Computer Talk Radio Broadcast 09-19-2026

In the news this past week, the AM radio for every vehicle act passed its first hurdle this past week in the House, and now it's moving towards the Senate.

Sure, we have the ability to listen to FM, satellite radio, MP3s, and whatnot in most of our cars.

So why should we stick with AM radio? Well, simply put, there are markets out there which are already saturated by FM stations.

I'm from the Los Angeles area where FM radio was packed when I was a kid and all the way through when I left.

And AM radio was as well saturated.

Sometimes the only way that people can put out broadcasts is on AM radio to keep in touch with the listeners.

And some manufacturers have made moves to remove AM, including many in the electric vehicle space, because of the problems of shielding the radios and the antennas from electric motors.

At the same time, AM has been the location for a long time for the emergency broadcasts, especially when AM covers such wide, vast areas, as well as non-high-fidelity items.

I'm thinking of news, sports, and even, oh, yes, talk radio.

I'm happy to note that this vote was bipartisan, heavily in favor of keeping AM.

And the previous vote in the Senate was also.

They had a vote a year or so ago in support of a similar kind of thing.

And that was also bipartisan and went through.

So the Senate already had that similar vote.

So we should probably be getting to that.

We'll find out.

We'll be watching that, of course, here on AM.

Computer talk radio, of course, at the same time that China has been complaining about U.S. bans on drones and other technology from them over national security concerns.

China's announced new border control rules for them.

Their new rules would ban citizens from leaving their country if they are potentially going to violate technology export or import regulations or threaten, quote, national interests.

That last part actually is really vague.

But that does tend to be the case in many authoritarian countries, so I don't find it surprising.

The claim is that it won't impact most people.

Still, for a country that is so adamant that the United States is wrong on the security front, the contrast is unmistakable.

I'm personally supportive of the general guidelines that the United States has for citizens here, but they are backed up with very specific items and instructions and helplines and training all to keep our vital information safe.

In the news this past week, the AM radio for every vehicle act passed its first hurdle this past week in the House, and now it's moving towards the Senate.

Sure, we have the ability to listen to FM, satellite radio, MP3s, and whatnot in most of our cars.

So why should we stick with AM radio? Well, simply put, there are markets out there which are already saturated by FM stations.

I'm from the Los Angeles area where FM radio was packed when I was a kid and all the way through when I left.

And AM radio was as well saturated.

Sometimes the only way that people can put out broadcasts is on AM radio to keep in touch with the listeners.

And some manufacturers have made moves to remove AM, including many in the electric vehicle space, because of the problems of shielding the radios and the antennas from electric motors.

At the same time, AM has been the location for a long time for the emergency broadcasts, especially when AM covers such wide, vast areas, as well as non-high-fidelity items.

I'm thinking of news, sports, and even, oh, yes, talk radio.

I'm happy to note that this vote was bipartisan, heavily in favor of keeping AM.

And the previous vote in the Senate was also.

They had a vote a year or so ago in support of a similar kind of thing.

And that was also bipartisan and went through.

So the Senate already had that similar vote.

So we should probably be getting to that.

We'll find out.

We'll be watching that, of course, here on AM.

Computer talk radio, of course, at the same time that China has been complaining about U.S. bans on drones and other technology from them over national security concerns.

China's announced new border control rules for them.

Their new rules would ban citizens from leaving their country if they are potentially going to violate technology export or import regulations or threaten, quote, national interests.

That last part actually is really vague.

But that does tend to be the case in many authoritarian countries, so I don't find it surprising.

The claim is that it won't impact most people.

Still, for a country that is so adamant that the United States is wrong on the security front, the contrast is unmistakable.

I'm personally supportive of the general guidelines that the United States has for citizens here, but they are backed up with very specific items and instructions and helplines and training all to keep our vital information safe.