Somewhere between Gaaaaah and Things That Make You Happy ...

[Sorontar]

I was rushing today to get the family to an event that 1) I must be at since I am a speaker 2) has no nearby parking so we would be reliant on a limited shuttle bus from parking that had been set up. I estimated about 50mins for the trip so I can drop the family there early. I anticipated that I would then have 15-20 minutes to get the shuttle bus and arrive on time.

I end up getting stressed because traffic is slow due to the weather and roadworks. I didn't drop my family off until 5 minutes after we were due there. I drive to the shuttle bus location and no-one else is there. Then I get a phone message to say that I was one day early. Sigh!

We eventually get home and I have been driving for 3 hours. The good news is that I now know that I need to allow more time (up to 1.5 hours) to get there, and I know more about where I am going. Hopefully that means that tomorrow's trip will be a lot easier (and less stressful).

Sorontar

[von Corax]

This morning I applied online to a job which the job board said was in Adelaide-Metcalfe, ON. About an hour later I got a phone call from the employer's HR department wanting to clarify that the job was actually in Ottawa-Metcalfe, some 600 km to the east.

At least people are looking at my applications.

[Synistor 303]

This morning I applied online to a job which the job board said was in Adelaide-Metcalfe, ON. About an hour later I got a phone call from the employer's HR department wanting to clarify that the job was actually in Ottawa-Metcalfe, some 600 km to the east.

At least people are looking at my applications.

600 miles is just a long commute... Or you could work FIFO - fly-in fly-out?

[J. Wilhelm]

This last ice storm which left me "incomunicado" since my cellphone was out of order and my TV tuner was also broken, has left me thinking whether I should push to include a "universal receiver" on my boombox project.

While I don't think that many people would have use for shortwave radio in their home, I've seen some pretty cool Arduino based all band receivers out there, including FM stereo.  I'm wondering how attractive of a gimmick that would be. Probably an HDTV receiver with a built in screen or HDMI output jack would be a more useful gimmick... People used to know what portable broadcast receivers were once upon a time.

[Cora Courcelle]

At home I always listen to the radio digitally.  It's not as interesting as trying to find the channel but it has the advantage of being able to hear the programme unaccompanied by hiss!
An HDMI Jack would probably have more appeal and be more of a selling point.

[Sir Henry]

At home I always listen to the radio digitally.  It's not as interesting as trying to find the channel but it has the advantage of being able to hear the programme unaccompanied by hiss!
An HDMI Jack would probably have more appeal and be more of a selling point.

I've never been a fan of digital radios. I find they tend to lose the signal and not come back, unlike traditional radios which may fade or go fuzzy, but always come back to the signal. It was always a problem around sunset and as I listen while cooking I never had time to reboot the radio when it dropped out.

[Cora Courcelle]

I cheat and listen on Freeview TV.  I appreciate that it's deeply sad that we do have a TV in the kitchen too.  (But it is handy ...)

[LukeHogbin]

At home I always listen to the radio digitally.  It's not as interesting as trying to find the channel but it has the advantage of being able to hear the programme unaccompanied by hiss!
An HDMI Jack would probably have more appeal and be more of a selling point.

I've never been a fan of digital radios. I find they tend to lose the signal and not come back, unlike traditional radios which may fade or go fuzzy, but always come back to the signal. It was always a problem around sunset and as I listen while cooking I never had time to reboot the radio when it dropped out.

That's what usually happens with cheap boxes of rubbish that sell for a fiver and which I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw them.

[J. Wilhelm]

At home I always listen to the radio digitally.  It's not as interesting as trying to find the channel but it has the advantage of being able to hear the programme unaccompanied by hiss!
An HDMI Jack would probably have more appeal and be more of a selling point.

The problem in America,is that HD radio, our version can only be found in automotive setups. A very long time ago Tandy/Radio Shack sold an HD radio tuner for iPhone and iPod 2nd/3rd generation. The public response has been tepid at best. HDTV (ATSC Standard) was also difficult to introduce 10 years after it was already available on flat panel TVs, but the government (FCC) forced a phase-out of NTSC and gave each household up to $100 to buy two HDTV tuners. That's what finally did it for digital TV. I do prefer digital TV and i don't have too many complaints about HD radio, because receivers are backward compatible with analog signals!

I also agree that HDTV with an HDMI would be more useful, especially if I include Roku for Internet reception.

[J. Wilhelm]

At home I always listen to the radio digitally.  It's not as interesting as trying to find the channel but it has the advantage of being able to hear the programme unaccompanied by hiss!
An HDMI Jack would probably have more appeal and be more of a selling point.

I've never been a fan of digital radios. I find they tend to lose the signal and not come back, unlike traditional radios which may fade or go fuzzy, but always come back to the signal. It was always a problem around sunset and as I listen while cooking I never had time to reboot the radio when it dropped out.

Is that locally broadcasting radio (supported by advertisment or perhaps in your country supported by taxes (?)), or satellite radio (paid service like Sirius or XM)? In the case of American broadcast radio (FM or frequency modulation 88-108 MHz), HD Radio (as it's called) is backward compatible with analog advert supported stations; If the digital signal is lost, it will look for the analog version of the broadcast automatically if it exists, and switch back to digital when it can lock to the signal again (each radio broadcasting station has a main channel broadcast in analog and digital and several other digital only channels.

Curiously we also have analog AM stereo radio (QAM or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, similar to traditional FM), also fully backward compatible with standard monaural signals in what you'd call the MW band, the thing is absolutely no one I know of listens to digital AM or sells radios for home use. I don't even think I have seen a stereo AM radio, unless that's also included in automotive radios and I'm not aware of it.

I'm sure satellite radio is good, but I can't get around to the idea of yet another monthly subscription. Basically similar to Satellite TV without the dish, but I don't have enough money trees in my backyard. At least Roku TV has free television networks and You Tube videos.

[J. Wilhelm]

I cheat and listen on Freeview TV.  I appreciate that it's deeply sad that we do have a TV in the kitchen too.  (But it is handy ...)

I had to look it up.  I think that what you call a DVB-T/DVB-T2 tuner for HDTV is a different version of what we call an ATSC tuner fot HDTV in Japan, Canada, US and Mexico.  The difference is that standard definition TV has been dropped altogether (like only having Freeview HD), and instead of having one network like Freeview/ Freeview HD, we have many networks instead (in the US it'd be the traditional ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS networks, plus American owned Spanish language networks like Univision and Telemundo and many others with local/special interest content).

[Sorontar]

My annoyance is that my phone can pick up FM channels but not AM channels.

[J. Wilhelm]

My annoyance is that my phone can pick up FM channels but not AM channels.

Trust me. You don't want to hear the AM channels in this part of the world. Long gone are the days of meaningful AM radio.

[Sorontar]

The best channels for emergencies and news in Australia are the ABC AM channels. They are also best for intellectual discussions, like science news. I don't always want to listen to rock music, and certainly not opinionated DJs or commentators.

[J. Wilhelm]

The best channels for emergencies and news in Australia are the ABC AM channels. They are also best for intellectual discussions, like science news. I don't always want to listen to rock music, and certainly not opinionated DJs or commentators.

Blessed you be then. Once upon a time AM was a good source of news, but now it's all politics and religion.  Opinions is all you get.  I'm not sure when the transition happened, but as AM sunk to irrelevance, perhaps in the 1989s, less useful content took over. Certainly cable TV news networks and FM radio had a big part in AM's demise.

[LukeHogbin]

I don't even remember when was the last time I've listened to radio. Probably about 20 years ago.

[von Corax]

I don't even remember when was the last time I've listened to radio. Probably about 20 years ago.

I'm listening to either CBC1 or CBC2 most of the time. I don't really listen to anything else; then again, I don't have a TV that's plugged in.

[J. Wilhelm]

I don't even remember when was the last time I've listened to radio. Probably about 20 years ago.

I'm listening to either CBC1 or CBC2 most of the time. I don't really listen to anything else; then again, I don't have a TV that's plugged in.

Just a thought: if you work at a mindless job™ and need ambient music to pass the time, radio will become your friend very quickly. TV might be too distracting, but educational shows can serve as background noise as well.

In this part of the world, however, FM music radio stations took over the role of AM stations in the 80s by introducing ever more complex shows in which DJ hosts double as reporters... And non music oriented stations took news to FM earlier than that during the 70s. The National Public Radio* network is one such example. All stations usually occupy the same part of the FM band, but I suspect it's due to how the network was created in the late 60s.*


*Both, NPR for radio and Public Broadcasting Service or PBS for Television are publicly funded and were established at the same time after passage of a law signed by President Lyndon B Johnson which allows for government grants to be awarded for equipment and programming to small broadcasters, with the final purpose of disseminating educational material. The public stations are partially supported by government grants, but mostly supported by listeners/private membership.

Incidentally, PBS is the primary carrier in the United States for BBC News and British programming...

[Sorontar]

The ABC AM channels (as in Australian Broadcasting Corporation, not any USA pretender) include the local chat channel (one for each capital and many regional), the national channel,  and a news-only one. In the FM band, the ABC has a Classical music channel and an alternative Australian music one (ie. not your standard international pop music), but no news channel. There are a few Jazz, Rural and Sports-based variations but they are online channels, which is no good for my mobile phone.]

if there are floods, storms or bushfires, then the ABC local AM channel is the primary service used by the emergency services to inform the public. However, if my phone doesn't do AM, it is not helpful for me when there is little or no power.

Sorontar

[LukeHogbin]

I don't even remember when was the last time I've listened to radio. Probably about 20 years ago.

I'm listening to either CBC1 or CBC2 most of the time. I don't really listen to anything else; then again, I don't have a TV that's plugged in.

Just a thought: if you work at a mindless job™ and need ambient music to pass the time, radio will become your friend very quickly. TV might be too distracting, but educational shows can serve as background noise as well.

In this part of the world, however, FM music radio stations took over the role of AM stations in the 80s by introducing ever more complex shows in which DJ hosts double as reporters... And non music oriented stations took news to FM earlier than that during the 70s. The National Public Radio* network is one such example. All stations usually occupy the same part of the FM band, but I suspect it's due to how the network was created in the late 60s.*


*Both, NPR for radio and Public Broadcasting Service or PBS for Television are publicly funded and were established at the same time after passage of a law signed by President Lyndon B Johnson which allows for government grants to be awarded for equipment and programming to small broadcasters, with the final purpose of disseminating educational material. The public stations are partially supported by government grants, but mostly supported by listeners/private membership.

Incidentally, PBS is the primary carrier in the United States for BBC News and British programming...

I'm autistic, I have enough noise going on in my braincell at any given time that I don't need radio.

[Justin Time]

I'm autistic, I have enough noise going on in my braincell at any given time that I don't need radio.

Not to be nosy, but have you every tried anything like this to counter that? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRQyLZfUK8o

I've used something similar for several years to ease migraines.  Keeps me off taking pills for them.

JIT

[J. Wilhelm]

Loneliness and cheap chocolate on St. Valentine's Day.

[von Corax]

Loneliness and cheap chocolate on St. Valentine's Day.

Happy Singles Awareness Day, JW.

[Sir Henry]

Loneliness and cheap chocolate on St. Valentine's Day.

Happy Singles Awareness Day, JW.

And today is St. Skeletor's Day, the day to celebrate not being tied to anyone and being free to do what you want, even conquering the universe 

[LukeHogbin]

Thing that makes me happy: My cold seems to finally be gone.
Thing that makes me GAH: My sense of balance seems to have decided to take a break.