Mastodon Feed: Posts

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
tusk81 ("Gabe Ortíz") wrote:

Convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer to a minimum-security prison by the Trump regime “has upset her fellow inmates, who believe she shouldn’t be there given the nature of her crimes.”

“This facility is supposed to house non-violent offenders,” said one detained woman. “Human trafficking is a violent crime.”

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/ghislaine-maxwell-texas-prison-transfer-epstein-b2801642.html

jscalzi@threads.net ("John Scalzi") wrote:

I mean, GODDAMN, Onion

RE: https://www.threads.com/@theonion/post/DM-dU-liUkC

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

Awww. Such a generous sacrifice.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/08/05/spider-mommies-are-the-best-mommies/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3unTLVQvTjM

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

Why not hire small bands of musicians to follow you around playing music?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/08/05/they-have-to-be-desperate-to-resurrect-boomer-technology/

cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen") wrote:

I always get a kick out of hearing stories where NASA figures out a way to save a space probe mission. This one is about Juno:

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/juno/nasa-shares-how-to-save-camera-370-million-miles-away-near-jupiter/

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
icco@merveilles.town wrote:

This is so fucking cool. I want to do this for my town. https://www.npr.org/2025/08/04/nx-s1-5484013/engineer-restores-pay-phones-for-free-public-use

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

Now I have to finish reading this book.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/08/05/sex-is-a-spectrum/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
davidsirota@mastodon.online ("David Sirota") wrote:

Trump is considering an exec order to let private equity billionaires tap your 401k to bail themselves out.

One of the largest asset managers just admitted private equity is a Ponzi scheme.

Private equity owes $1.5 trillion to its current investors.

https://www.levernews.com/your-401-k-is-billionaires-next-bailout-scheme/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
hamradiooutsidethebox.ca@hamradiooutsidethebox.ca ("Ham Radio Outside the Box") wrote:

Rapid Deployment Field Expedient Random Wire Antenna Ideas

The image shows amateur radio station VA3KOT/P inside its stealth enclosure – an old airline pilot briefcase made from stout, strong leather.

This is an almost complete station:

• Yaesu FT-891 QRP/QRO-optional in its field hardened steel 50-cal ammo box enclosure
• Bioenno 12Ah LiFePO4 battery
• 9.5ft tactical collapsible whip
• Adjustable loading coil for the whip
• PAC-12 capacitance hat for the whip
• LDG Z-11 Pro auto tuner (I like to think of it as a super fast L-match with a good memory)
• CWMorse aluminum paddles
• Heil Traveler headset (the microphone is feeling neglected due to not having been used for a very long time)
• Ham-made (by me) Guanella 4:1 balun
• Selection of coax cables
• Set of ground radials
• Random wire antennas (we’ll talk about those shortly)
• Operating table (yes, operating table too; see image below)

What’s missing? Just a chair. I have a selection of lightweight folding and collapsible camping chairs to support my delicate derriere.

Oh yes, the table; these pilot cases (NB: I am not a pilot) are so strong that, if stood on end, they make an excellent support for the radio.

When everything is packed inside the pilot’s case then it is a little on the heavy side (not to be confused with the Heaviside which is a layer of the ionosphere). The weight is manageable if it is only being carried a short distance, but I have a small folding cart for transporting it further away from my vehicle.

So what about a rapid deployment, field expedient antenna?

Rule 1: It has to fit inside the briefcase. Rule 2: If an antenna doesn’t fit inside the briefcase refer to rule 1.

I have 2 choices that meet Rule 1; a “tactical” (meaning it is painted green and looks like it might not be out of place on a Humvee) collapsible whip. It can be mounted directly on a 3/8x24tpi bracket fixed to the rear of the ammo box. It is usually deployed with a loading coil and capacitance “top” hat.

Rear connections. Note the bracket for mounting the tactical whip on the left. The antenna wire and radials are plugged into the magnetically attached 4:1 balun. The CW paddles are secured to a steel bracket which is also magnetically attached to the ammo box – a steel box is very handy for attaching accessories with small rare earth magnets.

Second choice is a simple wire antenna. I am currently in favor of random wires due to their inherent multi-band flexibility. Although I have never been a fan of auto tuners, for several reasons, their speed in finding and memorizing a match for multiple bands is very valuable for the kind of hit-and-run style activations that I enjoy. The LDG Z-11 Pro is an L-match which means it is perhaps more efficient than a typical C-L-C type of manual tuner.

Don’t risk disappointment

I have read a lot of blogs and watched a lot of videos in which an operator buys a commercial wire antenna and deploys it in the field without investigating whether the antenna is actually going to work in the manner they expect. We don’t all have the time or inclination to model an antenna to find out how best to use it, but it can lead to disappointment if we don’t do the homework first.

‘Tis a gift to be simple, ’tis a gift to be free

It is very simple to make a “Simple Wire Antenna” (SWA) and it can even be free if you can scrounge some leftover wire. Climb an old telephone pole and pull down disused POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) wire if your neighborhood has switched to fiber lines. Okay, I’m kidding, don’t do that; some poles also carry high voltage electric cables.

I have had great success recently with a sloper wire 27 feet (8.23m) long supported from a tree, or my Spiderbeam 23ft (7m) pole, and worked against four 13ft (4m) ground radials. The LDG tuner easily finds a good match of 1.5:1 or less on my main bands of interest: 20m, 30m and 40m. Out in the field there is no lossy coax transmission line involved – apart from very short sections to plumb in the Guanella 4:1 balun and tuner. This wire is a little short for 40m but presents no problem for the tuner. I have received some very good signal reports using this wire.

Then I wondered, if the wire was longer, could the antenna work even better? EZNEC helped me decide. I modeled three random wires: 27ft (8.23m), 41ft (12.5m) and 84 ft (25.6m). To make it a fair comparison, the same band (20m) was compared and the three wires were modeled in exactly the same sloper configuration. The results were very revealing.

Model 1: 27ft random wire sloper

The elevation plot shows a good directional signal with a small amount of gain at an elevation of 35 degrees.

The azimuth plot shows a wide angle of radiation with ~5dB of Front-to-Back signal strength.

The 27ft sloper has been a solid, reliable performer with strong signal reports being typical.

.

Model 2: 41ft random wire sloper

It would be tempting to throw a 41ft wire up into a tree and run it as a sloper down to the ground, but the results might be very disappointing.

Although the gain is increased, the elevation angle of maximum radiation has also increased to 75 degrees and the directionality has all but disappeared.

This would make the antenna a cloud warmer and much of the signal would disappear into space. Your CQs might perhaps be answered by extra-galactic radio operators a few thousand years in the future. How patient are you?

Model 3: 84 ft random wire sloper

If you have a much better throwing technique than mine, you might be able to get your throw weight up 62 feet in a tree to pull up an 84ft random wire sloper. But, if you look at these charts you may not want to do it.

Your signal now goes straight up into outer space. In most parts of the world 20m is not an NVIS band so almost your entire signal is wasted. As an aside, I recently experimented with a “V” wire antenna with 29ft arms supported at the ends by trees. I QSOd on it but I received a very disappointing 449 RST report for my 30 watts of signal. When I modeled the antenna afterwards I realized why – the radiation pattern was very similar to this 84ft sloper!

Why does this happen?

What causes the increase in radiation elevation? A big clue emerges when we examine the current distribution on the antenna wire. Remember, high current points along the wire are responsible for the majority of the RF energy radiated.

Current distribution in a 27ft wire Current distribution in a 41ft wire Current distribution in an 84ft wire

As we can see from the three charts, a 27ft wire has just a single high current point.

Along a 41ft wire a second high current point begins to emerge and the interactions raise the radiation angle.

When we look at the 84ft wire we can see that there are two full current maxima and the emergence of a third. Once again, these interact to raise the radiation angle.

Was this a fair comparison?

I think it was fair. None of the three wires is overly difficult to erect as a sloper. Some hams get a lot satisfaction from shooting wires high into trees on the assumption that higher and longer is better. In fact, on the lower bands an 84ft sloper might perform quite well. With the popularity of POTA, and the solar cycle at its peak, a lot of activity is to be found on 20m which is why I chose this band for the comparison.

What if …

Maybe, if we orient an 84ft wire differently, we can get it to be the outstanding performer we would expect on the higher bands. I have QSOd on several occasions with an end-fed 84ft wire hung about 5ft above ground supported by a long hedge, or low branches of small trees. Even at QRP power levels I got good results despite the antenna having no gain.

So let’s follow the old adage of getting as much wire as possible, up as high as possible, but with the proviso that it must abide by the limitations of being rapidly deployable and field expedient. How about an Inverted-L?

In fact, to make it RDFE (Rapidly Deployable, Field Expedient) I am going to call it a Lazy Inverted-L. The feed end of the wire connects to the rig (sitting on the pilot’s briefcase) at a height of 2 feet. The wire then goes to the top of my Spiderbeam 23ft (7m) pole about 3 feet (1m) away with the remainder sloping down to the far end supported 3ft (1m) high on a trekking pole. It might not be the best setup but remember it must be “RDFE”.

Model 4: 84ft Inverted-L antenna

The results are quite encouraging. First, the antenna has a decent amount of gain for a SWA. Second, the elevation angle has two useful components: a forward lobe at 35 degrees elevation with a -3dB point down to 15 degrees for a chance of getting some DX action.

There are two more lobes behind with a higher radiation angle that could yield short range contacts.

Where’s the gotcha?

The azimuth for maximum radiation changes from band to band. That would mean re-orienting the wire for band changes. Fortunately the RDFE, Lazy Inverted-L orientation makes that a fairly easy task.

Imperial or Metric?

I have tried to use both Imperial and Metric dimensions in this post. I was brought up using Imperial measurements, earned my Physics degree which was taught entirely in metric units and now tend to mix them up. Canada is officially metric but supermarkets still mark the prices of meat and produce in dollars per pound. Why? Because it sounds cheaper I guess! Okay fellow hams, what’s your favorite HF band? Mine is 65.6168ft. Yes, that’s 20m.

Help support HamRadioOutsidetheBox

No “tip-jar”, “buy me a coffee”, Patreon, or Amazon links here. I enjoy my hobby and I enjoy writing about it. If you would like to support this blog please follow/subscribe using the link at the bottom of my home page, or like, comment (links at the bottom of each post), repost or share links to my posts on social media. If you would like to email me directly you will find my email address on my QRZ.com page. Thank you!

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

#1 #AmateurRadio #Antennas #CW #OutdoorOps #Portable #POTA

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
drwho@masto.hackers.town ("The Doctor") wrote:

All of this has happened before.

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/joseph-mccarthy-voice-of-america.php

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
zoeydawn@tech.lgbt ("Zoey Dawn :v_trans:") wrote:

People are talking about leaving Spotify because the CEO is a douchebag, so let me remind you that you can stream radio stations from all over the world for free with Radio-Map. It's been my primary source of music the past few weeks. I'm a little biased because I built it, but I've never invested in a company that's building dystopian killing machines, so you can stream guilt-free.

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
fifischwarz@waag.social ("Fifi Schwarz 🖤🇪🇺 🍉✊🏿🌈🌍") wrote:

‘People who do not know what others in a group actually think often decide that it is safer to go along with what appear to be the dominant norms in order not to stand out.’
#DeZinVanHetBoek #TheEssenceOfTheBook

#BoekPerWeek 8/52 ★★★★☆

Must read. Here's why in 🇬🇧 🇺🇲
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6214923141

En hier in 🇳🇱
https://verzameldezinnen.nl/2025/02/08/erbij-staan-en-ernaar-kijken-boekbespreking/

#Boeken @boeken
#Bookstodon @bookstodon
#Geschiedenis #History
#TweedeWereldoorlog
#WWII #WorldWarTwo #Holocaust

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
DGI@graeber.social ("David Graeber Institute") wrote:

This message is now more relevant than ever.

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
vmbrasseur@social.vmbrasseur.com ("VM (Vicky) Brasseur") wrote:

"An international scientific review, published this Sunday in The Lancet, has compiled all the known harms caused by exposure to plastics and issued an important warning: there is now sufficient evidence that living surrounded by these polymers poses 'grave, growing, and under-recognized' risks to humans at all stages of life."

https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2025-08-04/anatomy-of-the-known-health-damage-caused-by-plastics-grave-growing-and-under-recognized.html

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
openrightsgroup@social.openrightsgroup.org ("Open Rights Group") wrote:

Censorship of content relating to Palestine is a result of the UK government banning Palestine Action and duties placed on platforms by the UK Online Safety Act to moderate 'illegal' content.

Signatories to our open letter call on Ofcom to proactively defend the right to free expression.

Hear more from ORG's Prorgamme Manager, Sara Chitseko ⬇️

#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #censorship #freespeech #freeexpression #freedomofexpression #palestine #gaza #palestineaction #ukpolitics #ukpol

Attachments:

• video: Video by ORG's Programme Manager, Sara Chitseko, explaining how the ban on Palestine Action when combined with duties under the Online Safety Act to moderate content could lead to wide-ranging censroship of posts about Palestine and Gaza.

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
kcarruthers@infosec.exchange wrote:

Yup 🙄: Didn’t Take Long To Reveal The UK’s Online Safety Act Is Exactly The Privacy-Crushing Failure Everyone Warned About

https://www.techdirt.com/2025/08/04/didnt-take-long-to-reveal-the-uks-online-safety-act-is-exactly-the-privacy-crushing-failure-everyone-warned-about/

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
CosmickTrigger@social.edist.ro ("Daughter of Discord") wrote:

Too on the nose?

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
PirjaPaa@mastodontti.fi wrote:

Verify that you're human:
#GazaGenocide

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
villebooks ("Susan Ville") wrote:

You probably have one of these #apps on your phone right now.

But what if we told you that many of them were developed by former Israeli spies, fueling the occupation, surveillance, and #genocide in #gaza?

#facetune , #mamrai , #IAI , #playtika, #gett , #waze

📲 Video Al Mayadeen EN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enx3syAChWM

aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

According to capitalists:

✅ Working for a company like Google or Microsoft that is complicit in genocide.

❌ Displaying images of the genocide.

Maybe if the consequences of your work are considered “Not Safe For Work”, you shouldn’t be doing that work in the first place.*

But, no, it’s just much easier to look away, isn’t it? After all, you’re just following orders, right?

* Update: because I just *know* that someone will pipe in maliciously with “oh, so you mean sex workers shouldn’t be doing that work?”, I just want to preemptively say “fuck off, you pernickety prat, you know exactly what I’m talking about and it isn’t that.”

#israel #genocide #apartheid #settlerColonialism #Palestine #Gaza #WestBank #Palestine #FreePalestine #StopIsrael #stopTheGenocide https://freefree.ps/@faab64/114903988836528662

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
faab64@freefree.ps ("Farhad") wrote:

@hansbot @palestine@a.gup.pe @israel @palestine@lemmy.ml

My Vivaldi mastodon account was suspended, so was my pixelfed account after a campaign of reports by Zionist German and Americans reporting me for supporting terrorism and antisemitism and sharing NSFW images without CW.

This is why I put a note on my posts now

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
faab64@freefree.ps ("Farhad") wrote:

Israel is starving 10s of thousands of innocent children in Gaza.

And we watch silently doing nothing to stop them .

Where is humanity?
Where is compassion ?
Where is our dignity?

I AM ASHAMED OF LIVING IN THIS WORLD

PS. Block me if it makes you uncomfortable looking at them, but okay with ignoring it

#Gaza #SaveGaza #StopIsrael #SanctionIsrael #BDS
#palestine #Israel #Politics #Genocide #PeaceNow #StopTheWar #CeasefireNow @palestine@a.gup.pe @israel @palestine@lemmy.ml

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
Aseelsehwel@mas.to ("Aseelsehwel🇵🇸") wrote:

Every Tuesday, we ask for your help to feed my family for a full week.

With the sharp rise in prices, even providing food has become a daily struggle.

We need $500 each week to feed my family of 6.

Every dollar you give helps us get through the week.

If you’re unable to donate, please consider sharing — it might reach someone who can help.

Thank you for your continued support.
@palestine #gaza @mutualaid

25/500$
https://chuffed.org/project/138285-help-sehwel-family-with-their-medical-treatment

aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Please help Aseel and her family eat this week if you can.

(I have spoken with and am in touch with Aseel over Signal and I can vouch that the account and campaign are real and your donations go to a family in need in Gaza.)

#gaza #aid #mutualAid #Palestine #FreePalestine https://mas.to/@Aseelsehwel/114975078916845930

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
joeycastillo ("joey castillo") wrote:

“One of my chefs mentioned that if they could cook the steak on the grill they could get it right the first time. This is not an acceptable attitude in the microwave era. Also they’re worried I’m planning on firing all of them. That’s true, but not relevant here.” https://www.colincornaby.me/2025/08/in-the-future-all-food-will-be-cooked-in-a-microwave-and-if-you-cant-deal-with-that-then-you-need-to-get-out-of-the-kitchen/

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Right, it’s time we started an initiative to find and call out (with receipts) accounts on the fediverse engaged in genocide denial and genocide apologism in support of Israel’s ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

There are accounts (and even whole instances, it would seem) that are engaged in this and, further, attempts to silence the voices, not to mention threaten the livelihoods of, those of us speaking out against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people and attempting to help Palestinians in Gaza who are being starved, shot, bombed, and burned to death by Israel as we speak.

Is there already a hashtag we can use? If not, any suggestions? Is #GenocideDenial? too generic? How about #FediGenocideDenial?

#israel #genocide #ethnicCleansing #apartheid #Palestine #Gaza #WestBank #StopIsrael #StopArmingIsrael #StopTheGenocide #FreePalestine https://beige.party/@mycotropic/114971291419865466

Boosted by ChrisWere@toot.wales ("Chris Were ⁂🐧🌱☕"):
eco-g@stroud.social ("Cllr Gareth Kitchen") wrote:

Greens call for end to Right to Buy which has ‘hollowed out’ council housing stock

Responding to a report by the Common Wealth thinktank which says that the sale of millions of council homes to tenants at steep discounts since 1980 has fuelled vast shortages in social housing and turbocharged inequality, Green MP Ellie Chowns said:

This report lays bare the devastation Right to Buy has wrought on communities up and down the country. Successive governments stood by while Right to Buy hollowed out our council housing stock, creating chronic shortages and deepening inequality.

We cannot allow this crisis to continue: it’s time to end Right to Buy, urgently reinvest in secure, affordable social housing that is fit for the future, and guarantee stability and opportunity for families across the UK.

#GreenParty #ukpol #SocialHousing

aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

“Netanyahu decides on full occupation of Gaza Strip”

Just like Hitler decided “full occupation of Western Poland.” Oh, no, we called it “invasion” back then, didn’t we?

Then again, we also used to call genocide, “genocide.”

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-863225

#israel #genocide #ethnicCleansing #apartheid #settlerColonialism #Palestine #Gaza #FreePalestine #StopIsrael #StopTheGenocide

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
abcfeeds@rssfeed.media ("ABC Feeds") wrote:

The vanguard of teen shepherds occupying more of the West Bank
By Eric Tlozek

In the Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, teenage shepherds escorted by armed security guards are trying to push Palestinian villagers from their farms.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-04/occupied-west-bank-shepherds-settlers-israel-palestine/105595130

#UnrestConflictandWar #WorldPolitics #TerritorialDisputes #ForeignAffairs #EricTlozek

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
SusiArnott@mastodon.green ("Dr Susi Arnott") wrote:

Grim detail if you want it, but also this key point
"...while many children in Gaza now show signs of malnutrition, they’re also at high risk of being killed by Israeli shells and gunfire, which will be recorded as their primary cause of death"
https://aje.io/y93b66