War Memorials and Peace

A friend recently sent me a history of ANZAC day and an article on the significance of the poppy during Armistace Day memorial services. I couldn't help but be struck by how little people remember the reasons why the war happened, but how hard it is to forget how much pain it caused.

This reminded me of an article written by Dave Barry, of all people, on the anniversary of the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima. He was visiting Japan at the time, and made a point to be in Hiroshima during the ceremony. His article discusses his impressions, and is easily the most serious article of his I've read. But what I was struck with was that there were Japanese and Americans in Hiroshima that day. They all grieved. They all regretted.

Is this what we are fated to do? To hate each other? To kill each other? And to spend a lifetime wishing things had not gone so far as this?

I am not offering an alternative. I don't have the answers and can't pretend that I do. But I do offer a plea: Can we think of the consequences before doing this again? Just once? Instead of spending a day remembering friends lost, children who will never grow up, and nursing the scars of a conflict long forgotten, could we spend a day celebrating friends we've made, children who will grow up to tell their own stories, and forget a conflict before the scars are made?

Pencil

Why I Don't Play Video Games

In the hopes that some intrepid reader wound up here spoiling for a moralistic essay they could rip into and dissect via their comments... Sorry, no moralistic essay on the evils of video games. I grew up in and out of arcades and wishing I could afford more computer games. Nevertheless I failed to develop into a serial killer, I utterly let everyone down when I got a real job, and was the disappointment of all the mental health professionals who said no one with such an upbringing could do well in college. Sorry I didn't live up to the stereotypes. My apologies.

My own opinion is that so long as a person can keep a firm grip on what is video game and what is not, and leave the game with the game and life with life, there's not much harm in them.

BUT! (And a big but it is...) If a person can't leave the game in the game and lets it bleed over into their waking life, or takes some sort of moral cues from games that involve violence and cruelty, they need more than just a break from the game. They need some serious counselling.

With that out of the way, this is why I don't play video games: Since my last post I've...

Stripped a laptop to component parts in order to troubleshoot a power supply issue. Turns out it was the external supply and not the laptop at all. Some wires had shorted out, causing problems with the laptop's charging circuits and severe heating issues. New supply, problem solved.

Re-aligned a laser machining center. The beam had drifted way off from the camera optics and needed to be re-centered. Power good, alignment still not ideal, but it's back to having a sub-ten micron kerf, so I'm happy for now. (Next time... start with the focus offset!)

Taught a class on fiber termination and polishing.

Designed and constructed interface hardware for an integrating sphere and photometer to test fiber throughput on some fiber bundles.

Attended several training classes, myself.

Tried (tried) to relax a little in the evenings and read a little fiction. (I managed to pull it off.)

Tried (tried) to have hobbies outside of work. (Total hobby time in the last two weeks was close to fifteen minutes. Didn't quite pull it off.)

Tried (tried) to write. (I need to wake up earlier in the morning so I can write. I've been getting home and falling flat on my face in the evenings. Didn't pull this off at all.)

Er... Video games? No time. Sorry. They're neat, they're fun, and on good graphics hardware they can be downright stunning. Maybe if I quit eating I could find the time.

On second thought... Maybe I'd rather use that time for my hobbies and for writing...

-- Pencil