SURPRISING STUFF

What is it about the advent of high technology, the rush of information about how it makes our lives more accurate and meaningful, and the rest of the hype?
The police speed measuring device the City of Lake Geneva sets up to let drivers know how fast they are going (in order to induce them to slow down) is not accurate.  The car three lengths in front of me this morning, on South Lake Shore Drive near BigFoot Beach, caused the big electronic numbers to glow “30.”  I looked down at my own digital speedometer, as I was traveling at the same speed as the car in front of me.  My speedometer showed “28.”  The car passed the machine and then it was my turn to pass beside it.  The numbers changed to “33” on the machine.  I had not changed speed nor gotten closer or further away from the car in front of me and there was no car behind me.  It was hard to believe that the police machine was wrong, but it was.  There is no other physical explanation for the differential described.  I noted in town that the supposed seconds on the crosswalk blinking pedestrian numbers do not count down in seconds.  They seem to, but they change numbers, counting down, in about three-quarters of a second per blink.  You better hurry when crossing!  On the other hand, the numbers counting backward on your television screen, like those they use on subscription channels to let you know how long the ad breaking up your show will run, are about a second-and-a-half long.  Not bizarre, just a very brilliant way of fooling you (we all assume such numbers in our lives are measuring seconds) for the originator and presenter’s best interest. Not necessarily in your best interest.  The police want you to slow down, even if you are doing the speed limit, the city wants you to cross the street faster and the television advertisers don’t want you to get mad because their ads are too long.

Animals of the Week