A Crummy Commercial

This was an interesting article on Ars-Technica https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/11/toyota-resurrects-scion-with-right-hand-drive-kei-trucks/ Something that the orange one and I agree on ?  It's a miracle !   I saw this short video from NHK on the Kei trucks a while back: source:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j76f6E0oOW4 One interesting part of the video is when the dealer measures the bed length and shows that it's the same (6.5 feet) as a US made club-cab pickup !  The fold down side rails of the Kei also seem like a neat idea. The weird thing to me is how similar the Kei trucks are to a Ford Model T truck !  Almost the same size. . Here's the Scion mentioned in the article:  And here's that Model-T mentioned a couple days ago: source:   https://www.classicandcollectorcars.com/vehicles/15439/1924-ford-model-t1924 Obviously no cab on the pictured Model-T but they did come with enclosed cabs: Semi-obligatory inflated price: Also the...

This is an interesting book digitized by the wonderful WorldRadioHistory site: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Twenty-Five-Engineers-and-Inventors-Susskind-1976.pdf The 25 profiles include people (men only, this covered the 19th and 20th centuries) that would be familiar to hams (Armstrong, Barkhausen, de Forest, Fessenden, Pierce) and many others such as Karman of the famous Karman Line (the division between the atmosphere and space) and of course the very famous Tesla.  Some important names such as Edison, Steinmetz or Tuve are not profiled though.  Before the internet this book would have been valuable for quick reference.  Now with Wikipedia and the search engines it would be easy to piece together the bios presented (hello AI ?).  Each bio is a brief sketch, fairly detailed although not exhaustive - and pictures of the subjects are included along with a little personal info. A worthwhile read for certain. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http:...

I saw these ads from roughly 100 years ago: This idea is something I'd never have thought of.  Here are a couple of pictures from a beautiful 1924 Model T showing the crank: source:  https://www.classicandcollectorcars.com/vehicles/15439/1924-ford-model-t1924 I suspect that car is cleaner than some operating rooms !  But it looks to me like the crank was disengaged via a spring - so the person starting the car would push in to engage the crank and then once the engine started they'd let go and the spring would disengage the crank from the flywheel.  Finally they could use that little harness to keep the crank in place. That attachment in the ads must have taken the place of the crank and used that flywheel connection as a PTO (Power Take Off) ?  This begs the question of how the engine was started when the Work-A-Ford was attached.  It looks like there is a crank on the right side ?  There's not too much on the internet about the Work-A-Ford. Really in...

I've made a couple of kit parts orders recently.  And I noticed these top of the page banners on both DigiKey and Mouser: Is this a result of the data center buildout ?   Not only raising the prices of electronics items but actually slowing down the economy, too ?  Thanks a lot, billionaires !   Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Milwaukee is the center of the world ? source:  https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~372859~90139600:Milwaukee- NOT 9th Avenue in Manhattan as The New Yorker would have you believe: source:  https://archive.org/details/dr_the-new-yorker-steinberg-copyright-1976-the-new-yorker-magazine--inc-8145000 Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I was thinking about buying some MOSFETs for the various Keyall kits.  But revisiting my shopping carts on DigiKey and Mouser I noticed the tariff taxes (I guess the Supremes didn't actually strike them down): Mouser cart Mouser: Vishay BE3         38% Vishay             zero tariff tax ? STM                38% DigiKey cart DigiKey: Vishay BE3         26% Vishay             50% STM                zero tarif f tax So which is it ? zero, 26% 38% or 50% ?  I included an STM part which is similar to the Vishay part normally included with the Keyall kits.   I guess there's not much doubt which to choose in this case:  Mouser has the lower prices and one choice with a zero tariff. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwKP42CB3Sw The guest in the second half of the video mentioned Douglas Rushkoff, here is how Ruskoff described that 2017 meeting with 5 very wealthy men: https://archive.rushkoff.com/articles/1094-survival-of-the-richest.html I imagine those zillionaires will require a restrictive NDA if they ever invite Rushkoff to another event :) The question was raised: will there be a global event ?   Something unmistakable like an asteroid hit, epidemic or global heating  ?   OR are we all like the fabled frog in the pot of water, at first it's still OK, a little warmer but eventually that pot will boil !  Maybe the apocalypse has already started and the "little" (non-global) events like weather, vulcanism, earthquake, firestorms or war are just teasers ? :) The 2nd guest also mentioned the book:  The Sovereign Individual   which is apparently highly regarded in Silicon Valley.   And who were the origi...