Sunday 17 April 2011

Blowing stuff up

Semtex or RPG - that’s a rocket-propelled grenade? Semtex will give you a big bang, but you need a detonator and a time-delay, unless you want to go bang with it. And you have to get your semtex pretty close to where you want your bang to be. An RPG can be fired from some distance away, so you don’t have to get into the building past security and CCTV. On the other hand, semtex is a lot smaller to carry around (if a bit smelly), whereas an RPG might be a bit noticeable were you to carry one round on your shoulder in the city centre.

So there I am, trying to blow up a national landmark in the name of fiction. Wikipedia and the internet are wonderful things, as is a husband with a background in the Territorial Army. And I’m wondering what on earth anybody would think if they were monitoring my browsing history. So this post will be a witness to the fact that I’m a writer, not a terrorist. OK?

2 comments:

M J Francis said...

You know, that's a fair point, and it's one that's crossed my mind when I'm researching. I was researching arson at one time. Somebody might have thought I was trying to get tips on what to use and how to cover my tracks!

Debbie Bennett said...

I spent some time a few years ago updating standard crime codes at work - *very* explicit sexual definitions - and had to send the file by email, pinging alarm bells & firewalls across the country! Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Does anybody monitor internet traffic in this way?