Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

WWVB-controlled clocks

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Even though it seems like I’m always running late, I’m anal about keeping my watch accurate to the second. Thus, I’m a big fan of NTP and radio-controlled clocks. In fact, I’m considering getting one of those “atomic” Casio watches.

Last month NIST updated WWVB Radio Controlled Clocks: Recommended Practices for Manufacturers and Consumers (PDF), its guide to making and using WWVB-controlled clocks. WWVB operates at 60kHz, way down in the low frequency band. A half-wavelength antenna for WWVB would be a little over a mile and a half long. NIST also operates WWV, which broadcasts at 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 25MHz.

Building a WWVB-controlled clock is on my list of electronics projects, but it’s not one I intend to get to anytime real soon.

Posted in Amateur Radio, Electronics, Technology | No Comments »

I’m Twittering

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

Or it is “Tweeting?” I’m not sure. Whatever it’s called, I’m doing it. I resisted Twitter for the longest, just like I did with Facebook, but I finally gave it a try a few weeks ago.

It gives me a nice outlet for things that I find interesting, but not quite interesting enough for a blog post. It’s certainly not for everyone, but if you enjoy my blog posts, you might enjoy following me on Twitter.

I’m using TweetDeck as my desktop client, though I haven’t been able to get it installed under Linux just yet, even though it’s supposedly compatible. I also use TwitterFon on my iPhone.

Posted in Technology | No Comments »

The secret life of a space shuttle

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

I’ve mentioned the Big Picture blog before, but last Monday’s post warrants another mention. The pictures document a complete prep/launch/land cycle for the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Looking at all the pictures and reading the captions takes a few minutes. If you don’t have a few minutes, at least look at this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one.

Currently, the plan is to retire the space shuttles in 2010. Orion isn’t scheduled to be ready until 2014. However, there are various proposals out there to extend the life of the space shuttle program and/or speed up the development of Orion.

Posted in Photography, Science, Technology | 1 Comment »

Comment feed

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

My blog doesn’t get a ton of comments, but the few that get posted tend to be interesting. If you’re looking for an easy way to see all the comments, subscribe to this RSS feed.

If you’re still not using a feed reader, it’s time you started. I recommend Google Reader. The BBC has a good page explaining RSS.

Posted in Technology, Web Site | 1 Comment »

Facebook

Friday, October 24th, 2008

I finally started using Facebook as of yesterday. Yes, I know, I’m only a few years late. (I have successfully avoided the whole MySpace thing. No plans on changing that.) I had been resisting for a long time now, assuming it was just another time waster. A friend of mine sent me an email to say that he was going to start posting some pictures on his profile, so I figured while I was on there, I might as well participate.

I currently have 114 “friends,” and probably nearly as many invitations still pending. It was nice to reconnect with a lot of old buddies, mostly from college, but also some from high school and Boy Scouts.

The most interesting thing has been seeing the connections between my groups of friends. There are more than a few instances where a friend from one group knows a friend from another group. It nearly makes you want to sing It’s a Small World.

Posted in Technology | 7 Comments »

3G in Oxford

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

I’ve been meaning to post this for a few days, but we now have 3G in Oxford (and by “we” I mean AT&T subscribers). What is 3G? Basically it means that I can now get data to my iPhone about five times faster. I haven’t been able to test that out yet, but that’s what they say.

Cassie’s doctor told me a few months ago that he had heard we would be getting 3G because of the debate. According to this article from the Clarion Ledger, we were moved to the top of the list because of the debate.  Jackson, Vicksburg, and some suburbs of Memphis are the only other cities in Mississippi with 3G through AT&T.

Posted in Oxford, Technology | No Comments »