50,000 watts of BOOP power

You know those time tones WBZ-AM has played at the top of the hour every hour for the past 60 years or so - and no matter whether it comes in the middle of a commercial or promo? If you have a Linux computer and know what to do with some C code, you can synchronize your computer to WBZ time.

Via Spatch, who notes the final tone now always comes eight seconds after the hour:

... The WBZ time signal, by the way, is a radio tradition I hope never goes away. On-air personalities have come and gone, the station itself has seen some major format changes, but since the 1940s that BOOOOOOP has been there. May it always herald the top of the hour (plus 8 seconds.)

Why an eight-second delay? Probably more than you want to know about the delay.