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Space

Submission + - Parts of the galactic halo rotate "backwards&# (space.com)

Submitted by
xPsi
xPsi writes: "Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, researchers have recently discovered that the galactic halo has two distinct components which rotate in opposite directions. From the article 'The main galactic disk, home to our sun, rotates at an average speed of 500,000 mph. Surrounding the disk is what's now called the inner halo. It orbits in the same direction at about 50,000 mph. The outer halo, a sparsely populated region, spins in the opposite direction at roughly 100,000 mph.' This discovery provides some insight into how galaxies, ours in particular, are formed."
Mars

Meet the Drivers Behind NASA's Mars Rovers 67

Posted by Zonk from the best-game-ever dept.
StonyandCher writes "Scott Maxwell must have one of the best IT jobs in the solar system, driving NASA's Mars Rovers. Behind every robot is a driver. He's one of 14 Rover Drivers that work in NASA's California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Maxwell discusses what makes up an average work day, the highlights of the project, how he got the job, and the tools he uses in his work. A great look at the team of dedicated IT workers behind the robots, plotting the every move of NASA's twin robot geologists, Spirit and Opportunity, since they first landed on Mars at the start of 2004."
Graphics

Submission + - HiRes Scan of 'Mona Lisa' Reveals Its History

Submitted by daevux
daevux writes: CNN reports that French engineer Pascal Cotte has discovered interesting details of the history of Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" from a 240 megapixel scan of the artwork. Among the findings are the disappearance of eyebrows and eyelashes probably due to poor cleaning, and differences in skin tones.
United States

Submission + - Habeas Corpus is GONE (senate.gov) 2

Submitted by
Khyber
Khyber writes: "In a vote of 56 yeas to 43 nays, with one abstaining, the Cloture Motion to restore Habeas Corpus has been halted, with a 3/5 majority vote unable to be attained. Article 6 states their oath to uphold the constitution, Article 4 states that habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless in cases of rebellion and invasion when the public safety may require it. It's becoming a very dark age, indeed."
The Internet

Submission + - Who's (still) wasting your bandwidth? (royalmail.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Using the Royal Mail price finder on behalf of an ebay customer today, I noticed the layout of the HTML was poor (probably because it's formatted to work on IE only — yes, I've asked them to fix it). Unable to let any problem lie I took a look at the source and was appalled to see how much redundant whitespace was being served with the page. After 10 minutes tidying it up I discovered that where it might reasonably serve 12k of HTML data it was actually serving up 20k. Around 8,000 pointless bytes are being transmitted every time someone wants to price something up with Royal Mail. When we all used dial-up the issue was page latency; with broadband it's one of download limits. Luckily my ISP doesn't impose one and 8k is not exactly a hill of beans in these gigabyte times, but can anyone beat 40% wastage?
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - The Wrong Way to Dispose of Server Boxes (blogspot.com)

Submitted by kunk28
kunk28 writes: I work for a large Internet co-location and hosting company. One of our customers installed a bunch of servers the other night at one of our Salt Lake City data centers. Instead of taking and disposing of all the empty server boxes themselves they decided to try to fit them all in our dumpster. In the morning when we came into work we were welcomed by the following sight. Obviously they think they are funny or something.
Windows

Submission + - Windows XP Thumb Drive Edition Is Real (osweekly.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: OSWeekly.com's Matt Hartley has discovered a real, working version of Windows XP Thumb Edition. He comments: "While a proof-of-concept has been perpetuated without Microsoft's content, the instructions are fuzzy, and trying to install this would certainly be a clear violation of existing US law, but my sources have indicated this to be the real deal — you can install Windows XP onto a USB drive as described above. Why hasn't Microsoft bothered to create such a thing themselves? It could be the belief that they do not see the cost/benefit value for offering a bootable USB OS despite the immense success of such a thing with Linux.
The Internet

Submission + - Online Horoscopes .... Aren't Just For Women (psychicguild.com)

Submitted by
Neoli Marcos
Neoli Marcos writes: "Melbourne, Australia June 5, 2007 —

Universal Psychic Guild , Australia`s leading online psychic service, is determined to defy gender stereotypes as it proudly offers horoscopes and astrology reports that are well-fitted for women and men alike.

Traditionally, horoscopes and astrology have always been associated with women, who are supposedly more intuitive and sensitive than their male counterparts. True enough, Universal Psychic Guild`s clientèle over the years has mostly been women, while men account for just a fraction of the site`s regulars.

But are horoscopes really for men? Universal Psychic Guild answers that with a resounding Yes. As each astrology and numerology report are carefully prepared by the Guild`s resident psychics, and every psychic reader has had years of experience and undergone evaluation before being able to go online, customers are assured they get only the best psychic and astrology reports.

This promise of truly personalised, tailor-made, and carefully detailed horoscopes, whether for men or women, is what has kept the company going through the years. New changes has even arrived at the site, specifically the live webcam psychic chat and readings where querents can log on and actually come face to face with their favourite psychic reader. As with all other great psychic offers of Psychic Guild, this comes with a money-back guarantee.

This coming Father`s Day, Universal Psychic Guild encourages its patrons to give their dads and all the men in their lives horoscopes for a change. It`s the unlikely, but surprising gift. And that`s something.

_______ Universal Psychic Guild is on 24-7 to answer all your questions on life, love, career, health, and well-being. For Free Horoscopes, and Premium Psychic and Astrology reports, visit Psychic Guild now.

Online Astrology reports
Universal Psychic Guild (ACN: 066 828 288) P.O. Box 7011 Hawthorn North Victoria 3122, Australia support@psychicguild.com Phone: 1300 365 318"

Feed Brain Machine legally induces mind trip (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We know, returning to work after an all-too-short long weekend leaves you just wanting more time off, but rather than skimming through those pictures you snapped and refusing to get back in the groove, why not force your brain to meditate and release those negative vibes? In an admittedly bizarre how-to guide, the folks over at MAKE have detailed Mitch Altman's Brain Machine, which reportedly enables you to slip into deep thought, sleep, or peaceful nirvana by syncing up your brain waves with pulsing lights and sounds. Odd as it may sound, the homegrown trip inducer purportedly utilizes an SLM (Sound and Light Machine) to "phase in new brain states by switching frequencies back and forth." Of course, we're still a bit hesitant to put our retinas at risk in order to legally experience hallucinations, but be sure to hit the read link for the step-by-step guide, and tap the via if you're interested in catching a video before subjecting yourself. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via MAKE]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Patents

Submission + - Microsoft will not sue over Linux patents

Submitted by San Muel
San Muel writes: In an official statement, Microsoft has said it has no immediate plans to sue after alleging patent infringements by open-source vendors for the time being.

"If we wanted to go down that road we could have done that three years ago," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "Rather than litigate, Microsoft has spent the last three years building an intellectual property bridge that works for all parties — including open source — and the customer response has been tremendously positive. Our focus is on continuing to build bridges."
Editorial

Submission + - Scientology harrassment attempt backfired badly

Submitted by BertDeJong
BertDeJong writes: Making a critical documentary about the cult of Scientology wasn't made easy for BBC Panorama's investigating journalist John Sweeney, as he was being follow-up, harrassed, and intimidated for days by one "Tommy" (wearing sunglasses and a black suit) of Scientology during his investigation. Sweeney lost it after a couple of days, and explained "Tommy" where they were at. Scientology taped the event, and decided it would be good message to enemies of Scientology so they put it on Youtube. But this badly backfired when Panorama viewing rates went through the roof in Britain. Scientology are now considering legal steps.

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