Analysts have lauded the price cut and say PS3 sales will be strong this Christmas – although not as strong as Nintendo’s. “The PS3 is gathering momentum but Wii will remain the winner this Christmas because Sony took too long to cut prices,” says one analyst at an investment bank in Tokyo. “But the Sony games strategy is finally working and we haven’t seen that in the past two to three years.”

A price cut too late for PlayStation 3

Another cool toy...

Welcome to Celestia... The free space simulation that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Unlike most planetarium software, Celestia doesn't confine you to the surface of the Earth. You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy.

It's similar to Stellarium, which Jello mentioned back in September.

EDIT: ...and apparently, possibly noteworthy linked this site back in May (before my time). Still, it's worth mentioning again. :)

Celestia

According to the Population Reference Bureau, approximately 106,456,367,669 (as of mid-2002).

The question of how many people have ever lived on Earth is a perennial one among information calls to PRB. One reason the question keeps coming up is that somewhere, at some time back in the 1970s, a now-forgotten writer made the statement that 75 percent of the people who had ever been born were alive at that moment.

If this estimate were true, it would indeed make an impressive case for the rapid pace of population growth in this century. But if we judge the idea that three-fourths of people who ever lived are alive today to be a ridiculous statement, have demographers come up with a better estimate? What might be a reasonable estimate of the actual percentage?

Any such exercise can be only a highly speculative enterprise, to be undertaken with far less seriousness than most demographic inquiries. Nonetheless, it is a somewhat intriguing idea that can be approached on at least a semi-scientific basis.

Still, with some speculation concerning prehistoric populations, we can at least approach a guesstimate of this elusive number.

Another estimate by the Department of Mathematics at the University of Hawaii estimates 96,100,000,000 as of mid-1999.

How Many People Have Ever Lived On Earth?

Garry Kasparov said that Russia’s election were the "dirtiest" in the nation's history.

"There are no illusions that what is being called elections was the most unfair and dirtiest in the whole history of modern Russia," Kasparov said at a news conference, pointing at reports of massive vote violations.

"We fully realize that it's useless to seek the truth in Russian courts," he added.

Kasparov, who heads the Other Russia coalition of opposition groups, was arrested and jailed for five days for leading a protest rally in Moscow on Nov. 24. His group was not allowed to run for parliament.

Kasparov said that activists of the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi, which means Ours, attacked his group's office Monday.

Earlier Monday, Nashi held a rally in Moscow, mobilizing its supporters to thwart what it described as a possible attempt by U.S.-backed "thieves and traitors" to mount protests and seize public buildings and squares. A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman called the claim "ridiculous."

Kasparov calls Russian elections 'dirtiest' in nation's history.

By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
November 15, 2007

A comet that has delighted backyard astronomers in recent weeks after an unexpected eruption has now grown larger than the sun.

The sun remains by far the most massive object in the solar system, with an extended influence of particles that reaches all the planets. But the comparatively tiny Comet Holmes has released so much gas and dust that its extended atmosphere, or coma, is larger than the diameter of the sun.

Incredible Comet Bigger than the Sun

This probably won't be available to guest members after a few days, so I posted the entire article.

Rush Limbaugh
November 8, 2007
Radio Show Transcript

RUSH: By the way, this next stuff is great. Let me preface it by giving you a little story here of what's going on out in San Francisco. "National civil rights organizations are celebrating the passage by the House of legislation that would add 'sexual orientation' to a list of federally protected classes, but some San Francisco groups refuse to take part in the party." They're not happy about it. They are the transgender and transsexuals, and they're at the back of the bus on this civil rights issue. "The vote Wednesday on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, also known as ENDA...was ultimately revised to remove protection for transgender workers, which upset gay rights groups here and across the country. ... 'People are livid,' said John Newsome, co-founder of And Castro for All, a bias awareness group. 'If the first step out of the gate leaves people behind, it is an ill-conceived first step.'" Barney Frank was getting tarred and feathered over this, and he told the transgenders and the transsexuals (paraphrased), "Just take your time. You're going to screw up this whole thing. We'll get this done in steps," but they're not listening. They're not happy. Here's John Lewis, who marched with Dr. King and got beat upside the head several times in the Selma march and so forth, late yesterday on the floor of the House of Representatives.

LEWIS: I, for one, fought too long and too hard to end discrimination based on race and color, not to stand up against discrimination against our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. During the 1960s, we broke down those signs that said "white" and "colored." Call it what you mean, to discriminate against someone because they are gay, is wrong, it is wrong! It is not right. Today we have an opportunity to bring down those signs! Now is the time to do what is right, what is fair, what is just! The time is always right to do right. Let us pass this bill.

RUSH: And next up, Barney Frank, a portion of his remarks.

FRANK: I feel an obligation to 15-year-olds dreading to go to school because of the torments, to people afraid they'll lose their job in a gas station if someone finds out who they are. I feel an obligation to use the status I have been lucky enough to get to help them, and I want to ask my colleagues here, Mr. Speaker, on a personal basis, "Please, don't fall for this sham. Don't send me out of here having failed to help those people." Yeah, this is personal. There are people who are your fellow citizens being discriminated against. We have a simple bill that says, "You can go to work and be judged on how you work, and not be penalized." Please don't turn your back on them. (applause)

RUSH: Yup. San Francisco values have to be brought to the House of Representatives h... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

Limbaugh - 'Democrats Shaft Transgenders'

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday urged the police to keep up its crackdown on social vice that has also targeted un-Islamic dress.

"The police must strongly press on with the 'social security plan' and avoid seasonal and temporary initiatives so that its goals are implemented in society," state television quoted Khamenei as telling police commanders.

Police launched the crackdown in April in a drive to "elevate security in society" with arrests of "thugs", raids on underground parties, seizure of satellite dishes, and street checks of improperly dressed individuals.

Thousands of women have been warned for wearing tight, short coats and skimpy headscarves and for flouting the Islamic dress code, which requires every post-pubescent women to cover their hair and body contours.

Some moderates have questioned the need for the moral crackdown but conservatives have applauded police for a drive they say is popular with the public and necessary to improve security in society.

The Islamic republic's all-powerful leader urged police to "fulfill its duties regardless of some opposition and propaganda."

Iran has in recent months stepped up executions of criminals rounded up in the drive, in a clear warning to those deemed a menace to society.

Nineteen men were hanged in Tehran and Mashhad after being arrested in a sweep on "arazel va obash," a Persian phrase that translates loosely as thugs. It is used for rapists, drug-traffickers and criminals who disturb public security.

Hmm... a social security plan and a drive to elevate security in society... which nation is this again?

Iran leader urges police to keep up social vice crackdown.

By Georgina Gustin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/06/2007

MASCOUTAH — A 13-year-old junior high school student was given two days of detention after school officials spotted her hugging friends after school last Friday.

Megan Coulter, an eighth-grade student at Mascoutah Middle School, was hugging her friends goodbye after school Friday when vice principal, Randy Blakely, saw her and told her she would receive two after-school detentions.

Blakely had previously warned Coulter that she was in violation of the school's policy on public displays of affection after she was seen hugging a student at a football game.

The school's policy says that “displays of affection should not occur on the campus at any time.”

Coulter's mother, Melissa Coulter, says she has requested to speak with the School Board at its next meeting, and is mystified about the punishment leveled at her daughter.

Mascoutah Superintendent Sam McGowen said today that the district's policy helps prevent misunderstandings and unwelcome expressions of affection.

A public bitch-slapping is in order for Randy Blakely and his ilk.

Girl Gets Detention For Hugging Friends

British defense researchers have invented an invisible tank — or at least a way to make a tank invisible. London's Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Sun all report on tests conducted by the Ministry of Defence last week in which a tank rolled across a field, completely invisible to observers standing at a certain point.

"This technology is incredible," an unnamed soldier was quoted by the Daily Mail and Sun. "If I hadn't been present I wouldn't have believed it. I looked across the fields and just saw grass and trees — but in reality I was staring down the barrel of a tank gun."

Before bloggers start making comparisons to Harry Potter and Romulan spacecraft, it must be noted that the "technology" relies on heavy use of camera and projectors. Basically, a camera films the background, which is then projected upon a special surface applied to something in the foreground — in this case, a tank.

A Japanese guy in a translucent raincoat has become very popular on YouTube demonstrating something similar, as you can see here.

One person was willing to go on the record in all three British newspaper stories — theoretical physicist Sir John Pendry of Imperial College London, one of the world's leading experts on surface reflectivity and lead author of a widely reported paper last year that said a "cloak of invisibility" would theoretically be possible.

"The drawback at the moment is the dependence upon cameras and projectors," the Sun quoted Pendry, who did not confirm an implied connection with the defense project. "The next stage is to make the tank invisible without them — which is intricate and complicated, but possible."

My initial reaction was "Cool!" ...until I realized that traffic cops eventually will be using this technology for speed traps. :(

British Defense Researchers Create Invisible Tank

Pullman has not been shy in the past about verbalizing his beliefs — or, some might say, nonbeliefs — and his intentions in writing the "Dark Materials" novels.

The novelist has said they are in response to C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia," the popular children's fantasy series of which "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is the first book — written by Lewis to teach Christian ideals to kids.

"I loathe the 'Narnia' books," Pullman has said in previous press interviews. "I hate them with a deep and bitter passion, with their view of childhood as a golden age from which sexuality and adulthood are a falling away." He has called the series "one of the most ugly and poisonous things" he's ever read.

Wow! ...sounds like one of my rants about the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Golden Compass