On the evening of 17 July 1944, the empty merchant ship SS Quinault Victory was prepared for loading on her maiden voyage. The SS E.A. Bryan, another merchant ship, had just returned from her first voyage and was loading across the platform from Quinault Victory. The holds were packed with high explosive and incendiary bombs, depth charges, and ammunition - 4,606 tons of ammunition in all. There were sixteen rail cars on the pier with another 429 tons. Working in the area were 320 cargo handlers, crewmen and sailors.
At 10:18 p.m., a hollow ring and the sound of splintering wood erupted from the pier, followed by an explosion that ripped apart the night sky. Witnesses said that a brilliant white flash shot into the air, accompanied by a loud, sharp report. A column of smoke billowed from the pier, and fire glowed orange and yellow. Flashing like fireworks, smaller explosions went off in the cloud as it rose. Within six seconds, a deeper explosion erupted as the contents of the E.A. Bryan detonated in one massive explosion. The seismic shock wave was felt as far away as Boulder City, Nevada. The E.A. Bryan and the structures around the pier were completely disintegrated. A pillar of fire and smoke stretched over two miles into the sky above Port Chicago. The largest remaining pieces of the 7,200-ton ship were the size of a suitcase. A plane flying at 9,000 feet reported seeing chunks of white hot metal "as big as a house" flying past. The shattered Quinault Victory was spun into the air. Witnesses reported seeing a 200-foot column on which rode the bow of the ship, its mast still attached. Its remains crashed back into the bay 500 feet away.
All 320 men on duty that night were killed instantly. The blast smashed buildings and rail cars near the pier and damaged every building in Port Chicago. People on the base and in town were sent flying or were sprayed with splinters of glass and other debris. The air filled with the sharp cracks and dull thuds of smouldering metal and unexploded shells as they showered back to earth as far as two miles away. The blast caused damage 48 miles across the Bay in San Francisco.
In the far future year of 1974, humans are no longer allowed to participate in the rugged sport of boxing. Their place has been taken by lifelike androids, who batter each other for the amusement of sports fans. Such an android is "Battling Maxo", an obsolete, creaking B2 model on the verge of falling apart completely. Maxo's manager, a tough ex-fighter named "Steel" Kelly, along with mechanic Pole, accompany the fighter to Maynard, Kansas, where Maxo is scheduled to take on a much superior model B7.
I, for one, welcome our new BSA Weasel overlords...
Now if you'll excuse me, in order to prove my new-found allegiance to the Weasels, I have to go rat out some of my co-workers and managers for installing copies of MicroSoft Project for which they don't have legitimate licenses for.
Yep, and when you're 42 and playing a game with your kids, and you don't have a chance to play for 2-4 hours everyday, lets see how well YOU remember where everything is.;-)
I'm old, and I just wish these guys would take a class on ergonomics, instead of just assuming that only 12 year olds will use their controllers.
Geez, thanks for spoiling it for the rest of us.
Do you have ANY idea how hard it is to build a Lamborghini by mail ordering all the parts to different addresses from different Lamborghini dealers' repair shops?
I'm still missing the front hood, the bumpers, and the electrical system...
(It's FUNNY, SMILE!)
Actually, the thing that worries me is that someday we'll be visited by [Aliens|Vulcans|Wookies|Bugs|Centauri|Other], and they'll say to us "No wonder you don't have a warp drive, you still believe in XYZ" where XYZ is something silly, like Schrodengers Cat, Photons, gravity waves, etc..
OB MIB Quote
A person is smart.
People are dumb panicky dangerous animals and you know it.
1500 years ago everybody "knew" the Earth was the center of the universe.
500 years ago everybody "knew" the Earth was flat.
5 minutes ago you "knew" people were alone on this planet.
Imagine what you'll "know" tomorrow.
Slashdot Mirror
I thought I'd seen this before on EBAY!
(Not necessarily a work safe link)
OK, Really off-topic here, but I'll bite...
Messages you probably want to get from your "Ex-Whatever"
Shameless lifted from Some random page about the Port of Chicago explosion.
On the evening of 17 July 1944, the empty merchant ship SS Quinault Victory was prepared for loading on her maiden voyage. The SS E.A. Bryan, another merchant ship, had just returned from her first voyage and was loading across the platform from Quinault Victory. The holds were packed with high explosive and incendiary bombs, depth charges, and ammunition - 4,606 tons of ammunition in all. There were sixteen rail cars on the pier with another 429 tons. Working in the area were 320 cargo handlers, crewmen and sailors.
At 10:18 p.m., a hollow ring and the sound of splintering wood erupted from the pier, followed by an explosion that ripped apart the night sky. Witnesses said that a brilliant white flash shot into the air, accompanied by a loud, sharp report. A column of smoke billowed from the pier, and fire glowed orange and yellow. Flashing like fireworks, smaller explosions went off in the cloud as it rose. Within six seconds, a deeper explosion erupted as the contents of the E.A. Bryan detonated in one massive explosion. The seismic shock wave was felt as far away as Boulder City, Nevada. The E.A. Bryan and the structures around the pier were completely disintegrated. A pillar of fire and smoke stretched over two miles into the sky above Port Chicago. The largest remaining pieces of the 7,200-ton ship were the size of a suitcase. A plane flying at 9,000 feet reported seeing chunks of white hot metal "as big as a house" flying past. The shattered Quinault Victory was spun into the air. Witnesses reported seeing a 200-foot column on which rode the bow of the ship, its mast still attached. Its remains crashed back into the bay 500 feet away.
All 320 men on duty that night were killed instantly. The blast smashed buildings and rail cars near the pier and damaged every building in Port Chicago. People on the base and in town were sent flying or were sprayed with splinters of glass and other debris. The air filled with the sharp cracks and dull thuds of smouldering metal and unexploded shells as they showered back to earth as far as two miles away. The blast caused damage 48 miles across the Bay in San Francisco.
And why.... should I "Click"... The "Reply" link?
Punctuation courtesy of the William Shatner Advanced School of Posting.
The Shining had this first... (NOT work safe, and watch out for the stupid pop-ups.)
I don't mind Bonzibuddy so much, but we keep getting these funky storage cabinets from someplace called www.martianbuddy.com.
And what's worse is all the SPAM we keep getting from them too...
How on Mars are we supposed to finish our teleporation chambers if all our email is filled with SPAM from those guys?
Well, you could always start here, or maybe over here.
BTW: Those are not "Work-Safe" links, your mileage may vary.
It's been done before, with Lee Marvin as "Battling Maxo's" owner/manager.
Ob Recap...
In the far future year of 1974, humans are no longer allowed to participate in the rugged sport of boxing. Their place has been taken by lifelike androids, who batter each other for the amusement of sports fans. Such an android is "Battling Maxo", an obsolete, creaking B2 model on the verge of falling apart completely. Maxo's manager, a tough ex-fighter named "Steel" Kelly, along with mechanic Pole, accompany the fighter to Maynard, Kansas, where Maxo is scheduled to take on a much superior model B7.
Oh yeah, ooh, ah, that's how it always starts, but then later there's running, then screaming.
I, for one, welcome our new BSA Weasel overlords...
Now if you'll excuse me, in order to prove my new-found allegiance to the Weasels, I have to go rat out some of my co-workers and managers for installing copies of MicroSoft Project for which they don't have legitimate licenses for.
Yep, and when you're 42 and playing a game with your kids, and you don't have a chance to play for 2-4 hours everyday, lets see how well YOU remember where everything is. ;-)
I'm old, and I just wish these guys would take a class on ergonomics, instead of just assuming that only 12 year olds will use their controllers.
Well, my main problem is that controllers just don't "work" for me from an ergonomic point of view.
For instance:
Why they can't make controllers for adults with regular sized hands and adult (poor) vision, I will never know.
OTOH: They seem to work for all my kids.
Another example of the need for a -1 Ignorant flag.
As opposed to, say....
Geez, thanks for spoiling it for the rest of us. Do you have ANY idea how hard it is to build a Lamborghini by mail ordering all the parts to different addresses from different Lamborghini dealers' repair shops? I'm still missing the front hood, the bumpers, and the electrical system... (It's FUNNY, SMILE!)
Geeeeeee
Since nobody else has done it, I guess I have to...
So, what's your number?
Or, better yet, your IP?
Snicker snicker snicker
I don't know for sure, but fava beans and a nice chianti seems to work.
I hate to ask, but this wasn't covered in the article...
Disclaimer: I am NOT a CPU geek...
So, what's the difference between today's "Celeron" chips, a "P4", and what are AMD's comparable chips?
I don't think so...
Last time I checked, it was Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher that was the captain of the first Earth-Saturn probe way way back in 2009
Nope, you lose!
With this post, now I'm nested deeper!
hehehehe
$10,000 if you take my Ex-Wife and don't come back. ;-)
I know I'm late, but am I the only one who say this article as
Rewiring the pond, again
It's early still...
I always thought that it was the Vulcans that were holding us back???
Actually, the thing that worries me is that someday we'll be visited by [Aliens|Vulcans|Wookies|Bugs|Centauri|Other], and they'll say to us "No wonder you don't have a warp drive, you still believe in XYZ" where XYZ is something silly, like Schrodengers Cat, Photons, gravity waves, etc..
OB MIB Quote
A person is smart.
People are dumb panicky dangerous animals and you know it.
1500 years ago everybody "knew" the Earth was the center of the universe.
500 years ago everybody "knew" the Earth was flat.
5 minutes ago you "knew" people were alone on this planet.
Imagine what you'll "know" tomorrow.
Shouldn't they have executed him like they do virus writers?
I hope it comes with the new and improved sub-orbital rocket launcher!