Popular Mechanics articles from September 2008

Popular Mechanics archives from September 2008

Coast guard rescue.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I would just like to thank Kalee Thompson for her beautifully written article on the Alaska Ranger ("Ranger Down")--I am one of the survivors of that sinking. It's the best story I've read so far. Well done! ...

DIY nation.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... Thanks for including the DIY Handbook with the July issue you sent to subscribers. I usually tear out the pages that I want to save, but the insert is much better than torn edges. Keep it up! MARTY STOUT GAITHERSBURG, MD Kudos for...

Out to dry.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... Thanks for your story "Dripped Calls." I was at a lake recently and my phone got wet. Per the article, I immediately removed the battery and placed the phone in a bowl of rice overnight. To my amazement, it powered on without issue the next...

Engine upgrade.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... I believe a better engine has already been invented ("Re-Inventing the Engine"). Internal-combustion engines are inefficient, wasteful, polluting fuel hogs. But the steam engine is fuel-efficient and clean. If the auto industry spent a fraction...

PM addict.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... I recently subscribed to PM, and I have to say, I'm addicted. Sure, there are no articles about the hottest bar in the city, but it has all the information I need to know. Learning about a parachute tester of the structure of an exterior wall...

Spin cycle: researchers construct a spinning metal model of earth to study magnetic fields.(TECH WATCH: NEWS + TRENDS + BREAKTHROUGHS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Building a test planet takes serious engineering. Researchers at the University of Maryland have constructed a 30-ton sphere that spins at more than 90 mph to generate magnetic fields. The 10-ft.-dia. sphere is filled with 13.5 tons of liquid...

Can cold wire improve the grid?(Reports From the Edge of Science)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The nation's electric grid loses 7 percent, or $16 billion worth, of its energy each year during transmission and distribution, and every bit of that power is needed. However, technology developed by SuperPower Inc. (manufacturing lab shown...

Unlikely life found under earth's ice.(Reports From the Edge of Science)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Scientists with Pennsylvania State University have discovered life-forms living at the bottom of a 2-mile ice core extracted by the Greenland Ice Sheet Project. The newly discovered species of ultrasmall bacteria...

Breaking through the Petaflop Barrier.(Reports From the Edge of Science)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The Roadrunner supercomputer, built by IBM for the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, has become the first computer to operate at a speed of one petaflop--performing a quadrillion calculations per second--twice the speed of...

Bright bugs inspire future computers.(Reports From the Edge of Science)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Researchers at the University of Utah are copying the scales of an iridescent Brazilian beetle to design sophisticated supercomputers. The crystalline structure of the microscopic scales of Lamprocyphus augustus...

Magnetic medicine.(Reports From the Edge of Science)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Cameras-in-a-capsule that patients swallow are not new, but current models drop to the bottom of the stomach so quickly that it's hard to get a good look at some areas, such as the esophagus. Researchers in Germany have invented a simple...

Crash-by-wire warplane: how a few drops of water and a confused flight computer brought down a $1.4 billion B-2 bomber.(TECH WATCH)
September 1, 2008... For nearly 20 years, the Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber had a perfect safety record. That ended last February when the B-2 Spirit of Kansas crashed on takeoff at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The warplane staggered just above the runway...

Time machine: December 1979.(TECH WATCH)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Economics frequently drives technological advances. In December 1979, coal was the buzzword when PM covered "fuel for the future." Scientists in Germany had developed the Bergius method in 1913 to create a synthetic...

Uplifting history: movers go vertical to deliver a founding father's house to a new home.(TECH WATCH)(Alexander Hamilton)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In June, Harlem residents in New York City were treated to a strange sight: the home of founding father Alexander Hamilton, elevated high above its foundations. The National Park Service had hired Pennsylvania-based...

Rad robots to the rescue: cleaning tanks of nuclear waste seeping into the water supply is a job best left to expendable machines.(EARTH TECH)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A brave, doomed robot is at the heart of the cleanup of Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington state, where the United States produced weapons-grade plutonium until 1989. Now the location is one of the...

Portable printing.(UPGRADE: GEAR + TOOLS + TOYS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The vast majority of camera phone shots are either (rightfully) deleted or locked forever in a handset's digital purgatory. The problem isn't just that most camera phone shots ate grainier than a silo; until now,...

Kreg Klamp Table Steel Stand Combo ($400).(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Think of it as the workhorse of worktables. The ultra-adjustable Kreg Klamp Table Steel Stand Combo ($400) has a pair of pivoting clamps and sliding stop blocks that secure any workpiece for cutting, drilling,...

Get Caulky.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(GE Caulk Singles)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For contractors or whole-house rehabbers, a caulk gun is great. But if you're just working on a single sink or tub, most of the tube will likely go to waste. The 1.25-ounce GE Caulk Singles ($3) holds enough caulk...

Hidden headset.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(LG Decoy)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... This summer, California joined the ranks of states that ban talking on handheld phones while driving, so many more drivers will soon be looking to Bluetooth headsets. But these tiny devices have a very big problem: There is no natural place to...

Digital inspection camera.(Test Drive)(Milwaukee M-Spector)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A house is a lot like a human body, with jumbles of wires and pipes serving as its circulatory and digestive systems. But when something goes wrong behind a wall, it's tough to tell. This LED-lit Milwaukee M-Spector...

Stud pokers.(Abusive Lab Test)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2008... Your house's studs are willing to lend you their strength. But if you want to piggyback on their load-bearing ability in order to wall-mount a TV of shelf, you need to find them first. To determine the best stud-location technology, we pit a...

Circuit Alert Voltage-Sensing NM Cable Stripper ($24).(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Accidentally cut into a live wire and the jolt could injure or kill you. The Circuit Alert Voltage-Sensing NM Cable Stripper ($24) makes avoiding disaster easier by incorporating a noncontact voltage detector in the...

Low-cost video cameras.(Showdown)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Last year's ultraportable Pure Digital Flip video camera was a sleeper sensation, quickly becoming one of the top-selling cameras around, thanks to a pocket-friendly size and wallet-friendly price. So it should come as no surprise that other...

Skil 10-in. Single Beam Miter Saw ($160).(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When it comes to cutting crown molding and door or window trim, nothing beats a compound miter saw. But if you want a fully featured one, it will cost you. The Skil 10-In. Single Beam Miter Saw ($160) packs in...

Movie machine.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(Roku Netflix Player)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Last year, Netflix began streaming thousands of movies directly from its Web site. While we appreciate the tech-forward thinking, we aren't fans of watching movies on a computer screen. The Roku Netflix Player ($100)...

Meter monitor.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(Blueline Innovations PowerCost Monitor)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Clamp the Blueline Innovations PowerCost Monitor ($150) onto your house's power meter and it gives a real-time readout (via a wireless receiver) of your electricity use in dollars. On cool nights, our test house used about 6 cents of juice per...

Ultralight pack.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(Outdoor Research Dry Peak Bagger)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Unless a hiker is carrying a lot of gear, a beefy daypack may be overkill on the trail. It can easily account for a third of the weight on his back. The 1650-cu.-in. Outdoor Research Dry Peak Bagger ($49) weighs just 9.2 ounces, and it's highly...

Speedy dialer.(UPGRADE: WISH LIST)(Apple iPhone 3G)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Apple iPhone 3G ($199 to $299) may have the high-speed 3G network access and GPS chip that its predecessor lacked, but it's otherwise a surprisingly evolutionary upgrade to a revolutionary gadget. Still, if...

Hammer head.(WISH LIST: PM UPGRADE)(Baltimore Toolworks Hard Cap Nail Sets)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nothing mars a bit of woodworking like clumsy hammer dents. That's why carpenters rely on nail sets to drive nailheads just below the surface--tap their top and a chisel-like tip drives the nail into the finish. The...

Leading edge: once again, Mazda proves that a family sedan doesn't need to drive like one.(NEW CARS: HYBRID + MOTORCYCLE LUXURY SEDAN + SPORT COMPACT)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The new Mazda6 still has our favorite quality: It's a hoot to drive. That will help it stand out from its foes in the marketplace, as will its size. The Mazda6 is longer than last year's model by almost 7 in., and that translates into a bit...

Everyday evolution: 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart.(NEW CARS: TEST DRIVES)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The original 2004 Ralliart was a sheep in sheep's clothing. But this new one's all wolf. It contains real Evo DNA--and Mitsu gets the chemistry dead right. Under the hood is a less powerful Evo engine that helps...

Old Schooler: 2008 Harley-Davidson XL 1200n Nightster.(NEW CARS: TEST DRIVES)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One could make the argument that every Harley, aside from the V-Rod, is retro. But the $9965 Nightster taps nostalgia in a new way with an ultralow seat, bobbed rear fender, rubber gaiters on the forks and...

Eco Voyager: 2009 Ford Escape.(NEW CARS: TEST DRIVES)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The new Escape offers more power and better economy, thanks to a six-speed automatic. On the road, all models move with more authority and refinement, too. The biggest upgrades are in the hybrid model, which offers a more natural brake feel and...

Lux Contender: 2009 Hyundai Genesis.(NEW CARS: TEST DRIVES)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Can Hyundai play with the big boys in its first venture into the American luxury market? Let's see. The sedan is packed to its chrome gills with rear drive, an optional 375-hp V8 that hits 60 mph in 5.7 seconds and a...

New Chapter: 2009 Lincoln MKS.(NEW CARS: TEST DRIVES)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's a sign of the times when a big American car doesn't have an optional V8. Still, the MKS is quite a promising sedan. Our tester had a spacious cabin decked in real wood trim, chrome textures and tasteful...

Rapid motoring: 2009 Bentley Flying Spur Speed.(NEW CARS: TEST DRIVES)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We shoot through the corner, tires squealing, and merge onto the freeway outside Boston. Then, the bottomless pit of torque gets the best of us, and we shove the pedal to the floor. There's a sinister growl, and the...

Heady Mission: 2009 Durango Hemi Hybrid.(NEW CARS: TEST DRIVE)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Do the words Hemi and hybrid seem like they should exist at opposite ends of our automotive universe? Maybe not. Chrysler has finally joined the hybrid club. So let's cut to the chase: The $45,340 Hemi Hybrid returns...

Controlled auto ignition: Diesotto Concept Engine.(NEW CARS: TECH BREAKOUT)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As fuel prices climb and the ecological zeitgeist among average Americans grows stronger, the challenges to car manufacturers become increasingly complex. This is particularly true for makers of large, powerful...

Wagons Ho! Leno recalls the easy-living, bygone days of the family station wagon.(JAY LENO'S GARAGE)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Recently I bought a Dodge Coronet two-door station wagon. Although we were never a wagon family when I was a kid--there were just four of us--my friend's parents had a '54 Plymouth Belvedere wagon with a flat-head...

Thinking beyond levees: floods will come back, in the midwest and elsewhere. Here's how to manage the risk.(REBUILDING AMERICA)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The images are all too familiar: overtopped levees, homes submerged in floodwaters, rescuers motoring down city streets in fishing boats. This summer, before the muck had even been cleared from neighborhoods in the...

Banish boring science!(MYTHBUSTERS WORKSHOP)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Jamie Hyneman and I speak at teacher conventions, we always draw a grateful crowd. They tell us Thursday mornings are productive because students see us doing hands-on science Wednesday nights on our show...

The shape of fuels to come: Americans burned through more than 142 billion gallons of gasoline last year some 16 million gallons an hour. It's an expensive habit at over $4 (and 20 pounds of C[O.sub.2] emissions) a pop. No wonder the market has never looked better for alternatives such as biofuels, electric cars and hydrogen. and the technologies are finally catching up.(Cover story)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Biofuels IT'S BEEN A LONG SUMMER. With world crude oil prices at record highs, the seasonal fuel crunch has been particularly painful. The decade has been full of long summers, each worse than the last: The...

Backyard blimps: a new breed of airship is rising over a quiet stretch of New England s Connecticut River Valley. But are hot-air dirigibles the future of low-and-slow aviation or just a pleasant diversion for a summer morning?
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A heap of ripstop nylon, damp with dew, stretches 132 ft. across a farmer's hayfield near Amherst in western Massachusetts. The predawn air is humid, still and cool--"Perfect weather for this kind of thing," says one...

The coming digital war: Pentagon networks are under constant attack from forces that are stealthy, swift and difficult to trace. But the U.S. military is gearing up to fight back.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, agents from both the Union and Confederate sides routinely climbed telegraph poles and cut enemy lines, then disguised their work so that it was undetectable from the ground. From these...

First robotics competitor: you don't need an expensive lab to engineer a sophisticated robot--just the vision of a Maverick Inventor, the spur of competition and a bunch of high school students armed with power tools.(HOW IT WORKS)(FIRST Robotics)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Part battle-bot rally, part engineering crash course, FIRST Robotics takes science education out of classrooms and throws it into arenas packed with fans. Each winter, high school teams receive a kit of parts and the...

Take outside: play is an active verb, and the adventure can start in any backyard. With a few tools and plans, anyone can build play equipment that goes way beyond a standard swing set.
September 1, 2008... The freedom and joy of childhood cannot be programmed into a video game or saved on TiVo. It takes real-life play, preferably outdoors. But to get kids off the couch, and Keep them off it. you need to provide something that is active and...

Shooting the moon: short on time and tight on money, a team of NASA engineers aims to solve the mystery of lunar ice--by crashing its spacecraft into a crater.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Astronomers hate the moon. It's so bright that it blinds telescopes like the sun in a driver's eyes. There's no atmosphere, and the geology is basically dead. Maybe that's why, decades after Neil Armstrong and Buzz...

Split decision: winter's roaring fires start now, with solid wood, hard work--and the right tools.(DIY HOME: LIGHTING CLOSETS + DRILL BIT BASICS + LADDER TIPS)(Buyers guide)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I know it sounds terrible, but one of the reasons that I like working with firewood is that people leave me alone. I'm not asked to vacuum the living room, fix something or give anybody a ride. Maybe it's because...

Down with dark closets.(Homeowners Clinic: Q + A)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Q MY closets are as dark as a cave. Honestly, one of these days I expect to find a bat hanging in one. What's the solution? All I know is that I want them to be nicely lighted. Please, don't even suggest...

Trim shifts when nailed.(Homeowners Clinic: Q + A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... I'm finishing my basement and find that the molding shifts as I sink the finish nails--so my careful measuring and cutting is wasted. The hardest thing about trim carpentry is not the measuring, cutting and fitting, it's finding a way to...

Clogged dryer duct.(HOMEOWNERS CLINIC: Q + A)
September 1, 2008... My dryer is located in the garage. Its duct is relatively short, but it always gets clogged by lint. What's the problem here? There could be a number of problems. First, flexible plastic duct causes mischief in many homes. This material is...

Lighten up: Here's your Shopping list to Light a closet.(HOMEOWNERS CLINIC: Q + A)
September 1, 2008... If there's one thing you can do to eliminate repeat visits to the hardware store or home center it's to take a careful look at the job. That's especially true of electrical and plumbing tasks because there are lots of small parts involved, and...

Drill bits: making a quick, clean hole is easy with the right bit.(KNOW YOUR STUFF)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ship Auger FOR Framing lumber, beams and logs. TYPICAL SIZES 3/8-1 1/2 in. USAGE TIPS Best suited for large, deep holes where a helix is needed to transport chips, Sharpen spur with auger file. ...

Dents in metal doors.(HOMEOWNERS CLINIC: Q + A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The steel door that leads from my kitchen to the deck is in pretty good shape, though its paint is weathered and it has a small dent where my son rammed it with his toy firetruck. Before I paint it, how do I fix the dent? First clean the...

Fall driveway sealing.(HOMEOWNERS CLINIC: Q + A)
September 1, 2008... I've got some driveway sealing to do this fall, but I need to deal with a lot of weed-filled cracks before I start. What's the best way to clean them? There are several ways to clean out cracks in asphalt; how you go about it depends on...

Ladder selection.(HOMEOWNERS CLINIC: Q + A)
September 1, 2008... I'm buying a ladder to deal with exterior maintenance. How long a ladder should I get? I have a two-story house. I know from using my own 24-ft. extension ladder, a common size for homeowners, that it's tall enough to get me up to paint and...

A big-bang theory.(HOMEOWNERS CLINIC: Q + A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... We get banging and vibration when we flush the upstairs toilet. It never used to do this. What could be the cause? I can think of three sources of the problem. The fact that it has come out of nowhere indicates that a part has worn out or...

The truth about wheels and tires: properly upgrading wheels and tires requires more than just a fistful of cash.(DIY AUTO: TIRES + WHEELS WIRING NO-NOS + MEMORY SAVER)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SATURDAY MECHANIC *** DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY /// EASY The most important pieces of real estate on your car are those four small contact patches that grip the road--yeah, your tires. Those few square inches of...

The problem is really no problem.(Car Clinic: Q+A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... I removed the oil-filler cap from the valve cover to add some oil. When the engine is running, I can feel little puffs of air coming out of the hole. In fact, little drops of oil fly out of the opening. If I hold my hand right next to the...

Leaky voltage.(Car Clinic: Q+A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Q I was checking the wiring on my trailer yesterday, and the busybody next door came over to kibitz. He told me not to use the pointy end on my test light to pierce the insulation on the wiring in order to check the...

Cooler fuel.(Car Clinic: Q+A)
September 1, 2008... I have a 1998 F-450 dually pickup with a 460 cid V8. Every summer the engine vapor locks as soon as the outside temp hits about 80 F. It doesn't matter if I drive for a couple of hours, or as little as a half-hour--the V8 shuts down. Then I...

The memory lingers on: stayin' alive.(CAR CARE tip)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Time to take the family bus in for its annual smog inspection, and that should be no problem, because it's running fine. The day before the excursion to the inspection station, you decide to replace the battery, just to make sure it'll start...

Genuine oil crisis.(Car Clinic: Q+A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... I have a 1992 big-block Suburban with 145,000 miles on the odo. I've noticed the oil pressure slowly falling. When I start the engine on a cool day, the pressure at idle is about 30 psi. After 10 miles, it's down to about 15 psi. I added a...

Blowhard.(Car Clinic: Q+A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Years ago, a mechanical engineer told me the best way to adjust your car's a/c for maximum fuel economy is to turn the temperature dial up and leave the fan on high. Logic says that the fan takes a lot less energy to run than the compressor,...

Wired.(Car Clinic: Q+A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... My car's Check Engine light came on, and the mechanic said the trouble code set was for a misfire caused by the plugs or wires, so he changed the plugs. But the light came back on right away. I want to save money by changing the wires...

iPod Video Boombox: with salvaged parts, power tools and a whole lot of gorilla tape, we built a waterproof, nearly indestructible video player for the iPod touch.(DIY TECH: AIRPORT WI-FI + CALENDAR SYNCH + PHONE ERASE)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The iPod Touch is a wonderful device. It holds music; it holds movies. I can bring it with me wherever I go. But it's not the most rugged device. Water is not its friend, and don't dare use it when I'm in my backyard...

Reanimate your tired tech.(DIY TECH: WATERPROOF BOOMBOX)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DON'T THROW OUT YOUR OLD ELECTRONICS; MINE THEM FOR PARTS AND BUILD SOMETHING NEW. 1. Case The inspiration for this waterproof video boombox came from OtterBox's iPod Touch Armor, which seals the player inside...

Airport tech survival guide.(Digital Clinic: Q + A)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Q I'm a frequent: traveler, and lye noticed that few airports these days have free Wi-Fi networks. Some even shut off their wall outlets, preventing me from charging my gear. Do you have any tips for snagging free...

Terminating termination fees.(Digital Clinic)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... I've noticed a lot of cellphone carriers are now prorating their early termination fees as you get further into your contract. Is there any catch? Of course there is, but that doesn't mean it's not a huge improvement over the old system,...

What the discounted iPhone 3G really costs.(CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS)(Table)
September 1, 2008... DESPITE THE NEW iPHONE'S LOWER PRICE TAG, IT'S MORE EXPENSIVE TO OWN THAN THE ORIGINAL. Original iPhone (8GB) iPhone 3G (8 GB) $399 Hardware $199 $60 ...

Washing windows.(Digital Clinic: Q + A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... I want to sell my old Windows Mobile phone. However, I can't seem to get all of my personal account information off it. Is there a way to completely clear my phone before passing it on? If your Windows Mobile device was managed through your...

Calendar Collision.(Digital Clinic: Q + A)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... I use Google Calendar for personal appointments and Outlook for work-related scheduling. Is there an easy way to sync the two? Yes. Google has a free Windows application called Google Calendar Sync that ties Google Calendar and Outlook...

This is my job: scoreboard operator.(Christian Elias)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Embedded in Fenway Park's B7-ft. 4-in.-tall Green Monster--the highest outfield wall in baseball--is one of the game's two remaining manual scoreboards. Christian Elias heads the three-man team that swaps the metal...