sniff-test: (noun) the test of an electronic circuit during which the experimenter applies power and attempts to detect the success or failure of the circuit by the absence or presence of the smell of something burning. Usually the scent of a component burning indicates failure.

Barbara Ehrenreich, in her new book, has busted "the magical thinking" of The Secret wide open during the tour for her new book Bright-sided
How the Relentless Promotion of Positive
Thinking Has Undermined America. And given permission to cynics like myself to air our long held misgivings and problems with the fad and the book.

Think about this: a 15-year-old kid with no prior experience with electronics builds a transmitter and matching Variable Frequency Oscillator (think single frequency crystal replacement device) with only a saddle-bound manual to guide him.

It's not important that during the process of building the transmitter that this kid incorrectly wired the power supply for 240VAC because, in his 15 year old mind, configuring the kit that way (instead of for the correct 115VAC) would make the transmitter "more powerful."

What is important point is that the Heathkit manual was written and illustrated so well that this teenager was able to troubleshoot the problem, retrace his steps, correct the wiring, and successfully finish the transmitter (a classic DX-60B)!

I first got involved with Linkedin.com because many of my colleagues at a former software client were connected and it seemed like a great way to stay in touch with them after I was laid off. It was...and then some!

Since then, I've found colleagues that I had lost track of years ago, connected with people I hadn't heard from since college, and added new business contacts and friends to my list! What great fun!

But slowly but surely, I began to get connection invitations from more and more people who I came to call "Networking Ho's":

Ok folks, let's put our imagination caps on and imagine what an employment agency would look like. I'm not talking about an unemployment office that pays out a pittance to people whose companies suddenly decide that they are excess or obsolete two months after hiring them. I'm talking about flipping the script, tossing "practicality" to the winds, and imagining a humane way to help people transition their jobs and careers.

A few years ago, during a company dinner party discussion about pastimes, a coworker asked me about my amateur radio hobby and involvement in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service/Radio Amateur Civilian Emergency Service. She wanted to know specifically about how she, as an individual citizen, could "access" amateur radio "services" during an emergency and, I didn't have a good answer for her.

I gave her the usual line about how I support government (FEMA, Department of Homeland Security) and non-governmental agencies like the The Red Cross and Salvation Army's SATERN group, but both of us knew that my answer was far from adequate. Frankly, under the current public service model, she could not access my services directly because I would be deployed in support of these organizations--not members of the general public.

Here are the top ten "reasons" I've heard from engineers (and other people) who want to avoid documenting their projects. I'll admit to using one or two myself back in the day when I was a developer. Which ones have you used?

I few weekends ago my wife and I were awakened by an alarm from our weather radio on the early morning hours of May 8th. The announcement warned that a tornado had been observed near Camp Springs and that it was moving towards Clinton. The broadcast indicated that residents should “take cover.”

Without our Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) capable weather receiver we would have never known about the tornado!

I was preparing for our local Prince George’s County ARES/RACES’
go-kit “Show-n-Tell”, and I needed a lightweight, cheap (~$10), easily disassembled
and stored, antenna support for my newly completed WB6IQN DBJ-1 dual-band j-pole antenna.

To make my cheap and quick antenna stand, you will need the
following parts:

• 5 #8-32 3/4-inch machine bolts and nuts
• 5 #8 washers
• 1 12-inch traffic cone
• 2 10-inch lengths of Galvanized Steel Hanger Strap
• 1 1-inch or ¾-inch PVC pipe cap (see text)

I'm back on yet another job search. So potential employers (I know you're out there somewhere) as you , view my Jobster profile, and check out my pages on Facebook, BisonRoundUp.com (Howard University Alumni pages) and Elance (http://proposalman.elance.com), please understand that you're dealing with a whole person--not a commodity.

So I have had this recurring dream since 2001 about paddles for CW or Morse code on amateur radio that "go" up and down like two piano keys instead of the usual side-by-side of most paddles. Some extensive searching initially led me to the patented Kitano Keys created by Kit Raymond, N2LMC and eventually to ON4MAC's MacTapper Key. But I have always wanted to try my hand at building my own tapper key.

Of course, I started with the ubiquitous Altoids tin.