2017's Greatest Hits

Hmm, still a few days to go in 2017, but I don't think there's much else blog-worthy happening this year, so off we go with this year's Greatest Hits.  Of course the list is a little short this year, having resumed blogging in May.  So here's my pick for the best of each month, plus one special mention.
Heinlein Biography, Vol 2: The Man Who Learned Better, 1948-1988  You already know if you should read this book.
Florida Trail Article  It's not the AT.  For me, it looks even better.  It goes right through Area X, whatcanpossiblygowrong?
About that Late-Night Paranormal Radio Stuff  Cue the Theremin music.
SARNET-FL Talk all over the state with a $13 handheld?  You bet!  Just get licensed up first.
Strong Passwords  If you use a computer (i.e., you're reading this), you really should take a look.
Jurassic Duck Mk II 2m Antenna  Makes that handheld radio roar like a dinosaur. 
Artemis review  Andy "The Martian" Weir's second book.
Quick & Dirty Guide to getting that ham license, for people with technical backgrounds
and a Special Mention from August, Two Podcasts to Note, Philosophize This! (philosophy, duh) and The First 40 Miles (backpacking for beginners, or people who want to keep having fun like a beginner).

Well, there are still a few days left in 2017, and so you may see a few foggy pictures of seawall CX rides yet.  I still need to write up some impressions about that new-to-me FT-817nd radio, but that'll probably wait until January (sneak preview: it's a lot like the FT-857d, but with field gear it comes in at 1/3rd the weight).  Won't really get back into the woods, either on foot or bike, until after mid-January, so those sorts of adventures are on the back burner for the moment.  In the meantime, try to stay safe, and maybe use the winter weather as an excuse to catch up on reading, soldering, or changing out drivetrain components.

The Christmas Comet Returns!

Merry Christmas all!

Kyrgyzstan?

Somehow over coffee yesterday evening, the subject of Kyrgyzstan came up.  Here are some interesting links showing off the country:

10 Reasons to Visit the Only Country Where North Koreans Can Also (Messy Nessy)

A Bikepacking Adventure in Kyrgyzstan (Dirt Rag)

5 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in Kyrgyzstan (Atlas Obscura)

Adding the description "unusual" is probably redundant on that last one.

Looks interesting, but on the whole I'd rather just visit Colorado again.

That's nice. But what's it good for?

With the advent of inexpensive and convenient publishing there has been a small explosion of books titled something along the lines of "N Things to Try Now That You're In This Hobby."  And certainly ham radio has its share of these.  Just this week another one was published, 99 Things You Can Do with Amateur Radio. It's an easy read, and it's easy to skip over some of the chapters that don't quite connect, but it's good nonetheless to see a sweep-up of ideas like this.  A similarly themed book is 21 Things to do After You Get Your Amateur Radio License, by the author of the No-Nonsense Test Guide series (item #3 here).  By the way, you can see the books' respective lists by clicking through the links above and using the "Look Inside" feature to read the tables of contents.  They are interesting in and of themselves, and are sure to spur new ideas.  They're fairly comprehensive, and honestly I'm having trouble thinking of much to add beyond "combine with your other activities."

This naturally segues into "so what's your list?" or perhaps even a sort of New Year's Resolutions / Less-Grim Bucket List.  It is that time of the year after all.  I'm not patient enough this morning to itemize 99 or even 21 things, so here's my big list:

0: More outdoor, portable, light weight, practical radio use in combination with other things I'm doing anyway.

"Um, can you be more specific?"  Right now, no.  But stay tuned in 2018 as even more improbable, bone-crunching activities – now involving RF burns – are blogged.

So what's on your list for the coming year?  Whatever it may be, that's what it's good for.

Mentioning the Winter Solstice

Not a lot to say, but it was awfully dark driving home after work today.  Article and picture credit at APOD:

As usual, click to embiggen.

An Interesting, Upcoming Phone

Behold the 2019(?) Librem 5:

From the developer's site:

• Does not run Google Android
• Does not run Apple iOS
• Runs PureOS by default, can run most GNU+Linux distros
• Security focused by design
• Privacy protection by default
• Works with 2G/3G/3G, GSM, UMTS, and LTE networks
• CPU separate from Baseband
• Hardware kill switches for camera, microphone, WiFI/Bluetooth, and Baseband

I think that I just decided to nurse along this aging iPhone for a year or so longer to see how the initial release of this phone works out.  The company seems to have blasted through their pre-orders to be funded at 150%, so it's looking like I'm not the only one interested.

Recommendation: Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnick

It's just some first-rate science fiction that had escaped my notice until recently.  Here's the Wikipedia page link – go ahead, good description, no spoilers there either.  It's fairly short and very inexpensive, and over 20 years old.  How did I miss out on this until now?