Racing With The Settees, The Kids, And A Roaring Fire

[originally published by “Yachting World,” IPC Media, Spring 2002 online]

Photo: Pre-race Manoeuvres, courtesy Marc Schlossman, www.marcschlossman.com

“Free the wang (sic)”, “keep the horse clear (ditto)”, “babies below (what?)” and “shall I serve lunch before the next tack (yes!)” are not the sort of phrases one expects to hear during a race.  However, this is fairly common racing patter in the midst of a barge match.  Races of enormous, graceful classic boats haven’t left Britain since last summer’s wonderful J-Class events; after 158 years Thames sailing barge matches are here to stay.  Many people don’t realise that the oldest continuous racing after the America’s Cup (1851) is the Thames Match every year from Gravesend round a mark off Southend and back (1863).

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Computer, Where Is Poughkeepsie? An Introduction To Computer Cartography (1984)

Introduction

The paradox of computers is that they seem to be able to do something of everything and yet nothing fully. Computers have assisted people in thousands of applications, yet computers have not been able to fully replace people in any but the simplest applications. One area of application, computer mapping, illuminates both parts of this paradox.

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