Hey, it worked with the Zune, didn't it? Oh, wait...

That's it! Define a kilogram in terms of pints. Now, the quandary: ale or lager?

It makes as much sense to define a kilogram as some huge number of moles of banana pudding or something like that.

I wonder if this version will get past 12/100 on the Acid3 test.

Long time ham here too and I love low power (QRP) operation but it isn't for wimps or beginners. Still, I definitely recommend it once you acquire some operating skills. I have a FT-817 and love it - I use it mobile, portable, while camping, and even at home and have worked an amazing array of countries including New Zealand with its 5 watts and a 12 foot whip fastened to a hotel balcony. Small and capable as it is, it's still heavy if you are watching every ounce as you would on a long trek.

The lightweight champ I recommend is the Elecraft KX-1. It's a kit, so electronics assembly skills are required, but the manuals are very clear (think Heathkit) that anyone who knows how to solder to a circuit board can build it. Smaller than a paperback book, it measures 3x5 inches x 1 inch thick, weighs less than a pound (plus 6xAA batteries), will work on 20, 30 40 or 80 meters and has its own built-in antenna tuner and battery pack, so all you need is a key, your iPod earphones and a roll of wire to throw up into a tree for an antenna, and you are on the air. It is a Morse Code-only rig, though, so you'll have to know the code, but if you are serious about it, it isn't difficult. I take mine on campouts as well, and it's nice to kick back in the sleeping bag and have a few contacts before dozing off.

A couple years ago a ham hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and his communications was a KX-1. He kept a schedule with another ham and would check in regularly. His story was featured in one of the ham magazines. If you want to keep in touch with non-ham family members or associates, you could do the same. You'll meet plenty of hams through your local radio club, and it's likely someone would be willing to set up a sked with you. In that case, he is not only a hiker but was a ham already - he didn't get into ham radio solely as a means of communication while hiking. If you do, you might end up enjoying it - it adds another facet to being outdoors, off the grid but still in touch with just what you carry in your pack.

I think I'm going to hold off. I just finished upgrading most of my Linux boxen to Fedora 12. It was several months and 6+ yum updates before all were finally stable and things worked as they should.

Upgrading is inevitable, because the old stuff falls out of "support", but it's not worth it to me any more to jump on a new release just because it's there. Same thing happened to me back at Fedora 5, and 10 disagreed with some of my hardware.

I do wish the software police would quit calling themselves the BSA. It confuses them with a legitimate, worthwhile, morally upstanding organization.

Indeed, this is not news to any parent of a teenager. Mine probably do 5000+ in a month easily. One month he hit close to 10k and has friends who do way more than that.

Frequently happens in most border cities. In downtown Detroit it's common to connect through a cell in Windsor, especially if you're blocked by buildings or inside a parking garage that fronts the river.