D.A.T. Thing You Do

No! Nothing To Do With The Tom Hanks Film -
Although almost. In the same way that what went into the air at Kitty Hawk can be compared to the F35 stealth fighter-bomber.  I bet Orville and Wilbur never imagined what would come of their aerial excursion, hmmm?

The F35 in action - no, hang on a minute -

     Okay, back on track <haughtily assumes nobody noticed we were ever off track> and here is today's strained analogy.  "D.A.T." stands for 'Digital Audio Tape' and is what modern musicians record their caterwaulings on, or they used to, I'm not up on to the minute on what musicians do.  This is a considerably more flexible medium than the old wax cylinders that music was originally recorded on.  Art?

The I-pod of it's day

     You can see the difference between the two, I hope, which will be further illustrated if we can Tazer that Neanderthal waster Art into action -

DAT's it

     Once you enter the digital medium, it is easy to edit and variously rearrange the recorded sounds in a manner that's simply not possible with the humble wax cylinder.  Plus you can leave a D.A.T. on the radiator and still be able to play it afterwards.
     "Where is the babbling old duffer going with this?" I hear you ask.  "Who needs a lesson in antique recording technology?"
     This is by way of an introduction to a previous item I've been babbling on about, namely - memory.  If you recall, Professor McClaine invented the B.I.G.R.A.T. device which allowed for the recording of a person's memories.*  Art?

This RAT is BIG

     If you like, you can compare this to the wax cylinder stage of technology: a relatively crude rendition of a person's memories.
     When things get scary is where we move from wax cylinder-memory storage to DAT memory manipulation.  If Hom. Sap. does develop the technology to record memories, which is not as far-fetched as it sounds, then give it a couple of decades before it's possible to edit, adjust, recreate and otherwise jigger about with a person's recollections.**  You could, if you were World Dictator, take a person to whom you had taken a marked dislike and effectively murder them by either deleting their memory or replacing it with that of someone else, say an old friend whose life you wanted to extend.  And if the victim is Russel Brand, who's complaining?

Walk as fast as you like, it won't save you

     Thus you acquire functional immortality, which is quite the consequence of starting with a wax cylinder, don't you think?
     That's quite besides controlling a person's mind; you simply record their memories, fiddle about with them to add in a slavish devotion to your World Dictator self, get rid of their old memories and implant the new ones, taking care to erase that bit about having their memories mucked about with.  Simples!**
     Well, that Intro has been most of today's blog, so let us hurl the motley into the whirlpool!***

No, Art - actually, yes.  Yes indeed.

Let Them Eat Cake -
 - and then let them eat more cake.  After making the rather disappointing Spiced Applesauce Cake, I decided to beard the dragon in it's lair (I have no idea what this actually means, but it sounds impressive and ups the word count) and bake another cake that was pretty much guaranteed to do well.  Art?

Blueberry and Sour Cream Loaf
(Yes I KNOW it's actually a cake)

     There you go, and it did indeed go, because my work colleagues have all the self-restraint of a gannet with the munchies in a speed-eating contest.

Hang On A Minute -
Let me just test the old grey matter a minute, because I've made myself rather paranoid with all that memory manipulation muttering -
KILLER EELS - still the 2nd greatest threat to humanity
FORBIDDEN PLANET - still the greatest sci-fi film ever made
RUSSELL BRAND - still a purulent pile of putrescence
SHARKS - are still our friends
FIRST BUS - a wonderful company run by perfectionists - no, only kidding, a bunch of inept yahoos who couldn't run a rollerskate.
     Phew!  I'm still me!^

First Bus trying it on.
I see right through you!

*  In 'Joe 90', which is fictional.  As yet.
**  If DARPA come up with this technology, I want immunity from it and royalties.
***  Wearing lead divers boots!  because otherwise it would be too easy.
^  Good or bad?  Your mileage may vary.