The Old Skool White Earbud Has Been Around For 40 Years +
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Wired has a little reminder article on this. For some reason though I don’t remember them ever being called earbuds though. I think the term I used as a kid in the early 70s was ear phone. I also remember they were uncomfortable as hell but a great way to listen to the radio without your parents finding out. The trick back then was to make sure you turned the radio off before you went to sleep because 9v batteries in the transistor were not cheap.
PRESS RELEASE - Washington, D.C., October 13, 2009 – The Voice of America (VOA) is expanding its reach across Pakistan. A new arrangement with Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) now allows VOA to broadcast Pashto language programs on medium-wave (AM) radio and Urdu broadcasts on FM stations for the first time. 
Since the Fall season is now here in the northern hemisphere and normally this is the time of year people, including myself, tend to do antenna work in preparation for the winter DX season now comes a story that is a chilling reminder that it can be very dangerous to put up antennas and especially if it’s done around power lines. This story has few details so who knows if it was an amateur radio antenna or what exactly the whole story is but never the less very tragic. A mother, father and 15 year old son are now gone. Be smart… Safety First… ALWAYS!
So what does he do? He cries to the ITU. Dictators don’t like it when they can’t control information and news coming into the country they rule from the outside. This is one example as to why shortwave is still a valuable means for reaching across borders to get information to those who otherwise have little or no access to it. “Pirate Radio” in this article basically refers to non-government controlled media. There’s nothing like a European vacation and checking the old Swiss lock box.
