I released v1.4.4 of Frozen BBS. It adds a ping command, a configurable delay between long reply pages, and an indicator of boards that have unread messages. It also removes message and DM and user bio limits, which are unnecessary since the pager can cope with longer texts.
Hey you.
My coworker Secret Santa gets me.
I just bought my first “real” handheld ham radio, a Yaesu FT-70DR. I’ve been pretty good this year and figured Santa might want to hook me up with some nice gear. There were a lot of options in my budget range and here’s how I narrowed the choice down:
Yaesu FT-60R/FT-65R
I’ve heard nothing but good about these, with the 60R having a reputation for a slightly better receiver than the 65R. They only support analog, though, and I wanted to play with digital.
Yaesu FT5DR
This was extremely tempting, but I stumbled across report after report after report of the case cracking, even for people who never leave the house with them. If I paid that much for a radio, and the case broke itself, I’d have to find a steamroller to put it out of my misery.
Also, its APRS seems to keep getting stuck in transmit mode. Just… what?
AnyTone AT-878UVII Plus
The 878 also has a lot of fans! The only downsides were that I already have a DMR radio, and that its prices puts it up against some other extremely nice units.
Yaesu FT-70DR
So I ended up with the FT-70DR. It also has complaints about its battery life, but at least I can work around those by keeping it charged up or buying extra batteries. And now I’ll be able to play with Yaesu System Fusion digital mode, which sounds fun. The price was nicer than some of the alternatives, too, which makes Mrs. Claus a little more amenable to future purchases.
My coworkers weren’t sure what my “2600” baseball cap referred to. I sense an upcoming lunch and learn.
This morning’s programming-adjacent task: making a Shortcut that sets my phone to “reduce interruptions” mode for an hour, sets my AirPods to noise cancellation mode, and opens Maps showing transit times to my office.
Now I can say “hey Siri, commute” and do all these things at once.
My AirPods Pro case stopped charging on my MagSafe charger. The Internet told me, and I quote,
Just smack them shits on your table
It worked. Percussive maintenance carries the day, yet again.
I talked to my company today and told them how phishers use a sense of 1) danger, and 2) urgency, to push smart people to do rash things. I offered to be their personal, confidential fear consultant: “hey, I got this scary thing. Is it real?” Let me do the worrying for them.
This, more than goofy phishing tests that make people feel dumb, is how we help our friends avoid scams.
Finished reading: Class Clown by Dave Barry 📚