Technology, Innovation & Telecomm

Man, it’s been forever since I wrote a post. A lot has happened in my life since last we met…not least of which was the recent Presidential election. I’m not ashamed to say I’m highly disappointed. And, it’s not only that I’m disappointed in the outcome. I’m also disappointed in the reasons *why* folks voted the way they did. But all that’s a topic for other posts. I the mean time, I’m going to try to get back to the keyboard more often. We’ll see what comes of it.

http://www.afr.net/newafr/wekickedgodout.asp

I put a small notice about the ARF site on a forum of a well-known Amateur Radio Web site. It was merely something to get folks looking at what’s coming. Hams are known for their technical interests and generally helpful attitudes. Our hobby has a reputation for encouraging other Hams, encouraging experimentation, electronics, etc.

So, I was surprised by two of the comments that were posted in the forum in response to my notice. They were extremely negative and in fact rude. Worse, the arguments they put out make no sense to me, given the advantages ARF offers. Also, neither one bothered to ask me any questions, asked me to clarify any points, or offered any advice at all.
Still, I do have to consider that the product idea could be a bad one. So it got me thinking…
…and the more I think about it, the more I think they’re wrong. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but I’ve gotten such good feedback from local Hams who’ve heard about ARF, used it and contributed ideas to its design, that I’m sure the two commenters have missed something in my description. However, it’s my fault if it isn’t clear how things work, so I guess I need to improve the site’s content.

One way or another, the site will improve and I hope along with that, so will people’s understanding of what ARF is and what it can do. That said, I’m still a little shocked at the responses. I realize that not everyone will like ARF, and it won’t fill everyone’s needs. And, I know that I’ll need to develop a thicker skin. But for goodness sake I hope that folks will at least try to be a little objective and respectful.
I want to continue to believe that Ham Radio is a hobby that has remained above the level of so many other activities, as it has been for so long. I’m in it because of the type of encouragement I’ve received from Hams over the years and to a large extent, my choice of profession was influenced by Hams. Here’s hoping this recent experience doesn’t represent the new “norm” for the hobby.

As you may have noticed if you arrived by way of my home page…I have a new home page! You also may have noticed a new link on that page related to the ARF (see previous post). There is a whole new sub-site dedicated to the ARF and all things related. Please take a look around at it and please let me know what you think!

To one and all!

And for goodness sake, try and take a moment to consider why it’s called “Christmas”…

You’ll be surprised by the author, but this article is absolutely worth the read.  I don’t think I could have said it better myself!

I note with some degree of relief this item.  See my previous post on the subject.

Glad to see that there seems to be some remaining degree of sanity.

I’ve been posting *so* infrequently and frankly, I hate not doing it.  I need some kind of kick in the pants (metaphorically speaking) to get myself going again.  Talk about breaking one of the cardinal rules of blogging: “Post Often and Regularly” !  Yipes.

It seems that I sit down to pontificate on something profound…and I run out of steam before it’s ready to be posted.  Perhaps it’s that as I near the end of some post, I stop believing that it’s worth putting out there.  I dunno.

I’m not sure how to get things kick-started again. I’m open to suggestions (take it easy here!).  And, I’m going to start spending a few cycles coming up with material again.

Well. when last I wrote, I talked about American Idol and how sometimes it seems that the judges sort-of try to “lead” the public towards or away from specific performers. Since then, I was totally shocked to see Chris get canned by the viewing public. He was the odds-on favorite to win. For the longest time, I had it figured that the final two would be Katharine McPhee or Chris Daughtry. I was half right. Katharine was one of the finalists last night, along with one of my favorites: Taylor Hicks. Truth told, I wanted it to come down to Elliot Yamin and Taylor. I wanted Elliot to win. But alas, America wouldn’t hear of it. So, it was Taylor and Katharine. I think Taylor did the best over all, but of course he was my choice so I’m a wee-bit biased. In any case, tonight will tell the tale.

Next question: What do I do all summer long, now that my shows are off until fall? I guess I need to do something *outside*…! Let the warm weather commence.