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Sometimes an episode comes along that defies description. This is one of those times. Richard was exhausted from his job. Russ was exhausted from life in general. Topics were a bit thin. Both hosts found their way into the sauce for the evening. Everything conspired to make Episode #096 one of the worst on record. We’re writing this summary in the hopes that you’ll look at it, ask yourself, “How bad can it be?” and listen anyway. Despite the less than ideal circumstances, the content is still relevant, informative and even fun. Hm. Maybe this isn’t the worst episode after all. You be the judge.

73 de The LHS Guys

Introduction:

• Welcome to episode 95 of Linux in the Ham Shack. Episode 100 looms on the horizon, and we’d like to do something a little special. Call in to the LHS voice mail line at +1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or send an email, and share your thoughts about the show.
• LHS recommends this LOL Cat image.

Announcements:

• Kevin O’Brien, Publicity Director of the Ohio LinuxFest, is looking for someone to step up and take on the role of Volunteer Coordinator. If anyone is interested please reply to [email protected].
• We now digress into a ramble about censorship.
• On page 45 of the December 2012 issue of QST has an article on vertical vs. horizontal antennas, a topic we discussed in episode 91. In the same issue, on page 52, there is also an article about the NorthWest Digital Radio UDR56K, a topic we discussed in episode 90. Are we seeing a pattern here?
• Also in that issue is a description of several FCC Proposed Rule Changes, and our hosts discuss each of them:
  • Reduction of license expiration grace period from 2 years to 6 months.
  • Reduction of vanity call waiting period from 2 years to 6 months.
  • Reduction of the number of Volunteer Examiners at test sessions from 3 to 2.
  • Possible allowance of “remote testing” facilities using video and audio over a network that allows for proper administration of tests.
  • Allow single-slot TDMA transmissions.
• The 2012 Fort Wayne Hamfest is this weekend, November 17-18, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This is also the ARRL Convention for Indiana. This launches Richard into reminiscing about the presentation of The Last Voice from Kuwait.

Topics:

• Symbolic (or soft) Links vs. Hard Links
  • Russ and Richard offer a discussion of the difference between soft, or symbolic, links and hard links in Linux.
  • A symbolic link is a pointer to another file name. Symbolic links can be created with the ln -s command:

    ln -s [original file] [link name]

  • Symbolic links can point to files on other volumes or file systems.
  • Hard links, on the other hand, are pointers to the data of another file, just like a directory entry is a pointer to the first block of data for the file. Hard links are also created with the ln command, but without the -s switch.
  • Hard links can only be used on the same file system.
  • A symbolic link is equivalent to a Windows shortcut, a pointer to the name of another file. A hard link is a reference to the data (first inode) of another file, and thus must be created on the same file system.
  • When the original file with associated hard links is deleted, the data remains until all of the hard links are also deleted. Deleting the original file with associated soft links will delete the file and the data, but the soft links will remain, now orphaned.
  • More information about links is available here.

Feedback:

• Listener Dave left a comment on the web site expressing his appreciation for the show, and also became a subscriber. Thanks, Dave!
• Jeremy, KD5HQN, also commented on the web site, claiming he’s actually learning something from the shows! He also corrected Richard about the proper location of Orthanc. Thanks, Jeremy.
• Bill, KJ4KNI, asked, via Richard’s Facebook page, for suggestions about the best Linux distribution for a beginner. (Linux Mint 13 is a good choice.) He also wonders why a ham might use 75-ohm RG6 coax as an antenna feedline. Our hosts discuss the possibilities.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at [email protected], Russ at [email protected], or both at the same time at [email protected].
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Easier As Us” by Michael McEachern, courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Wicked” by Fresh Body Shop, from their album Bring Me Down, courtesy of Jamendo.

Richard called this one of our best efforts to date, which means there must be some kind of worthwhile contained buried in all the tomfoolery somewhere. If you can find it, you’ll be that much wiser for whatever it is we discussed. Silliness aside, we discuss some proposed FCC rule changes for the amateur radio community, the difference between hard and soft (symbolic) linking for our Linux segment, and answer questions and receive praise from several members of our audience. On the whole it turned out to be a pretty good episode, and we sure had a lot of fun doing it. Thanks to all our listeners for your support and for keeping us motivated to bring you ever more episodes of Linux in the Ham Shack.

73 de The LHS Guys

Introduction:

• No music this episode.
• It’s the night before Halloween and we’re off to another spooky episode of LHS with our hosts starting with a ramble about horror movies. It’s a trick AND a treat!

Announcements:

• Please consider donating to the podcast or subscribing for #20/year. Also, the free Black Sparrow Media app is at risk of disappearing unless our listeners are willing to provide $15/month to keep the download site alive. Please contact us if you can help.

Topics:

• Creating a desktop wallpaper slideshow in GNOME:

  It’s actually a built-in feature of GNOME. Briefly, here are the steps:

  • As root, create a new directory in /usr/share/backgrounds (any name you want).
  • In that directory, place your desired background images (or links to them).
  • There’s already a directory in /usr/share/backgrounds called cosmos which you can use as a guide.
  • Copy background-1.xml from the cosmos directory into your new directory and edit it to specify your images.

  More information can be found in this askubuntu thread. Be sure to read through all the comments.

• Richard points us to one of many articles about ham radio operators helping out during and after Hurricane Sandy. Our sympathies to the victims of hurricane.
• More about EchoLink and Linux: Richard found the CQiNet project, which includes two applications, Echolinux (an EchoLink client for Linux) and The Bridge, an iLink/EchoLink compatable conference bridge. Of course, there is still the svxlink package, which includes the Qtel Echolink client.
• C’mon, people, where are my Raspberry Pi suggestions? Russ is still looking for good uses for his Raspberry Pis. Send your suggestions!
• Google Webfonts are open source fonts that can be embedded in Joomla, WordPress and others, embedded in CSS, or with Javascript. Visit Russ’ blog page for an example of Google Webfonts in action.

Feedback:

• David, KE0AZ, sent an email about our discussion of antennas in Episode #091. He’s opting for a used 4BTV vertical.
• Tim, KI6BGE, in response to Richard’s computer power supply repair in Episode #092, shares his success story involving a printer repair he attempted.
• Scott, N8VSI, sent this audio report on his experience as the LHS ambassador at the Ohio Linux Fest. (We talked to Scott in Episode 93.)
• Harrison, VE2HKW, made a donation to the Black Sparrow Media app server fund. Thanks, Harrison!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at [email protected], Russ at [email protected], or both at the same time at [email protected].
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Introduction:

• Richard is looking forward to winter in Texas… all three days of it.

Announcements:

• Subscribers to LHS now have access to the Etherpad, or via the Etherpad link in the Content area of the LHS website.
• Black Sparrow Media now has a Twitter feed at BSM_Network.
• Richard rants: Ubuntu has added a nag screen to the download page requesting a donation.
• Linux Distributions for Ham Radio:
  • Has Shackbox died? There does not seem to be much activity since 2009.
  • Andy’s Ham Radio Linux CD by Andy, KB1OIQ, revisited. Version 11 was released in June, 2012, and is based on Ubuntu 11.10. Several of the tools have been updated to newer versions. Also at http://kb1oiq-andysham.sourceforge.net/
• Jeff Hodsdon published a list of influential ham radio operators, and neither Richard nor Russ are on that list! For shame!

Topics:

• Russ and Richard interview Scott, N8VSI, our LHS ambassador at the 2012 Ohio LinuxFest. He had demos of xastir, fldigi, yfktest, and others. Scott had two computers running and a Raspberry Pi. Sadly, the official LHS banner didn’t show up until two days after the event. Scott is a member of the West Chester Amateur Radio Club which operates from the Voice of America Bethany Relay Station.

Feedback:

• The Old Texas Engineer sent an audio response to Episode 88 about High Speed Multimedia and mesh networks. He gives us some history of HSMM in Texas and his experiences with the technology. He mentions the Open Mesh project and the South Texas Balloon Launch Team website.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at [email protected], Russ at [email protected], or both at the same time at [email protected].
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “El Bubblino” by 20lb Sounds, from the album Bubblino. (That’s Dan Lynch’s band, one of the Linux Outlaws!)
• “Kitsch Me If You Can” by MMO, from the album Drunk Dial of the Year, courtesy of Jamendo.

The latest episode of LHS is upon you! Prepare to be astounded, mesmerized, blown away and flabbergasted. If none of that happens, perhaps you’ll be entertained and informed. In a music-less episode, we somehow manage to get through without stumbling–more or less. Our foray begins in the world of Linux and computing with some tips on how to make your desktop and your blog look better, at only the cost of your immortal soul. In the middle we touch on Hurricane Sandy and emcomm and follow that up with some Echolink: native on Linux Echolink, yeah! Feedback winds up the episode and then we go back to our respective holes in the wall. Send us feedback, if you get a chance. We’d like to hear from you.

73 de The LHS Guys

Hello and welcome to a very late release of LHS Episode #093. Recorded about a month ago, I finally found the time to get this one edited and put out so the world can experience it. I’d like to thank our loyal listeners for their patience, and I sincerely hope that this episode stands up to the fine quality (*snicker*) that you’re used to from LHS. We get a visit from one of the show’s ambassadors in this episode who tells us all about his experience ambassadoring for a Linux event in Ohio. You know the one. Surrounding that are some interesting Linux topics, a ham radio discussion or two and a very informative bit of feedback from the Old Texas Engineer. You don’t want to miss it.

73 de The LHS Guys