Archive for October 5th, 2009

10 Insanely Coveted Out of Print Sci Fi Novels

Here’s a great link to 10 of the most coveted out of print science fiction novels of all time.

Some of the books on this list are classics and others are novels that went largely unnoticed when originally published, but shot to stardom the minute they were taken out of publication. There is something mystical about the rarity of out of print books that sci-fi fans just can’t get enough of.

Click the link for all 10.

Link (Thanks Andy!)

MoD ‘How to Stop Leaks’ Document Gets Leaked

A document by the Ministry of Defence on how to stop information being leaked onto the internet, has been leaked onto the internet.

The three volume, 2,300 page book which details information on dealing with investigative journalists, foreign agents and computer hackers as well as how to deal with typical approaches from Chinese and Russian secret services has made its way onto WikiLeaks – website that publishes anonymous leaks of information from organisations including governments, corporations and religions.

The guides on WikiLeaks cover protective security, personnel security and IT security.

Possibly the most epic fail ever. Go on, push the button.

Link

The Only Existing Film Footage Of Anne Frank

July 22 1941. The girl next door is getting married. Anne Frank is leaning out of the window of her house in Amsterdam to get a good look at the bride and groom. It is the only time Anne Frank has ever been captured on film. At the time of her wedding, the bride lived on the second floor at Merwedeplein 39. The Frank family lived at number 37, also on the second floor. The Anne Frank House can offer you this film footage thanks to the cooperation of the couple.

Expert Seagull Shoplifter Caught Stealing Doritos

Watch as this seagull casually enters a convenience store in Aberdeen, Scotland, picks up a bag of Doritos, checks both ways for security and then makes a run for it.

The fearless bird lies in wait every day and pounces at a corner shop in Aberdeen when the door opens.

He sneaks in, grabs his spicy Doritos, then flies off with them in his beak and shares them with other birds.

The seagull, nicknamed Sam by staff and customers, has become so popular locals have started paying for his crisps.

Shop worker Sriaram Nagarajan, 22, said: “Everyone is amazed by the seagull.

“For some reason he only takes that one particular kind of crisps, nothing else will do for him. But he’s got it down to a fine art. He waits until there are no customers around and I’m standing behind the till, then he raids the place.”

Bosses at the RS McColl shop have now decided to keep the door closed to try to deter Sam.

But customers have taken pity on the bird and have started donating money to keep him in Doritos.

Sriaram added: “He’s becoming a bit of a celebrity. Seagulls are usually not that popular but Sam is a star because he’s so funny.”

Via Mental Floss

World’s Largest Paintbrush

Chinese artist He Wenjun decided to make some very, very big art – and to do that, he built the biggest paintbrush in the world.

The brush, which is 12ft long and weighs 115lbs, was used to create traditional calligraphy in a special exhibition in Nanchong, southern China.

The artist says he built the brush himself using hair from the tails of 300 horses – and claims it can soak up enough ink to add more than 100lbs to the brush’s weight.

Link

The Social Media Guru

Note: Some Adult Content.

“A lot of people claim that they know this guy. There is no actual guy, hes an amalgam of a hundred different half-assed guru-wannabes Ive encountered online and in real life. For every one good guy, there seems to be ten cowboys.”

Via Laughing Squid

5 Minutes from 2012

I don’t mean to scare you or anything, but this is the 5 minute trailer which has just been released online for the upcoming 2012 movie. It looks pretty cheesy, but how ‘un-cheesy’ can a film about the end of the world be?

Drew Carey Bids $100,000 for @drew Twitter Account

Drew Carey has bid $100,000 to buy the Twitter account @drew in an online charity auction for cancer support.

The sale is brainchild of Drew Olanoff, a Twitter user who has used the internet to encourage a positive approach to living with cancer since being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in May.

On Friday he announced that he was inviting bids of more than $10,000 for his @drew account – a prime piece of Twitter real estate which he claimed as one of the micro-blogging site’s early adopters.
Yesterday Carey, who is also well known as the host of the US version of the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, posted an update from his @DrewFromTV account saying that he was willing to stump up $25,000.

He later sent a message to Olanoff saying that he would raise his offer to $100,000 if the his follower count reached 100,000 by the end of the auction on Nov 9.

The number of people subscribing to Carey’s feed increased from 13,000 to more than 18,000 within hours, as news of his bid spread around Twitter.

Let’s all follow DrewFromTV, and raise some serious cash for cancer support. Nice one Drew!

Link

Amazing POV Avalanche Rescue Footage

Take a look at this amazing point of view video of a skier getting caught in an avalanche and being buried in snow, only to be rescued four and a half minutes later. The good stuff starts at around the 1 minute mark.

This is simply a very sobering and unbelievable video. However, you should take away from this video all the positive things that you can learn from it. Yes there are risks to the backcountry – but with proper gear, training, and guide(s) with avalanche and EMT training – you can greatly lower your chances of getting caught in an avalanche in the first place…..and coming back alive if you ever were to get caught in a slide.

Respect Mother Nature for sure. Learn from this. But just like a Craig Kelly in the snowboard world or a Shane McConkey in the ski world who died out in the backcountry (Craig via avalanche and Shane via ski B.A.S.E. jumping), they left this earth while doing the things that they were truly passionate about. And while they would stress the need for the proper gear and training….neither one would want backcountry enthusiasts to curtail their adventures because of their accidents….or this video.