jamotto

Saturn Moon Pictures Excite Scientists

quote: The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Gunnar D. Becker, 19, of Forestburg, S.D., died Jan. 13 in Mosul, Iraq, of non-combat related injuries. Becker was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Vilseck, Germany.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Matthew W. Holloway, 21, of Fulton, Texas. Lance Cpl. Juan R. Rodriguez Velasco, 23, of El Cenizo, Texas. Both Marines died Jan. 13 from injuries received as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Both Marines were assigned to Marine Forces ReserveÔÇÖs 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Corpus Christi, Texas.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. 1st Class Brian A. Mack, 36, of Phoenix, Ariz., died Jan. 13 in Mosul, Iraq, when his military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. Mack was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.Link May you rest in peace...

quote: The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Michael J. Smith, 24, of Media, Penn., died Jan. 11 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when his military vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. Smith was assigned to 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 2d Infantry Division, Camp Casey, Korea.Link May you rest in peace...

The Facts About Second Hand Smoke (Finally) Website that tries to debunk SHS.

quote:Originally posted by LostInSpace: Fine and dandy so just charge the young people the tax not an adult who chooses and wishes to smoke. I wish it was that simple.

Link quote:By CHUCK BARTELS, Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, and its chief executive, Lee Scott, went on the offensive Thursday against critics of its employment policies and the impact its stores have on communities where they are located. The company took out more than 100 full-page newspaper ads Thursday, outlining the wages and benefits it pays its employees and the good the Bentonville-based company says it brings to communities. Scott said he wants Wal-Mart overcome its reputation as a company that does not pay well and has minimal full-time workers. "We want to get those myths off the table, set the record straight," Scott said in a phone interview from New York City where he was making a round of media interviews Thursday. Wal-Mart has been the target of lawsuits accusing the company of bias against women and not paying employees for all the hours they worked. Wal-Mart has vigorously fought the court actions. The ad says the company's average pay is nearly twice the minimum wage, that 74 percent of its hourly workers are full time and that Wal-Mart offers health and life insurance, company stock and a 401-k retirement plan. Wal-Mart has more than 1 million domestic employees. "We're taking this time to say, 'Hold on a minute, we have good jobs,'" Scott said. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams would not say how much the company spent on the advertising. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal were among the papers in which Wal-Mart paid for the full-page ads. The company has also been criticized by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which continues to try to organize Wal-Mart workers. And Wal-Mart's failed attempt to put a store in Inglewood, Calif., where the retailer lost a referendum last year, painted the company as an unwanted source of traffic and low-paying jobs. "I thought it was ridiculous," Scott said of the attention drawn by the Inglewood failure. "We had a record number of stores open this past year ... (and) this year we will open a record number of stores." Scott said no one source of criticism prompted the new offensive. "I liken it to being nibbled to death by guppies," Scott said. The company's Thanksgiving weekend sales failed to meet expectations, and Scott said that prompted Wal-Mart to become more aggressive in merchandising and the way it gets its message across. But Scott said he does not dismiss concerns that people express when Wal-Mart wants to open a new store. "I think there's lots of questions when Wal-Mart comes to a town that need to be answered. Not all of those questions are frivolous," he said. Scott said he planned meetings with a variety of groups not associated with government to help explain Wal-Mart's employment practices, environment-related policies and how it deals with its suppliers. He would not name the organizations, saying did not want the groups to feel they were being used to garner media attention. "We touch so many lives ... there is almost not a (non-government organization) that does not have an interest in what we as a company are doing," Scott said. Wal-Mart shares were up 7 cents at $54.15 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. It traded as low as $51.08 last summer. quote:The company's Thanksgiving weekend sales failed to meet expectationsawwww, poor wally world.

quote:Originally posted by DocHoliday: All right, all right, we get the hint. The "don't-give-me-the-scarry-formulas" people Cheers, DocScary That's one of the simpler ones

Link quote: By Deborah Zabarenko SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A telescope that works like "ultrasound for stars" has found a hatchery filled with massive stellar embryos in a dark cloud of cosmic dust, astronomers reported on Wednesday. Looking at the universe by tracking infrared radiation, the Spitzer Space Telescope has found a glowing incubator for developing stars in a bright cloud called the Trifid Nebula. The embryos are invisible to optical telescopes because they are hidden deep in the cloud, but the Spitzer's infrared instruments can see through the dust. To a regular telescope, the Trifid Nebula looks like a dark wispy mist in front of a patch of brilliant light. It is about 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. A light-year is about 6 trillion miles, the distance light travels in a year. In this same area, there is evidence of four clots of dark dust, known as cores, that are characteristic of places where stars form. Astronomers previously believed these dark areas were not yet ripe for star formations, but Spitzer's infrared observations showed massive stars taking shape there. "With Spitzer, it's like we have ultrasound for stars," said Jeonghee Rho, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology who headed this investigation. Stellar embryos develop so quickly in these dark regions that it is difficult to catch them before they become full-fledged stars, Rho said at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Spitzer found 30 massive stellar embryos and 120 smaller newborn stars in the Trifid Nebula. Only 10 of the embryos were detected in the dark cores. The rest were scattered through the nebula's dusty lanes and bright clouds. Eventually, the embryos will accumulate enough gas and dust to ignite and explode out of their cores, the astronomers said.

quote:Originally posted by DocHoliday: [QB] Hi all, If I can add my 50 cents worth even though I'm not from the Physics department either, but I do hang around some forums where people are The maximum acceleration of a CC-type craft of or a small fighter (in space) is defined the thrust/mass ratio. So as Marvin said F=ma applies here. a=F/m to add more detail to this ΔV=Ve*ln(Mo/Mf) where: ΔV=change in velocity Ve=exhaust velocity Mo=initial mass of the vehicle Mf=final mass at burnout

Link quote:WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States lost nearly 1.5 million jobs between 1989 and 2003 because of increased trade with China, according to a report released on Tuesday by a government watchdog committee. The report was prepared by the pro-labor Economic Policy Institute for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a congressionally-appointed panel that has pushed for a tough U.S. approach to China on trade. The study estimates that imports from China displaced 1.659 million jobs between 1989 and 2003, while exports to that country generated only 199,000 additional U.S. jobs. The job losses have accelerated and moved into unexpected new sectors as the trade deficit -- which reflects the gap between imports and exports -- with China skyrocketed to a record $124 billion in 2003, report author and EPI senior international trade economist Robert Scott said. "The assumptions we built our trade relationship with China on have proved to be a house of cards. Everyone knew we would lose jobs in labor-intensive industries like textiles and apparel, but we thought we could hold our own in the capital-intensive, high-tech arena," Scott said in a statement. The report puts a large portion of the blame for the growing U.S. trade deficit with China on that country's "refusal to revalue its exchange rate." U.S. manufacturers and labor groups complain that Beijing's decade-old long practice of pegging its currency at 8.28 to the dollar gives Chinese companies an unfair advantage by artificially depressing the price of their goods. Expected U.S. gains from Beijing's entry into the World Trade Organization in December 2001 "have yet to materialize" and instead China is increasingly competitive in more advanced sectors such as autos and aerospace where the United States has long had a big advantage, the report said. Old-line industries such as textiles, apparel, furniture, rubber and leather have borne the brunt of the U.S. job losses, although computer, electronic, and semi-conductor sectors have seen China-related losses as well, the report said. "It is hard to overstate the challenges posed by this export behemoth," the report said.

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died Jan. 10 in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device hit their military vehicle. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army National Guard's 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Infantry Brigade, Lake Charles, La. Killed were: Staff Sgt. William F. Manuel, 34, of Kinder, La. Sgt. Robert W. Sweeney III, 22, of Pineville, La.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:Originally posted by Zane Marlowe: Now I still didn't see you respond to the reference to Babylon 5, which fought its way through five seasons and won a Hugo (or two?) for its storytelling.It won two. quote: If you're looking for original ideas in sci-fi, and you're looking for them to appear on film first, then I'd have to think about it.I was thinking more along those lines.

Redshift 4 looks good, for the price. They have version 5 out now.

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Joseph E. Fite, 23, of Round Rock, Texas, died Jan. 9 as a result of hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to the Marine Forces ReserveÔÇÖs 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Austin, Texas.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Dwayne J. McFarlane Jr., 20, of Cass Lake, Minn., died Jan. 9 in Baghdad, Iraq, when his dismounted patrol was hit by an improvised explosive device. McFarlane was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), from Fort Drum, N.Y.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:Originally posted by Zane Marlowe: Other recent examples include Minority Report, Bicentennial Man (based on an Asimov story), Dark City, Gattaca, and AI.Not real sure I would call them recent. Minority Report was published in 1958 Bicentennial Man in 1976 AI in 1969 Dark City in 1976 quote: We don't always get it in a Kubrick-class art wrapper (ala 2001), but who says big ideas have to come off like art?Good point Just hope that Scrivener is not right and have to wait til 2010 to see original film again.

Link quote:11. (A)bort, ®etry, (F)ail? R (A)bort, ®etry, (F)ail? R (A)bort, ®etry, (F)ail? F Relationship failed. 10. Now that Half Life 2 is out, I need to refocus my priorities. 9. You have been unsubscribed from my dating list. Please click this link to confirm. 8. I need a lover who understands that 20 hours a day on the Internet is normal. 7. I don't think we should date any more, but we can still be on each other's buddy lists. 6. I'd like a true beauty so I don't have to spend so much time photoshopping your ugly face out of our photos. 5. It's like in X-Men number 135, where Cyclops and Jean Grey (as The Phoenix)... 4. Let's face it. You love Intel, and I'm an AMD man. It's not going to work out. 3. What do you mean your EULA says that once I've removed the shrink wrap I can't return it? 2. After you e-mailed me your full-body shot, I realized I was looking for someone more feminine 1. So long and thanks for all the fish.

Link quote:By FRANK GRIFFITHS, Associated Press Writer SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A cigar maker in Puerto Rico has hand-rolled a 62-foot-long stogie, which would be the world's largest if confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records. Patricio Pena, 43, took about four days to manufacture the cigar in a plaza outside a farmer's market in the Santurce district of San Juan, finishing the project late Saturday. "A friend of mine came up to me recently, and said why don't you try and make the world's largest cigar?" Pena said standing over the cigar, which spanned the length of about a dozen tables. Pena is attempting to displace Cuba ÔÇö the king of cigar-making ÔÇö as the home of the world's largest cigar. The current Guinness record-holder is Jose Castelar Cairo of Havana who made a 45-foot-long cigar in August of 2003. Pena, originally from Santiago, Dominican Republic, first started rolling cigars at the age of 7, and has continued the practice in Puerto Rico, where he has lived for the past three decades. He has a stand outside the market where he rolls regular-sized cigars. It took 20 pounds of tobacco from Puerto Rico and Pennsylvania and 100 leaves to roll the huge cigar, Pena said. The materials cost about US$2,000 but he was sponsored by San Juan's city government, Bacardi rum company and Telemundo television station, he said. Pena said he started the cigar on Wednesday, rolling the tobacco over about an hour and 20 minutes. He let it sit for the next two days so the tobacco gained consistency and would be easier to wrap. Dozens of curious onlookers including legendary Cuban percussionist Carlos "Patato" Valdes were on hand to watch the final stage of the feat on Saturday. Pena had nine assistants turn the cigar as he wrapped it with the leaves over an hour. Pena said he does not plan to smoke the cigar or cut it into smaller stogies. Instead, he plans to hang the cigar in the market so tourists can come and see it. He has already contacted Guinness and is planning to submit the final paperwork soon with the required witness signatures. Guinness officials at the London-based organization were not immediately available for comment on Sunday. "I hope someone tries to break it. I plan on adding a foot (half a meter) every year until I reach Ponce," Pena said jokingly, referring to a coastal city about 70 miles south-southwest of San Juan. Puerto Rico, a U.S. Caribbean territory of about 4 million people, once had an important tobacco industry but it has faded over the past century as the economy has shifted away from agriculture and toward industrial manufacturing.

Over here they are discussing this issue I think it is a good question. quote:Is story driven, character based science fiction film dead? Isaac Asimov once divided science fiction literature into four time periods: ÔÇó 1926-38--adventure dominant ÔÇó 1938-50--science dominant ÔÇó 1950-65--sociology dominant ÔÇó 1966-present--style dominant The Golden Age of science fiction literature (the 1940s and1950s) provided most of the stories that have been borrowed, paid homage to, recycled, ripped off, and used as scripts for modern sci-fi film. In fact these story lines are now so tired and have been cannibalized so many times that many writers and directors of science fiction film seem to have done away with the story altogether in favor 90 minute video games passed off as movies (Riddick Chronicles, Star Wars prequels, Matrix 2 & 3, odd numbered Star Trek movies, etc.). Has the present age of style over substance, and more specifically CGI special effects style, been the death knell of sci-fi film?

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Daniel F. Guastaferro, 27, of Las Vegas, Nev., died January 7 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when his military vehicle left the road and went into a canal. Guastaferro was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Camp Casey, Korea.Link May you rest in peace...

Pay them no mind Marvin, a funny sense of humor is a terrible thing to waste.

Wonder if these vibrations can cause other things to happen. Perhaps trigger more Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions?

That is a good write up on Neptune, Templa/2 I'll add this picture of Neptune's Great Dark Spot Link and that Neptune was discovered on September 23, 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle, of the Berlin Observatory, and Louis d'Arrest, an astronomy student, through mathematical predictions made by Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier *whew what a mouthful for a name!*