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User: peter303

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  1. Jesus rose on April 9, year 30 on Calculating the Date of Easter · · Score: 1

    Some people use solar calendar, some lunar. If you were truly lunar like Jewish calendar, then you could celebrate resurrection three days after Passover. But that is only on Sunday once every seven years on average. Roman church want to always celebrate Easter on a Sunday, so they developed their quirky estimate of Easter.

    Back to the point. Astronomers following Jewish rules have calculated that Passover was on a Thursday during Pontius Pilate rule in year 30 (April 6) and 33 (April 2). The Bibilical King Herod died on March 13, 749 years after the founding of Rome, which is 4 BC in our calendar. So Jesus was born a little before Herolds death making Him 34ish or 37ish at death depending on the date. More people prefer the younger year if you google it. I guess he'd be about 2012 years old now, beating Mesthusaleuh!

  2. vernal equinox on March 20 UTC this year on Calculating the Date of Easter · · Score: 1

    And it was March 19 in California. Leap day made is seem earlier.

  3. change the name to BuckyBombs then? on Buckyballs Can Store Concentrated Hydrogen · · Score: 1

    Anything with that high of an energy density could release it is suddenly?

  4. public key encrytion approach on Would a National Biometric Authentication Scheme Work? · · Score: 1

    I would too safe unless there was there no central authority that "owned" the biomarker dataset. The central authority could initentially or accidentally lose the biomarker. The person, central authority or third party could forge, steal or alter it. Then we'd have scenarios like Minority Report or GATTACA.

    The ultimate keeper of the biomarker would the subject him/herself, albeit in an encrypted form . It would be like a public key that the subject or governement could use to verify with a second reading of the biomarker, but the roor biomarker unknowable.

  5. Pleasantville, Twilight Zone, Simpsons on In Soviet US, Comcast Watches YOU · · Score: 1

    There have been several scif/fantasy stories about the TV as a "window" both sides could interact or travel through. (Used to be "magic mirror" windows in fairy tales.)

    So this theme ebcomes more 'real" then.

  6. month of unrepeating p0rn in an iPod on Array-Based Memory May Put a Terabyte On a Chip · · Score: 1

    Progress.

  7. new languages F# and JavaFX on What Programming Languages Should You Learn Next? · · Score: 1

    I am not recommending for commerical reasons. But because they are fairly new they a new mix of software ideas.
    F# is a functional language from MicroSoft Research (not to be confused with MicroSoft). It is along the line sof APL and LISP.
    JavaFX is Java-like scripting language entirely integrated into Java and their JVM.

  8. has death ended scfi authors? on Arthur C. Clarke Is Dead At 90 · · Score: 1

    Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, and Hubbard all published lots after death.

  9. health concerns on The Real Body Snatchers · · Score: 1

    There are some diseases that survive death and transplant screening like HIV and listeria. Several cases of bad cartilage used in knee repairs and plastic surgery. You need to know the source of the material and cause of death.

  10. does health & medicine count on One Minute of Science Per Five Hours of Cable News · · Score: 1

    Health stories most nightly on the network news. They lternative between fear stories of new diseases and hopes of new cures.

    And if you add in all the drug commercials, its maybe a third of the newscast :-)

  11. a nation of "Paris Hiltons" on Americans Don't Care About Domestic Spying ? · · Score: 1

    Not only arent Americans shy, but they seem to desire media exposure all the time.

  12. GM 2nd try "Volt" might be sold on 100-Year-Old Electric Car Design Makes a Comeback · · Score: 1

    Unlike most hybrids, the Volt only has an electric motor. However it also has an internal gasoline generator for additonal range and power. And it is designed to charge from electric grid. It has the 250+ mile per-charge range most car dealers feel is necessary to be commercial.

    GM usually has lots of "concept" cars. But I wondered if they humbled by Japanese hybrid success.

  13. male-enhancement ad in the article on Most Spam Comes From Just Six Botnets · · Score: 1

    I thought it was ironic the article about spam had a classic spam ad in it.

  14. Other kinds of winks reveal planets on Winking Star Decoded as Root of Planetary System · · Score: 2, Informative

    (1) Red-blue winks are doppler shifts of light caused by a planet's gravity pulling or pushing on its star. This is the most popular method of discovering planets with over 200 so far, but cant find small ones. It sees planets large enough or fast enough to cause a detectable, infinitesmal doppler shift.
    (2) Eclipsing transits occurs when the planet passes edge on across the face of the star. The star will dim for a few hours. Even in our solar system transists of Mercury and Venus only happen a few hours each century, so they are hard to catch. I think think they've found about ten planets this way.
    (3) Gravitational lensing occurs when a solar system eclipses another star about twice as far away. There are temporary brightenings of the occluded star when its planet crosses the occluded star. This can see planets as small as earth. I think they've found about five planets this way.

    In 2009 the Kepler space probe will stare unblinking at the same patch of sky for months at a time. It is mainly seeking eclipsing transists but could catch lensing too. It will watch several hundred thousand stars simultaneously and hopefully capture few hundred planets.

  15. alternative representation in modular arithmetic on Happy Pi Day · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This schema fails if you continue to minutes and seconds:
    March 14, 15:92:65

    The proper representation is modular-place arithmetic. Instead of assuming each number chunk is either decimal or hundreds, you use the actual size of the place. The Calendar places are:
    12 months
    31 days
    24 hours
    60 minutes
    60 seconds

    So 3.14159265 is
    3 months, remainder .14159265 months
    4 days, remainder .3893706 days
    9 hours, remainder .3448944 hours
    20 minutes, remainder .693664 minutes
    42 seconds, remainder .61984 seconds

    In other words March 4 9:20:43

  16. china weakness: limited external links on The Secret China-U.S. Hacking War? · · Score: 1

    To censor its internal internet, China has built a "Great Wall" around it internet with relatively few portal links. Thta makes it quite vulnerable to attack.

  17. using these for lie detectors on Nerve-tapping Neckband Allows 'Telepathic' Chat · · Score: 1

    People often subvocalize what they are reading or thinking about. I heard of projects to make these as part of lie detectors. Of course, you'd also give the subject a drug to intefere with their mental concentration so they dont try to game the device.

  18. looked 2001, 2003 & 2004 compilation on MIT Picks Top 10 Emerging Technologies · · Score: 1

    People are seriously working on about six of those thirty topics. 20% hit rate.

  19. even worse in Colorado on Casino Insider Tells (Almost) All About Security · · Score: 1

    They only have $5 - $5 play tables. But you can play up to three hands at a time. Not much range for counting.

  20. card counting "mules" on Casino Insider Tells (Almost) All About Security · · Score: 2, Interesting

    A few years back the NY Times Sunday magazine did an article on a card counting professional at one of the los angeles paigow casinos where counters were tolerated. Because there was a bet ceiling, these guys had to play for volume to make a return, at least 40 hours a week. Often players were employed by others who supplied capital and they were paid hourly plus a share of winnings. It didnt sound that romantic.

  21. waiting for the MIT movie on Casino Insider Tells (Almost) All About Security · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Although I've seen two treatments on cable TV about two of the MIT capers, the theatrical release this year should give casinos new headaches.

  22. not in China on Cat Ownership Correlated With Heart Health · · Score: 3, Informative

    Cat cleanup before Olympics. Dont click if you love cats.

  23. Journalism is almost always biased too on Bad Science Journalism Gets Schooled · · Score: 1

    I just try to be aware of the authors biased and extract facts accordingingly.

  24. clothing for privacy is a modern hangup on T-Ray Camera Sees Through Clothes, Preserves Privacy · · Score: 1

    Clothing is only a recent invention 50K years old. Humanimals lived millions of years without it. Anyone who goes to nude events finds the sexual allure wears off in hours if not minutes. The majority of people arent just not interesting nakid.

    Clothing is for warmth, support, style expression, avoiding dirt and scratches off, etc.

  25. my horoscope said "YES" on Should Scientists Date People Who Believe Astrology? · · Score: 1

    I will have luck in the romance department tonight it said.