LOL!

 Seen on Gab:

I'm on Gab as @DW_Drang, some imposter 😛 was already using "Drang".

Thought For The Day

“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” 

Frank Herbert, Dune

I have been wondering if the Butlerian Jihad is going to begin earlier, and look different, than Herbert thought... 

Might be worth reminding folks...

 ...if they can do it to Trump, they'll do it to you without even a first thought, let alone a second.

Mozilla, developers of Firefox: 'We need more than deplatforming'

This isn't creepy at all

Apple and Google building coronavirus tracking tech for iOS and Android, coming in May - CNET

What could possibly go wrong?

Two of the tech industry's biggest players are working together to fight the coronavirus, announcing a new set of tools that could come to a majority of smartphones around the world.

The new technology, outlined in white papers published by Apple and Google on Friday and further discussed in a call with reporters Monday, relies on Bluetooth wireless radio technology to help phones communicate with one another, ultimately warning users about people they've come in contact with who are infected with the coronavirus.

 It's like Big Brother and Skynet got together, and...

Contact tracing

Apple and Google's technology is meant to support contact tracing, which historically has been a manual process in which health care workers painstakingly comb through a patient's history to figure out who they were near and may have exposed to infection.

Apps could potentially speed up that process. People who're marked as having coronavirus in an app on their phone could then wirelessly transmit alerts to anyone they come in contact with, potentially leading people to take extra precautions or self-quarantine to slow any further spread.

Apple and Google representatives said they chose to create this joint technology in part because they wanted to ensure interoperability between different phones. The companies also chose to build the system into their iOS and Android software in order to reduce the impact this technology could have on battery life.

To ensure as many people have access to the technology as possible, Google will include the tracking data in an update to its "Google Play services" feature for phones powered by its Android software. As a result, more people will have access to the technology even if their phone isn't being actively updated by manufacturers anymore.

What the companies didn't know is how many people need to sign up to make the system work, in part because the crisis itself is unprecedented. But together, the companies' software runs nearly all the billions of smartphones and tablets in use today.

This project brought to you by the Chinese Communist Party's Ministry of State Security...

The good news, FWIW, is that comments are running against the idea, in this article and in others elsewhere. (Even this jackboot licker here: Apple and Google are working together to fight COVID-19 but it's up to us to make it effective | Android Central)

Can I tell you what I want?

What I really really want?

I want a handheld¹ dual band² transceiver³ that has bluetooth and an Android/iPhone control app so I can program it that way.

The problem with most amateur radios these days is that they have so many functions that programming them practically requires a computer science degree, not to mention a bewildering variety of ways to scroll through functions, depending on manufacturer and model. 

Using the cell phone to control it would also let you store a heckuva lot more repeater setups. (I.e, if the radio only stores 100 entries, well, there are more like 200 different repeaters in Western Washington on 2m alone, let alone 1.25m, 70cm, 6m...

If I could just download the databases for Western Washington, along with Eastern WA, OR, ID, etc., into the phone, I could select individual entries that I needed, and adjust as I moved.

Oh, and please make it for under two Benjamins, 'cuz I'm a cheapskate.


Footnotes for the non-radio active:
1. Handy-talkie, or HT to Amateur radio operators. In WWII, the handheld was a "Handy-Talkie", the "Walkie-Talky" was a backpack monstrosity.
2. 2m and 70cm, by preference.\
3. "Radio."

Kil't in the streetz!

So the emergency communications team meeting was canceled this evening, so Mrs. Drang and I decided to go out to eat.

We went to Red Robin, because it's close, fairly cheap, and good. (Unless maybe you ask our doctor, so don't.)

As we sat down I glanced at my new watch (Garmin Forerunner 235, birthday present) and realized it was missing an icon or two. I scrolled through the displays and realized that it was linked with my cell phone...

...which I didn't have on me.

Mrs. Drang admitted hers was still on the charger in the living room.

Amazing that the resulting lack of wider situational awareness didn't result in our not knowing about an Alien Invasion or Sasquatch Uprising something and getting killed on our way home.

At least we're able to maintain eye contact and converse.

Some these days would probably prefer to face an alien invasion in the middle of a Sasquatch uprising...

Cue the hysteria! -- Edit

CodeIsFreeSpeech.com

OK, I'm actually a few days late with the "Cue the hysteria!" title, still...

You may be aware that the US Government has lifted the restriction on the sharing online of files with instructions to 3D print firearms components.

This, of course, is merely the latest in a series of events which are going to kill us all.

The thing is...

There are many inherent issues with manufacturing a firearm, or firearm parts, using a 3D printer. For instance, the plastic used isn't exactly up to withstanding the pressures of a modern firearm cartridge being fired, which limits which parts of the firearm they are suitable for. In order for the firing pin to detonate the primer on a cartridge, it has to be made of metal, or possibly, I suppose, some other hard material, which would probably be so exotic as to be impractical.

But.

A fact which escapes those convinced that the availability of these files online mean the end of civilization is that it has always been legal to manufacture a firearm in your garage workshop, as long as you did not attempt to sell it.

Here, for example, is a thread about building a glorious revolutionary AK47 from a people's shovel, purchased for a whole 2 kopeks I mean rubles I mean capitalist pig dollars at an antique barn in Vermont: DIY: Shovel AK - photo tsunami warning! | Northeastshooters.com Forums

So, why (one might ask) was the distribution of files with instructions on how to 3D print firearms components banned? Well, the US State Department takes its responsibility (not to say authority) to control export of firearms and weapons technology seriously.

Now, this authority does extend to some information technology, namely, computer security/anti-virus files. (In an earlier job I had to help some sales reps for a local aviation firm process requests to Uncle Sam to let them take their laptops, with anti-virus software installed, overseas.)

But these are 3D printer files are hardly innovative in and of themselves, and cannot be seriously be considered a threat to national security.

What made the US State Department lift the ban on Internet distribution of 3D printer files is that the US State Department does not have a broad legal authority to ban the distribution of information.

That's right: The ability to download these files is a First Amendment issue, as well as a Second Amendment one. (Some would even argue that it is not a Second Amendment one at all.)

CodeIsFreeSpeech.com

Elsewhere, Roberta X addresses the issue in her post The Adventures of Roberta X: That's Not How This Works.

There is also an excellent Twitter thread that starts with this one:

Ok, on this, the eve of one of my favorite things ever - the #democratization of technology - let's have a serious, sober-ish conversation about this whole #StopDownloadableGuns / #Stop3DPrintedGuns hysteria by starting at the beginning and working forward (1/?)

— Jonathan (@CorrelA_B) August 1, 2018

(There is a Thread Reader version of the full thread here: Thread by @CorrelA_B: "Ok, on this, the eve of one of my favorite things ever - the of technology - let's have a serious, sober-ish conversation a […]" #democratization #StopDownloadableGuns #Stop3DPrintedGuns #guncontrol

EDIT: Meanwhile, a commie judge here in Western Washington has ordered Defense Distributed to shut down their site again: DEFCAD

Fortunately, the files are available elsewhere: CodeIsFreeSpeech.com

We never did, really...

‘We don’t have the gear': How the Pentagon is struggling with electronic warfare - The Washington Post

Not helping...

Anent my last post but one...

Amateur Repeaters Fall Victim to Washington Wildfires

Two Central Washington repeaters, owned and operated by the Lake Chelan Amateur Radio Club, have been destroyed by one of the wildfires raging in that state. The co-located machines, one on 2 meters and one on 6 meters, were sited on Slide Ridge near Manson, Washington, in Chelan County. On August 27, the First Creek Fire completely leveled the building housing the repeaters. Scorched antennas and support structures are still standing but are likely beyond repair. The club’s Roger Odorizzi, W7CH, said the repeaters had been offline for several days.
“We knew the fire had wiped out the power going to our site, but we hoped for the best, that our mountaintop building was possibly spared,” he said. “Now we have confirmation this was not the outcome.” Odorizzi said the area remains closed, and the club likely will not have access to it “for a long time.”
The club’s Ken Rau, K7YR, said the loss, in addition to the building, included the two repeaters, duplexers and antennas. The repeaters provided coverage in North Central Washington. Rau told ARRL that it’s unlikely that the building housing the repeaters would be replaced. It once housed radio and TV broadcast translators, most no longer in use. Topography is also a factor. “This is a mountain site — 4900 feet above mean sea level — with power lines that were installed on a very steep slope.”

Remember that old riddle, what runs faster uphill than down...?

Anyway. Not gonna be cheap. Also likely to have a major impact on plans  to have today's drill exercise the ability to have Western Washington EOCs communicate via Eastern Washington sites...

(If they hurry, the Lake Chelan Amateur radio club may be able to get in on Yaesu's deal on their new digital repeater, but they'll need someplace to put it/them...)

What He Said

Screw The Facebooks... - The Minuteman

So. This makes three. Does that make it enemy action?

Attention Glockenspielers!

If you are a devotee of the personification of the polymer 2x4 that shoots, and wish that there were a way to block the striker when holstering in the same manner that a pistolero with pistol with an external hammer can use his or her thumb to hold the hammer back or block it from moving forward, some sort of  Gadget, perhaps, well, there's a gadget update.

Bottom line, funding via Indiegogo will start next Friday (July 11, 2015); link will be posted at pistol-training.com.

Here's a review from someone who has been testing a prototype: The Gadget: an additional safety device for Glock pistols | Gun Nuts Media.

As for me, well, 2x4s are uncomfortable for my hands, so, until I can scrape up the dough to buy a used one and have some major surgery done on the frame, I'll just wish them well.*

***

*"Uncomfortable for my hands" is, perhaps, misleading. It doesn't hurt to shoot a Glock, but I cannot get a good grip on them. I have an acquaintance who derides the idea that ergonomics are -- is? -- of any importance in pistol marksmanship; all I can say is, "Whatever works for you.:
I regret that I didn't order a CCF Raceframe before they ceased production. These were Glock pistol frames, mechanically, but made from aluminum or steel, and available in a 1911-like configuration.
Come to think of it, most of my regrets in life are about guns I never owned...

Woven into the fabric of our lives...

This is a neat article.

Instapundit » Blog Archive » VIRGINIA POSTREL: How Textiles Repeatedly Revolutionized Technology. Textiles are technology…

Mrs. Drang describes herself as a Fiber Artist. Spinning and dyeing, weaving (which she sometimes describes as tedious), a bit of knitting, sewing...


And, yeah, fiber arts (and technology) have been key in advances in human technology.

Speaking of that...

My previous post made me remember something I was thinking about the other day.

I'd like to see a court-ordered documentary by the team of Bellisario, Bruckheimer, and Wolf on forensic investigations, and the reality  of  a crime lab.  Two hours. It would be provided free to every court system in the country and run on a loop in jury waiting rooms.

Several years ago Mrs. Drang was a volunteer at the USO lounge at Sea-Tac Airport. One of the ladies she was paired up with was a forensic technician at the local crime lab, and taught classes on it at a local community college. She used to assign CSI as homework, "Spot the mistakes!" Starting with crime lab workers collecting evidence at the crime scene.

One semester the school she was teaching at saw a spike in enrollments and realized that the proliferation of forensic crime shows was making the classes extremely popular, so they started advertising the classes as "Guaranteeing a job in the forensic field!" and she had to threaten to quit, since neither she nor they could guarantee any such thing: Given these shows' popularity, even if a student graduated with a perfect 4.0 average, it just isn't that big a field.

The big fancy crime labs you see on TeeVee? There are only a couple, nationwide. DNA analysis takes lots longer than they show, and nearly always has to be sent off to somewhere else. Most of the forensic evidence is collected by uniformed officers with some specialized training.

And most criminal investigations bear a lot more resemblance to what my father was doing in the early 60s than anyone on TV wants you to believe. Computers help a lot, but it still amounts to footwork.

"That's not how this works! That's not how any of this works!"

So, when I got my first Droid phone, I checked out a bunch of the Android-related fora, and still do, as sometimes they have a good tip about an app, or an accessory.

Today, I found this: Blackberry CEO wants net neutrality conversation to extend to apps.

Think about that title for a moment. Take it in. John Chen — CEO of Blackberry — went on a little rant on the company’s blog this morning, and by the end of it all we’d learned that he essentially wants to make it illegal not to use Blackberry. That’s how crazy it sounds when you think about it, anyway.
What he actually said is that he wants Congress to extend the discussions going on about “net neutrality” into the world of software, noting that he believes the problem of enforcing an “open highway” for internet traffic can’t stop at the carrier level alone.

 "Net Neutrality" sounds good, until you realize that it's code for "The government should regulate what people say on the internet." It sounds like it should be some sort of guarantee of freedom of speech, but, no. What it really means is "You can't say stuff that might offend protected classes." Or, actually, certain protected classes. Pick on Sarah Palin all you want. All these people ganging up on the Twitter/Facebook user CommunismKills because she mocks progtardia in general for a bunch of simpletons and hypocrites are an example.

Also, if you're the CEO of a technology company that's lost it's mojo, Net Neutrality should be a guarantee of income:

Netflix, which has forcefully advocated for carrier neutrality, has discriminated against BlackBerry customers by refusing to make its streaming movie service available to them. Many other applications providers similarly offer service only to iPhone and Android users. This dynamic has created a two-tiered wireless broadband ecosystem, in which iPhone and Android users are able to access far more content and applications than customers using devices running other operating systems. These are precisely the sort of discriminatory practices that neutrality advocates have criticized at the carrier level.

(Emphasis in original.)

Here's a clue, John: The way it works is, you sell enough product to make it profitable for Netflix to support your platform.

 And, yes, I know, that's "The way it's supposed to work."

Because John, and most if not all the idiots ranting on YouTube and at #Occupy events and the DNC about "Capitalism" wouldn't know a Free Market Economy if it made them prosperous...

I'm a genius!

So, earlier this week Mrs. Drang called me at the Salt Mines and asked if I'd noticed anything odd when doing my laundry last week. The dryer wasn't drying; it was tumbling, but at ambient temperature.

Long story short, the vent hose got crimped and the dryer overheated, tripping a protective switch.

Good news, the switch is resettable, not a fuse requiring replacement.

Bad news, it's inside the machine, and we had no literature indicating that, so appliance repair man to the rescue again.  (This makes the second or third time this year, must be warranty expiration time...) Anyway, he was kind enough to show me how to remove the back and top (!) panels so I could access the switch if this happens again, and we also traced the problem with the hose.

Anyway, the non-Executive Summary version is that when we had the house remodeled before moving in, the sub-contractor who installed the washer dryer combo stack* probably recognized that the hole in the wall for the vent was not aligned with the new dryer, and rather than re-cut the hole, used an angle joint and flex hose, and did not trim the hose to length. The hose was pinched, eventually lint built up, and eventually dryer overheated. Having that hole-for-the-vent thing fixed is now on the list, but not the budget for now.

What led to the conclusion in the post title is that I was trying to figure out a way to check the alignment of the hose and hole combination (for reasons too tedious to list, we can't go with an entirely hard duct) and was pondering the arrangement of inspection mirrors that would be necessary...

...When it occurred to me that one could use a cell phone on a selfie-stick instead of an inspection mirror.

***

*"Washer/dryer stack": Due to limited square footage, we got stackable full-size front loading washer and dryer.  The top of the dryer is even with my head, but Mrs. Drang can reach the controls. But the repair man had to boost me up to the top of the dryer to be able to see behind the stack to check the hose condition.

Networking

An update to my bleg post Need networking advice, from back in June:
Century Link says that bridging is only available for commercial accounts using their modems, which is why the external switch didn't work.
Also, they use VDSL, not ADSL, and (quoting the Customer Service email) "unlikely you'll find a VDSL modem in a store."

Apparently, only Century Link uses VDSL; the brave may find such a modem on eBay, they are also on Amazon, sold there by CenturyLink, or directly from CenturyLink...

...Or at Best Buy.

BTW, I went to Fry's Electronics looking to see if they had one, and the salesman looked around furtively and said quietly, "We don't yet, but Best Buy has just started carrying them..."  So, points for CS there.

Anyway.  Modem (Actiontec C1000A, if anyone cares) is functional, wireless router (Linksys EA3500) ditto. Western Digital USB drive is hooked to the USB port on the router, and the network see it.

Getting the printer to work is taking a little longer.

Random thoughts

Remember: The guy who said "A more elegant weapon for a more civilized era" was impressed by Imperial Stormtrooper precision.
— Drang (@DWDrang) September 6, 2014

Earworm, 07/10/14; Phone Version

Must be phone, if he was CW, he would be Mr. Five by Five by Nine...

Explanation after the break...

Field Day report, Part 2

A couple of more photos from Field Day.

Screen shot of the logging program, showing
the entry for the contact in the Southern Cook Islands

This is what the "electric fence tape" looks like. 
You can see that it has 5 strands of electrical wire.
The yellow and black portion is strands of nylon, for strength.

Something I left out was that this was probably the most successful Field Day I've been to from the "public outreach" point of view. There was a community BBQ at the LDS Church we were set up at, and many of the participants came over to see what we were doing. Plus, it being an LDS Church, the young folks on mission were in and out all afternoon.  Oddly, the young ladies seemed more interested in ham radio than the men.

(And, no, in case you were wondering, they did not press their message on us until invited -- encouraged, really -- to do so by one of the club members who was also a member of the church.  He had a point, they were supposed to be on mission, not geeking out...)

Need networking advice

I have the following devices connected to the ethernet ports on the modem/wireless router:

• Desktop Computer
• TV
• Satellite Box

I want to add the following devices to the network:

• Printer
• Blue-Ray Player
• Networked Attached Storage

Simply adding an 8 port switch didn't work.  I couldn't find anything in the modem/router's software that addressed adding a switch. The plan is to purchase a modem, and a router, and return the modem we got from the Internet provider.  (Renting the thing is a pittance, monthly, but it adds up.  The upside is, if it doesn't work they'll replace it.)

Before we switched to Windows 7 I had a freeware networking app that handled all this, but 7 wasn't supported, and since then it is hit or miss whether the laptop will see the printer on the wifi, even if the desktop is "awake." However, if the printer is attached to the router via ethernet,the laptops won't print at all, even if the "see" the printer.  Same thing if the printer is plugged into the switch, which is plugged into the modem/router.

It would be really nice if I could configure it so that the Android devices could print, and access files stored on the NAS, as well.

Any advice?

Thanks!

UPDATE:  Modem is an Actiontec Q1000.  Provider says bridging is only supported for commercial accounts.  Sounds like I need a new modem and wireless route,r which was the plan anyway.