Roller Coaster Data Center 207
stienman writes "The Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point Amusement Park may have more technology than your data center. From the article: "The parameters within which the Dragster has to operate are so finely tuned that variable load weights from people, wind speed and out-side temperature affect its performance. ... After every third launch, the data are averaged and compared with historic launch data in an effort to create that perfect ride - the roller coaster must go fast enough to clear the top of the tower, but slow to between 7 and 15 mph in order to give riders the maximum lift effect at the top."
wow (Score:2, Funny)
Now that is a thrill ride!
Ah yes, but... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Hmm... (Score:1, Funny)
*mumbles* whippersnappers these days...
doesn't take much... (Score:2, Funny)
Ok, so this is a home "datacenter" but at least its mine... :-)
Roller Coasters and I.T. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Crashes all the time (Score:2, Funny)
Thought the writer to herself... (Score:3, Funny)
A long, long time ago... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:GA (Score:3, Funny)
Re:A long, long time ago... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Ah yes, but... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Bah. (Score:5, Funny)
That's why The Zipper at the local once-a-year carnival is so damn fun: the bloody thing was assembled by carnie apes who only bothered finger-tightening the handful of nuts they scrounged out of the coffeecan, leaving the rest of the bolts to fend for themselves unaided.
Get in the cage and... the door doesn't lock closed. Gonna have to hold it shut. Lap bar comes down... but only partially. The machine starts with a jarring clunk, and you notice the clove pin on the right-hand bearing is absent. A few sparks fly from a misaligned pulley, and you're off! Deathgrip on the door, head bashing the ceiling every time the cage flips, and an alarming squeal from the right-hand bearing... my god, is that Death looking at us from the opposing cage? It is!
When the ride finally stops, life begins anew. The colours are brighter, the crush of people is comforting, and all the worries of the past year slip away: Death was cheated, and damn it feels good!
Re:imperfections make a ride. (Score:5, Funny)
I was once stuck in the Pirates of the Carribean's burning village listening to:
YO HO
YO HO
A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME
YO HO
YO HO
A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME
for over 20 minutes straight. It was a nightmare.
The first five minutes were interesting. I really got to see the details about the animatronics. I was able to appreciate how the ride was put together. I checked out the boat. I checked out the rails between which the boat rides. It was enlightening. Annoying, true, but preferable overall because I got to explore on my own for a bit.
The next five minutes were a bit more confused. All the passengers were getting to know each other, chuckling, making pithy comments, getting worried, calling to passengers in other boats, and basically exhibiting various expected reactions to the situation. All the while, the bloody YO HO YO HO song was carrying on and on. And the puppets were dancing in the same way, over and over again.
The next five minutes were spent dealing with fellow passengers freaking out about the music, the fucking puppets, and, mostly, the fact that we're "trapped" and WTH is GOING ON!? THERE MUST BE SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG!! IT'S BEEN FIFTEEN MINUTES AND WE'RE ALL JAMMED IN THESE BOATS IN A BURNING VILLAGE SOMEWHERE!!
What turned out to be roughly the last five minutes were spent AGREEING THAT THIS IS CrAzy! WHY CAN'T THESE FUCKING PUPPETS SING A BIT MORE THAN YO HO YO HO A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME OVER
And then the boats started up and all was fine.
I survived.
So it goes up once, and down once? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:A long, long time ago... (Score:1, Funny)
Damn! If only we saw this sort of line more often in today's physics textbooks, maybe we wouldn't have such trouble getting kids interested in science.