The ISS, Stuck in orbit during Canadarm Installation, with bum computers! Click for bigger PIC!

The ISS emergency system that took over after the NT servers Kacked. Click for bigger PIC!

This amazing series of deep space photos was obtained from NASA under the Freedom of Information Act, after all other attempts were unsuccessful to discover the nature and resolution of the recent computer failures on board the International Space Station (ISS). As everyone will recall, the station and the mission to carry out the installation of the new Canadarm 2 were paralyzed in late April and early May of 2001 by continued on board computer failures of all the station servers.

Examination of the mission logs confirmed that it was in fact multiple failure of the triple redundant NT servers on board that halted the mission. Not surprisingly, they were unable to reboot the systems after many attempts, and the mission seemed doomed to failure. While the press was told that "the computers finally got fixed", this was not true, the NT servers are still showing the Blue Screen of Death even now. However, the ingenious Canadian astronaut aboard tasked with the arm installation just happened to have packed some top secret special equipment that was brought into play.

Walt's Experimental Frankenrule, CLICK for a bigger PIC!

Walt's Experimental Frankenrule, CLICK for a bigger PIC!

This all started innocently enough, I bought a Picket N3ES (sigh) in VERY GOOD condition. When it arrived, it had the previous owner's initials on every single part of the rule. It also had pieces of cardboard jammed under the filthy and horribly scratched (and initialed) lenses in an attempt to make it work better. Both sides of the cursor, the end brackets, all over the slide, you name it, had his initials on it. It would appear to me the previous owner had a problem with trust at some level.

I had no case, but had an extra leftover case from an N500 (the unhappy victim of some savage dymo tape removal) to work with, but it was too narrow. I discovered that if the internal plastic sleeve was removed, the case flattened out, and the much wider N3T/ES body fit inside neatly. Ooohh, aaahhhh. The two now co-exist together happily as evidence that it is possible to transform landfill material into a workable slide rule, if you have a few days to kill.

Another tale that starts out innocently enough with a text only eBay listing of a K+E 4088-3 rule in Very Good condition. Hmmmm, what would BAD condition look like, I wonder?

This jumped out at me when I opened the box, and I didn't have the heart to bury it, although that would have been the kindest fate. I hang on to it in the hope that I'd luck into a big box of spare parts and an extra case. So far, this has not happened, but I remain somewhat optimistic.

From the private collections of Larry Stewart and John Mosand, these little treats are the ultimate macabre miscarriage of science. No doubt they would have made Dr. Strangelove happy, though. One was designed by the 'Lovelace' Foundation, if you can believe it.

Want to know the blast pressure of your favorite size atomic device 1000 meters from ground zero? Need to know the optimum burst height for that new nuke you just bought? How about the high confidence kill zone radius, or temperature at some exact distance from the nuclear weapon that just went off down the block? These babies can answer all those burning questions as you get flambéd into free ions and radioactive dust at about 1,300MPH. The perfect gift for people who still think nuclear war is winnable and appealing, and want to be precise in their calculations to prove it. CLICK HERE and HERE to read the instructions, and learn how to calculate translational body velocity and crater size.

The stylish blue one is from Larry (did they come in decorator colors?), the Tan one is from John (sorry, the text is in German, we will try and get a translated listing of the scale names).

While the west was racing towards microcircuits of ever smaller size, and walkman disc players, it was sometimes reported that the Soviet Union, in the early 80's, had a top scret development project code named 'Behemoth' that was thought to rival the west's best supercomputers by using purely mechanical technology. Foo managed to obtain, at great personal peril, a clandestine sketch circulated by ex-STASI agents that showed some details of Behemoth, a 50 foot long, servo operated, high resoultion slide rule capable of astonishing accuracy, with hundreds of specialized, top secret scales.

Able to withstand withering EMP and operable under conditions that would destroy conventional computers, this unique device, never captured live on film, was thought to be the most powerful slide rule ever built, reputedly made in the sub-basement of the Kalashnikov rifle factory.

Many engineers have pored long and hard over calculations involving sine/cosine curves, and always wished they had a better, higher resolution tool to use. Faber-Castell released the experimental Sinoplex Rule in April of 1933, some years ago to address this problem, but cursor manufacturing difficulties made production volumes difficult to achieve, and only a single hand-crafted wood-body prototype was ever made. Thanks to John Mosand [jomosand@online.no] for this rare photo of the very elusive prototype. Marketing suggested the 'Sinus' name but there was considerable worry it would be mistaken for some kind of cold remedy.

In case you are wondering what POSSIBLE harm could come to your slide rule if left out in the sun, here is a sad testament to the enormous power of solar radiation.