Some not so ghostly, but plenty of cool photos, if you dig around a little.

And here's the home page for a whole web ring of ghost town sites. To get to the good stuff, scroll to the bottom and click "Previous / Next / Random... " I'd suggest "List Sites" so you can pick and choose what interests you.

Posted by: Ted at 11:44 AM | category: Links
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I was just mildly chewed out after a meeting with the managers. They understand my frustrations, and admired the descriptiveness of the phrase, but I'm no longer allowed to say that "the system goes down more than Linda Lovelace."

Posted by: Ted at 09:37 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 It's quite colorful and adds a certain drama. I like that...

Posted by: Paul at March 12, 2004 10:59 AM (JLUgl)

2 That's one reason that I like working with lawyers. No one bats an eye at phrases like, "it's a big shit sandwitch and we all have to take a bite."

Posted by: phelps at March 12, 2004 02:29 PM (P+WmR)

3 Heh, The Powers That Be are always telling me to watch it, too. Apparently saying things like "That part of the system sucks wet farts out of dead pidgeons" is not comporting myself in a professional manner.

Neither is "The lab's tits up and fucked sideways"

Posted by: Matt Navarre at March 12, 2004 03:51 PM (+7Usq)

4
About a broken thing (electronic): Wheels up in the weeds in the barditch beside the information superhighway.

About a person who will not do right and cannot be made to do right: You can't embarass a flatulent skunk.

Posted by: homebru at March 12, 2004 10:38 PM (KQ+3d)

5 Yeah, the broads hate it when you say things like that.

Posted by: Dawn at March 12, 2004 11:21 PM (Q0xHi)

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It's been more than a month since our last Nog Watch entry, so I took a look inside the work fridge this morning. The carton is still there, apparently undisturbed, although someone obviously went through the shelves and tossed the worst of the science experiments.

I noticed that as the light shined through the carton, you can tell that the carton is half full. Some unholy impulse made me pick up the carton and give it a shake. It doesn't slosh. *shudder*

Posted by: Ted at 07:16 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Peeps, I've been busy. Swamped busy. Not too busy to blog some (although my backup supply of Beal-concealment posts has been greatly diminished), and I'm managing to at least drop by your place every couple of days.

I've also been working on a side-project that will hopefully be ready in the next few days. I've talked about it before, but it's been consuming a fair amount of time and energy and a great deal of emotional reserve. Soon.

In the meantime, I'll pull out the forty-'leven post-it notes I have stashed on my desk, each one reminding me to take a closer look at this or that post. Throw 'em together, tack on the title suggested by Susie the Wonder Llama-tamer, and hey, it's a post!

Red Ted Keeps A Diary, and he's starting a series about logically evaluating President George W. Bush. Here's his opening paragraph:

One of the striking things about people is that smart folks can look at the same body of information, focus on different aspects of it, and come to radically different conclusions. This process is fun to look at from the outside, but dreadfully frustrating when otherwise smart people look at the same body of information that you are looking at, and then come out completely opposed to your views. How, one asks, can someone who is otherwise so clever, be so very wrong? And does this mean that I am wrong? I can't be wrong!

Sentinal Chimneys. Velociman. It's the part of history I love most, the "I wonder what happened here?" part.

Jay at Sophont tells of the Pocket Vault, which is the neatest little gizmo I've seen in a long time. It wouldn't be very useful for me, because I don't carry a lot of credit cards, but for business travelers I can see it as being a very handy item. Check it out. (If it's blogspotted, scroll down to Chameleon Card Changes Stripes, and say hello to his llama).

Zero llama count observed at SilverBlue, QandO, and The Meatriarch, though I suspect JimiLove has been kidnapped by peruvian maoist llamas. It's been a while since he posted, but he's shown up in comments here and there.

Via Ghost of a Flea, we find The Exorcist and Apocolypse Now, starring llamas bunnies! Yay!

Mark Oakley of Rocket Man Blog has just accepted a position as lead propulsion engineer at TGV Rockets! This is great news, and I'm thrilled for him. Go say hi and congrats, and be sure to mention me for a valuable discount on all your consumer rocketry propulsion needs.

Over at Left & Right, Rob posted a hilarious roundup of comments regarding his Official L&R Top 100 Guitar Players list. There seems to be general consensus that his list is better than Rolling Stone's list, but still sucks big gorilla... uh... llama.

This was bound to happen. A Swiss Army Knife with USB flash memory stick. It's probably at least as useful as the corkscrew that comes on many of their knives. And it's great for survivalists, who can now take their porn with them into the mountains. Listen carefully and you can hear llamas all over the world heave a sigh of relief. Thanks to The Ministry of Minor Perfidy for the pointer.

Thanks for joining us for this edition of Rocketing Around the Blogosphere, and we hope you join us again soon. At this time, we ask that you please return your llamas to the upright position and welcome to the end of this post.

Posted by: Ted at 05:22 AM | category: Links
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Heard from my dad, and thought I'd share some of it with you.

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. This is a great example.

I went to the store the other day. I was only in there for about 5 minutes. When I came out there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.

I went up to him and said, "Come on, buddy, how about giving a senior a break?" He ignored me and continued writing the ticket.

I called him an asshole. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires.

So I called him a piece of horse shit. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first.

Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes, the more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote. I didn't give a crap.

My car was parked around the corner. I try to have a little fun each day. It's important at my age.

Posted by: Ted at 01:13 PM | category: Square Pegs
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1 First, it was Leann. I told myself, "Never, ever have a drink in hand when you go to Leann's blog."

Then, I had to add Pixy Misa to the list with his ongoing anecdotes about those eee-vil computers (man, I've been there).

There are other blogs I visit dry as well.

Et tu, Ted?

Posted by: Linda at March 11, 2004 07:00 PM (EQSNS)

2 Hmmm. Strong family resemblence, huh?

Posted by: nic at March 11, 2004 07:01 PM (16A49)

3 BWAHAHAHA!!!!!!! I love yer Dad!!!! (He reminds me of my "Grampy"!)

Posted by: Tuning Spork at March 11, 2004 10:49 PM (FNeP6)

4 I think you should bring your dad over to play.

Posted by: LeeAnn at March 15, 2004 09:26 AM (HxCeX)

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Thanks to LeeAnn for pointing the way to Googlism. Here's how Google defines Ted:

ted is now owned by the sapling foundation

ted is chad

ted is one hell of a role model for young kids

ted is little ted's best friend

ted is available in binary format

ted is a box office hit

ted is voodoo chili

ted is my new favorite

ted is not 100% human

ted is very quiet and trapped in a box

ted is the patron saint of shark jumping

ted is available for download from ftp

ted is the imaginary friend of a lonely little boy

ted is not looking for the quick sale

ted is not doing the show every night


ted is not

Posted by: Ted at 10:19 AM | category: Links
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Info about the Team America Rocketry Challenge can be found in this old Rocket Jones post.

The team of high school students I'm mentoring will be going to our rocket club launch this saturday. Yesterday they finished up final details on their first rocket, and she's ready to make her maiden flight. The students also got a good start on their second rocket, this one using fiberglass for fins and having a different fin geometry. As per the rules of the contest, both rockets are two-stagers designed to carry two fresh hens eggs to 1250 feet and then parachute them back safely.

The high school team that won the TARC last year has been busy since then, designing a payload experiment and rocket that must reach an altitude of one mile. They'll travel to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama for an April launch along with nine other teams, and the winning team will get to spend a week at Space Camp.

Also, our Fat Boy will finally be making her maiden flight too.

Posted by: Ted at 05:45 AM | category: Rocketry
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Glenn of Hi, I'm Black! fame is trying to become a big-time internet smut peddler.

So if hardcore floats your boat, visit his new site called, appropriately enough, NOT WORK SAFE (which is itself Not Work Safe). Glenn says FleshBot needs some competition.

Posted by: Ted at 05:29 AM | category: Links
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Over at Silflay Hraka, Bigwig talked about a theoretical construct called the CD Potlatch. He also included his list of music from his iPod, and invited folks to make fun of his musical taste. I didn't, but I'm always interested in seeing other people's music collections, because tastes vary so much.

Take my music list for example (Excel format). A lot of my music was purchased when I was a DJ, so there's a little bit of everything in there, including lots of compilations. Because I had to handle requests, there's not much on the list that I didn't listen to at least semi-regularly. You can see some patterns in the list too. For instance, I used to do a couple parties a year at a VA Hospital, so I have a lot of Big Band music for the old-timers. But I love Big Band music, so that was never a problem. I also noticed that the list isn't quite complete, because I have some instrumental 'dinner music' that isn't there. I'll have to figure out where those CD's are. I don't have much classical either, but none at all made it onto the list. *scratching head*

If Bigwig can do it, so can I. Go on, make fun of my taste, I can take it.

Posted by: Ted at 06:57 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Last night, I once again had the pleasure of DawnÂ’s company for dinner. SheÂ’s bright, witty, vivacious, and neener neener because you missed out.

She said something that stuck in my mind and got me to thinking. Dawn told me that she wasnÂ’t used to guys being gentlemen. You see, I open doors for ladies, including car doors. I held her coat while she put it on. I walk on the outside of the sidewalk. ItÂ’s basic manners that I learned from my dad, and now unusual enough to be remarkable.

Shame on you guys.

Update: I removed all the silly footnotes. It flows better without them, and obscured the fact that I actually had a point to make.

Posted by: Ted at 09:02 AM | category: About Ted
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1 Normally, if a guy pulls out a chair for me, I have to be wary if he's not going to pull it out from under me completely. I think we gals have been so desensitized to chivalry that it throws off our equilibrium when we're not being treated like shit. Or maybe that's just my personal experiences talking. You're a gem, my friend. Thanks for treating me like a lady!

Posted by: Dawn at March 10, 2004 12:05 PM (L6pam)

2 I used to try the old "stand up for a lady on the bus" routine until one woman slapped my face so hard it threw me back into the seat - stupid feminist.

Posted by: Ozguru at March 10, 2004 09:48 PM (/acvO)

3 Strange.. I do all manner of chivalrous things and have never ever heard a complaint, only praise (most often from grandmas). The trick is to identify the "feminists" and avoid 'em altogether.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at March 10, 2004 11:53 PM (9mpVW)

4 I've gotten the occasional dirty look for giving up a seat and such. Mostly it's surprise and smiles. I don't do it to be superior, I do it because that's the way I was brought up.

Oz, that was no lady that slapped you. I would've been tempted to punch her lights out.

Posted by: Ted at March 11, 2004 05:41 AM (ZjSa7)

5 When I used to take the bus to work, I noticed that men never gave up their seats, even when women were obviously pregnant and struggling to stand. I always was the one who gave up my seat for other women. It's memories like that that stay in my mind when we go into discussions of chivalry.

Posted by: Dawn at March 11, 2004 08:09 AM (Q0xHi)

6 Montgomery, Alabama in the 50's. My dad was a young kid in the Air Force, and he gave his seat to a pregnant black lady. The driver put both of them off the bus.

I've got one hell of an example to live up to.

Posted by: Ted at March 11, 2004 08:35 AM (blNMI)

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Simon uses it, so does Helen (I think). I've seen it on other non-US blogs too.

Whinging

Is that whinging, as in "wing-ing"?

Or is that whinging, as in "win-jing"?

Posted by: Ted at 07:14 AM | category: Munuvian Daily Tattler
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I didn't used to take these stupid quizzes...

Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?
"Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just glad to see me?"
You're smooth, okay, but you also need a girlfriend. Bad.

Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Saw this all over the place (and sorry if I've not included you).

Posted by: Ted at 06:47 AM | category: About Ted
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1 Well, thanks for includin' me, but I am surprised you feel that way and did not come up with the same result that I did. I guess my reponses indicated that I was displayin' somewhat less than a scroll in my toga. I guess it is time to start readin' some of those SPAMs I regularly delete without a view at their contents. Some seem to be hintin' I could take a pill to enlarge my ability to display somethin' in my toga to impress the Empress.

Posted by: Tiger at March 10, 2004 09:11 AM (G5PGV)

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The superstorm of 1993 was the most devastating blizzard to strike the Northeast in at least a century, according to a new system that rates the impact of East Coast winter storms.

Interesting, but rather limited. Since the 1-5 scale takes into account the population affected, it has to be derived from historical records. It's also only usable in current form for the Eastern Seaboard of the US, other regions will have to have their own custom formula developed.

I would like to see the correlation between IQ, size of the SUV, and bodyshop repair bills immediately following storms.

Northeastern winter storms rated "crippling" or higher on the new Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale.

Category 5: Extreme

1. March 12-14, 1993
2. Jan. 6-8, 1996

Category 4: Crippling

3. Feb. 15-18, 2003
4. March 11-14, 1888
5. Feb. 11-14, 1899
6. March 2-5, 1960
7. Feb. 10-12, 1983
8. Feb. 5-7, 1978
9. Feb. 2-5, 1961

So since I've moved into this area, I've experienced the top 3. Liz remembers 7 and 8, and my mother-in-law remembers 4 and 5 (just kidding!).

Posted by: Ted at 06:18 AM | category: SciTech
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Now this is cool. The Hockey Hall of Fame has this slideshow of various masks worn through history.

Thanks to Eric of Off Wing Opinion for the pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 05:27 AM | category: Links
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Former Washington Capital Calle Johannson came out of retirement today to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Washington Post also reports that Ottawa Senators plane is scheduled to head back to Canada this afternoon after the 3pm EST trading deadline, in anticipation of taking Caps goalie Olaf Kolzig and defenseman Brendan Witt along.

Forwards Bates Battaglia, Kip Miller, and Mike Grier are also expected to be moved before the trading deadline, meaning the Caps might have the deepest minor league hockey roster currently playing at the NHL level.

This is beyond depressing.

Posted by: Ted at 01:15 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Cavitation is the term for the formation and subsequent collapse of small bubbles in a liquid.

When a propeller spins in the water, the hydrodynamic forces may result in the creation of tiny bubbles. The bubbles are almost immediately crushed upon themselves which causes noise. The cavitation sounds are one method of detecting submarines on passive sonar. Great amounts of time and money are spent on refining propeller design to limit cavitation.

Cavitation can also damage propellers by pitting the metal over time. Naturally, this pitting further reduces the efficiency of the propeller while making it noisier at the same time. Scientists wondered what was actually happening during cavitation, and began to study the process in more detail.

What they discovered was that each bubble underwent an extremely violent death. As the bubbles collapsed upon themselves, the interior experienced supersonic shockwaves which reflected back from the bubble's outer surface. Happening in a fraction of a second, these shockwaves raised the interior temperature enough to rival the surface of the sun. It was these millions of microscopic sunbursts that were causing the pitting on the propellers.

The effect has also been exploited in various ways by weapons designers. One 'underwater' missile rides in it's own cocoon of cavitation bubbles, which form a barrier to the surface-drag caused by dense water, and allows the missile to 'fly' underwater at several times the speed of typical torpedos.

Now researchers are taking advantage of cavitation outside of naval affairs. According to this report regarding Bubble Fusion:

The research team used a standing ultrasonic wave to help form and then implode the cavitation bubbles of deuterated acetone vapor. The oscillating sound waves caused the bubbles to expand and then violently collapse, creating strong compression shock waves around and inside the bubbles. Moving at about the speed of sound, the internal shock waves impacted at the center of the bubbles causing very high compression and accompanying temperatures of about 100 million Kelvin.

These new data were taken with an upgraded instrumentation system that allowed data acquisition over a much longer time than was possible in the teamÂ’s previous bubble fusion experiments. According to the new data, the observed neutron emission was several orders of magnitude greater than background and had extremely high statistical accuracy. Tritium, which also is produced during the fusion reactions, was measured and the amount produced was found to be consistent with the observed neutron production rate.

Earlier test data, which were reported in Science (Vol. 295, March 2002), indicated that nuclear fusion had occurred, but these data were questioned because they were taken with less precise instrumentation.

Note that this was described as cavitation in a vapor. Most definitions I've seen specify liquid, although a vapor could be described as a low-density liquid.

Thanks to Fred for the Bubble Fusion link.

Posted by: Ted at 09:41 AM | category: SciTech
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1 And thought I Bubble Wrap was fun.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at March 09, 2004 12:50 PM (UquFN)

2 Cool! I just learned more in 4 minutes than I learned in 7 years of High School!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at March 09, 2004 10:47 PM (T1xwK)

3 Interesting.

If they're seeing neutron emission and tritium production, it's pretty clear that fusion really is taking place. (In the cold fusion debacle, neither neutrons nor tritium were detected.)

I saw this a couple of years ago, but at the time the supporting data was a lot weaker.

I want one!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 09, 2004 11:19 PM (kOqZ6)

4 Would it qualify as an uninteruptable power supply?

Posted by: Ted at March 10, 2004 07:29 AM (blNMI)

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Mookie posted her report on Arsenic.

I chose Arsenic because it seemed to me to be the most sinister, and fun, of all 115 elements.

*sigh*

Posted by: Ted at 08:24 AM | category: Family matters
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Mojo Boogie

I been to New Orleans, I sure had a wonderful time
I been to New Orleans, I sure had a wonderful time
I was high, high as a Georgia pine

You know, my auntie carried me all down on Rampart Street
I seen everybody I wanted to meet
She said, J.B., son, stop and listen to me,
They got something knock you off of your feet

They got the mojo boogie
Mojo boogie
They got the mojo boogie, begin to slide on down

- J. B. Lenoir

The Johnny Winter version of Mojo Boogie was cranked on the way to work this morning. I've been in a nostalgic mood lately as I catalog my CD collection. Billie Holiday is on as I write this, and B.B. King is on deck.

Posted by: Ted at 07:18 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Dear Tide,

I'm writing to say what an excellent product you have. I've used it since the beginning of married life, when my mom told me it was the best.

In fact, about a month ago, I spilled some red wine on my new white blouse.

My husband started to berate me about my drinking problem. One thing led to another and I ended up with a lot of his blood on my white blouse as well.

I tried to get the stain out using a bargain detergent, but it just wouldn't come out.

After a quick trip out, I stopped and got a bottle of liquid Tide with bleach alternative, and all of the stains came out!

They came out so well, in fact, that the DNA tests were negative!

I thank you once again for a great product.

Well, gotta go. I have to write a letter to the Hefty bag people.

Sincerely,

Posted by: Ted at 05:08 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Five planets will be visible to the naked eye later this month. The next best chance to see this somewhat rare alignment is in 2036. Details here.

Thanks to J-Walk Blog for the pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 05:04 AM | category: SciTech
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