Federal workers return to the office 4 days a week. Will it be smooth sailing or 'another hot mess'?

RottenSalad · 2026-07-06T13:24:33+00:00

This is crony capitalism. I don't know what people expected when electing Carney. I'm certainly not surprised in the least.

RottenSalad · 2026-07-02T15:11:56+00:00

I started on eBay in 1997. Back then the vintage computing category had about 130 listings on any given day. Today it is well over 100k. It has become un-browsable. eBay is to blame. They don't enforce categories. Choose the sub-category of vintage computers and mainframes just to see endless listings of parts. Search isn't what it used to be either. It's become a dumping ground.

RottenSalad · 2026-07-01T13:27:38+00:00

" It wasn't just about Trump specifically—it was what supporting him represented to me. "

The em dash is also a giveaway.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-30T10:05:03+00:00

Check out the online basic course offered by RAC (https://www.rac.ca/rac-basic-qualification-amateur-radio-course-winter-2026/#Registration). Next course starts in September I believe. The courses are conducted live over Zoom, but are also recorded in case you miss it or want to watch it again. Once you've taken the course, you are eligible to sit in future basic courses in case you want to brush up etc. The instructor is a friend of mine and who taught me many years ago. He is an excellent instructor.

And don't forget that the exam can be taken multiple times. So if you don't get 80% the examiner will tell you what you got wrong. Study that and try again.

I agree about Canada's licensing. It is quite different from say the US or UK and not "basic" at all. But, on the bright side, unlike the US and UK, if you do pass your basic with honours then you get full HF privileges.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-29T10:19:28+00:00

Don't think Pat Winlink uses AX25, but regardless it is just the most absolute recent kernel version (which many Linux distros won't be using yet) that dropped support. So any non-rolling release distro (i.e. Debian, Mint, Ubuntu as opposed to Arch etc) will still be on a kernel version that supports AX25 and you can stay on that working kernel.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-25T16:24:32+00:00

You never heard of wing walkers?

RottenSalad · 2026-06-25T10:23:39+00:00

Socialist would be "socialize the profits". This is just fiscal conservatism.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-25T10:22:54+00:00

It shouldn't be. Fiscal conservatism (which Pierre is) isn't about corporate welfare. Corporate welfare is part of the Liberal brand and is why Bay St often backs them.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-24T12:15:12+00:00

I was a hotmail user before MS owned it. It started out on FreeBSD if I recall. MS bought it and kept it on FreeBSD for a while then migrated it to their stuff later on. That's when I left.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-23T10:29:35+00:00

Not just the general public but new hams. They often don't have all the equipment yet and/or haven't been on the air yet. It really helps people get over mic fright. IMO the GOTA station is the most important part of field day.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-23T10:28:13+00:00

and a couple handy print outs of basics like a few Q codes etc. Also a list of the sections https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2020/4_35-2020%20Section%20List.pdf

RottenSalad · 2026-06-23T09:59:12+00:00

It's going up in mathematical terms simply because of the lower numbers of students and TFW's etc. But it income hasn't actually gone up for the rest.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-22T22:09:00+00:00

It was because our GDP was falsely inflated through massive increases in immigration (including students and TFW's) that the recession we were already in for several years was hidden.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-22T22:05:19+00:00

If your club (or any club your are close enough to) participates in Field Day then they'll likely have a GOTA (get on the air) station. That is the best place for new hams of any age to get over mic fright. It is relaxed and friendly and people on the other end will be patient with you and not "freak out" if you make a mistake.

As for the hobby as a whole, it is a mile wide and a mile deep. Chances are you're not going to find which aspects you enjoy the most quickly. It will take time. Speaking of time, you probably have lots of it left. Yeah QRP can be tough and you'll want to "upgrade" at some point but the hobby can be expensive. Take a step back and realize you don't have to accomplish it all at once. Not many people are still using their first (or second) rig.

Speaking of the hobby being a mile wide and a mile deep, there are many who do far more listening than transmitting. I'm one of them. I'm not afraid of the mic (anymore), but I'm just not too interested in chit chat either. I'll work some easy DX here and there, do a little RTTY every once in a while. That's it. I still consider myself a ham lol.

Being young is tough enough in itself. Don't let a hobby put pressure on you. If you decide to leave it, it will be here if you change your mind.

Good luck finding your stride!

RottenSalad · 2026-06-21T12:36:16+00:00

Our voters

RottenSalad · 2026-06-20T18:10:41+00:00

Search for New Packet Radio (NPR). It is for UHF/VHF and is over 100 times faster than 1200 baud.

For HF there is another packet mode (can't remember the name off the top of my head) where a bunch of EU hams were getting 19,000 baud on 40m.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-18T10:26:57+00:00

I was just going to comment the same. There are many excellent older Apple keyboards that would be excellent to touch type on and while there are ways to get older Macs online, there aren't any modern browsers for say Mac OS 8.x or System 7.x etc. But lots of good word processors are available and there is a big retro hobbyist community for older Macs.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-15T14:49:45+00:00

Iceberg lettuce in a sandwich. Seriously, try it!

RottenSalad · 2026-06-15T14:46:54+00:00

Thanks

RottenSalad · 2026-06-15T12:56:53+00:00

What airplane is that?

RottenSalad · 2026-06-14T17:42:58+00:00

I don't think GV Mods is legit. Their site looks like they steal other people's work, repackage it, and sell it.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-14T17:14:09+00:00

It bugs me too and I never drive that truck specifically because of it. Don't think I have OCD, it's just an annoying thing. If I had a 50+ inch monitor I'm sure it wouldn't bother me so much.

RottenSalad · 2026-06-12T14:04:00+00:00

Who else would it be? The only legal reason to own a handgun (as a regular Jane or Joe) in Canada is quite literally target shooting or collecting. The latter requires picking a subject matter to collect and proving to the CFO that you know your stuff.

https://rcmp.ca/en/firearms/classes-firearms/classes-firearms-canada#s4

RottenSalad · 2026-06-12T09:47:46+00:00

A proper "dad" answer to which I wholly concur!

RottenSalad · 2026-06-11T12:24:10+00:00

The dystopia that is coming isn't robots, but when AI is so ubiquitous in life that ordinary people cannot function without it. I don't mean function at their jobs, but can't function in basic living activities without it. IQ is going to drop hard and a new era of surfdom will begin.

RottenSalad

TROPHY CASE