![]() One fact explains all of these points - by definition, a GPS receiver uses radio waves to communicate with satellites that are 11,000 miles above the Earth's surface. Don't work well indoors, under dense tree cover or in urban areas with tall buildings.Ī GPS receiver uses the position of three or more satellites to determine a person's location - not one, as implied in the novel.Are accurate to somewhere between 13 and 328 feet (4 and 100 meters).The unit described in the book would also have to fit a power source and a second radio transmitter into its tiny shell in order to communicate with police computers. Can be small, but they're usually bigger than a watch battery.He has written for many television shows, ranging from "Sesame Street" to "Family Ties" to "Frasier." He has also read many books, some of them on the ground. Lloyd Garver writes a weekly column for. Somehow, it made me write a discussion of "The Da Vinci Code" in which my main point is that there's too much discussion about it. In the meantime, I'm pretty sick of seeing things having to do with "The Da Vinci Code." But I can't deny its power. I guess it will all blow over after the movie's out for a while. I wonder how many more movie tickets will be sold because of the opposition of religious leaders. It has only made "The Da Vinci Code" even more popular. Of course, the author, publisher, and filmmakers are doing nothing to extinguish the controversy. So, why has "The Da Vinci Code" - a piece of fiction - touched such a nerve in our culture? They'd think it was either stupid or amusing, but not an attack on their religion. If I wrote a humorous story and said that some archaeologists discovered that Moses was actually given tablets with eleven commandments, not ten, and the eleventh commandment was, "Thou shalt always turn off the light when thou leavest a room," I don't think religious leaders would be upset. How different has some of the reaction to the fictional Da Vinci Code been?ĢAnd come on, how offensive do they really think a movie from Tom Hanks and Ron Howard is going to be? When religious people in the Middle East condemn a work of art, a cartoon, or a piece of fiction, we label them irrational extremists. Don't all of those who feel that it's sacrilegious know it's a novel? It's just a story. Of course, it's inaccurate - it's fiction!Īnd that's what I don't get. When I was in Indianapolis, I watched a late-night TV preacher demonstrate point by point how inaccurate the book was. Other religious groups are equally aghast. The pope is not a fan of the book and he's not going to be a cheerleader for the movie. The other element that has surprised me has been the outrage that many people feel about the book. ![]() And even if I had given the book the benefit of the doubt, I never would have guessed that it would have spawned a popular jigsaw puzzle. And I couldn't say anybody is "wrong" for liking the book or even thinking it's a great work of art. Declaring a book to be "good" or "bad" is a subjective thing. It's happened before - especially around election time. I know millions of people disagree with me. I'm not saying "The Da Vinci Code" is a bad book, but a 747 seems a much more appropriate place for it than a library. They are filled with so many holes in logic that they are best not discussed - or even thought about - after you have landed and grabbed your bag from the overhead bin. They are heavy on fast, page-turning plot, and light on character development. You don't care if you spill something on them. They are the kind of books that are best read in between destinations, at least 30,000 feet above sea level. ![]() You usually buy them at the airport store, and you read them all the way through on the flight. I considered it to be in that genre of literature that I call "airplane books." You know what I'm talking about. When I read the book, I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. I don't fall into either of these categories. Some people feel the book is a wonderful piece of literature, and others feel it is offensive blasphemy.
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