Message in a Bottle

Everyone is familiar with the old 'message in a bottle' story. For those who are not here goes:

Next time you go to a beach or for a boat ride in the sea just take a piece of paper and write some message in it along with the current time/date and some info about you (maybe your email). Put that piece of paper in a glass bottle and cork it up really nicely so that no water is able to enter. Then (you guessed it!) just throw the bottle into the ocean and then check you email from that day on.
You never know when or by whom that bottle will be found. Maybe it will be found few days later by some fishermen or maybe a 100 years after your death it will wash up on some beach halfway across the world.

Such a trick was often used by shipwrecked sailors as a last resort to get some help.

But today I am not going talk about being shipwrecked.
This is about an 'electronic' message in a bottle.

November 16, 1974
Imagine a hot afternoon in Puerto Rico. The impressive Arecibo telescope towering above you. The sun blazing down. Suddenly the dish comes alive with a terrawatt of power (1 trillion watts) for just under three minutes and transmits out a binary coded message, using a concentrated narrow signal beam, to a distant cluster of stars known as M-13 (a famous Globular Cluster in the constellation of Hercules).

This is not the starting sequence of a sci-fi thriller. This really happened and here is the message:


The M-13 is one of the most famous globular clusters in the northern skies. It is about 23,000 light years away (23klc) and contains about 100,000 stars contained in a cluster. The message which was sent about 30 years ago on that November afternoon will take 23,000 years to reach. But in reality the message will never reach the cluster since then due to normal celestial movement the cluster would have moved out of the path of the beam.

This is the 'message in a bottle' sent by humanity to the stars (for aliens?). It contained information about our solar system, our DNA and many other things such as our counting system. The main purpose was to test out the new upgrades made to the telescope and a secondary benefit of course would be to announce the existence of humanity within the infinity of space at the same time leaving something that will surely outlast humanity.
More details here.

Maybe it was an appeal for some advanced (and hopefully peaceful) aliens to come and rescue humanity from itself.


When will we realize that in the scheme of things we are very lonely and very insignificant (both as a race and as a planet)

About Women...

The thing which really makes my blood boil is when women are treated badly. I just can't stand it.
Of course when anyone (man or woman) has done something bad then you have all the right to blame the person. But abuse of women (verbal/emotional/physical) is something that I cannot tolerate.

There is this excellent book by Amrit Wilson titled "Dreams, Questions, Struggles".
It examines the lives of South Asian women in Britain. Are their lives really that different from South Asian women. Does the 'evolved' western society offer them more freedom and space to breath.

One would assume that women would be less oppressed being in the 'free and developed world' but that does not seem to be the case. They end up having to fit into two patriarchal cultures. One at home and one outside.

The home culture prohibits them from having relations with BMW (Black/Muslim/White) boys and going out to nightclubs. The outside culture forces them to look sexy, to drink a lot, to smoke and of course to have sex (basically they have to be 'cool').

There are stereotypes everywhere and just because the country is considered to be 'western' or 'developed' doesn't mean people are actually free to be and do what they want.

I think there is this human tendency to be a part of the group. To give up the last ounce of individuality and go with the flock.
The important point is why do we give up this individuality.. is it forced out of us or do we give it up ourselves?
It also depends on which alternative provides us with an advantage, standing out or following the crowd?

In case of women often individuality is forced out of them due to various pressures and it is to their advantage to follow the crowd. Since if they don't then their mental, emotional and often physical well being is threatened.
As they say its better to bow your head rather than have it chopped off.

But this must change.
Some women are stupid (I happen to know many such specimens) as are some men (ditto).
That doesn't mean we as members of society (whether male OR female) have been given any right to influence the individualism of anyone.

While we cannot force people to be different (they themselves may not have courage) and in certain situations it is desirable for people to conform to norms (say for example following traditional marriage ceremonies and rituals) we must always guard against the use of force.
It is better to guide a mind to make its own decisions rather than to block it and channel it in one particular direction (whether of conforming or rebelling).

What started out with a post about oppressed women turned into what is wrong with our society.


When society starts to rot, sniper rifles come into the picture...

"What is not given, must be taken" - Self

Any women listening? :)

A Long Range Weapon for a Long Distance Relationship

A Long Range Weapon for a Long Distance Relationship


CheyTac Long Range Rifle System - Intervention sniper rifle (USA)

This is one of my favourite weapons. It is a sniper rifle with a range of more than 2000 meters (thus it can engage targets more than 2 kilometers away!).

Comes with a targetting computer which can be used for greater accuracy.

I just love the thought of being able to target something 2 kilometers away.

This rifle is fired lying down on the ground. It is to heavy to be fired like a conventional gun (it weighs 12 kgs!)


Caliber: .408 CheyTac
Operation: manually operated rotating bolt action
Barrel: 762 mm (30")
Weight: 12.3 kg
Length: 1400 mm (stock retracted), 1220 mm (stock collapsed)
Feed Mechanism: 5 rounds detachable box magazine



MORE INFO AND PICS HERE!

I know guns are bad and all that.. but this is a piece of amazing engineering and that is what I am appreciating along with the power it gives its user.