Come Quick New Signal!

I had been aware that prior to SOS becoming the international distress call via wireless telegraphy the distress call was CQD, standing for Come Quick Danger. Today I read an article about why CQD was replaced with SOS. At a conference in 1906 the international wireless telegraphy community got together to think of a replacement for the British CQD, the Italian SSSDDD, and the German SOE. The conference chose SOS because its code of dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot was hard to mistake for anything else. Whereas with CQD the D was often not heard, its code was dash-dot-dash-dot, dash-dash-dot-dash, dash-dot-dot. Not quite as catchy. When the Titanic was sinking its wireless operators issued SOS and CQD alternately.

Of course with modern technology SOS goes almost unused.

Still here?

Yesterday I received the somewhat shocking news that the world was going to end before the day was out. The prophecy was made by Yisrayl Hawkins (it is not exactly relevant but his birth name was Buffalo Bill Hawkins, just thought you would like to know) the leader of a cult called House of Yahweh (HoY). The HoY believes that it is the one true faith and it recognises Yahweh as the Creator and Heavenly Father. The HoY uses the name Yahweh exclusively and also uses the name Yahshua exclusively to refer to Yahweh's son and the Messiah. The use of these names are believed to be essential for salvation.

The House of Yahweh is based in Abilene Texas.

Yogh're pronouncing it wrong

If you have ever taken the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh or vice versa (a much nicer trip might I add) you may have passed through a wee village called Lenzie. I looked this village up on wikipedia but my interest was immediately caught by the note that Lenzie was originally pronounced Len-yee as the 'z' was a yogh. The yogh was a letter in Middle English and Middle Scots which represented a 'j' or a 'y' sound and it looked rather similar to a tailed 'z'. Early Scots printers who frequently lacked a 'yogh' in their fonts replaced it with a 'z'. A good example of this is the name Menzies. It is pronounced Ming-ez. Bizarrely the name Mackenzie was originally pronounced Makenyie. Whereas Dalziel retains its original pronunciation.

Now if that cautionary tale doesn't encourage me to tidy up my handwriting nothing will.

Bobbin' about

I was never a particular sporty child and I have only very rarely gone out of my way to watch a sporting event. However I always had a bit of a soft spot for the Winter Olympics. In particular I was always fond of the bobsled. I am currently reading "The Know-It-All" by A. J. Jacobs and his book contains the fact of how bobsledding got its name. The first bobsledders had a belief that if they bobbed their heads they would go faster.

Kind of like nodding your head frantically in the hope that if you look like you're agreeing the conversation will end sooner.

In Tuna

Having spent a few days in Germany and what with the exams only being recently over I have spent the past few days catching up with friends. It has been fun, mostly just hanging at their flats/houses. Yesterday I went round to a friend's place for a picnic lunch. He had made a very nice pasta salad to go with our sandwiches. It was pasta (obviously) with tinned tuna, mayonnaise, and chopped apple. I understand that this sounds a bit of a weird combination but it was really lovely. It would make it again myself as I have pasta that needs using up and mayonnaise and tins of tuna (though they'll keep a while yet).

And, of course, being Northern Irish, I am always impressed by a man who shows some competence in the kitchen.

One of thousands

A few weeks ago my friends persuaded me to join them in taking part in Glasgow's Race For Life. We signed up for the 5km race and gathered sponsorship money in aid of Cancer Research UK. Then very early yesterday morning we all arrived in Glasgow Green ready to do the actual run. There were over 13, 000 women taking part (it was a woman-only event) and we raised over £1 million. I was surprised to learn that the Glasgow event was the largest in the UK.

I was also surprised to see several people merrily lighting up before and after completing the race.

We all ride on a yellow underground

While in Stuttgart I was very impressed by the city's transport network. The city is served by 17 lines of a light rail system which is partially a subway in the city centre. The trains are very noticeable as they are yellow with black window frames. The colour of the trains is a reference to the coat of arms of Stuttgart which feature a black horse on a yellow background.

Glasgow's subway used to be as eye-catching when it was painted orange, now it's mostly carmine and cream.