May 2020
Friday May 1, 2020 12:06 NOON CDT
Part 15 Location
The only thing missing from this astounding self-built empire is a personal radio station.
Saturday
May 2, 2020 7:10 AM CDT
POWER OUTAGE
So far this morning the power to the Internet Building shut off two times taking this website offline and silencing KDX-OGG Radio SuperStream. While typing this notification a telephone alert has been received from the electric company indicating that power is restored and informing that the cause of the outage was a vehicle impacting a utility pole.
Saturday May 2, 2020 4:52 PM CDT
POWER OUTAGE
So far this morning the power to the Internet Building shut off two times taking this website offline and silencing KDX-OGG Radio SuperStream. While typing this notification a telephone alert has been received from the electric company indicating that power is restored and informing that the cause of the outage was a vehicle impacting a utility pole.
Saturday May 2, 2020 4:52 PM CDT
Sunday
May 3rd is
World Press Freedom Day
Sunday
May 3, 2020 8:55 AM CDT
On
the
Internet of Things KDX is the Number One Thing
Sunday
May 3, 2020 9:16 AM CDT
"Knowledge" is Nothing to be Comfortable About
"Most people are not just comfortable in their ignorance, but hostile to anyone who points it out."
"Knowledge" is Nothing to be Comfortable About
"Most people are not just comfortable in their ignorance, but hostile to anyone who points it out."
Sunday
May 3, 2020 10:50 AM CDT
Sunday is Maintenance Day at KDX
As a rule KDX closes website and radio stream every Sunday between 12 NOON and 8 PM CDT for routine maintenance, except today we will remain ON AIR between 12 NOON and 1:30 PM CDT to bring Radio Survivor and World of Radio, two programs about radio.
Sunday is Maintenance Day at KDX
As a rule KDX closes website and radio stream every Sunday between 12 NOON and 8 PM CDT for routine maintenance, except today we will remain ON AIR between 12 NOON and 1:30 PM CDT to bring Radio Survivor and World of Radio, two programs about radio.
Sunday
May 3, 2020 5:04 PM CDT
Another Radio Movie
Another Radio Movie
Tuesday
May 5, 2020 10:13 AM CDT
Not So Fast
As numerous covid lockdowns are lifted across the continent KDX holds fast to social distance. There are two pressures rushing the restart: many policy makers want to salvage the economy by reopening commercial business and intellectually inferior people want to inflict their low life presence despite placing more gentile people in at risk. We would recommend that both groups be given last place when they arrive for emergency health care and their waiting room should include no good magazines.
That said, there's the more interesting story of our lastest attempt to restore the full KDX website as we've been shut down over the last day for testing of a newly rebuilt server. Results are inconclusive and will require further time spent at half-mast while efforts continue. We are working from home which doesn't actually explain anything since the radio station is located at home.
Have you heard the latest covid scam? No, but you're about to... thinking beyond the box in the Trump style given that covid affects the repiratory system, maybe they'll find that covid doesn't like dust. Have they looked into it? Maybe they'll learn that people from the dustiest environments tend not to become infected. Hmm? With that in mind The KDX Shop at Smilers Mall offers Hoover Dust Bags filled to the brim with station dust. $20 a bag while supplies last. Pop the bag in your living area using a rotating fan to blow it into the air and let's see how things go.
Tuesday May 5, 2020 3:01 PM CDT
Low Power FM Transmitters - An interesting link to Michelle Bradley's REC Net.
Not So Fast
As numerous covid lockdowns are lifted across the continent KDX holds fast to social distance. There are two pressures rushing the restart: many policy makers want to salvage the economy by reopening commercial business and intellectually inferior people want to inflict their low life presence despite placing more gentile people in at risk. We would recommend that both groups be given last place when they arrive for emergency health care and their waiting room should include no good magazines.
That said, there's the more interesting story of our lastest attempt to restore the full KDX website as we've been shut down over the last day for testing of a newly rebuilt server. Results are inconclusive and will require further time spent at half-mast while efforts continue. We are working from home which doesn't actually explain anything since the radio station is located at home.
Have you heard the latest covid scam? No, but you're about to... thinking beyond the box in the Trump style given that covid affects the repiratory system, maybe they'll find that covid doesn't like dust. Have they looked into it? Maybe they'll learn that people from the dustiest environments tend not to become infected. Hmm? With that in mind The KDX Shop at Smilers Mall offers Hoover Dust Bags filled to the brim with station dust. $20 a bag while supplies last. Pop the bag in your living area using a rotating fan to blow it into the air and let's see how things go.
Tuesday May 5, 2020 3:01 PM CDT
Low Power FM Transmitters - An interesting link to Michelle Bradley's REC Net.
NAB Study on Low Power FM
Transmitters
Tuesday
May 5, 2020 4:11 PM CDT
The Shifting Wind
Until yesterday the COVID-19 lockdown brought the ancient sound of silence while we foresaw having plenty of time to place a microphone outdoors on campus to capture the delicate wildlife and murmering trees but those plans are dashed with today's announced reopening which has turned the nearby highway into a panoramic stereophonic racket as many escape their boredom. We guess the wind is blowing from the northwest because that's where the greatest din seems to concentrate. We'll do the outdoor recordings anyway starting soon.
If you remember Low Power Hour No. 1 that was our visit with William C. Walker who spoke of finding an ideal village, town, berg or neighborhood for the part 15 radio station of his dreams, which explains why we look in on his websites to learn how the search is coming along.
Visiting
WILWThe Shifting Wind
Until yesterday the COVID-19 lockdown brought the ancient sound of silence while we foresaw having plenty of time to place a microphone outdoors on campus to capture the delicate wildlife and murmering trees but those plans are dashed with today's announced reopening which has turned the nearby highway into a panoramic stereophonic racket as many escape their boredom. We guess the wind is blowing from the northwest because that's where the greatest din seems to concentrate. We'll do the outdoor recordings anyway starting soon.
If you remember Low Power Hour No. 1 that was our visit with William C. Walker who spoke of finding an ideal village, town, berg or neighborhood for the part 15 radio station of his dreams, which explains why we look in on his websites to learn how the search is coming along.
Tuesday
May 5, 2020 5:07 PM CDT
Phantom Transmitter Page
They Sure Look Like Ramsey
TransmittersPhantom Transmitter Page
Tuesday
May 5, 2020 5:09 PM CDT
Thick Necked Men
Donald Trump's neck looks like that of a bullfrog driven mad by toxic lilly pad mushrooms. He has questioned the efficacy of cleansing by clorox injection. Secretary of State Mike Plumpious in a strident accusing tone of voice bellowing from a massive throat and over-large head that requires custom shirt tailoring claims "knowing" that China gave us COVID-19. Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, from head and throat so bloated he receives regular offers from carnival freak shows believes 3,000 deaths a day is an acceptable cost for reopening the economy. All of this within days of the Navy releasing photographs of unidentified flying objects.
Tuesday May 5, 2020 5:27 PM CDT
Thick Necked Men
Donald Trump's neck looks like that of a bullfrog driven mad by toxic lilly pad mushrooms. He has questioned the efficacy of cleansing by clorox injection. Secretary of State Mike Plumpious in a strident accusing tone of voice bellowing from a massive throat and over-large head that requires custom shirt tailoring claims "knowing" that China gave us COVID-19. Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, from head and throat so bloated he receives regular offers from carnival freak shows believes 3,000 deaths a day is an acceptable cost for reopening the economy. All of this within days of the Navy releasing photographs of unidentified flying objects.
Tuesday May 5, 2020 5:27 PM CDT
Is
that a body
truck,
or is it my Amazon delivery?
or is it my Amazon delivery?
Tuesday
May 5, 2020 6:05 PM CDT
KDX Radio General Purpose 1-Question Survey
Prior to the COVID-19 Lockdown did you know the U.S. had so many incredibly stupid citizens?
YES / NO
Wednesday May 6, 2020 4:38 PM CDT
News From The Radio Source
It looks from here like Talking House and iAM Transmitters have been merged into a single brand called InfOspot. See if you agree.
KDX Radio General Purpose 1-Question Survey
Prior to the COVID-19 Lockdown did you know the U.S. had so many incredibly stupid citizens?
YES / NO
Wednesday May 6, 2020 4:38 PM CDT
News From The Radio Source
It looks from here like Talking House and iAM Transmitters have been merged into a single brand called InfOspot. See if you agree.
Thursday
May 7, 2020 10:25 AM CDT
Explains a Lot
Explains a Lot
It has always been fascinating to observe how really dumb people are unable to realize how dumb they are. Here's a clue:
"It
takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own
ignorance." - Thomas Sowell
Thursday
May 7, 2020 10:31AM CDT
Soundtrack for a Pandemic
Yesterday for 1-hour KDX broadcast the audio ambience picked up from a public microphone located on our campus. Today we're going to do it again.
Hours later - the result... at 9:30 AM CDT we recorded 52-minutes of local sound on the patio behinf the Internet Building and will air it at 2 PM CDT on KDX-OGG.
Already these experiments with live recording have prompted some technical improvements... the KDX Radio SuperStream has been uplifted from a sample rate of 22,050 Hz to 44,100 Hz, true CD quality. And the PZM (Pressure Zone Microphone) used in the recording, set to omni-directional pattern, has shown an astounding sensitivity throughout the audio spectrum, but high velocity sounds and blowing wind have caused noticable pumping of the recorded audio level, resulting in a technical revue of how the Zoom Recorder functions:
The microphone input to the Zoom has plenty of controls for situational tailoring... a 3-position switch selects low/medium/high sensitivity, and the digital controls allow automatic input level control or manual. Additionally there are compressor and limiter choices. Our settings currently show sensitivity LOW; automatic input level ON; compressor ON; limiter ON.
We'll plan an additional test tomorrow in which the compressor will be OFF as a way of preventing the pumping effect.
Soundtrack for a Pandemic
Yesterday for 1-hour KDX broadcast the audio ambience picked up from a public microphone located on our campus. Today we're going to do it again.
Hours later - the result... at 9:30 AM CDT we recorded 52-minutes of local sound on the patio behinf the Internet Building and will air it at 2 PM CDT on KDX-OGG.
Already these experiments with live recording have prompted some technical improvements... the KDX Radio SuperStream has been uplifted from a sample rate of 22,050 Hz to 44,100 Hz, true CD quality. And the PZM (Pressure Zone Microphone) used in the recording, set to omni-directional pattern, has shown an astounding sensitivity throughout the audio spectrum, but high velocity sounds and blowing wind have caused noticable pumping of the recorded audio level, resulting in a technical revue of how the Zoom Recorder functions:
The microphone input to the Zoom has plenty of controls for situational tailoring... a 3-position switch selects low/medium/high sensitivity, and the digital controls allow automatic input level control or manual. Additionally there are compressor and limiter choices. Our settings currently show sensitivity LOW; automatic input level ON; compressor ON; limiter ON.
We'll plan an additional test tomorrow in which the compressor will be OFF as a way of preventing the pumping effect.
Thursday
May 7, 2020 1:12 PM CDT
What We Call It
Some call it "Part 15 radio" which refers to a section of FCC rules defining legal unlicensed low power "intentional radiators", otherwise known as transmitters. Another name is "micro radio", an informal reference to both the minuscule radiated power and comparatively small size of such a radio station. Probably less common is the reference to "personal radio station" which, after thinking about it over the years, we are inclined to prefer as a descriptive, because these rules and this category of small station puts programming and radiocasting into the hands of plain individuals, at times a very liberating opportunity to avoid and replace the often lackluster quality of large licensed stations.
Friday May 8, 2020 7:54 AM CDT
Best Cleaning Products Only $1
What We Call It
Some call it "Part 15 radio" which refers to a section of FCC rules defining legal unlicensed low power "intentional radiators", otherwise known as transmitters. Another name is "micro radio", an informal reference to both the minuscule radiated power and comparatively small size of such a radio station. Probably less common is the reference to "personal radio station" which, after thinking about it over the years, we are inclined to prefer as a descriptive, because these rules and this category of small station puts programming and radiocasting into the hands of plain individuals, at times a very liberating opportunity to avoid and replace the often lackluster quality of large licensed stations.
Friday May 8, 2020 7:54 AM CDT
Best Cleaning Products Only $1
Friday
May 8, 2020 10:33 AM CDT
Brief Meditation of a Radio Programmer
In the tradition of radio in realtime the programs on KDX are scheduled for certain times on particular days but there are occasions when a scheduled program is unavailable at air time. It happened this morning when RT News was unavailable for download which opened half-an-hour without a program. At such time we peruse available choices from a standby list and pick what appeals to us as the most desirable substitute. But that only works well when the length of the substitute matches that of the absentee. Case in point: between the Thom Hartmann Program which ends at 2 PM and Loud & Clear which begins at 3 PM is exactly 1-hour, but the most useful programs for this hole run 15-minutes longer than an hour and there's no way of moving Thom or L&C because they stream live and are very fixed in place. I solved that exact problem yesterday by fitting 3 short programs into the hour.
Another situation arises when we decide to wedge an unscheduled program into the time-table which we have been doing with our Soundtracks for a Pandemic (see yesterday's blog of that title), an act that displaces scheduled shows and presents the problem of re-scheduling them at the next available time. We'll be doing it again tonight at 6 PM EST with our 4th outdoor recording trying tweaks and fine-adjustments to share the ambiance of being locked down in the Mississippi River Valley during mating season of the birds.
If any of this sounds interesting we'll be saying more about it on tonight's Pandemic program from the Patio out back. Look for us at KDX-OGG Radio SuperStream linked up top.
IMPORTANT SCHEDULE CHANGE - Tonight's Patio Pandemic Outdoor Show is canceled because of very windy weather which would interfere with our microphone. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.
Friday May 8, 2020 7:02 PM CDT
American Radio History Archive
Brief Meditation of a Radio Programmer
In the tradition of radio in realtime the programs on KDX are scheduled for certain times on particular days but there are occasions when a scheduled program is unavailable at air time. It happened this morning when RT News was unavailable for download which opened half-an-hour without a program. At such time we peruse available choices from a standby list and pick what appeals to us as the most desirable substitute. But that only works well when the length of the substitute matches that of the absentee. Case in point: between the Thom Hartmann Program which ends at 2 PM and Loud & Clear which begins at 3 PM is exactly 1-hour, but the most useful programs for this hole run 15-minutes longer than an hour and there's no way of moving Thom or L&C because they stream live and are very fixed in place. I solved that exact problem yesterday by fitting 3 short programs into the hour.
Another situation arises when we decide to wedge an unscheduled program into the time-table which we have been doing with our Soundtracks for a Pandemic (see yesterday's blog of that title), an act that displaces scheduled shows and presents the problem of re-scheduling them at the next available time. We'll be doing it again tonight at 6 PM EST with our 4th outdoor recording trying tweaks and fine-adjustments to share the ambiance of being locked down in the Mississippi River Valley during mating season of the birds.
If any of this sounds interesting we'll be saying more about it on tonight's Pandemic program from the Patio out back. Look for us at KDX-OGG Radio SuperStream linked up top.
IMPORTANT SCHEDULE CHANGE - Tonight's Patio Pandemic Outdoor Show is canceled because of very windy weather which would interfere with our microphone. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.
Friday May 8, 2020 7:02 PM CDT
American Radio History Archive
Saturday
May 9, 2020 8:15 AM CDT
Words On Albert Camus
Words On Albert Camus
Antidotes to the Absurdity of Life
Saturday
May 9, 2020 9:44 AM CDT
Sanity ReConsidered
We got to thinking and wonder if President Trump has ever told the truth about something.
On the other hand maybe we should "respect the president" by becoming chronic liars ourselves.
Maybe the truth has been over rated. We could become irate in defense of one lie over another (something we already do, come to think of it).
Does not biology lie to us as a way of furthering our species? Do you really not know what I mean, or are you lying?
Does a radio station have a reason to exist if it considers public knowledge and information "none of the listener's business?"
Radio Sputnik's slogan is "Telling the Untold!" But once it's "told" it's no longer "untold". There'd be nothing else to tell, but perhaps by analogy we finally know which came first in terms of chickens and eggs. Not only that but a new slogan for KDX comes to mind: Hearing the Unheard.
Saturday May 9, 2020 10:18 AM CDT
Sanity ReConsidered
We got to thinking and wonder if President Trump has ever told the truth about something.
On the other hand maybe we should "respect the president" by becoming chronic liars ourselves.
Maybe the truth has been over rated. We could become irate in defense of one lie over another (something we already do, come to think of it).
Does not biology lie to us as a way of furthering our species? Do you really not know what I mean, or are you lying?
Does a radio station have a reason to exist if it considers public knowledge and information "none of the listener's business?"
Radio Sputnik's slogan is "Telling the Untold!" But once it's "told" it's no longer "untold". There'd be nothing else to tell, but perhaps by analogy we finally know which came first in terms of chickens and eggs. Not only that but a new slogan for KDX comes to mind: Hearing the Unheard.
Saturday May 9, 2020 10:18 AM CDT
Saturday
May 9, 2020 10:26 AM CDT
Brooce Listening
Brooce Listening
Sunday
May 10, 2020 9:09 AM CDT
Thinking the Unthought
The fringe class came up with a term that holds a moment's attention: Plandemic. That's a good one, it reminds of 9-11 as an "inside job", which we have long suspected through various signs and symbols which hint the possibility. Such slippery ideas constitute their own form of virtual virus which attach to memory and point back as far as wondering about dinosaurs. Perhaps we inhabit separate realities stemming from our solipsism and eventually confluencing into various super realities. Being conscious of our ignorance may be frustrating at times and we might even envy the Trumpers and religious being so confident in the bliss of blind ignorance while we rock-garden words and numbers in hopeful expectation of finally defining and solving everything.
Sunday May 10, 2020 10:19 AM CDT
Let's Get Real
The Huffington Post is one of my stop-off sites for recent news but the current headliner seems rather un-called for -- MOMS: HERE'S THE REAL COST OF YOUR 'FREE' WORK. It's the old trope that a "woman's work" (in running a household) is a job deserving of pay but for which she is being swindled like a slave. That's so ridiculous! There's a basic, fundamental, typical, average, normal human woman who WANTS to have children, a dog, a kitchen, cleaning paraphenalia and furniture. It's mostly a big hobby for them and presents a woman in her most desired role - A HOUSEWIFE. The "wages" come in the form of "support", usually by a willing husband or sometimes by captive parents who can't very well leave their disorganized daughters out on the street. If women deserve employment compensation for doing what they dream of doing throughout girlhood then I deserve a large CEO level compensation package for having built the world's most complicated conglomeration of low power radio stations. Frankly, speaking now to you husbands, the wives need to give you a generous stipend for providing the habitat they crave, right down to that goddamned vacuum cleaner that they think needs to deep clean the carpet during TV football. Let me dig myself in deeper... so many of the same women who want motherhood but feel exploited by it ALSO want to simultaneously pursue professional careers unhampered by ceilings of glass with employers OBLIGATED to underwrite (fund) her child-bearing sideline complete with maternity leave which for me would be a hobby leave while I took paid time off from work to manage a stamp collection. If you want a career in radio you're going to have to pay me for it. At nearly 7-billion the world's population doesn't need this station's donations nor do we consider clean carpets of any concern.
Sunday May 10, 2020 12:21 NOON CDT
Thinking the Unthought
The fringe class came up with a term that holds a moment's attention: Plandemic. That's a good one, it reminds of 9-11 as an "inside job", which we have long suspected through various signs and symbols which hint the possibility. Such slippery ideas constitute their own form of virtual virus which attach to memory and point back as far as wondering about dinosaurs. Perhaps we inhabit separate realities stemming from our solipsism and eventually confluencing into various super realities. Being conscious of our ignorance may be frustrating at times and we might even envy the Trumpers and religious being so confident in the bliss of blind ignorance while we rock-garden words and numbers in hopeful expectation of finally defining and solving everything.
Sunday May 10, 2020 10:19 AM CDT
Let's Get Real
The Huffington Post is one of my stop-off sites for recent news but the current headliner seems rather un-called for -- MOMS: HERE'S THE REAL COST OF YOUR 'FREE' WORK. It's the old trope that a "woman's work" (in running a household) is a job deserving of pay but for which she is being swindled like a slave. That's so ridiculous! There's a basic, fundamental, typical, average, normal human woman who WANTS to have children, a dog, a kitchen, cleaning paraphenalia and furniture. It's mostly a big hobby for them and presents a woman in her most desired role - A HOUSEWIFE. The "wages" come in the form of "support", usually by a willing husband or sometimes by captive parents who can't very well leave their disorganized daughters out on the street. If women deserve employment compensation for doing what they dream of doing throughout girlhood then I deserve a large CEO level compensation package for having built the world's most complicated conglomeration of low power radio stations. Frankly, speaking now to you husbands, the wives need to give you a generous stipend for providing the habitat they crave, right down to that goddamned vacuum cleaner that they think needs to deep clean the carpet during TV football. Let me dig myself in deeper... so many of the same women who want motherhood but feel exploited by it ALSO want to simultaneously pursue professional careers unhampered by ceilings of glass with employers OBLIGATED to underwrite (fund) her child-bearing sideline complete with maternity leave which for me would be a hobby leave while I took paid time off from work to manage a stamp collection. If you want a career in radio you're going to have to pay me for it. At nearly 7-billion the world's population doesn't need this station's donations nor do we consider clean carpets of any concern.
Sunday May 10, 2020 12:21 NOON CDT
The Story
of the
Perfect President
Monday
May 11, 2020
Time Travel by Latency
As a word, latency is a delay, a period between the initiation of something and the occurrence.
In radio stream experience latency moves the moment of listening to a later point in time than the clock moment when the program began. Maybe it can be expressed in clearer ways, but this morning we entered latency twilight zone and this description will probably arrive before comprehension of it. So, the description of what happened. A little backstory is necessary...
It all began last night at 10 PM, local time. TUC Radio Overnight began airing on KDX Worldround Radio, consisting of 16 episodes of Maria Gilardin's radio program, scheduled to end at 6 AM the following morning when Fault Lines begins with Garland Nixon & Lee Stranahan from Sputnik Radio. Awakening at 6-sharp I noticed that Maria was still airing and after awhile yet another TUC episode came on. My natural response was to assume a scheduling error had probably occurred and that Fault Lines was being missed. But a look at the Zara "On the Air Now Playing" window showed that Fault Lines was on the air afterall, even though I wasn't hearing it yet.
To make a long story more or less as long as it is, my actual hearing of Fault Lines didn't start until 7:25 AM, but amazingly it was from the very beginning of the show; none was missed! It was the largest longest chunk of latency in our experience!
Much more common are latencys of 30-seconds or thereabouts but an hour and twenty-five minutes? Extraordinary. We wonder what listeners out on the internet might be experiencing. There's a way to find out, and that will require having our correspondents tune in from their scattered locations and compare the time on their clock to the moment a given program actually begins in compaeison with when it's finally heard.
Monday May 11, 2020 4:55 PM CDT
For what it's worth
Time Travel by Latency
As a word, latency is a delay, a period between the initiation of something and the occurrence.
In radio stream experience latency moves the moment of listening to a later point in time than the clock moment when the program began. Maybe it can be expressed in clearer ways, but this morning we entered latency twilight zone and this description will probably arrive before comprehension of it. So, the description of what happened. A little backstory is necessary...
It all began last night at 10 PM, local time. TUC Radio Overnight began airing on KDX Worldround Radio, consisting of 16 episodes of Maria Gilardin's radio program, scheduled to end at 6 AM the following morning when Fault Lines begins with Garland Nixon & Lee Stranahan from Sputnik Radio. Awakening at 6-sharp I noticed that Maria was still airing and after awhile yet another TUC episode came on. My natural response was to assume a scheduling error had probably occurred and that Fault Lines was being missed. But a look at the Zara "On the Air Now Playing" window showed that Fault Lines was on the air afterall, even though I wasn't hearing it yet.
To make a long story more or less as long as it is, my actual hearing of Fault Lines didn't start until 7:25 AM, but amazingly it was from the very beginning of the show; none was missed! It was the largest longest chunk of latency in our experience!
Much more common are latencys of 30-seconds or thereabouts but an hour and twenty-five minutes? Extraordinary. We wonder what listeners out on the internet might be experiencing. There's a way to find out, and that will require having our correspondents tune in from their scattered locations and compare the time on their clock to the moment a given program actually begins in compaeison with when it's finally heard.
Monday May 11, 2020 4:55 PM CDT
For what it's worth
Tuesday
May 12, 2020 11:10 AM CDT
Meditation on Platforms and Formats
Smell that honeysuckle! Even on this cool 51-degree overcast morning the sweet odor of flowering shrubs wafts across the KDX campus. It means something special being able to detect the scent, it means we are without covid-19, loss of smell being one of the purported symptoms. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to send honeysuckle scent streaming across the internet for your benefit? Perhaps it's a matter of time until we have an app for that. So many things can get through the wi-fi's and cables, so long as they can be reduced to 1's and 0's, as can sight, sound and text. The web is tuned for digital data and unable to carry analog audio, video or physical objects or odor. It's only able to teleport some of experience but not all of it. And, as expressed in yesterday's blog, loses track of time. There's even a false sense of whereness online by which it seems to be a "place" which makes us forget we are sitting in a chair looking at plastic. The same as dreaming where we lose awareness of beds and pillows. Well, dreams... perhaps the internet is somewhat mixed with dreams... there's the feeling that everything we need is on there somewhere if only we luck across the magic URL. But it never smells like anything in cyberspace no matter how many pixels its flowers may have.
Tuesday May 12, 2020 4:55 PM CDT
Public Service
Meditation on Platforms and Formats
Smell that honeysuckle! Even on this cool 51-degree overcast morning the sweet odor of flowering shrubs wafts across the KDX campus. It means something special being able to detect the scent, it means we are without covid-19, loss of smell being one of the purported symptoms. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to send honeysuckle scent streaming across the internet for your benefit? Perhaps it's a matter of time until we have an app for that. So many things can get through the wi-fi's and cables, so long as they can be reduced to 1's and 0's, as can sight, sound and text. The web is tuned for digital data and unable to carry analog audio, video or physical objects or odor. It's only able to teleport some of experience but not all of it. And, as expressed in yesterday's blog, loses track of time. There's even a false sense of whereness online by which it seems to be a "place" which makes us forget we are sitting in a chair looking at plastic. The same as dreaming where we lose awareness of beds and pillows. Well, dreams... perhaps the internet is somewhat mixed with dreams... there's the feeling that everything we need is on there somewhere if only we luck across the magic URL. But it never smells like anything in cyberspace no matter how many pixels its flowers may have.
Tuesday May 12, 2020 4:55 PM CDT
Public Service
Tuesday
May 12, 2020 5:19 PM CDT
Tuesday May 12, 2020 5:21 PM CDT
Latency Research Findings
Continuing an inquiry into the problem of creeping latency, see yesterday's blog, we found further that each time VLC Media Player was put in PAUSE to be restarted later, the incoming stream would pick up where it had last been playing which caused the resulting latency to increase. When our programming was being heard fully 1-hour 30-minutes after leaving the Icecast Server it was time to seek a remedy and here's what worked:
We closed every program running on the computer including the VLC Player but kept the radio stream server running without interuption, ran the cleaner program to delete cookies and whatnot, brought VLC back up and linked to KDX-OGG to find we were now running parallel with the program in progress which happened to be The Critical Hour with Dr. Wilmore Leon from RT America.
There's still a great mystery in wondering where our programs were during the time after they'd left the server but before being heard so much later... were they in a secret buffer cloud in the sky?
Now we are a year older but far less smarter in knowing that latency will build hour by hour and day by day until again we need to do what I just said.
If it's difficult to follow what we're talking about think how difficult it is for us to talk about it.
Thursday May 14, 2020 5:40 AM CDT
Something Worth Waiting For
- Reflections on a cynical Bible passage -
The meek shall gain a pauper's grave, redeemable upon death.
Mindful, Woke, or Dreamish
- A brief essay -
In my perception the COVID-19 days are dreamish.
Thursday
May 14, 2020 10:38 AM CDT
No job is beneath me provided I can do it later
-- Carl Blare
Thursday May 14, 2020 6:36 PM CDT
Storms in Area
KDX Website and Radio Servers were offline this afternoon between 1:10 and 3:30 CDT while severe storms moved in the area. We will be off again overnight with a 100% chance of storms. We do this to remain secure from lightning and wind damage and expect to return to service at 6 AM CDT if storms have subsided.
Friday May 15, 2020 7:43 AM CDT
Attention Humans
The Status Quo has been Discontinued
Friday May 15, 2020 7:57 AM CDT
Nobel Prize Nomination
We believe that President Dumbp should receive a Nobel Prize for his pro-active Pitching In to help with the health crisis by submitting fresh ideas to the staid medical science community who tend to think apart from a free-wheeling off-the-cuff style of slap-dash off the top of the head "thinking from the lower gut".
Or What About Trying That
Links submitted by Artisan Radio
Friday
May 15, 2020 2 PM CDT
Actual Message on Bulletin Board of the TitanicShip Going Down. Will re-open all passenger retail services to get us back into the steamship business.
Friday May 15, 2020 7:56 PM CDT
Trials and Errors
Somebody has probably already thought of this, but I was just wondering if this would make an emoji for "giving the finger"... _|_
Naw, probably not. It looks like an upside down "T".
Saturday May 16, 2020 3:28 PM CDT
Very Good Movie
Radio is everything, but there are still movies.
Train Driver's Diary
Sunday
May 17, 2020 12:29 NOON CDT
Idiot from the Depths of Space
Magic
Thinking as a Certifiable DisorderIdiot from the Depths of Space
Monday
May 18, 2020 8:17 AM CDT
KDX does not deal in
conspiracy
theories.But we are very ready with conspiracy hypotheticals.
Monday May 18, 2020 9"06 AM CDT
Radio Station Expansion Plans
We're working on several things ahead of post-pandemic life...
We'll going to publish a Guide to Social Distance Dating which will involve using Citizens Band walky-talkies to converse between dating parties with illustrated instructions for face-mask kissing.
Already construction has begun on the new KDX Socially Distanced Break Room in which only two employees can go on work-breaks at the same time facing in different directions and separated by a fish pond.
Our Upper Management Lounge proves to have been futuristic as a concept because only the sole company executive is permitted to set foot, a policy upheld since 2007.
And one other idea for now, let's see... what was it... oh yes! We're planning a Very Important Person Restaurant limited exclusively to people of note and their guests. The doorman will turn away those not known as celebrities, stars, captains of industry or idle rich. Our only stumbling block so far is that Carl Blare might not qualify because his fame is just a hobby.
Monday May 18, 2020 1:25 PM CDT
Trump Death Clock 2020
Thursday
May 21, 2020 8:38 PM CDT
Here
on the KDX campus we would like to build one of theseFriday
May 22, 2020 4:49 AM CDT
Strange
Tower at Mexican Wall
Reported by Brooce
Friday May 22, 2020 7:29 AM CDT
COVID Dreams
So, I remember someone pointing out that the word "so" does not properly start a thought, but belongs in the middle of a statement in which the first part of the statement makes a point and the "so" is used between the opening declaration and conclusion, so, maybe that doesn't explain it well... how would you put it?
Which reminds me, did you just notice how my inflection went up at the end of the question topped off by a question mark? There, see what I did? Notice how I made it happen again? My sentence starts and proceeds on a lower pitch of voice then goes up in pitch like I'm asking a question? Well, if you're really asking a question it's alright but if what you say isn't a question then it shouldn't go up and there'd be no question mark? A guest on the Radio Survivor program ended every sentence as if it was a question and I wanted to end radio's survival? Stop surviving!
But none of that is the real reason I am writing this morning, I've been having dreams? While idling time on the internet during quarantine have you noticed articles about unusual dreams during lockdown? I haven't taken the time to read any of those dream articles because I have a radio station that needs coal in the burner and I've got to shovel but now I've had a dream and will go back and read some of those articles to find out if my dream qualifies?
In my dream I was interviewing people? I was moving all over with a handheld wireless microphone approaching all kinds of people but in my mind I was preoccupied with concerns? For example, to get a clear voice recording I needed to get close to people and being experienced with wireless mics I might be out of range of the little radio receiver and the batteries in the microphone and those in the remote recorder might run out and I wasn't sure how much time was left on the smart card? I kept pausing with the thought of editing later to remove the audio distancing? I was in hallways and corridors, wandered into rooms and offices, and covered vacant lots for blocks around and one homeless guy asked how I could ask people about religion when I don't go to church I told him I didn't need to go to church because all those people did?
Frankly, I think we're mutating and this is what it's like.
Friday May 22, 2020 12 NOON CDT
Dating Update
Actually, I'm not dating these days. After a few consensual get togethers with the graceful half of the species we concluded that what little could be done at a social distance of 6-feet could be done online from home and we all agreed that porn was best for that.
So, in the perpetual quest to ward off sedentary muscle failure it was the lawn with our manual Brill Razor Cut German mower where I push until my heart is within 8-beats of stopping, and I come inside to sit it off at the keyboard.
I picked a good rime to be here because you're here so I'll try to say something worth hearing...
...Let's talk about small talk. I've come to the conclusion that the only way to get along with people for any length of time is to stick exclusively to small talk. People hint at it when they say that "religion and politics" are best left unspoken. In other words life in the universe and human affairs are too hot for words. Maybe that's why I kicked off this blog entry talking about lawns and grass and yard equipment.
Oh, one small more thing... in case you wonder... why does KDX programming go way off the track like an oil spill on the Chicago Northwestern Railroad? It happened this morning when "Climate Connections" skipped Thom Hartmann and breezed straight into "Ask An Atheist" with Sam Mulvey. This happens when Thom's stream isn't running and our Zara Automation System makes the decision to find the next available program. Who knows what goes on at the Hartmann Program... maybe a technician forgets to start the stream because of working from home? Anyway, Sam Mulvey is a radio enthusiast who has tried unlicensed low power, been carried on full power AM, built an LPFM, and today shared recent dental experience. Funny thing, he rarely mentions atheism.
Friday May 22, 2020 1:07 PM CDT
Less Green
This is a comment about all the vegetation this time of year.
The overgrowing foliage knows how to look beautiful but it doesn't have a clue how we want it to organize itself.
Saturday May 23, 2020 7:50 AM CDT
There will, of course, be those who adapt locked-down sheltered-in-place quarantined living and develop emotional withdrawal problems when it's all over.
Sunday May 24, 2020 12:11 NOON CDT
Paying Attention to Birds
The grounds, also referred to as campus, here at KDX Worldround Radio are intentionally bird friendly. The bamboo forest at the northern edge provides year-round stopover for numerous species evidenced by the changing chorus of chirps as the seasons roll by. At the same time the dense pack of bamboo provides safe nesting for types that are cold-shouldered by surrounding lawns where cover is unavailable. Transition now to a related article...
Birds Understand Us More Than We They
We'll have more on birds coming right up.
Sunday May 24, 2020 2:06 PM CDT
On the Wing
Boomer takes over:
Yes, I noticed that the guest talking about movies on Radio Survivor ended each sentence with a question mark? That's something that I remember Jennifer would sometimes do, and I didn't hear it when she was talking with this guest. Maybe it's more of a West Coast vocal anomaly?
Here's my concern this morning, a talkative bird. It's been dark for hours, and will be for several more, but there's a bird singing loudly, and close, I'd think no more than 50 feet, sounding like it's in the neighbor's tree. Here's an audio file to hear, as a falcon, you might have ideas about what's going on in this bird's brain. It really sounds like a coded message, something like you might hear on a scanner, starting with a squawk that's like PL tone, then the message. It's complex, changes in the song each time it sound like, the bird doing a run through of all the sounds it knows, like I've heard parakeets do.
We'll return to Boomer's bird in a moment, but first -
Sunday May 24, 2020 2:23 PM CDT
The Quarantine Polka
Tell Tim in Bovey About This One
Tim hosts a weekly polka show
Sunday
May 24, 2020 2:33 PM CDT
Boomer's midnight bird capture
Nature's
Most Vociferous BirdBoomer's midnight bird capture
I know this bird!
My name is Carl Blare, bird authority.
It is a mockingbird.
Mockingbird's have a larger range of tweets than even an American president, and they sing in the middle of the night because the audio stage belongs to them! All the other birds are pretending to be asleep with one eye open. Depending on time of year, mockingbirds will sing all night when a male is advertising for a female. Female mockers are very much swayed by a good song and willing to participate on the first date. By springtime there are a batch of 3D printed baby mocks and the parents sing to them during study hours at 3 in the morning so they have the daylight hours free for flying lessons. In Boomer's sample the mocker imitated a catbird and blue jay as well as probably others. This by way of imparting gossip about the other bird types.
The
Bird
Sunday
May 24, 2020 8:23 PM CDT
Whole orchestra trapped in fairy tale.
Bolivian
Orchestra Sheltered in a Castle Surrounded by WolvesWhole orchestra trapped in fairy tale.
Monday
May 25, 2020 11:39 AM CDT
New AM Low Power Transmitter Announced
Radio Design GroupNew AM Low Power Transmitter Announced
Tuesday
May 26, 2020 6:15 PM CDT
DistractionRandy Rainbow
Wednesday May 27, 2020 4:28 PM CDT
Word from Artisan Radio in Canada
Hi Carl.
I launched the all-OTR (Old Time Radio)Artisan Radio this Monday, over-the-air only (my Decade CM-10 seems to be working again, but it's pretty iffy, and I'm looking for a replacement). The station itself appears to be running without a hitch. My next task is to put up the stream, and I'll let you know once that's complete. I'm playing around with several solutions for my dynamic IP - getting the Icecast stream is pretty trivial as I've done it multiple times in the past.
I'll probably plug away slowly at my classical station until I get an AM transmitter. Given their popularity these days, it may be a while until I find something suitable, probably a ProCaster, at the right price.
We're gradually opening up here in B.C., Canada, but doing it the right way, with safety being the primary concern (as opposed to being reelected). I personally don't mind the isolation, or the lack of crowds outside, or even the difficulty shopping (I just do the essentials, which isn't much).
I thought at first that the pandemic might cause people to rethink priorities in their life, but given what I've seen, particularly in the U.S., I've changed my mind. At least the Earth has been given a respite for a little while. Unfortunately, we still have to listen to the anti-science politicians.
Maybe the Earth should hit back even harder.
Wednesday May 27, 2020 5:07 PM CDT
Whereabouts Bruce
Under mysterious cover Bruce moved his International Radio Monitoring operation to an undisclosed basement, shown here:
Bruce Secret Basement
After
weeks of
undercover surveillance we have reason to believe the basement is
underneath this gas station:
The
Gas
Station in Question
Thursday
May 28, 2020 9:03 AM CDT
Greta Thunberg Isn't the Only Influencial Child
Greta Thunberg Isn't the Only Influencial Child
What would it be like if a spoiled petulant child were put in charge of running the world's most powerful country?
We're finding out, aren't we, with Don John Spongepants.
30 Adjectives Describing D. J. Trump
Saturday May 30, 2020 2:40 PM CDT
QuaranTime and the Living Is Easy
Many people are angry with good reason and KDX News continuously reports details of unfolding situations. Meanwhile, there's yardwork to do, prison yards for certain cops and ordinance controlled yards for home owners and radio stations. As grounds keeper I have limited keyboard time while the sun is out and weeds are up, so let's get to the point.
KDX recently provided assistance to two fellow stations to get their Icecast streams launched and we'll be sharing the experience with Blog readers. Now, where did I leave the rake?
Saturday May 30, 2020 9:01 PM CDT
The Newman Motor
After watching this movie I'm more convinced than ever that a compact efficient AM transmitting antenna is within possibility.
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