While other people look for robins as the first signs of spring arriving back in the Great North Land, or rather the Great Plains, I listen for this bird. The Western Meadowlark.
I grew up on a farm and heard the song of this bird so often during the spring and summer. It reminds me of the smell of long grass, warm days and soothing breezes.
Most of all, it reminds me of when I was a kid.
Carnivorous, nine metres long and ‘downright shaggy’ | News | National Post.
More at the link, but here’s a tidbit from the article about this feathered T-Rex.
A giant feathered tyrannosaur has been unearthed in China, the largest creature — living or extinct — known to sport a downy coat.
The carnivore, which grew up to nine metres long, likely looked “downright shaggy,” Corwin Sullivan, a Canadian paleontologist on the team that unveiled the creature, said on Wednesday.
Three specimens of the dinosaur, which the scientists have called Yutyrannus huali for “beautiful feathered tyrant,” have been uncovered in northeastern China.
One was an adult estimated to have weighed 1.414 tonnes, 40 times bigger than any previously found feathered dinosaur. And two juveniles tipped the scales at about half a tonne.
I come up against this saying many times at work when I deal with our older subscribers and customers. For a time, I used to just shrug my shoulders and think “yeah, I can see that”.
That saying is “I’m just an old man of (insert age here), I don’t know that fancy technology”. That excuse, and I suspect excuse would be better than a saying, but that excuse is absolute garbage. For me, that excuse became garbage when my father, my 70 year old father (saying how old he is out loud kinda scares me) bought a Fujitsu digital camera (better than mine, by the way) and a netbook, and then a three in one printer. And then they got a Hi-Def digital TV. I don’t even have a Hi-Def digital TV yet!
But saying “Oh, I’m just an old man” is crap! I know people ten, fifteen, even twenty years older than me who are well versed in several computer languages. Who have different electronic devices. Who even play MMO’s, for crying out loud!
There are some that might say “but Arthur Black, who happens to be one of your favourite humourists, he says he’s too old”. No no no. I must correct you there. Arthur Black has never once said he was too old for such devices. He’s actually written about such devices and their affects on the world (and him). He doesn’t use them because he’s too old. He doesn’t use them because he’s a luddite. There’s a difference.
We know the definition of “too old”. Here’s the definition of luddite. First, from Wikipedia:
The main Ludd himself! Ned Ludd. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Luddites were a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanized looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life. The movement was named after General Ned Ludd or King Ludd, a mythical figure who, like Robin Hood, was reputed to live in Sherwood Forest.
From dictionary.com:
Lud·dite
/ˈlʌdaɪt/ [luhd-ahyt] – noun
a member of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment.
Origin:
1805-15; after Ned Ludd, 18th-century Leicestershire worker who originated the idea
That would be a much more acceptable thing to say than just “I’m just an old (person)”. I just will not accept that. Unless you are infirm, or feeble, there is no excuse to learn some new piece of technology.
That is, of course, you happen to be a luddite.
The final parts of Rocket Fox are almost here (really! I promise). And while the ending of Flight of the Nighthawk will come about with a cliffhanger, and there will be a second series (third in reality) to write (which will tie Rocket Fox: Flight of the Nighthawk and Swift Fox: Pirates of the Jackai together) I’ve been thinking about the back drop of the Rocket Fox world (or rather, universe, because of space travel).
Would one star system actually be feasible? Or would each species (or in the case of Vulpine and Felanus, one system for two species) have their own star system that they would call home?
What if, somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy, there resided different star systems that hold life. The Vulpinia Star System, the Lupine Star System, the Pantheran Star System and the Critanian Star System. Each of these systems residing one hundred to a thousand light years away from each other. That means the species of the different star systems would have to have developed some sort of faster than light travel. Or warp speed (though I may call it something else).
This also means how the planets are viewed may change as well. Vulpinia Prime would be the name of the planet that is home to the Vulpine and Felanus. There may even be one of the planets in the system that is called Felanus in honour of the species different from the Vulpine. The Lupine Star System would most likely be the largest of the systems, and all systems reside in an area of space dubbed the Lupine Sector.
This would also allow for changes to the homeworld of the Pantherans, as they would reside in the Pantheran System. There could be two different planets that hold life, one being Panthera Prime, the other being Lionidas. Who lives where is rather self explanatory. And just for sake of argument, Canin will still be a planet in the system.
These are changes that will have to be looked at later, after this first draft is finished and the second draft begins.
I tumblr for ya!
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