| Message-ID: <u49dj3$92r$1@reader2.panix.com>
Date: 20 May 2023 03:08:19 -0000
From: "Jeff Jonas" <jeffj@panix.com>
Subject: Re: MA: High School to lock students' cell phones during
school day
> Chicopee Comprehensive High to lock students’ cell phones during school
> day, joining Chicopee High
>
> CHICOPEE – Comprehensive High School will soon be locking up
> teenagers’ cell phones in magnetic pouches
Umm, errr, yes, no, maybe?
At first glance I agree that cellphones are abused and too distracting.
But isn't the easier solution for the students
to just not bring their cellphones to school at all?
And what if there's an emergency where ALL cellphones ought to be available?
--
|
| Message-ID: <omX9M.808180$PXw7.515043@fx45.iad>
Date: 19 May 2023 23:44:27 -0400
From: "Michael Trew" <michael.trew@att.net>
Subject: Re: Congress moves to preserve AM radio in cars
On 5/18/2023 11:13, Bill Horne wrote:
> On Thu, May 18, 2023 at 12:48:36PM +0000, danny burstein wrote:
>> Background: Electric cars, thanks to their motors
>> and circuitry, cause lots of radio frequency interference.
>>
>> If done cheaply, this badly crashes any attempt to
>> listen to an AM radio. Hence many car manufacturers
>> are choosing the skinflint option of simply not including
>> AM radios in their vehicles.
>
> As should be their right. AM radios in motor vehicles have always been
> subject to interference from a variety of sources, including spark
> plugs in converntional engines, electric windshield motors, and the
> display panels used to replace old-fashioned speedometers, and oil
> pressure and temperature gauges.
As Marco said, in many new cars, you can't install an after-market
radio. One part of me wants to agree with you, that it's the
manufacturer's right to not include an AM radio... but setting that
precedent will be the death of broadcast AM. Most people only listen to
broadcast radio in their cars, and it seems that manufactures want to
shut the dial down. I listen to AM radio on a daily basis.
> The point is that those whom profit from existing methods of
> distributing a nation's propaganda always fight tooth and nail to hang
> on to their privileged positions and profit model when new
> technologies such as FM threaten them, and our leaders have always let
> them get away with it.
I'm aware that most of AM radio has become talk-radio. I don't care for
Mr. Limbaugh, or his programming, but he sure did save the AM band.
Now, I still listen to a number of music stations on the AM dial,
including many oldies and polkas on Sundays. I still tune into News
radio 1020 KDKA in Pittsburgh (first commercial radio station).
> The Congress doesn't give a tinker's damn about "public safety:"
Perhaps they are talking about in the case of a flood, fire, or
wide-spread power outage, where some might only be able to receive
broadcast radio in battery-power units? I've been on plenty of highways
with signs "Tune into 1680 (or whatever) AM radio for an important
safety message from DOT".
|
| Message-ID: <20230518165610.GA319002@telecomdigest.us>
Date: 18 May 2023 12:56:10 -0400
From: "The Telecom Digest" <submissions@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Canada: A New Era Of Broadcasting Regulation Begins: The
Online Streaming Act Receives Royal Assent
by Casey Chisick , Stephen Selznick , Steven Henderson and Gerrit Yau
On April 27, 2023, Bill C-11, also known as the Online Streaming Act,
received royal assent, becoming law more than two years after the
precursor Bill C-10 was tabled by the former Liberal government and
died on the order paper, and after nearly 15 months of extensive
parliamentary debate and public controversy. The Online Streaming Act
serves as the most expansive refresh of the Canadian Broadcasting Act
in over 30 years, responding to rapid technological change by
providing, among other things, a framework for the regulation of
online broadcasters, including online streaming platforms.
https://www.mondaq.com/article/news/1315010?q=1803232&n=789&tp=10&tlk=1&lk=70
|
| Message-ID: <20230518170044.GA319042@telecomdigest.us>
Date: 18 May 2023 13:00:44 -0400
From: "The Telecom Digest" <submissions@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: 5.9 GHz Waiver Opens Road To Initial C-V2X Deployment
by Craig A. Gilley
On April 24, the FCC granted a joint waiver request to allow initial
deployment of next-generation cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X)
technology. C-V2X technology allows vehicles to communicate with one
another and with road infrastructure in the upper 20 MHz part of the
5.9 GHz band. The technology is a major advance in vehicle
communications and transportation safety.
https://www.mondaq.com/article/news/1315448
|
| Message-ID: <20230520144448.GB333257@telecomdigest.us>
Date: 20 May 2023 10:44:48 -0400
From: "Bill Horne" <malQRMassimilation@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: MA: High School to lock students' cell phones during
school day
On Sat, May 20, 2023 at 03:08:19AM -0000, Jeff Jonas wrote:
>> Chicopee Comprehensive High to lock students’ cell phones during school
day, joining Chicopee High
>> CHICOPEE – Comprehensive High School will soon be locking up
>> teenagers’ cell phones in magnetic pouches
>
> Umm, errr, yes, no, maybe?
>
> At first glance I agree that cellphones are abused and too distracting.
> But isn't the easier solution for the students
> to just not bring their cellphones to school at all?
Heaven forfend! That’s Communist! That’s Un-Americun! That’s
unprofitable! How could you even suggest that all the young,
impressionalbe consumers-in-training be denied access to
advertisements while they are forming the brand-loyalties and
consumption habits which will provide a basis for Americun industry
and marketing for the rest of their lives?
> And what if there's an emergency where ALL cellphones ought to be available?
Such as an AR-15 in the hands of another child? Calls for help won’t
make any difference worth mentioning: we don’t need panicked children
to sound the alarm. We need courage from our leaders who live off the
campaign contributions of the arms industry.
The school administrators and teachers are just tired of having
contradictory sources of information in the hands of children whom
aren't yet well-enough indoctrinated to ignore viewpoints other than
the ones the schools are paid to inculcate into their pointy little
heads.
Bill Horne
--
(Please remove QRM from my email address for direct replies)
|
| Message-ID: <20230520135214.GA333257@telecomdigest.us>
Date: 20 May 2023 09:52:14 -0400
From: "Bill Horne" <malQRMassimilation@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Congress moves to preserve AM radio in cars
On Fri, May 19, 2023 at 11:44:27PM -0400, Michael Trew wrote:
> On 5/18/2023 11:13, Bill Horne wrote:
>> On Thu, May 18, 2023 at 12:48:36PM +0000, danny burstein wrote:
>> > Background: Electric cars, thanks to their motors
>> > and circuitry, cause lots of radio frequency interference.
>> >
>> > If done cheaply, this badly crashes any attempt to
>> > listen to an AM radio. Hence many car manufacturers
>> > are choosing the skinflint option of simply not including
>> > AM radios in their vehicles.
>>
>> As should be their right. AM radios in motor vehicles have always been
>> subject to interference from a variety of sources, including spark
>> plugs in converntional engines, electric windshield motors, and the
>> display panels used to replace old-fashioned speedometers, and oil
>> pressure and temperature gauges.
>
> As Marco said, in many new cars, you can’t install an after-market radio.
> One part of me wants to agree with you, that it’s the manufacturer’s right
> to not include an AM radio... but setting that precedent will be the death
> of broadcast AM. Most people only listen to broadcast radio in their cars,
> and it seems that manufactures want to shut the dial down. I listen to AM
> radio on a daily basis.
Car makers don’t want to shut down AM, or any other type of signal:
they know that car buyers usually expect a new car to have a radio
that receives both AM and FM stations, and many new cars come equipped
with satellite receivers and free trials of a satellite-based servics.
The question is whether Congress can demand that automakers include
the AM band in their cars’ radios, even if it costs them a lot more to
do so: to make AM reception possible in an RF-noise filled environment
like an electric vehicle, the automakers would have to shield their
motors, their control systems, their computers, and their charging
systems to lower the noise level to something that AM listeners will
accept. That costs money, in an industry where saving $10 on each
vehicle coming off the assembly line can make an engineer’s career.
We've been through this debate before, although in another context:
when FM broadcasts were becoming popular, many motorists were offered
discounts on “FM Converter” units which could be mounted under the
dashboard. The converters were built with an antenna connector where
the car owner could plug in the same antenna cable that had been in
use by the AM radio, and they came with a short extension that
connected the AM radio to the converter, so that the motorist could
swith between AM and FM bands quickly.
The company that owned the patent on the special type of connector
used in automobiles sued to stop the converters from being sold, but I
don't know how the case was resolved. No matter; either the radio
manufacturers got some extra income, or the courts decided that having
access to more signals - and, therefore, more opinions - was too
important to let the patent stand.
That's where this current debate is focused: the Congress is claiming
that car buyers will suffer by not being able to listen to Rush
Limbaugh or Donald Trump or Diane Feinstein or Marjorie Taylor Greene
or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez telling them what to think. Car buyers who
think for themselves, and decide that the added cost of having AM
radios available in electric vehicles isn't worth it, are being denied
a place at the table.
>> The point is that those whom profit from existing methods of
>> distributing a nation's propaganda always fight tooth and nail to hang
>> on to their privileged positions and profit model when new
>> technologies such as FM threaten them, and our leaders have always let
>> them get away with it.
>
> I'm aware that most of AM radio has become talk-radio. I don't care for Mr.
> Limbaugh, or his programming, but he sure did save the AM band. Now, I still
> listen to a number of music stations on the AM dial, including many oldies
> and polkas on Sundays. I still tune into News radio 1020 KDKA in Pittsburgh
> (first commercial radio station).
>
>> The Congress doesn't give a tinker's damn about "public safety:"
>
> Perhaps they are talking about in the case of a flood, fire, or wide-spread
> power outage, where some might only be able to receive broadcast radio in
> battery-power units? I've been on plenty of highways with signs "Tune into
> 1680 (or whatever) AM radio for an important safety message from DOT".
No competent public-safety officer ever relies on battery-powered
radios. The dismal results which followed the introduction of small,
battery-powered AM radios have been known for decades: such sets
inevitably wound up on closet shelves when their owners realized that,
in the first place, the devices were bulky and heavy and inconvenient,
and in the second, that other people didn't like being forced to
listen to someone else’s choice of music or news. It wasn’t until the
introduction of battery-powered "Boom Boxes," with their cheap
chrome-plated "minimum parts count" designs and badly distorted sound,
that the public was, once again, able to choose portable vs. AC- or
Car-powered receivers. The public chose to shun the children whom were
sporting the Boom Boxes on their shoulders, and the fad died down as
soon as the Boom Box owners decided that their money was better spent
on things other than batteries.
Battery technology has advanced tremendously in the past few decades,
due to Cellular Phones: probably the only battery-powered devices
which owners feel have justified their bulk and expense in the long
term. The companies which make the phones have been leveraging their
product's ubiquity since they were first widely adopted, adding
cameras, larger amounts of memory, and now even Internet-supplied
information services which bypass the broadcast networks and thus,
those networks’ hold on the body politic’s sources of information.
AM Radio is a known quantity in Washington, D.C.: our public servants
have been serving us plate after plate of rancid tripe for all our
lives, using the broadcast stations which depend on Congressional
approval for their very existence. This proposed law isn't about AM or
FM: it concerns who gets to use the information paths and who
doesn’t. There's an election coming.
Bill Horne
--
(Please remove QRM from my email address for direct replies)
|
