Eideard

The German defender Philipp Lahm and the Portuguese midfield star Maniche were both born on 11, November – and they were both playing in the game for the third place at the World Cup 2006. Anyway, in more than half of the games at the World Cup 2006 at least two persons on the field had the same birthday. That is what Yanina Lyesnyak found out within the scope of her bachelor thesis.

And for the European Championship 2008 which has just started, the graduate of the study program “data analysis and data management” prognosticates a similar result. The reason is the so-called birthday paradox. It implies that the probability to find two persons with the same birthday within a group of 23 people chosen at random amounts to more than 50 percent.

Yanina Lyesnyak discovered her interest in this phenomenon rather accidentally: “Two friends of mine are both called Katharina and share the same birthday – I always thought this to be fascinating”, explains the graduate. During her study she started to deal with this topic and wanted it to become the subject of her final thesis. Then she only needed an object of investigation. “I looked for something that involves 23 people to examine the birthday paradox. A soccer game already involves 22 players – and I just added the referee”, she reports.

And then she examined all 64 games of the Soccer World Cup 2006 in view of the birthday paradox. The result: in 53 percent of the games there were actually at least two people on the field who shared the same birthday. Sometimes even three.

Now, if we could only predict how many members of Congress will turn out to be opportunist louts – we might solve some really difficult problems.

Yahoo has agreed a deal with Google which will see Yahoo use the search engine giant’s advertising technology.
Under the agreement, Google ads will appear alongside some Yahoo search results in the US and Canada.

The announcement came after Yahoo said it had failed to persuade Microsoft to renew its bid to buy all of the internet company.

Recent talks concluded after Yahoo rejected a Microsoft proposal to buy just its online search business.

The partnership will initially last for three years, but could last up to 10 if Yahoo decides to renew.

This is called putting your toe in the water. Or something like that.

An Italian couple who were caught having sex in a church confessional box while morning Mass was being said have repented and made peace with the local bishop.

The couple, in their early 30s, were detained by police earlier this month after they had made love in the confessional box in the cathedral in northern Cesena. They were cautioned for obscene acts in public and disturbing a religious function.

The lawyer told the area’s local newspaper on Wednesday the couple met with the local bishop on Tuesday night, asked for his forgiveness and that he had given it.

Wonder how much it cost?

“Plutoid” is the word of the moment for astronomers.

It is the new classification that has been sanctioned for the object that was formerly known as the “ninth planet”…

Pluto’s relegation was felt necessary because new telescope technologies had begun to reveal far-off objects that rivalled the world in size.

Without a new classification, these discoveries raised the prospect that textbooks could soon be talking about 50 or more “planets” in the Solar System.

That prospect proved too much for IAU members who took the historic decision to redefine the Solar System to have just eight major worlds – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Practically everyone ripped over the original reclassification could care less about the latest variation on the theme. Pluto is still a planet within their personal cosmology.

Reports have surfaced that the New York–based Fox News Channel has obtained a tape which purportedly features another cryptic video message from U.S. vice president and known extremist Dick Cheney, widely regarded as the most feared man in America.

“We have analyzed the tape, and the voice on it matches up with earlier recordings of the vice president,” said CIA spokesman George Little, who claimed the tape may contain valuable clues regarding the location of the elusive Cheney, who was last sighted in late 2005 along the border of Maryland and Virginia…

“The possibility of a nuclear attack is very real,” Cheney says in his speech, which he addresses to the “people of America.” “It could happen tomorrow, it could happen a week from now, it could happen next year. It is not a matter of if, but when.”

“Praise be to God,” adds Cheney, concluding his message…

“The only reason that this madman is still out there is because the previous administration messed up,” said Richmond, VA resident Curt Meredith. “Bill Clinton should have killed him when he had the chance.”

Always blame Clinton. Makes every neocon nutball happy.

Microsoft and Harrah’s Entertainment are introducing a high-tech interactive bar table that lets patrons order drinks, watch YouTube videos, play touch-screen games and even flirt with one another.

The tables offer Harrah’s a new way to track its customers’ habits and behaviors, adding to its sophisticated costumer rewards program that tracks users’ gambling habits.

“Of all the goodies up our sleeves lately, this is one of the most dramatic,” said Tim Stanley, chief information officer of Harrah’s. “The range of opportunities are fairly limitless.”

Golly! Wow!

What’s next? Used car showrooms?

The Rev. Robert Whipkey, 53, is on trial in Weld County District Court. He was arrested last June in Frederick, about 25 miles north of Denver, after an officer said he was seen walking naked on a street at 4:35 a.m.

Even though he is a Roman Catholic priest, the judge has approved a defense motion to exclude any references to Whipkey’s profession during the trial because it has no bearing on the charge.

When he was arrested, Whipkey said he sweats profusely if he wears clothing while jogging, according to the arrest report. Police said he told them he had been running naked at the track at Frederick High School and didn’t think anyone would be around that time of day…

He also allegedly appeared nude at a summer camp for Catholic boys in 1999. A parishioner at St. Anthony’s Parish in Sterling told the Rocky Mountain News that Whipkey was naked in front of several boys but that no charges were ever filed. The parishioner said several families left the church as a result of the incident.

I can understand the comfort factor. I can also understand not being so tweaked you risk arrest over sweating whilst jogging.

Thanks, K B

A Vienna brewery is promising a lifelong supply of free beer to any Austria player who scores a goal for the co-hosts in their remaining Euro 2008 group matches against Poland and Germany.

Austria, competing in the finals of the tournament for the first time, made a disappointing start with a 1-0 defeat against Croatia on Sunday.

“Maybe this is the kind of motivation that will give them the last kick our team needs to be successful,” Ottakringer Brauerei AG chief executive Sigi Menz said in a statement, adding he would personally deliver the brewers’s supply for the first year.

Austria is ranked 92nd in the world and “qualified” for the tournament because they’re one of the two host countries.

One of their better players, Paul Scharner (above) isn’t there because Austrian FA suits think he’s a disturbing influence.