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Jana Cova (born April 13, 1980), is a Czech pornographic actress and nude model of Polish descent. Born in Prague, Cova grew up in the countryside in the Czech Republic where she "had a great childhood". She initially started working as a bikini model, then started doing nude and eventually softcore modeling. She has stated that part of her slow transition into movies was because "I wasn't ready for movies for about a year. I felt stupid in front of the camera." This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Jana Cova". This entry is a fragment of a larger work. Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

# posted by Cliff Pickover @ 4:59 PM 3 comments

All of this discussion has taken place against a back drop in which the governments of the world deny that we are being visited by an extraterrestrial reality, while UFO researchers claim that the evidence of a cover-up is overwhelming. The United States Air Force study of UFOs stated there was “no factual basis whatever” of a government UFO cover-up.

But authors such as Donald Keyhoe, Timothy Good, Richard M. Dolan, Terry Hansen, Lawrence Fawcett and Barry J. Greenwood believe there is a cover-up. Because of the lack of clarity about UFO truth, a truly scientific and academic appraisal of the religious implications of UFOs can only be tentative at this time. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "UFOs and the Bible". This entry is a fragment of a larger work. Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

# posted by Cliff Pickover @ 4:57 PM 3 comments

Standard chess rules apply, with the following exceptions or clarifications:

• Pawns must go forward in the direction they originally face.
• Castling is not allowed.
• Pawns only move one space at a time.
• Match ends when a player checkmates each of his opponents. Games are reset after each checkmate.
• Checkmate is official on the mated player’s turn, not when it is first made (if there is a player between the player mating and the player being mated, he may choose to "unmate" the player).
• Players alternate the order of turns each game, starting clockwise.
• Players rotate board sides each game clockwise.
• If a player puts an opponent in checkmate, then another opponent puts the same player in checkmate (either a different checkmate or "adding to" the checkmate), then the first player to put the opponent in checkmate gets credit for the win.

# posted by Cliff Pickover @ 6:46 PM 0 comments

In contemporary fiction, gargoyles are commonly depicted as a distinct race, not just as a structural ornament. The typical fantasy Gargoyle is a (generally) winged humanoid race with demonic features (generally horns, a tail, talons, and may or may not have a beak). Gargoyles can generally use their wings to fly or glide, and, as a reference to their origins, are often depicted as having a rocky hide, or being capable of turning into stone in one way or another.

Gargoyles have featured in several works of fantasy fiction, such as Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (Discworld gargoyles) and the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D gargoyles) and Rifts role-playing games. Gargoyles are also the main characters in a Disney animated series and comic book, Gargoyles, and played a role in that company's adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Actress Adrienne Barbeau played a violent gargoyle in the TV series Monsters. Actress Rae Dawn Chong played a gargoyle in human form in Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gargoyles in fiction". This entry is a fragment of a larger work. Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

# posted by Cliff Pickover @ 7:56 AM 0 comments

Women in the Tanakh are not the social or economic equals of men. At the time it was written, married women were largely subject to the wishes of their husbands, and unmarried women to the wishes of their fathers. For example, a woman needed consent from her father before she could take religious vows (Book of Numbers 30:3-5). This situation was roughly similar to that of women in the surrounding countries of the time.

Women were not considered mere possessions, however. The killing of a woman was considered murder, not theft. A wife could not be disposed of at her husband's whim, or divorced without reason. Women could own property, and a daughter could inherit her father's property (if there were no sons). They could engage in business and trade (Book of Proverbs chapter 31). Although there are frequent references in the Tanakh to a wife being traded in exchange for money or goods, this was not a simple commercial transaction. Rather, it was a gift to compensate the bride's family. Such gifts, called a dowry, are common in the Near East today. Arranged marriage was the norm for both sons and daughters (Genesis 21:21; Genesis 38:6; Book of Judges 1:12,13) although the bride was sometimes asked for her consent (Genesis 24:58) and sometimes the son chose a wife for himself (Genesis 34:4). This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hebrew Bible views on women". This entry is a fragment of a larger work. Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

# posted by Cliff Pickover @ 6:48 PM 1 comments

The half-your-age-plus-seven rule is a mathematical guide to judge whether the age difference in an intimate relationship is socially acceptable. Mathematically speaking, the rule is (Minimum Age) = (Age of the Older Individual) / 2 + 7.

For example, if Shane is 30 and wants to date Kristen, who is 20, he would be in violation of the rule, since the minimum age being 22. Notice, however, that the age difference matters less as the potential partners grow older. In this case, Shane would have four years to wait before the age difference in the relationship was "socially acceptable".

Note that what is implied by "socially acceptable" is largely a cultural construct, and has varied over time. Anna Nicole Smith and J. Howard Marshall were 26 and 89 at the time of their relationship. This violation of the rule (she was 25.5 years too young), and the rule itself, were discussed on CNN in 2006. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Half-Your-Age-Plus-Seven Rule". This entry is a fragment of a larger work. Link may die if entry is finally removed or merged.

# posted by Cliff Pickover @ 6:32 AM 8 comments