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In his provocative new book The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlein argues that “the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future” by turning out hyper-networked kids who can track each other’s every move with ease but are largely ignorant of history, economics, culture, and other subjects he believes are prerequisites for meaningful civic participation.

Watch the video.

Perhaps we should pause a moment to reconsider the real implications of social networking beyond communication convenience…?

“The Way You Look Tonight” is a song featured in the film Swing Time, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. It was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. In the film, it was sung by Fred Astaire to Ginger Rogers — Ginger had been washing her hair in the shower and emerges to listen to Fred with her hair full of suds.

Some day, when I’m awfully low,
When the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you…
And the way you look tonight.

The first thing an alien race is likely to hear from Earth is chirps and whistles, a bit like R2-D2, the robot from Star Wars. In reality, they are the sounds that accompany the aurora. Now ESA’s Cluster mission is showing scientists how to understand this emission and, in the future, search for alien worlds by listening for their sounds.

Scientists call this radio emission the Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR). It is generated high above the Earth, by the same shaft of solar particles that then causes an aurora to light the sky beneath.

Read more from Science Daily.

My cache of musty old books (which happens to be growing at an alarming rate) includes first editions of every book written by Richard Evelyn Byrd.

Commander Byrd was a 20th century explorer, adventurer, gentleman, and American hero. In addition, he was a tremendous writer.

When you put all that together, it makes for some amazing reading.

On his second expedition to Antarctica in 1934, Byrd set up a lonely outpost far from the Little America station he had earlier established. He made the decision to spend the harsh winter in this tiny outpost — alone.

His stated goal was to collect scientific data from the most remote region on the planet. But reading between the lines, it’s difficult not to conclude that Byrd was using this self-imposed exile as a means of testing his own mettle.

‘Alone‘ was published in 1938 and it chronicles this unique adventure of human endurance. I read it cover to cover one weekend last year, and couldn’t catch my breath for a week.

The shack that Byrd called “home” for that long winter included a small CW transmitter and a receiver with which he received voice replies when conditions permitted him to make contact with Little America. Using Morse to send was a particular challenge since he didn’t know the code.

I imagine a similarly amusing scenario has been played out by neophyte radio operators the world over…

excerpted from the 1938 book ‘Alone’ written by Richard E. Byrd

This morning I had another radio contact with Little America. As were the two preceding affairs, it was a major operation; therefore, as with everything else important, I am trying to systematize the operation as best I can . . . The fact that I haven’t mastered the Morse code complicates the business
infernally. Even though I have a conversion alphabet tacked to the table next to the key, I find it terribly difficult to think in terms of dots and dashes; and my thumb and forefinger are clumsy executing them with the key.

So this is what I’m doing: While the engine is heating on the stove, I sit down at the desk and write out on a sheet of paper whatever messages I have in mind. I spell them out vertically down the page — that is, Chinese fashion, with the letters one under each other; then, opposite each letter, I write the equivalent dots and dashes. This is fine, as far as it goes. The trouble comes afterwards, when Charlie Murphy takes up some expedition matter or else is in a mood just to make conversation. Then I become as frantic as a tongue-tied Latin being interrogated in a strait jacket, who can’t form the words in his mouth or use his hands to gesticulate. Yet, somehow, Dyer manages to follow me — he must have learned mind-reading along with his engineering . . .

My first question today was, “How is Ken Rawson?” Charlie Murphy came on and said that Rawson’s neck was still giving trouble. Aside from that, all’s well at Little America.

Charles gave me a digest of Little America weather; and, as we anticipated, it averages 15 degrees to 20 degrees warmer than here.

It’s really comforting to talk this way with Little America, and yet in my heart I wish very much that I didn’t have to have the radio. It connects me with places where speeches are made and with the importunities of the outer world. But at least I myself can’t broadcast over this set, thank heaven. It won’t carry voice; and, moreover, I haven’t enough generator fuel to be sending long messages in code. Charlie Murphy will see to it that my friends understand the situation. But I know that some day, out of pure curiosity, I shall be tempted to ask how the stock market is going or what’s happening in Washington. And, in view of my precarious finances, any news will probably bring restlessness and discontent.

After the schedule I found that the ventilator pipe in the generator alcove was half filled with ice from the condensation of the hot gases, and sickening fumes filled the tunnel. Although I don’t like this at all, I can’t seem to find a remedy. The temperature today held between 50 degrees and 60 degrees below.

I don’t suppose too many radio hams were surprised by K1ZZ’s recent opinion piece, Can We Talk?, and the implication that not every radio amateur is a sparkling conversationalist.

We all know the truth — most ham radio QSOs are about as interesting as watching your toenails grow.

The fact that Dave Sumner was quoting a 1936 QST editorial about mundane on air conversations is testament to the fact that this is nothing new. What I find more interesting about all this is that in order to be disappointed by this revelation, a person must first be under the impression that radio hams excel in the confabulatory skills.

The reality is that among all people, not just radio amateurs, finding someone who is interesting and able to hold up their end of a good conversation is difficult. If you have a friend whose company and conversation you enjoy then I’d recommend you hang on to them like grim death — because that’s so exceedingly rare.

In the specific case of radio amateurs, we suffer from homogenization — we are much too much alike to be very interesting to each other. Attend a few large hamfests each year and you can easily generalize that radio hams are mostly white men who are over fifty-years of age. In America, those specific demographics more or less translate to political and religious conservatives along with their predictable and usually jejune opinions.

Besides, religion and politics have been historically taboo** in on air conversation and so hams are left to talk about the weather, or their latest ache and pain, or more typically, the radio equipment and antennas in use or those that have been used.

[**Despite religious conversation being proscribed on the ham bands, you will run across the occasional religious "net" where folks are praying for each other over the air. It's perhaps the oddest ritual you're likely to encounter on the bands and one that causes a crusty old skeptic like me to wonder if the efficacy of silent prayer ended with the advent of radio technology...]

If you hang around the hobby long enough though, you will from time-to-time encounter amazing people and fascinating conversation can be found.

It’s probably been fifteen-years ago that I bumped into a fellow on 20 one afternoon who was living in the southwestern United States. He told me that he was a retired NASA engineer and had worked on the Apollo space program from the “beginning to the end”. He lived completely alone, except for his dog, and he only ventured into town once a month to do a little banking and to pick up supplies. His biggest concern was that at 78 years of age he figured he might drop dead at anytime and not be found for months.

That didn’t bother him nearly as much as wondering what would become of his dog in that event.

That one single conversation, that lasted for less than an hour, easily stands out as the most incredible and enjoyable QSO I’ve ever had in 31 years of amateur radio. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had many good conversations via radio, but this one was the “best” of the lot.

Fortunately, most radio amateurs are much easier to please. Enjoyment doesn’t have to come in the form of rare encounters with a true radio raconteur.

We also enjoy building equipment, testing antennas, contesting, chasing DX, talking at length about nothing in particular with our friends, and sometimes, the simple thrill of making contact with another human in a far-off place via the aether provides enough of a “rush” to keep us coming back for more.

But, if you think ham radio is about much more than that, or if you imagine long evenings spent in rapt conversation by the soft glow of the vacuum tube filament, you’re very likely to be disappointed with what you find.

73 de Jeff

On July 8, 2008, Pickens announced a major energy policy proposal called “The Pickens Plan”.

The plan promotes alternatives to oil, including natural gas, wind, and solar. A major feature of the plan is replacing the 22% of its electricity that the United States gets from natural gas with wind energy, which would then allow that natural gas to provide 38% of the States’ fuel for transportation and reduce its dependence on foreign oil. The Pickens Plan calls for the United States to leverage its wind corridor in the middle of the country which stretches from Texas through the great plains to the Canadian border.

Pickens plans to spend $58 million on his multi-media effort to promote the Pickens Plan.

In this video, Pickens briefly outlines his energy plan to help bridge the long transition required to take us from where we are now, into the post-carbon age.

Texas officials Thursday approved the construction of nearly five billion dollars worth of electricity transmission lines to carry power generated by new wind farms in West Texas and the Panhandle to metropolitan areas of the state such as Austin, Dallas and Houston.

The three-member Texas Public Utility Commission selected a transmission scenario that will eventually transmit a total of 18,456 megawatts of wind power to customers. The commission estimates that residential customers will see an increase of approximately $4.00 per month on their utility bills once construction is complete and costs are reflected in rates.

The new transmission lines will be in service within four to five years.