Abstract: A word game to be played in a body of water. The body of water has a surface, the game is played by two teams, each team having at least one player. The game includes the steps of positioning the players in the body of water. A plurality of gaming pieces is randomly distributed on the surface of the water. The gaming pieces have letters of the alphabet formed thereon. A word is identified. The players of each team collect gaming pieces to spell the identified word. The first team to have collected all gaming pieces to spell the identified word is the game winner.

Abstract: A method for detecting reflection-type discontinuities in an optical waveguide fiber, such as those produced by a fiber break, a contaminant in the glass making up the fiber, a microbend, or a mechanical splice or connector, is provided. The method employs an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) and involves cross-correlating an OTDR trace or a modified OTDR trace, e.g., one from which fiber attenuation has been subtracted, with a predetermined waveform which is characteristic of a reflection-type discontinuity. The predetermined waveform can compensate for differences between the noise spectrum of the OTDR trace and white noise. In particular, a predetermined waveform obtained by backward differencing and then forwarding differencing an average of waveforms known to correspond to reflection-type discontinuities is able to provide such white noise compensation.

Abstract: Methods for measuring the diameters of transparent filaments with high precision, e.g., RMS standard deviations of less than 0.02 microns, are provided. The methods involve determining the average spatial frequency .omega. of the far-field interference pattern produced by illuminating the filament with a beam of laser light. The average spatial frequency is determined by performing a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the interference data to obtain a coarse estimate for the average and then performing a set of discrete sequence Fourier transforms (DSFTs) in the region of the coarse estimate to obtain the desired high precision estimate of the average. Efficient on-line processing procedures are provided so that real time measurements can be performed on, for example, a moving optical waveguide fiber, at rates of 500 measurements/second and above.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are described for estimating parameters, such as slowness and attenuation, of composite acoustic waves obtained in the course of sonic logging of formations traversed by a borehole. Sonic energy is sensed arriving at a plurality of points spaced vertically along the borehole after refraction, reflection and direct transmission through and along the formations. A window is established of predetermined length and moveout and the composite waves are multiplied by the window. A Fourier transform is obtained of the windowed data and the data are simultaneously analyzed to obtain an estimate of the parameters. The procedure is repeated for different window moveouts and index positions along the composite waves. The analysis is performed at each window position and moveout to obtain the best estimate of the parameters.