Al's Blog-o-Sphere

You’ve got to admire the way Verizon is attacking Apple’s iPhone and it’s lousy AT&T coverage. They’re not going to take it like Microsoft…

Despite a lawsuit from AT&T over the red and blue maps, they’ve come right back with this ad that calls the iPhone a “Misfit Toy” – a reference to the place where broken and mis-shapen toy go from the Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer story. Continue Reading…

My current project has been remodeling my workroom where I keep my radio equipment. I’ve mentioned it here before. The last step has been making a desk where I can use all my radio equipment ergonomically. Continue Reading…

I read an article on Hybrid cars the other day and it’s pretty clear to me that the manufacturers of those cars could have a heyday with their MPG ratings. Watch a few commercials and you’ll see claims for 50MPG or more. The new Chevy Volt is touting 230MPG.

First of all, how do you give an electric car a MPG rating at all? It doesn’t take any gallons, unless you count windshield wiper fluid. Continue Reading…

… when Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.

No, sorry. It was forty years ago today that Astronauts set foot on the moon. Not only was it an astounding feat at the time, it was televised. Yes, shown nearly-live on TV. We’d been enjoying real-time news for quite a while. Olympic coverage. Coverage of the VietNam War. Mostly by undersea cables, but more and more by some newfangled satellites. But to me the Apollo landing on the moon epitomizes the move to instant gratification with the news.

Everyone has their story of where they were and how old they were when it happened. I’m not going to disappoint you. My observation of the moon landing was extra special to me as I was in Washington DC. when it happened. How much more patriotic can you get? I was in our nation’s capital during this moment of national pride. Continue Reading…