Category Archives: Sailing

Sailing, Security

Single Points of Failure

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Single points of failure pop up in the strangest of places. I’ll never forget the day when a colleague noticed a lonely single orange (fiber) cable coming out of a giant disk array. We were working in a data processing facility where the world’s largest computer manufacturers dropped off their latest-greatest technology for us to evaluate and bang on. The manufacturer was so impressed that he noticed an oversight on their part that they flew him out several times to meet with their engineers and review their designs in person. Sometimes seeing the obvious stuff makes you the expert.

In a similar vein, I was just reading a post in alt.folklore.urban that claims a US Navy Vessel was almost completely disabled when Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) went offline:

For close to a week and a half an Aegis class destroyer ended up piloted through shallow extreme-Northern Arabian Gulf waters by a combination of extremely cautious steering, celestial navigation, dead reckoning, and the occasional check by landmarks if we got too close to an oil platform.

[…]

More nerve-wracking for the rest of us was the fact that all our weapons systems with the exception of the Phalanx Close-In Weapons System are dependent on the INS for levelling information, the failure of which turned them into so much useless scrap. Those of us dealing with our one offensive weapons system, Tomahawk, regarded it as a grand vacation during which we didn’t have to notify the entire chain of command up to CentCom that we would be down for routine maintenance.

I’d be surprised if they don’t regularly practice running the ships on reduced navigability or impaired systems, but with today’s rapid-development and release industries it seems more prudent then ever to double-check for redundancy, in case of failure.

Poetry, Sailing, Security

Game Poet Society

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Maybe it is just because I do not have time to play video games any more, but so far the poems on the Game Poet Society site seem, well, how shall I put it…lame?

Take for example:

71r3d w17h 4ll 7h3s3, f0r r3s7full d347h I cry

Not sure what is worse about this poem. The fake-L337 speak or the attempt to show real feeling for a virtual fire-fight in a fantasy first-person shooter world. Then again, many poems are based on imagination induced by drugs, alcohol, endorphins, etc. so why not video games?

Each shot fired sang its own noise;
A forced cacophony of mottled sound.
Cracking the wood of his crate,
Squishing as they entered flesh,
Pinging high and low off concrete,
Echoes of gunfire pierced his skull,
And dulled the noise of men cursing their God in vain.

Dulled noise, mottled sound? The real meaning of this poem is that it is time for a sound-card upgrade. A little more power in the sound department could change this poet’s lament from “forced cacophony of mottled sound” to “full cacophony of crystal-clear sound”.

In fact, a true game-poet would upgrade this poem to “109dB SNR audio quality 64MB X-Fi Fatal1ty cacophany of CMSS 3D sound”. Yeah, that’s more like it. Now we’re talking game poetry!

And that’s just one line.

Oh, and I’d change the last line to “Game over” if not “Upgrade time”. I swear that the phrase “terrorists win” is becoming so sadly common-place that I am no longer surprised to hear it around American children who are playing. One day while I was launching my boat off the beach I was near a few kids kicking around sticks and stones in the water who said “Oh, no, the terrorists have blown up the tunnel, killing all the civilians. Terrorists win.”

Sailing

2007 A-Class Catamaran World Championships

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PRESS RELEASE

The United States A-Class Catamaran Association is pleased to announce the 2007 A-Class Catamaran World Championships to be held on Islamorada Key, in the beautiful Florida Keys from November 10th through November 16th, 2007.

This prestigious event will include the most accomplished catamaran sailors in the World. Olympic Medalists, World and Continental champions will gather from every continent to compete in the newest and most exciting sailing venue in North America – The Islander Resort. The A-Class catamaran is one of the most technically advanced racing catamarans in the World. These 18 foot cats are built of state-of-the-art carbon fiber and weigh a mere 165 pounds, making sailing fast and exciting even in the lightest breeze.

Competition will be held on the Atlantic Ocean, above some of the most pristine coral reefs and beautiful water in the tropical USA. Onshore facilities at the Islander Resort include fresh and saltwater pools, beachside tiki bar, restaurant, and ocean front rooms with competitor boat storage at their doorstep.

Race officiating will be directed by members of the St. Petersburg Trophy winning Houston Yacht Club, and other well-known volunteers from yacht clubs throughout the USA.

Competitor registration and press coverage information will be found at http://usaca.info/

Food, History, Sailing

Forêt Organic Saison

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I was eyeing a Brasserie Dupont ale the other day at the market. Next to their reknowned Saison Dupont was something called the Forêt Organic Saison (750ml and 7.5% abv), which appeared to be the same concept but with 100% certified organic malt and hops.

Wow! That is all I can say to describe this fine beverage. I shared it with some friends after a long day racing A-Cats and everyone was pleasantly surprised by the spicy yet light taste of the amber colored ale. We drank it at room temperature because it just tasted so good. Saisons usually seem to like a little chill (55°F?) but I figured why mess with a good thing. A crowd soon formed around the bottle and people were begging me for instructions on where to find another.

I gave away my source and the next time I was in the store I bought the last two remaining bottles for myself. This is a superb ale, a real find, and I suspect it will age nicely for the next three or four years and become the perfect thing for a special summer occasion.

The Forêt Organic Saison by Brasserie Dupont, Tourpes, Hainault, Belgium was also reviewed on the Beer Advocate site, where most people seem to worship the Trappist Westvleteren 12 (yellow cap) available only at the entrance of the Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren:

During World Wars I and II, the Westvleteren brewery continued to operate, albeit at a lower capacity. The brewery was the only Trappist one to retain the copper vessels throughout the wars – the other breweries had the copper salvaged by the Germans for their war efforts. In WWI this was primarily due to the abbey not being occupied by the Germans, but instead was caring for wounded allied troops.

[…]

Buyers of the beer receive a receipt with Niet verder verkopen (“Do not resell”) printed on it. The abbey is very much against resale of their beer, and it is their wish that the beer is only commercially available at the two official sale points. To this end, any Westvleteren beer which is sold anywhere else in the world is grey market beer, as no wholesalers or pubs are supplied with the beer, and the abbey is actively working to eliminate the illicit sales.

I wonder how much of the excitement by the beer tasters has to do with its exclusivity? Probably most of it, as the unusual Forêt bottle was half the fun/excitement at the gathering.