The Roots of Radio

Pittsburgh's heritage in wireless communications goes back to the turn of the last millennium. The city became home to voice radio, commercial broadcasting, shortwave broadcasting, electronic television, and public broadcasting, along with dozens of documented "firsts" in the industry.

Before broadcasting radio was born here, though, a few other things had to fall into place. The roots of radio broadcasting actually extend further back to the Industrial Age. During the mid-1800s, the telegraph transmitted coded signals, providing the world’s first instantaneous news service. Once success with the telegraph had been achieved by Samuel Morse, the next step was to send voice messages. Alexander Graham Bell created the necessary technology when he invented the telephone. Bell completed his first successful voice transmissions by wire in 1874.

The telegraph and the telephone were critical inventions in the history of American electronic communication. But the real challenge was to develop a method of sending coded and voice messages without wires. James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physicist, was the first to publish a theory that a spectrum of electromagnetic energy beyond visible light exists.

In 1888, a German physicist named Heinrich Hertz proved Maxwell’s theory by demonstrating electromagnetic waves carry electrical energy. He didn’t envision radio as we know it today, but his experiments laid the groundwork for the next critical invention in radio history: the wireless telegraph.

The technology for a device that would send coded messages without wires was developed by Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor. Marconi took Maxwell’s theories and Hertz’s lab experiments and put them into practice. He created the first radio transmitter and receiver—devices that used the electromagnetic spectrum to send bursts of radio energy. In 1901, he succeeded in sending a wireless telegraph signal across the Atlantic Ocean. Marconi realized the commercial value of his inventions and established corporations to market them, first in Great Britain, then in the U.S., Canada, and Italy.

The station credited as the first broadcasting station was Westinghouse Corporation’s KDKA. KDKA grew from the experiments of a Westinghouse engineer named Frank Conrad. In 1920, he began evening broadcasts from his garage. Rather than just talking, Conrad played phonograph records and was surprised to get music requests by letter from regular listeners. Conrad’s broadcasts began to affect record sales and drew the attention of the Hamilton Music Store in Wilkinsburg. The store began to market radio receivers to people who were interested in listening to Conrad’s station and were happy to furnish more records for the programming.

At this time, when most radio engineers considered the shortwaves practically useless, Conrad demonstrated that although shortwave signals faded relatively close to the transmitter, they became stronger at greater distances. From a high-powered shortwave station on the Greensburg Pike in Forest Hills, shortwave broadcasts were made that were heard in Europe, Australia, South Africa and the Antarctic.

For the first time in history, a person could speak into a microphone and be heard virtually anywhere on the planet. So revolutionary was this concept that radio engineers from all over Europe, including Marconi himself, traveled to the Forest Hills station to tour the state-of-the-art facilities.

Soon, executives at Westinghouse saw the opportunity to sell receivers as well and licensed KDKA. From this site, Westinghouse operated the first national and world-wide radio networks, sending out programs to its affiliates by shortwave which were then re-broadcast to the public over the standard AM radio band. The station’s first official broadcast was coverage of the Harding - Cox presidential election in 1920 (under the call letters 8ZZ).

Other pioneering stations have claimed to have been first, but KDKA is the oldest of the four claimants in the United States. Westinghouse and KDKA were the first to move decisively into commercial broadcasting, and KDKA was the first commercially licensed station in the United States.

Harold Arlin is credited with being the first regular announcer on radio. Arlin started his work at KDKA in February 1921.He introduced guests and performers and later reported baseball and football games. For all intents, it was he who created the profession of the radio announcer. As programming expanded, others were hired to assist Arlin.

Some other interesting broadcasting radio tidbits, according to the book, “When Radio Was Young:”

• Most announcers in the earliest days of radio were not permitted to identify themselves over the air. The stations apparently did this out of a fear that announcers might become too popular and hard to control. Oh, if they only knew.

• The Joseph Horne company was the first retailer to offer radios for sale to the general public. Horne’s sold the sets for $10 apiece.

• Ironically, Frank Conrad was not at the first KDKA broadcast. Because the transmitter had not been adequately tested, Conrad stood by at his amateur station ready to take over if the Westinghouse equipment faltered.

• Four months after reporting his victory, KDKA broadcast President Harding’s inaugural address – the first ever heard over the radio on March 4, 1921.Twenty-nine months later, the station broadcast news of his death.

• KQV was Pittsburgh’s second radio station. It broadcast under the call letters, 8ZAE. WWSW and WJAS soon followed within a year.

Today, there are nearly 12,000 radio stations in the United States programming approximately 80 distinct formats. FM is now the dominant entertainment medium, although AM continues to be a primary outlet for news and information. The business is healthy and looking forward to a future of innovative formats and new technology.

Removing Unwanted Hair

Unwanted hair is a problem for both women and men. For a permanent way to gently remove unwanted hair, you may want to consider laser hair removal. It offers an alternative to plucking, shaving and other temporary methods.

Laser hair removal can be used to remove hair just about anywhere - on women’s faces, bikini area, underarms, legs, arms, and men’s backs, chests and beards. Marsha Mondani, a Registered/Certified Electrologist in Butler County, has been a hair removal specialist for 27 years. Mondani stressed that consumers should know the experience and training of anyone they choose to perform the procedure.

In the state of Pennsylvania, hair removal falls under “Cosmetology” and is not licensed under its own category. This means that just about anyone with a few hours of training on a machine can perform hair removal.

According to Mondani, the Pennsylvania Society of Electrologists is trying to get licensing passed in the state that mandates only those with extensive training in the field of hair removal could perform the procedures. Currently, only 14 states have strictly licensing laws.

Laser hair removal originated with lasers that were used to treat “spider” veins. These lasers had hair-removing powers, but the wavelength penetrated too deeply to effectively remove hair permanently. New technology has been developed in lasers where wave depths target the hair root that lies below the surface of the skin.

The laser that Mondani uses is the only on the market that is FDA-approved for permanent reduction of hair growth.

“This long-pulsed high energy alexandrite laser emits a beam of light that passes through the skin to the hair follicle where it is absorbed and destroys the hair follicle,” she said.

The skin is protected by a patented Dynamic Cooling Device where cryogen is sprayed onto the skin, cooling the upper layers and providing patients with increased comfort.

Mondani also offers electrolysis, which is approved by the FDA for permanent reduction. Electrolysis works by sending a heat current down a tiny wire filament that is inserted into the hair shaft and destroys the hair follicle.

Laser hair removal and electrolysis both have their benefits, but one treatment may work better than the other in individual circumstances. To decide which treatment is right for you, contact a hair removal specialist that has extensive training in all methods of hair removal.

Can Chocolate Actually Be Good For Your Health?

If you’re like most people, you’ll be buying chocolates for that special someone in your life this Valentine’s Day. Not only is chocolate the quickest way to a person’s heart, but it’s also the way to a healthy heart.

“Eating dark chocolate is good for you,” says Amy Rosenfield, Shaler Township resident and owner of Mon Aimee Chocolat in the Strip District. “Chocolate has good antioxidants called flavonoids which lower the level of bad cholesterol, or LDL, and reduces the risk of heart disease.”

Rosenfield says that chocolate is a natural source of antioxidants. Antioxidants are an electron donor which help to attack or neutralize free radicals. Free radicals are suspected of damaging arteries and triggering buildup of plaque in the wall of blood vessels. Because free radicals contain an odd number of electrons, they are constantly looking to “steal” an electron from any source. Many fruits, vegetables, and even coffee beans are other known sources of antioxidants.

The amount of flavonoids in a particular chocolate depends on how much it has been processed. Light chocolate has the fewest flavonoids, while dark chocolate has the most.

“Dark chocolate has the most antioxidants of all foods,” says Rosenfield. “The more you process the chocolate, the more you lose the benefits.”

Another benefit of eating dark chocolate, according to Rosenfield, is that it helps to prevent cavities. “However, adding sugar to the chocolate takes that benefit away,” she says.

Pay close attention to the amount of cocoa in the ingredients, she adds. Most dark chocolates contain 65-80 percent cocoa mass.

“You need to look for the least amount of ingredients because it means there are fewer additives in the chocolate,” she says.

While there are many benefits from eating chocolate there is a limit to how much you should eat.

“Like most foods, eating in moderation is good for you,” Rosenfield explains. “Eating just two to three bite size pieces of dark chocolate is more satisfying than a Snickers bar. Most candy bars contain sugar and other additives to make it addicting. With dark chocolate, you’ll feel full and more satisfied with only a few bites.”

So there’s no need to feel guilty about indulging in some chocolates this Valentine’s Day. Just make sure it’s dark and you eat it in moderation. Your heart will thank you.

What is the MLM index?

Momentum strategies involve buying assets that are rising in price and selling assets that are falling in price. One of the most common strategies is a moving-average strategy. This strategy involves buying assets that are above the recent average price and selling short those assets that are below the recent average. Some passive indexes have been created that replicate the performance of a moving-average trading strategy in future markets. One such index is the MLM index.

The MLM index aims to offer investors’ access to a futures industry equivalent to the equity market’s S&P 500. The MLM index can be long or short and is composed of the 25 most-liquid contracts traded on U.S. exchanges, rebalanced at the end of each month. The MLM index has the ability to perform independently of the S&P 500. The index includes financial and currency futures but does not include stock index futures. It performs well in volatile markets and meets the needs of investors looking to participate in the futures markets without significant leverage.

Underlying the MLM Index is the fact that the mismatch in commercial firms’ futures positions is greatest, and investors' profits most pronounced, when the underlying market is moving broadly from one price level to another, either up or down.

The MLM Index is now considered by many investors a benchmark of futures market returns and is based on daily closing prices of a portfolio of key futures markets. The Index can be either unleveraged or leveraged. The leveraged version of the MLM Index can be used to improve both risk and return in a portfolio through negative correlation with other asset classes.

There are both benefits and risks associated with the addition of leverage in an investment strategy. The volatility of an investment in the MLM Index is increased through the use of leverage. However, leverage can provide many benefits when added to a portfolio. Adding volatile, but non-correlated assets, to a standard mix of stocks and bonds can both increase expected returns while at the same time lowering the volatility of the portfolio.

Standard Deviation

Standard Deviation

Investors use standard deviation to measure the risk of a portfolio. It is an investment’s average variation from the average return. Knowing the standard deviation tells investors the amount of swing in performance that an investment can be expected to have from year to year.

It is also a measure of volatility: the more a portfolio’s returns vary from the average return, the more volatile it is. The higher the standard deviation, the greater the volatility, and therefore the greater the risk.

If a set of numbers is close to the average of those values, then you may expect to see a low standard deviation. In contrast, if the set of numbers is spread across a greater range, it may present a high standard deviation. Higher standard deviation is often interpreted as higher volatility. In comparison, lower standard deviation would likely be an indicator of stability. The most consistent values will usually be the set of numbers with the lowest standard deviation.

For example, Fund ABC has earned an average of 8% per year over the past 10 years, with a standard deviation of 6. Statistically, there is a 67% probability that returns will fall within 1 standard deviation, and a 95% probability that returns will fall within 2 standard deviations. Thus, 67% of the time, Fund ABC earned between 2% and 14%, and 95% of the time, the fund earned between -4% and 20%.

If two funds have the same average return, investors should prefer the one with the lower standard deviation. To calculate it, take the square root of the variance. The variance is a measure of how spread out a distribution is. It is computed as the average squared deviation of each number from its mean. For example, for the numbers 1, 2, and 3, the mean is 2 (1+2+3/3) and the variance is:

= (1-2) ² + (2-2) ² + (3-2) ²

3

= .667

The square root of .667 (the variance) is .8167; therefore, the standard deviation is .8167.

As another example, consider the following two portfolios and their respective returns over the last six months. Both portfolios increase in value from $1,000 to $1,058. However, they differ in volatility. Portfolio A's monthly returns range from -1.5% to 3% whereas Portfolio B's range from -9% to 12%. The standard deviation of the returns is a better measure of volatility than the range because it takes all the values into account. The standard deviation of the six returns for Portfolio A is 1.52; for Portfolio B it is 7.24.

PORTFOLIO A:

Month	Value	Return %	Final Value
January	$1,000	0.75	$1,008
February	$1,008	1.00	$1,018
March	$1,018	3.00	$1,048
April	$1,048	-1.50	$1,032
May	$1,032	0.50	$1,038
June	$1,038	2.00	$1,058

PORTFOLIO B:

Month	Value	Return %	Final Value
January	$1,000	1.50	$1,015
February	$1,015	5.00	$1,066
March	$1,066	12.00	$1,194
April	$1,194	-9.00	$1,086
May	$1,086	-4.00	$1,043
June	$1,043	1.50	$1,058

Another way to look at standard deviation is to think of it as a band of probabilities. The lower the standard deviation, the narrower the band and the lower the volatility of the numbers in the series.

Think of a series of numbers, the average of which is 30. If the series has a standard deviation of 10, that means two-thirds of the numbers in the series will fall within 10 of the average, in this case between 20 and 40.

If the standard deviation were 18 (and the average were still 30), then you would know that two-thirds of the numbers would fall between 12 (30 minus 18) and 48 (30 plus 18).

The second series of numbers would be much more volatile than the first, even though their averages were identical. Therefore, the lower the standard deviation, the lower the risk. The biggest problem with standard deviation is that it makes no distinction between upward volatility (the type investors want) and downward volatility (the type investors don't want).

In reality, the best way to measure the risk of an investment is by studying what happened in the worst periods that investors had to endure.

Reduce Your Investment Risk

One of the best ways to reduce investment risk is to have a diversified portfolio. Diversification entails spreading money among a number of different types of investments or asset classes, such as stocks, bonds and cash. Among these investments, investors can diversify even further, into large and small or domestic and international companies.

Portfolios should be based on the investor's tolerance for risk and expectations for performance. The portfolio likely will include stocks, bonds, mutual funds and cash.

Diversification prevents one poor investment from ruining the entire portfolio. One of the most effective ways to diversify is to invest in mutual funds, especially if an investor does not have enough money to buy a lot of individual stocks.

Because the markets for stocks, bonds, and cash do not all move in the same direction or to the same degree, an investor's portfolio that combines these asset classes should be less risky than one that includes only one type of investment. A diversified portfolio historically produces better returns than one that is concentrated in more conservative asset classes, such as short-term bonds or cash equivalents.

Although a diversified portfolio won't completely eliminate risk, it's protection during market corrections or crashes.

Asset allocation is another way to reduce risk. Most of a portfolio's return is determined by how investors allocate assets among different types of investments. Asset allocation is important because it determines how risky an overall portfolio is. If all of a portfolio's assets are concentrated in one area, such as stocks, it is likely to be more risky than a portfolio whose assets are spread out among diverse investment categories.

An asset allocation appropriate to an investor's goals and time horizon provides the best chance that an investor will meet his or her financial goals. In addition, an investor should examine his or her overall financial resources and personal ability to tolerate risk when making asset allocation decisions.

Investors should base asset allocation on two factors: the amount of risk they are willing to take and their time horizon. A portion of the money should also be invested in stocks.

All investment goals have a time horizon, which is the length of time between now and when the money being invested will be spent. For example, if you are saving to buy a new car next year, your time horizon would be a short one. If you are saving for a down payment on a house, your time horizon might be medium-term, say four years. If you are currently 45 years old and saving for retirement, you have a long-term time horizon of about 20 years. Over time, of course, long-term goals such as retirement or funding your child's college education will become medium- and short-term goals. As your time horizon shifts, your asset allocation should shift accordingly.

An investor with a short time horizon might want to avoid higher risk investments such as stocks or stock funds, because the growth potential offered by these investments over time can be offset by short-term volatility. In this case, it would be better to concentrate on more stable investments such as bond funds, or even money market accounts.

Against All Odds: Cerebral Palsy Won’t Keep Player Down

Nick Lippert never doubted for a second that he would play football for his high school. Nothing would stand in his way. Not his size. Not his inexperience.

And especially not his disability.

Lippert, who has cerebral palsy, thrives on challenges.

“One misconception about people who have cerebral palsy is that we can’t do anything,” he said. “But I battle my way through until I achieve my goals.”

Lippert was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was 9 months old. During his childhood, he endured nine surgeries to strengthen his muscles. Despite this, he was active in sports, playing baseball, basketball, community soccer and hockey.

But football remained his first love.

“I’ve always loved football, but my parents wanted me to wait until high school to play,” said Lippert.

As a freshman and sophomore at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, Lippert continued playing sports. He golfed and played soccer through his senior year in a local community league.

It wasn’t until November of his sophomore year when Lippert received medical clearance from his orthopedic surgeon to play football.

“I was shocked,” said his mother, Joanne. “Never in a million years did we think that he’d be able to play.”

“We didn’t know the extent of how much Nick could do, but we welcomed him like anyone else,” said Josh Rice, Carrick’s athletic director and assistant head football coach at the time.

Seeing their son in a uniform on the practice field for the first time was emotional for Lippert’s parents.

“I get choked up thinking about it,” said Joanne Lippert. “We were amazed that he was able to keep up with everyone.”

Even if he didn’t see much playing time, Lippert gave it his all during practice to help his teammates better prepare for the games.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys for teammates,” said Lippert. “They supported me 100 percent and never got on me when I couldn’t do a particular drill.”

Lippert only missed a handful of practices even though he often had difficulty getting through them. It was especially difficult during the preseason when the team had two to three daily practices. Lippert would go home with a swollen knee and be extremely tired.

“It would take a lot to keep me off the field,” he said. “I wanted to be the best player and teammate I could be. I may have never been the biggest or most skilled player, but I always wanted to work harder than anyone else, and never give up.”

That determination impressed his coaches and teammates.

“What impressed me most was his resolve,” said Rice. “He never complained about running or doing a drill. He taught me a lot about heart and internal drive.”

As head coach of the junior varsity team, Rice remembers a game where Nick was playing offensive guard. On one play, he jumped offside and Rice screamed from the sidelines: “Lippert you’re killing me! You’re killing my unborn children!”

Lippert’s mother and his grandmother heard him from the stands across the field. Rice found out later they both cried. Joanne Lippert cried because Rice treated her son like any other player.

And his grandmother?

“She cried because she couldn’t believe I was yelling at her Nick,” said Rice.

Joanne Lippert added with a laugh, “He apologized for yelling at Nick the next time he saw her.”

Lippert’s mother wrote a letter to the coaches after his senior year, thanking everyone and wishing the best to Rice’s unborn children.

“I still have that letter and read it every once in awhile to remind myself why I got into teaching and coaching—to have a positive impact on some kid and maybe make a difference in one kid’s life,” said Rice, who remains good friends with Lippert and his family.

Lippert, 22, is now a senior at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA and plans to graduate in December with a degree in advertising and public relations, and a minor in sociology.

“I hope to eventually work in public relations or advertising,” he said. “My dream job would be working in the PR or advertising department with one of the local professional sports franchises.”

Rice wouldn’t be surprised to see him accomplish that goal.

“He’s proof that you can do anything you put your mind to.”