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Tag Archives: superpowers

Superpower: Invisibility

Did you know I have the power of invisibility?  It’s true!  But I shall qualify that statement: it is a very specific type of invisibility.

You see, I am mostly invisible to motion detectors that turn on lights.  I very rarely am able to trigger motion sensor lights.  That means that I often end up frightening people inside their homes when I knock because they expect their porch light to turn on because someone obviously should have triggered the motion sensor when going up and knocking on the door but surprise no one did so obviously it must be someone with Nefarious Purposes™ because why else would they sneak up on an unsuspecting house and knock on the door without triggering the motion sensor?  (The previous sentence contained 76 words.)

Being mostly invisible to motion sensors also means that I work in dark a lot at both THEM offices.   Both offices use motion sensors to trigger the main office lights.  Something about being green.  Well, that’s fine except that the lights are forever turning off on me.  Not that I mind, exactly.  I kind of like working in the dark.  But it also depends on what I’m doing.  Generally, the glow from the screen on my laptop is ample illumination for what I’m doing.  But sometimes it’s not, like when I’m reviewing code printout in extra small font because I didn’t want to waste paper.  It’s hard to read extra small font code in the dark with only the light of your laptop to illuminate things.  Those are the times that I turn on my handy-dandy magnetic desk lamp.  I really like that thing.  Except for the fluorescent bulb buzz.  But that’s not really the lamp’s fault.

Perhaps you are reading this post with great skepticism right now.  Perhaps you are just thinking that the motion sensors are all just poorly calibrated and are not sensitive enough.  Perhaps you are thinking that the motion sensor probably doesn’t react to anyone, not just me.  Aha!  But that is untrue.  In the case of people’s homes, the motion sensor turns on the lights for just about everyone who walks up to the door.  But not me.  In fact, we have a motion sensor controlled floodlight in front of my house.  It never turns on for me.  Interestingly enough, it also doesn’t turn on for my car when I drive up to the house even though it turns on for everyone else (and their cars).  It even turns on for Yaris.  Hmm…

At work, for one of the offices, I am in direct line-of-sight of one of the motion sensors that controls the main office lights.  No matter how much I wave my arms, it does not sense me.  So I work in the dark.  If one of my colleagues, should there be any in the office that day, looks up from his desk, the lights turn on.  There’s a red LED on the motion sensor housing that blinks when the sensor detects movement.  It does not blink when I move around but it blinks when other people move around in approximately the same manner.  I am invisible to it.

So there you have it.  I have the superpower of invisibility!  …to motion sensors that control lighting…

Real life superheroes

I write about superpowers a lot and superheros and superpowers go together. So, It has recently come to my attention that there is a real, live superhero in Vancouver. Well, he’s described as a superhero and I kind of disagree with that. I believe superheroes should have superpowers, because they are…super. As far as I can tell, this guy doesn’t have any superpowers. But this guy could probably be considered a hero. At least, he’s a nice guy trying to make a difference in his home town. He may be on par with that Batman guy who visits children’s hospitals to cheer up the kids there. Except that his superhero identity isn’t based on an existing one. So anyway, his superhero name is Thanatos.

Thanatos (image links to photo shoot with a bunch of superheros)

Thanatos goes out once a month, early in the morning, and helps the homeless community in Vancouver. He goes in full costume. He didn’t always. He used to do this just as a normal guy and apparently the homeless he was helping couldn’t remember him. Then it dawned on him that he should make his appearance more memorable. Enter the costume.

Thanatos, the superhero, based his name (and thus costume) on Thanatos, the daemon personification of death in Greek mythology. You may know him from the story of Sisyphus. Sisyphus first cheated death by tricking Thanatos into his own shackles. That must have been a sight to see. How do you trick people into binding themselves? But anyway…

So Thanatos, the superhero, wears predominately black, has a black tie with skulls on it, a black hat, a utility belt, and a green skull mask. It must be an interesting sight to see. I mean, think about it, you’re comfortably drowsing in a corner close to a streetlight in the black of night. And out of the mist, you waken to see a dark, looming figure approach you. He seemingly floats above the mist. Perhaps frightened and wary, you huddle into your corner a bit more. The figure enters into the beam of light cast by the streetlight, and you see a striking, green skull ominously glaring down at you. And then this dark-cloaked, beskulled person hands you a care package and tells you to be well. HOW IS THIS NOT INTERESTING?

I imagine it would look like this…

The fact that this guy decided to base his superhero persona on a minor figure in Greek mythology is interesting. The fact that he based his superhero persona on a figure of death is interesting. He’s not the grim reaper collecting the souls of the homeless on the streets of Vancouver. He’s giving them care packages! He’s trying to help them out! It’s this guy, dressed in black and a green skull, helping people out in the dark! THIS IS INTERESTING.

Anyway, it turns out that the person behind Thanatos is in his 60s. He enjoys what he does and would like to continue doing it for a long time. And when mobility starts being a problem, he says he will be out patrolling the streets in the “Hoveraround of Justice” and with the “Walker of the Free.”

  • This is how I first learned about Thanatos.
  • Here is a pretty interesting interview with Thanatos.
  • Here is Peter Tangen’s site on real life superheroes (the Telegraph article was an excerpt of sorts).