Inside The CHFI Control Room In 1971

This won’t be for everyone, but if you’re fascinated by what goes on in radio station control rooms or at least what used to go on in there, nearly a half hour of audio recorded during a morning show on 680 CHFI Toronto in the spring of 1971 might be fun.

You can download the file here if you have trouble with the player.

Yes, for a while, CHFI was the name of two different stations. The AM one would become CFTR in June, so not long after this recording was made.

The host is Gerry Herbert, but I don’t know the name of the board operator.

It’s interesting to hear how what we hear over the air comes together. The records being cued, the cart machines being loaded for the commercials, which helicopter is handling which traffic report, how much time there is to talk before a song kicks in (to hit the post as they say in radio), the back and forth about the order of things.

Your ears are not deceiving you. They’re giving the temperature in Fahrenheit. Canada didn’t go metric until 1975.

Oh, and I can only assume that the McAdorey that one of them calls a “funny cat” at one point is Bob, who did stints on the Radio in Guelph and Toronto but is probably best known for his years on Global TV.

I Am the Very Model Of A Newsgroup Personality

This one dates back to at least 2002, but still seems pretty relevant to current internet times. I’m not sure who wrote it. The only guess I’ve managed to find is novelist Tom Holt, but that’s just somebody’s guess. Great job, whoever you are.

I am the very model of a Newsgroup personality.
I intersperse obscenity with tedious banality.
Addresses I have plenty of, both genuine and ghosted too, On all the
countless newsgroups that my drivel is cross-posted to. Your bandwidth I
will fritter with my whining and my snivelling, And you’re the one who
pays the bill, downloading all my drivelling. My enemies are numerous,
and no-one would be blaming you For cracking my head open after I’ve
been rudely flaming you.
I hate to lose an argument (by now I should be used to it). I wouldn’t
know a valid point if I were introduced to it. My learning is extensive
but consists of mindless trivia, Designed to fan my ego, which is larger
than Bolivia. The comments that I vomit forth, disguised as jest and
drollery, Are really just an exercise in unremitting trollery. I say I’m
frank and forthright, but that’s merely lies and vanity, The gibberings
of one who’s at the limits of his sanity.
If only I could get a life, as many people tell me to; If only Mom could
find a circus freak-show she could sell me to; If I go off to Zanzibar
to paint the local scenery; If I lose all my fingers in a mishap with
machinery; If I survive to twenty, which is somewhat problematical; If
what I post was more mature, or slightly more grammatical; If I could
learn to spell a bit, and maybe even punctuate; Would I still be the
loathsome and objectionable punk you hate?
But while I have this tiresome urge to prance around and show my face,
It simply isn’t safe for normal people here in cyberspace. To stick me
in Old Sparky and turn on the electricity Would be a fitting punishment
for tasteless crass duplicity. I always have the last word; so, with
uttermost finality, That’s all from me, the model of a Newsgroup
personality. “

I Appreciate Your Honesty, You Bloodthirsty, Murderous Douche

In America, there exists at least one honest Republican. I can hardly believe it.

In response to yet another deadly shooting in an elementary school, Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett finally decided to cut the shit and say what everyone has always known to be true. “We’re not gonna fix it.”

He’s not wrong when he says that there will always be criminals no matter what you do. But if we’re going to use that fact as an excuse for not lifting a finger to do the bare ass minimum to save even one more family from having to bury their 9-year-old, then let’s go all the way. Disband all of the police forces, close all the prisons, tear up all the laws and just let everybody fuckin’ go nuts. Why not? People are bad. We can’t fix ’em. Might as well let ’em do what they’re gonna do. Think of the time and money we’ll save.

I hope that I live long enough to see a day in America where gun rights no longer trump human ones. But before that can happen, I’ll need to see a day when the Democrats finally grow a spine and do…something. Telling people to vote harder isn’t enough, you clowns. You’ve come to power because more people reject extreme Republican ideals than don’t. It’s far beyond time to start using that power to do some goddamn good in this world. Don’t worry about the feelings of the pro-life baby killers on the other side. They’re not voting for you anyway. Getting weapons of war out of the hands of civilians should not be controversial at this point, nor should it be something that you’re afraid to do. It’s not enough anymore to act shocked and sad and then say something that basically amounts to “shucks, we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas. Sure hope this doesn’t happen again.”

At this rate, your country might as well be a one party system. There’s not a lot nice to say about Republicans, but one thing you’ve got to hand to them is that they’re good at getting things done. Most of those things are pure evil to a sane person, but at least they can stand firm or move when they believe in something. Half the time I’m not even sure what Democrats believe in, other than not rocking any boat hard enough to annoy anyone who might yell at them. It’s pretty crazy to find myself wishing that the Democrats could be more Republican, but here I am, and here we all should be.

The reality is that Republicans are willing to live with school shootings so long as Americans are able to own high-powered semi-automatic killing machines. And if they have to pick between retaining that privilege and sparing children from violent death, they’ll pick the former. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) acknowledged this reality on Monday.
“We’re not going to fix it,” he told reporters.

Burchett has opposed restrictions on gun ownership in the past. He touts on his website that he “sponsored legislation to expand gun rights,” and that he is a lifetime NRA member. He’s previously called for improvements to mental health care and security at schools as ways to potentially stem school shootings, but he seems to have realized now that this isn’t going to help.

“I don’t see any real role that we could do other than mess things up,” he added on Monday when asked what role Congress might be able to play. He then prescribed a “revival” of Christianity in America.

I Here That This Is A Vary Good Right Up

Voice dictation is a pretty amazing technological achievement. That it can take what we spew out of our mumbling mouths and turn much of it into accurate, readable text is really quite the thing. But it’s also a case of two things being true simultaneously, because let’s be honest, it kind of sucks shit. If you’re like me and try to correct its mistakes, you’re often not saving much time. And if you’re like most people and don’t bother, you wind up sounding like an unintelligible imbecile. And you don’t end up saving any time either, because if what you were trying to convey was important, now you have to make a phone call so you can explain it in your intended words. Touch typing nears irrelevancy as speech-to-text technology proves flawless—new paragraph

Speech-to-text (STT) programs have made great strides in recent years, to the extent of making touch typing irrelevant.
STT has vast applications for many demographics comma from university students to medical professionals to prominent text media sore says. Even this very article has been written entirely bye the flawless hand of advanced and upcoming computational linguistics technology period.
Recognized benefits of speech-to-text include ease of multitasking, time saved, and bjork orrrffsgff bark bork rbrrek Mr. Cheesers be quiet it’s not dinner time yet and quick document turn around period end paragraph save close document whatever nobody cares this is bullshit who even uses speech-to-text anyways.

It keeps going from their. I mean there. Dam it. Stooped thing.

Web Accessibility Global Usage Survey

If you’ve got 10 or so minutes to burn and feel like sharing your experiences with various aspects of web accessibility, then today is your day, my friend.

Put simply, this survey aims to collect data and insights from users around the world about who they are, what tech they use, how they use it, how well it works for them and why. What they learn from it will be publicly available to help developers figure out who their users are and how those people are interacting with their products and services. That, in turn, will hopefully help those developers sort out what needs attention going forward.

You can take the survey here, and the results will also be available on that same site when they’re ready later this year. There doesn’t appear to be a closing date for participating, so I would say don’t put it off if you’re wanting to take part.

Would You Like To Notice A Simple Pattern? Decline

Why Your iPhone Doesn’t Always Show You the ‘Decline Call’ Button
I’m not sure how I never figured this out, considering how simple it sounds when you hear it. I’ve always just quietly wondered to myself about it as I hit the power button to stop the ringing. Speaking of which, I only ever have to hit it once. Is them saying twice an error or is it something that happens on phones newer than mine? I’m still using the iPhone 8 that Rogers tried to screw me on five years ago. It’s still working pretty well and I’m not in any big hurry to replace it.

And I need to take a better look at Carin’s phone, it seems. Hers is newer than mine, and I can’t remember if her power button is on the top or the side. I was, until I saw here where they’ve written top in one spot and side in another, pretty sure that hers is on the side. But now I have no idea. At least one question has been answered, though.

If you get a call while your phone is locked, you’ll see the “slide to answer” button. In order to decline the call, you have to double-tap the power button on the top of the phone.

If your phone is unlocked, however, the screen that appears during an incoming call is different. You’ll see the two buttons, “accept” or “decline.”

Either way, you get the options to set a reminder to call that person back or to immediately send them a text message. (“Dad, stop calling me at work, it’s 9 a.m.!”)

Update: I’ve had two people give me the same reason for why you would hit the power button twice to decline a call. If you hit it once, the ringing stops, but the answering screen is still visible. When I think about it, yes, I have noticed that. But apparently the second press is the actual declining one that will send the person to voicemail. Yet another thing I probably would have known if I paid any attention to anything at all. But when I hit the power button, my only goal is to get the ringing to stop. Once it does, I go on with whatever non-phone thing I was doing. Even if I am doing something different with my phone, it has never occurred to me to hit that button again instead of waiting a few seconds for that screen to disappear.

Oh, and Carin’s power button is on the side. So at least I was right about something.

Police Are Hoping To Speak With Karma About The Second Murder

For a lot of reasons, I’m pretty sure I would make a terrible murderer. I don’t think I’ve got it in me to kill anybody, for a start. And even if I did, the relentless regret and anxiety would almost certainly do me in soon thereafter. Or perhaps it wouldn’t even have time, because I can absolutely imagine my own end coming similar to that of Joseph McKinnon. I say similar to, because I’m positive I would die while digging the damn pit and fall into it myself.

Deputies with the Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office told WJBF they believe Joseph McKinnon strangled Patricia Dent inside her home, and then was burying her in the backyard when he had a heart attack and died.

Deputies were first called to the Trenton home on Saturday when a man was reported lying unresponsive in the yard, The News & Observer reported. When officers arrived, they found Joseph McKinnon, 60, who lived in the home.

In a statement to WJBF, deputies said, “While investigating the death and making notifications to next of kin, a second body, was located in a freshly dug pit.” Officers identified the second person as Patricia Dent, who also lived in the home.

Carin Is Presenting AT CSUN 2023

If you’re at the CSUN conference this week, you may not be reading this because looking at that schedule of events tells me that holy crap, there’s a lot going on down there. But if you have managed to find a couple minutes of free time to play around on the internet, allow me to fill some of it by telling you that Carin is presenting tomorrow. If you’re involved in creating or teaching courses online or even if you’re an educator in need of some pointers that can help you offline as well, you may want to go check that out. Here be the details.

Enabling Effective Learning Online for Screen Reader Users
Date & Time
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 – 3:20 PM PST  
Location
Grand AB  
Description
Enabling effective learning online involves the inclusive use of educational technology, learning experiences and teaching practices, together with a connected community. This is especially important when you have learners using assistive technologies, especially screen readers. As a native screen reader user, I will share points in this session that are critical to designing online learning for screen reader users. I will also highlight how such design provides a “curb-cut” advantage to all learners. To begin with, learning technologies must work with screen readers. For that to happen those technologies must align with accessibility standards. This could also make these learning technologies more usable with other assistive technologies. Next, the learning materials must be created keeping non-visual access in mind. This requires that content creators are aware of the needs of screen reader users. If not, they would be introducing barriers to learning. Further, the teaching practices must be inclusive. This involves making the curriculum, instruction, and assessment usable by learners with diverse needs. Finally, it will be easier for everyone if they work together as a community and learn from one another. In summary, inclusive design of technology, content, pedagogy, and community is critical to making online learning accessible. Even if one of these components is not accessible, the learning experience will not be accessible.

She’ll be using a lot of her own experiences as a student at various stages of her education to try to make things relatable. I think there’s even one in there about me and the day I nearly committed a homicide when it was brought to my attention that the community component had failed me spectacularly. What more could you ask for?

She’ll also be in town until Friday evening, so say hello if you see her around. She says she hasn’t bumped into anyone she knows yet, but I’m sure that will change once things get started.

They Didn’t Relish Paying So Much, But They’ll Like It Even Less When The Cops Ketchup With Them

Not condoning this whatsoever. These guys probably shouldn’t be seeing sunlight for a decade or two. But $6 for a hot dog? What the hell, man?

Jeremy Delgado, 21, and Bobby Wynn, 19, were arrested after APD officers spoke with witnesses at the scene and reviewed HALO cameras in the area of the incident. Through a witness account, the affidavit said the Delgado pushed the vendor to the ground following an argument over the price of the hot dog — $6 — and then he and Wynn “punched and kicked the vendor several times.”
Another witness said Delgado started yelling at the vendor about the price, and then it “got out of hand,” the affidavit said.

Out of hand, it appears, may be in the running for understatement of the month. Things got out of hand enough that the hot dog gouger was left with life-threatening injuries including a lacerated liver and a massive head wound that took several staples to close.

The two suspects ran off to hide following the incident, but their freedom was short-lived. Officers quickly caught up with them, and noticed that although they appeared to be uninjured, they were somehow covered in fairly fresh looking blood stains. There was also the small matter of one of them being spotted trying to hide his bloody shoes in a nearby car, you know, like innocent people do.

Both were charged with second-degree felony aggravated assault. Wynn, the one stashing the shoes, was also hit with a count of tampering with or fabricating evidence, a third-degree felony. Their bail was set at $25,000, which is a lot of hot dogs even at $6 a pop.

Reach Out And Touch Yourself

I’m not sure whether I haven’t been paying the sort of attention that I should be paying or if Adam Smith is opening up new frontiers in the obscene phone call space, but this is new to me.

A Florida Man admitted that he was naked and masturbating when he dialed “numerous random phone numbers” and exposed himself to unsuspecting strangers who answered his video call, according to police.
Investigators have charged Adam Smith, 35, with indecent exposure and obscene communication in connection with three illicit video calls made earlier this year.
One victim told cops that they answered a call and “observed a white male, completely nude, squatting in front of the camera while stroking his penis.” A probable cause affidavit notes that while the victim was “shocked,” they “managed to take a screenshot of the defendant.”

That screenshot showed tattoos that police recognized from prior arrests, perhaps including the one for a more conventional indecent exposure in 2019.

Adam, Adam, Adam! How do you not cover those up? Use your head, man! Well…ok…you’re right. You were. Can’t argue with that. But maybe next time try using the other one, too.