Laser Danger
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chatty
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Topic: News
So much for blogging during break. I've been really busy with the present my brother gave me for Christmas - The Sims 2. That game is ridiculously addictive. I can play for hours without realizing how much time I've devoted to it. So I haven't had much to talk about until now since I didn't think you wanted to know about my fictitious Sim Dynasties.
If you haven't heard about lasers in the news recently, you certainly will by the end of next week. Standard variety laser pointers are quite annoying. People use them for immature entertainment by lighting up movie screens and other's bodies. Professionals use them to look all chic when they make presentations. However, there's a new type recently being sold which is a green laser.
As you may know if you've taken classes in laser theory, the colour of the laser is important because it affects the properties of the laser. For example, green lasers can be made to be brighter and perpetuate for longer distances. In fact, these exist in flashlight size laser devices.
Some morons have been using these green laser flashlights and shining them at flying planes for fun. The problem is that the light is entering the cockpit and temporarily blinding the pilots. As you know, this is quite dangerous.
For normal flying it's actually not too bad if the pilot is temporarily blinded because the plane is flying on autopilot. However, if this were to occur when a pilot was attempting to land a plane, the results could be disastrous! The landing process must always be done manually because the plane does not know with enough accuracy how close it is to the runway. The pilot's sight is, therefore, key to a safe landing.
The scary thing is that the expert on the news said while usually there are ~30 reports of people doing this yearly, in this december only there have been 30 reports already. This signals a dangerous trend.
People need to realize this isn't funny or entertaining. There are quite a few people whose lives are being put in jeopardy. I heard someone was getting arrested by homeland security as a terrorist. I think that's a little excessive, but these people DEFINITELY need some harsh punishments. We can't have this continue this way. It's going to take someone being charged for the murder of 200 people, thus rotting in prison, for this to stop. But I hope and pray it doesn't get to that point.
PS - I got my final grade I had been missing - Power Systems - B+. Thank God for that awesome grade! I have made Dean's List! This upcoming semester I want to finish at least as strong!
Posted by Eric
at 1:36 AM EST