Another one of those end-of-an-era things:

In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes.

Back in my geeky teenage years, I flirted off and on with the idea of getting an Amateur Radio license. The electronics wasn't a problem. And Morse code ultimately wasn't the biggest hindrance (though it surely didn't help). My problem was what one supposedly did with an Amateur Radio license, that is, communicate blindly--in real time--with people I didn't know, something I had absolutely no interest in doing. Steve Sailer explains this disinclination well:

I'm not quick in interpersonal situations . . . which means I'm unimpressive in real time. So, I greatly appreciate the asynchronous nature of cyberspace, since I can take whatever time I require to think through an idea. (Which is why I hate instant messaging.)

I don't instant message either. I don't have a cell phone. I was born for the asynchronous age.

Labels: radio, technology