The Health Of Ham Radio Today(By Patric Stox) 7 MHZ
LSB or USB Student
Re-Union My New Logbook Flying Car In 2011
Nothing Good At All ?
A Shack Without A CW Key...
Who Want To Be a Prime Minister Young Manager Don't Argue Go and Learn CW Sabah Girl What Happen To MARTS
Is Celcom Shit ?
What Can I
Say About INA Trip ?
I PRAISE 9Ws WHO ARE LEARNING CW
A New
World - Linux Hoorah
My Ubuntu Run 24/06/2010
A Good Day For Me CW
Here and There UPSR
and PMR So
You Want To Homebrew ?SPM
will go too Back
To The Square One My
New Radio ? |
FUN TO LEARN LANGUAGES
I talked to my former students who
went to Korea to study after passing out from Vocational Secondary School
about learning and using foreign language. I reminded him to always speak
Korean with somebody to make sure he won't forget it. I also asked him to
teach his kids. My other friend who married a Japanese girl had a little
girl who could converse Japanese, English and Malay at her tender age.
Most gainers are the Malaysian Chinese who could speak at least 3
languages. In Australia the English kids are learning Mandarin too.
In 1980 I had wanted to introduce
Mandarin in my school. I had a hard time with my boss in Kuala Lumpur who
asked me to find my own fund. I asked someone to contact with MCA for
Mandarin teachers. Also failed. I did not try PIBG for fear of negative
retaliation. And my project failed.
Kindergarten is one of the best
places to teach multiple languages but with the government interference in
the pre-school setup, I doubt whether it can be carried out. At this
juncture things seem to be getting worst as the government is talking
about it getting bankruptcy. May be the money better be spent on a
thousand dollar project which costs 1 million dollar. Or on foreign
consultation firms or given to some people like the 52 billion PKZ.
If you have your own money, it is
good to send your kids to learn foreign languages or several of the
Malaysian languages. Right now there are people doing this. At the same
time there are people who are anti foreign languages or even local
languages other than Malay.
Amateur radio is one of the best flat
form to practice English. For many years the exam was run in English to
fit the international hobby but at the same time it is a good venue to
express ourselves freely.
Other than the hobby children should
be encourage to speak other languages during their school days, both in
and out of school. Adults should not be too narrow minded in condemning
those speakers. Such a distasteful behavior should not be condoned.
I would like to urge the government
to open back the English medium school starting with one in each district
and see the response of the parents. I can bet the demand will exceed the
supply. I believe the English medium students will be more marketable. |
|
NOTHING GOOD AT ALL ? Political
leaders especially are under usually under the barrages of fire. The
attacks would be continuous, vicious and venomous. There is nothing good
at all done by the victim. Are the victims absolutely useless and evil ? A
person's image could be completely tarnished once he is found to rob money
from the public funds or giving money to get a favor. Whatever good work
follows are seen as effort to erase the crimes in the eyes of the public.
Hence no amount of work is deemed honest and sincere. For
a normal man who does not inflict any form of pain on other people
certainly there could be both in him, the good and the bad or more good
than bad or even totally good and likable. A government officer who is
strict in his work may be facing problem of being attacked but there are
people who like his job. I
sometime wonder why a certain political leader is being attacked all the
time though there is no proof that he is corrupt or trying to do any
mischievous thing on the people. Just because he is a DAP, UMNO or PAS we
can brand him a complete goon and evil. At
time it is good for us to look at the background of the attacker himself.
Public should be aware of people who complaint and speak too much. Many
people have bitter experience with these type of people when they were
elected to manage a body after their fiery bombardment on the previous
board. They turned out to be worst and many absconded with a huge sum of
money. Basically a good
person bears responsibility, accountable, fair, honest and sincere in his
work. Responsiveness is not the criteria. At
one time a Communist was a scary word with full of evil. Today Osama is
the word seems to bring fear among the Americans. How bad was the
Communist and how bad is Osama ? How many people are killed by Osama and a
Communist ? Thru media and repeated enforcement people were made to
believe at even a non-existing thing. What
has a person do to us and the others to make him so bad ? Has he committed
any crime or abetting any criminal ? Has he been a liar; bluffing and
cheating everyone ? Yet many call him a good for nothing guy. Is there
nothing good at all in him ? Mankind
is easily carried. Opportunist provokes emotion and happy to throw stones. Top |
A SHACK WITHOUT CW KEY IS LIKE A MAN
WITHOUT A WOMAN
When someone posted me with the picture above, I
immediately commented that this is a real ham shack. There is no ham,
without CW like there is no marriage without a wife, like a man without a
woman. A ham radio is a class by itself as computer is another independent
class. They are not for comparison. The class of ham must include CW, RAE,
complete air wave communication, experimentation and home brewing. Top |
WHO WANT TO BE PRIME
MINISTER ?
Everybody has the
right to think or has a desire to be a Prime Minister. A Minister has
never been a divine post like the Kings. So every Tom, Dick and Harry can be
a Prime Minister. If he is he will be just like any others and the country
will run as usual. He just needs only a good advisor who will teach him the
arts of politics. So you can start thinking big and don't worry even if
you are a hawker or a hardcore labor.
Almost everyone has
in mind what to do if he becomes one. In some countries a
Prime Minister must know how to talk and talk well enough to convince the
people. One of the great speaker was President Sukarno. People just love
to hear him talking. A good speaker can turn a lie into a truth, the truth
into a belief.
The Prime Minister
must be popular. The popularity
depends on many factors. Good talker is one of them. Handsome face is
another. Actor politicians can easily climb up to the highest post as has
been shown by some countries.
Once you decide to
think to be a Prime Minister, you must also think whether you want to do
services to the people only or to yourself or to both. Both has two faces ; 80 percent
to the people and 20 to yourself and friends, or 20 percent to the people
and the rest to yourself. Either take some and give some or take many and
give some.
Once you are there it
is not easy for people to bring you down because you have the
control over almost all things. The strongest are the media, the
police, the special body to curb your enemy, the money and the judiciary.
You reward those who side you and punish those are against you.
Now you have said
,"Yes I want to be a Prime Minister." How do you go about ? Join
UMNO ? You never can become one because Mukhriz is there waiting, Khairy is there and
many other UMNO guys before you. You want to join PKR ? Lim Kit Siang is
there waiting. Lim Guan Eng is there. Nur Izza is there. You want to
topple the government ? You are just like the Don Quixote. Then you
have to go bak goreng mee and dig holes.
But everyone has the
right to have a desire and to think one. You just can't blame anyone and
degrade anyone having the intent. And we can't criticize him too. Even
right now you can go around and introduce yourself as a Prime Minister.
Can a law accuse you as impostor ? If you are scared then introduce
yourself as the NEXT Prime Minister. Then you are safe.
If there are millions
thinking 'if I am a Prime Minister, I will do this for a change....' that
thought is really dangerous because it indicates the unpopular current
government. As the days gone by the number grows. And if it lies deep down
in the heart and not shown in media or by voice then the future of the
nation is unknown. Hence the more pertinent question is 'if you are a
Prime Minister what will you do ?'
Top |
YOUNG MANAGER
Management is not a
bulldoze process. It is neither a think and do experiment. It is a complex
task that needs historical knowledge of past managing successes and
failures, the understanding of human being, knowledge of the work, able to
weigh the cause and effect and aware what is going on in other
organizations.
There have been
habits of new managers to view the previous procedures and structures as
bad. And they would start to implement their own thinking. A young manager
tend to think his is the best.
Managing is not to
get popularity, or recognition or making enemies with the subordinates and
the clients. It is to achieve the goal set by the organization. The setup
of the goal itself must be meaningful and would not result in the side
effect. Some managers set the goal together with their subordinates.
In the current 21st
Century we still see the autocratic style of management. Problems are
solved by amputation not by participative decision from the workers. Hence
there is no feeling of the ownership and kinship. And many organizations
do not achieve their goals.
Autocratic style
could bring achievement but the workers would leave the organization once
they get the job else where. At all time they are thinking of leaving the
job, cursing the boss and would leak information.
Some managers are
good at talking, highly educated but fail to deliver. Unknowingly they
repeated the past mistakes which they are not aware off. I am sorry to say
that I see Idris Jala is a failed manager who solved the problem by
amputation, not wanting to learn from China or Singapore how they manage
their system. I hope I get the info right about his sacking people. MAS
was better of under Dato' Aziz.
I believe that
Managers should know that MONEY IS DECISION MAKING and must be able to
compute the input-output ration effectively and quickly to ensure there
will not be the continuous high input over the output.
Young managers are
bright and creative but not all can deliver well. The success of one does
guarantee the other young guys could be effective and successful. Beside
luck they have to have wide understanding of the environment around them.
I have across 7 young
engineers who failed in running schools under them with low passing rates
and with monumental human problems. One resigned to become a full time
engineer. Others were move to manage higher institutions where there is no
national examination.
I learned that many
people are good in their job but do not understand human behavior and what
human being can do. They tend to make wrong and devastating decisions.
Top |
DON'T ARGUE AND GO AND LEARN MORSE
CODES
The band was bad and noisy this
morning. I called CQ using my junior solid state KL500 linear, shooting
out 100 watts. I heard a station came back but could copy his call sign
well. He was not only weak but also the QRM was too strong.
I asked him to call me on CW and he
did. The CW signal came in so well, perfect and clear. I did not copy him
599 but 569-579. That was fantastic. This is not the first time. There
have been several experience that CW overcomes the voice problems.
CW skill is not a software. It is not
another machine. It does not use extra space or weigh any heavier. It does
not consume battery or solar energy. I imagine if the caller is in a
disaster situation he would be save by the CW signal
I remember in one disaster area where
radio communication and a meeting were held at the same time in one small
space. It was indeed a confusion and problematic. If they have the CW
people and the earphones, they could have had communications even with the
meeting on.
Don't argue about CW. Go and learn
and be skill at it. Using or not using it, we know you have one with you.
If it is desired then it can be used.
In 1965 I just left school and went
to Bangkok by train to see SEAP games. I brought with me needles and
thread, scissors, iodine, bandages and a few other stuffs. Half way there
was flooding and the train could not move. The train was packed and
crowded. And there was no water. There was one man who went to look for
water and his hand was hurt. Too much blood. When he passed me, I stopped
him and the help of the others we bandaged him. Later I remembered people
were looking for something to sew the torn dress. I had the materials for
sewing. Another problem solved.
The next day when flood subsided I
was very popular. Plenty of food and fruits flowed in. The man in front of
me was a Burmese Muslim who worked in Burmese embassy. He even asked me to
go to Burma and stayed with him for a few days.
In 2008 I went to Europe with 2
friends. My friend lost his key for the bag and he needed something to
seal and replace the key. I had a plastic that's used in clipping the
plastic bag in the supermarket. He did not bring a comb, and I had extra
combs. He needed a clip and I had one. He called me a Mc Guyver.
That's not the point. The point is if
you have the CW skill and by an unknown reason and situation that it is
required then we have the ever ready supply. We have to prepare for
contingency for for happenings that we can't think of. If I were to
interview a helper in disaster I would ask him what can he provide to help
us ? He could answer "My muscle". "I can swim and have
electrical and electronic skill, muscle, repair engines etc...". We
all need skilled people or people with special skills. What special skill
can you provide ?
Of course we can rudely say "Go
to hell. You don't need me done."
Top
|
Playing ham radio without Morse is
like marrying a beautiful girl without sex.
The other night I monitored FISTS NET
on CW. There were three Japanese stations and one from Singapore were
chatting on CW. Because of the reasonable speed I was able to copy them
comfortably. The Japanese stations were JK8UST, JE1RZR and JE3HPM ( my ink
did not show the call signs clearly ) and the Singapore station 9V1VV was
very familiar to me and I can remember it even without jotting it
down.
As usual I would relax on my old
office chair, closing down my eyes and enjoyed the story. The Japanese are
very fluent in English and simply punched the keys like nobody's business.
They could have gone to SSB for the chat. Probably they wanted to exercise
their fingers and save their voices. The
FISTS net is the second rag chew net. The first is the Indonesian CW net
run on Indonesian language. It is also good for beginners to learn and do
listening exercise. You
always remember in the good old days when you talk of ham radio, it has
always been associated to Morse code. Without it there is something
missing. Fun to send and fun to decipher.
A BIT ON I-PHONE My
God an I-Phone only cost US299 plus package in USA
and Malaysian vendors like Maxis is making tons of profit on it. The
government is not protecting the customers but is helping the tycoon in
making them richer. The new I-Phone is coming up with a more advance OS
and would enabled video conferencing. I can bet in USA the ham radio will
eventually decline and disappear the fastest because of the cheap contract
rate. Even
laptops sale will decline soon. Most who do not own blog or write web page
will be just satisfied with the I-Phone. The killing of CW by the FCC
could not help radio sale much. The radio vendors should shift to selling
the I-Phone the quickest to accumulate as much money as possible within
the short period. We
need to learn something about the locking and unlocking system if we are
thinking of buying cheaper I-Phones out of the country. Unless the
government allows competition or put some control on the $current monopoly
else we have to be a little patient. With
the Skype on we can do the DX video chat on a long distance friends.
Top
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WHAT HAPPEN TO MARTS
What is happening to
MARTS today is a mirror of what will happen to the Malaysian amateur radio
later. I have to be very blunt about it because from the beginning I have
suspected that the society will be doomed when the new hams took over. It
was not the word 'NEW' that matter but about the poor attitudes that
matter most. I
first knew about the new guys took over after I came back to ham radio and
read the exchanges between Dr Ken and a lady on matters pertaining to
SEANET. I knew then that the new comers were not at all anywhere near those
old hams before me. That was the sign of disaster. Indeed it was. Day by
day funny things which were unheard of before has happened like the word
'pig' or 'babi' was used to hurl curse, one call sign were used by several
persons, a new 9W2 was trying to be a ham radio lecturer on ham band
etc. To
me it was a shocking event and with the progress of MARTS and the birth of
MARES and ASTRA I knew then Malaysian ham radio is moving towards
unhealthy direction. Very funny things added more disaster when SWLs were
legalized to transmit by the MCMC and there were complete change in
administrative policy on ham radio. MARTS's
AGM has changed to be a flat form to hurl curses and swear. I found that
people who never came on the air were very vocal and threw big stones on
the counsel members. True everybody is free to talk. But as far as I am
concerned I found it awkward because such behavior won't help the society. It
was extremely convenience QSLing during the old MARTS. The Bureau
functioned very well. I would post at least 30 cards to the outward bureau
each time and received a bundle every now and then. Newsletter would come
every now and then. Money was manage quite well. Life members follow a
certain condition. Counsel members rarely changed. Recently
I talked about a businessman on MART's counsel but a friend said that has
nothing to do with the running of the organization. But if you are running
a radio business your mind tend to think something else. We
experienced a businessman being elected in running a co-operative and
finally the co-operative went bankrupt because he run his own business and
mismanaged the co-operative funds. I
am extremely sorry for believing that the good attitude hams should run
MARTS. They would not be too haughty and not to run things as they think
fit. They could have consulted the existing old hams like 9M2SS or 9M2RS
and 9M2FK. I still believe in the net meeting because members can listen
and contribute and comment in case of poor decision making. The
mind must be opened and without having any bias. When a visit is made to
Indonesian Hamfest and SEANET or IARU or even Dayton Hamfest the committee
members must learn as much as they can. I say without bias. The Indonesian
hamfest always include CW competition then learn and study how it was
done. Just because he is a 9W and hate CW, he would just ignore about it.
And he must try to attend every SEANET to learn from each country. Open
mind means open mind and not to focus only one favorable area and close
the other that does not suit our thinking. You read RSGB and you must also
read ARRL or JARL. You read MCMC and you must also read IARU or ORARI. You
must have wide knowledge on things. Many
societies run contests both on SSB, CW and digital modes. I heard the
Indonesian runs it's own contest and provide awards. Malaysia
may seem very busy of dragging ham radio into politics. I heard somewhere
members of a political party have their own place for RAE and some are
working hard to give call sign to political people for free. And the blog
and internet facilities are being utilized to forward their aim and to
discredit their foes. Like political behavior lobbying is working very
hard. It
has been said that when stupid people think they are smarts and clever
then we can be doomed. They know no humble, no seeking advice nor help.
They would prefer to bulldoze. Top
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IS CELCOM SHIT ?
We have hated Streamyx very much because of it's
slowness and many people were hopping out for something else. You would
face hell officers asking you hell questions and giving us pictures
Steamyx employed some stupid and unqualified staffs. Then I chose Celcom
and purchased the Celcom broadband, the RM99 package.
A few days ago I decided to divorced the popular
Windows and opted for Ubuntu. Ubuntu has been here for many years and
Linux was in Malaysia even far before 2000. Dr Mahathir even ordered the
government departments to use Linux for some reason. And Ubuntu started
with the basic and now has grown to version 10. As it is known that
expert of C will be good in writing Linux too. And even now I have
decided to migrate from VB to C so that I can developed software
for Linux.
When I talked to Celcom officers from the ground
up to the so-called computer engineers in the HQ almost all
replied that Linux is new and Ubuntu is new and Celcom hardware does not
support Linux. And a few had never heard the word Ubuntu.
Calling them is hell. Even after telling them
that you are using Ubuntu the officers kept on repeating MAC as if they
do not know that Linux and Mac are two different things. 2 particular
officers whom I beleive were engineers told me Huawei 1550 do not
support Linux. Then I asked which one support it if the 1550 does not ?
"we are not trained in that, the sale section know it.."
Now Celcom is kicking us around. And even allowed
us to wait on the phone for 20 or 30 minutes without replying.
Once someone told me about the purchase of
certificate and universities giving free marks to the students
especially the private institutions. And I compared them with a few
computer science graduates who can't even developed programs for
schools. And wonder what quality of people are being employed by the
Celcom and Streamyx.
There was one lady by the name of Suria in Celcom
HQ was trying her best to guide me thru. I did not complete the learning
because I went to Jakarta. I came back and installed a modem by giving
the sudo apt-get install modemu. I still cannot connect to remote
network. And
when I tried to call 1-300-111-000 I got the hell of worst encounter.
Celcom engineers should know C and should be able
to write connection code for Linux and should keep up to date with IT
development and keep phase with hardware progress rather than act
haughtily and giving ridiculous answer to customers. If they are from
some useless universities and have too little knowledge, they should
cope up with knowledge and don't allow themselves to be fools when
customers are seeking assistance. If they just know Windows, then there
is no need to have engineers there. Probably a form 3 students can do
their work.
If I were to know their universities certainly I
would have written to their universities about the type of students they
produce.
The nation is teaching Linux in school now. People
are moving into it. Celcom should see that it must accommodate other OS
too. If a Primary school leader says he does not know we can accept it
but when the engineers say they don't know it and any method to write
any communication code then I would say they should not be there
and go and look for other job. What more if a private agency can allow
the customer to wait on the phone line for a very long time and could
not with a good answer.
When question like this has come up, Celcom should
quickly address the issue. I am sure it would not take weeks or moths to
write the codes to connect Ubuntu to website.
I wonder how they impressed the board when they go
for interview.
Update - reply to celcom
Dear Azizah,
I did call the number and talked to the officers. That made me
narrate the bitter experience in
http://9m2ar.com/view3.asp under the title Is Celcom Shit. I hope
they will find some remedial and sort out technical problems rather than
giving 'not support answer'. They are electronic/computer engineers and
I expect them to be well verse in C language and able to write the
dialing codes for Linux. Because Ubuntu is quite popular these days it
is imperative for Celcome to write the network and dialing codes for the
operating system.
Careline is not a unit to solve the windows based problem only. Today
Windows are mastered even by lower form students. The former Prime
Minister had commanded for the use of Linux and schools are teaching
Linux now. Ubuntu is not a 2 or 3 year OS. When all the officers answer
that it is a NEW operating system, I felt very offended and ashamed for
the nation.
I have been encountering with several so-called graduates who did not
show competency until I and many other believe these people are from the
private or chau kia institutions. People have been moving away from
Streamyx for the same reason; the attitudes. Not wanting to learn and
solve problems is indeed a show of poor attutudes. If Celcom had said
"Wait and give us time to resolve the linux issue" at least it is much
better than giving excuses and kicking people around.
Celcom is just lucky that the Government protects the monopoly or
forbid free competition. The result is bad and incompetent officers.
I think you can discuss the issue with your boss rather than readily
decide to wage war on customers with all the strength and the backups.
News start small like any fire. Inaction can make it grows.
To progress Celcom must move together with the improve technology.
Even Ubuntu is always updating to accommodate the users like creating
networks and other communication system. If the others move, do you
think Celcom is happy with gathering money from the people to pay the
workers with a big fat salary ?
Your officer, Suria, is a good lady. She tried her best to guide me.
She took pain to look for Ubuntu 10. Though it was not successful at
least she showed an admirable attitude. But from Alor Setar to HQ most
provide me with identical answer "Not compatible"....Ubuntu is new".
People like us would say "Then make it compatible.."
I hope Celcom will address the state of the arts issue.
Thank you.
Abdul Rahman.
Top |
WHAT SHE WROTE
Halimatun SaadiahJune 16, 2010 at 3:41am
Subject: salam
cikgu sihat ke, sy dari ex-student smv juga tapi tahun 1987 -1988, kelas
PPN, masih dlm ingatan bila cikgu marah kat kami penghuni asrama putri
bila mlm but majlis nyanyian and after that sapa tak lulus apa2 subject
semua kena rotan ikut jumpah pelajaran, tq cikgu kerana ambil berat
pasal pelajaran kamai dulu, dah 22 tahun berlalu, tapi nama cikgu tetap
dlm ingatan. tahun 1988 kalau tak salah tahun pertama peperiksaan SPM(V)
diperkenalkan mengantikan SPVM dan kamilah generasi pertama kat sekolah
tu yg mula di perkenalkan dengan komputer.
|
WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT
INDONESIAN TRIP ?
Had not been because of the
Air Asia ground staffs who demanded RM50 for not having the departure
card which was taken by the immigration, the hectic trip was somewhat
fun. I followed the group from Sekolah Kebangsaan Padang Terap. Many of
the teachers knew me. I could not be a naughty boy then. Most of the
tour time was in the dark because of the long bus trip. We could not
even see what were in the mini cultural village ( Taman Mini ). The
whole story is found here.
What I like most was 'Nasi
Padang' not the 'Nasi Sunda'. Hotel ? 4-4.5 star hotel.
Though hectic and tiresome
traveling has more kick then ham radio nowadays. The excitement of ham
radio starts to fade with the MCMC's policy and the incoming of bad
attitudes ham operators.
I am looking for the next
trip around December with or without a credit card. With a credit card I
can move a little farther to various attractions. A week of travel will
start with a week of dreaming and planning. Two to three weeks long
distant vacation takes longer time to prepare and planning; the dress,
the shoes, the bag, what to buy and see, financial management, the hotel
and lodging, the food, the prayer and the contingency.
Top |
I PRAISE 9Ws WHO ARE LEARNING CW
No matter what there are 9Ws who are still
learning Morse and will go for the Morse test. Passing or failing is no
big deal. But the desire and the effort is most admirable. The quest for
adventure of the thrill seekers like mountain climbing, fighting rapids,
sky-diving and swimming the ocean really shaped our vision and
character, increasing the survival rate.
I have commented on many Chinese parents who send
their kids to learn music, swimming, art and craft classes and learning
languages though those are not mandatory in schools. If the Malays care
to pick up Mandarin and go to evening classes then in term of
language superiority they will not be left behind. The number of
dialects known by the Chinese are greater than the Malays.
I always relate attitudes to hard work and effort
put in the quest for acquiring knowledge.
I always ask myself though it is too late now "Why
the can....why I can't...." If I had asked similar question during my
schooling days, I don't think I will be as what I am today. I would not
end up only as a teacher. I had wanted an easy life, lazy to study and
never pass languages. However the question is never too late. I took the
challenge up in the later years.
The 9Ws who become 9Ms are not without stories.
They didn't stop there and end up at the point. It is not about the CW
stuff. It includes their whole lives, continuing to improve themselves
for better and higher academic qualifications though they are at work.
There are many other stories behind them.
While I was schooling in USA, my class consisted
of many old adults like farmers and grand mothers. Now a few Malaysians
are following those people. That is not to talk about Chine which
schooled old citizens in universities.
I also read stories about people who prefer odd
job to begging. While I was at Puncak Bandung one vendors wanted to sell
me his goods which I did not want to buy. I just hate that thing. I
wanted to give him a few ringgit and he refused it. He said "I can't
take your money...I am not allowed to it even how much you give me. Just
buy my goods." Those vendors were great and admirable but I was the real
fool. I should have bought the thing and gave it away to someone in my
group.
There is always a different between the beggars
and those who work for what he wants.
Top |
A NEW WORLD
There wasn't any expectation that I will be
involving in a new learning. The new learning is on Linux. To be precise
- Ubuntu Linux. I have heard of Linux for more than years ago and
thought it is for the highly educated group and professionals like the
engineers. I heard the word Ubuntu from YB6LD, Don, from Medan. Just
before I left for Bandung, Malcom encouraged me to install Linux. And the
good great friend, Saito, posted me a Linux CD.
Linux is a new world for me. I need to venture
into it and learn the various commands bit by bit at my own phase and
time. Internet will be my teachers. It is good because I can understand
English. It will take a long time for sure. My Linux still could not go
on the internet. I still need to make it recognize my broadb and USB stick and able to shake hand with
the network. I have yet to look for sudo and git commands. I need to be
very well verse with the terminal and much more.
Because My Ubuntu could not function with the
Huawei E1550 USB modem, I had to go to my old school and an Old Town
coffee shop to access the internet. As I do that I find there are too
many new things ahead which will demand plenty of time. I remember the
days when I learned Morse code on my own when there were no soft wares
and no computers. It started almost the same way. And I can't imagine
how am I going to learn and be proficient in C language. I need to
translate most of my old homemade applications for Linux.
Now I am 63 and with full of diseases and
sickness. How much time left do I have for this ? Each year moves very
fast. A day pass with a split second. By the time I master 10 commands,
there would be an increase of another 20. Without mental stamina and
physical strength I will drop dead.
But that is an attitude that we have to adopt; the
struggle in the quest for knowledge not just to ignore things that we
can't or beg for whatever things we don't have.
Anyhow if someone offers to assist me in teaching
and guiding me in Ubuntu, I would certainly welcome them. May be the
learning period will not drag too long. My main concern right now is how
to make my Linux hand shake with the internet. Do I have to hunt for
Huawei E220 ? Do I need to find which provider sell post-paid broadband
USB modem ? Or will the USB-switch command work ?
Radin Lokman,9M2GJ, at 86 is still learning
computing and happily using the readily made soft wares with ease. One
of the hams operators said to me that old hams like Eshee and Lokman are
senile ( nyanyuk ) and can learn nothing anymore. Interestingly enough I
noticed he himself was 'nyanyuk' on the radio when passing overs during
communication time.
If the old people can, we don't see any reason why
the younger people can't. Things lie solely in the attitudes. Yet there
people who ridiculed my belief. But as I always say that everyone is
entitled to his own belief.
Top
|
HOORAH MY UBUNTU RUN
My internet search on Celcom
broadband with Ubuntu 10.04 using Huawei E1550 almost failes. Somehow I
tumbled on a topic called USB-Modeswitch which described some of the
Huaweis connecting to the internet. But it never mentioned Huawei E1550.
Celcom officials said it was compatible and does not support Ubuntu. I
have had a bitter exchanges with officers from Celcom HQ. But I kept on
looking.
Today I decided to go to
Maxis (22/06/2010). The lady briefed me on broadband package. In my
heart I said these people have nothing in mind but try to squeeze from
the general public as much as they can. I cut short and asked whether
any of those support Linux Ubuntu. She called another lady who told me
'NO. We have tried but not successful."
In front of the Maxis office
there is an Old Town. I went there for tea and at the same town using
the wi-fi to run my Linux. I searched for usb-modeswitch and download
the software. My battery was running out fast. Somehow I manage to look
for the procedure of installation using the apt-get install stuff, run
it and closed my laptop.
On reaching home, I run my
Ubuntu and with great excitement my usb Huaweie1550 lighted up. My web
browser run on Ubuntu. Now it opens a new frontier of knowledge which I
will have to venture step by step.
Celcom broadband 3G does
support Ubuntu. Read the letter I wrote to Celcom and until now they do
not reply. And the Maxis too is having identical problem; the attitude
problem Malaysian style.
Cont:
My next concern is to write
soft wares which I can run with Ubuntu. People don't learn computer
language in a day. I have yet really to find out which is the most
suitable language for Linux and start to learn the basic. I have written
many programs in Visual Basic and to let them go just like that would be
a waste. The most important ones are those dealing with databases.
Someone developed a system
that allows Linux to run Windows programs. But programs using access
database gave a big problem and therefore I need to convert my mdb data
into mysql and then run the windows exe program on Linux using the mysql.
Again I have to be patient and careful to study how to open and destroy
mysql database and how to make my program get access to it. If it is
successful then I would be able to use many old programs with only a
little work involve. Once all my plan work probably I would bid goodbye
to windows forever.
My radio logbook, student
and teacher's data all need to be changed into mysql.
Probably it will take 4 to 5
years before I can master Linux Ubuntu. I wish myself luck.
Top |
24/06/2010 A Good Day
Today it is a good day for me. As soon as I woke
up I immediately write a sample logbook to test on Linux using mdb
database ie the old logbook database. I thought Linux would kill all my
VB skill and I got to bid good bye to my all of my old programs. Anxious
to run it, I only put in a few lines of codes, compiled and close it.
Then I re-start my Ubuntu and run the logbook.
It run very well. So it looks like I have to wait
venturing into C and would first try to convert all the other old
programs for usage with Ubuntu. Though this is a new frontier for me, I
can't divorce with the years of work I put in. I have to carry those
into the new world.
At the same time I also have to convert the access
to mysql to completely divorce from Windows. It is not that I hate
Windows. You will eventually know why more and more of the world
population switched to Linux. I think the American students know Linux
very well because the other day I met a young Chinese boy while at
Celcom office and he spoke with American slang while trying to explain
how to connect the USB stick modem with Ubuntu. Malaysian education has
just introduce Linux in the school curriculum.
Why am I so excited ? It is just like a blind man
who finally able to see the world with only one eye with blurring image.
How blurred the image he sees he would be very thankful to God. I have
never thought I would be using any other operating system until I die.
And secondly I still want and able to venture into new things despite my
senile age. Similarly I dare to write in a language that my level of
proficiency is extremely low.
The world is sometimes mysterious. There are
periods when a string of unlucky stuffs came banging onto you. Your hard
disk went kaput. Your radio gave you problem. Your girlfriend walked out
of you. Your electricity bill shot up sky high. At other time a series
of good stuffs came to accompany you.
Top |
CW HERE AND THERE
I have been using the straight key since 1975,
before I passed the RAE. I don't remember the price but at that time I
would consider it expensive. I may have been working a few thousand
stations with it at the normal speed of about 15 wpm. The era of
electronic key is just recent. When 9M2SX departed with his key in 2010
I began to learn slapping the paddle. But it was a hard go. The spring
is getting rusty and I need to change with a new one. With the new key I
can go at about 45 wpm but with too many errors, always an extra dits or
dahs. At time when I pressed one dah it sounds just like pressing the
two paddles simultaneously.
Currently 25 - 30 wpm is quite comfortable.
Between the two keys I prefer the straight key. I can send with a
rhythm. And the mistakes is less or almost none.
CW is not a matter of sending. Many people can
send fast but could not copy the speed that they send. There was a
station whom I know is a beginner started calling CQ at about 30 wpm but
had a hard time in reading the return messages. But now he is slowing
down and is very active on the mode. In Indonesia many YD stations are
very proficient in Morse and the beginners are brave enough to go on CW
DXing.
9M6YBG is a new 9M. I think he has work a few
thousands stations including contests in CW. I most respect him because
he is picking up more than 40 wpm and did so very well with DX stations.
Yet there are still many 8 - 12 wpm stations heard
and they would asked the other fast stations to QRS during the session.
The new hams from Malaysia are scarred to come on
Morse for lack of confidence or proficiency. Most could not read the
characters but can send as fast as 18 - 20 wpm using the brass pounder.
Like many other stuffs Malaysians are inferior to the foreigners of the
same category. It is very rare and hard to find competitive Malaysians.
A few bad hams who do not know Morse are fond of
coming on and causing disturbances by pressing the key or tuning on CW
frequencies used by the others. But this does not happen in countries
where the enforcement are strong. Countries like Indonesia and Malaysia
probably could not cope up with the job or busy with something else and
just allow the bad stuffs to go on.
How could I not say anything bad about Indonesia
when some of the citizens are using the CW portions on phone and the SSB
portion to run businesses ? Each day the situation is getting worse. The
Thais and other Indo Chinese states too do not respect the international
radio rules. And I believe the Malaysians will follow the Indonesians
too in the near future.
The attitude of the Malaysians could be seen as
many government projects damaged or collapsed even or just after
completion. The most recent was the fallen ceilings of the court room.
No matter what I only see the engineers who were responsible for those
mishaps. Above I wrote to Celcom when I found that the engineers could
not solve the Linux-Broadband modem problem. And I also mentioned about
the 7 excellent schools which totally failed after run by the engineers.
It is not the title engineer who are at fault but the attitude. We are
not moving towards the better.
Ask the MCMC about monitoring of the radio band,
you will hear the answers which many people can't accept. Hope there
would be no answer like 'It is not our job..Our job is to provide
license and to extend the hobby.....Pirates or intruders is your
problem.'
CWers just need their portion to be respected and
they can only depend on the authority who can deal with the sick persons
or hams. Regular monitoring and triangulation will surely put some guys
to book. When talking about radio the role of the authority must be
mentioned too. Otherwise it will be as what is on 7 Mhz now.
Nobody can force a ham to come on CW if he does
like it or not proficient in it. But he should show an ethic not to
press or tuning to disturb people working on the mode. Because this is
almost a new phenomena, I insist on saying amateur radio will not be for
the better and is getting worse everyday. You just listen and find CB
style of communication has populated the amateur band. When I hear these
stations I would avoid them.
Top |
WHAT'S WRONG WITH UPSR
AND PMR ?
What's wrong with UPSR and
PMR ? I think the government must tell the people in detail what's wrong
with both of the exam ? For your information even SPM is going to be
scrapped and even now a large part of the grades are schooled base.
People must be told of why for many centuries we have the examination
systems and later we decided to abandon them ?
It is true that examinations
are hindrance to some people. Sons and daughters of many high profile people did not perform
well. There are too many straight A's students. Scholarships are based on
meritocracy. Examinations can bring disgrace to many people because
people tend to gauge the father by the kid's ability. A poor kid surely
comes from a poor father, true or false.
Actually the problem of
education does not lie with the examinations but the type of officers
handling the education system. Many do not really address the issue of
the students but focus more on promotion, salaries, showing off and
simply ignore the aim of education. It has been many years that students are
labeled as stupid, cannot be taught and school children are being separated for
categorization. Teachers are unhappy to enter the last class. In fact
the procedure of conveying and implanting knowledge on the last class
should be more vigorous.
Teachers are happy giving
tuition and get thousand of extra cash. Tuition is a lucrative trade. I
know of one Headmaster who sell mee goreng at night instead of
concentrating on the school and think of a way to enhance the
institution. School principals are more keen to impress the people in
the department rather than giving full attention on the student's
welfare.
Knowing the number of
illiterate students would be shocking for us. Finding out the number who
can't read and recite a basic Koranic verses for the Muslims seem to be
a very hard and hectic job. People just forget or don't want to do the
dirty job. To find out
why the students fail in the monthly test and to find a remedy is
another hell. Not all schools take the paint of visiting the houses of
the problem students.
If everyone in the line put
a serious thought and list ways to ensure every student can write and
read, able to add and multiply, understand what is being taught then we
can say there is a truly student orientated education; not the promotion
and re-numeration focused.
Today they are talking of
science, arts, vocational and even an economic stream. Stream is the
lesser degree of specialization. Parents prefer the stream which can
guarantee jobs for their kids. Teachers are saying the kids are not
interested in the stream. The government want to have 60 or higher
percentage of students in science classes. At the school level the
teachers are having a big head ache.
A simple test would not be
able to stream the right course to the right students. Putting students
who don't like mathematics in a Pure Science class could have a negative
effect on the student. There had been effort to put these arts inclined
kids into a Pure Science stream and finally no one can qualify to enter
any university. And a school based exam is always bias.
The morality of many
Malaysians are deteriorating. People hunt for even the secret SPM or
SPTM public examination papers. Questions were known to leak and being
sold. Even school base common examination papers did leak because of the
missing of good values among many of us. And people who handle the work
could not find the most effective ways either due to the low mental
ability or simply did not to make things hard for themselves.
Because of the streaming
there must be some sort of test or examination to know the aptitude of
the students. But there must be a test. And whatever there must be a
mechanism to trace the illiterate students and students who can't count
numbers. For the Muslims it is imperative to gather those who can't read
Koranic verses.
It looks like it has been
typical for some policy makers to lower the standard of the Malaysians
down whether in education or otherwise. You want to know the Malaysians
look at the broken buildings and bridges, the billion ringgit
corruptions, drug pushers escape hanging because of missing evidence,
white collar robberies etc. It is called the lack of morality. That's
not talking about the low quality, inefficient and non-competitive
people who become the Head of Departments or technical officers. Even
our PM does not believe in the ability of the Malaysians to think and
plan for the country.
Since we have been writing
alot about Jewish's education, technical development and how they
brought up their kids at least we can stop and think about it for a
while.
In the meantime the
government must tell the people what's wrong with UPSR and PMR.
Ps.
I read today's paper a
little late and the headline display a big heading on foreign workers
who are not paid for three months. These people are building the Istana
Negara. Everybody seems to blame the sub-contractor. These are again the
question of morality of the Malaysians. These kind of people will be the
same wherever they are, in education or not. I mentioned particularly on
officers because I have encountered with these kind of officers.
My question was who select
the contractor ? The government must ask the body with whom the
agreement was signed. The responsibility lies with the contractor not
the sub-contractor and the people who select the bad contractor.
If you miss this argument,
it means we all have lost the great old value of ours.
Education system must also
be looked thru all other behaviors as the people involved are picked and
selected by the government. I read about a few World Cup coaches who
tendered their resignation for the failures. We all know pretty well it
was the players who made errors.
Are we playing another blame
game ?
Top
|
MY USA VISA EXPIRES
AFTER I DIE
I already missed USA for 2
years. Last year I could not not make it to Dayton because of the credit
card problem. Without it I can't rent a car.
Traveling alone to USA
without car rental and following the tour group was fun but the movement
was restricted. I don't remember the number of time I visited Hawaii. In
Hawaii I don't have to rent one because the bus system would take you
around the main island. For two different busses I could cover the whole
island in two days.
Single traveling was to Los
Angeles beside Hawaii. The first time was in 1970s where I stayed in my
friend's house. Years after 1980 I would stay a little outside Los
Angeles not too far away from Disneyland. I always stay at the same
hotel owned by a Taiwanese, paying a weekly rate for 10 days. From the
base I would take a bus each day traveling around the Orange county.
Going to the city of Los
Angeles was about USD2.50 and took me about 1 hour. From there I would
take a train to Universal City. Universal Studio is on a hill and no
other Universal Studio in the world is alike this one.
Motels own by Mexican is a
little cheaper but the one I stayed in was bigger and cleaner. I did not
have any problem about food because in the hotel area there is an Indian
Restaurant. The Briyani would cost me about USD12.00 but I could eat it
2 times with full stomach.
Had I got a car, I would
have gone to wherever I could find a hamfest, and to Las Vegas.
So I have decided that with
or without a credit card I will be going to the States again at least
for 7 - 10 days. If my student wants to send her kids along I would go
for 14 days so that the kids can enjoy the two theme parks at
Disneyland, the Knot Berry Farm and probably 2 days of UniversalStudio.
I even think to take the kids to Primary school for a walk around. If I
were to go alone then I would follow the same old program. My visa
expires in 2017 after I die.
My wife has a dream to go
back to 205 Redbud Apartment. It was a place we used to live for 1 1/2
years at Indiana University. She wants to see whether 'Wail' still
lives, the bus driver is still alive. And I want to go and eat at the
Long John Silver all I can eat. I asked her to talk to my son who is
with Exxon. May be he can make some arrangement to go to his boss place
in Texas. My wife and I do not have any credit card. But she has no visa
yet.
It is not easy to get a US
visa. We have to make appointment for the interview months ahead and
have to pay about RM300. The US government apply the interview fee as a
reciprocal procedure. Because we charge them, then they charge us. In
the interview there is no guarantee that your application can be
approved. And even though you have a visa, you may be asked to come back
if you have a suspicious record.
Distant traveling need a
long planning and talking if you are going with a group. All in the
group must have the same brain wave. Regular meetings and discussions
must be held prior to the travel date. Or it would be easy to go with
someone who knows nothing like my next door neighbor who followed me to
Lubbock Texas to see his son. Imagine I took him to Los Angeles, then to
Vegas, Grand Canyon, Texas, Arizona and Florida. If you look at a map
you would not want to follow the trip. It took us a solid 3 weeks. How
long is 3 weeks ? With the kind of movement you won't feel it. It was
just like a few days, always not enough.
Why USA ? I like the design
of the buildings in the towns. Not many places contain tall buildings.
Because of the different ethnic group and different areas the design of
the houses are different. The village is clean. Honolulu is one of the
most beautiful cities in USA. Along the beach there are resting places
where people play chess, and I played with one local who wanted me to
visit Hawaii for a game or two with him.
Florida seems to be cheaper
than the northern states. It is a heaven for entertainment.
If anyone have a desire of
visiting United States get a few guys and plan well as early as
possible.
Bill Clinton watching USA
against Ghana. Ghana won 1 - 0.
Top |
SO YOU WANT TO HOMEBREW ?
I find many Malaysian hams are DIY people, finding
fun by homebrewing stuffs though it may cost higher than the commercial
ones.
Here is a link where you can find plenty of transceiver projects for
homebrewing.
As far as I am concern there is no homebrew or DIY
project now. The other day when my solid state for QRP went mum, I had
to take to an electronic shop telling them what to do. I was lucky it
came back alive again.
My hand is shaky and my eyes could not have
perfect focus.
When I glanced thru some of the home made projects
I was amaze to the quality of the workmanship. It takes some pain to
produce a quality hand made product. Even the makers of copied antenna
like the Johoreans who built successful and effective antenna is an
admirable person.
The Indonesians have ample experience in
homebrewing projects. The Indian and Russian hams are still using the
self-made transceivers to work on DX band.
Top |
SPM WILL BE SCRAPPED TOO
Soon you will not be hearing about students
getting straight As in the newspaper. The UPSR, PMR and SPM will be at
school based. There will be no more public examinations as we have
today. For what reason we don't know. The Ministry of Education refused
to budge from the stand.
Certainly a private firm has to find a way to look
for appropriate workers. In many jobs there will be a heavy turn over of
workers due to the suitability adjustment problems. The school based
examination will be full of hanky panky and dishonesty. Many parents
would cry foul and pointed out at the imaginary discrimination.
Probably the marketability of the students will be based on the merit
of the schools. Well known institutions like Chung Ling, Han Chiang,
Penang Free, Sultanah Asma, Shan Alam and a few others have been the top
rated schools. The unknown Kampong Schools probably will be suffrn ering
and less marketable. That we don't know yet how students will be chosen
into IPT. The Indonesians had once adopted this
and now has sworn not to talk about it anymore and has advised the
Malaysians not to discard the public examination like the SPM.
For the wealthy whatever system we have here, will
have no problem. A few chose to send their youngs overseas starting from
primary to higher education. Some institutions here provide guarantee
for jobs as long as you have the mean. Even becoming a pilot it is not
something for a poor people how smart they are.
While we are selling certificates direct or indirectly, we still
import thousands of foreign workers. Are they related ? Education,
self-self esteem and the choice of jobs are related. It is quite
difficult for the local with certificates of higher education to take
the 'low' class job.
There will be the outgrowth of the private schools promising quality
education and easy entry to foreign universities. The kind of twinning
programs or setting up the foreign examination system would enabled
these students to go overseas after form 5.
Hence it is not only the marketability of our students after almost
11 years of education but also whether we will be accepted in foreign
universities. It could be expected that the quality of the new
generations youth is lower than the youth of the good old days. Top |
BACK TO THE SQUARE ONE
After my operation I thought of hanging my boot on
computer programming. And as to my old school which bought RFID cards
for usage in December for the students wanted to design the students'
card it's own way. I told them their way will take more than sixth
month, my way was less than a week. But the wanted their own design.
Though the staffs had been using the RFID card and
finger print for attendance, the students did not receive theirs yet. I
saw the teachers prefer to use their fingers to the smart cards.
Sometimes they left the cards in the car and at time in their bags.
Fingers, they say, are easier.
Yesterday they said the students cards were ready.
They want to use them the soonest for the hostelites to records the
leaving the school compound and for home. Because my computers have been
attacked and reformated, I had a hard time looking for old programs I
wrote. I thought they would just let go and forget their project.
When I found the backup on the CDs, I have to
study the codes back. I don't remember the files used, where they are
kept and the operating procedures. It took me about 3 hours to fix the
bits and pieces back again. Today I installed the software in two PCs
belonging to the girl's and boy's hotels. Then the school had only one
reader. At 4 pm the school rang up telling me the system ran very well.
The students were excited too.
The smart card used by the student is with the
school logo, student's picture, name, identity card number and on the
rear some other information. In the card I put in several data like the
name, IC, classroom, date of birth, address and a few others. I had to
write a special program to that using the database the school already
has. The same card will be used for library. In fact it can be used as a
debit card too. I have design a code for value entry and deduction the
amount as it passed thru a reader.
Writing software for people is a hard work. It
consumes plenty of time and too little or no payment. Introducing to the
Ministry would be worst because the officers there would only want to
copy your idea then asked the people in KL to write and market them.
Writing codes for a little sum of money and only
for one single user is not worth the concentration given. So just do a
simple coding only.
I am not a programmer. Neither do I have any
computer training. A few teachers thought I have a Master degree in
computing. "I learned from the Internet.."I told them.
That's why when people want to go the easy way in
getting things, I would despise them.
A few ham operators have been saying that I bluff
and boast when I took RAE in essay form and developing soft wares.
Though it was something of the past, it is something on the present.
They are becoming a full pledge hams without CW and do not show even a
little bit of respects. Not many. Many four or five out out 7000. Isn't
that not many ?
I always say, "If they can, why we
can't...."Younger people are more fresh and more capable then the old
men. May it be in CW or in any other things as well.
I hope to train someone to maintain those programs
I wrote for several people, including the school.
Top |
Though my interest in ham radio is fading, I am
thinking of buying the rig as shown above. It is an Icom 7800. I have
not read the write up about it. Surely it looks pretty good. If I buy
one, I will have to hide it and even with a vigorous search everywhere
plus the roof top you won't find it.
If you marry a very
beautiful wife you must hide her also and tie her when you going out.
Haven't you hear about people who hid their wives and tied them when
they are not at home ?
But hams have always said
that there is no point having a super transceiver if the antenna set up
is poor. Investing in the antenna would promise excellent power push.
You won't regret if you spend even RM5000 - RM10000 in your antenna
system. Your IC718 can sound like a Rolls Royce with a proper antenna.
The height it the utmost important.
I hope by the end of next
month I can own one 7800 , and will keep it like keeping a beautiful
wife and never to live it for people to see.
Top
(07/06/2010 -Abdul Rahman) |
Cars with wings may be just around the corner
By JOAN LOWY
Associated Press Writer
This undated handout photo provided by Terrafugia, shows
The Terrafugia Transition shortly after a takeoff. A
major hurdle to production of the planes was removed
recently when FAA granted the company a waiver to weight
restrictions.
If cars had wings, they could fly - and that just might happen,
beginning next year. The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Mass.,
says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by
the end of 2011. It recently cleared a major hurdle when the Federal
Aviation Administration granted a special weight limit exemption to the
Transition.
"It's the next 'wow' vehicle," said Terrafugia vice president Richard
Gersh. "Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don't fly."
The Transition is a long way from cartoon dad George Jetson's flying
car zooming above traffic, or even the magical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
"There is no launch button on the (instrument) panel," Gersh noted.
Rather, the car-plane has wings that unfold for flying - a process
the company says takes one minute - and fold back up for driving. A
runway is still required to takeoff and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a
car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with
FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations
The company is pitching the Transition to private pilots as a more
convenient - and cheaper - way to fly. They say it eliminates the hassle
trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from
airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go.
When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no
expensive hangar fees because you don't have to store it at an airport -
you park it in the garage at home.
The plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a
maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers.
Gas mileage on the road is about 30 mpg.
Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident
by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into
marginal conditions.
The Transition's price tag: $194,000.
But there may be additional charges for options like a radio,
transponder or GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.
"If you get into a very dire situation, it's the ultimate safety
option," Gersh said.
So far, the company has more than
70 orders with deposits, he said.
Terrafugia is Latin for "escape from the land." The company was
founded in 2006 by five Massachusetts Institute
of Technology grad students who were also pilots. They
received some seed money from the school.
The concept of a car-plane has been around since at least the 1950s,
but it's possible that Terrafugia may become the first company to
mass-produce one, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.
"We're working very closely with them, but there are still some
remaining steps," Brown said.
Top
(04/07/2010 -Abdul Rahman) |
MY NEW LOG
My new logbook is very much simpler because I need
to explore how to use it with Ubuntu if I were to put in other
utilities. Instead of using the data control to bind the ms access data
I used the ADO. Using ADO I can open access and access2003 whereas the
data control can only open the old access file. Secondly I also
discovered that my old logbook has an error for indexing the log.
When running the program it will display a picture
of the ham pointed out by ADO. As I navigate the the picture will
be displayed if they exist. I can easily clear the picture by clicking
on it once.
Above is the logbook's appearance after clicking
on the picture. Now the date indexing looks perfect arranging from 2002
to 2010 and following the time.
I need to add some more information like the
number of SSB, CW and other mode as my old log book. As our fellow hams
used to say 'Slowly...slowly..catch the monkey..."
Top
(04/07/2010 -Abdul Rahman) |
STUDENT RE-UNION
To be honest I do not have
interest to meet my school or class mate as I grow older for the simple
reason that sometimes during the re-union time political speech was
delivered asking us to support so and so. Secondly some people want to
illicit donation for the old school. And most of all I don't feel like
living much longer and I prefer to do things following my own mind. I
want a free and peaceful mind.
On the other hand I am
excited and keen to attend my student's re-union activities. Lately the
students of Sekolah Menengah Vokasional Alor Setar/ Sekolah Menengah
Teknik Jalan Stadium are fond of organizing meets including the big
gathering of the old lost friends.
I want to see the number of
students I can recognize not so on their names. I can't remember names.
I might be able to recall a few very special ones who always help me or
who are very famous. I would observe their behavior to see whether there
are any changes. Almost all change in appearance and behavior. They
become very matured and well spoken.
The problem with the
re-union is that they are organized so close a part. There was on in
Pendang recently. There will be another one on the 23 rd in Batu
Frerenggi Penang. On 24 th will be in Grand Season Kuala Lumpur and at
the end of July again in Kuala Lumpur.
The availability of computer
networking, the chat thry Skype and Yahoo and the Facebook made the
re-union possible. In fact many old students wrote back using the
Facebook.
The other day I read in a
Star Paper about a re-union where I saw a picture of old friends
together. They are of all races and almost all look wise with their
wrinkles.
When I was working I have a
pleasure of meeting my teachers. I really respect them and felt very
glad when they came to my school. I would scold them if they called me
Cikgu. I want them to call me by my name 'Man'. When they brought their
sons to school in my institution, I would say 'leave thing to me...'
Then I rang up Kuala Lumpur telling them about a service I want to do to
my old teacher. My Primary school teacher expressed his dire happiness
when I just called him "Cikgu, apa khabar.." at a market place.
When students invite me for
their re-union I want to attend all if I can, even in Kuala Lumpur or
Johor. I would talk to my wife about it and plan our trip.
So far the 1995 - 2000
students had not make any meeting yet. Those were the years when our
school rose up to the peak when we won awards after awards and being
made a benched mark school. I had praised the students much for their
good work. We had a famous battle cry of 'We Got To Be Number ONE'. We
sang 'Aku Boleh at every assembly'. Najib visited our school and a few
thousand more from all over the country.
If these student organize
one, I will make sure I will attend it.
Top
(04/07/2010 -Abdul Rahman) |
7 Mhz - USB or LSB ?
It is not my intention to explain about the
history or regulation on 7 Mhz operation. I am just telling what we have
been practicing for years, right or wrong.
With the old radio the design would inevitably
shifted to LSB when we tuned to 7 Mhz. The new design and technology we
have the choice of choosing any mode. With the existing of the new
technology ham all over the world are still using LSB. I have been doing
it for decades and almost all the stations I worked with Jota or not are
using the LSB.
Even the very smart and intelligent hams who are
very well verse with the radio regulation follow the tradition.
They say there is no law about. I say there is no
law about urinating in public roads or streets. You go to Vietnam you
would see alot of people urinate by the road side in the city. Hence it
means the Malaysian Muslims can practice public urinating by the road
side in Kuala Lumpur or Ipoh because there is no law banning it.
As usual the Malaysians just don't want to follow
the tradition or the world. They used USB for local communication. It is
not a matter of the right and the wrong. The Malaysians just want to
start to be different and later would boast of the brave action to
change the old traditional habit. I thought the Americans or the
Japanese would be the first to start.
What a great Malaysian ham or hams. May be the
MCMC encourage the innovation.
Top
(08/07/2010 -Abdul Rahman) |
The Health of Ham
Radio Today
By
Patrick Stox
The Amateur Radio Service has an almost
unduplicated position for a recreational activity/leisure time
pursuit because of its historically tight coupling to the
wireless telecommunications, broadcasting, and military
communications industries. Few other hobbies have supplied such
a sizable number of both motivated and trained workers and of
useful technological improvements to their associated commercial
industries.There was once a time
in the industry when it would have been routinely assumed that
an applicant for a technical job was a licensed Amateur and had
a station on-air. No longer is that true, of course. But,
whether or not most people in the industry explicitly recognize
it, the health and survival of the Amateur service is still very
important for the industry - if for no other reason, because
Amateur radio is one of the few remaining services where an
individual can still develop practical, hands-on,
trial-and-error RF experience on his own! And since such
practical RF experience is becoming scarce in today's raging
digital flood, that's not a small concern.
In the Curmudgeon's view the health of
the Amateur Service today is only average. Not robust but just
"so-so," a kind of flabby middle-age. And that is ironic, for
the level of RF technology available to the Service has improved
tremendously in the fifty years since the Curmudgeon earned his
first license. But during these decades the sociology associated
with the Service has degraded considerably. That degradation
extends to licensees' on-air behavior, to their motivation and
interest to learn and to experiment, and to their willingness
just to "lend a hand" to benefit others, whether in helping new
initiates to qualify for licenses or in public service
activities.
Today's Amateur Service is not your
grandfather's hamming. "Yep, Bubb, it really was more fun back
then!" Too many of today's active hams are too disinclined to
pick up a soldering iron, too egocentric in their on-air
operating practices, too focused on artificially-produced
competitiveness when cooperation would work equally as well. The
character of the Service has degraded over the decades, perhaps
tracking that of the larger American culture, and the obvious
question is "Why?"
The Curmudgeon ascribes the sociology
problem to two causes, one natural and one man-made. The natural
cause is the aging-out of the senior ham population and with
that the demise of some semblance of historical understanding,
experience, and quality in the ranks. That of course is
unstoppable. The man-made cause is something that the Curmudgeon
now has to admit that he erred in initially favoring. That was
the restructuring of the FCC license exam process as manifested
by the establishment a few years ago of the "No Code" Amateur
Radio licenses (i.e., no requirement to demonstrate ability to
send/receive the International Morse Code, plus other unrelated
changes).
Prior to the advent of restructuring,
earning an Amateur license probably required more than the
amount of work and dedication that would have been proportional
to the reward, and thus the arduous licensing requirements
overly restricted the entrance of new participants. Now the
qualifications for the restructured Amateur licenses are
probably set too low, and this has resulted in the influx of
telecommunications consumers and casual hobbyists in quantities
that threaten to seriously change the nature of the Service.
To be fair, the elimination of the code
proficiency requirement itself was inevitable; it was a change
that occurred in the same time period when Morse Code was also
being dropped as an authorized emissions mode for other
(commercial) radio services. By itself "No Code" is probably not
sufficient to account for all the degradation. Rather, the
Curmudgeon believes that the open publication of the license
exam question pool, with its "just cram for the exam" ethic, and
the concurrent rise of commercial "Amateur exam quick study
courses" of various kinds has created much of the damage.
Just consider the advertisements for
the nascent "FCC Amateur exam preparation industry." In one case
an entrepreneur advertises that an individual can go from zero
telecommunications knowledge to passing the (entry level)
Technician Class exam in a one-weekend "camp!" In another case
an individual possessing the entrance grade license reported
that he successfully passed the (highest level) Extra Class exam
after just twelve hours of study using an on-line (for profit)
Web site. There are testimonials also from individuals who
claimed to have passed all three current levels of license exams
from scratch in the course of only two months, using the various
exam preparation services! These rapid time scales and minimal
work loads were unknown in the Service prior to restructuring.
But perhaps the most telling example of
the lowered level of the current exams involves an English
ham...a chap who is a graduate engineer and a long-time holder
of the highest level UK ham license. Recently he attended a UK
national ham convention where he unexpectedly discovered that
the US Amateur license exams were being given. With no
preparatory studying whatsoever, never having ever read the
FCC's Part 97 Rules, and acting strictly on impulse, he
instantly decided to take the US exams. Ninety minutes later he
departed with a new US Amateur Extra Class license! A "special
case," of course, but what does it say about the quality of the
current exams?
The Curmudgeon asks, "Where is the
growth of skills and knowledge that comes with invested time,
experience, and dedication to the Service, producing as a
natural consequence the ever-increasing ability to pass the
exams? Where are the proven benefits from this new license
structure to the Amateur Service? To the industry? Isn't this
just more instant gratification for the 'I want it....and NOW!'
crowd?" And so the culture and quality of the Service shift and
continue to move over time.
Overall, this is a serious problem, and
there aren't any quick and easy solutions. Much of any reform
that may occur will have to come from within the Amateur Service
itself. But there is a definite role for the industry in the
pursuit of this reform: recognizing, encouraging, supporting,
and demanding the improvement of the Amateur Service! Not solely
as a pro bono initiative; it's really in the self-interest of
the industry too!
Top
(08/07/2010 -Abdul Rahman)
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