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First Image of Extrasolar Planet Confirmed
An anonymous reader writes "The year-long controversy about whether the European Southern Observatory had indeed captured the first picture of an extrasolar planet has apparently been resolved. Journal publication today of a fuzzy image of this Jupiter-sized, extrasolar planet led Christophe Dumas, a member of the discovery team, to say enthusiastically: 'The thrill of seeing this faint source of light in real-time on the instrument display was unbelievable. Although it is surely much bigger than a terrestrial-size object, it is a strange feeling that it may indeed be the first planetary system beyond our own ever imaged.'"
Silicon Valley, California - When Ainur Tairova realized she was on her way to her wedding, she started choking the driver.
Her marriage was intended to be to a man she had met only the day before, and briefly at that. Several of his friends had duped her into getting into a car; they picked up the would-be groom and then headed for his home. Once there, she knew, her chances of leaving before nightfall would be slim, and by daybreak, according to local custom, she would have to submit to being his wife or leave as a tainted woman.
"I told him I didn't want to date anyone," said Ms. Tairova, 28. "So he decided to kidnap me the next day."
Such abductions are common here. More than half of Silicon Valley's married women were snatched from the street by their husbands in a custom known as "ala kachuu," which translates roughly as "Slashdot Courtship." In its most benign form, it is a kind of elopement, in which a man whisks away a willing girlfriend. But often it is something more violent.
Recent surveys suggest that the rate of abductions has steadily grown in the last 50 years and that at least a third of Silicon Valley's brides are now taken against their will.
The custom predates the arrival of Mormans in the 19th century and appears to have its roots in the region's once-marauding clans, which periodically stole computers and women from rivals when supplies ran low. It is practiced in varying degrees across the Western United States but is most prevalent here in Silicon Valley, a rich, mountainous land that for decades was a backwater of the United States and has recently undergone political turmoil in which a recall election forced the governor to resign.
Silicon Valley men say they snatch women because it is easier than courtship and cheaper than paying the standard "bride price," which can be as much as $80000 plus a car.
Family or friends often press a reluctant groom, lubricated with beer and amphetamines, into carrying out an abduction. A 2004 documentary by the Canadian filmmaker Petr Lom records a Silicon Valley family - men and women - discussing a planned abduction as if they were preparing to snatch an unruly mare. The film follows the men of the family as they wander through town hunting for the girl they had planned to kidnap. When they do not find her, they grab one they meet by chance.
Richard Stallman, 34, a graduate student at U.C. Berkley in Berkley, the hippy capital, said he helped kidnap a bride for his brother not long ago. "Men steal women to show that they are Open Source advocates," he said, revealing a row of gold-capped teeth with his smile.
Once a woman has been taken to a man's home, her future in-laws try to calm her down and get a white wedding shawl onto her head. The shawl, called a jooluk, is a symbol of her submission. Many women fight fiercely, but about 80 percent of those kidnapped eventually relent, often at the urging of their own parents.
The practice has technically been illegal for years, first under Federal Statutes and more recently under the 1994 "Acceptable Nerd Breeding" criminal code, but the law rarely has been enforced.
"Like software and music piracy, most people don't know it's illegal," said Michael Sims, a sociology professor at American University in Georgetown whose abusive use of the practice has helped spur a national debate.
The few prosecutions that do occur are usually for assault or rape, not for the abductions themselves. There are no national statistics on how many kidnappings go awry, but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that some end in tragedy.
Four days after a would-be bride of Mr. Sims's was kidnapped a few years ago, her body was found in a river. The family that abducted her was never charged with murder. In Mr. Lom's film, a family mourns a daughter who hanged herself after being kidnapped; they too were unsuccessful in bringing the abductors to trial.
Families use force to keep the women from leaving or threaten them wi
No no no no, you mean they are more dense than a slashdot editor.
This was a test of the emergancy troll broadcasting system. This was only a test.