You may or may not have noticed my recent absence from the blogosphere, but I have been offline for several days. My computer could not connect to the internet; it advised me that "A network cable is disconnected." I did everything I could think of, including unplugging and re-plugging all the cables more than once, but ultimately had to call the internet provider, who informed me that they could send someone out on Monday. Well, what could I do but wait (very impatiently) until Monday, which has now arrived. So a little while ago, the Zoomtown guy came in and messed with some things, trying to determine the cause of the malfunction. I thought for sure it was the fault of my computer, likely requiring some time-consuming and costly repair.
visualization of a portion of the routes on the internet (Wikipedia)
an assortment of computer cards
But, no. A screw had come out, causing the little card that allows my computer to cozy up with Zoomtown to come loose. A SCREW?!!! I couldn't believe it- me, a woman who has actually built log houses, foiled by something so incredibly low-tech!
Of course, strictly speaking, a screw is technology. In fact, it's physics. I swear, I'm not kidding! It's one of the six simple machines of basic physics. According to Wikipedia:
A screw is one of the six simple machines. All screws are helical inclined planes. A screw can convert a rotational force (torque) to a linear force and vice versa. The ratio of threading determines the mechanical advantage of the machine. More threading increases the mechanical advantage.
The etymology of the word is also kind of interesting:
Middle French escroue (“‘nut, socket’”) (Modern French ecroue, from Latin scrofa (“‘sow’”), referring to the screw-like tip of a boar's penis. (Wiktionary)Couldn't have lived without knowing that, huh?
