Watches Forever

 

Checking the time has become so straightforward lately that it is almost available in everyone’s pockets in the form of mobile phones. Phone screens made the time-telling practice so easy that the demand for wristwatches and desk clocks has gone downward.

Wristwatches have begun to be perceived as nothing more than an ordinary accessory. Some find it a nuisance since it needs periodical battery changes as well as a new strap caused by wear and tear.

However, there are still people who strongly favor wearing watches. To them, telling the time using a mobile phone requires more effort because it takes time for one to flash it out of the pocket. Yet, checking your wrist to tell the time happens almost instantly. They posit that wearing a watch cannot be confined within the idea of fashion. It should be regarded as a respectful way of paying homage to the science of timekeeping.

Watches, in that sense, boast a set of technological advancements, which mesmerize the users deeply. It almost becomes a hobby in which the user admires not only the technology but also the looks. There are tons of different shapes and brands of watches that appeal to owners with different styles. Enthusiasts love wearing different watches that can match with their outfit. That is why they own multiple watches and shuffle them according to their mood on a particular day.

There are wristwatches available to everyone from different income levels. A cheap watch can do the job of timekeeping and still look cool. What is important is how it makes the owner feel.

Scale Modelling

 

I was an admirer of well-designed machines back when I was still a child. I could literally fall in love with a car, an airplane, or a tank just because it looks aesthetic to me. I remember checking every detail of my favorite machine carefully from any media available to me at that time. Later in life, I learned that there was a hobby involving those machines. This hobby lets you build your dream machine, albeit a smaller plastic version of it.

The machine, be it a tank or helicopter, comes in a box as a kit. It is made of plastic parts attached to the main frame through some sprues. You cut individual parts from these sprues and glue them together according to a build map that is included in the box. After completion, the model needs painting to look like the real one.

These plastic models have a scale to show how small your build is compared to the real version. For example, a scale of 1/35 means your build happens to be 35 times smaller in size. The scale of the model can vary so that the size of the model you have differs—the smaller the scale, the larger the model.

The hobby proves mind-opening in many senses. It sharpens your child’s motor skills while instilling a sense of passion and motivation in your kid. They also learn to be patient, as it takes long to finish one build. Lastly, scale modelling can teach a child about the mechanics of machines and encourage them to work in engineering-related fields.

Dinosaurs: A Child’s Obsession

 

In 1993, the first Jurassic Park movie hit the box office with incredible success. The movie had visual effects so sharp that it almost looked real. The dinosaurs depicted were so realistic and true to the originals that it made a whole generation of kids become fans of dinosaurs. It literally sparked a frenzy among kids of the 90s to search and read anything about dinosaurs.

Publishers rushed to release books, magazines, and comics about dinosaurs to profit from such a high demand. Museums opened new collections that include dinosaur fossils. Children were led to activities consisting of digging for dinosaur bones at various sites. Toys and miniatures of different dinosaur species became very popular, selling tens of thousands.

It was fun for kids to enjoy those amenities. However, the real benefit of the dinosaur madness came with the fact that it instilled a sense of scientific curiosity in children. They were curious about how these creatures lived, how they were fed, and sadly, how they all died and went extinct. No wonder most of these kids wanted to be paleontologists back then.

The generation that had been through this frenzy is believed to have engaged in STEM more than the generations that follow. Some of them sought careers in engineering and academics. Others, when grown up to become adults, have been into science as a hobby.

After this “dinosaur frenzy” died down, new generations got addicted to areas that do not always benefit them. Kids of today are so very much bound to video games and mobile phones that they have been made to neglect any interest in science.

Türkiye’s Wonders: The History

 

Türkiye sits on an astonishingly rich history of ancient civilizations, witnessing not only the very first steps of settlements but also the ascendance of some of the greatest empires of the world. Göbeklitepe, which is in the eastern part of Türkiye, dates back to 12,000 years ago. It is older than Stonehenge and considered the “zero point” of the entire history. The settlement in Gobeklitepe hints at the dawn of village life, a transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.

Türkiye is abundantly rich in terms of prehistoric sites that can be dated to thousands of years ago. One of them is Alacahöyük, situated in the central part of the country. Belonging to the great Hittite Empire, which reigned over great parts of Anatolia during the Neolithic Age. Artifacts found here suggest that the settlers started to use copper tools alongside stone tools. Excavations show that the town was progressing towards a flourishing community with a substantial network of roads and trade routes.

Konya, a central city in Türkiye, boasts a wide array of historic monuments from nearly all ages of history. Greeks, Persians, Romans, and Seljuk Turks inhabited the city during different times and all contributed to the city’s historic heritage, respectively. Mevlana, who is a renowned religious philosopher, practiced his teaching here. His resting place is now a museum, demonstrating the mystic way of life his dervishes lived.

One cannot skip İstanbul when talking about history in Türkiye. Being a former capital of both the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, İstanbul possesses more historical places than any other city in the country. Hagia Sophia can easily be the oldest of these. Built by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian in 537 AD, this monument changed the history of architecture. Although built as a church, it was converted to a mosque by Fatih Sultan Mehmed, the great Turkish conqueror of Constantinople, nowadays called İstanbul. Opposite to Hagia Sophia lies the Blue Mosque, named after its wonderful blue tiles.

Türkiye’s historic heritage is vast and widely diversified, a sight to behold and admire.

Türkiye’s Wonders: The Nature

 

Located on a unique geographic crossroad, Türkiye enjoys all four seasons. Summers are not too dry unlike its neighbours in the South. Winters are also no colder than its northern neighbors. You may feel an occasional breeze cooling you when the weather is too hot.

You can always take a swim in the turquoise waters of beautiful beaches spread out all around the country’s coastal regions if you still swelter. Türkiye boasts some of the best beaches out of all Mediterranean countries.

 The north of the country harbors the Black Sea and is famous for its humid climate. Rainfalls are so common in these parts that they let the trees flourish.  The green forests meet the clear blues of the sea, creating a view that is so picturesque you will want to visit it again.

The east of the country is mountainous. As the elevation gets steeper, you can witness some eye-candy scenery there. The famous Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı) attracts climbers from all around the world.

One of the natural wonders of Türkiye is the Peribacaları, or Fairy Chimneys. Situated right at the middle of the country, these are interestingly-shaped rock formations caused by natural forces eroding the rocks.

And there is İstanbul, a city that serves as a bridge to both European and Asian side of Türkiye. A large canal called Bosphorus divides these two continents while providing a passageway for the ships traveling between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

Türkiye’s natural wonders are not limited to this essay. One must visit the country to truly dig for the other hidden gems.

Drones Find New Uses

 

A Quadcopter Drone

Drones have divulged into more aspects of our modern life as they get technologically more complicated. Their versatile use comes as no surprise as they find new fields of implementation over time. The latest place where drones are starting to excel is the combat arena.

Drones had a limited use in the field of conflicts up until now. They were used as a means of surveillance, monitoring the situation on the battlefield. Equipped with the cutting-edge use of optics, drones surveyed and gathered intelligence about the other party in a conflict.

However, the latest developments around the conflict zones assigned drones new duties with additional capabilities. They now can be controlled by virtual reality goggles from a distance, which is called “First Person View.” This way it is much easier for the drone operator to steer and pinpoint the drones to any location.

Additionally, they have been installed with some explosive ordnance with which they can strike the enemy. A drone can now take out an enemy tank single-handedly.

The use of drones as a weapon brought about important tactical implications that must be taken into account by all sides of any conflict. Because drones are cheap to produce and capable of destroying expensive equipment, they changed the military doctrine forever.

First introduced to fulfill non-combat duties such as aerial photography, drones have come a long way. Their job on combat operations is well-consolidated now and is expected to continue in the future with a greater scope.

Economics of Football

Football has been at the forefront of the entertainment sector for the last 50 years. Masses of people gather around to watch their favorite team play. Not only do they fill the stadia, but also they use televisions or their phones to follow their teams’ performance on the pitch.

Because it has been so popular all over the world, football generates an insane amount of income for the clubs. Tickets, sponsorships, and advertisements bring in cash to the clubs. With such a steady source of income, clubs invest in bigger stadiums, which in turn lead to more income through sales of more tickets than before. Clubs also buy young talents who have the potential to grow into robust players, who could be sold to richer clubs for a considerable profit. This is the business cycle that we see surrounding the triangle formed by clubs, players, and fans.

Yet, football cannot always be profitable as one would expect. Ill-decisions given by clubs as to the transfer policies might be a step backwards. Make too many of such transfers and you will end up with an income loss. If clubs do not behave professionally in managing the team, they might also lose their competitiveness in the sports arena, which might deprive them of a valuable fan base. Without a reliable fan base, the club will not be able to sell tickets or merchandise, which poses as another loss-incurring reality.

Clubs getting poorer in such a fashion experience a downward spiral that can see the team off, making them struggle for years in lower leagues.

No matter how dependent on money football is nowadays, it still is beautiful.