/11 movie.
He’s being sued by the paper for $1 in damages.
Continue reading →

The last post inspired me to name my station something better than Radio Windsor Forest. It will now be known as Imaginary Radio!

An update on my home radio station. The transmitter is being ordered tomorrow and should be here soon.

Also, after working over the weekend to build an RPM for UBS, I found that UBS would act bizarrely whenever I tried to play music. Turns out that the pathnames my package was giving it were not being applied to the source code in all the proper places. When I ran it with its default (and ugly) /usr/local location, things seemed to work. Or better, at least. It still didn’t play music. But I’m closer. (Maybe I don’t need to play music. The station jingle could say: “Radio Windsor Forest: Your Sounds of Silence!”)

What I’m looking for is a ready-out-of-the-box station application. If I can get UBS straightened up enough to build a package, it might play that role. We’ll see.

Well, Radio Windsor Forest is inching towards becoming a reality. I’ve located a low-power transmitter and station automation software. And of course I have a music collection. Still to come is a nice place to put the studio in the house, as well as a good place to mount (and ground) an antenna.

The software I’m working with is called Uninterrupted Broadcast System, or UBS. It runs the station when there’s no one around. It’s rather simple, but that’s pretty-much what I need. Eventually, I’d like to step up to the professional-quality of Rivendell, but I can’t afford the high-quality soundcard that is the only one it supports.

Windows has similar software called Web Jockey. I might have to go that route until the Linux offerings come up to speed.

Man, I can’t believe this album is twenty years old.
—

SUNSET GRILL

Words and Music by Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar, and Ben Tench

Let’s go down to the Sunset Grill
We can watch the working girls go by
Watch the “basket people” walk around and mumble
And stare out at the auburn sky
There’s an old man there from the Old World
To him, it’s all the same
Calls all his customers by name
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I know of a temporary job doing some web development for the state of NC. ASP, .Net and possibly some Cold Fusion. It is 40-hours/week (or however many hours a state employee typically works. heh.), on site, and should last 4-6 weeks. Oh, and it starts immediately.

If you or anyone you know is interested, send me an email.

From the United Kingdom’s Department of Vague Propaganda comes the Preparing For Emergencies website. Learn what you can do to keep up your level of paranoia. Don’t wait until its too late!