Urban legend: Cats and glassware get along

I live a rather TV-free life, but when I do watch TV, I tune in to "Discovery Channel". One of my favourite shows is Mythbusters, where two daredevils prove or disprove (bust) several urban myths. Unfortunately, I have never seen them dealing with the most common urban legend, stating that cats and glassware get along like the horse and carriage. Well, today, Shushu -

was posessed by Adam Savage's spirit (it's strange to be posessed by the spirit of a living being), and decided that she needs to do some experimenting. The result:

Myth BUSTED, together with a glass lid. Well done, Shushu.

Lunar eclipse

Tonight, Romania and other parts of the world witnessed a partial lunar eclipse (80%). From Wikipedia:
A partial lunar eclipse will take place on August 16, 2008, the second of two lunar eclipses in 2008, with the first being a total eclipse on February 20, 2008. The next lunar eclipse will be a penumbral eclipse occurring on February 9, 2009, while the next total lunar eclipse will occur on December 21, 2010. The penumbral eclipse will begin at 18:23 UTC, with the partial eclipse beginning at 19:36. The time of greatest eclipse is 21:10. The partial eclipse will end at 22:44, and the penumbral eclipse will finally at 23:57"

On the above thumbnail, the Moon is quite inconspicuous; seeing the pic at full resolution helps

First pics with Sony Ericsson Cybershot k810i

Of men and their toys

For a couple of hours now, I am the proud owner of a Sony Ericsson K810i mobile phone (89 euros, with a 2-year Orange subscription). What attracted me to it was its 2.3 megapixel camera. Here is how its manufacturer praises it:
"With Photo fix, you have that extra, magical dark room touch. Adjust light balance, brightness and contrast in one go, and see your good shots turn great. The 3.2-megapixel camera comes packed with features. Get sharp with auto focus. And don't let poor lighting worry you: use the Xenon flash."

Many reviewers find it outstanding; as for me, we'll live and see. Up to now, I tried the camera - pretty decent photos, that is, excellent for a mobile phone but so-and-so for a digital camera. What is good, is that I will have, from now on, a camera always at hand.

The "Carturesti" bookshop - Cluj presents "Space and Time in Cambodia"

As one can see from my older posts, I took a lot of pics while in South-East Asia. I had no other intention, at that time, except to seize the moment. Having seen them, my family and friends encouraged me to gather them in an exchibition. I hate fake modesty, but I have to confess that I should be the last person to be praised for these pics; in fact, any person can photograph beauty and suffering. Here is the press release from the Carturesti bookshop:

"Librăria Cărtureşti Cluj prezintă – Spaţiu şi timp în Cambodgia:
Un cercetător la Agenţia Spaţială Română, cu un protest inedit îndreptat împotriva americanului îmbogăţit prin vânzarea unor parcele pe Lună, va expune la librăria Cărtureşti din Iulius Mall Cluj fotografii … din Cambodgia. Alegerea spaţiului capturat de fotografie vine dintr-o prezenţă în acel loc: „Nu am fost încă pe lună, pe soare, în cosmos”, explică Virgiliu Pop. Fotografia sa e cea a unui călător obişnuit, cu valoare de jurnal şi istorică, situată undeva la mijlocul distanţei între fotografia de presă şi cea artistică. Văzute ca „o fereastră format A4 într-o altă regiune a spaţiului”, pozele lui Virgiliu Pop se bazează pe senzaţie, întâmplare, raţiune, mai mult decât pe-o anumită tehnică în fotografie. Expoziţia „Cambodgia - lumini şi umbre” va ajunge în Cărtureşti pe 20 august şi va rămâne acolo până în 9 septembrie.
„Din respect pentru nenumăratele victime ale comunismului, m-am simţit dator să fotografiez câmpurile morţii şi celulele de tortură, unde unii oameni au fost ucişi doar pentru că aveau ochelari, aşadar ştiau să citească, aşadar erau duşmani de clasă”, argumentează Virgiliu Pop partea întunecată a expoziţiei. Nu a avut niciun şoc cultural în Cambodgia, poate doar unul culinar: „Am fost pregatit inclusiv să întâlnesc vânzătoare ambulante de păianjeni prăjiţi. Nu am fost însă pregătit să îi consum”. În fotografie se poziţionează ca simplu observator, nimic mai mult, aşa cum în cercetare e un tânăr briliant, cu un doctorat scoţian în derulare sub titlul „Cui aparţine luna? Aspecte extraterestre ale dreptului de proprietate funciar şi mineral”. În luna octombrie, acelaşi Virgiliu Pop va veni din nou în Cărtureşti pentru o dezbatere despre nebunia cumpărării pe bucăţi a Lunii şi o prezentare a proiectului său protest „Soare de vânzare”."

Five Future Lawsuits We’re Already Working On

Lauren Davis from io9.com writes about future lawsuits (http://io9.com/5032197/five-future-lawsuits-were-already-working-on):
"This fall’s Battlestar Galactica prequel, Caprica, will plunge civil rights attorney Joseph Adama into unfamiliar legal and ethical depths when he encounters the first member of the Cylonic species. Fortunately, lawyers on our planet are already considering the legal consequences of the future, toaster-laden or otherwise. After the jump, five legal areas sure to burn up the billable hours of future law firms.
Extraterrestrial Property: For several decades, the field of space law was focused on the extraplanetary actions of governments and the placement of satellites in orbit. But as private enterprises turn their sights on the stars, legal scholars have been forced to ponder just who will own the final frontier.
Who is working on it: Virgiliu Pop, a researcher at the Romanian Space Agency who once jokingly claimed ownership of the sun, has written extensively on the perils of allowing individuals to stake extraterrestrial claims without the recognition of the entire international community. Others, like Space Settlement Institute executives Alan Wasser and Douglas Jobes, have written about approaching a real estate framework from a perspective of colonization."

Xoom - The Truth: Lawyer Claims to Own Sun

Mark Macready from "Xoom: The Truth" (http://xoomthetruth.blogspot.com/2008/07/lawyer-claims-to-own-sun.html) brings his "two cents" to the issue of extraterrestrial property rights:
"Our records indicate you only spent 200 hours in the sun this month, would you like us to rollover your remaining 520 hours to next month's Sun Usage Bill?"
Okay, so that’s a little extreme, but one Lawyer’s recent claim to own the sun is real. So will he use this claim as a diabolical plan to charge all humanity for the Sun and its usage? No. Although that would make one hell of a Sci-Fi Original Movie, his outrageous claim actually was brought about to expose the ridiculousness of extraterrestrial real estate 'owners' and 'sellers'.
Virgiliu Pop (easily one of the best names ever), a PhD Candidate at the University of Glasgow, said:
"If they believe they can own a celestial body just because it has not been claimed before, and then sell it to the public, so can I say I own the Sun and charge the 'extraterrestrial owners' for solar energy".
Mr. Pop registered his claim over the Sun on April 28th, 2001, with the Archimedes Institute Claim Registration Office, registry that has been used also by Mr. Gregory Nemitz in registering his claim over asteroid Eros. "In February 2001, Mr. Nemitz sent NASA an invoice for the parking/storage fee for the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft, that landed on 'his' property.
I don’t know about you guys, but that last line about Mr. Nemitz sending invoices to NASA for the parking/storage of their spacecraft is probably one of the funniest things I’ve read in a while."

How to Wash a Cat

Today my worst fears were confirmed: I am the postman's son. Or the plumber's. Under no circumstance can this cat-washing gentleman be my father.

ScienceJunkies.com: Unreal Estate

Linda, from Sciencejunkies.com (http://sciencejunkies.com/2008/02/27/unreal-estate/), reviews my book, "Unreal Estate":
"Yet another great question put forth by my ever curious 10 year-old Science Junkie: Can people own planets, stars moons, etc?
Over the past several decades, numerous individuals and companies have claimed ownership of various celestial bodies and, in most cases, subsequently offered them for sale to the public. Nowadays, the extraterrestrial “deeds” held by various companies and private citizens number in the millions.
In the 1940’s, multitudes of people submitted requests to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for lunar homesteads. In the 1950’s, deeds for square inches of lunar property were offered as premiums with breakfast cereals. In the 1960’s, the Moon and Venus were officially annexed by several municipalities.
Now the lawyers have gotten involved. Virgiliu Pop, a Pioneer in Space Law has written a book entitled “Unreal Estate - The Men who Sold the Moon” in which he recounts fascinating stories of actual cases involving space property claims. Being a preeminent authority in the growing field of Space Law, Pop makes the legal argument that one cannot own cosmic realestate."

Salon.com: Who owns the moon?

Elizabeth Svoboda from Salon.com interviewed me for an article on extraterrestrial property rights (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/01/19/moon_real_estate/):

Unsurprisingly, most space law experts reject Hope's claims. Ram Jakhu, a space lawyer at McGill University, thinks Hope made a mistake in assuming the Moon Treaty's demise made his venture legitimate. In fact, the Outer Space Treaty, ratified by the United States and 97 other nations, already covers all the necessary bases because its prohibition against government space property ownership applies to individual citizens as well. "The Outer Space Treaty is public law, and as such, private citizens are subject to it," Jakhu says. "It doesn't matter if you go and put your own flag up there. The treaty is very clear and broad and denies the claims of any property owners." Virgiliu Pop, a member of the International Institute of Space Law and author of "Unreal Estate: The Men Who Sold the Moon," agrees. "People like Dennis Hope have no legitimate basis whatsoever for what they are doing. If states cannot appropriate extraterrestrial realms, neither can their nationals." Hope fires back by dismissing their dismissals. "That has no credence. That's just their opinion. We don't need the recognition of the world."