Thursday, January 31, 2008
Satellite on the lookout
As you know, an out-of-control the size of a small bus US spy satellite, whose engine had failed, is plummeting out of its orbit and is expected to crash somewhere on the planet within weeks. It has been claimed that a spy satellite heading uncontrollably towards Earth is not an uncommon event. Satellites come out of orbit and fall back to Earth harmlessly on average once a year. Normally, when US spy satellites reach the end of their lives, they are disposed of through a controlled re-entry and dumped in the Pacific Ocean, so that no-one can learn their secrets (!!!!). However, older satellites are often more difficult to de-orbit properly.
When they re-enter they usually burn up in the atmosphere because a lot of heat has developed and there is a lot of friction. Only heat-resistant or very heavy objects will survive. There is a risk in this case that something will hit the ground.
Officials have no idea where it might land but they are keeping other countries abreast of the situation. By now the satellite is around 200km up, and it's falling by almost 1km a day. So it is expected it will hit the top of the Earth's atmosphere by the end of February or early March.
24 hours before it hits the ground they can predict ground track very well (the line over the Earth where the satellite is overflying). An hour or so beforehand experts might know roughly where the satellite will land - but it is only rough because the line is something like 10,000km long.
The pieces are believed will drop into the sea somewhere ( given that almost three-quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by water). There is the possibility, however, that they could land in Russia or China. Now, with all the "secrets" aboard, we'll see what happens next!
When they re-enter they usually burn up in the atmosphere because a lot of heat has developed and there is a lot of friction. Only heat-resistant or very heavy objects will survive. There is a risk in this case that something will hit the ground.
Officials have no idea where it might land but they are keeping other countries abreast of the situation. By now the satellite is around 200km up, and it's falling by almost 1km a day. So it is expected it will hit the top of the Earth's atmosphere by the end of February or early March.
24 hours before it hits the ground they can predict ground track very well (the line over the Earth where the satellite is overflying). An hour or so beforehand experts might know roughly where the satellite will land - but it is only rough because the line is something like 10,000km long.
The pieces are believed will drop into the sea somewhere ( given that almost three-quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by water). There is the possibility, however, that they could land in Russia or China. Now, with all the "secrets" aboard, we'll see what happens next!
Oh, Almighty!
Relative to strengthening their commitment to Islam, many men in Egypt suddenly appeared to start getting dark calluses on their foreheads ("raisins") as a signal of perhaps-overenthusiastic daily praying. The five prayers require, in all, 34 contacts with the ground (of forehead and nose), and additional personal prayers add to the total. Rumors persist that some men use sandpaper to darken the calluses to appear even more pious...
*************
At Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics share space at the site thought to be the birthplace of Jesus, some Orthodox faithful wandered into the Armenian section during Christmas season, and officials of both faiths squared off and flailed at each other with brooms before being separated by Palestinian police...
*************
At Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics share space at the site thought to be the birthplace of Jesus, some Orthodox faithful wandered into the Armenian section during Christmas season, and officials of both faiths squared off and flailed at each other with brooms before being separated by Palestinian police...
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Don't drop the Soap!
The "creative" son of the governor of Kansas has invented a board game with his school mates called Don't Drop the Soap. The prison-theme game made his mother, governor Kathleen Sebelius, and his father Gary very proud of him. John Sebelius, a 23-year-old design student, has launched his game on the market through the internet and he is selling it at $35 . The internet page describes the game as a complete simulation of a prison cell where you can experience all the charms of life in prison: Escape prison riots, Slip glass into a mob boss' lasagna in the Cafeteria, Steal painkillers from the nurse's desk in the Infirmary, and more.
Makes you want to go through it in a real life, doesn't it? Oh, joys of entertainment...
Makes you want to go through it in a real life, doesn't it? Oh, joys of entertainment...
That's what I call an Inventor!
Michael Windisch, proprietor of the Maltermeister Turm restaurant in Goslar, Germany, solved what has become a crisis for other restaurants since the state extended a smoking ban in August. Windisch opened three holes in an outer wall so that, in cold weather, a smoker need not venture outside but can stick his head and arms through the holes and puff away while remaining inside.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Kurosawa's Films
A part of a cult director Akira Kurosawa's opus can be downloaded for free (films like Rashomon, To Live, Stray Dog, They Who Step on Tiger's Tail,...
HERE
HERE
R.I.P.
Heath Ledger loved Nick Drake’s music. Drake was a singer and song writer who committed suicide in 1974. Last September Ledger was a guest at the Venetian Mostra festival when he promoted the biography of Bob Dylan, ‘I’m Not There’. On that occasion he spoke about his obsession with Drake whom he described as a very mysterious figure. "I was obsessed with his story and his music and I pursued it for a while and still have hopes to kind of tell his story one day". Ledger filmed and directed a video in his honour. The video has not been published on the Internet, but many describe it as a black and white video featuring the song “Black Eyed Dog”. As the video nears the end, Heath turns the camera on himself and drowns in a bathtub. The video was incorporated into a multimedia installation dubbed “A Place To Be” that was exhibited last September at the Bumbershoot Festival and at last October’s celebration honouring Nick Drake. “Black Eyed Dog” is the last song Drake wrote before he committed suicide with an overdose of antidepressants.
Original video Black Eyed Dog
Original video Black Eyed Dog
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Aging*
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!
*by George Carlin
"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!
*by George Carlin
Monday, January 21, 2008
OMG
Evangelical Christians seem excited to purchase products that reinforce their religious values - themed merchandise such as Jesus riding a bull, surfing and playing soccer, Jesus air-fresheners and Grapes of Galilee wine. There are also "thongs of praise" underwear with an image of the Madonna and child, and a template to place on a bread slice in an oven to create toast with the Virgin Mary's likeness...
Bush movie
Oliver Stone, who has made an unflattering movie about Richard Nixon, is planning to make another titled "Bush". It will focus on the life and presidency of George W. Bush and will feature Josh Brolin in the lead role. Despite his earlier critical comments about the invasion of Iraq, Stone said he is not looking to make an anti-Bush picture but rather to use major events in the president's life to explain how he came to power. It's a behind-the-scenes approach, similar to 'Nixon,' to give a sense of what it's like to be in his skin (must be really difficult!). Stone did decline to give his personal opinion of the president, though...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
That will be all, Mr. Soldier...Thank you.
Soldier Jordan Fox had recently been ordered to return $3,000 of his $10,000 enlistment bonus because his blindness and back injury from a roadside bomb in Iraq, which prevented him from fulfilling the final three months of his one-year Army "commitment."
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Good reasoning!
Jacob Zuma, a flamboyant Zulu activist since his teen years, was elected president of the African National Congress and is a presumed shoo-in to become president of South Africa in 2009, despite a 2005 rape trial (at which he was acquitted). Zuma had testified that the sex was consensual, that " in Zulu culture, you cannot leave a woman if she is ready. To deny her sex, that would have been tantamount to rape." He also said that he had not bothered with a condom even though he knew she was HIV-positive, cheerfully explaining, "I had a shower afterward." Now, that should do it...right?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Stella Awards 2007
Awards named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico where she purchased the coffee(she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving).
*Kathleen Robertson of Austin , Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.
*Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's
hubcaps.
*Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight days on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish.
Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish.
*Jerry Williams, of Little Rock , Arkansas was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the
beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.
*Amber Carson of Lancaster , Pennsylvania - a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
*Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two
front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club
had to pay her $12,000....plus dental expenses
*This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On
her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to
the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set . The Oklahoma jury awarded her, $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also
buy a motor home.
*Kathleen Robertson of Austin , Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.
*Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's
hubcaps.
*Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight days on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish.
Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish.
*Jerry Williams, of Little Rock , Arkansas was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the
beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.
*Amber Carson of Lancaster , Pennsylvania - a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
*Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two
front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club
had to pay her $12,000....plus dental expenses
*This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On
her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to
the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set . The Oklahoma jury awarded her, $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also
buy a motor home.
Friday, January 11, 2008
An I.Q. Test
Part of Einstein IQ Test
1) 12 members were present at a board meeting. Each member shook hands with all of the other members before & after the meeting. How many hand shakes were there?
2) At Probability University, there are 375 freshmen, 293 sophomores, 187 juniors, & 126 seniors. One student will randomly be chosen to receive an award. What percent chance is there that it will be a junior? Round to the nearest whole percent.
3) If you take a marker & start from a corner on a cube, what is the maximum number of edges you can trace across if you never trace across the same edge twice, never remove the marker from the cube, & never trace anywhere on the cube, except for the corners & edges?
4) A cube is made of a white material, but the exterior is painted black. If the cube is cut into 125 smaller cubes of exactly the same size, how many of the cubes will have 2 of their sides painted black?
5) In another galaxy, a certain nation of creatures speak a language known as Algramara. In this language, "harvec tood zevac" means "my tooth hurts," "lavec lina zevac" means "my delicious food," & "zevac corma lina" means "eating my food." What does "corma harvec zevac tood" mean?
6) If you started a business in which you earned $1 on the first day, $3 on the second day, $5 on the third day, $7 on the fourth day, & so on, how much would you have earned with this business after 50 years (assuming there are exactly 365 days in every year) - hint:fold in half?
7) A worker earns a 5% raise. A year later, the worker receives a 2.5% cut in pay, & now her salary is $22702.68. What was her salary to begin with?
8) How many weeks have 156 hours in them?
10) What letter completes this set?2k 2q 16p 4r 4b 4 - hint:pay raise/pay cut
For answers go to Comments.
1) 12 members were present at a board meeting. Each member shook hands with all of the other members before & after the meeting. How many hand shakes were there?
2) At Probability University, there are 375 freshmen, 293 sophomores, 187 juniors, & 126 seniors. One student will randomly be chosen to receive an award. What percent chance is there that it will be a junior? Round to the nearest whole percent.
3) If you take a marker & start from a corner on a cube, what is the maximum number of edges you can trace across if you never trace across the same edge twice, never remove the marker from the cube, & never trace anywhere on the cube, except for the corners & edges?
4) A cube is made of a white material, but the exterior is painted black. If the cube is cut into 125 smaller cubes of exactly the same size, how many of the cubes will have 2 of their sides painted black?
5) In another galaxy, a certain nation of creatures speak a language known as Algramara. In this language, "harvec tood zevac" means "my tooth hurts," "lavec lina zevac" means "my delicious food," & "zevac corma lina" means "eating my food." What does "corma harvec zevac tood" mean?
6) If you started a business in which you earned $1 on the first day, $3 on the second day, $5 on the third day, $7 on the fourth day, & so on, how much would you have earned with this business after 50 years (assuming there are exactly 365 days in every year) - hint:fold in half?
7) A worker earns a 5% raise. A year later, the worker receives a 2.5% cut in pay, & now her salary is $22702.68. What was her salary to begin with?
8) How many weeks have 156 hours in them?
10) What letter completes this set?2k 2q 16p 4r 4b 4 - hint:pay raise/pay cut
For answers go to Comments.
FASCINATING PEOPLE, Part 18.
John Desmond Bernal (1901-1971) was a prominent international scientist from Ireland. He did pioneering work in X-ray crystallography. Was a Professor of Physics and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He ranged widely in his intellectual interests and activities, also doing pioneering work in social studies of science or "science of science". He was by all accounts a dazzling thinker and talker. His contemporaries called him SAGE, as he was considered to be uncommonly wise. He was a Marxist in philosophy and a Communist in politics (say, what?). Led a complicated life, sitting on hundreds of committees and playing a leading role in many scientific and political organisations. He also led a somewhat unconventional domestic life of a notoriously non-monogamous nature;~)
During the WWII Bernal was scientific adviser to Lord Mountbatten (the great grandson of Queen Victoria, who was a captain of the destroyer Kelly) . Worked with Solly Zuckerman on the impact of bombing on people and buildings. In 1943 he helped to select the landing beachers for the D-Day invasion of France...
He believed that scientific cooperation between nations would help to mitigate the difficulties caused by the cold war and lead to better understanding between countries. Science for international cooperation and for a world without war - well, he's good in my books!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Languages
A linguistics professor was lecturing his class one day.
'In English', he said, 'A double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative.'
A loud voice from the back of the room piped up, 'Yeah, right.'
A clever pilot, with the help of his passengers, managed to thwart a hijacking attempt. He realised when talking to the hijacker that he didn’t speak French, despite trying to force the plane to land in France. So, he told the passengers over the intercom that he was going to do a rough landing to throw the hijacker off balance and that the passengers should be ready to pounce. He even moved the women and children to the back of the plane.
Let's end it with a few of solid mis-translations:
Here speeching American.-sign in a Moroccan shop.
No smoothen the lion.-sign in a zoo in the Czech Republic.
Specialist in women and other diseases.-doctor's office in Rome
Fur coats made for ladies from their own skin.-window of a Swedish furrier
Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.-on the menu of a Swiss restaurant
If you consider our help impolite, you should see the manager.-sign in an Athens hotel.
Teeth extracted by latest methodists.-sign in Hong Kong dentist's office.
'In English', he said, 'A double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative.'
A loud voice from the back of the room piped up, 'Yeah, right.'
A clever pilot, with the help of his passengers, managed to thwart a hijacking attempt. He realised when talking to the hijacker that he didn’t speak French, despite trying to force the plane to land in France. So, he told the passengers over the intercom that he was going to do a rough landing to throw the hijacker off balance and that the passengers should be ready to pounce. He even moved the women and children to the back of the plane.
Let's end it with a few of solid mis-translations:
Here speeching American.-sign in a Moroccan shop.
No smoothen the lion.-sign in a zoo in the Czech Republic.
Specialist in women and other diseases.-doctor's office in Rome
Fur coats made for ladies from their own skin.-window of a Swedish furrier
Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.-on the menu of a Swiss restaurant
If you consider our help impolite, you should see the manager.-sign in an Athens hotel.
Teeth extracted by latest methodists.-sign in Hong Kong dentist's office.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Can you believe your eyes (or not)
A group of Czech artists who inserted a nuclear explosion into a national weather broadcast have been told by a prosecutor they could be sent to jail. The six hackers are accused of tampering with equipment during a live panoramic shot of mountains. A flash of bright light could be seen followed by a fiery mushroom cloud on the horizon.The group, which earlier won an award from Prague's National Gallery, face charges of spreading false information. The six, who call themselves "Ztohoven", claim that the aim of the project - called Media Reality - was to show how reality can be manipulated by the media. They say they are not political and do not intend to intimidate society. In order to hack into the broadcast, the group is said to have climbed up a television tower near the Krkonose ("Giant Mountains") in the northern Czech Republic and connected a computer to the camera and broadcast cable. Ztohoven are no strangers to publicity stunts. When President Vaclav Havel stepped down in January 2003, they covered up part of a neon heart sculpture in his honour at Prague Castle and turned it into a giant question mark.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Street Art
Street art is illegal, as a rule, but it seems that the situation is slowly changing. The proof of that is Bansky whose work has become protected by law. Will such an attitude of authorities towards street art become more popular only time will tell. But for now, only crime has united the artists from all over the world. Here are the works from New York, Washington, Spain, Russia, Malaysia, Australia and Canada.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
There must be a moral to this story somewhere...
New York City's Serendipity 3 restaurant had been noted by the Guinness Book of World Records for having the planet's most expensive dessert (a $25,000 chocolate sundae, featuring, among other delicacies, edible gold flakes). However, the city's Department of Health had ordered Serendipity 3 closed after inspectors found a live mouse in the kitchen, along with mouse droppings, fruit flies, house flies and more than 100 cockroaches.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
