Daily Archives: 17-April-2013

Some "interesting" questions come my way -- one just rolled in about my plans for dealing with an electromagnetic pulse attack (I don't have any plans for that situation). When I say interesting, I mean that this question really did not need to be asked. The best example of this type of question is one I heard when I was on a cruise ship. When I am on a cruise ship, I always ask if I can get a tour of the bridge -- they often do host a tour. During this tour, the ship’s navigator will sometimes offer to host a seminar on how the ship navigates. This actually happened and a number of passengers attended. During this seminar, the navigator mentioned that the ship normally navigated using GPS, but was equipped for celestial navigation if it was needed. The navigator then sheepishly added that his celestial navigation was very rusty because it had been so long since he had used it. A passenger than very seriously asked, “What if global thermonuclear war broke out and all the GPS satellites were destroyed – how would we find our way home?” The audience sat in stunned silence. I don't think that question needed to be asked. Continue reading →