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Fact of the Day: SOS
The "SOS" (...---...) distress signal was adopted at the Second International Radio Telegraphic Conference in Berlin, Germany in 1906. According to the 1918 Marconi Yearbook of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony, "This signal [SOS] was adopted simply on account of its easy radiation and its unmistakable character. There is no special signification in the letters themselves, and it is entirely incorrect to put full stops between them." All the popular interpretations of SOS - Save our Ship, Save our Souls, or Send Out Succor - are simply not valid. The earlier and original distress call for shipping (as used by the Titanic) was CQD.
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Now, some deep thought, courtesy of boron3:
Imagine, if you will, being new to this planet. Look around you. Just take a walk and look at the streets. At the mailboxes where you drop off letters. At the other, grey mailboxes that the mailcarriers pick up mail at and redistribute. Street signs. Telephone boxes and poles. Random bits of garbage on the street. Houses in general.
It's all so weird, isn't it? That these are totally unnatural things (in the sense that they did not come in to being on their own) and yet we find them so very natural (in that we are totally used to seeing these things in our day-to-day lives).
Now, imagine being dropped (not literally) in the middle of the city from living a rural life or something so apart from this. Or that you've never been on earth before and this is all new to you. Weird.
The thought experiment I'm vaguely thinking of is about a bunch of aliens coming to earth and being flabbergasted by the idea that human beings are just thinking meat, and not some sort of silicone/plasma entity or whathaveyou.
I look out my window from my chair every day... I see the same things.. but its all so strange when you think about it. The extraordinariness of the mundane. OOoh, don't I sould deep and thoughtful? :P
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On to my mundanity... After work yesterday I went to Dollarama and did my shopping for Operation Christmas Child - you fill a shoe box with necessities for kids of certain age ranges (2-4, 5-9, 10-14), and then they are sent to children around the world. I bought enough stuff for 4 boxes for the older kids (two boys, two girls). I always do the older age, because they're often overlooked -- it's so much easier to buy things for babies than for tweens. I bought all sorts of school supplies, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, some mentos, and this year I threw it all in an insulated lunch bag, so that the kids will have something to hold things in. Next year I may pack everything in reusable plastic containers, so that the family has something that they can store food in, or something like that. Boxes are packed and ready for drop off at church - I just need to label them tonight.
Couldn't drag my ass out of bed this morning... the fact that I woke up at 5 with Ray's alarm (and he didn't) and then had difficulty falling asleep couldn't have helped any...
No bowling tonight. Since we're a Legion league, technically we're supposed to be out doing Poppy Blitzes, but as no one in my family has a uniform/is that active in the Legion, we're just staying home. Well, except for Ray. He's going to NERO. That means I'm alone all weekend. I guess I'll just sleep a lot... Oh well, at least I'm working an eight hour shift tomorrow -- that should fill part of the loneliness. Maybe I'll work on my unofficial NaNoWriMo novel -- I've got 600 words, but some ideas. I know it's bad and I know I won't finish it, but it's cathartic...
The "SOS" (...---...) distress signal was adopted at the Second International Radio Telegraphic Conference in Berlin, Germany in 1906. According to the 1918 Marconi Yearbook of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony, "This signal [SOS] was adopted simply on account of its easy radiation and its unmistakable character. There is no special signification in the letters themselves, and it is entirely incorrect to put full stops between them." All the popular interpretations of SOS - Save our Ship, Save our Souls, or Send Out Succor - are simply not valid. The earlier and original distress call for shipping (as used by the Titanic) was CQD.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, some deep thought, courtesy of boron3:
Imagine, if you will, being new to this planet. Look around you. Just take a walk and look at the streets. At the mailboxes where you drop off letters. At the other, grey mailboxes that the mailcarriers pick up mail at and redistribute. Street signs. Telephone boxes and poles. Random bits of garbage on the street. Houses in general.
It's all so weird, isn't it? That these are totally unnatural things (in the sense that they did not come in to being on their own) and yet we find them so very natural (in that we are totally used to seeing these things in our day-to-day lives).
Now, imagine being dropped (not literally) in the middle of the city from living a rural life or something so apart from this. Or that you've never been on earth before and this is all new to you. Weird.
The thought experiment I'm vaguely thinking of is about a bunch of aliens coming to earth and being flabbergasted by the idea that human beings are just thinking meat, and not some sort of silicone/plasma entity or whathaveyou.
I look out my window from my chair every day... I see the same things.. but its all so strange when you think about it. The extraordinariness of the mundane. OOoh, don't I sould deep and thoughtful? :P
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On to my mundanity... After work yesterday I went to Dollarama and did my shopping for Operation Christmas Child - you fill a shoe box with necessities for kids of certain age ranges (2-4, 5-9, 10-14), and then they are sent to children around the world. I bought enough stuff for 4 boxes for the older kids (two boys, two girls). I always do the older age, because they're often overlooked -- it's so much easier to buy things for babies than for tweens. I bought all sorts of school supplies, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, some mentos, and this year I threw it all in an insulated lunch bag, so that the kids will have something to hold things in. Next year I may pack everything in reusable plastic containers, so that the family has something that they can store food in, or something like that. Boxes are packed and ready for drop off at church - I just need to label them tonight.
Couldn't drag my ass out of bed this morning... the fact that I woke up at 5 with Ray's alarm (and he didn't) and then had difficulty falling asleep couldn't have helped any...
No bowling tonight. Since we're a Legion league, technically we're supposed to be out doing Poppy Blitzes, but as no one in my family has a uniform/is that active in the Legion, we're just staying home. Well, except for Ray. He's going to NERO. That means I'm alone all weekend. I guess I'll just sleep a lot... Oh well, at least I'm working an eight hour shift tomorrow -- that should fill part of the loneliness. Maybe I'll work on my unofficial NaNoWriMo novel -- I've got 600 words, but some ideas. I know it's bad and I know I won't finish it, but it's cathartic...