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
Continue reading →

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!

The sky has been full of thunderstorms. Watching bolts get dangerously close to the house has made me wonder what I could do to protect our house.

I found the answer on a ham radio mailing list today: a site called Radio Station Grounding. It is the most thorough, practical resource I’ve ever seen to describe the destructive effects of lightning and how they can be mitigated through grounding and bonding.

It’s loads of technical information, but you’ll learn something even if you’re not a radio operator. It’s truly fascinating stuff!

I’m the proud owner of a UHF Radio Repeater System. Now, what to do with it?

I helped my friend Mike install Windows 9x on his iBook using the freeware emulator QEMU. To his surprise and mine, everything worked perfectly, aside from some minor keyboard mapping problems.

QEMU is teh bomb. I’m going to use it to install OS X on my Dell Latitude laptop.

On my way to work I spotted the vans of F. Scott Davis Chimney Sweep Inc.

Their slogan? “Your ASH is mine!”