They're testing the Times Square ball

[ZoWie]

People think the ball in Times Square is a cinematic device for TV, but in fact this used to be how standard time was disseminated before the coming of electronic time signals of various types.

Observatories kept close watch on the positions of objects in the sky, and used them to zero standard chronometers. Some smart guy came up with the idea that if you dropped a big red ball from the top of a tall pole on top of a building in the typical high elevation of observatories, mariners could keep an eye on it with their spyglasses and zero the chronometer to standard time when it started to drop. (Not hit, which is more subjective at that distance... when it STARTED to move.)

Not as accurate as corrected NNTP or radio time signals, but those have latencies and other issues, so time balls worked better than you'd think.

They still drop the ball at the Greenwich Observatory, which used to be the world standard lo these many years ago before the French took over organized timekeeping, and even more years before atomic clocks set to International Atomic Time became the standard. (TAI is coordinated.... you can't zero an atomic clock at one location and have it still be of standard accuracy at another one after you move it. This is the famous 2-clock problem of Special Relativity. It goes out of sync due to verifiable laws of physics.)

Ball drops now are for the tourists, but still, that's what gave Times Square the idea. Except that theirs is basically a countdown, since it's midnight when it hits, not when it moves. (Midnight is for all practical purposes, especially at NYE parties, but my understanding is that they do listen to standard time signals, likely WWV, when dropping it, so it's pretty close.)

They do practice the ball drop. They've been doing it all morning today. For the first time the 2022 sign on One Times Square is lit in its final position as opposed to its first photo-op which they did right by the statue in Duffy Square a few days ago. Lighting it is part of the drill. They turn it off when they're through.

Times Square is really kind of a pain in the ass, when you're down in it, but it's fun to show visitors where the ball drops. They're impressed. Me, well, I wasn't born in NYC but I'm naturalized. I put in my time, learned all the drills, got scared the requisite number of times, and it's my place, even in absentia.

[Libertas]

I crossed a birth control pill with LSD, now you can take a trip without the kid.



Pat McCormick on the Dick Cavett Show...McCormick was known as one of the funniest writers ever and would go to lunch with his pals on a regular basis involving many crazy antics.

I know you know this Zowie.

And then there is the legendary "helicopter" story...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoC21Kn ... hoemakerb1

[ZoWie]

Some Nooz story said that the time ball uses "an atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado."

Indeed that's how they do it, but it's probably either a network time sync program or reception of standard time signals on a very low radio frequency. The national standard uses several clocks running at the same time, all with the latest atomic time technology. It's available to people who want to pay for it.

The people in One Times Square used to just listen to WWV, but now they have one of more of these more reliable and accurate ways to do it. The ball drop is triggered by software. Oh, and it's actually Fort Collins, CO, but Boulder is close enough for rock, I suppose.

[ap215]

They did such a terrific job with the setup colors etc.

[Libertas]

Some Nooz story said that the time ball uses "an atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado."

Indeed that's how they do it, but it's probably either a network time sync program or reception of standard time signals on a very low radio frequency. The national standard uses several clocks running at the same time, all with the latest atomic time technology. It's available to people who want to pay for it.

The people in One Times Square used to just listen to WWV, but now they have one of more of these more reliable and accurate ways to do it. The ball drop is triggered by software. Oh, and it's actually Fort Collins, CO, but Boulder is close enough for rock, I suppose.

OT

Watching Bilko...read the other day Phil Silvers had the first Black actor on television as a regular cast member and it wasnt by accident, Silvers insisted on it and said he would not do the show otherwise.

I am not certain about the "first" as a regular cast member, but the insisting on it I am pretty sure about. This makes me happy because I have been a super fan from day one. For a year or more way WAY back I worked nights at a gas station and my routine was I closed up at 11 and stopped by the liquor store and got two boxes of chocolate covered peanuts, went to my little apartment and watched two episodes. Oh, smoked a joint first, of course. laughed my ass off every night.

Not that long after the night routine included


https://youtu.be/tCsnTxjRNPA

[ZoWie]

I thought I was done with the Times Square ball, but as it descended and the fireworks went off on One Times Square, the light seemed to go out. The ball is of course yet another exercise in excess, but it sure looks neat. Whatever controls it is well implemented, and the ball seems to have a near infinite number of patterns to look at and go oooooo-aaahhhhhh. The blackout was not caused by the thick smoke from the fireworks, as one can freeze-frame or look at still pictures, and the lights inside the bazillion dollars' worth of Waterford crystal are indeed extinguished. All you see is the ambient light reflecting from the outside.

They came back on after the fireworks ended. Maybe part of the process, will have to check next year. More likely 2021's last fubar as it reluctantly gave up and passed into popular history as The Worst Year Ever.

Then there's the Rose Bowl, speaking of mass entertainment, but that's for another sub-board. File that one under Role of Sports in National Politics. One of the best football games ever played, and should stand alone just for that. LA media, though, still managed to politicize it, twisting the narrative into another one of its sob stories. Boo hoo, look at all those uppity minorities encroaching on a game U$C's old rich white alumni should own. It's so hard for old rich white families now. Sob snif.