Text Messaging: The World in the Palm of Your Hand

On the way home from dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Pohick family is stuffed, sleepy, and relatively quiet.
That is, except for the CLICK CLICK CLICK clack CLICK clack clack CLICK that's coming from the back seat.
"Who are you talking to?" Jake inquires.
None of your business, I want to answer. But then again, he could get violent. I could end up in one of his beloved mousetraps. So instead, I give him a vague "My friends."
I, Scribbles of the Pohick Clan, thoroughly enjoy texting people. If I can send someone a text message instead of calling them, you can bet your hat that I will. It's easier, in a way. How is taking five minutes to type in a bunch of letters easier than just making a dang phone call? ...I don't know. It just is.
Texting is also a useful means of mass communication. For example, if you're stuck with your family on yet another road trip to see some historical museum or whatever, you send one message to all your friends who have cell phones. "Help! I'm going to die of boredom!" Almost immediately, you get several replies that are chock full of sympathy. "So sorry!" "Another trip???" "Where are you going now?" "*hug!*"
Another example: "Band practice today! Don't be late!" Send it to the entire band- they'll all show up. It's like magic.
Oh, this is a good one: "My dad just got fired from being the king... Can I stay at your castle?"
And you don't even have to use complete sentences. Many texters opt to use the IM language that has developed over the past years. "ctrn... pos! ttyl, ok? ily- cu l8r"
Text messaging is a misunderstood art. The younger generations are catching on quickly to the texting wave, but there are still adults who like to tease and complain. Just learn to live with it. You don't have to like it. You don't even have to use it- you can go on having vocal conversations all your life. Let us go on in our text mania. It could be much, much worse... Trust me on this one.
"Fingers of Fury" Scribbles signing off.

Bigfoot is Real

It has been widely reported today in all of the major media outlets that two men from Georgia have for the first time ever recovered the body of a deceased bigfoot. Seriously?

I say what is the big deal? In Alabama, we see big foot all the time. He works in the 7-11 down the street. He's not the friendliest fellow, but I can't say anything bad about him. And come to mention it, I've never once heard him mention any kin folk from over in Georgia.

Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer say they stumbled across the 2.3m-high (7ft 7in), 226kg (500 pound) corpse in a wood in the north of the state in June.

A photograph on the men's website shows what appears to be the body of a large, hairy creature with an ape-like face. Bigfoot experts reacted suspiciously to the men's press conference claims. I'm not sure what surprises me more, the fact there are bigfoot experts or the fact that reputable news organizations are falling all over themselves to interview these folks. I guess that everyone has a reasonable expectation to 15 minutes of fame, but I think these guys are getting just a bit more than their fair share.

Anyway, I need to get on down to the 7-11 and ask BF what he thinks about all this.

Other Articles about Legends and Conspiracy Theories.

• Big Foot is Real
• Moon Landing Hoax
• Atlantis Found ... Maybe

Mythbusters Lunar Landing Hoax

Update: This episode of Mythbusters originally aired on August 27th, 2008 at 9Pm.

The Huntsville Times is reporting today that an upcoming episode of the popular TV show Mythbusters will explore the conspiracy theory that NASA faked the moon landings. The episode will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel. Portions of the episode were filmed on location at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. This episode will broadcast on August 27, 2008 at 9PM. For years, conspiracy theorists have said that the U.S. government, the Apollo astronauts and thousands of NASA employees faked the lunar landing in order to win the space race to the moon.

The idea that the moon landing was faked first came from Bill Kaysing's book "We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle," released in 1974.

Four years later, the movie "Capricorn One" (which depicted a fake Mars landing) added to the conspiracy's popularity.

Facts cited by conspiracy theorist's that the landings were faked include:

• Blueprints and design and development drawings of the machines involved are missing.
• Apollo 11 data tapes containing telemetry and the high quality video (before scan conversion) of the first moonwalk are missing.
• Crosshairs in photographs appear to be behind objects.
• There are no stars in any of the photos. The Apollo 11 astronauts also claimed in a press conference after the event to have not remembered seeing any of the stars.
• The color and angle of shadows and light are inconsistent.
• Identical backgrounds in photos are listed as taken miles apart.
• The number of photographs taken is implausibly high. Up to one photo per 50 seconds.
• The flag placed on the surface by the astronauts flapped despite there being no wind on the Moon
• The Lander weighed 17 tons and sat on top of the sand making no impression but directly next to it footprints can be seen in the sand.

To learn more about the Moon Landing Hoax Theories, check out these resources.

Here are some video clips of the episode Mythbusters episode.

Part 1


Part 2


Other Articles about Legends and Conspiracy Theories.

• Big Foot is Real
• Moon Landing Hoax
• Atlantis Found ... Maybe