This one is too easy to see coming but nobody’s talking about it.

With the delegates suspended from two states where Clinton has landed big wins in, the strategy of the Obama campaign to avoid directing much effort in those states will no doubt be easily derailed by the decision makers in the Democrat party with one decision reversal.

So if we end up in a situation where it’s close and Clinton is trailing by a slight margin, who has the most pull to get these delegates reinstated?

That’s right, the very well connected Clintons.

No surprises here, it’s business as usual for the corrupt.

We really need to rethink this two party system, or progressives need to gut and reconstruct one of the major parties. But that’s a rant for another day.

In a recent article and clarification Professor Robert Dewar issues a criticism of the use of Java as an introductory program in universities. He calls this the “dumbing down” of Computer Science. I can see his point but I have issue with the partitioning of this problem.

The root of the complaint is that for much of its history, Computer Science has been the primary course of study for aspiring programmers. The problem today is that thanks to the “shoulders of giants” phenomena the majority of programming is no longer done from the machine up. Many programmers operate in the high level areas and never have any cause to work on the hardware/software interface at all.

Could it be that Professor Dewar is not aware that Universities are already adapting to this problem? By adding new more career-oriented degree programs like “Software Engineering” and “Computer Engineering” which are supposed to address the ever more layered world of software they’re partitioning the problem in a reasonable way.

Someone who learns Java as a first language is quickly indoctrinated into a particular object model and way of organizing code structures which to me seems just fine for an introductory course. It makes more sense than using a dead language like Pascal when you think of marketability particularly. Since students will use this as a basis for decisions as to which path they want to go down in their education maybe the fear is that fewer will take interest in bits and bytes. Perhaps that means less need for CS professors, but it will also increase the salary potential for those who are willing to do the math, just like every other scientific field.

I think the universities are moving in the right direction by further partitioning up the software career paths. Computer Science should be math, plain and simple. It should be the study of how these fascinating machines really work and how the hardware and software interact. Computer Engineering should be a branch-off from Electrical Engineering and study the machine more than the software. Software Engineering should be above the machine/software interface and concentrate mainly on architecture of code with only a little introductory work in the hardware/software interface in case the SE graduate ever needs to do optimization work.

I think Professor Dewar’s response is an overreaction to increasing complexity. He should just go along with what we’re all taught in the first year of Computer Science and divide the problem up into more manageable pieces, which is what the university systems are already working on.

See the original article for reference. This is an update.

I have since changed the capacitance wires to stranded copper instead of the solid stuff I started out with. While I didn’t have any breakage, the hard drawn copper is not much good for applications that involve much flexing.

Also here are the dimensions:
10′ steel conduit 1/2″ od (one above one below insulator)
24″ 1/2″ PVC pipe insulator. Get PVC that fits snugly with the conduit inside it.
Total length should be 33′ 11″ (or about 1035cm) from tip to tip.

Note: you can lengthen the loading wires to 6′ while keeping all the rest the same and it will be tuned for 30 meters.

You can look this up on page 22.31 of the 2008 ARRL Handbook, credit (and a big thanks) for the design goes to K8CH.

I constructed mine by making three “wire holes” on either side of the insulator to run #14 solid conductor copper wire from the SO-239 connector mounted in the center to the ends, helping ensure good contact with the steel by weaving the wire in and out. The center conductor goes to the top, braid to the bottom. Then I inserted the conduit sections, measured, and drilled four holes at different places for sending lath screws into the pvc and holding the conduit in place. At least one screw went through some of the exposed wire that was woven in the ends to ensure a very tight connection to the inserted conduit. Everything was sealed with silicone.

Capacitance wires were attached through two holes made in the top and bottom, soldered/screwed to the conduit, and the top was hot-glued solid around the wires to help keep rain out. A cap would have been nicer for the top but I couldn’t find one to fit.

It’s guyed at 4 points with nylon cord. You must use non-conducting guys for this antenna, past the capacitance wires at least. It is mounted with two hose clamps on a 12′ wood pole and also attached somewhat loosely to the tree in several points. Evaluate how much your tree will move in the wind and make your own judgment there, mine sways a lot. You may need to use two common mode chokes (7 turns, ~8″ diameter circle air choke with the coax) one at the antenna and one where the coax meets the shack to keep RF from flowing on the braid if your feed line does not approach the feed point at a 90 degree angle.

SWR of 1.4:1 on 14.070mhz when mounted 12′ above ground. Solid performance, have worked Asia on this already, a first for me.

It has held up to some pretty nasty winter days surprisingly well. I still think aluminum/fiberglass would be a far better materials choice but you have to make do with what’s available.

If you have a server computer with a printer attached and a client computer across the network there’s a super simple way to configure cups, create a “client.conf” file and stick ServerName 12.34.56.78 in it. The client computer then acts like it’s on the server directly for printing purposes, having access to all the server printers without any fuss. What a time saver compared to the insanity that is the alternative, using the ipp driver etc. My wife’s Kubuntu machine was giving me a terrible time until I discovered this.

I’ve always been an independent. I believe in conservative financing of government but I also believe in having government responsibly give a hands-up to people who deserve it. After the abuses of the current administration I am well and truly fired up to get this system to the cleaners.

Let me first say that Dennis Kucinich has always been my favorite for president. He has always been willing to do the right thing, and he has stood up for the principles of peace, justice, and freedom that many other politicians have. He has cojones of steel. I think his character is good and his message important. Unfortunately he’s not very tall and some of his positions strike people as extremist, so he doesn’t get the attention he deserves.

I have considered Hillary Clinton. I think she is more sincere than people give her credit for, but her behavior is often contrary to that. Take for example the huge swing in her accent when she speaks in the South or Northeast compared with her injection of “Iowanisms” around the state here. I think it signals a sort of weakness for a lot of people. I don’t see her as electable due to the extreme hatred of her husband and the apparent fear of a strong woman in charge by the Republican party. I also find that she has been so often smeared in the media, sometimes deservingly, that her chances are not good.

John Edwards strikes me as a good man with a good message, but it’s a message that is being delivered better by other candidates. He seems a hard working guy and through work, not money, he managed to beat Hillary here. I like the man, but there is one that I like better.

Barak Obama appealed to me with a number of points.
1) Restoring habeas corpus
2) Closing Guantanamo
3) Ending the war
4) End corporate subsidies to companies sending jobs overseas
5) Restoring our nation’s image with the rest of the world.

The previous administration has brought our nation to its knees through its reactionary approach to the world and the events of our time. It has bankrupted us with ridiculously expensive spy and military operations. It has shamed us repeatedly before the rest of the world with its ignorance, meanness, and corruption.

I think Barak Obama represents the next generation of Americans who have grown under the tyrannical and foolish Bush/Cheny bandits. We’re sick of all of the raping of our nation and we will stand for change.

Obama is the man I believe will bring us back to greatness.

Looking at how he can do it, he speaks like the great leaders of the past. You hear Martin Luther King in his voice, you hear John F. Kennedy. He is from the land of Lincoln and has a background in law, something more often broken than upheld by the previous administration. The party of Lincoln has long since abandoned him in all but name. He already reaches out to Republicans, and already reportedly has support from about 5% of the Republican base. He is a powerful symbol of change, and he is smart enough to make it happen.

If you get a chance, go out and see the man, shake his hand and look him in the eye. You will then see what I mean, this is a man who can move the world.