Top 10 Misconceptions About Technology: 1. It is dangerous to use a cellphone at a gas station. This misconception came about due to a bunch of emails being spread around the Internet describing cases of explosions caused by cellphone use. The emails were purported to have been sent by Shell Oil. When questioned, Shell denied sending the emails. Furthermore, not only has there never been a case of a cellphone causing an explosion at a gas station, no one has been able to prove that it is even possible in scientific testing. According to Snopes: “News reports routinely attribute gas pump fires to cell phone use whenever a fire occurs at a service station where such a phone was in use at the time, and police and firefighters at the scene often simply assume the connection between the two to be valid.” Despite this complete lack of evidence of likelihood of accident, Australia and New Zealand both display signs at gas stations telling people to turn off cellphones and the city of Cicero in Illinois has made the use of cellphones at gas stations illegal. 2. Charles Lindbergh was the first man to fly the Atlantic Ocean. Charles Lindbergh was not the first man to fly the Atlantic Ocean, although he was the first to have flown across it solo. The first flight had been done first in stages between May 8 and May 31, 1919, by the crew of the Navy-Curtiss NC-4 flying boat which took 24 days to complete its journey. The first truly non-stop transatlantic flight was made in 1919 by John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown in a modified Vickers View bomber. 3. The US Highway system was designed to allow planes to land in emergencies. The United States Interstate Highway System was not designed with airplane landings in mind. 4. Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press or movable type Johannes Gutenberg was not the first to invent the printing press or movable type; these were in use in China and Korea centuries before. Gutenberg was the first European to use movable type, and he probably invented it independently. 5. Web cookies are dangerous and should be avoided In fact, cookies are plain text files which a website can store on your computer with information to manage your browsing. Unless there is a security flaw in your Web browser. 6. Apple Macs don’t get viruses While it is true that Macs almost never get viruses, it is also true that there are some in existence. 7. Hitler created the autobahn Many people believe that Hitler and the National conceived of the idea of the first Autobahn (essentially a large motorway) in Germany (and the first laned free public motorway in the world). But in fact the autobahn was built in 1931 and opened by Konrad Adenauer, the Mayor of Cologne. 8. Planes dump their toilet waste while up in the air Not only do planes not dump their waste mid- flight, it is also impossible for them to do so short of some kind of catastrophe which causes the waste tanks to explode open (because the valve is on the outside of the plane). When toilets are used on a plane, the waste is dumped into a special tank. The waste remains in the tank until the plane lands, and then special ground crew members pump the tanks. 9. Pong was the first video game Pong was invented in 1972 by Atari and it was an arcade style game that featured two opposing paddles and a ball with which you played virtual tennis. It was the first commercially successful video game and it launched the video game industry. 10. The web is the Internet This is a very common misconception, most likely brought about due to the fact that most people use the web as their almost exclusive method of using the Internet. Happy Sunday!!! PLEASE SHARE...
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 09:59:07 +0000