Digital Electronic Scales
Consider how the need for digital electronic scales affected two young men who lived almost three thousand miles apart on a warm June day just last year. The first young man lived in eastern Pennsylvania on a dairy farm, and the second in the city of Los Angeles. Each of these fellows would have the need for digital scales before too long for the exact same purpose, but for different circumstances and needing very different types of precision weighing instruments. Electronic weighing devices and digital counting scales would become the focus for both of them. "Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 124:8)
Our easterner lived on a farm and belonged to the local high school 4-H club. Farming was in his blood and the teen was planning a degree in agriculture at the state university. In three weeks the young man would enter the hog that he had raised for almost a year in the state fair livestock competition, and from all the information that could be gathered, the animal had a very good chance of taking home a blue ribbon. The money received from the sale of the animal could at least help pay for books the first couple of years at college. Have you seen the price of college books lately? Whew! The second young man was in seventh grade and attended an all year round school where the annual science fair was taking place on the same day as the hog judging in Pennsylvania. The young man was doing a study on various diets for mice, and their effect on weight gain and soon the student would need digital electronic scales to score well in the science fair.
The Californian, who would soon need digital counting scales for his project, had raised three mice on three different diets for two and a half months. The mice were all part of the same brood born to a female in captivity at a pet store and looked to be about the same size when brought home for the grand experiment. The young student's mother was a lab technician and worked late hours, so it was made very clear that the student was in charge of the mice totally as well as the science fair project itself. The student began getting the posters ready and looking forward to the fair. The young man had hypothesized that one of the diets would bring more weight gain than the other two diets.
The 4-H student had made this hog a life mission to score big at the state fair. The student had weighed the pig every two weeks to track its growth through the fall, winter and spring. The hog's weight rapid weight gain would put a bariatric physician into full blown depression. In a little under a year, the porker had put on over a thousand pounds. The young farmer did not have access to any digital electronic scales, so the student used his father's fairly rusty and ancient livestock weighing device in the barn to chart the behemoth's growth. Optimism around the farm, at school, at the student's local church and newspaper hung heavy like over ripe apples in an orchard.
The Los Angeles student came to the youthful realization two days before the science fair that there was no method of weighing these tiny white creatures. As many seventh graders might do, crisis mode suddenly hit with full force. The student stayed up until his mother arrived home and asked what now? Of course, motherly instinct took over and she tucked him in the car at eleven thirty at night and took him to the lab where she worked. The lab had over fifteen different digital counting scales, used for weighing numbers of things such as pharmaceuticals. Other industries used digital counting scales for weighing such things as screws, electrical components, and things needing a weigh tolerance of up to a millionth of an ounce. The caring mom took him into the darkened lab and he was able to weight the three little white beauties, and found his hypothesis to be correct, but only by three grams.
On the same day at the state fair, each hog entrant was weighed on a large set of digital electronic scales. Weighing on these precision scales, the young man's hog came in at twenty two pounds, three ounces heavier than in the barn at home. These scales, meant to weigh objects up to two thousand pounds were accurate to within one tenth of one percent. Later in the day, the close second in the competition came in at four pounds and eight ounces lighter than the eastern student's hog. The young man took home over fifteen hundred dollars for his hard work. He also bought a new piglet and began another quest for next year.
Highly accurate weighing devices are needed in today's industries where profit margins are often razor thin before any calculations even get started. Digital electronic scales are used to weigh everything from baby elephants to semi trucks, and digital counting scales are used for smaller and more precise measurements. A lot of people think that God will use scales to figure out whether we can enter heaven. The more good deeds, the more kind thoughts, the more church attendance and the more charity money donated equals a much better chance of tipping the scales towards eternal life. God's method is much simpler: do we have belief in the fact that Jesus died for our sins and that His bodily resurrection proves He is who He says He is, Almighty God?
Electronic Digital CompassAn electronic digital compass watch is a great gift idea for the gadget-loving, outdoor adventurer. Whether the lucky recipient spends weekend hours and vacations hiking through mountainous terrains, biking through forest trails, or swimming through underwater caves, or perhaps all three, he can use a watch that does more than merely tell time. Though there is some disagreement on the direction-telling ability of digital compass watches, the weekend warrior is sure to appreciate the thick gadgetry that can be attached to his wrist by a mere leather strap. After all, these timepieces have come along way from grandfather's mechanical pocket watch. In all likelihood, the time-telling, direction-pointing watch will come with a lot more sports and camping-related features. It's practically a given that digital compass watches will be both weather-resistant and water-resistant. However, the serious diver will want to check the specifications for how far down into the seas this water-resistance will last as it can vary by a couple of hundred feet depending on the particular watch.
Purchasing such a multi-function gadget, whether as a gift for someone else or for one's own personal needs, can be an adventure in itself. Just how many different functions can a person strap around one wrist? In one word -- lots! There was a time when telling the time was enough. Then the time came when everyone just had to have a watch that showed the date. But these are quaint reminders of days gone by. Today's timely technological wonder has a chronometer and lap recording feature for the runner and altimeter for the mountain climber. The barometer, thermometer, and small symbols help with weather forecasting. Multiple alarms keep the multi-tasker on track. And an electro-luminescent backlight allows the adventurer to see all these features even at midnight.
Not surprisingly, the electronic digital compass watch loaded with these extra features comes with an instruction manual. It's no longer as simple as pushing one or two buttons to set the month, date, and time. Even the simplest feature, the clock, can be set in either a twelve-hour a.m. and p.m. format or the military twenty-four format. The runner training for an upcoming 5K will need to know just how that lap recording feature works and the camper needs to figure out all those weather forecasting symbols. The compass needs to be calibrated, and considering how some compasses seem to work better than others, it also needs to be compared to an accurate compass. This is why some reviewers of digital compass watches suggest buying a cheap wristwatch and a high quality compass instead of the combination. The directional ability of compasses can be affected by proximity of batteries and magnets so the explorer will most definitely want to ensure the reliability and sturdiness of his north-pointing gadget before entrusting his life to its accuracy when hiking through the mountains.
An electronic digital compass, without the time-keeping and other extraneous features, may be a better choice for the serious explorer. The explanation for the differences between two-axis magnetic and three-axis magnetic compasses involves understanding axis sensors, gravitational vectors, and tilt-sensing elements. Suffice it to say, that highly-sensitive, accurate, and dependable compasses are available for the serious outdoorsman and sports enthusiast. They may not tell the time, forecast the weather, record laps, or wake up the sleeping, but they will, when properly calibrated, serve their navigational purpose of pointing the way. Compasses can also be purchased that are specially designed for small aircraft and marine vessels. Of course, the advent of global positional technology has created a quick-growing market for GPS products to be used in automobiles. These devices do much more than show the driver which direction the car is heading; they tell the driver how to get to where she wants to go. The latest models can assist the driver in locating specific restaurants, shops, and landmarks just by entering the request into the system. With continued advancements in global positional technology, it's possible that even the electronic digital compass will someday be as quaint as the old-fashioned pocket watch.
The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, once wrote these familiar words: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us" (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10). From this Old Testament book, we know that the king tried to find fulfillment in large building projects, possessions, and pleasure. But he eventually reaches this conclusion: "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13b). Living as we do in an internet age that seems to bring new discoveries practically every day, we may be tempted to dismiss the wise king's teachings. But the technological principles that give us multi-functional watches and sophisticated compasses existed long before our day and long before King Solomon. They were set in the laws of God's creation when the universe was spoken into existence. King Solomon is right. "There is no new thing under the sun."
Exploring the mysteries of God's creation whether hiking or biking, camping or diving, is a great way to spend a weekend. A must-have for the serious adventurer is a dependable electronic digital compass that is accurately calibrated. Though digital compass watches combine directional capability with telling time, and will probably include a lot of other fun features, the available options should be carefully researched and considered. Otherwise, the explorer might know exactly what time it is and whether or not it's going to rain, but not know the way back to camp.