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Money Saving Tips from the farm |
| Save money with free
audio entertainment |
During the Sudden Ice Age brought on by low solar activity you will
need to keep your spirits up with good tunes, your brain enriched by good books, and stay informed with news, reviews and interviews
from NPR.
While we suffer through the Second Great Depression you can educate
yourself through audiobooks. These offer history, literature, and
more. Try "Our Cheating Culture", "Waking Dragon", and
"The Black Swan" to understand causes of the
current financial
crisis.
Lord Obama will eventually lead us to the promised land but you
just have to survive long enough to get there. We are striving
to help San Pedro (St. Peter) by keeping the Peruvian Torch
burning bright to light his way home.
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| NASA images clearly show the devastating effects of
the Bush Era on solar output. If Bush had served a 3rd
term it is possible the earth would have entered an ice
age. |
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Save money! Free audio
entertainment via computer/Internet
• Why buy songs when there is Radio IO?
http://www.radioio.com
• Find music channels you like, pay the $5/mn for commercial free.
• Sometimes NPR, sometimes Radio IO, sometimes an audiobook.
Whatever fits your mood.
Set up a Ramsey Electronics FM transmitter
Listen to NPR, Radio IO, or audiobooks
anywhere you have an FM radio receiver.
• Plug your computer audio output into the FM transmitter to broadcast anything on your computer: an audiobook, NPR,
or
an Internet radio music station.
Commercial free National Public Radio
I like "never a commercial" NPR because of shows like
Fresh Air, Tech Nation,
The National Press Club, Selected Shorts, Cambridge Forum, To
the Best of Our Knowledge, Commonwealth Club, The Infinite Mind, and
This
American Life.
Bad public radio
When Michael Krasny's Forum comes on I literally run to turn
him off. Here is a typical example: Krasny was interviewing the
Dalai Lama and when he finished answering a question Krasny
blurted as if he dozed off —"So, uh, you believe in
meditation huh?"
Another time I heard Krasny refer to himself as an
"intellectual". My jaw dropped open in disbelief. I have never
been able to suffer through his show since then.
To avoid Krasny, Farai Chideya, Diane Rehm, and other lame NPR hosts I often
switch to WCAI FM (Internet station) located on Cape
Cod, Massachusetts. My dad retired to the Cape so I enjoy
WCAI even living 3,000 miles west. It's nostalgic to hear the
lobster report.
Broadcast your choice of content
Don't suffer through bad programming. You can control what you
spend time listening to. Sometimes NPR is wonderful, other times
an audiobook is better. Or it may be times to lift your spirits
with music.
Broadcasting content you choose makes good sense. Being stuck
listening to Rush Limberger Cheese or talk radio in general is a
way to lower your intelligence down to the average IQ of 100.
You deserve better than that. Education is a life long
process, one that bears much fruit. |
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This kit costs about $50. They have more pricey
ones already assembled. This one will easily broadcast
1/4 mile and fades out at 1/2 mile across the hay field.
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Too far from the SF Bay Area, the only NPR station out here is KUOP, in Stockton CA. They play NPR until 7 PM then revert to Jazz all night. Not good
jazz, but endless versions of
"lounge lizard jazz" — saxophone, snare drums, &
banging on the piano keys. You can almost
smell bourbon and choke on the cigarette smoke. Worse is a doddering, ancient woman on
Sunday nights fawning over alcoholic
80 year old has beens reminiscing about the "good old days
of jazz."
Oh gag me with a big band!
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Free yourself from awful local radio |
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However, there is a Saturday
night show called "Blue Dog Jam" that rivals what I enjoy on Radio IO.
But a few hours later it degenerates into the "Acid Jazz"
show.
KUOP FM boredom drove me screaming to find the Ramsey
Electronics solution. Now I enjoy Internet Radio
Stations broadcasting good tunes, NPR, and audiobooks. |
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Treat your mind, ears & spirit
Check out
radioio — the best
Internet music station there is. The Ambient channel (under
Electronic & Dance) used to be my favorite during focused activity
like typing until Forest shifted too much into what sounds like rave
music. I can't listen to that for long periods anymore.
Then I discovered Molly Jameson's Acoustic Cafe. She has an
impressive library of thousands of great tunes that are perfect
background while working around the farm. I broadcast the
computer's audio to a Ramsey FM transmitter for pick up on Sony
FM portables all over the property. Good tunes make life
better!
Tired of listening to the same old stuff on your stupid IPOD? Radio IO is
only $5/month commercial free. Free that is from hyper annoying E-surance &
Bozo-Flex ads. Just pay $5 a month to avoid potential brain
damage.
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Free audiobooks!
Our local library gives me access, through my library card,
to thousands of recorded books. Cool.
All I do is download a .wav file to my computer. This can be
loaded into an MP3 but I found a better way to listen. Simply play
it on the computer with Windows Media player while broadcasting
it over the Ramsey FM station (see photo above).
This way I can listen to books everywhere on the farm. Listen
while I mow grass, make compost, transplant, build & repair
stuff.
I used to load them on the MP3 but that is a hassle because when
you stop the book it easy to accidentlay reset back to the
beginning. On the computer I can start up a book where I left
off previously, say at 12 hours and 23 minutes. Not on an MP3!
Some books are 20 hours. Too many times the MP3 reset back to
the beginning to get back to where I was listening required
holding down the fast forward for 10 minutes. That sucks.
FM portable radios are located in 7 key places. One portable is
towed about on my work cart. But also the pocket size MP3 player
receives FM. |
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Good stuff on audio I enjoyed last summer—
• A Way With Words (college rhetoric course)
• The Black Swan: Impact of the Highly Improbable
• Simpleology
• Waking Dragon, by Peter Navarro
Waking Dragon is about China's super economy. It was
so amazing I listened twice, same for Black Swan, and Simpleology. Professor Drout's A Way With Words is
another favorite. Each of these, and many more, truly make me
glad audiobooks are available. Each of the works mentioned here
has changed me by creating awareness about aspects of life I had
not seen before. |
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I took my IPOD back for a refund
when I learned it was not supported by the Internet audiobook
library. Recorded Books are MP3 format only.
First I bought a Sansa MP3. What junk! Sold
that on eBay and bought a SONY MP3. Nice!
The SONY MP3 was a huge upgrade even though it was less
expensive than the Sansa. It has an FM radio function to receive broadcasts
from my computer broadcast by the
Ramsey FM transmitter.
SONY
always makes me glad I bought a SONY product
years and years after the purchase. |
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With these noise canceling headphones I can use
power tools such as vacuuming or lawn mowing while listening to the
MP3 FM broadcasts from my computer.
There just isn't any reason to spend money buying content to
listed to. You have a computer with DSL? |
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Portable FM
No more wasting money buying songs. I can listen to Radio IO,
NPR, or an audiobook (not a stupid Podcast!) for free—anywhere
on
the farm. That includes while moving grass through the SONY noise cancelling headphones
for my MP3.
Life is good with the right technology.
I recommend SONY;
always.
For 30 years I have owned and loved SONY products. They have
earned and re-earned my respect with high quality electronics.
SONY ONLINE
SONY has a helpful, useful, and attractive website for
consumer sales. It is so well constructed it amazes me that
other manufacturers can't emulate it.
Prices at local stores or on eBay are often higher than
buying the same product direct from SONY. They even offer free
shipping.
HDTV prices: $961 at Costco / $797 from SONY
Once I saw a 35" SONY HDTV at
Costco for $899. Sony sold the same model for $100 less with free shipping and
no tax. Here in California there is 7.25%
You could Pay $960.95 (with tax) to Costco, then have
to lug it home, or have it delivered to you for
$795.99 direct from SONY.
I no longer assume Costco is the best place to buy anything
other than the loss leaders —a case of cat food, eggs, a box of
oranges, chicken, bread, laundry detergent, etc.
I never shop Costco for TVs, computers, etc. |
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$90 no tax, free shipping from SONY! This was a
"refurbished" unit meaning some customer returned it
but
nothing was wrong. It arrived in brand new condition.
Works perfectly.
This lists for $129 on the SONY site. On eBay they were
$129 plus $30 shipping. So you could pay $160 to obtain
what SONY sold directly to me for $90. Less hassle than
some questionable eBay seller; I used my American
Express for 100% protection.
I'd never buy anything valuable on eBay with PayPal. If
a merchant won't take American express I run! If you do
not have American Express then you don't understand the
amazing quality of their customer service. It is the
best there is. Anything bad I ship back and Amex, as
long as I have proof or shipping it back, grants a
refund. |
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The earth's magnetosphere is our friend. It
protects us from evil solar radiation trying to kill us. During
the Bush Era it almost collapsed. Lucky for us Lord Obama has a
magnetic personality that will increase the strength of the
magnetosphere over time.
As long as the magnetic field likes us we're probably OK. So
always say nice things about magnets. They friends.
Magnets direct high energy electrons to the North Pole to
light up the sky with auroras guiding the way for Santa, his elves
and reindeer. |
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