How Not to Store Your Nuclear Warheads

[Brigid]

Found this in my Technical Writing textbook, as an example of how not to write clearly. It is a directive from the British Navy:

"It is necessary for technical reasons that these warheads should be stored upside down, that is, with the top at the bottom and the bottom at the top. In order that there may be no doubt as to which is the top and which is the bottom, for storage purposes, it will be seen that the bottom of each warhead has been labeled with the word TOP."

I've been cracking up over this all day -- it's like something out of a Monty Python skit.

Release the Holy Hand Grenade!

[HopeHoops]

1. I was thinking "Dr. Strangelove".

[gratuitous]

2. The self-destruct mechanism, uh, blew itself up

One of James Earl Jones' finest movie moments, played so low-key and deadpan that the casual watcher will miss it entirely.

[HopeHoops]

3. A lot of movies are like that - watch repeatedly.

I find something new every time I watch a Monty Python movie. One of the best recent examples is "Galaxy Quest". There are some really subtle background things that are easy to miss if you're focused on the main dialogue.

It's really disturbing when you realize a book/movie that was made long ago about a fictional future is not only becoming true, but to a far greater degree than predicted - take "1984" and "Animal Farm" for example. And how about the original "Star Trek" communicators? The first Motorola flip phone looked almost exactly like one - I still have it (not in service now). I STILL use flip phones to avoid butt dialing, but mine just took a bunch of pictures of the inside of my pocket. I haven't figured out how to turn that off yet.

[geardaddy]

4. Excellent

Are you teaching tech writing or studying it?

[Brigid]

5. I'm studying it.

It's a class I'm taking. I'm in my first semester as a Health Information Technology major. This just struck a nerve when I saw it.