All You Really Need

In the world of HF antennas, for either send or receive: The $4 Special Antenna

I'm still having fun experimenting with verticals, NVIS cloud-burners, and various incarnations of the humble J-pole, but I have to say that some of the most fun I've had has been with a tuned random wire.  Yes, "It Really Works!"

Snakes in the News

New research shows that constrictors kill their prey not by suffocation, but rather more quickly by shutting down blood flow.  Huh.

A candidate proto-snake that still had four small but functional legs has been discovered in an existing fossil collection.  Is it really a snake, or is it merely an offshoot lizard line that ultimately died out?  More research may tell.  ps: more detail at the BBC.

Sci-Fi Anthology Review: Carbide Tipped Pens

Bottom line: B+ and Highly Recommended.

Now that you know what I think, what's in the book?  It's a collection of hard science fiction, that is, science-based science fiction.  Here's the Wikipedia page if you want more on the topic.

The good parts?  Well, it's hard science fiction and it's new, and most of the stories were pretty creative.  That's enough for me right there.  Most of them were built around a limited set of "what if we developed _____ technology?" type questions.  Or at least close enough to that central premise, along with the logical ramifications and how they play out with people.  Here's a smattering of some of the stories:

• How will we adapt to a time when body upgrades and rejuvenation have made it difficult to positively ID individuals?
• An early Chinese mathematician devises a digital computer – based on soldiers moving in tight formations.  How do the politicians (well, warlords) react?
• Is brain hacking to change your ingrained desires really that good of an idea?  (here, have some and see)
• Romeo & Juliet, re-set on a rough-and-tumble Europa mining colony.  You know how this one ends, but it's still just as satisfying getting there.
• A semi-autonomious robotic probe on Titan gets a little too close to human for its handlers.  Another tragedy.
• What if we could cure Alzheimer's?  What would happen if we cured someone who's memories were already 95%+ gone?  How could we bring such a patient back from the brink of oblivion?

The bad parts?  Some of the tales were clunky.  I swear there's one that dusts off the bad 1950's movie line "It's a crazy plan, but it just might work," along with all the stilted dialogue that usually comes in that catbox.  Some of the "hard" parts were still a little too soft.  A few left the grit of inscrutable 80's cyberpunk in my eyeballs.  Finally, the very first story was kind of tough to take, and it put me off the collection for a bit.  It's a good story, but having sort of walked a similar mile in the guy's shoes a few years back, it cut a little close.

In the end it all comes together, and the good vastly outweighs the not-so-good.  As with The Martian, it is such a relief to see new and forward-thinking sci-fi coming along.  Like rye whiskey, the harder the better, and I thoroughly enjoyed this bottle of words.

Relevant Links:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518866-carbide-tipped-pens
http://us.macmillan.com/carbidetippedpens/benbova  (with video!)
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ben-bova/carbide-tipped-pens
https://www.facebook.com/CarbideTippedPens

The Return of Art Bell

Sure, it was fun listening in to Art Bell's return to the airwaves last night.  [official site, and my earlier comments]  Too bad I couldn't stay up past the intro material!  Things started off slowly with a short conversation with Crystal Gayle.  She wrote the intro music some time ago, inspired by his earlier show.  Then he took a caller who at first didn't realize that she wasn't talking to a screener but to the actual host.  That was pretty funny.  After that... dunno, I woke up some time later listening to blank airspace after the show had gone off.

About receiving the show down here in the gulfcoastboonies, shortwave worked pretty well.  WTWW 5085 kHz from Tennessee was fairly clean, though WBCQ 7490 & 9330 kHz out of Maine were both useable signals.  I'll have to see how CFRX 6070 kHz reaches from Canada another night.  Those are all of the shortwaves, and here's a complete listing of stations, including the more common AM & FM.  But really, shortwave is the preferred medium for this sort of stuff.  "The bitter comes out better on a stolen guitar," and the weirdness comes out better when it's bounced off the ionosphere.

Well, I'll just have to try again some other night.  At least it's on at 11pm, which puts it solidly in my winding-down time.  Nothing like a good ghost story before bed.

PS: Thomas over at The SWLing Post recorded the show and put it up for download! <here>  That's a great site, give the guy some traffic.
PPS: Link's gone, in a puff of greasy copyright infringement smoke.  Like so many good things, if you blinked you missed it.

Today's Foxtrot Cartoon, Coastal Heat, etc.

Today's Foxtrot cartoon is unusually funny.  Link Here.

It's 101 outside in the shade here right now, and will probably reach a degree or two higher before long.  Time to stay inside and do inside projects.  Did put a new chain on the CX bike, maybe find time to ride it before dark.  Then there's the new 6-band vertical ham antenna, maybe get that put together and ready to deploy in the yard.  Got its mounting pipe driven into the yard, 7' down, after a late afternoon thunderstorm yesterday dropped temperatures by 20 degrees.  A rare respite, but even then high 70's and ultra-high humidity while doing hard work is not comfortable.  That's how it has to be for a while now: get things ready to do in the yard, then wait for a window to do them in.

People in Minnesota and other such places north of I-10 catch it in the winter.  We're well into the equivalent of being snowed in here now, and for the next month and a half.  This kind of heat can kill.

Blog worth mentioning: Hooniverse

Yes,

Here's the link.  It's a blog about cars and driving for people who love cars and driving.  And they sometimes post pictures of crazy shit like this:

Because when it comes down to it, who doesn't like to ride a motorcycle underneath a log truck?

It's been getting kind of geeky around this blog lately, with all the talk of QRP PSK31 NVIS and the like.  Don't want to leave out any of the motorized fun parts.

Another outbreak of common sense seen.

Following up on last's week's decision by the Apalachicola city commission, this week the P&Z board denies OK to Denton Cove apartment development.

A development backed by $8 million in transferable Federal tax credits, as seen on page 2 of the linked article.  Now we see where the money is being made on the deal.  Not on real economic production, but on brokering a transfer of funds.  When will this flood of "free" Federal money end?  You do know that we're going to have to pay for it eventually, right?

At least we won't be paying twice-over for this train wreck of a developer's get rich quick scheme.