MandieD

27 ms·

361.
by MandieD 3y ago
The main source of power for early radios in pre-rural electrification 1930s West Texas: small windmills that charged batteries for them - the wind is almost always blowing in West Texas. Zenith Radio Windcharger was the main type I remembe
362.
by MandieD 3y ago
Even your modern European cousins don’t have quite the same level of access to super-sugary fruits year-round, or at least we see some blatant price differences. Cherries right now (mid-July) in northern Bavaria: $3/lb at the grocery s
363.
by MandieD 3y ago
I think GP was mixing up concentration camps (Konzentrationslager), an umbrella term for both work/prison camps (never really secret, killing prisoners was a side effect but not the ostensible purpose, initially targeted German citizen
364.
by MandieD 3y ago
Hearing aids have long had tiny, replaceable batteries - rechargeable hearing aids are an innovation, by comparison!
365.
by MandieD 3y ago
See the amateur radio licensing system as a graduated driver’s license where the questions were put together by classic car guys who miss those giant pre-1973 oil embargo American muscle car engines, but is a necessity for running your elec
366.
by MandieD 3y ago
Which (should be) especially embarrassing for them, as that form of the URL is in the front of the book about emergency power they published in 2012 that I just got from the library, and probably many others.
367.
by MandieD 3y ago
I'd encourage them to focus on the digital modes as a way to test the things they build and learn about propagation. The communities around digital modes also seem to be nicer and more diverse. There are still lots of old guys in these
368.
by MandieD 3y ago
HamStudy.org got me through the Technician and General, Anki-style. The website was free, the app was $4 (one-time purchase, includes all three levels, plus a few non-US exams). The volunteers proctoring all three of my online exams were an
369.
by MandieD 3y ago
It also displays by default in usable English on an iPhone when the phone's interface language is set to US English (haven't tested UK English).
370.
by MandieD 3y ago
That's the nice thing about NINA in Germany - I can pick very specific geographic areas to get alerts for, like the town I live in, the city I work in, the rural area my in-laws live in. If you're willing to spend a few minutes, y
371.
by MandieD 3y ago
Pay attention to some of the projects being funded by the ARDC - Amateur Radio Digital Communications. They’re on the lookout for people, especially younger people like school kids and college amateur radio clubs, doing new and interesting
372.
by MandieD 3y ago
The most mystifying re-branding of my MSFT-adjacent career had been Lync to “Skype for Business,” which I had trouble even researching at work because back when they pulled that clever move, most corporate firewalls were still blocking Skyp
373.
by MandieD 3y ago
Thank you for that! The only major division I was aware of among Muslims was Sunni and Shia, but I guess that's a bit like someone being startled by cultural and religious differences between Roman Catholics and Protestants - they all
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by MandieD 3y ago
Very cultural - plenty of cultures roast and eat certain insects, and Western culture's prized crustaceans (shrimp, crab, and lobster) make me ill pretty quickly after eating them (even when I didn't know about them being in a sau
375.
by MandieD 3y ago
Kitchen ranges, clothes dryers, and literally every other appliance large or small are usually moved with the homeowner or tenant in Germany - until the last decade or so, rental apartments almost always came with completely empty kitchen
376.
by MandieD 3y ago
It's a high enough petrol tax it prevented Norway from being full of gas guzzlers, and that it has been a disproportionately large EV market, despite being a) a giant oil producer and b) cold.
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by MandieD 3y ago
This is why I have no qualms about using an ad blocker on YouTube, but won't use SponsorBlock - if the video creator gets a direct sponsor, I'm happy for them, and if it's a crappy sponsor or a really annoying spot, I can use
378.
by MandieD 3y ago
And howdy from Texas and its somewhat widely distributed mineral rights, creating a landed gentry that sometimes doesn't even have to deal with the inconveniences of owning said land, but often has, on a personal level, an even more ve
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by MandieD 3y ago
Point 4: as a notorious economics philosopher once said, "never get high on your own supply." Along with not immediately blowing the petro money on a national level, Norway taxes petroleum products more heavily for local consumpti
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by MandieD 3y ago
In Germany, WhatsApp is ubiquitous, possibly because when it hit the app stores, a lot of people were still paying per SMS, but had adequate data plans, and offered easy-enough group chats early on that at least felt private. Also, even a
381.
by MandieD 3y ago
Fun related fact about 1-5 survey responses in Germany: make sure you specify that 5 is the top mark and 1 is the bottom, otherwise you’re liable to get some really odd results. This is because 1 is the highest grade (mark) in school, and 5
382.
by MandieD 3y ago
This is the sort of thing the folks behind ArchiveTeam.org live for. I’ve not looked at their site in awhile because it’s heartbreaking what they didn’t get the chance to archive, but they’ve managed to rescue an awful lot, and provide the
383.
by MandieD 3y ago
When I tell people that, sorry, I don't have WhatsApp, they either look at me like I have a screw loose, or offer to help me install it (I am a middle-aged lady, so technical incompetence must be my excuse). I'd love to see the
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by MandieD 3y ago
Guessing by your name that you're Israeli, and you're speaking of the more Orthodox communities there... In the US, there are still large groups of Mennonites whose choices to avoid most post-19th century technology are generally
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by MandieD 3y ago
Depends on in what form he's making use of them... most small holders end up leasing them to a bigger operator for a set period of time, with a cut to the agent who made the deal happen. Those leases have gotten a lot more lucrative ov
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by MandieD 3y ago
Texas, like most states, is red in the countryside and blue in the cities, with a purple gradient through the suburbs, with a twist: the usual red-leaning landed gentry is turbocharged with mineral rights - which were initially related to,
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by MandieD 3y ago
"Wild West" is a common way to refer to American-style business decisions in Germany. I vaguely remember a Stern magazine cover from around 2004, depicting a giant cowboy boot with "GM" decorated with red, white and blue
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by MandieD 3y ago
It's kind of reassuring to see Kagi get funding that is significant for an individual/small business, but not the kind of wild VC money that sloshed around these last several years, and a minimum investment that even I could manag
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by MandieD 3y ago
"Hadal Zone" is also the name of an album by a fun acoustic guitar duo, Opal Ocean. Great for flamenco fans, and also those who enjoy the occasional 7/4 time signature. I found out about them at a festival in my smallish Germ
390.
by MandieD 3y ago
The PDF itself was created in 2005 and the file date in the parent directory the same date as the PDF, so that's the absolute latest date, but I'd also guess 1999 for the original paper. Not sticking a date on it without a bit mor

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