tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17758536713320530992024-03-13T05:19:32.265-05:00Don Keith N4KC's Technology, Media and Ham Radio BlogAn open discussion of the effects of rapid technological change on media and society in general--and the hobby of amateur radio in particular by Don Keith N4KC.Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.comBlogger310125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-5215280498719488042020-08-13T10:45:00.000-05:002020-08-13T10:45:21.225-05:00Some questions in search of sound answers re: COVID-19<p> by Don Keith</p><p>Once more, I'll veer slightly away from rapid technological change for a bit. But not really. Technology is racing along yet seemingly unable to give us much reassurance when it comes to the one thing most on our minds these days.</p><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="9nm02-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9nm02-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="9nm02-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">We are now...what?...six months into this pandemic. I'd say we've spent billions fighting and studying it. (Somebody is making money, by the way. They aren't burning that currency in barrels somewhere to scare away the Chinese bug with thick smoke. It's going into somebody's bank account.) We've allowed it to radically alter our lives and economy. We have armies of people who supposedly know what they are doing performing both those functions--studying and fighting--and yet as much as I try to follow developments, I still see so many questions going unanswered. Or incorrectly answered. Or politicized by all sides.</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="acp5e-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="acp5e-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="acp5e-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="3m24d-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3m24d-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="3m24d-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">1) Are we really still considering all positive tests as "cases" and, if so, is that a good measure? What is the error rate of the more commonly used tests? I personally know more people who tested positive and then tested negative...sometimes multiple times...than I do those who actually had symptoms of COVID-19. I know others who had symptoms of something, tested negative for COVID, but still got counted positive because of lung congestion and cough. There are other viruses out there, folks. And they didn't run and hide just because the new guy came along.</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="7olvt-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7olvt-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7olvt-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="bf1of-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bf1of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="bf1of-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">2) Do we still count as a COVID-19 hospitalization and/or death those who present with something else entirely...even heart attacks or accidental injury...then test positive for the virus?</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="40hg3-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="40hg3-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="40hg3-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="au89u-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="au89u-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="au89u-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">3) I saw a study this morning that teens who vape have a 5- to 7-times greater likelihood of contracting the virus as do those with good sense...er...those who choose not to vape. Do we have any idea at all of the number of infections by those of all ages who smoke or vape--smoke anything, including pot, but good luck getting that number--who catch coronavirus compared to those with good sense...er...those who do not. Seems that would be a good stat to know when we start isolating and protecting folks most likely to get the virus. Simple question: what percentage of cases and deaths are/were regular smokers? Please tell me we are asking that question. And reporting it to some central repository of data. And using it to fight and study.</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="ed8q6-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ed8q6-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="ed8q6-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="bhl5k-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bhl5k-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="bhl5k-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">4) Could we not settle on one standard way of counting cases, positive tests, negative tests, symptomatic individuals tested who are negative AND positive, non-symptomatic individuals tested who are negative AND positive, positive tests that were later negative, hospitalizations, intubations, ICU cases, and deaths? How can we come up with accurate data if every hospital, local health department, national agency, media outlet, Facebook user, and politician counts and interprets these crucial numbers differently? Often based on his, her or its own agenda. Then throws them into one big, scary pot. Or is that the idea, counting anything possible as a "case" and "death" to scare us into wearing masks and staying the heck at home?</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="9p3dl-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9p3dl-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="9p3dl-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="8dp5e-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8dp5e-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8dp5e-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">5) And finally, can we please, please, please have somebody reporting these data in a clear, consistent, understandable way on a regular basis, along with what they mean and what we are doing to make things better? Somebody we can trust? Not somebody whose funding, grants, career advancement, personal popularity, media ratings or website clicks, or political party and/or career depends on the spin placed upon such data? </span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="7nduv-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7nduv-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7nduv-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="ab0c0-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ab0c0-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="ab0c0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">By the way, the media ain't the answer to this last question. They have done a huge disservice throughout this thing so far. Example: one local TV station starts every newscast with, "Our state now has XXXX cases of COVID-19, setting a new record for infections." "XXXX" is the total number of positive tests since the end of February. Far as I can tell, every single one of those either recovered (more than 98%), died, or turned out to be false positives...or will. There certainly are not that many active cases right this red hot minute. And if there is one new case today, yes, it sets a new record. One more case/positive test tomorrow breaks the record again. It only takes one to set a new record! And they and other media continue to show us that cumulative graph which starts at zero cases in February and frighteningly climbs to XXXX today over there on the right-hand side. And if they format the graph just right, it is an almost vertical climb. What is the purpose of such a misleading and useless graph other than to make us look and come back tomorrow to look again? Incidentally, it may eventually flatten out.Unlikely since we will likely always have a few new cases of this virus, just as we do with just about every other virus that has come along. It will NEVER go down. That I can assure you. </span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="4p9j0-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4p9j0-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="4p9j0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="bku67" data-offset-key="20lsn-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="20lsn-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="20lsn-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Just asking...</span></div></div>Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-60289326943637570612020-07-16T17:00:00.002-05:002020-07-16T17:00:13.813-05:00Questions that I would like to see answeredby Don Keith<br />
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<span data-offset-key="4rp6p-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Really, I'm not trying to cause trouble here. I know COVID-19 is one bad bug and we should mitigate as requested to help prevent its spread. That makes sense even in a normal cold and flu season. But please, help me find the answers to some questions the media seem to have forgotten to answer:</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7q11h-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">1- Why do media insist on showing us that "Total number of cases" line graph? Of course it is a steadily rising curve and will continue to get higher...unless we suddenly have NO new cases. The data are cumulative! With number of cases on the x axis and time on the y, the graph will get fatter as time goes on. Or until there are zero new cases. Or until time stops.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="anp54-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">2- Corollary to that question: Why does the total number of cases since the beginning not equal the number of people who have recovered, the number of active cases currently, and the total number of deaths from the corona virus? You've either recovered, have it now, or died from it, right? Those numbers are not even close to each other. What happened to all those folks not accounted for?</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="b8fs5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">3- Is it true that anyone presenting to a hospital with viral pneumonia is automatically classified as suffering from COVID-19? I've heard this from more than one reliable source. Even though there are many, many other causes of viral pneumonia besides corona. And if someone is tested, say, six times and is positive three times and negative three times, does that count as three more cases of COVID-19? I know people who have tested four times with two negatives and two positives. And each is still without symptoms.We've all heard those stories of test people submitting unused swabs that came back positive. Or that swabbed a peach that apparently has a raging case of COVID-19. I have no verification of those kinds of things.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7nc9v-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">4- How come we don't know why there has been a surge of new cases in many states over the last month that had previously been relatively unscathed? We've been studying this virus for six months now, and similar ones for years, and we apparently don't have a clue. You can't blame it all on the bars, the beaches, or the political party of the governors can you?</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="35omg-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">5- Corollary question to #4 above: Is it possible that this surge could be related to dramatically increased testing? See <a href="https://mises.org/wire/false-positive-panic-over-covid-19" target="_blank">this article</a> about accuracy of the current tests being done. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="b4gl8-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">6- That, of course, would not explain the increase in hospitalizations and deaths. Something is going on. Surely the vast, well-funded communicable disease bureaucracy can tell us what's up and suggest ways to fix it. Besides everybody going into a bunker, I hope. I do hear phrases in the media like, "...deadliest day yet..." and "...record-breaking new cases..." But I do note that these are coming in states and areas where positive tests and deaths were very low before, so records are not that hard to break if there is an increase in either. And with far fewer cases in the past, that leaves a much bigger group with no immunity, right? Or am I way off base here? </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="b784m-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">7- And then there is that big grab bag of rumors, guesses, wishes, and naysaying. Do kids carry the bug and infect us old folks while they stay well? Are we killing more people by using porous,filthy, germ-saturated, carbon dioxide-trapping face masks than we are saving with them? Does the virus remain alive on an elevator button for about two seconds, two minutes, two hours or two days? (I've heard all four!) Does your blood type, diet, IQ, blood alcohol content, or sign of the zodiac have anything to do with your likelihood of catching this mess? Is stress really a factor? Do the meds we've been hearing about for months really help, and if so, why is nobody talking about it in the media? Has the death rate eased or not? And why, if a six-year-old comes down with COVID-19, is it "Dancing With the Stars"-program-interrupting breaking news? But if a thousand recovered people in the country are dismissed from the hospital today, we never get the word? Just the shots of somebody who looks like death warmed over being wheeled out, barely able to manage a weak wave to the cheering medical professionals lining the hallways, as if to say, "Well, we pulled one through, I guess."</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="d5s8f-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Again, we're pretty far along with this thing now and we're spending billions worldwide, but either nobody is telling us what we really need to know...or I've been so busy living and writing and laughing and growing tomatoes in flower pots in the backyard that I've missed the answers to these questions.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="fekr9-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">More reading: <a href="https://mises.org/wire/false-positive-panic-over-covid-19" target="_blank">this article</a> contains some arithmetic. But dive in anyway. It will still make sense to most of you. And hopefully cause you to ask your own questions.</span></div>
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Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-29973457359099105292020-07-08T14:24:00.001-05:002020-07-08T14:24:35.836-05:00News you may have missed while engaged on social mediaby Don Keith<br />
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THEY TELL ME 95% OF YOU GET 100% OF YOUR NEWS FROM SOCIAL
MEDIA these days…so I thought I’d bring you up to date on a few stories you may have missed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You may have heard from others that both the Washington
Redskins NFL team and the Cleveland Indians MLB team are considering new names
because the ones they’ve used for most of a century are now offensive and
causing considerable offense and psychic pain to some folks. But you may have
missed these similar breaking stories:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IJkFBKKUun0/XwYciYWxduI/AAAAAAAABjU/SJuQebZCXNIqO5L6FxxEaUKZrqNyHKR9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ind.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1532" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IJkFBKKUun0/XwYciYWxduI/AAAAAAAABjU/SJuQebZCXNIqO5L6FxxEaUKZrqNyHKR9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/ind.png" width="156" /></a></div>
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The Dallas Cowboys are also coming under pressure to change
their name. We’ve all seen those John Wayne and Clint Eastwood westerns in
which the cowboys brutally shot indigenous Native Americans right out of the
saddle. Plus, in some circles, the word “boy” is considered a racist term while
also being sexist and discriminatory to members of the LGBTQ community, who are
offended by any such crass, hurtful designation of gender. And
environmentalists assure us that cow flatulence is destroying the planet while
vegans are quite upset that we glorify beef in this or any other way. Some of
the latter are proponents of renaming the Cowboys as “The Rutabagas.” They
maintain the time has finally come when we should use names of prominent root
vegetables for our athletic teams. (Remember, too, that Clint Eastwood, of “spaghetti
western” fame, came right out in public and addressed the Republican National
Convention several years ago, acting as if there was nothing at all evil in
doing such a thing. Or at least he addressed an empty chair there on the dais. That,
alone, should be sufficient reason to discard the “cowboy” moniker!)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EFmCPc52FN0/XwYc3bOIwPI/AAAAAAAABjk/xPy-ifqSL1AG1GCXcQTp374FrNQMiwTcQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="362" height="191" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EFmCPc52FN0/XwYc3bOIwPI/AAAAAAAABjk/xPy-ifqSL1AG1GCXcQTp374FrNQMiwTcQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/boys.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Similar actions are imminent for the Oakland Raiders, the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. You surely know the
atrocities committed by those similarly-named, lawless brigands not so long ago
in our country’s history. Maybe you don’t, because you studied history in
college, and most of it has been properly expunged—note that very soon, the
American history textbook will be a pamphlet, as it should be!—but trust me, those
were some bad thieving, killing, ship-sinking dudes. Or, I should say,
misguided individuals who would have benefited from self-awareness therapy and
anger management intervention by a qualified professional counselor. But that
was before we recognized the value of re-directing taxpayer dollars from the police
to such far better solutions for combatting crime. Yes, the pirates mostly
robbed, pillaged and killed European explorers, which is no reason for
criticism against them. As we now know, those imperialists were only interested
in bringing the rule of their royalty, their religion, and their syphilis to
the so-called New World. But the bandits also did some bad stuff to the
indigenous people of the Caribbean, including burying chests of plunder and allowing
the dead bodies of European imperialists to wash up on their pristine beaches,
creating early pollution issues. Even worse than a plastic straw up the nose is
having a dead European stuck to the snout of a struggling sea turtle.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--HFGHFSuK5c/XwYdH_PP8lI/AAAAAAAABjs/BskNYZw3VuUp8L9lfAbWA9lAnY3YPuaNACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/raid.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--HFGHFSuK5c/XwYdH_PP8lI/AAAAAAAABjs/BskNYZw3VuUp8L9lfAbWA9lAnY3YPuaNACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/raid.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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Finally, I note that the San Diego Chargers will have to
change both their names this fall, first because they are no longer located
anywhere near San Diego, so it makes no sense to tie them to that city (don’t
get me started on the San Diego Padres, whose name insults people everywhere
who are hoping to remove any designation of gender in the words we use to
describe each other, as well as that horrid name doing so much to crush the
feelings of atheists, who prefer their tobacco-chewing, crotch-scratching
athletes not be saddled with such a painful and Catholic title). But the real
reason so many are having their feelings bruised by the name “Chargers” is
because their team name shows a lack of respect for those who are being crushed
by credit card debt and mammoth student-loan obligations. A number of truly
woke organizations note that the team’s slavish devotion to the evils of
capitalism should not be celebrated. And since free college tuition is
absolutely a birthright (another strike against the old white men who wrote
that silly constitution under which we continue to operate a nation), a four-quarter
reminder every Sunday afternoon and again on the scoreboard/highlight shows of
the economic evils promulgated upon us by greedy billionaires is simply not
acceptable. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Okay, those are some of the top stories you may have missed
while busy on social media perusing pictures of people’s cats and culinary
dishes you could never make yourself in a million years (but still posted the
picture from the recipe web site, hoping somebody might think you cooked it and
took the photo). Stay tuned.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-86050440175574134142020-06-09T19:53:00.002-05:002020-06-09T19:55:13.580-05:00Some recent news stories you may have missed<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="9od59" data-offset-key="f67se-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span data-offset-key="f67se-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">By Don Keith</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="f67se-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Several related stories in the news today you may have missed:</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="5ns76-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">1) Citing the presence of a small number of racist or violent police officers on their forces, state legislatures and city governments in several areas have begun the process of defunding or eliminating entirely the police departments over which they have jurisdiction. Most will allocate the money previously allotted for police to social service and drug intervention programs, maintaining such interdiction programs will eliminate all crime and that armed police will no longer be necessary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2) Noting that a small percentage of all major league baseball players perennially have a batting average below .100, the League will dismantle professional baseball in this country entirely, eliminating the personal suffering of and constant pressure on these vulnerable players. Money that would have gone to MLB will now be used to build batting cages in centrally-located areas and to pay instructors to teach kids how to hit the curve ball.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="50rq1-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">3) Because almost 40,000 people die in auto accidents each year on highways in the USA, the NTSB has begun a multi-billion-dollar program to bulldoze every single mile of roadway in the country. The original plan was to use any leftover funds to provide every man, woman and child in the country a bicycle, However, it was learned that almost 800 people die in bicycle accidents each year. Although practically all of those fatalities were from autos hitting cyclists, the NTSB said, "Even one person dying on a bicycle is too many." </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="br2t7-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">They will, instead, outlaw bicycles and provide every man, woman and child in America a walking stick, pending accurate statistics on how many non-traffic-related walking fatalities occur each year. There was some discussion about simply ordering everyone to stay home, but since that policy is already in effect, it would have little impact on the problem.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="92ik4-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">4) Because a percentage of all elected and appointed government officials--including those serving in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, state legislatures, and city governments--are corrupt, dim-witted or certifiably insane, it has been determined that every single one of them will be removed from office, just to be sure the right ones are gone and can do no more damage. Since that is cited as the reason to get rid of all police officers just to eliminate the bad ones, it should work just fine for all politicians, too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Elections will be scheduled for some future date...or not. The consensus is that the media has all the answers anyway and should be able to step in and run the government just fine until we get around to elections.One suggestion is that elections not be held until some scientific way is developed to determine if a candidate has at least some modicum of common sense. The problem there is that anyone who desires to run for political office is clearly devoid of common sense in the first place. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="b4sme-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">The decision of how to eventually re-elect a government will now rest with a panel of academics from Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Malcom X University, representatives of several community organizing groups, and contributors to Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. The group has already announced that the committee to plan the agenda for the first agenda-planning committee meeting will begin discussions sometime in the near future at a location to be determined by the location-determination committee.</span></div>
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Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-15784755367773789192020-03-18T11:59:00.001-05:002020-03-18T11:59:27.901-05:00Next verse - same as the first <br />
by Don Keith<br />
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<span style="color: red;">(Blogger Note: I apologize for not having posted in a while. And give credit to COVID-19 that I'm finally socially isolated enough that I have time to do so now. My excuse is a good one: I've been busy as a supermarket hand soap re-stocker! We've completed post-production on the <a href="https://vimeo.com/382311072/3d29cc7e11" target="_blank">documentary "Colors of Character,"</a> trying to meet with various folks about distribution opportunities for the film (no thanks to CoronaVirus!), finishing up with George Wallace our <a href="https://wallace-keith.com/arabian-storm/" target="_blank">next book in The Hunter Killer Series</a> of military thrillers, and working on some other exciting movie projects. Plus the grandkids are out of school during the pandemic and we grandparents are official fallback for daycare. Still, media and technology rapidly change - and has done so since I started this long blogger note - so here's my latest observation. Your thoughts?)</span><br />
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My friends at <b>InsideRadio</b> (and I do have some good friends who work there) are out with <a href="http://www.insideradio.com/free/study-of-americans-have-at-least-one-radio-in-their/article_35e2edf0-5d9c-11ea-9466-93a698f2e179.html" target="_blank">an article</a> about a recent research study that even this outlet sees as troubling for the over-the-air broadcast news source. See, <b>InsideRadio</b> typically looks for positive spin on anything pertaining to radio. But it's difficult to put any such lipstick on this pig.<br />
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<a href="http://www.insideradio.com/free/study-of-americans-have-at-least-one-radio-in-their/article_35e2edf0-5d9c-11ea-9466-93a698f2e179.html" target="_blank">The study by Edison Research</a> reports that, of the people surveyed, 68% report having at least one radio in their homes. Not bad, huh? Well, consider that quite recently, that number approached 100% of all households. As the article says, "<span style="background-color: white; color: #000019; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">That’s down from 79% in 2016, 90% in 2012 and 96% in 2008. The average home now has 1.5 radios, down from double that number in 2008."</span> <br />
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Again, I must state that I am pro-broadcast-radio. I spent many years of my life in the medium and still believe it can be one of the most powerful there is when it comes to offering entertainment, information, companionship, and advertising that reaches consumers closest to point-of-sale. But this trend is not only surprising but downright frightening...to me, to broadcasters, to listeners, to advertisers. Especially when almost one-third of respondents report having NO radios in their homes.<br />
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I don't think I need to rehash why I think people are less and less likely to have radios (or to listen to the ones they do have). It's a natural effect of having multiple sources of streaming music and info available from myriad types of technology. And clearly those sources are offering folks what they want, when they want it, and by the means that they want to consume it. Even if traditional radio is still ubiquitous and relatively easy to access, all those other free or cheap sources of what people want to listen to have simply overwhelmed the medium. And for that, I blame two things: technology and broadcasters.<br />
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At a time when listeners have so many options, over-the-air broadcasters abdicated. They panicked. They chopped the very things that made them unique...entertaining personalities, local news, geographically curated music, community involvement, and more. Instead, they now do exactly what online music streamers do - offer "long sets of today's top songs" - but with many more commercials interrupting them and without the ability to program those music streams precisely to the listeners' taste.<br />
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News and information? We used to brag, "Read yesterday's news in today's newspaper. See today's news on TV tonight. Or hear the news now on WXXX!" Most news/talk stations now are better known for nationally-syndicated talk shows and not for covering local news stories. Even those news stations that employ a news staff of some kind still lag TV for instantaneous coverage of local events...with pictures. And TV stations that now offer many hours of local newscasts, each day, not just at 7 and 11. (There is an economic reason for that, too, you know. Local newscasts offer much more opportunity for insertion of all those commercials than "Ellen" or "The Price is Right" do. So putting on news makes more money than running syndicated or network shows. As with radio, with viewership/listenership down, and with commercials priced by how many people see or hear them, broadcasters can't add more minutes to the hour so they add more commercials.)<br />
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Is it too late for radio? If the trend continues - and I see no reason why it won't - soon less than half the households in the USA will even have a radio in their casa. And with almost every new car model about to come internet-ready and 5G compatible, why would we expect to have in-car listening to the radio go any way but south? If I am streaming Spotify as I shave in the morning, and if, once I start my commute, my in-car choice is either continuing to hear MY songs or listen to some lame morning show or a stream of music that plays a very limited list of formatted music that may or may not fit what I really want to hear, which will I choose? And if Google tells me the weather and top news and Siri lets me know if there is a wreck on the freeway (I have to wait to hear that on my local radio station, and then it may be old and inaccurate info), what's my incentive to suffer through ten commercials and a trying-too-hard-to-make-me-laugh morning radio team (most of whom are voice-tracking a half dozen other shows on stations around the country when they leave the air locally, so they can make a living)?<br />
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And how long will it be before mega-station broadcasters like iHeart decide they really no longer need that tower on the hill or big transmitter and can rely on their online mechanism to reach people and sell advertising? It's happening already. Look at how many AM licenses are being surrendered voluntarily because they can't or won't pay the power bill to keep the stations on the air, or the property where the tower(s) is/are located is more valuable than their airtime is.<br />
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Please give me a reason to listen to that old-fashioned device on the shelf in the kitchen or in the middle of my car dash! Please don't try to outstream the streamers! Please give me the companionship and entertainment value that only live, local radio can offer! That no mouse click or "Hey, Alexa.." can offer.<br />
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Please don't continue to try to cut your way to prosperity!<br />
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<br />Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-75255485945351273852019-07-05T10:03:00.001-05:002019-07-05T10:04:35.161-05:00Are we so involved in chronicling our lives that we are missing living them?By Don Keith<br />
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I often tell my wife that we watched our kids grow up through the viewfinder of this or that film or video camera. And it is not far from the truth. Then I receive this spot-on correspondence from Becky Robinson of the company Weaving Influence.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You may have noticed
that earlier this week, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp had a </span><a href="https://is-tracking-link-api-prod.appspot.com/api/v1/click/5993432328175616/4717808390766592" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0934c1;">glitch</span></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> when it
came to uploading and viewing images. A quick Google search for
“Facebook image issues” resulted in a number of articles and tweets
about the issue, along with calls to “stay tuned” for updates. And
while I appreciate the frustration of not being able to share images -
especially when it’s part of your job - I couldn’t help but think about
how the world has changed!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">What if, instead of
fanatically following the progress of Facebook engineers to get images
back online, we put our smartphones down and gazed out at the ocean
instead? Rather than aiming to get the perfect shot to share, how about
laying in the grass with our kids and enjoying the fireworks? What if
we just ate the hotdog instead of Instagramming it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In recent years, I’ve
become less inclined to share via social media, despite coaching our
clients to show up consistently, partly because I want to be more tuned
in to what’s happening around me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">What if social media’s
downtime is actually a reminder to us to unplug every once in a while
as well? </span></b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’d say it’s something to consider.</span></div>
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"Well said, Becky!" I yell, even as I am making a post about her thoughts here on my blog...Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-10575434530721015682019-07-04T09:13:00.002-05:002019-07-04T09:14:00.211-05:00Amid all the celebrating on this July 4th...By Don Keith<br />
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<span data-offset-key="cmepd-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">It is not boastful nationalism to call attention on this day to a bold, successful experiment that has actually made this planet far better than it would have been otherwise. History has been littered with brutal empires, despotic dictators, and corrupt royalties that dominated practically all of the world's people, and in the 1700s it appeared that would always be the case.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="4lboc-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Then, a brave group of very bright men took ideas from the ancient Greeks and applied them to a "new world" that at the time was ruled by a distant king as part of a far-flung empire. After boldly declaring that men (and women) should live free and determine their own fate and fortune, that men and women were free to live, worship, and thrive as they desired so long as they did not infringe on the rights of others, and that this new country would employ a democratic form of government, governed by the people and not a "divinely-appointed" king or queen or a dictator, the United States of America was born...not to dominate the earth, not to build empires, not to threaten with its might but to offer other people across the globe a powerful, shining example of what could be. That experiment gave hope for freedom and prosperity through democracy and an economic system that, together, would raise the living standards, recognize individual rights, and provide an existence not then available to most of the world's people.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="evisf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, there have been rough spots and necessary change (slavery, civil war, women's rights, civil rights), but it was that very form of government and rule by the people that made those vital adjustments possible...if not always painless. It is true that democracy can be messy. Certainly a distant king or a brutal dictator or a socialist regime would have never allowed such. Government is decidedly neater and quieter under such iron-fist rule. And even as so many bemoan our "division" or our "economic inequality," we need to take a moment to reflect on how wonderful it is that we can even debate such points without being arrested or censored. But also remember that because of those brave men and our persistent form of democracy and thanks to our powerful free-enterprise system, we continue to raise the standard of living not only of our own citizens but of people around the planet. And that everyone can see that they, too, can demand their own rights be granted. Nobody is storming the borders of Venezuela or North Korea or Iran, trying to get into those countries.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="egcl6-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">And that's just another reason we should shoot our fireworks and eat our barbecue and celebrate this day with renewed vigor. Because this noble experiment continues to demonstrate the correctness of its ideals and the power of its ideas, We may never get it totally perfect, but it has certainly worked out well so far for our country and to those others around the world that emulate it. Even as we continue to try to get it even more perfect, we should acknowledge how great we have it. We should vow to better educate ourselves, be open to hearing opposing ideas, remain open-minded and fair, evaluate our representatives on ideas, not personality or promises, and do everything we can to continue the intent of those bright, brave men who started this whole thing. We can and we must. I'm confident we will.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="2uu3o-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">To me, that is worth celebrating!</span></div>
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Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-12193663000918016202019-04-14T15:35:00.000-05:002019-04-14T15:35:05.383-05:00Bull feathers!by Don Keith<br />
N4KC<br />
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Here's a post just for my amateur radio friends. I've been enjoying a back-and-forth debate with another ham radio guy who has some very strong--but seriously misguided and misinformed--opinions on our hobby and our national organization, the American Radio Relay League. Here is my latest response to him. I think most amateur radio folks will understand what I'm saying without my having to include the other guy's arguments.<br />
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(If you do want to see the ongoing conversation, click <a href="https://www.eham.net/articles/42870" target="_blank">HERE</a> and scroll toward the bottom of the thread.)<br />
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Robert,<br />
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Regardless the field of endeavor, things have to change to keep up with society, its wants and needs. Yes, ham radio experienced solid growth as baby-boomers were impressed with the almost magical ability to communicate worldwide by radio. Gen-Xers and Millennials are not quite so amazed since they have a device on their belts and in their purses that enable them to do that anytime they wish. We do have to show them all the other aspects of our wonderful hobby if we hope to attract their interest and allegiance, and we have to do that in a landscape in which billions of dollars are being spent and the latest technology employed to accomplish that goal for so many other pursuits and products.<br />
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The ARRL is clearly working hard to address the needs and wants of all ages of potential hams. Were you a member, you might be more aware of what they are doing, as well as their recent efforts to better learn what would work and how to deliver that experience to those interested in joining us.<br />
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You mention a few things you think the League is wrongly doing or not doing to keep the hobby vibrant and relatable. Sponsoring contests? Well, I'd bet the ARRL has nothing to do with 75% of all contesting. But Sweepstakes, the DX contests, VHF/UHF events, and Field Day are among the most popular out there. And if you don't see how radiosport might be a strong draw for generations that grew up on video games, then I'll probably never be able to change your mind anyway. If contests are not popular, they would go away. They don't. They are more popular than ever, based on number of entries.<br />
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Try to help hams overcome CCRs/HOAs or all the hands-free-driving legislation? Again, if you were a League member...or bothered to read any of the independent news services that report on amateur radio...you would know about a long, long list of League initiatives as well as a plethora of expensive lobbying and legal maneuvering the ARRL has undertaken in those very areas?<br />
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Demonstrate the hobby to young people? Holy cow! Even if your head is stuck in the sand, you have to be aware of the many activities the League sponsors and promotes for youth, including scholarships to college, operating events, and a strong push through affiliated clubs. They are also finally doing research to develop an actionable plan to attract a continuing influx of hams of all ages. And this is at the urging of members, first and foremost, but also to benefit everyone, not just members.<br />
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(Loaded question, Robert: What have YOU done to demonstrate the hobby to young people? How have you helped those facing issues with covenants, HOAs, or having a mobile radio? Have you contacted your representatives locally and in Sacramento on these issues? Are you a member of a club out there in The People's Republic of Kalifornia? If not, why not? Have you thought about starting a club that would do outreach to those you believe would make happy, contributing hams? Or urged the club you belong to to do such since you are of the opinion that the hobby dies when we baby-boomers go SK.)<br />
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And once again, you cite the old belief that the ARRL's only effort toward growing the hobby is dumbing down the test so my Labrador retriever can become an Extra Class ham. And even that effort is solely to sign up more members, sell more books, and make more money for the fat cats in Connecticut.<br />
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To which I say, "Bull feathers!" I maintain the League has done more to build and promote the hobby since I started typing this response than you and other misguided detractors have done...well...ever! Take a minute and visit www.arrl.org. Give it a look. See what is going on. Then tell me the only thing that bunch in Newington does is cash checks and smoke expensive cigars.<br />
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I have never maintained the ARRL is perfect, that every action is correct, that it should not be improved. Like you, I am aware of the demographics of our hobby and what the new-licensee numbers are. But so is the League. And if you were willing to keep yourself better informed, you would know what they are proposing to do about it. There are some dedicated folks who do a lot, whether paid or not, to make this hobby better and attract every single soul out there who might have an interest in it. That's why I support them by being a member, by communicating with my Section Manager and Division Director and letting them know what my concerns are. Not by blasting all things ARRL in some chat forum.<br />
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You say the League should be doing those things you mention INSTEAD OF pushing contests? Or dumbing down the tests? (Have you taken a General or Extra practice exam lately, Robert? How'd you do? If you aced that Extra one, you may want to go ahead and upgrade from Advanced. There is a ton more of 75 meters you could use if you did.)<br />
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Read, listen, and make yourself aware and you will see that not only is it NOT an either/or proposition, but these are things our national organization takes very seriously and is doing every single day...with the guidance of its members...to improve all things for all hams, not just League members. That is, when they take a break from promoting all those contests and coming up with easy exam questions!<br />
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Now, excuse me but all this diatribe-swapping is cutting into my on-air time. There may be some contest going on I need to work. Or a new, young ham I would like to welcome to the hobby before curmudgeons like you convince them we're all about to be as rare as sunspots and they'd be better off sticking with their video games and Smartphones.<br />
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73,<br />
<br />
Don N4KC<br />
www.donkeith.com<br />
www.n4kc.com<br />
www.facebook.com/donkeith<br />
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<br />Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-72404513209389788102019-04-04T16:27:00.000-05:002019-04-04T16:27:27.818-05:00"Radio Days"By Don Keith<br />
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A friend of mine recently sent me an old magazine article that proclaimed that the time before World War II should be declared as "Radio Days." The article went on to say that anything related to the medium after the war was downhill, killed off by television. I agree that the '20s and '30s was a magical time for broadcasting, typified by the Woody Allen movie "Radio Days." </div>
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I actually believe each
generation has its own "radio days." For me, it was the top 40 radio
of the '60s and album rock of the early '70s. My radios were in the dashboard
of my VW bug or a smaller Radio Shack AM/FM portable, battery-powered receiver,
but with a speaker big enough I could hear the songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I further believe radio had two golden ages, the '20s
and '30s, as this article describes, and the 60s and 70s, when top 40 and creative
deejays saved radio from the onslaught of TV.<o:p></o:p></div>
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(I wrote an article that ran in the December issue of
<i>American Legion Magazine </i>about a big broadcast on Christmas Eve 1943, the first
time all four radio networks simulcasted a single entertainment program. Bob
Hope hosted and they used shortwave to bring in servicemen at many points
around the globe...the most ambitious use of remote broadcasting ever
attempted, though to mixed results. It ended with a fireside chat from President
Roosevelt. But the point of the article was to show the power of radio at the
time, to boost morale on a special day in the midst of a brutal war. You can
read the article <a href="https://www.legion.org/honor/243957/christmas-eve-front?fbclid=IwAR2kHTyswqyDKe0KE9DfwNJdk2FrHvYatkyThNSWPIFHthKO_fkxd7HWAXM" target="_blank">HERE</a> if you are interested.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, this generation probably won't even know the word
"radio," and their source of music and entertainment is an iPhone or Pandora
or YouTube. Music is not "presented," curated for them, or delivered
in a way in which it is part of a "show" or has a host who was
telling listeners why they should hear the song about to play. And it is not
put together in such a way that the music flows from one song to another so each
song "fits." It's not heard on good radios with big speakers so the
music sounds good. Sounds good and can be FELT!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Instead, it is "streamed," one song unrelated
to the other, selected for them by a computer algorithm, a formula based on what other songs the person typically listens to, almost certainly eliminating the chance the listener will be introduced to new music and artists he or she might actually enjoy, but is culled by the algorithm. And unless the
listener wants to Google the artist, he or she might hear the song and not even
know who sang it, who wrote it, why it was sung or written, who played on the
session, what other songs the artist might have written or recorded, how popular it might
be with other listeners, or whether or not the artist might be coming to town
soon for a live concert. The listener is almost totally detached from the
stream, thus rendering it little more than background noise.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That's what I think today's music listeners are
missing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their "radio days"
will be "streamed-music-on-an-iPhone days." And that is sad.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-38234720200107930462019-01-11T18:05:00.001-06:002019-01-11T18:05:15.358-06:00Drinking that free Bubble-Up and eating that rainbow stewby Don Keith<br />
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<span data-offset-key="52fok-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">I know I am supposed to discuss rapid technological change and its effect on media, society and Amateur Radio on this blog. But sometimes I simply have to venture out when something compelling enough grabs my attention. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="52fok-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span data-offset-key="52fok-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">See, a couple of interesting things landed in my in-box today that I wanted to share. First, there was a story about one of the possible Democratic presidential candidates who promises to give every man, woman and child in America a free $1000 every year, no strings attached. No, not a tax rebate or a welfare plan. 47% of Americans don't pay any income tax anyway, and he does not want them to be left out of that FREE money. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="52fok-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span data-offset-key="52fok-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">The candidate proposes to pay for that trillion or so dollars a year with a value-added tax on every item sold in the US, theoretically to be paid by those greedy capitalists who suck up all the money and hide it from the rest of us so we can't earn any of it. Never mind that any VAT will be paid by the very consumer that gets that free thousand bucks, not by the manufacturers, importers, creators, or sellers.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="52fok-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span data-offset-key="ah15a-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Then, moments after I read that ridiculous mess, I got <a href="https://mises.org/power-market/still-fighting-last-war-against-socialism" target="_blank">an article</a> that tried to figure out why so many Americans are suddenly becoming infatuated by the lure of free stuff from the federal government...a ploy straight out of the socialism playbook. Yes, it takes a few minutes to<a href="https://mises.org/power-market/still-fighting-last-war-against-socialism" target="_blank"> read the article</a>, but if you really care about the future of our country (and, what naturally follows, the future of the rest of the planet), then go to all the trouble to <a href="https://mises.org/power-market/still-fighting-last-war-against-socialism" target="_blank">read it</a>.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="2rtm7-0-0" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">Then, get ready to line up for your free thousand dollars, free cellphone, free internet, free healthcare, free college education, and, as that great poet <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEOFQfXYbBM" target="_blank">Merle Haggard</a> says, start "drinking that free Bubble-Up and eating that rainbow stew."</span><br />
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Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-26506849525954707442018-12-26T10:55:00.001-06:002018-12-26T10:55:44.550-06:00It rarely turns out the way we think it willby Don Keith<br />
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First an apology: I have not posted here nearly as often lately as I wanted to. This is not due to the lack of interesting and sometimes frightening developments in the ever-mutating world of rapid technological change. Nor is it because I didn't see plenty of the effects of that change on society, the media and my hobby of choice, amateur radio. Trouble is, much of what I observed and wanted to comment on had blown past and either did not turn out the way I would have predicted or it continues to change and morph before I get the opportunity to even think and post about it.<br />
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Final excuse: I have been quite busy lately, what with the release of the movie <a href="http://www.hunterkiller.movie/" target="_blank">"Hunter Killer"</a> based on my and George Wallace's book, <a href="http://www.donkeith.com/submarines/firing-point" target="_blank">"Firing Point,"</a> now reissued in all forms by the publisher under the title <a href="http://www.donkeith.com/submarines/firing-point" target="_blank">"Hunter Killer."</a> That and at least four film/TV projects I'm neck-deep in. And an exciting new book-publishing venture I'll be announcing soon.<br />
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Speaking of which: <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/future-book-is-here-but-not-what-we-expected/" target="_blank">the article</a> that encouraged me to come up for air long enough to make this long-delayed blog post. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/future-book-is-here-but-not-what-we-expected/" target="_blank">Check out this story</a> in "Wired," which states right up front that rapidly changing media don't always turn out the way all the smart prognosticators predict. In fact, it rarely does. And the prime example about which the author writes is the good, old-fashioned book.<br />
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Yes, the book! I'll allow the article to speak for itself, but suffice it to say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Sorta.<br />
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Best of the New Year to you and yours!<br />
<br />Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-77028110105849727752018-04-19T17:22:00.000-05:002018-04-19T17:22:17.814-05:00Broadcast radio's cume audience boogalooby Don Keith<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As traditional over-the-air broadcast radio strives to prove its relevance, I see they continue to cling to any bit of good news there is to stave off people like me who think the medium has chopped its own way to irrelevance. "Good news" whether it is true or not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Don't get me wrong. I love broadcast radio. Free, over-the-air radio. I think it is by far the most intimate medium, the one that can be most successful at getting into the heads of listeners, of entertaining, challenging, inspiring, and selling stuff to people who listen. Especially people who are busy doing something else, like driving a car or working. People stuck in a traffic jam. People who are most likely to be approaching an advertiser's establishment. People who simply want to be able to hit a button and turn up the volume to experience something created by another actual human being.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But thanks to the monster companies that own most stations in America and their myopic attitude that they can somehow cut their way to prosperity, radio is going down the drain in one big hurry. AM is dead as a hammer. FM, with its boring streaming-music formats, its band cluttered with low-power non-commercial stations and thousands of supposedly-AM-saving translators, and its impersonal, soulless "personalities," will almost certainly follow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But radio will continue to grab hold of any seemingly positive news. <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/18/old-school-amfm-radio-the-most-popular-media-of-al/" target="_blank">Here's some</a>. It is <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/18/old-school-amfm-radio-the-most-popular-media-of-al/" target="_blank">an article in <i>The Washington Times</i></a> that quotes a study from the good folks at Nielsen about how old-fashioned, left-for-dead broadcast radio still reaches more people than any other medium. (Nielsen, the TV ratings giant, bought Arbitron, the company that previously led the way in radio audience estimates--what most of us call ratings. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I once worked for the Arbitron Company.) In a day of Facebook, Netflix, Pandora, Instagram, Amazon, XM/Sirius Satellite and so many other choices, this is truly startling but encouraging news for us fans of the medium.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dig deeper, my friend. Remember, as Mark Twain so eloquently quoted British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."</span><br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large;">The Washington Times</i><span style="font-size: large;"> quotes the study from Nielsen (which, I admit, I have not actually seen) as saying, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;">Each week, more Americans tune to AM/FM radio than any other platform. What’s more, according to Nielsen’s second-quarter 2017 Comparable Metrics Report, 93 percent of U.S. adults 18 and older listen to radio every week — more than those watching television or using a smartphone, TV connected device, tablet or PC.” </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In all, Nielsen breathlessly reports, over-the-air radio reaches 243 million people each month compared to television's paltry 229 million. The article does not mention if that TV number includes all variations of video programming. I doubt it since not even the powerful Nielsen folks have yet managed to measure all such viewing. Nor could it possibly have included, for example, Netflix, who now boasts over 100 million people paying about $10 a month to enjoy their programming. Netflix does not publish any numbers for how many people are watching at any given time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">(I will also avoid making a big deal of the fact that this fine study is based on data that is now on the verge of being ONE FULL YEAR OLD. Do you think there have been any changes in media since the second quarter of 2017? Then you have not been paying attention to this blog!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It does appear, though, that the rosy AM/FM story is based on what is called "cume audience." Anyone who takes part in Nielsen's measurement exercise--either having everyone in a household keep a diary of listening for one week or carrying a small meter device that theoretically senses the stations that the participant is capable of hearing--who listens for at least five minutes during a week gets counted as a "cume listener."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Therefore, <u>five</u> <u>minutes</u> in a week gets considered in this study to be someone who "listens to AM/FM" broadcast radio. This study also appears to add up a month's worth of such reported listening to arrive at the hefty 243-million figure that so impressively beats out that dying medium, TV. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Sorry. We should be impressed that 243 million people--or as the study crows, 93% of all people in the U.S. over the age of 17--catch some radio in a given month. But again, only five minutes of listening by someone on Nielsen's ratings panel is required to be counted as one of those 243 million souls.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Let me say that again: anyone who participated in the Nielsen listening survey during that month who reported listening to as little as five minutes of any program on any station gets counted as a listener to AM/RM radio.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I wouldn't care but for one thing. If the people with the keys to all those radio stations really think such a statistical boogaloo means anything, then they might continue to believe that what they are doing with all those AMs and FMs is actually working. That they still hold sway over 93% of the people who count. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">And further believe that advertisers are actually getting their money's worth when running ads that have to be heard in wherever that magical five minutes of listening happens to occur within the more than 41,000 minutes that make up a typical month.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Yes, Nielsen tells a good story with statistics. Or damned lies. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">You be the judge.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-33478834003298204912018-04-11T10:36:00.000-05:002018-04-11T10:36:50.370-05:00Okay, time to 'fess up! <br />
by Don Keith<br />
N4KC<br />
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(While watching the Congressional testimony by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the inane questions from our elected representatives, I could not help myself. Now it appears likely that there will be some kind of legislation proposed for restricting social media in a new effort to protect us from ourselves. But can government legislate and keep people from doing dumb stuff? Can they stop people from believing everything they read on Facebook, see on CNN or Fox News, or read in the National Enquirer while waiting to check out at Publix? <br />
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Maybe the better question is, "Should they?" Legislate, I mean. At any rate, all this pertains to rapid technological change and how it affects media and society. Thus my post below.)<br />
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Okay, time to 'fess up. Raise your hand if:</div>
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- You had no idea that if you put on <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/facebook?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Facebook</span></span></a> your address, the names of your kids, the place where you are at this very second, or your opinions on the presidential race, your favorite football team, or whether or not you preferred cilantro in your salsa any of the 120 million Facebook users worldwide could see it instantly upon your hitting the POST button.</div>
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- You thought all this stuff was free, no strings attached and not only didn't know but didn't care how Facebook, <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/instagram?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Instagram</span></span></a>, <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/youtube?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">YouTube</span></span></a>, <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/linkedin?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">LinkedIn</span></span></a> and all the others made money to pay for all this web design, expensive computer servers, bandwidth and all that technical stuff.</div>
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- You thought it was just a happy coincidence that if you went shopping for a mattress and box springs online that for the next two months, no matter the website you visited, you kept seeing ads for mattresses and box springs.</div>
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- You are unable to figure out why, if you printed out a map of and directions to Albuquerque, you suddenly started getting spam email and even actual paper junk mail from every hotel, auto rental agency and pizza parlor in Albuquerque.</div>
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- You never considered that if you post on #Facebook a cute picture of your 2-year-old child peeing off the deck onto the azaleas, it will one day show up when he is running for Congress or applying for a job at NASA.</div>
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- You always...ALWAYS...check the box declaring you have read and understood the 30,000-word privacy and data-use policy of every web site you have ever joined, every bank home page where you have an account, and every on-line vendor from which you have purchased something, all to facilitate whatever it is that you are trying to get done, and you simply have never had the time to even scroll down so much as a millimeter or read a single word of that legalese novella.</div>
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- You click on every link on every piece of email you get--apparently from your bank, your email provider, the IRS, a friend traveling in Ecuador who has been robbed, and even companies with which you have no account at all (just in case there really is something wrong because they wouldn't be emailing you if there wasn't) and happily give your user name, password, checking account and charge card number, Social Security number and blood type, just to make sure your checking won't be closed, your email blocked, your taxes audited, your friend incarcerated, or your vacation to the Bahamas cancelled...even though you have never had an account with those companies, only know the "friend" through Facebook, or never booked a vacation to the Bahamas in your life.</div>
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- You thought <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/google?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Google</span></span></a> was a philanthropic organization, providing all that search engine power out of the goodness of their hearts, and even put the very best results at the top and down the side of the listing on the page so you didn't even have to look any farther.</div>
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- You see no chance that that picture of you chug-a-lugging that bottle of Jagermeister or forwarding that hilarious ethnic joke will ever become an uncomfortable topic in a job interview.</div>
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- You are truly ticked off that this <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/markzuckerberg?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">MarkZuckerberg</span></span></a> guy sold information about YOU to companies, surely without asking you first...and surprised that the guy even owns a tie and a dress shirt since you've never seen him in anything before but jeans and a tee shirt.</div>
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- You figure you are just unlucky when you buy that computer protection software you saw on some late-night infomercial in order to clean up your virus-ridden computer, laptop, smart phone, or on-line clothes dryer, yet the software is now telling you that you have to send them $59.95 a month for the rest of your natural life if you ever want to use your device again.</div>
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- It never occurred to you that if <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/alexa?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Alexa</span></span></a> or <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/siri?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Siri</span></span></a> could hear you and know what you are asking or saying--even when you are not saying it to them--or if you use the free <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/wifi?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">WiFi</span></span></a> at the tattoo parlor, anybody else could hear you or see what you are doing because it is RADIO!</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-38LMPLqY6uo/Ws4rEgP-uOI/AAAAAAAABXw/AXCyOyst7gY8sjErk4i8AjGubTPF1SW2gCLcBGAs/s1600/socmed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" height="192" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-38LMPLqY6uo/Ws4rEgP-uOI/AAAAAAAABXw/AXCyOyst7gY8sjErk4i8AjGubTPF1SW2gCLcBGAs/s320/socmed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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- You spend more time posting pictures of your kids at soccer practice than you spend watching your kids practice soccer because you are so busy taking pictures and posting the pictures at soccer practice.</div>
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- You have shared posts with your friends that were so funny or inspirational or thought-provoking that you couldn't even remember sharing them when you got called into the boss' office to explain you are not a racist terrorist or to the principal's office to get expelled.</div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
- You have more friends on Facebook or contacts in your <span class="_5afx" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/likedin?source=feed_text" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Li</span></a>nkedin </span>profile than people you actually know by name...by a hundredfold... but if anybody...even a semi-naked person named Zumbezi Gatalayana from South Sudan, who works at Sears in Miami and has an MBA from North Dakota State who just today created a #Facebook account featuring two pictures of herself, one in which she is white and one in which she is black...sends you a friend request, you are by-God going to accept it because she is certainly interested in your soccer pictures, your whereabouts, your recipe for salsa, and your kid peeing off the deck.</div>
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So? 'Fess up! Right there on #Facebook or on some other social media site, or share or forward this to everyone on your email or contact list. Only 120 million folks will know what a doofus you are!</div>
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Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-82864916999282490152018-04-05T15:32:00.001-05:002018-04-05T15:32:40.514-05:00Commercials. Are they going the way of the (fill in your own favorite now-defunct technical thing-a-ma-jig)by Don Keith<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I do still try to listen to over-the-air radio sometimes. And there are times when I am forced to watch a TV show or newscast in real time without benefit of commercial-clipping. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And it hurts. It is painful. It is discouraging.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And you know what it isn't? It isn't effective for the advertiser. I doubt many listeners or viewers pay attention to the incessant wall of commercial content that gets spewed out between precious bits of music, information or entertainment. I got in my truck the other day and tuned in a local news/talk station's PM drivetime show. From the time I started listening until I arrived at my first stop...no more than twelve minutes, I promise...I heard nothing but commercials and station promotional announcements (commercials for the station).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">One of the more astute observers of trends in media is Mark Ramsey, who has been quoted in this blog often in the past. Because he IS an astute observer of media trends. <a href="https://www.markramseymedia.com/2018/03/2-minutes-of-spots-per-hour-radios-future/" target="_blank">In a recent blog</a> of his, he talked about news that at least one major media outfit was considering cutting back to TWO MINUTES of commercials PER HOUR. Not twenty minutes. Two! And the <a href="https://www.markramseymedia.com/2018/03/2-minutes-of-spots-per-hour-radios-future/" target="_blank">discussion</a> is interesting.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Is it possible? Can others even think seriously of such a dramatic cut in commercial load when the common wisdom is sell everything you can?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I don't believe it is a question of "can they?" It is a question of "will they?" Or will radio and TV wither away as consumers become more and more viewers and listeners to content that has NO commercials? And go away because advertisers finally realize that being the middle spot in a ten-minute commercial break does them absolutely no good? Or that "BROADcasting" is yesterday's ad medium and they can now target right down to the eyeballs and eardrums they actually want and need to reach, not pay for everybody with a radio or TV set?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I would talk more about this but now, here's a word from our sponsors...</span>Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-34278155444642577162017-11-28T16:27:00.000-06:002017-11-28T16:27:03.115-06:00Oh, the irony! <br />
By Don Keith<br />
<br />
<h3>
Interesting news stories--with a common theme--in the October 2017 issue of the <a href="http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/" target="_blank">amateur radio magazine</a> <a href="http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/" target="_blank"><i>CQ</i></a>. They are:</h3>
<h3>
A report that the U.S. military has, after much experimentation and testing, decided that the high-frequency radio spectrum (HF, often referred to as "shortwaves") offer excellent communication capability and could be of great value. The story includes a quote from a Navy spokesperson that, "We tested our ability to talk, and we were able to send text to one of our other units that is across the Pacific Ocean." The military release goes on to say, "HF has become a viable alternative for military forces when more common forms of communication, such as satellites, are unavailable." Such technology offers legitimate and valuable backup to whiz-bang satellites and digital yakking.</h3>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vR1MfLQ-YeQ/Wh3fGqlY2dI/AAAAAAAABWw/Y-IZR1uC_AEv4hnSq-RaFkCiiyXb8KRuACLcBGAs/s1600/radiowaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="162" data-original-width="300" height="345" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vR1MfLQ-YeQ/Wh3fGqlY2dI/AAAAAAAABWw/Y-IZR1uC_AEv4hnSq-RaFkCiiyXb8KRuACLcBGAs/s640/radiowaves.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Well, "Duh #1!" Even now, when solar propagation is approaching a minimum, the shortwaves do offer propagation to all parts of the world. Talk across the Pacific? Heck, I did that just this past weekend...from my basement! Guam and Japan, to be exact, all the way from Alabama. And I also made a contact with a ham radio operator in Western Australia via what we call the "long path," not the usual 11,000-mile route to my west and to the Land Down Under. No, we communicated with my signal leaving my basic little wire beam, running about 500 watts, and headed eastward, across the Atlantic Ocean, over Africa, across the Indian Ocean, about 13,500 miles to the other amateur's station. If the U.S. military is still not convinced of the capabilities of HF, I invite them to take a look at my logbook.</h3>
<h3>
Then there is another report that the Navy is revisiting more ancient technology, the LORAN earth-based radio navigation system that has been mostly replaced by GPS satellites. Someone realized that those satellites can be hacked and most ships at sea would instantly be lost...unless they could locate their sextant and wait for a night sky. (Last I heard, most Navy vessels, and especially submarines, still carried that truly ancient device, the sextant, just in case. They can only hope somebody aboard knows how to use them.)</h3>
<h3>
"Duh! #2." LORAN worked pretty well, I understand. The fact it was based on radio and required some rather bulky antennas spelled its doom years ago. Appears, though, that somebody realized that sparkly, spangly new technology may have its flaws. Just as with our trusty and reliable computers, a backup is always a good idea!</h3>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pGzMN9lCjc4/Wh3fGl4LVVI/AAAAAAAABW4/E2IHr5PJI6sr_OAMRaoGJLSXN0kW2TDlwCEwYBhgL/s1600/lp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="243" height="545" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pGzMN9lCjc4/Wh3fGl4LVVI/AAAAAAAABW4/E2IHr5PJI6sr_OAMRaoGJLSXN0kW2TDlwCEwYBhgL/s640/lp.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h3>
And finally, it probably would not surprise you to know that most people under 25 years old would have no idea about what a 33-and-a-third RPM record was. Or an 8-track tape. Or even a cassette tape. Not even, in many cases, a music CD. But did you know that many younger folks today don't realize that your television set can pull in programming from, in most cities, more than a dozen 24-hour-a-day content generators? A source not associated with a satellite or cable? And that such stellar programming is absolutely free? It's called over-the-air television broadcasting! Yes, a tower on the hill, pumping out hundreds of thousands of watts of high-definition TV programs. These stations DO still exist! All you need to get this programming is an antenna. Your TV set is already equipped to pull in the signals. And once you pay for the antenna, the rest is free. Gratis. No cost whatsoever, other than having to watch commercials.</h3>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6igyVzDAmg/Wh3fGsxCMrI/AAAAAAAABW0/2L5klmo4ftYs72hmKL2Y4a_n-wonzvCZQCEwYBhgL/s1600/antenna.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="145" data-original-width="346" height="268" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6igyVzDAmg/Wh3fGsxCMrI/AAAAAAAABW0/2L5klmo4ftYs72hmKL2Y4a_n-wonzvCZQCEwYBhgL/s640/antenna.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The <i>CQ</i> article quotes a story in The Wall Street Journal reporting that the National Association of Broadcasters--the industry group that represents, in part, those over-the-air telecasters--says one in three Americans are completely unaware of such technology. They also quote a merchant that sells antennas saying that many of his customers question the legality of intercepting this programming for no charge. "They don't believe me when I tell them that these channels are not only free but legal, too," the merchant says.</h3>
<h3>
The final "Duh!" Technological change has become so rapid that even existing technology that still offers real benefit--HF radio, LORAN, over-the-air TV--can get lost in the swirl of sexy new stuff.</h3>
<h3>
(And a personal note, my dad became a TV repairman and antenna installer way back in the early 1950s. That was when people realized that they could get television programming in their home, that it was like radio only with pictures, and they only needed to purchase a set and put up an antenna. My dad put up masts with antennas on top of them all over East Central Alabama. Maybe some of those are still up there after sixty years and can still pull in a picture. Who knows?)</h3>
<h3>
Oh, the irony!</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
<br /> </h3>
<br />Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-72311776183516441292017-11-20T16:32:00.000-06:002017-11-20T16:32:08.622-06:00So, is the Internet going to be the death of amateur radio?by Don Keith<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GqFf5DRLtTM/WhNXF92hOZI/AAAAAAAABWI/DOS99yw6vioNTcBSPJAkw2xQ-l92VevJgCLcBGAs/s1600/Internet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="878" height="199" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GqFf5DRLtTM/WhNXF92hOZI/AAAAAAAABWI/DOS99yw6vioNTcBSPJAkw2xQ-l92VevJgCLcBGAs/s320/Internet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3>
Lazy man's post today as I continue to work far more than a "retired" guy should. (Massaging two potential movie/TV scripts and writing a novel.) But a good ham radio blogger, Bob K0NR, has posed this fascinating--and probably unanswerable--question: is the Internet killing amateur radio?<br />Read it in its entirety <a href="http://www.k0nr.com/wordpress/2017/11/internet-destroying-amateur-radio/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />I tend to agree with Bob's final opinions. As with any other aspect of rapid technological change and its effect on ham radio, it all comes down to what you enjoy. I happen to take advantage of many of the new developments in our hobby and am convinced it is a healthy trend and will attract more folks to ham radio.<br />For example, I check in regularly with a net devoted to 1960s music and TV trivia. That net is centered with most of its members in Central Arizona and uses a 220-mhz repeater on Mt. Lemmon north of Tucson. I use EchoLink and my desktop computer to check in but the net control hears me via the repeater station, over the air. We have guys checking in from all over the country including one ham who travels extensively. He uses his smartphone from various hotel rooms, restaurants, city streets (he often walks for exercise while answering those trivia questions) and airport terminals.</h3>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2civ6jAQsw/WhNXU7LeYLI/AAAAAAAABWM/-eW7RPZ29qkuaCkUXcvDjgWJcRZkuVYgACLcBGAs/s1600/inet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="560" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2civ6jAQsw/WhNXU7LeYLI/AAAAAAAABWM/-eW7RPZ29qkuaCkUXcvDjgWJcRZkuVYgACLcBGAs/s320/inet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
I also use computer logging, Logbook of the World to go for various on-air operating awards, Internet uploads of radiosport logs, and more. </h3>
<h3>
I have no issue with remote operation of an amateur radio station either. The station "location" is wherever the transmitter, receiver and antenna(s) are located. If the operator happens to be 10,000 miles away using VOIP or other modern gizmo to control the station then so be it.<br />Whenever old-line hams say all this computer and Internet stuff is not real amateur radio, I point out that other generations of ham operators said the same thing of every innovation that came after spark gap. I even remember vividly when there were actual fistfights and on-air screaming matches between those who believed single-sideband was the death of the hobby and those who saw this "modern technology" as just another aspect of technological change that could make ham radio more fun and communication more effective.</h3>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sg8JxcQ2oHw/WhNXnKFloYI/AAAAAAAABWU/c5CorTsMqE8zsC2TGN36v76BordInoR6gCLcBGAs/s1600/inet2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sg8JxcQ2oHw/WhNXnKFloYI/AAAAAAAABWU/c5CorTsMqE8zsC2TGN36v76BordInoR6gCLcBGAs/s320/inet2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
And guess who was right? </h3>
<h3>
(This from a guy who still has a weekly chat on "ancient modulation" AM on 75 meters. That's because I just happen to like the way a good AM signal sounds. Oh, and the fact that it is just plain fun to fool with!)</h3>
<h3>
73 de N4KC</h3>
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Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-18725935378171370862017-11-07T13:06:00.000-06:002017-11-07T13:06:57.401-06:00That ugly term "for-profit" rears its ugly head...againBy Don Keith<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(Pardon me while I step away once again from the primary purpose of this blog, keeping track of rapid technological change and its effect on media, society, and my hobby of choice, amateur radio. I've become riled again about a subject that seems so utterly simple and understandable, yet one so many get so wrong. Help me understand why other seemingly sane and intelligent people can't see it my way!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U0a3aTX7WjA/WgICJT-QpgI/AAAAAAAABVE/LBvbNDF7U7Ec9R8PaJGm9cf6rZugmALxACLcBGAs/s1600/tax1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U0a3aTX7WjA/WgICJT-QpgI/AAAAAAAABVE/LBvbNDF7U7Ec9R8PaJGm9cf6rZugmALxACLcBGAs/s400/tax1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">All the breathless hyperbole was inevitable after yet another president and Congress declared yet again their intention to radically alter how we tax revenue earned by citizens of this country. Too many oxen get gored, too much political patronage becomes threatened, and too many people who have careers and earning schemes and entire industries predicated on the inner workings of this mess. Also, the sheer complexity of the tax code and the fact that we have come to depend on the "temporary" income tax to fund every worthy cause or complete boondoggle assures that changing anything meaningful in regard to taxation is going to be problematic. Maybe impossible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Even now, as Congress wrangles, we see clear-eyed predictions that what they will eventually propose will either make taxation beautifully balanced and perfect or it will create the death of the middle class as we know it while the filthy rich become even filthier and richer. Never mind that nothing is final yet, or the fact that these predictions fall perfectly along a line of demarcation depending on whether the predictor is a Democrat or a Republican. Partisanship will be the death of this democracy. Mark my words.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, today I received from a friend <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/corporations-arent-people-under-the-republican-tax-plan-theyre-better/2017/11/06/3447b790-c344-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html?utm_term=.b0ef9e8d5207" target="_blank">a link</a> to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/corporations-arent-people-under-the-republican-tax-plan-theyre-better/2017/11/06/3447b790-c344-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html?utm_term=.b0ef9e8d5207" target="_blank">a Washington Post op/ed piece</a> that pretty much says anything that ends up in a new tax plan is in there not because it is a good idea. It is becoming the law of the land because certain key legislators already have cushy jobs lined up after leaving Congress and will put anything in the plan that it takes to close the deal on those employment contracts they are busily negotiating.</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8DMsKlHOCS0/WgH_4M1e0kI/AAAAAAAABUg/9HXQpe4eV7EL_CfiH559WGIoEQQqx2DkACEwYBhgL/s1600/tax2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="812" height="290" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8DMsKlHOCS0/WgH_4M1e0kI/AAAAAAAABUg/9HXQpe4eV7EL_CfiH559WGIoEQQqx2DkACEwYBhgL/s400/tax2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bull feces! I'm as cynical as the next guy. But I also am certain as I can be that we need to change the way we do taxation in this country. Perfect or not, any plan that lowers taxes for anybody...ANYBODY...is a good thing. And especially if it forces us to also finally consider how we spend taxpayer money. Hard-earned and begrudgingly surrendered taxpayer money that is rightfully ours, not the government's.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By the way, if you are one of those who think it is a legitimate goal of a central federal government to assure every citizen gets FREE medical care for life or FREE college, regardless whether or not you take care of your health and use that medical help wisely or whether or not you should even go to college, you may as well stop reading now. You and I will never agree.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now, my real problem with this op/ed piece: the continuation of the trend to treat terms like "CEO" and "profit" as sleazy, dirty, despicable words. Anyone who leaves Congress to go to work for a consortium of business people has to be a crook, a plant to get those evil, greedy businessmen less taxes and more slimy profits while crushing the struggling middle class so the crooks and thieves in business can line their own bulging pockets with more and more ill-gotten gains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First of all, "CEO," "profit," and
"business" are <u>not</u> dirty words. "Taxation" often is.
Especially "taxation" when it is applied to punish those who dare to
work, risk, innovate and create in the name of making a profit for themselves,
their employees, and their stockholders. And to make better stuff for their customers,
too. I am convinced it is time for us to
get over this insane jealousy and distrust of everybody who tries to make a
profit, assuming that if they do make money they accomplished success by illegally and
immorally squashing competition, creating dangerous products or services, and
by bribing every public servant in sight to keep their ill-gotten gains.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(If you have time for even more ranting on this subject, see<a href="http://n4kc.blogspot.com/2011/06/when-did-for-profit-become-slur.html" target="_blank"> my blog post</a> from several years ago on this very subject, culled from my previous experiences in a business that actually does a much better job in its field than many of its government competitors and have caught its share of hell for daring to do so...in the name of...yeeccchhh!!!...profits. See that blog post <a href="http://n4kc.blogspot.com/2011/06/when-did-for-profit-become-slur.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. But be aware: my wonderfully well-written set of arguments did not change a damn thing. And your government has almost succeeded in putting out of business most of its competitors in that particular field, a true loss for students, the middle class and employers everywhere. Your government is especially adept at putting anyone it wants to out of business, believe me. I speak from direct experience.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Let me be unequivocal. Any reduction in any taxation for anybody is a good thing. I get so tired of hearing about tax breaks for "the
rich." Many assume that if rich folks get to keep more of their profits,
that would remove money from circulation and we regular folks will have no
chance of ever getting any of it. Or that we are just encouraging companies to do bad things by allowing them to keep more of that money earned on the backs of their poor, beaten-down workforce. Neither is true!</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">T</span></o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">hose CEOs don't back up the dump truck filled with all that misbegotten money
and drop it into a hole in the ground out behind their polluting factory, and
cover it up with the ashes of even more burned money! Or make their pitiful, overworked, mistreated workers man shovels and cover it over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If they truly seek profit and success--for themselves, for their
employees and for their stockholders--they reinvest it in their companies,
doing R&D, creating new, innovative products, building a place to house all
those new employees and labs and factories and warehouses, purchasing transportation,
hiring more workers, paying more for them. That's because there will be competition for
good, skilled employees, vying with each other and willing to pay for the best. And, at the same time, paying more and offering promotions and even better working conditions for the valuable employees they already have. If they don't, somebody else will recruit them away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh,
and successful businesses will pay more taxes even if their rate is markedly lower. But if a 40% tax lurks out there, good CEOs--looking out
for themselves, their employees, their stockholders--use every legal loophole
they can find, even if it does drag down the economy where they would prefer to
compete, but they also know how difficult re-investment and innovation and
planning for future growth will be. Or, as so often happens, they realize they simply can't compete with at least 40% coming off the top and they scale back or go do something else. How does that create reinvestment, hiring, training, innovation, increased wages and, naturally, more taxes paid, or all those other things that are not yet negative buzzwords?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And yes, if they and their companies become successful, some CEOs will buy themselves more yachts, more
luxury cars, bigger mansions, more vacation homes. But every yacht for which
they place an order creates many more jobs and successful manufacturers of yacht-building-stuff, and more profitable marinas and...well...more! And those yacht
builders and yacht-part-companies and marina owners will build more factories
and warehouses and boat slips, pay more taxes and hire more people who will pay
more taxes and buy more non-luxury cars and new homes and take vacations they
could not previously afford, which creates more non-luxury-car and home-building jobs for people who will earn more, spend more, pay more taxes...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And many of those flourishing yacht companies and
non-luxury-car manufacturers will have their own rotten, mean-spirited, greedy, soul-crushing CEOs who are trying to come
up with better products, hire more people, increase their market share and
raise their stock value so they, too, can buy more yachts, more luxury cars...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Some may even become so rich that they spend most of their time finding ways to give away some of that money to worthy, deserving causes. Causes that the government cannot assist because it would require a massive bureaucracy and books and books of new rules and regulations and paperwork-reduction guidelines to get a fraction of the money to those who need it or could do good with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Heck, some of those terrible profits may end up with financial institutions who will be able to open the vault every so often and allow somebody to borrow some of it in order to start a new company, build a new factory, create a new software system, buy an overseas competitor or do something else profitable and positive and life-changing for people just now entering the workforce. Or who might dare to do so over the next few decades while they wait for free college or healthcare.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do I like the fact that a guy who sits on a key
taxation-policy committee has already decided that he is going to work for a
consortium of businesses in Ohio that is lobbying for lower taxes? Nope.
That's one "onerous" regulation I'd like to see put in
place. Congressmen should not be able to
parlay public service into cushy jobs afterwards. But show me quid pro quo here. We want citizen politicians yet when they come to office from the business world or return to civilian life when they get fed up, we automatically assume they got that dream job because of all the shafting they did of the people they were elected to serve. Not necessarily so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In fact, I'd bet this guy was already for lower taxes on business
anyway. Always has been. Ran on such a platform idea. Truly believes allowing business to keep more of what they make--just as with individuals like you and me--leads to more reinvestment or productive spending or saving somewhere down the line. And that he is qualified for the job he will get. And we are probably
wrong if we assume there is some kind of collusion here, that they are not really hiring
him because he is going to steer sensible business tax law into reality as opposed to keeping the incomprehensible and deflating mess we now have. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And am I all sweetness and light, certain that there are
not some terrible CEOs or terrible companies out there who would eviscerate
their mothers for a 2% uptick in first quarter revenue? If course not. There
are bad actors, polluters, bribers, rapists and pillagers out there, but
reasonable...REASONABLE, consistent, predictable...regulation and prosecution
will keep that to a minimum. So will an open and unfettered marketplace.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
fact is that such bad-acting companies will only make a profit for a limited amount of time if they operate in a truly free, transparent, competitive, reasonably- and predictably-regulated
marketplace. Especially now, when
anybody with a cell phone can report such bad acting to a vast audience.
Customers quickly learn who the shysters are and who the good corporate citizens are,
and the right folks will ultimately get rewarded. "Ultimately" being much quicker than ever before in our history of railroad barons, trusts, monopolies, and "too big to fail."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Maybe this opinion writer in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/corporations-arent-people-under-the-republican-tax-plan-theyre-better/2017/11/06/3447b790-c344-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html?utm_term=.b0ef9e8d5207" target="_blank">Washington Post</a> is correct, though. After all,
that Ohio group is made up of businesses and CEOs and we know how evil--at least according to many columnists and Hollywood--that insatiable profit motive is. That all
business people are dedicated to squashing the little man, keeping sweat-shop employees on subsistence
wages, all while making as gargantuan a profit as they can by turning out shoddy, dangerous
products and foisting them on a stupid public.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then, once they have accumulated
all the money in the world and have bought everything they can possibly buy for
themselves, they take the rest of that filthy lucre, put it in a dump truck,
and drop it into a hole in the ground and cover it over so nobody else can get
it. Or force their miserable employees to do it with spoons for shovels while upper management lash them with cats-o-nine-tails.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Or use some of it to bribe Congressman so the CEO and his
damned company can make more money to bribe even more Congressmen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-13683525971893426322017-11-01T05:29:00.000-05:002017-11-01T05:29:18.429-05:00I don't know why I expected anything betterby Don Keith<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you are a friend on Facebook or frequent some of the more popular amateur radio hobbyist groups there, or if you follow me on Twitter, I owe you an apology. Yesterday I received a tweet from ARRL letting us know that the very popular CBS Network TV show "NCIS" would have a strong plot line featuring ham radio. Since I'm always excited when people are exposed to a hobby I have enjoyed and benefited from for better than half a century, I posted the news everywhere I could.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wish I had not. I don't need any help from Mark Harmon to get my blood pressure up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I should have known from past experience that most portrayals of our hobby are bogus and ill-informed, from Herman Munster to the space alien Alf, though they were light years better than the pitiful mess on "NCIS" last night. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There have been a few decent ones: "Last Man Standing" on ABC (Tim Allen even got his ham license in real life because of his character's interest in the hobby) and the movie "Frequency," even though the characters transmitted on an old Heathkit RECEIVER throughout the film. But at least the characters were not depicted as socially challenged dweebs who "perfectly fit the stereotype," an actual line from "NCIS."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Okay, I confess I have not watched a full episode of any of the flavors of "NCIS" because I found the situations totally unrealistic and what few I have spent more than a few minutes with were just downright silly. Therefore I should not be surprised that this attempt to include ham radio was just downright wrong at best and mean-spirited in actuality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129;">For the life of me I can't understand why, if they are going to make amateur radio a key element of the story line, they don't get a little input and get it right. A quick visit to the <a href="http://www.arrl.org/" target="_blank">ARRL web site</a> could have helped immensely. Asking the local ham club to give input would have kept them from being absolutely insulting. Maybe.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129;"><br /></span></span>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hams don't use "handles." That's CB. Common mistake but why do it? Oh, that did fit into the plot somewhat since they had to use direction-finding to locate one ham they wanted to talk with about a murder. And they couldn't have just looked up a call sign on<a href="http://www.qrz.com/" target="_blank"> QRZ.com</a> or the FCC database. That would have made the geniuses at NCIS unnecessary.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are plenty of real but unused call si<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129;">gns they could have used instead of that silly mishmash they came up with. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129;">The two ham "shacks" they showed must have had a dozen transceivers in each. That was just an effort to further demonstrate how crazy these hams were.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The log book they showed would have had call signs in it, not "handles," and it would have been a snap to look them up on many web sites or in the FCC database. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"His antennas have a range of 80 square miles." Ridiculous! The conglomeration of radios the murdered guy had and the big beam antenna and ham gear at his buddy's house can reach the other side of the planet. But they had to keep the dead guy's coverage down in order to determine that there were 630 licensed amateur radio operators that could possibly be able to talk to the poor fellow. And a quick look at their names instantly gave them the likely "handle" of the person they wanted to speak with. Wow!</span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But the worst parts were the constant references and portrayals of the amateur radio guys in the story as socially repressed loners, holed up in their shacks, grown men living with their mothers, unable to function except for jabbering for hours on their radios. Such a stereotype is absolutely untrue and, frankly, insulting. I have no data but I'd bet the number of socially non-functioning personalities in our hobby is actually less than in the general population. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">See, we communicate all the time, not just via radios but in many other ways, too. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What they said about amateur radio often being the only means of communications during disasters is absolutely true. We've seen plenty of that in the past few months in flood- and hurricane-ravaged areas. Thanks for throwing us that bone anyway, NCIS. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But when you consider the premise for this episode is that the drug cartel is hauling in cocaine, mixing it with sand, and dumping it into the traps on a golf course...well, again I should not be surprised at the hatchet job they did on a fine one-hundred-year-old hobby that almost a million-and-a-half of us enjoy and that does so much good for so many.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I've seen some scathing posts on many of the group pages this morning already. Many have written the network expressing their disappointment. Hey, I know everyone is easily offended these days, and being politically correct seems at epidemic proportions, but why does a network, a show, its writers and producers feel they can malign a group of hobbyists as they did. Here is just one such note to CBS that I believe says it well:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">"</span><b>You have insulted over 1,352,000 Amateur Radio Operators. Or Ham Radio, if you prefer. Did your writers do ANY research? The profile you depicted on tonight's program of NCIS was wrong on so many</b></span></span><b><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> levels, it is hard to begin to correct. Most Hams are average people with normal jobs and normal life styles and families. We belong to clubs and churches. I know several doctors and police who are Hams. We volunteer with local Emergency Management Agencies as well as the National Weather Service and FEMA. Also, Tim stated he used a "Handle", and Ham operators do not. (CBers do) He also used a really bogus call sign that would never be issued. The equipment shown would have worked stations all over the world, not the 80 mile distance Tim said. Not only did you do us an injustice, you did the American people an injustice by misleading them. Who do you think has been providing the communications out of the islands hit by the recent hurricanes? I am very disappointed in your writers and I am seeing some bitter comments on social media. But then again, that's Hollywood. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good (or bad) story."</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As noted, I've never watched a full episode of this show. Now I'm glad I haven't wasted all that time if this is typical of the silliness they propagate. If you recorded it to watch later, don't bother. At least not for the amateur radio content. Or the goofy crime and how they eventually solve it, for that matter!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm just glad I decided to watch the World Series and give out candy to trick-or-treaters. After DVRing "NCIS," I was able to fast-forward through about a half hour of commercials and watch the silly show during breaks in the game. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Even so, that's time I can never get back!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-75522820691468334272017-10-12T15:27:00.001-05:002017-10-12T15:27:42.977-05:00What is it? A radio? No, I don't know how to work it. <br />
by Don Keith<br />
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Yes, rapid technological change has led to quite a few things that were once commonplace becoming extinct. Things like newspapers, telephone booths, and vinyl records. When I taught communications, I often brought in a 45 or 33 RPM record and asked my classes of mostly 18-to-30-year-olds to tell me what it was. Few could. <br />
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Then it really hit me one day when I brought in a music CD and no one in the class knew what it was either, or had ever used one. I felt as if I had been trampled by a dinosaur sprinting away from an Ice Age glacier.<br />
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So I am not surprised by<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/must_see/41437574/radio-1-at-50-but-where-is-it" target="_blank"> this little demonstration from Great Britain's BBC</a>. They gave a portable radio to random young people on the street and asked them to dial in "Radio One." That is the government-owned broadcaster's primary channel. I was not surprised that most of them were at least aware of the station itself, since there are still precious few choices on the radio broadcasting band in the UK.<br />
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What floored me was how long it took to find someone who actually knew how to use the frequency dial on the radio to find and tune in the station. <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/must_see/41437574/radio-1-at-50-but-where-is-it" target="_blank">See for yourself.</a><br />
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But if you doubt the revelation, just ask the next person under 30 who climbs into your car what the "AM" means on your auto radio.<br />
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Now excuse me while I go put a stack of 45s on the Victrola, type up a few pages on the Selectric, and then arrange my VHS movie collection in chronological order.<br />
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(Thanks to Phil Sasnett KB4XX for the BBC link.)Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-13146030909469638292017-08-08T12:51:00.000-05:002017-08-08T12:51:06.352-05:00Two spleen-venting posts in one <br />
By Don Keith N4KC<br />
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Please allow me to get two things off my chest in one convenient rant, both about a couple of my favorite whipping boys, both media that have been very much affected by rapid technological change.<br />
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<b><u>Spleen-vent #1:</u></b><br />
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Our old friends at the broadcast-radio news outlet <a href="http://www.insideradio.com/when-pandora-plays-i-want-to-take-you-higher-it/article_24fe34aa-7c0c-11e7-9f1c-6f566d8a0897.html" target="_blank">INSIDE RADIO</a> are at it again! A current email and <a href="http://www.insideradio.com/when-pandora-plays-i-want-to-take-you-higher-it/article_24fe34aa-7c0c-11e7-9f1c-6f566d8a0897.html" target="_blank">website post</a> crows loudly about Pandora, the free music-streaming service, increasing their commercial load from 3.3 commercials per hour to a whopping 5.3 commercials per hour on their free service. Two more commercials per hour!<br />
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How dare Pandora?!? Don't they know that listeners will tune out in droves if they have their free streamed music interrupted by such a tremendous number of crass commercial messages each hour?<br />
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Thank goodness, good, old, free over-the-air radio broadcasters are not mistreating their listeners in such a vicious way. They somehow manage to only run between twelve and fifteen minutes of commercials each hour. And to cram them into only two or three commercial breaks, so you can get them over with in one fell swoop. Well, in two fell swoops in most cases. And I'm sure that sixth or seventh commercial gets just as much attention for the advertiser as the first or second one.<br />
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And certainly more attention than the third or fourth one in an hour on Pandora. Yes, broadcasters and INSIDE RADIO can absolutely chide Pandora for upping their commercial load by a stupendous 60%...from 3.3 to 5.3 commercials...because traditional broadcasters would have to fill up almost half of every hour to raise their own spot load by 60%. Oooops. Maybe I should not have made that observation. Some of them will do just that!<br />
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Now, I remove my tongue from my cheek to attack<b><u> dying-medium #2</u></b>, my local newspaper:<br />
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So I get an alert from my credit card company that there has been a charge initiated by The Birmingham News for $39.68. Hmmmm. I do charge my paper-newspaper subscription on that credit card, but that seemed a tad high for the quarterly renewal. <br />
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Sure enough, for the past year, the thrice-weekly paper has cost me $28.34 per quarter. It has suddenly--and without any note or warning--ratcheted up 34%! By more than one-third!<br />
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So I call the customer service number, the only one I can find for The News, and get some clearly bored person in some distant city, likely working for a company that fields such calls as mine as an outsourced vendor. I doubt she could find Birmingham on the map, much less my Wednesday paper in the privet hedge adjacent to my driveway. It is also obvious I am not her first call on this particular subject as she immediately informs me, directly from the script in front of her, "This is an increase due to increased paper and distribution costs."<br />
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"Odd," I respond, "Since the newspaper you now toss into my driveway is easily a third as many sheets of newsprint as it was only a few years ago. And you only toss it three days a week, and not the former seven. I would think the cost of newsprint and distribution would have had to go up at least 12 times (a third as much paper delivered three-sevenths as often) its former cost for there to be an increase of any kind warranted."<br />
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She had no scripted comeback so immediately said, "I can offer you two free weeks."<br />
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I did the math quickly. $39.68 divided by 13 weeks is $3.05. Two free weeks would net me $6.10, about the cost of a Big Mac combo. I would still pay $33.58 for the eleven non-free weeks.<br />
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"Not good enough. You folks are lucky I still subscribe at all because..."<br />
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"I can give you a month free," she interrupted. As I say, she has heard all this before out there in Denver (where their call center is if you have an issue with not getting a paper thrown) or over in Atlanta (where the newspaper is printed each of those three days of the week when they bother putting out a paper paper) or wherever she is located. "Plus you continue to have access to the daily e-edition of the paper."<br />
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Thank you for that! That e-edition. Same as the paper edition three days a week. The comics and puzzles the other four, which eventually show up in the printed editions when they bother to throw it to me. All in a clunky interface that is difficult to access and read. Or I can get the same stories on their Internet affiliate, AL.com. An even clunkier interface, burdened by incessant pop-up and fly-in ads that seize the screen mid-paragraph, starts loud audio ad messages for which it is impossible to find a cut-off, and constantly dump cookies and other junk on my hard drive.<br />
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"Not good enough, ma'am. I need..."<br />
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"We will return you to your previous rate of $28.34 per quarter, sir."<br />
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"And credit my card with the difference on the current charge?"<br />
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"Yessir." Sounds of clicking. "We have credited your card with the difference, sir. Thank you for being a subscriber and I hope you have..."<br />
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"Wait. Is there a number I can call or an email address I can use to express my concern about such a big increase with no notice?"<br />
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"No, sir. We do not have any other number or email address. Thank you for being a subscriber and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day."<br />
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Click!<br />
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Just as with my old favorite medium--and the one that fed my family for more than three decades--broadcast radio, the newspaper seems destined to commit economic suicide by doing dumb stuff at a time when rapid technological change is already threatening their very existence.<br />
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Now would be the time to do things to counter change over which these media have no control. Instead they continue to shoot themselves in the foot with remarkably good aim.<br />
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Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-44347480600804773262017-05-04T16:57:00.001-05:002017-05-04T16:57:53.122-05:00What is Nielsen thinking?By Don Keith<br />
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For those who do not know, Nielsen is the company that dominates ratings measurement for television and radio. (They bought Arbitron several years ago, assuring both traditional media would be owned, lock, stock and barrel, by a single entity.) And also know that accurate viewer and listener data is crucial, not only for stations, cable and satellite companies, advertisers, and program providers, but for consumers as well. The shows you watch, the formats you hear, are determined by viewer and listener data. Heads roll based on minor swings in "the numbers." Careers are upended if a show drops in ratings or a personality on the radio does not beat the competition. But the products you are able to buy and how you hear about them is also determined by how successfully advertisers can reach their target audience.<br />
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All that explanation is to set up what I think is a major glitch in how Nielsen is trying to make their data more reliable. For TV, most rating info comes from a set-top box in each home, attached to TVs, that automatically measure what people watch. A bunch more viewing is measured by volunteers who keep a paper diary and write down what they see and when. Something similar happens with radio. In bigger cities, a group of people volunteer to carry a small, beeper-like device that keeps track of what the person is hearing from radios. But a sizable number of towns still rely on the outmoded paper diary. How "Twentieth Century!"<br />
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The problem is that these methodologies are expensive and it is becoming more and more difficult to recruit people willing to install the box on their TVs, carry the little meter, or, worse, write down all they see and listen to in a one-week diary. That is especially true of younger people, a valuable target audience to many marketers.<br />
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Data is more important than ever, and especially to under-siege media like over-the-air radio and TV, yet it is becoming more and more difficult for Nielsen to provide accurate information. So what does Nielsen do?<br />
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They <a href="http://www.insideradio.com/nielsen-s-gracenote-could-turn-cars-into-ppms-on-wheels/article_b579afde-309c-11e7-96fc-d7dee4228704.html" target="_blank">go out and spend over half a billion dollars</a> to buy a company that has technology to gather data about radio listening in cars, unbeknownst to the car's owner and/or operator. I won't even go into the concerns I have about the privacy violations of such a scheme. I'm just amazed that the company is spending so much on something that will only duplicate the capabilities of the existing technology they already own, the little beeper-like device they picked up when they bought Arbitron.<br />
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I don't know all the ramifications, or the impetus for them to do the deal, but seems to me that Nielsen could have spent that half billion bucks on recruiting more folks to carry their beeper--which, by the way, measures radio <u>and</u> TV--and on increasing economy of scale in manufacturing the devices while improving that technology. And moving more markets away from the diary methodology.<br />
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But what is another half billion? Heads roll, careers end, products are not able to be properly marketed. But nobody can go to the other ratings provider.<br />
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There isn't one.Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-74415115328764937292017-03-23T08:22:00.000-05:002017-03-23T08:22:04.454-05:00AM broadcasting continues to fade away...literally and figuratively By Don Keith<br />
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I've blogged here often about how AM broadcast radio is dead, dead, dead, and weak efforts by the Federal Communications Commission to save it are futile at best and laughable when you get right down to it.<br />
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Further proof? See this post on Facebook, decrying the fact that a legendary, high-powered AM station in Chattanooga, Tennessee, WFLI, is going dark...the broadcasting term for pulling the big switch, signing off and not signing back on.<br />
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How is the FCC trying to overcome the obvious, the fact that rapid technological change and its inherent flotsam and jetsam has left AM broadcasting in its wake? By offering AM station owners weak, ineffective FM stations on which they can re-broadcast their AM programming and allowing them to make minor, subtle changes to their on-air signals.<br />
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Neither will work, of course. FM translators are just cluttering up an already crowded FM band and those that do manage to find an audience are only further diluting ratings and listener-ship, making it more difficult for anyone to make a living. The AM band is also rife with man-made electrical noise, making stations almost unlistenable in urban areas. In many cases, the real estate on which the AM stations' towers rest is worth far more than the station as a whole.<br />
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But the main issue is one the FCC cannot possibly solve. BROADcasting as an advertising medium is rapidly becoming obsolete. Most advertisers want to NARROW-cast. We now live in an age in which a merchant selling widgets to 22-to-27-year-old Hispanic males can direct a message right to them. They don't have to pay the freight to "purchase" the ears of 18-to-34-year-old males just to reach their very narrow target...and one that is actively searching specifically for the product offered by the merchant, not just potentially being lost among the mass of listeners to a radio station.<br />
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Sad to see an icon, and once a member of the same group of stations for whom I worked, throw up their hands and pull the plug. But you will see more and more examples of stations with which we grew up go off the air. Many have already changed to niche formats or ride satellite programming that is of little interest to listeners (but it's cheap!) Some are mere excuses to have one of those low-power FM translator stations and that is not economically viable.<br />
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I stand by my prediction: the current AM broadcasting band will be a ham radio band within ten years. N4KC says that, but I am not happy about it.<br />
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<br />Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-82729519526650981892017-01-10T10:51:00.000-06:002017-01-10T10:51:01.512-06:00Another "wizard" is goneBy Don Keith<br />
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We lost one brilliant human being the other day.</div>
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I first met <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1569505930" href="https://www.facebook.com/courtney.haden.3" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Courtney Haden</a> when we were both students at Alabama. I knew right away he was smarter than the average Broadcast and Film Communication student, most of whom would have been happy to just graduate and then pull the midnight-to-six deejay shift on an AM in Clanton.</div>
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We sort of kept up with each other but I'll never forget the day he and Greg contacted me and asked if they could provide me a short comedy sketch bit on my morning show on WRKK K-99FM. Their demo of "<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">4th Avenue Car Wash" was so brilliantly observational, bitingly on-point and goofily funny on so many levels it was an easy answer. Plus they were offering it free. It went on the air right away and ran for I-don't-remember-how-long. (I'm tearing the place apart hoping to find some cassettes of the show. <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=772035277" href="https://www.facebook.com/greg.bass.39" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Greg Bass</a>? Help!)</span></div>
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I wondered but don't remember asking why they weren't doing a radio show somewhere. The medium desperately needed them. Soon they were, on Kix106. And it was good. No, it was TOO good. And I was glad I had moved on to Nashville and did not have to try to compete. He and Greg are among those "wizards" to whom I dedicated my novel, WIZARDS OF THE WIND, radio personalities who could work magic with a couple of microphones, a pair of turntables, and some tape cart machines.</div>
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Last time I saw Courtney, I was voicing a book at Boutwell Studios, a dry and verbose training manual for employees at some factory somewhere. He made it a fun experience. That was no small task, engineering efficiently while trying to stay awake and not giggle at my solemn, serious tone. We promised to get together soon and catch up on everything that has happened since 1968, but...well...you know how that goes.</div>
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Then, in this day of instant communication, I did not hear about Courtney's crossing the bar until this morning. I know one thing. If there is any way possible, he will pen a droll, astute, accurate, heart-breaking, hilarious article about the whole experience. And I'd read it and, as usual, wish I was half the writer he was.</div>
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I'll be checking upcoming issues of Weld and other local publications, just in case he finds a way.</div>
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Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-74260696677495089122017-01-07T21:59:00.000-06:002017-01-07T21:59:55.447-06:00How rapid technological change cost me almost $200 <br />
By Don Keith<br />
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Rapid technological change often brings us convenience and benefit we could not have even dreamed of a few years ago. Take booking a rental for our annual family beach trip. Once upon a time, such a transaction was conducted blindly, typically by mail, or on a long-distance telephone circuit.<br />
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Now, we are able to not only see and easily compare potential places, with rates, amenities, available dates, and more, but we can book them quickly and securely. It is especially helpful to be able to see photos of rooms to determine how beds will work for our brood, the size of the kitchen and living area, and to confirm the pool is not a plastic tub on stilts. Good stuff!<br />
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But I just learned a costly lesson. All that convenience and info may well mask the fact that you may encounter unexpected costs.<br />
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I'll try to make this quick, and hope it saves some of you some money. We were pretty sure of the property we wanted to rent. I Googled it and quickly found that it was actually rented by two different outfits, a local real estate company and VRBO.com. The local outfit's website was lacking a bit in design convenience so I switched to VRBO to better peruse the pictures, rates, availability calendar, and other info. Both sites clearly showed identical rates and open dates so I went ahead and began the booking process on the VRBO site.<br />
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All was fine until I got to step two and noticed that the total price--including a $250 cleaning fee, a $100 administrative fee, and a whopping 11% lodging tax, all of which showed as additional charges on both websites--was still more than $200 higher than what it should have been. It appeared to me that they may have charged me the "pet fee" though I clearly indicated in step 1 that we would have no pets with us.<br />
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So I reverted to the old-fashioned way and called the VRBO customer service number. A nice lady who spoke very difficult-to-understand English assured me my total rental would be exactly what I first expected and insisted that she stay on the line while I completed the online form, just in case I encountered other anomalies. I tried but in only a moment or so, their nice form refused to accept the expiration date on my credit card, even though it is valid and I had entered it precisely as they told me to.<br />
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Again the hard-to-understand lady offered to enter the info on her end and get the reservation completed "before someone else takes the open week you want." I allowed her to do so.<br />
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"Have you read and agreed to our terms?" she asked at one point.<br />
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"No," I told her. "Your web site will not allow me to see them until sometime later in the process."<br />
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She assured me there was no commitment until I had accessed and read the terms, which I soon learned consisted of about six pages of tiny print. While she waited, I skimmed it as well as I could and actually saw no issues. It was identical to other terms I had seen from other rentals in the past. It did include the really scary info that unless you purchase their renter's insurance, you cannot cancel the agreement and get any of your money back, not even if there is a zombie apocalypse or the planet is destroyed by meteors. I did not want to pay over $300 for such protection, nor have I in the past, so I agreed to the terms.<br />
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Then, when she told me the grand total, it was the higher amount that had sent me to the toll free number in the first place. First, the cleaning fee was actually $275, not the $250 listed on both websites. "The owner probably raised the fee and we just have not updated the site," she told me.<br />
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OK. The clock was ticking. Vultures were probably swooping in and grabbing my week, the only one the entire family had decided would work for everyone. But what about the rest of it? Another $180?<br />
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"That is the VRBO charge...what we charge for handling the rental for the owner. It also covers our customer satisfaction guarantee. We cannot complete the rental unless you agree to that."<br />
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Dumb me, I assumed VRBO got their $180 whether I rented on their site, the real estate company's site, or directly from the owner. I further assumed they had exclusivity and that I would pay no matter how I committed. I swallowed hard and did the deal.<br />
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Minutes later, when I received an email receipt--from the local real estate company, NOT VRBO--I noticed the charge was the original smaller amount I had at first expected, plus the unexpected $25 of cleaning fee increase. No $180 for VRBO's time and trouble and customer satisfaction guarantee. Same with the email confirmation from my credit card company that I get anytime anything gets charged online.<br />
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I promptly called the real estate folks to see what was what. They were extremely nice. Even apologetic. The lady--in a nice way--told me I was a sucker for going with VRBO and not using their site.<br />
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"But I thought VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) was cheaper or at least the same as you real estate guys," I whined.<br />
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"Rarely if ever," she said. "They charge the same rates we do plus a fee to cover their overhead and make a profit."<br />
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"That's not built into the rate?" I naively asked. "Your commission is."<br />
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"No. We always urge renters to use our site and not have to pay their fee."<br />
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"Where on your website do you urge us to do that?" I asked.<br />
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"We don't. We are afraid there may be legal ramifications."<br />
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"Legal ramifications for telling folks that the other guys charge more than you do?" I asked her incredulously. "Oh, and what about the additional $25 plus the 11% tax on it to clean up the joint after we vacate?"<br />
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"Oh, the owner must have raised the price and forgot to tell us."<br /><br />"Shouldn't you make that change on your website?"<br />
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"I'll put in a work order but it may take several weeks."<br />
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Rapid technological change, indeed! But she did immediately volunteer to remove that charge from our total. I also told her the credit card charge they had already done did not include the VRBO fee.<br />
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"They will run the card a second time for that," she assured me. Indeed they did. That bit of email news arrived by the time I had finished my chat with the nice lady. And she remained nice, even when I fussed about how their website was funky and that was what sent me galloping over to VRBO in the first place.<br />
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I admit I was the typical gullible shopper. I assumed too much. I assumed VRBO was cheaper (or at least the same cost) as the local real estate guys. Then I assumed the real estate people would charge me that extra fee if I worked through them instead of VRBO. And that if I didn't nail down that one week we needed, it would be gone in an hour or two.<br />
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No, I should have told broken-English-lady at VRBO goodbye when she insisted I read all those pages of fine print and pay the unexpected fee. And when she didn't immediately agree to honor the cleaning fee as it appeared on their website. Then I should have verified the price with the locals.<br />
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But it was so easy. So convenient. The pictures on the VRBO site were so beautiful. Even when I hit a snag trying to rent online, there was the English-language-challenged lady perfectly willing to type stuff into the form for me.<br />
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And for all that technology, I ended up paying $180.<br />
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<br />Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1775853671332053099.post-77102109164732359752016-12-06T12:04:00.000-06:002016-12-06T12:04:58.855-06:00Latest suggestion for the AM broadcast band? Zap it!by Don Keith N4KC<br />
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As noted in many previous posts, I am convinced that no amount of fiddling with arcane rules or tweaking technical regs will ever save the AM broadcast band. Despite the fact that most of us baby-boomers grew up on AM radio, that whole side of over-the-air commercial broadcasting has been soundly whipped by FM. And new challengers for aural attention--satellite, digital, in-car broadband, and more rapidly developing technology--have only hastened the service's inevitable demise. It is beyond being on life support.<br />
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Now, an influential group has a rather dire but eminently practical suggestion for the new administration on what to do with AM: kill it. Euthanize it. Put it out of its misery. But do so in a humane and fair way.<br />
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Read <a href="http://www.insideradio.com/free/mmtc-asks-trump-to-begin-a-decommissioning-of-am-band/article_907fb178-bb81-11e6-8cda-1ba8be1cda47.html" target="_blank">the article</a> in <a href="http://www.insideradio.com/free/mmtc-asks-trump-to-begin-a-decommissioning-of-am-band/article_907fb178-bb81-11e6-8cda-1ba8be1cda47.html" target="_blank">INSIDE RADIO</a> and you'll see what the group's thoughts are. I wholeheartedly agree.<br />
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Oh, and though I'm not sure which other radio-frequency services might have desires for 540 khz to 1700 khz, but we Amateur Radio operators sure would like to have some more room for our experimentation, public service activities and just plain fun.<br />
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One thing is for sure. With us on those frequencies, there would be more listeners than the current users have in most cities.Don Keith N4KChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06333040858271808397noreply@blogger.com1