Two British traffic patrol officers from North Berwick, east of Edinburgh, were involved in an unusual incident, while checking for speeding motorists on the A1 Great North Road.
One of the officers (who are not named) used a hand-held radar device to check the speed of a vehicle approaching over the crest of a hill, and was suprised when the speed was recorded at over 300 mph. The machine then stopped working and the officers were not able to reset it.
The radar had in fact locked on to a NATO Tornado fighter jet over the North Sea, which was engaged in a low-flying exercise over the Borders district.
Back at police headquarters the chief constable fired off a stiff complaint to the RAF Liaison office.
Back came the reply in true laconic RAF style. "Thank you for your message, which allows us to complete the file on this incident. You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Tornado had automatically locked on to your 'hostile radar equipment' and sent a jamming signal back to it. Furthermore, the Sidewinder air-to-ground missiles aboard the fully-armed aircraft had also locked on to the target. Fortunately the Dutch pilot flying the Tornado responded to the missile status alert intelligently and was able to override the automatic protection system before the missile was launched."
2008-04-29
2008-04-14
Exercising your imagination keeps you human.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words; I would rather use one hundred words, and create an infinite number of pictures in the minds of my readers.
The primary purpose of humanity is to create, be it buildings, babies, books or what-have-you. Everything begins as an idea inside someone's head, and through creative and physical endeavour, becomes reality. Imagination is the engine of creative thought, and the more mental detail one can give to a creation that exists only in the mind's eye, the more powerful the creation and the greater impact the creation has once it reaches reality.
Like any skill, imagination works only when it is kept well exercised. However, the more we are exposed to visual representations of an alternate reality, and the more "real" that alternate reality is portrayed, the less our imagination is asked to 'fill in the gaps' to achieve a believable immersion in that reality. The easier it becomes to 'believe' what we are seeing on the screen -- be it TV, movies, or computer games -- the more our imagination becomes stunted and inflexible. We lose the ability to craft that important fine detail on the images within our minds.
Boredom is the hallmark of a dead or dying imagination ... and without imagination, we lose the ability to create. Once we cannot create, we cease to be human. I firmly believe that we have to create regularly -- prose, visual arts, dancing, programming, whatever -- or we go mad.
I read at least one novel per week. I estimate I watch a grand total of six hours of TV/movies per year. I rarely play computer games, and the less eye candy they have, the more I like them -- interactive text adventures like the original Infocom titles are, for me, the high art of gaming.
And you know what? I'm never bored. If I'm not reading, I'll be off visiting like-minded people, or building something, or making music, or writing something of my own purely for the sake of writing. I like being domestic, I like being a social butterfly, I like solitude and the stillness that comes with meditation.
Television tells us what to think and how to think. People who watch television (or any other form of visual entertainment with a high degree of realism) regularly, lose the ability to think -- I mean *really* think -- for themselves, and end up spending too much of their time living inside other people's heads instead of their own.
Be who you are and say what you feel, those that mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind :)
The primary purpose of humanity is to create, be it buildings, babies, books or what-have-you. Everything begins as an idea inside someone's head, and through creative and physical endeavour, becomes reality. Imagination is the engine of creative thought, and the more mental detail one can give to a creation that exists only in the mind's eye, the more powerful the creation and the greater impact the creation has once it reaches reality.
Like any skill, imagination works only when it is kept well exercised. However, the more we are exposed to visual representations of an alternate reality, and the more "real" that alternate reality is portrayed, the less our imagination is asked to 'fill in the gaps' to achieve a believable immersion in that reality. The easier it becomes to 'believe' what we are seeing on the screen -- be it TV, movies, or computer games -- the more our imagination becomes stunted and inflexible. We lose the ability to craft that important fine detail on the images within our minds.
Boredom is the hallmark of a dead or dying imagination ... and without imagination, we lose the ability to create. Once we cannot create, we cease to be human. I firmly believe that we have to create regularly -- prose, visual arts, dancing, programming, whatever -- or we go mad.
I read at least one novel per week. I estimate I watch a grand total of six hours of TV/movies per year. I rarely play computer games, and the less eye candy they have, the more I like them -- interactive text adventures like the original Infocom titles are, for me, the high art of gaming.
And you know what? I'm never bored. If I'm not reading, I'll be off visiting like-minded people, or building something, or making music, or writing something of my own purely for the sake of writing. I like being domestic, I like being a social butterfly, I like solitude and the stillness that comes with meditation.
Television tells us what to think and how to think. People who watch television (or any other form of visual entertainment with a high degree of realism) regularly, lose the ability to think -- I mean *really* think -- for themselves, and end up spending too much of their time living inside other people's heads instead of their own.
Be who you are and say what you feel, those that mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind :)
2008-01-16
Guys' Rules
Misappropriated from some random backwater of the intertubes ...
The Guys' Rules
Please note... these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!
1. Men ARE NOT mind readers.
1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.
1. Sunday sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.
1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
1. Crying is blackmail.
1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!
1. 'Yes' and 'No' are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
1. Come to us with a problem only If you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.
1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 Days.
1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.
1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.
1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what a mauve is.
1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear Is fine. Really.
1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as sport, the shotgun formation, or golf.
1. You have enough clothes.
1. You have too many shoes.
1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!
1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; but did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.
The Guys' Rules
Please note... these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!
1. Men ARE NOT mind readers.
1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.
1. Sunday sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.
1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
1. Crying is blackmail.
1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!
1. 'Yes' and 'No' are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
1. Come to us with a problem only If you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.
1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 Days.
1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.
1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.
1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what a mauve is.
1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear Is fine. Really.
1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as sport, the shotgun formation, or golf.
1. You have enough clothes.
1. You have too many shoes.
1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!
1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; but did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.
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