Bruce M. Dinsmore

It's a metal box, with a faceplate full of knobs and dials. Most people don't notice it, and even if they do, they have to ask, "What is it?" "It" is a Canadian Marconi model FR12 transmitter/receiver. Some people would … Read more

On the last weekend of June, I was in front of a ham radio set, listening to the babble of Morse code dots and dashes in my earphones. Each June, amateur radio operators in Canada and the United States stage … Read more

Most churches and denominations have a program for teens and young people. In my case, it was the Presbyterian Young People's Society. It was a rite of passage for myself, and thousands more teens over the years. One year, when … Read more

Aboard H.M.C.S. Sackville — It's interesting to "people-watch" as you go through a museum, especially this one. Most younger people are a bit bored. To them, it's just more history-under-glass, and they think they get more than enough of that … Read more

Sound and noise engulf our lives. It is with us from the rude awakening of the alarm clock in the morning, and does not leave us until the radio stops playing soothing "good night" music. It is constant in our … Read more

Each Palm Sunday, at my church we do something a bit different. We're about a block from the lakefront in Toronto, so instead of sitting in our pews, most of the congregation marches down to the lakefront beach, singing and … Read more

I can hardly pick up a computer publication these days without seeing another doom-and-gloom story about the Y2K problem. That's the problem where older systems use two numerals for the year in dates, and can't handle the rollover to the … Read more

Maybe that should be "prince of the powers on the air". There's a new television show running this season, about a coven of witches. Charmed is running on the WB network in the United States, and the CTV network has … Read more

Late last year I wrote Home Before Christmas . It tells the story of a visit I made to my hometown in the wake of my Mother's passing. I grew up on a short side-street of a dozen houses. … Read more

A local radio station is running a promotion to increase its daytime listeners. It's giving away coffee mugs with the station's call letters on them, asking listeners to drink coffee at work with the station's mugs. It promises listeners that, … Read more