“Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as “taking the auspices”. ‘Auspices’ is from the Latin auspicium and auspex, literally “one who looks at birds.” Depending upon the birds, the auspices from the gods could be favorable or unfavorable (auspicious or inauspicious)” – Wikipedia. So, what would an ancient Roman have interpreted into the first flight of a metal build plane capable of carrying more than 100 people? Difficult to say, especially since the December day of the inaugural flight was so rainy that the flight only took 7 minutes before it had to return. Aside from that, the noise of the four-engine jet would have most likely scared every bird out of the sky; that, almost like an omen on its own, the metal plane then replaced the birds with its own appearance. A couple of weeks ago …
Geographically the US and Canada are not just neighbors, they share the longest international border and their economies are strongly connected. With both of their political centers ….
It is something we almost do weekly and don’t waste too much thought on: fueling our vehicles with highly flammable substances. Rarely do we think about what could go wrong. It did not make national news, but the Times Colonist, our local newspaper, reported on the story offering the exact time and some details. In the afternoon on Sunday May 10th, someone had just finished to fuel their recreational vessel and shortly after …..
Google – the “googoled” (1 with 100 zeroes) armed octopus of the internet
No words need to be spent to introduce the worldwide known internet platform and most visited website in the world. It is that well known and recognized, that the company name already found its way into the Oxford English Dictionary as a verb. You could call it a marketing dream come true. In its 22 years of existence it is dominating the online world and there are many that try to rival the search portal, but I guess at that point Google with a 86% market share comfortably owns the crown of being the internet go-to place. By now the company has made many household fixtures like maps, telephone directories, newspapers, now obsolete and has surely sent many encyclopedia publishers close to bankruptcy. And, as if knowing almost any question asked around the world is not enough, the company was even able to “sell a gift” to the trusting consumer – Google Nest – a so called echo device – the omnipresent ears of Silicon Valley ….