The Secret World of the Computer

Last week when I was typing a blog comment, I pressed CTRL+U, believing it would give me the ability to underline a particular passage.  What  actually popped up was absolutely astonishing.  For those of you Windows users, give it a go now and press CTRL+U.  Don't worry, you're not going to cause any harm to the computer.  For those of you on an Apple, give it a whirl and if you can't see what I'm talking about, I'll describe it.  What comes up is a window that looks very similar to a Notepad document; no frills, just line after line of text.  When I looked, there were over 1200 lines.  This is coding, programming, the behind-the-scenes stuff that makes computers work.

Most of us have never seen coding before, let alone worked with this language.  And that is what coding is.  Just like a trombones, pianos, and other instruments have sheets of music to help them "talk," computers have their own set of languages.  The most astonishing part of this is that someone had to not only create the language, but also create a device that would "speak" said language.  This is even more incredible than creating a language for humans, as the "hardware" already exists in people in the form of a voice box.

Coding and programing have always fascinated me with how vast they are.  In Eighth grade I was given an assignment in Computer  class to create our own website.  To do this we learned a computer language known as HTML which is fairly common in creating websites.  It was astonishing the powers I possessed when I began creating something out of nothing.

Computers are all around us and as we move into the future they will continue to expand into our everyday lives.  Much like math, computers will be involved in everything we do, whether you decide to be a doctor, architect, or farmer.  Knowing how to code will be a huge leg up on any of your competition.  For more information check out the video below.  It's under 6 minutes and well worth your time.

Oh, He Just Passed On

Almost every day you will hear someone using a euphemism.  According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the word is "a mild or pleasant word or phrase that is used instead of one that is unpleasant or offensive."  Whether people are talking about weight ( he has a few extra pounds) or pornography (adult material), euphemisms are a huge part of our life.  The question I have is simply why?  Humans have shown an enormous capacity for evil, particularly murdering (excuse me, "erasing") our fellow humans, not even to mention our atrocities against wildlife, so why say things the way they are, for better or for worse?

Sometimes these euphemisms make it easier for us to accept the cruelty or unfairness of everyday life.  For a religious Christian, it may be consoling to think of a loved one (particularly a child who's died before his/her time) as "sleeping with Jesus" rather than dead and six feet underground in a pine box.  On the other hand, euphemisms can be even more sinister than coming out and saying "he was killed."  Looking to mob slang, saying that a rival is "sleeping with the fishes" or "on the wrong side of the grass" gives one anything but warm or fuzzy feelings and makes you think twice about messing with the Corleones down the way.

 Using this type of figurative speech can also be even more funny than being blunt.  Why say that you had to pay your taxes when you can say you voluntarily redistributed wealth?  People are likely to know what you're talking about, and if they don't you're given the opportunity to explain.  Either way, they get a laugh and may even pass it on.

In the end, maybe euphemisms just give us humans an outlet for our creativity, something like art,music or poetry, and allows us to express ourselves.  And just like any of these outlets, I bet you can judge what's going on in a person's mind by the euphemisms he or she uses.