Comment Re:Mathematically, it does not work. (Score 1) 479

by enigma.obscura on Monday July 03, 2006 @01:02PM (#15650915) Attached to: NSA Had Domestic Call Monitoring Before 9/11?

Although I'm not particularly interested in arguing (or looking up the numbers), many murders are due to crimes of passion and drunken arguments. Additionally, being a prostitute does mean it's ok for someone to murder you, which is what your response seems to imply (or at least mitigate). There aren't throw-away people as you describe them (well, there are, but we call them the Congress). And the government requires evidence to investigate? Just like they require warrants for wiretaps, right?

Recipe for Making Symetrical Holes in Water 174

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday May 21, 2006 @10:09AM from the welcome-to-sunday-morning dept.

scottZed writes "Danish researchers found a simple way to make curiously shaped air holes in a bucket of water. Simply rig the bucket to have a spinning plate at the bottom, and depending on the speed, you can get an ellipse, three-sided star, square, pentagon, or hexagon. The effect may help explain such shapes seen in atmospheric disturbances on Earth and other planets. One practical use: really trippy washing machines."

.xxx registry sues US government 225

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday May 21, 2006 @08:58AM from the start-your-moaning dept.

An anonymous reader writes in to say that "ICM Registry LLC, the company behind the proposed .xxx internet porn domain, is to sue two departments of the US government for access to documents it claims show the US pressured ICANN into rejecting the domain. The Florida-based startup will sue the Department of Commerce and the Department of State to get them to release documents that they redacted when they responded to a Freedom Of Information Act request that ICM filed last year."

Planet Discovered Using Telephoto Camera Lenses 74

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Sunday May 21, 2006 @07:34AM from the shot-in-the-dark dept.

[rvr] writes "The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) reports the discovery of an extra-solar planet called XO-1b, which orbits a dim star in Corona Borealis every 4 days. To find it, the brightness of several thousand stars were regularly scanned using two mini-telescopes in Hawaii. This equipment was built using commercial hardware: two digital cameras, attached to telephoto camera lenses on a robotic equatorial mount. A team of amateur astronomers helped with their own equipment to discard or confirm dozens of suspected transits."

Giant Paramount Auction of Star Trek Items 225

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Sunday May 21, 2006 @02:39AM from the scott-me-up-beamie dept.

Alien54 writes "The first official studio auction of memorabilia from all five 'Star Trek' television series and 10 movie spinoffs, to be held from October 5 to 7 in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the original 'Star Trek' series, was announced by Christie's on Thursday. CBS Paramount Television Studios is cleaning out its vaults for the sale, comprising more than 1,000 lots totaling some 4,000 items. Items to hit the block include props, weapons, prosthetics and set dressings unearthed from five Paramount warehouses, as well as many special and spectacular items highlighted in the various shows." Update: 05/21/2006 14:57 GMT by SM Several users have provided us with the direct link to the auction site for easy viewing.

MacSaber Turns Your Macbook into a Lightsaber 223

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday May 20, 2006 @07:39PM from the macs-and-other-jedi-mind-tricks dept.

Petey_Alchemist writes "SomethingAwful.com forum goon isnoop has developed a useless but fun app that takes advantage of the new sudden motion sensor available in Macbooks. The MacSaber 1.0 causes your Macbook or Macbook Pro to whoosh and crash like a lightsaber depending on how you swing it around. The reviews from those who have installed it say it is quite fun--although there is some concern about whether or not 'lightsaber battles' fall under warranty."

Clocking the Movements of Atoms 86

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday May 20, 2006 @05:27PM from the just-a-guy-who-is-really-quick-with-his-stopwatch dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "With special microscopes, scientists and engineers involved in nanotechnologies have been able to 'see' atoms for a while. But they couldn't clock the atomic response to events which typically occur in nanoseconds. Now, U.S. physicists have found a way to clock the movements of atoms at the nanometer scale. In their experiments, they were able to literally watch atoms switching positions in ferroelectric materials. Adding the dimension of time to the observation of the nanoworld could lead to easier developments of 'materials for improved memory applications in microelectronics.'"

New Wide-Angle Telescope to Capture Night Sky 168

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday May 20, 2006 @03:34PM from the storage-nightmare dept.

NewScientist is reporting that a new telescope located in Chile is aiming to capture images of the entire night sky every three nights. From the article: "The telescope will use a digital camera with 3 billion pixels to image the entire sky across three nights, producing an expected 30 terabytes of data per night. This will allow astronomers to detect objects that quickly change their position, such as near-Earth asteroids, or their brightness, such as supernovae."