CNN.com - Nations at odds on tsunami alerts - Jan 29, 2005

CNN.com - Nations at odds on tsunami alerts - Jan 29, 2005

"Nations at odds on tsunami alerts
Saturday, January 29, 2005 Posted: 11:32 AM EST (1632 GMT)

PHUKET, Thailand --
Government ministers from tsunami-ravaged Asian nations
have failed to overcome their differences on which country
should host a proposed early warning system in the Indian Ocean."

ABC News: Iraqis Around the Globe Head to Ballot Box

ABC News: Iraqis Around the Globe Head to Ballot Box

"Iraqis Around the Globe Head to Ballot BoxAmid Tight Security, Iraqis Around the World Bring Their Hopes and Fears to the Ballot Box
An Iraqi woman election official, finds the name of female voters, duing their country's elections at a polling station in the Iranian city of Qom 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of the Iranian capital Tehran, Friday, Jan. 28, 2005. Iraqi expatriates are permitted to cast ballots in 14 countries across the world, but the voting in Iran holds special significance.
LONDON Jan 28, 2005
In the nations bordering their homeland, in a furniture warehouse in Australia and in an events center in London, Iraqis on Friday began voting for an interim government that they hope will bring peace and order.
'Iraqis are finally expressing themselves.
It is a victory for all the dead that Saddam Hussein killed,' said Falastin Saheb, 25, an Iraqi who has been living in Syria for two years and is running a polling center there, in Rukn el-Din, a Kurdish neighborhood.
Banners outside the center read: 'Let us hear your voice.'
Security was tight at polling stations in 14 countries that are open through Sunday, when people inside Iraq have their chance to vote."

ABC News: Tsunami Relief Inadequate in Many Areas

ABC News: Tsunami Relief Inadequate in Many Areas

"Tsunami Relief Inadequate in Many AreasTsunami Relief Inadequate in Many Areas As Refugees Continue to Suffer, U.N. Report Says
Workers take a break from clean-up work in an area devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Friday, Jan. 28, 2005. Reconstruction of buildings has started as Indonesia attempts to reduce the number of people living in refugee camps a month after the tsunami.
The Associated Press
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia Jan 28, 2005
More than a month after the devastating tsunami, one in eight children in Indonesia's Aceh province is not getting enough to eat, the threat of disease still stalks relief camps and aid deliveries are inconsistent, two U.N. reports said.
But the overall picture is one of improvement, the world body insisted Friday.
'We know there are needs that are not being met (But) we are no longer worried about (whether) anyone is starving. The schools are reopening. That is a sure sign of recovery,' Bo Asplund, the U.N. representative in Indonesia, told The Associated Press in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital. "

Yahoo! News - India's Andaman islands shaken by 28 aftershocks in 24 hours

Yahoo! News - India's Andaman islands shaken by 28 aftershocks in 24 hours

India's Andaman islands shaken
by 28 aftershocks in 24 hours
16 minutes ago

NEW DELHI (AFP) - At least 28 tremors have rattled India's tsunami-lashed Andaman and Nicobar Islands over the past 24 hours, a meteorological department official said.

The undersea tremors were aftershocks of a December 26 earthquake which registered 9.0 on the Richter scale and triggered killer tsunamis throughout the Indian Ocean, the official said on Friday.
The shocks, which began at 03:55 am on Thursday (1025 GMT Wednesday), ranged between 5.0 and 5.8 on the Richter scale.
'They are coming continuously. These are all aftershocks of the December 26 quake,' the official said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. "

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The Radio Reference Homepage

The Radio Reference Homepage

My Radio Reference

RadioReference.com is the world's largest radio communications reference website, with complete conventional frequency assignments, trunked radio system information, frequencies, and talkgroups, FCC License assignments and maps, 10-Code Lists, agency maps, files, downloads, links, and detailed agency information for most public safety, military, and local government activities. All of this can be found in the Radio Reference Database.

International Space station

International Space station

ARISS
Is very interested in arranging amateur radio contacts between astronauts and school children.
School contacts provide an excellent opportunity for young people to find out about amateur radio, and to develop an interest in communications technology.
If you are interested in setting up a school contact in your area, please click on the following links for answers to frequently asked questions, an application form and more information for your part of the world.

The Daily DX

The Daily DX

Special event station
to commemorate Yalta Conference(Jan 26, 2005) --
Special event station EM60J

Will be on the air February 4-11 from Ukraine to mark the 60th anniversary of the Yalta Conference. The historic 1945 talks brought together the 'Big Three' Allied leaders--(left to right in photo) Great Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Russia's Joseph Stalin--to discuss post-World War II reorganization of Europe. The conference's primary purpose was to re-establish the nations that had been conquered by Nazi Germany, and one result was the partitioning of Germany into US, Russian, British and French zones. QSL via UU5JYA or direct to PO Box 378, Yalta 98600, Ukraine.
--The Daily DX

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Connecticut Section ARRL - State Government Liaison

Connecticut Section ARRL - State Government Liaison

A Connecticut Antenna Bill
A State Version of PRB-1
Status
The Antenna Bill was introduced on 11 January 2005 by Senator Donald J. DeFronzo of the 6th District. The bill, which is entitled An Act Concerning Amateur Radio Communications, has been given the formal designation Proposed Senate Bill No. 92 (SB-92) and referred to the legislature's Joint Committee on Energy and Technology.
Representative Art O'Neill of the 69th district has introduced HB-5918 An Act Concerning Municipal Regulation of Amateur Radio Antennae [sic], a House companion bill to SB-92. Note that while the titles and statements of purpose of SB-92 and HB-5918 differ, the actual text of the proposal is identical for both bills. HB-5918 has also been referred to the Joint Committee on Energy & Technology."

ARRLWeb: FCC Fines Continue to Mount in Gerritsen Case

ARRLWeb: FCC Fines Continue to Mount in Gerritsen Case

FCC Fines Continue to Mount in Gerritsen Case
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 25, 2005--

Briefly licensed radio amateur and alleged jammer Jack Gerritsen, ex-KG6IRO, of Bell, California, now faces a total of $52,000 in FCC-imposed or proposed fines. In a January 21 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) the FCC proposed to levy another $21,000 forfeiture on Gerritsen--this time for apparently violating Section 333 of the Communications Act by interfering with a US Coast Guard rescue effort last October 29 on amateur frequencies. Part 97 Amateur Service rules also require that control operators 'give priority to stations providing emergency communications,' the FCC noted.
'Gerritsen's apparent willful and malicious interference with the radio communications of the Coast Guard Auxiliary officer who was attempting to communicate with a ship in distress is egregious,' said the most recent NAL, signed by FCC Los Angeles District Office District Director Catherine Deaton. 'According to the evidence, Gerritsen knowingly operates, without a license, radio transmission equipment.' In the NAL, the FCC alleged that Gerritsen continued to transmit 'despite repeated warnings and requests to vacate the frequency.'

ABC News: White House Won't Appeal Media Ruling

ABC News: White House Won't Appeal Media Ruling

White House Won't Appeal Media Ruling
Bush Administration Will Not Appeal Media Ownership Rules to Supreme Court
By GENARO C. ARMAS Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
Jan. 27, 2005 -

The Bush administration won't appeal to the Supreme Court to try to revive sweeping changes in media ownership rules that were thrown out by a federal court.

The Federal Communications Commission had until Monday, Jan. 31, to decide whether to appeal the ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. The Justice Department, in consultation with the FCC, decided against an appeal, FCC spokeswoman Rebecca Fisher said Thursday.

The regulators must now return to the drawing board and revise the rules. Fisher did not explain why the administration decided not to appeal.

The Republican-dominated FCC completed two years of review and voted 3-2 along party lines in 2003 to ease decades-old ownership restrictions. The changes included allowing a single company to own TV stations and a newspaper in the same area.

Critics said such a change would encourage mergers and stifle diversity in news and entertainment."

MySQL worm hits Windows systems | CNET News.com

MySQL worm hits Windows systems | CNET News.com

MySQL worm hits Windows systems
By Robert Lemos
Story last modified Thu Jan 27 12:54:00 PST 2005

A worm that takes advantage of administrators' poor password choices has started spreading among database systems.
The malicious program, known as the 'MySQL bot' or by the name of its executable code, SpoolCLL, infects computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system and open-source database known as MySQL, the Internet Storm Center said in an advisory published Thursday.
Early indications suggest that more than 8,000 computers may be infected so far, said the group, which monitors network threats.
The worm gets initial access to a database machine by guessing the password of the system administrator, using common passwords. It then uses a flaw in MySQL to run another type of program, known as bot software, which then takes full control of the system.

Full Story Here

Strong Quake Kills One, Sparks Panic in Indonesia

Strong Quake Kills One, Sparks Panic in Indonesia

Strong Quake Kills One, Sparks Panic in Indonesia
31 minutes ago

By Achmad Sukarsono
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A large earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale shook Indonesia's eastern Sulawesi island early on Monday, killing one person, damaging buildings and spreading panic among residents, officials said.

The tremor came nearly a month after a huge earthquake off Aceh province in western Sumatra island that sent a tsunami hurtling across the Indian Ocean, killing more than 234,000 people, most in Indonesia.
A large quake was also felt in the Aceh provincial capital, Banda Aceh, on Monday morning, rattling buildings and sending residents running into the streets.
One person died and another was badly injured in the Central Sulawesi quake, which hit at 3:10 a.m. (2010 GMT Sunday), police said.
'We have reports of one dead and one seriously injured from the West Donggala district. In Palu, several shops have been damaged,' police commissioner Victor Batara told Reuters from the Central Sulawesi's provincial capital of Palu, 1,500 km (970 miles) northeast of Jakarta. "