2672: Heliograph Apr 11, 2022

Morse code was used along with early technologies that transmitted data across great distances. A variety of media were used, but things like optical telegraphs or electric telegraphs required a certain amount of infrastructure and constant operators. Conversely, the heliograph was used, most often with Morse code, as a way to send a signal using the reflection of sunlight in a mirror often on a tripod, which could be shuttered at the correct intervals to create a visual signal. While this necessitated some amount of sunshine and a clear line of sight, they were useful for military use, surveying and forestry, and other remote, outdoor work. In Pakistan, these were standard issue in the military as late as 1975.

2669: Q-Codes Apr 8, 2022

Morse code can be send fairly quickly, but as with any system, it eventually developed its own abbreviations. There were hundreds of these, but some were more particular than others. Q-codes are particular in two ways: all begin with the letter Q, and they have been designed for use various branches of the military, beginning in 1912. Although scores exist, the first dozen were various naval codes, each with a certain meaning depending on whether a question or answer. For instance:

•QRA: (question) What ship or coast station is that? (answer) This is...

•QRC: (question) What is your true bearing? (answer) true bearing is … degrees

These were later expanded, but always with a question-answer format.

2381: camp Jun 25, 2021

The word 'camp' relating to an open field for lodging is not so surprisingly the same as would be found with 'campus', but neither of these have the explicitly militaristic use that was once seen. While French for instance also has the word 'champ' (field), the root in Latin and then Old English had the sense of "contest; battle" hence phrases like 'camp-fever'. This is also related to the Old High German 'hamf' (paralyzed; maimed). Even in the 19th century, when the word 'camp' had moved on from militaristic senses, it took on religious ones as in 'followers of a doctrine', a sense still seen in reference to ideological battle, including secular academic ones. The sense of 'camp' as a hobby or sporting activity was developed from its use for military but it by a historical framework relatively new.