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INeedAFinancialAdvisor
June 6th, 2021, 12:59 AM
Archive.org is a fascinating website, and probably one of the most valuable and underrated sites on the entire internet

As I was searching for documents with the words "fountain pen" I stumbled on this series of 5 back and forth letters from someone at the Pentagon in WW2, and the Waterman pen company in an attempt to get a new cap for a 25 year old eye dropper.

It's a fun read.

https://archive.org/details/41732239077147/mode/2up

The funniest part is how long it went back and forth for... I mean, at what point does a man break down and just BUY A NEW PEN already!?

I guess there was no shortage of dip pens lying around in the Pentagon in late '43/early '44...

An old bloke
June 6th, 2021, 08:29 PM
Does anyone else see the irony that a man who describes himself as 'an old-fashioned man who does not take readily to new fangled ideas' is a 'Director of Communications Research'?

INeedAFinancialAdvisor
June 7th, 2021, 02:02 AM
Apparently according to someone’s research on fpn he was the guy who broke “purple “ in ww2. In that case, the man is (IMO) entitled to his eccentricities :)

But yes. I do see your point :)

An old bloke
June 7th, 2021, 12:01 PM
Knowing that the US Army's signal intelligence (SIG INT) units in Vietnam were officially labelled 'Radio Research' units, I had an intuition that the job title was ambiguous enough that he was involved with radio intercepts and cryptography, but neglected to research the man. My faux pas.

INeedAFinancialAdvisor
June 7th, 2021, 04:10 PM
Knowing that the US Army's signal intelligence (SIG INT) units in Vietnam were officially labelled 'Radio Research' units, I had an intuition that the job title was ambiguous enough that he was involved with radio intercepts and cryptography, but neglected to research the man. My faux pas.

The SIGINT world attracts some… unique personalities…

;)

But in fairness, i didn’t reach him either, i just liked the letters

An old bloke
June 7th, 2021, 04:39 PM
Knowing that the US Army's signal intelligence (SIG INT) units in Vietnam were officially labelled 'Radio Research' units, I had an intuition that the job title was ambiguous enough that he was involved with radio intercepts and cryptography, but neglected to research the man. My faux pas.

The SIGINT world attracts some… unique personalities…

;)



True. A quick read through the history of (and a look at some of those who inhabited) Bletchley Park between beginning of 1940 and the end of 1945 is proof of that.

INeedAFinancialAdvisor
June 7th, 2021, 08:49 PM
Agreed.

I also can independently confirm this remains true today.

Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies :P

An old bloke
June 7th, 2021, 10:13 PM
Speaking of SIG INT; a digression if I may. There is this in today's news: https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/06/08/operation-ironside-drugs-underworld-sting/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News%20Alert%20-%2020210608

INeedAFinancialAdvisor
June 7th, 2021, 10:30 PM
Brilliant trick

they (the gang) should have just followed Elon Musk's advice:

btw, being slightly pedantic; its usually styled "SIGINT" not "SIG INT"

An old bloke
June 8th, 2021, 12:31 PM
btw, being slightly pedantic; its usually styled "SIGINT" not "SIG INT"

True, and I know it. The toss up was a choice of the acronym and grammar. Grammar won -- sort of... :)

INeedAFinancialAdvisor
June 8th, 2021, 02:18 PM
for me, the Acronym wins.

Cyril
June 25th, 2021, 04:34 AM
If the NSA or Three Letter agency want a replacement now in our time,
...they want a waterman to have a cap with. Wi-FI tag embedded and a camera ( iPhone style) to detect sounds/thermo detected frequency analyse and Amazon Alexsa /Side walk compatibility .
And also when the pen writes with the cap posted every words it Writes will be saved automatically to Fake book cloud/ Amazon cloud _BIG BROTHER. SUCKING SUCKERBERG AND APPLE CLOUD. connected through E-Musk's Star link High speed Mafia internet.:shocked:
THE TECHNOLOGY!!!! TECHNOLOGY !!!!