When I went home for Mother's Day with my brother, my uncle gave me a gift - a shortwave radio! I've always wanted one of these things and my uncle has always been an enthusiast of ham radio and all things nerdy and technical.
I remember being a kid and having he and our aunt visit on Christmas - I'd sit with his radio and listen to it all night. I was amazed and it sparked my imagination that I could be listening to stations broadcast from Japan, Mexico, Russia, Germany, Holland, the Middle East - wherever - and it would magically come out of this little boxy machine with a speaker on it. In many ways I'm still to this day intrigued by these kinds of things - the internet has done a far better job of bringing the world together but it will never replace the feeling of turning that little nob and catching a broadcast from the other side of the planet.
If you've ever listened to shortwave radio, you are probably familiar with the sort of programming you can get. The way it works has a lot to do with the ionization of the atmosphere as well, and the time of day. At almost any hour of the day you can get two ears full of bible-thumping apocolyptic Christianity - religion seems to be dominant. On the other hand, you can receive BBC-style updates from countries all over the world, much of it in English. China, in fact, has something called CRI (China Radio International) that repeats a 1-hour show daily along the lines of "Yes, you like us, China is great, we're doing great things, please spend your time and money here!" However, there is something I just learned that has got me wishing I had my radio right now.
Shortwave radio, for years, has been used as a method of communicating with covert (of the most secret and dangerous variety) operatives working for organizations such as MI6. One of the most well-known of these is nicknamed "The Lincolnshire Poacher." This is a mysterious, and frankly creepy, broadcast where they repeat bars of an English folk song, followed by a thoroughly English sounding lady repeating strings of five numbers. Operatives use the broadcast in combination with "one-time pads" to receive the messages. Wiki it up sometime. Amateurs have deciphered that the broadcast comes from the island of Cyprus and even have a broadcast schedule outlined. Besides things like this you can sometimes receive broadcasts from transcontinental flights, military concerns, conspiracy theory networks and all kinds of crazy stuff. Its these "rogue" broadcasts that have got me interested.
Joshua's Journal
My Podcast Link
05/16/2007 14:44 #39305
A Gift for a Spy05/09/2007 21:35 #39218
TodayCall me a perv, but I enjoy the good weather because of the eye candy on Elmwood. If you had my porch you might feel the same way too! Today I got some blood orange soda from Weg and mixed it with limoncello. I'm not sure if I like that stuff straight or mixed, but I've yet to find a mixer that blends well with the flavor of the limoncello. The search for the Twins Official House Drink Version Two (tm) goes on. At least the set we got came with two nice small flute-shaped glasses - far more elegant than typical stuff you drink out of. Its fantastic - I can sip limoncello out of a flute, smoke one of those little cigars (e:LC) gave me (thanks again!) and fully perpetrate like a bourgeois asshole!
The ubiquitous "they" are saying that the bees are disappearing, and yeah it does seem odd to me, but I just killed one the size of my thumb and I feel zero guilt about it. I have no idea how it got into our apartment, but at the mo' its taking a dirt nap in my not so dirt filled trash can. I sprayed it ever so carefully with Raid, but that stuff isn't exactly designed to be sprayed in the house. No matter how small a quantity you use indoors if you do as (e:josh) does your crib will smell less like patchouli and more like a shop floor.
I think people that travel Elmwood have really taken to our Sabres flag. People honk out "Lets Go Buff-A-Lo" all the time as they pass by. Fantastic! It will come down and be replaced with the American flag on Veteran's Day... or maybe I'll just rig it so both flags are on the pole. If I've ever believed in two things, they are America and the Buffalo Sabres - I love them both like southerners love fried okra, like Californians love plastic surgery, like NYers love to complain for sport, like women love shopping.
Anyway, back to my porch, my limoncello and my cigars.
The ubiquitous "they" are saying that the bees are disappearing, and yeah it does seem odd to me, but I just killed one the size of my thumb and I feel zero guilt about it. I have no idea how it got into our apartment, but at the mo' its taking a dirt nap in my not so dirt filled trash can. I sprayed it ever so carefully with Raid, but that stuff isn't exactly designed to be sprayed in the house. No matter how small a quantity you use indoors if you do as (e:josh) does your crib will smell less like patchouli and more like a shop floor.
I think people that travel Elmwood have really taken to our Sabres flag. People honk out "Lets Go Buff-A-Lo" all the time as they pass by. Fantastic! It will come down and be replaced with the American flag on Veteran's Day... or maybe I'll just rig it so both flags are on the pole. If I've ever believed in two things, they are America and the Buffalo Sabres - I love them both like southerners love fried okra, like Californians love plastic surgery, like NYers love to complain for sport, like women love shopping.
Anyway, back to my porch, my limoncello and my cigars.
james - 05/10/07 12:06
Limoncello is delicious in iced tea.
or if you like to make mistakes as much as I do
Limoncello is delicious in Long Island iced tea.
Limoncello is delicious in iced tea.
or if you like to make mistakes as much as I do
Limoncello is delicious in Long Island iced tea.
metalpeter - 05/10/07 12:00
Yeah that sabres flag is pretty cool. You arn't a perv if you even go out there with a camera and take pictures. You could even make it a little project and give it a cute nickname. But now if you used bionoculars then you might be a perv. Like (e:carolinian) said you have to keep a good watch out you never know when a cute little hottie might Hide a gun to rob a place with and only your keen eyesight can see it :) .
Yeah that sabres flag is pretty cool. You arn't a perv if you even go out there with a camera and take pictures. You could even make it a little project and give it a cute nickname. But now if you used bionoculars then you might be a perv. Like (e:carolinian) said you have to keep a good watch out you never know when a cute little hottie might Hide a gun to rob a place with and only your keen eyesight can see it :) .
mrmike - 05/10/07 08:57
I saw that flag yesterday -- primo vantage point for all that is Elmwood. Have to remember to holler up next drive by
I saw that flag yesterday -- primo vantage point for all that is Elmwood. Have to remember to holler up next drive by
kookcity2000 - 05/10/07 00:12
U R A PRV!!! OMG LADIES BOTTOMS!!1
U R A PRV!!! OMG LADIES BOTTOMS!!1
carolinian - 05/09/07 22:17
Gotta do those Neighborhood Watch duties, brother. What if that 19 year-old girl in the Belly shirt, low riders, and flip-flops tries breaking into a store? You need to stare long enough to get an accurate description to the BPD. Take that bite out of crime!
Gotta do those Neighborhood Watch duties, brother. What if that 19 year-old girl in the Belly shirt, low riders, and flip-flops tries breaking into a store? You need to stare long enough to get an accurate description to the BPD. Take that bite out of crime!
05/02/2007 15:29 #39129
The Best Convenience Store EVER!Seriously. For those of us who do not dine out for lunch at sit down spots and feign productivity, convenience stores are sometimes our lifeline on a busy day.
What do you have when you put together Tim Horton's and Charlie the Butcher in a convenience store?
I say - "HEAVEN!!!"
Main and Youngs, by my office. And the gas was 15 cents cheaper per gallon than Forest and Elmwood!
What do you have when you put together Tim Horton's and Charlie the Butcher in a convenience store?
I say - "HEAVEN!!!"
Main and Youngs, by my office. And the gas was 15 cents cheaper per gallon than Forest and Elmwood!
lilho - 05/03/07 12:46
sounds like heart attack...
sounds like heart attack...
mastermindkg - 05/02/07 16:04
That sounds Orgasmic.
That sounds Orgasmic.
05/01/2007 11:38 #39117
Big CitiesIn the United States we have inflated egos as far as the quality and stature of our major metropolitan areas are concerned. Some people actually believe that NYC is the biggest city on earth! While it is generally true that our cities are amazing, they are far from the most densely populated urban centers on earth.
Wikipedia list of cities by population -
Wikipedia list of metropolitan areas by population -
This was one of those things that sprung up in my head after thinking about my friend Janine, who will be travelling to India for her job later in the year, and also thinking about the places that our company does its work. As you might imagine, for garment workers that are legally paid in a month less than you might spend on lunch on occasion, the conditions are substandard (from an American view) and the cities that they live in are hardly any different. The difference in population density is massive, as you'll see.
The two most claustrophobic cities in the United States are New York and San Francisco. How do they stack up in comparison with cities you've never heard of and will never visit?
Cities by population -
1) Mumbai, India - 13,073,926 - 29,042 per sq. km
8) Shanghai, China - 9,838,400 - 6,775 per sq. km (2001 data)
9) Lagos, Nigeria - 9,229,944 - N/A
10) Mexico City, Mexico - 8,658,576 - 5,626 per sq. km
13) NY, NY - 8,143,197 - 10,439 per sq. km
14) Cairo, Egypt - 7,933,236 - 35,420 per sq. km
21) Dhaka, Bangladesh - 6,969,458 - 30,403 per sq. km
SF isn't in the top 50. Shanghai and the distrito federal of Mexico are thought of as two of the most choking urban centers on earth yet they are about half a dense as NYC. Cairo, Mumbai and Dhaka, three cities Americans know virtually nothing about, are 3x more dense than NYC. Can you imagine a New Yorker feeling cramped? Cities comparable in size and density to NYC are Tehran, Moscow, Jakarta and Tokyo.
What about "metropolitan" areas?
Metro area by population -
1) Tokyo, Japan - 31,729,844 - 2,350 per sq. km
2) Seoul, S. Korea - 22,742,000 - 1,939 per sq. km
3) Mexico City, Mexico - 19,411,000 - 2,484 per sq. km
4) NY, NY - 18,818,536 - 1,081 per sq. km
5) Sao Paulo, Brazil - 18,333,000 - 2,277 per sq. km
6) Mumbai, India - 18,196,000 - 4,206 per sq. km
7) Cairo, Egypt - 15,750,000 - 11,053 per sq. km
13) LA, CA - 12,950,129 - 1,031 per sq. km
15) Dhaka, Bangladesh - 12,430,000 - 7,850 per sq. km
22) Lagos, Nigeria - 10,886,000 - 17,398 per sq. km
Again, SF isn't on the list but LA is... and keep in mind that the LA census data doesn't include hundreds of thousands if not millions of "undocumented migrants." NYC by comparison is actually one of the least congested metro areas on earth when you compare it to its peers. Lagos, Nigeria, Cairo, Egypt, most of the metro areas in China and most of the metro areas in India are more than 10x denser in population. Those same cities are 20x more dense than greater Chicago.
Many of us really don't have an idea of what urban congestion really means... even New Yorkers! Take into consideration that many of these places are awash with poverty so extreme that the American mind can't even fathom it, and you have some densely packed areas with characteristics that we are largely unaware of and cannot imagine in our own cities.
The cities that our company visits often are these insanely poor and densely packed areas in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Karachi holds 11,000,000 people and less than 1% of us could even point the country out on a map let alone the city. Most Americans aren't lucky enough to travel abroad for leisure, and even those that do mostly don't have the foggiest clue about parts of the world that aren't in Europe, China and Japan. To think that many Americans might actually be shocked and a little afraid upon landing in a place like Cairo, Egypt makes me suspect that the idea that we could afford to be a little bit more worldly has some validity to it.
Wikipedia list of cities by population -
Wikipedia list of metropolitan areas by population -
This was one of those things that sprung up in my head after thinking about my friend Janine, who will be travelling to India for her job later in the year, and also thinking about the places that our company does its work. As you might imagine, for garment workers that are legally paid in a month less than you might spend on lunch on occasion, the conditions are substandard (from an American view) and the cities that they live in are hardly any different. The difference in population density is massive, as you'll see.
The two most claustrophobic cities in the United States are New York and San Francisco. How do they stack up in comparison with cities you've never heard of and will never visit?
Cities by population -
1) Mumbai, India - 13,073,926 - 29,042 per sq. km
8) Shanghai, China - 9,838,400 - 6,775 per sq. km (2001 data)
9) Lagos, Nigeria - 9,229,944 - N/A
10) Mexico City, Mexico - 8,658,576 - 5,626 per sq. km
13) NY, NY - 8,143,197 - 10,439 per sq. km
14) Cairo, Egypt - 7,933,236 - 35,420 per sq. km
21) Dhaka, Bangladesh - 6,969,458 - 30,403 per sq. km
SF isn't in the top 50. Shanghai and the distrito federal of Mexico are thought of as two of the most choking urban centers on earth yet they are about half a dense as NYC. Cairo, Mumbai and Dhaka, three cities Americans know virtually nothing about, are 3x more dense than NYC. Can you imagine a New Yorker feeling cramped? Cities comparable in size and density to NYC are Tehran, Moscow, Jakarta and Tokyo.
What about "metropolitan" areas?
Metro area by population -
1) Tokyo, Japan - 31,729,844 - 2,350 per sq. km
2) Seoul, S. Korea - 22,742,000 - 1,939 per sq. km
3) Mexico City, Mexico - 19,411,000 - 2,484 per sq. km
4) NY, NY - 18,818,536 - 1,081 per sq. km
5) Sao Paulo, Brazil - 18,333,000 - 2,277 per sq. km
6) Mumbai, India - 18,196,000 - 4,206 per sq. km
7) Cairo, Egypt - 15,750,000 - 11,053 per sq. km
13) LA, CA - 12,950,129 - 1,031 per sq. km
15) Dhaka, Bangladesh - 12,430,000 - 7,850 per sq. km
22) Lagos, Nigeria - 10,886,000 - 17,398 per sq. km
Again, SF isn't on the list but LA is... and keep in mind that the LA census data doesn't include hundreds of thousands if not millions of "undocumented migrants." NYC by comparison is actually one of the least congested metro areas on earth when you compare it to its peers. Lagos, Nigeria, Cairo, Egypt, most of the metro areas in China and most of the metro areas in India are more than 10x denser in population. Those same cities are 20x more dense than greater Chicago.
Many of us really don't have an idea of what urban congestion really means... even New Yorkers! Take into consideration that many of these places are awash with poverty so extreme that the American mind can't even fathom it, and you have some densely packed areas with characteristics that we are largely unaware of and cannot imagine in our own cities.
The cities that our company visits often are these insanely poor and densely packed areas in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Karachi holds 11,000,000 people and less than 1% of us could even point the country out on a map let alone the city. Most Americans aren't lucky enough to travel abroad for leisure, and even those that do mostly don't have the foggiest clue about parts of the world that aren't in Europe, China and Japan. To think that many Americans might actually be shocked and a little afraid upon landing in a place like Cairo, Egypt makes me suspect that the idea that we could afford to be a little bit more worldly has some validity to it.
ladycroft - 05/01/07 12:33
for the record, EVERYONE should visit Ciaro once in their lifetime. it's an amazing place. if i get this job in Qatar you better come visit me!
for the record, EVERYONE should visit Ciaro once in their lifetime. it's an amazing place. if i get this job in Qatar you better come visit me!
04/30/2007 14:12 #39105
Nice DayIt seems like I throw a quick post up whenever there is a nice day to enjoy... it really does cheer me up to see warm weather and sunshine.
Considering all of the thought I've put into making the next step and leaving Buffalo thereafter, a different thought crossed my mind - if I move to the place that I'd like to live, will I appreciate the good weather as much as I would here in Buffalo? It seems that you get a bigger kick out of things when its rare to be able to enjoy them.
(e:jason) and I bought an Xbox 360 - for the premium system, another controller and two games the grand total was something like $550. Goodbye PS2! I gave (e:jason) the option of replacing his digital camera or putting the money towards a 360 - I should have known that the gears in his head would have started turning as soon as I said it.
Assuming nobody jams me on this bid, I'm about to get brand new copies of On The Road and Mexico City Blues off of eBay for less than I would have if I ordered on Amazon, including the discounts and free shipping. If you read my journal on previous occasions you'd know that I'm horribly anal about finding a particular copy of On The Road, but right now my desire to reread the book outweighs my desire to sit out and wait for a specific edition.
I've also taken to finally hanging up proper prints and artwork in my bedroom, gifts and purchases alike. A previous... well... theres no polite way to say it... but anyway a previous intimate acquaintance painted a painting for me and made strings of origami cranes, and another friend of mine (not so intimate, a nice but crazy girl) gave me some sort of ink printing in blue. I am not exactly sure how to hang it, but I think probably the thing to do is to get one of those matte finished folding things (sorry, I'm not an artist so I have no idea what its called). In all honesty it makes me wish that I had some more art to put in my room that had been made by a friend - maybe I'll paint my own hideous yet inspired creation. I thought about maybe picking my favorite three pictures from my travels, having my friend print them on photo quality paper and framing them nicely to hang behind my bed.
I hope that if you're working today you are making obscene profits. Otherwise, for those of us who have the day off, took the day off, or are unemployed or underemployed - enjoy the day!
Considering all of the thought I've put into making the next step and leaving Buffalo thereafter, a different thought crossed my mind - if I move to the place that I'd like to live, will I appreciate the good weather as much as I would here in Buffalo? It seems that you get a bigger kick out of things when its rare to be able to enjoy them.
(e:jason) and I bought an Xbox 360 - for the premium system, another controller and two games the grand total was something like $550. Goodbye PS2! I gave (e:jason) the option of replacing his digital camera or putting the money towards a 360 - I should have known that the gears in his head would have started turning as soon as I said it.
Assuming nobody jams me on this bid, I'm about to get brand new copies of On The Road and Mexico City Blues off of eBay for less than I would have if I ordered on Amazon, including the discounts and free shipping. If you read my journal on previous occasions you'd know that I'm horribly anal about finding a particular copy of On The Road, but right now my desire to reread the book outweighs my desire to sit out and wait for a specific edition.
I've also taken to finally hanging up proper prints and artwork in my bedroom, gifts and purchases alike. A previous... well... theres no polite way to say it... but anyway a previous intimate acquaintance painted a painting for me and made strings of origami cranes, and another friend of mine (not so intimate, a nice but crazy girl) gave me some sort of ink printing in blue. I am not exactly sure how to hang it, but I think probably the thing to do is to get one of those matte finished folding things (sorry, I'm not an artist so I have no idea what its called). In all honesty it makes me wish that I had some more art to put in my room that had been made by a friend - maybe I'll paint my own hideous yet inspired creation. I thought about maybe picking my favorite three pictures from my travels, having my friend print them on photo quality paper and framing them nicely to hang behind my bed.
I hope that if you're working today you are making obscene profits. Otherwise, for those of us who have the day off, took the day off, or are unemployed or underemployed - enjoy the day!
vycious - 04/30/07 18:35
awesome. glad to see another 360 gamer. hit me up on live: vicious dbm. i have mad games for the system, chances are ill have at least one or two titles that you boys bought. hope to see you online this xblw!
awesome. glad to see another 360 gamer. hit me up on live: vicious dbm. i have mad games for the system, chances are ill have at least one or two titles that you boys bought. hope to see you online this xblw!
joshua - 04/30/07 14:42
Hallucinatory and alien? Do tell!
Hallucinatory and alien? Do tell!
james - 04/30/07 14:32
Congrats on the 360. I saw my friend play Gears of War and never have I wanted a chain saw more.
I have been looking on ebay, amazon, everywhere for a copy of Code Serephinianus: a halucanitory encyclopedia of imagined things writen in alien scripts. So, I can appreciate your hunt for rare editions. Godspeed.
Congrats on the 360. I saw my friend play Gears of War and never have I wanted a chain saw more.
I have been looking on ebay, amazon, everywhere for a copy of Code Serephinianus: a halucanitory encyclopedia of imagined things writen in alien scripts. So, I can appreciate your hunt for rare editions. Godspeed.
Hey IMK I was listening to the radio the other night and I heard what I thought was a distinct eastern European language that I didn't recognize... it made me think of you. =D My Polish isn't exactly up to scratch.
There was one section of this book I had as a kid that listed super secret shortwave code frequencies. Just reading about them would freak my shit right out. At some point I discovered that the old vacuum-tube radio in the spare room could receive shortwave, and I'd spend hours tuned into nothing in particular. I couldn't find any code stations but I did catch a lot of incomprehensible foreign news.
- Z
yeah that is cool, i wish someone would get me one of those too.
That's cool. You got me wanting one.
Ha - well I've heard a TON of religious programming, and a lot of what you find is really kind of creepy and disturbing. Alex Jones, well known kook, is out there... as well as "Brother Stair" who is the biggest religious lunatic I've ever heard. I don't pick on the religious lightly... that guy is crazy.
Apparently there are hundreds of these so-called numbers stations out there, and its interesting that these broadcasts are jammed. Today I heard a recording of a Mossad numbers station that gets jammed with Chinese music. I wonder where the jam came from? =P
oh that sounds neat. i know its not exactly the same thing, but i've always been obsessed with CB radios. I had one in my car for a while till the wiring broke on it..
if you pick up any juicy conspiracy theory news then let me know... i love that stuff.