[en] Studies of the jet emitting compact binary system SS 433 and the nonthermal synchrotron-self-Compton scattering process reveal features of the interaction of compact objects with their environments. The Einstein MPC x-ray observations of SS 433 are best fit by a nonthermal power law spectrum where both the intensity and (energy) spectral index varied on a timescale of hours to days. Flares characterized by an intensity increase and a hardening of the spectral index are attributed (within the context of the slaved disk model) to accretion surges that occur at certain orbital phases in a binary with a Roche-lobe filling primary whose spin axis is misaligned with the orbital axis. The synchrotron-self-Compton methodology in spherical geometries is refined, emphasizing both geometrical and spectral factors for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous sources. The spectra from radio quiet active galactic nuclei (such as Seyfert 1 galaxies and radio-quiet quasars) can result from a nonthermal model with a broken power law electron distribution where synchrotron losses cause the distribution to steepen