FCC Approves FM Mode for CB Radios: The Biggest Change in Four Decades

Published: 18 February 2023 18 February 2023

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently approved the use of FM mode on Citizen Band Radios (CB radios), which is the biggest change in CB radio technology in the United States since the late 1970s. CB radios have traditionally used AM and single-sideband (SSB) modes, but the addition of FM mode offers several advantages, particularly in terms of voice quality and reduced background noise.

According to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at U.C. Berkeley, FM mode provides an "improved signal to noise ratio (about 25dB) with regards to man-made interference" compared to AM, which could significantly reduce background noise interference and improve voice quality. This development could be particularly beneficial for truckers, who are among the top users of CB radios in the United States.

Professional users of the CB radio band, such as truckers, have long faced challenges communicating effectively, especially during peak times when solar cycles can interfere with signals. However, the addition of FM mode is expected to cut down on this interference and offer a more reliable communication method for professional users.

In summary, the FCC's approval of FM mode for CB radios represents a significant advancement in the technology, offering improved voice quality and reduced background noise interference. This development is expected to be particularly beneficial for professional users of CB radios, such as truckers.

 

TPU 3D Filament, Shore Hardness Comparison

Published: 12 September 2022 12 September 2022

Note: For all industrial 3D printing see Stratasys.com Material List

Shore Hardness

Shore hardness is a common term you’ll hear when it comes to polymers for fileable 3D printer Filament, but it’s more general than the more technical measurements like Young’s modulus or elongation at break. For example, most flexible filament would be Shore A, and within the A category they would have individual values, such as Shore hardness 95A. You may also see Shore values in the C or D category, which more often denote hard rubbers and semi-rigid plastics. The most common Shore value for flexible filaments is 95A. Using the chart below will  help you determine what TPU 3D printer filament to buy.  

TPU Shore Hardness Image
TPU Shore Hardness

 

Some examples from NINJATEK:

  • Use NinjaFlex® (85A) for grip pads, vibration dampening, shock absorption, gaskets, seals, guards and soft robotics. For RC tires, seals and gaskets.
  • Use Cheetah® (95A) for assembly line jigs, fixtures, ergonomic improvements, guards and shock absorption.
  • Use Armadillo® (75D) for jigs, fixtures, ergonomic improvements, proof-of-concept gears, sprockets, shipping inserts, textured rollers and small part replacements. For medical for prosthetic sockets and shells.
  • Use Eel™ (90A) for robotic grippers. TPU 3D printing filament is a conductive, static dissipative and flexible material.
  • Use Chinchilla™ (75A) for prosthetic liners and organ printing (pre-surgery prep or teaching hospitals). for clothing, cosplay costumes and wearables such as watch bands. for non-marking applications.

Site Info: link

 

Mechanize Setup

Published: 08 September 2022 08 September 2022

The following is the standard setup for mechanize. the most current browser and window's OS/code]

[code]
import mechanize
# setting up the Mechanize browser headers
br = mechanize.Browser()
user_agent = [('user-agent', 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/105.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 Edg/105.0.1343.27')]

#br.set_all_readonly(False)    # allow everything to be written to
br.set_handle_robots(False)   # ignore robots
br.set_handle_refresh(False)  # can sometimes hang without this
br.addheaders = user_agent

url = 'https://johnkosh.com'
[/code]

47 Confucian Proverbs

Published: 31 August 2022 31 August 2022

Confucian proverbs have the power to transform lives, but they are not for casual reading. When you read them once, you feel the power of his words; read twice, and you will appreciate his deep thought; read them over and over again, and you will be enlightened. Let these Confucian quotes guide you in life.

  • "Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."
  • "They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom."
  • "What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others."
  • "In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of."
  • "It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."
  • "When anger rises, think of the consequences."
  • "When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals; adjust the action steps."
  • "Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage."
  • "To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness."
  • "To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle."
  • "Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue."
  • "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."
  • "Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation, there is sure to be failure."
  • "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire."
  • "Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart."
  • "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
  • "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance."
  • "Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles."
  • "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."
  • "Respect yourself and others will respect you."
  • "Silence is a true friend who never betrays."
  • "The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved."
  • "The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence."
  • "Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."
  • "Study the past if you would define the future."
  • "Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart."
  • "Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men."
  • "Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses."
  • "Have no friends not equal to yourself."
  • "He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it."
  • "He who learns but does not think is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger."
  • "He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good."
  • "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."
  • "A superior man is modest in his speech but exceeds in his actions."
  • "Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes."
  • "The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large."
  • "The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell."
  • "By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart."
  • "He who will not economize will have to agonize."
  • "When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves."
  • "He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful may be called intelligent indeed."
  • "If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself."
  • "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
  • "If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?"
  • "Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star."
  • "It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve, and bad things are very easy to get."
  • "Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?"

From: 47 Confucius Quotes That Still Ring True Today (thoughtco.com)

MS Teams New Tips 2021

Published: 12 April 2021 12 April 2021

Topics Covered

  • 00:27​ Noise suppression
  • 2:31​ Transfer meeting devices
  • 03:35​ Teams for personal use
  • 04:40​ Switch accounts
  • 05:07​ Polls during meetings
  • 06:28​ Pin posts
  • 07:29​ Additional status controls
  • 08:28​ Improved notifications
  • 09:06​ Mute attendees
  • 10:52​ Insight
  • 12:29​ Templates
  • 13:27​ Emojis in Teams & Channels

Thanks to Kevin Stratvert his Channel ->https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfJT_eYDTmDE-ovKaxVE1ig

Use Bitcoin to Buy on Amazon

Published: 30 November 2020 30 November 2020

I have waited a long time to spend my (Tiny Bit) of Bitcoin BTC, but now I have found a place to easily spend this cryptocurrency. What is even better it is directly linked to Amazon. So what ever you want from Amazon Purse.io will allow you to use your Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to get what you want.  The easiest way to do this is search your product on amazon and copy the ASIN number into your Purse.io account.

So to get started click this link Purse.io  add some BTC or BCH to your account and start shopping. Yes, Purse.io has a complete shopping area directly linked to Amazon so you can start shopping there.  

And as an ADDED BONUS you can name your discount... Yes, never pay full price for an Amazon product again. I have bought several items with  Purse.io and have received as much as 15% off my items.

 

Windows 10 File Explorer Search

Published: 15 October 2020 15 October 2020

Need to find a part number within a PDF, DOC, TEX file?  Windows File Explorer has a search feature that will look into your document and find what you need.

Example below I am searching for Freight with in a PDF within a Date of this year.

More search syntax is available at MS website:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/lwef/-search-2x-wds-aqsreference 

 

Ham Info

Published: 23 January 2012 23 January 2012

Coordinates Lat: 40.21022 Lon: -75.09248 Grid: FN20kf
This infor was found on http://www.qrz.com/gridfinder

SDR Using a RaspberryPi and RPITX

Published: 21 April 2020 21 April 2020

SDR with a transmitter see reference here -> https://github.com/F5OEO/rpitx

 

rpitx is a general radio frequency transmitter for Raspberry Pi which doesn't require any other hardware unless filter to avoid intererence. It can handle frequencies from 5 KHz up to 1500 MHz.

Rpitx is a software made for educational on RF system. It has not been tested for compliance with regulations governing transmission of radio signals. 

 

Apache htaccess

Published: 27 November 2012 27 November 2012

Apache htaccess New User and file

 

Make a new user name on .htacApache, htaccesscess (see below)

At the command Line Type:

htpasswd .htpasswd username

to add a new usere to the .htpasswd NOTE: Only us the -c (htpasswd -c .htpasswd username)to create the file DON"T use -c if File exist it will erase all the other users. The program will initially prompt you for a password and then ask you to verify it.

 
The .htaccess file below must contain

AuthUserFile /kunden/homepages/http/website/foldertoprotect/.htpasswd AuthGroupFile /dev/null AuthName "Download Area" AuthType Basic <limit get="" post=""> require valid-user </limit>

Note the AuthUserFile must be from root and end with the password file name. AuthName is the name in the password popup window change as needed. IN ADDITION verify you are using the correct path - telnet in and type pwd, use the path that echo's back

note CHMOD to 644 for both files

 

Restart Apache service use the command below

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Windows Tips and Tricks

Published: 07 February 2018 07 February 2018

Updated!

Works with Windows 7, 10 and most servers:

  • GodMode: Create a folder on your desktop and rename code list below You can call it GodMode or Master Folder... What this gives you is access to all the system programs to change and work on things in windows.
 GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
  • Snipping Tool: Takes screenshots of anything on you desktop. Then you can save it as a JPG or PNG
  • Snip and Sketch:  to start Windosw Key + Shift + S This will be replacing the Snipping tool in later versions of Windows 10. This tool allows you to open menus and take a screen shot unlike the snipping tool.
  • Voice dictation:  pressed windows key and H start dictation you need to be an A text field such as a work processor or a field browser.
  • Virtual Desktops - Win 10 now has mutable desktop views ( just like Linux). press Windows key and TAB then click new desktop. switch between the with Windows key and Ctrl and right or left arrow.
  • Magnifier - Use the Windows Key and the + and - keys to magnify the entire desktop.  
  • Quick Assist - to Get Assistance or to Give Assistance - A new feature within win 10 that allows you to share desktops. It give you the asister an access code and  password to allow you access to someone desktop. As a hosts you will need an MS account to complete the connection. It's similar to Teamviewer but through MS
  • Sticky Notes:  Handy desktop tool to jot down a quick not. In windows 10 you have other options to enable "Insights". this adds more functions...
  • Windows Remote Assistance: it works great on the Intranet such as home  to connect two windows machines. you can also use the remote assistance to connect to another persons computer over the internet. Use the wizard to connect. If you do not use this feature you should disable it in your settings menu.
  • Steps Recorder: can record all you steps while you click and type on your system. This could be good for troubleshooting problems or making instructional screenshots on home to do something. 
  • Voice Recorder or Sound recorder: either one may be on your system based on the windows version you are using.
  • MRT: Malicious Removal Tool: you should run this from time-to-time. This will not run automatically unless windows updater is running, so you need to run in manually via the run menu.
  • SyncTool: this is a FREE Microsoft product and is very useful to sync your files with USB hard drive, DropBox, OneDrive, Search for ms synctool and only download it from Microsoft. This is the current link -> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15155 Go thought the setup wizard to manage your files. Now you can you Windows Task Scheduler and have it run every hours while your logged into your system. use command below:
[code]cd \Program Files\SyncToy 2.1\
SyncToycmd.exe -R[/code]

  • certUtil: is a Checksum tool, Yes you will need to run this at the CMD window but is worth mentioning here. I wrote a blog on it here...
  • Windows time and alarms: You can set alarms and timers. In addition you can see a world clock and see the difference between several locations.
  • Windows 10 Game Mode: To start press Windows key and G. This will bring up MS game mode which add several features such at game recorder, chat, audio widget. 
  • Ransomware protection: go to Windows Security to virus and protection and scroll down and click ransomware protection. This locks very important files that cannot be accessed  by remote software. If you are using other antivirus protections this feature will no show.
  • Reliability Monitory:  Windows 10 now has a tool that gives widows historical reliability issues. This tool shows errors, warning, and info historically and gives possibly resolutions.   

Diversify Your Financial Risk When Investing In Cryptocurrencies

Published: 10 February 2020 10 February 2020
Coinbase_Image

Diversify your financial risk when investing in Cryptocurrencies.

You no longer need to be a computer geek to invest in one of the fastest growing financial markets. Cryptocurrencies also known as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Tezos, and hundreds more, are really taking off. So your fear of investing, may have swayed you away from this profitable investment, but companies like CoinBase (USA Based Company) have made it easy to be an investor.  

Coinbase will allow you, the investor, to connect your bank account to their fast and secure trading platforms. This allows you to easily deposit cash in and start investing.

  • Coinbase is the world’s largest Bitcoin broker, and also offers an exchange, wallet, and developer API.
  • Coinbase Pro  (Formerly GDAX) is their world-class interface that provides real time order books, charting tools, trade history, and a simple order process so you can start trading immediately. 
  • They have a top rated help desk for you to get started. I have personally email them and got a response almost immediately. In addition all of my request were resolved.
  • iPhone and Android trading ready.

So the fear of investing has been resolved by Coinbase.com, so take some time and do your homework, and check out Coinbase.com and Pro.Coinbase.com.

Python - Add a message box

Published: 23 February 2019 23 February 2019

Add a message box to your Python code. Use the ctype library with is already in the core Python library..

[code]

## add a message box for Windows only parameters below for different box types
# ##  Styles:
##  0 : OK
##  1 : OK | Cancel
##  2 : Abort | Retry | Ignore
##  3 : Yes | No | Cancel
##  4 : Yes | No
##  5 : Retry | No
##  6 : Cancel | Try Again | Continue
## To also change icon, add these values to previous number
# 16 Stop-sign icon
# 32 Question-mark icon
# 48 Exclamation-point icon
# 64 Information-sign icon consisting of an 'i' in a circle

import ctypes
#print(dir(ctypes)) # displays all the functions in the library
ctypes.windll.user32.MessageBoxW(0, 'Error in your code today', 'Error message title 0', 0)
ctypes.windll.user32.MessageBoxW(0, 'Error in your code today', 'Error message title 1', 1)
ctypes.windll.user32.MessageBoxW(0, 'Error in your code today', 'Error message title 2', 2)
ctypes.windll.user32.MessageBoxW(0, 'Error in your code today', 'Error message title 3', 3)
ctypes.windll.user32.MessageBoxW(0, 'Error in your code today', 'Error message title 4', 4)
ctypes.windll.user32.MessageBoxW(0, 'Error in your code today', 'Error message title 5', 5)
ctypes.windll.user32.MessageBoxW(0, 'Error in your code today', 'Error message title 6', 6)
ctypes.windll.user32.MessageBoxW(0, 'Error in your code today', 'Error message title 16', 16)[/code]

Windows Check Sum Hash Algorithm from CMD

Published: 19 January 2019 19 January 2019

Yes Window 10 (and Windows 7) had a built in Hash Tag Checksum tool. So when you download a file, you can verify that this file has not been tampered with. This tool is from Windows Command Line - CMD. It will generate a key for all these HASHES - MD2 MD4 MD5 SHA1 SHA256 SHA384 SHA512

Open a command line windows - CMD, Make sure you know that path where the download file is located. Verify the Hash Tag Algorithm from the website. Type in the following:

 

certUtil -hashfile C:\owner\download\MyDataFile.img SHA256

 

For example you can see I downloaded a file from this site (on the left) and it gives the SHA256 Checksum code you should expected when running the certutil. 

 checksumFileExampleCMD Hash Tag SHA256 

 

Protect Your Personal Identity - Wipe That Hard Drive

Published: 21 August 2016 21 August 2016

To protect your personal identity you need to wipe your HD clean from all your personal data. Try DBAN, which is a free SSD and hard disk utility that will nuke all your data. Check out the YouTube video below how2 wipe all personal data. So, you can eliminate the virus, or wipe the drive reload your operating system so you can resell your system, or just distroy the HD, so that no one can see what has been saved.

Here is the link to an instructional video on DBAN

 Here is an alternative to deal with your use unwanted hard drive, simply to destroy it. Find a local shredding company, to see if they shred your drive/electronics. This is eco-friendly and it should make you feel better, not even the government can see your data after this destruction. Watch this video just to see how your drive is destroyed, and how they recycle all of the parts. Also look for free community service events. they usually provided by your city, count. These events usually offer dangerous waste collections, shredded of documents and a computer shredding service.

In Kali LINUX you can use a command below:

shred -vfz -n 10 /dev/sda

MySQL Dump

Published: 14 April 2016 14 April 2016

A Simple Database Backup

mysqldump -h [hostorIP] -u [username] -p [password] [databasename] > [backupfile.sql]

{easycodeinc /article_code_snippets/MySQL_Dump_Restore.php, 1, php, linenums:1}

  • [host or IP] - is your connection to the sql server
  • [username] - this is your database username
  • [password] - this is the password for your database
  • [databasename] - the name of your database
  • [backupfile.sql] - the file to which the backup should be written.
     

The resultant dump file will contain all the SQL statements needed to create the table and populate the table in a new database server. To backup your database 'Customers' with the username 'sadmin' and password 'pass21' to a file custback.sql, you would issue the command:

You can also ask mysqldump to add a drop table command before every create command by using the option --add-drop-table. This option is useful if you would like to create a backup file which can rewrite an existing database without having to delete the older database manually first.

To restore the dump...  The "<" before the file name will restore all the table to the Customers database

htaccess Tutorial

Published: 27 November 2012 27 November 2012

htaccess Tutorial

This tutorial will demonstrate how to use .htaccess files to perform several basic Apache and PHP configurations at the directory level. This tutorial makes the following assumptions:

 * You are using Apache as your webserver.

* Your web host has enabled .htaccess override for your account.

* For the PHP configuration, you must be running PHP as an Apache module.

 

If you're not sure about whether these statements are true, check with your web host's technical support department.

 There several types of configuration that can be performed using a .htaccess file. These include authorization, redirects, changing the index file name, displaying custom error pages, and changing PHP configuration settings.

 To perform such configuration, simply create a file named .htaccess (the dot in front is required) in the folder where you would like the settings to be applied. Any settings you configure for this directory will also be applied recursively to all of its sub directories. Note that some FTP clients may be configured to hide files that start with a dot. If this is the case, you may need to reconfigure your FTP client to display these files.

Changing the index file name

 The index file is the file that gets displayed automatically when a user browses to a directory. Historically, the index file is called index.html or index.htm. On a PHP powered site, you may want your index file to be named index.php. This can be accomplished by putting the following line in your .htaccess file:

DirectoryIndex index.php index.html

 The directive above instructs Apache to use index.php as the index file if it exists, otherwise it should look for a file named index.html. If neither file exists in the requested directory, the user will usually get a directory listing.

Using a custom error page

 Everyone at one point or another encounters the dreaded "HTTP 404 - File Not Found" error message. Perhaps the user followed a broken link, or mistyped the URL of the page they were looking for. The default error page is usually quite ugly. However, it is possible to use a custom error page for this or any other HTTP error. This can be done by placing the line below in your .htaccess file:

 

ErrorDocument 404 http://www.mysite.com/404.html

 

Replace "http://www.mysite.com/404.html" with the URL for the page you want the user to see when they request a missing file.

 

It is important that your custom "file not found" page returns the HTTP 404 status code, otherwise your site could be penalized by the search engines. You can do this by adding the following PHP code at the top of your 404 page.

 

header("HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found");

Denying access to a directory

Sometimes, there may be directories on your website that the user shouldn't be able to directly request files from. For example, you may have a directory that stores data files for your scripts, or a set of PHP includes. Placing the lines below in the .htaccess file for that directory will block direct requests for those files:

Order Deny,Allow

Deny from all

 

The first line ensures that the deny directive is evaluated before any allow directives that may have been defined elsewhere in the directory hierarchy.

Redirecting requests

Over time, files on a website may get moved or renamed. Rather than letting the user to see a 404 error message when requesting the old file, you can redirect them to the new file using the following directive:

Redirect permanent /old.php http://www.mysite.com/new.php

The permanent keyword indicates that an HTTP 301 ("resource has moved permanently") status code should be returned to the web browser. Replace "old.php" with the path to the old file, and "http://www.mysite.com/new.php" with the URL to the new file.

PHP configuration

Lastly, .htaccess files can be used to change PHP settings when running as an Apache module. Such configuration is performed using the php_value and php_flag directives. Use the later when the setting takes a boolean value. For example, to turn off register globals from .htaccess, use the following line:

php_flag register_globals off

The following directive can be used to turn off magic quotes for all PHP scripts in a directory:

php_flag magic_quotes_gpc off

To enable or disable error reporting, use the php_flag directive to set the display_errors flag. Enabling this flag will cause error messages to be displayed in the browser, e.g.:

php_flag display_errors on

To hide error messages from the end user, simply disable the display_errors flag:

php_flag display_errors off

 

Add a HTML Link with no underline

Published: 27 November 2011 27 November 2011

use the deceleration of style="text-decoration: none;" after the URL link. See source below

 

  1.  
  2. Design by <a href="http://leasingurl.com/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener"><span style="color: #6f6f6f;">LeasingURL.com</span></a>
  3.