Why Do Pilots Say ‘Roger’? Not Everyone in WWII Could Speak English…..

Even if you haven’t heard it in real life, I’m guessing you’ve heard a pilot on TV say “Roger.” I bet you’ve even heard pilots say “Roger Wilco.” Have you ever wondered who Roger Wilco is? And why pilots like to say his name?

OK, Hollywood may have complicated it some what, like the example below – we all know what film this came from, don’t we?!

Roger Murdock: Flight 2-0-9’er, you are cleared for take-off.

Captain Oveur: Roger!

Roger Murdock: Huh?

Tower voice: L.A. departure frequency, 123 point 9’er.

Captain Oveur: Roger!

Roger Murdock: Huh?

Victor Basta: Request vector, over.

Captain Oveur: What?

Tower voice: Flight 2-0-9’er cleared for vector 324.

Roger Murdock: We have clearance, Clarence.

Captain Oveur: Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?

Tower voice: Tower’s radio clearance, over!

Captain Oveur: That’s Clarence Oveur. Over.

Tower voice: Over.

Captain Oveur: Roger.

Roger Murdock: Huh?

Tower voice: Roger, over!

Roger Murdock: What?

Captain Oveur: Huh?

Victor Basta: Who?

According to The Straight Dope, in 1927 “Roger” was the word chosen to represent the letter “R,” which is, of course, the first letter in the word “received.” In other words, a pilot would receive instructions, and to indicate he had received them, he’d say “Roger.” Why didn’t he just say “received”? Well, during WWII, not everyone spoke English, but “R” — or “Roger” — became the internationally accepted way of acknowledging receipt of instructions. (Of course, in 1957 the word “Roger” was replaced with the word “Romeo” but by that time, “Roger” and “received” were synonymous.)

So what about “Wilco”? Its story is even simpler: it’s an abbreviation of “will comply.” So when pilots say “Roger Wilco,” what they mean is “I received your instructions, and I will follow them.”

Roger?

Sources, 1,2,3

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10 Hotels Made With Weird Things

1) Card Keys

This building was built from 200,000 card keys. Each room and every wall, even the toilets, are made of card keys. The hotel was built by Bryan Berg, who has a world record in building a house of cards. (Link)

2) Containers

The Tonghe Shanzi Landscape Design company has built their incredible five star Xiang Xiang Xiang Pray House hotel entirely out of shipping containers! Looking like a drab shipping container village from the outside, the hotel oozes luxurious design inside its twenty-one cozy guest rooms, arranged on a hillside in Changski, China. Each room is fitted with traditional Chinese décor, skylights, high-design furniture and more!

The container hotels could also be designed in one city, and easily transported to another, making pop-up hotels possible anywhere. The Xiang Xiang Pray House will open in August of 2012. (Link)

3) Chocolate

Karl Lagerfeld has designed a hotel made entirely of chocolate.
This eccentric designer has created "The Magnum Chocolate Hotel Suite" to celebrate the launch of Magnum Ecuador and Ghana ice creams, which are made with specially selected cocoa beans sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms in Ecuador and Ghana. Using 10.5 tonnes of chocolate, it includes a chocolate sculpture of French male model, Karl's muse, Baptise Giabiconi, draped seductively on the chocolate bed. (Link)

4) Clay, reed, wood and shell stone

Located near Orel's riverbank, 18 miles away from the city of Dnepropertrovsk in the Ukraine, the Friend Hotel is steeped in a lush and green forest. Before its construction, Ryntovt Design did an extended ecological analysis taking into account the local resources and energy of the area. The interior spaces are harmonious with the beautiful outdoors, and only "ecologically harmless materials" like clay, reed, wood, and shell stone, were used in construction. (Link)

5) Tubes

Designed by t3arc, the recycled pipe TuboHotel accommodates two people in a queen-size bed with panoramic views of the Sierra del Tepozteco, Mexico. The goal in designing the modular hotel was to build fast and affordable accommodation. (Link)

6) Railway Carriages

This amazing hotel, named “Controversy Inn,” consists of four train carriages recycled into a building that is comfortable, with beds that have a theme, and a breakfast room. "Controversy" is located at Farm in Hoogwoud, the Netherlands. This eco-hotel consists of various vintage items that are recycled into something new again. Like a table made of boards of traffic signs, and even a bed made from old ships. (Link)

7) Sand

They have the sun, the sand, and the sea, but you can't get much more of the beach where they've also got the world's largest and only sand castle hotel, made entirely of sand on Weymouth beach in Dorset, UK.

The open air family room with a sea-side view has a double and a single bed made of sand which will set you back a mere $21 (£10) a night to sleep under the starry skies. You can wake up to the ocean when the “tide laps through the door.” (Link)

8) Salt

Palacio de Sal (Spanish for “Salt Palace”) is a hotel built from salt blocks. It is located at the edge of the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, 350 kms south of Bolivia's capital, La Paz.

The hotel walls are made of salt blocks stuck together with a cement-like substance made of salt and water. During rainy seasons, the walls are strengthened with new blocks, while the owners ask the guests to avoid licking the walls to prevent deterioration.(Link | Via)

9) Caravans

Crazy project by a group of friends from Berlin, Germany, urban camping under a roof! To achieve this, they refurbished an old factory in Neukolln, renovated the hangar, then set out to transform it into a hotel by installing old caravans and mobile homes. Called Hutten Palast, which could translate to "Caravan Palace," you sleep in the privacy of your caravan, while sharing common areas under a roof. The furniture and decor were hunted for by the owners. The hotel also has a terrace garden and a cafe restaurant. (Link)

10) Wine Casks

Ever fall asleep alongside a good glass of French wine? How about inside a cask of a good French wine? The De Vrouwe van Stavoren Hotel in the Netherlands salvaged four wine casks from Switzerland and converted them into rooms.

Formerly filled with 14,500 liters of Beaujolais wine from a French chateau, each now holds a modest two-person room with standard amenities and even an attached bathroom and sitting room. Visitors from all around the world have traveled to the quaint northern port town of Stavoren to stay in one of these upcycled rooms. (Link)

Source: Oddee

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10 Weirdest Photos of People Waiting in Line

Did you wait in line for the new iPhone 5 in normal street clothes? Obviously, you don't love Apple enough, because you didn't dress up like this man in Ginza District, Tokyo, Japan. (Link)

(Link)

Steve Jobs fan waiting for the then released iPhone 4 in October, 2011. (Link)

LA fan. (Link)

If you've ever been to China, you'll know that waiting in line isn't exactly a habit that everyone appreciates. I remember trying to buy a subway ticket in Shanghai, and I had to literally elbow my way to the front of the line…or I'd never get my ticket. Well, in an effort to change that, a group of people in Zhengzhou got together and wore t-shirts that read, “Stop squeezing” with freaky white masks. Kinda weird, but definitely attention-grabbing. (Link)

Waiting in line outside an Apple store is no longer just for fans: it's business. Two enterprising guys put up tent space and chair space on website airbnb for spots in line for the iPhone 4 launch. A spot in the San Francisco tent — for the full-on can't-wait-for-it fanboy experience — would run you $400 a night, more than the price of the iPhone 4 at that time. (Link)

Sometimes waiting in line is not an option. (Link)

Brides wait in line to get married during a mass wedding ceremony at the construction site of the soccer stadium that will host the opening match of the World Cup in 2014, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 17. Sixty-two grooms who work on the construction of the stadium were married in a ceremony organized by the construction company. (Link)

Meanwhile on the other side of the line:

(Link)
Source: Oddee.com

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9 Coolest Elevators

It seems like a brilliant idea to lift the mood of workers by sticking more than 1,300 Jaffa Cakes to the walls of an office block's lift. However, with the average person's tongue home to billions of bacteria, some will ask if this outlandish stunt really is a good idea.

Food technicians and artists took a month to install the unique walls inside the lift of the offices of the communications firm Engine on Great Portland Street, Central London. McVitie's Jaffa Cakes said they were inspired by the glass elevator in when making the lift. (Link)

Coolest elevator in Queens, NY. At first glance it seems like an old boring looking apartment, until it opens its doors. (Link)

This is the cool new boutique Hotel Palomar Philadelphia, a Kimpton Hotel, in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. In the heart of Center City Philadelphia, it is a testament to superior eco-friendly hotel design, personalized service and genuinely warm hospitality.

Even the inside of the elevators are cool, as you can see from these photos. (Link)

The glass floored bathroom built atop a 15 story empty elevator shaft is located in Guadalajara, Mexico. This insanely terrifying penthouse bathroom was designed by Hernandez Silva. (Link | Via)

The AquaDom in Berlin, Germany is a 25 meter tall cylindrical acrylic glass aquarium with built-in transparent elevator. It is located at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Berlin-Mitte. The DomAquarée complex also contains a hotel, offices, a restaurant, and the aquarium's sea life center.

It cost about 12.8 million euros to construct. The acrylic glass cylinder was constructed by the U.S. company Reynolds Polymer Technology. The outside cylinder was manufactured on-site from four pieces and the inside cylinder for the elevator was delivered in one piece.

The Aquadom is the largest acrylic glass cylinder in the world, with a diameter of over 11 meters, built on a 9 meters tall concrete foundation. Filled with about 900,000 liters of seawater, it contains some 2,600 fish of 56 species. The feeding of the fish and the cleaning of the fish tank is performed daily by a pair of full-time divers.

The SkyView is probably one of the most significant elevator projects in recent years. Engineered by Swedish Liftbyggarna it is characterized as a funicular system with a sophisticated leveling system. Built on a structure argued as the biggest spherical building in the world (Globen), it provides a breathtaking ride over the stadium's grounds and Stockholm's cityscape. (Link)

With their stark, curving metallic exteriors and glowing visor-shaped windows, the elevators at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart are as much fun to watch rise and fall along tracks in the museum's atrium as they are to ride. The trip only takes about 30 seconds so feel free to ride multiple times. You might want to pop off every once in a while to see the exhibits, covering 125 years of motoring landmarks, and to see the inspiration behind the elevators' uber-modern look.

Love this. It's the Gingerbread Express—a specially decorated elevator that takes guests up to the hotel's restaurant Sixteen. However, it's not just any old elevator. This one is embellished with nearly 1,000 cookie bricks, 222 pounds of frosting, 178 pounds of sugar, and 103 pounds of chocolate. Located at the Trump Chicago, Illinois. (Link)

Imagine: you are heading to work, the daily grind, trudging along with coffee in hand and suitcase by your side. However, when the elevator arrives to pick you up the doors open to a homey, highly decorated and furnished living room with only a semi-surprised resident inside.

Starting early one morning (and staying until late that night), an industrious Dutch art student transformed a simple small elevator space into the epitome of a cozy apartment - complete with table, coffee maker, lights, books, shoes, slippers, shelves, hangers, a clock, mirror and the makings of a series of meals (as well as a phone to place an order for pizza delivery in the evening). (Link)
Source: Oddee.com

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Trendiest Tattoos of 2012

UV Tattoos have always seemed pretty gimmicky to me, until now. Finally a use of the glow in the dark ink that actually makes sense! Done by tattoo artist Kennith Bryan of Intimate Body Art Studios, this is really great work, and I am sure Yoda would approve. In this case, this dedicated Star Wars fan is definitely doing and not trying. (Link | Via)

This tattoo is not Photoshopped -it IS Photoshop! Megan Orsi is "the girl with the Photoshop tattoo." The web designer started using Photoshop in middle school, and just recently got the toolbar inked on her arm. (Link | Via)

Tardar Sauce, aka Grumpy Cat, has finally reached the ultimate point of internet stardom by becoming the subject of a tattoo. The person sporting this grumpy ink clearly knows how Tard feels, and has agreed to Hate Everything for the rest of their life. (Link | Via)

You knew it was coming. Here it is: the tattoo of Psy of Gangnam Style fame by music lover and tattoo artist Jefferson Bernardo Correa, AKA Jeffinho Tattow. Most excellent! (Via)

Flowers, angels, hearts or a beloved's name figure among the most popular tattoo designs. An insulin pump isn't even on the list. However, for the parents of a five-year-old Quebec boy with Type 1 diabetes, getting inked with an image of a pump — in the same spot on their bellies as their son is outfitted with a real pump — is an act of love.

Camille Boivin and Philippe Aumond of La Sarre, Que. sought out a tattoo artist in Joliette — a nine-hour drive from their home — to re-create a pump that their boy Jacob, 5, has to wear for his survival.
(Link)

This is Eric Hartsburg, an Indiana man who tattooed the Romney-Ryan campaign logo on his face after auctioning off the stunt for $5,000 on eBay. Now he wants to get his tattoo lasered off. It's going to cost thousands of dollars and take about a year. (Link)

A Dutch tattoo artist has created an incredible optical illusion artwork on her daughter's forearm that makes it look like she's taking a photograph. Brunssum-based tattoo artist Helma van der Weide's tattoo for her daughter Lotte van den Acker shows a vintage 1970s Ashahi Pentax 35mm SLR, an iconic design that influenced generations of cameras.

The picture has received more than 35,000 likes on the Tattooed Women Facebook page.
(Via)

A grandmother who was left completely bald by alopecia has ditched her wig in favor of something a little more permanent - a tattoo covering her entire head. Ann McDonald, 60, suffers from alopecia and also has a thyroid problem which resulted in all of her hair falling out three years ago. The grandmother-of-three was inspired to get the overlapping floral design, which cost £720, after becoming fed up with having to wear wigs and hats. (Link)

Tattoo with a matching owl necklace. (Link)

Barmy Baz Franks spent £1,000 and six hours in the dentist's chair to get his royal “gnasher tat,” and it wasn't even done in prison. (Link)
Read more at Oddee

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Miniature Model

1. Paris

Gerard Brion took up the challenge of building a miniature model of Paris 15 years ago. With 18,000 hours of painstaking work logged, he has crafted a miniature city, known as Le Petit Paris, in his garden in Vaissaic in the South of France out of salvaged items like old concrete blocks, baby food jars and soup tins. 150,000 visitors a year experience over 40 Paris monuments, such as the Champs Elysées, Montmartre, the Seine River, and the Eiffel Tower on a 1:130 scale set in a French-style garden planted with 400 bonsais.

2. Madurodam – The Netherlands

Madurodam is opened all year round. The canal houses of Amsterdam, the Alkmaar cheese market and parts of the Delta Works, all replicated in minute detail on a 1:25 scale. All is set in beautiful gardens. Windmills turn, ships sail through the harbor and trains are traversing the city on the world’s largest miniature railway.

3. Moscow

Take a trip back in time with this 400 square feet model. Created in 1977 by 300 workers for the 60th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, is a very detailed depiction of the USSR’s capital. This scaled piece of propaganda by Russian artist Efim Deshalyt was designed to be visited and admired and ultimately to show that the Soviet Union’s capital was more magnificent than any Western capital. It is currently for sale with an asking price of $3 million dollars.

4. Sugar City

Artist Meschac Gaba imagined a city of sugar, and then built it. Models of some of the world’s most instantly recognizable buildings form part of an exhibition called Port City at the Greenland Street gallery in Liverpool.

He filled it with instantly recognizable landmarks from around the world, such as the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the London Eye, Petronas Towers, the Reichstag, the Empire State Building, and more. There are 600 buildings in the fantasy city, which measures 30 feet by 20 feet and took two years to build.

5. City of Biscuits

Chinese artist Song Dong used thousands of biscuits and sweets to create a replica of an Asian city complete with a stadium and a church. The cityscape, installed in London department store Selfridges, was comprised of over 72,000 edible treats including caramels and fruit shortcake. Once it was completed, customers were invited to dig in.

6. Origami City

An origami artist from Japan, Wataru Ito, has spent four years crafting an incredible model city from paper. The entire piece – which measures 2.4m by 1.8m and is 1m high – has been crafted using only paper, which Wataru stuck together using craft glue, an art knife and a hole puncher.

7. Toothpick City

Stan Munro builds famous landmarks out of millions of toothpicks. This Toothpick City took him six years. It is build with six million toothpicks and 170 liters of glue. Stan Munro works for the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse, New York, USA.

8. Minato-ku, Tokyo

Located in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, a 1:1000 scale model of Minato-ku in exquisite detail is on display. The scale model was recently used to show potential sites for Tokyo’s bid for the 2012 Olympics.

Each building was photographed by helicopter and by car with the composite image used for the model. The entire process took over 14 months.

The model covers the area from Yoyogi Park, Shibuya, Azabu, Roppongi, Shinagawa and the man-made islands of Tsukishima and Kachidoki.

9. Chongqing City Model

A view taken on Sept. 14, 2005 shows the model of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality at the city planning exhibition hall in Chongqing. The 892-square meters-wide model, representing the overall view of this mountainous city with a scale of 1:750, boasts to be the largest of its kind in China.

10. New York City made from staples

The artist Peter Root, from Guernsey, spent 40 hours standing 100,000 staples on end to build his latest work of art: New York-style miniature city made from staples. And he’ll take just seconds to destroy it – by knocking it over with marbles.

Source

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