Today's is a light-hearted post :-).
This could be the next craze ;-). A group of scientists are offering a service to beam your calls directly to creatures from outer space. As reported by NewScientist, people can log on to the website TalkToAliens, dial a premium rate US number (1-900-226-0300) and have their call routed through a transmitter and sent into space through a 3.2-metre-wide dish in central Connecticut, US. The service is pitched as the World's First Intergalactic Communication System (designed by humans).

Can I take your order? (Courtesy: Round Lake Area Library)The service was launched on February 27, 2005, and will cost users $3.99 (32.21 Darsek, a Klingon currency) a minute. The antenna will not be aimed at stars with potential to harbor life. Instead, it will be tracked across the milky way galaxy (perhaps to ensure that a passing starship could get some on-board recreation). The power output of the antenna could be received at a distance of 2 light-years, using earth technology, but the scientists are perhaps reasonably sure alien technology would be more efficient.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the service has been a hit. Since the alien hotline was turned on, the site has fielded hundreds of calls, averaging about three minutes each. The company would not say how many of these could be from extra-terrestrials living on earth, just trying to call home.
Right now, the service is strictly one-way. But I still think text-messaging the aliens is a better idea.