Interesting Wikipedia articles for killing time and expanding your mind!! - Page 138 - Other Topics Forum - Discuss Pop Culture, Arts and Entertainment

Amsterdam gets about 7-15 dead bodies a year in the canals according to different sources (and some 20 more in lakes, rivers, ditches, swimming pools, and garden ponds) so it probably isn't that mad. ~3/yr are presumed to have fallen in while peeing.

There was a good BBC radio documentary about some Turkish(?) guy who vanished presumed in a canal in a Dutch port a while back.

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05-23-2017 , 06:02 PM

#3427

JimHammer

Digg'n the gifs

Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 8,742

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Mark_Kilroy

I was in Matamoros with my friends the night he disappeared. The next day everyone in Padre was talking about some kid who didn't come back from Mexico. We thought he had just got in trouble and was in jail.

We didn't learn the truth until weeks later when they found his body along with the others.

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05-23-2017 , 08:35 PM

#3428

daveT

S.A.G.E. Master

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 23,955

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.mmmKay

The most interesting part is that one of the people he went to the bar with, "Florence", refuses to take a lie detector test.

I would refuse to ever take a lie detector test. I don't care how innocent I am.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimHammer

That's screwed up.

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05-23-2017 , 08:39 PM

#3429

daveT

S.A.G.E. Master

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 23,955

Blue Whale Challenge:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Whale_(game)

A game involving a series of challenge, where the final challenge is suicide. Authorities aren't entirely sure if this is a real game, but there's plenty of strange cases surrounding it.

The game was created by Philipp Budeikin, a former psychology student who was expelled from his university. Budeikin stated that his purpose was to "clean" the society by pushing to suicide those he deemed as having no value

Really sad to read this. Seems like most of the players are in their mid-teens.

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05-24-2017 , 03:37 AM

#3430

Mr.mmmKay

Drugs are bad...

Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 20,176

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveT

I would refuse to ever take a lie detector test. I don't care how innocent I am.

In a case where that will lead to a lot of people thinking you're guilty that seems like a bad move

Quote

05-24-2017 , 04:24 AM

#3431

daveT

S.A.G.E. Master

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 23,955

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_de...of_assessments

The cumulative research evidence suggests that machines do detect deception better than chance, but with significant error rates... Lie detector results are very rarely admitted in evidence in the US courts.

I won't willingly partake in well-known pseudoscience. Also, a false positive would make my life looked into more by police, which doesn't sound fun, and if it correctly comes back positive, and I'm a genuine suspect, the police are gong to say "you tricked it" and look into my life.

I know it's not admissible, but what a great story to tell a jury: "This guy is so heartless, so emotionless, he tricked a polygraph test!" Heck, it could be in the papers.

I don't see what the benefit is at all.

Last edited by daveT; 05-24-2017 at 04:31 AM.

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05-24-2017 , 11:42 AM

#3432

that_pope

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 33,227

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.mmmKay

In a case where that will lead to a lot of people thinking you're guilty that seems like a bad move

When people ask me a question that could be embarrassing if I answer a certain way, I usually answer 'no comment' and I balance this fairly well each way, yet they always assume it is in the negative way because people are dumb.

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05-24-2017 , 05:37 PM

#3433

golfnutt

banned

Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 5,969

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveT

I think the link is broken. Even getting to the end seems quite challenging by carving letters into your legs and cutting your lips. Not a fun game.

Quote

05-24-2017 , 09:23 PM

#3434

Cardfish1

veteran

Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 2,018

Quote:

Originally Posted by that_pope

So people are dumb when they see through your "no comment"?

You're silly

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05-24-2017 , 09:41 PM

#3435

SirOsis

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 29,516

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Kitty

"Acoustic Kitty was a CIA project launched by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology, which in the 1960s intended to use cats to spy on the Kremlin and Soviet embassies. In an hour-long procedure a veterinary surgeon implanted a microphone in the cat's ear canal, a small radio transmitter at the base of its skull and a thin wire into its fur."

"The first Acoustic Kitty mission was to eavesdrop on two men in a park outside the Soviet compound on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C. The cat was released nearby, but was hit and allegedly killed by a taxi almost immediately." (This part is in dispute)

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05-25-2017 , 06:14 AM

#3436

RichGangi

Laughable false & highly douchey

Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 9,546

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimHammer

Holy ****. F Mexico.

Quote

06-06-2017 , 10:44 AM

#3437

JudgeHoldem

banned

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 8,197

i read some click bait article about 21 places on earth that you can't visit. found these the most genuinely interesting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sentinel_Island, specifically the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diavik_Diamond_Mine

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06-07-2017 , 12:53 AM

#3438

TheNoodleMan

Wet Noodle

Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 16,566

Marvin Heemeyer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Marvin John Heemeyer (October 28, 1951 – June 4, 2004) was an American welder and an automobile muffler repair shop owner most known for his rampage with a modified bulldozer. Outraged over the outcome of a zoning dispute, he armored a Komatsu D355A bulldozer with layers of steel and concrete and used it on June 4, 2004 to demolish the town hall, the former mayor's house, and other buildings in Granby, Colorado. The rampage ended when the bulldozer got stuck in the basement of a Gambles store he was in the process of destroying. Heemeyer then killed himself with a handgun.
Heemeyer had been feuding with Granby officials, particularly over fines for violating city ordinances and a zoning dispute regarding a concrete batch plant constructed opposite his muffler shop.

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06-09-2017 , 08:28 PM

#3439

daveT

S.A.G.E. Master

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 23,955

Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashi-Dorzho_Itigilov

Some monk requested to be buried in the Lotus Position. He died in 1927.

n 1955 and in 1973, Itigilov's body was examined by Buddhist monks, who were astonished to observe no signs of decay. On

September 11, 2002, Itigilov's body was eventually exhumed in the presence of the leaders of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia. The body was transferred to Ivolginsky datsan (a residence of today’s Hambo Lama) where it was closely examined by monks as well as by scientists and pathologists. The official statement was issued about the body – it was "in the condition of someone who had died 36 hours ago", very well preserved, without any signs of decay, with whole muscles and inner tissue, soft joints and skin.

There is a picture of him, as he is today. Not bad looking for a 100 year-old corpse.

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06-14-2017 , 02:31 PM

#3440

daveT

S.A.G.E. Master

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 23,955

AACS encryption key controversy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AACS_e...ey_controversy

An encryption key for AACS encryption (for DVDs) was posted on one part of the internet, went on tshirts, and went viral after a takedown order was sent to Digg, who complied.

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06-15-2017 , 06:19 PM

#3441

somigosaden

adept

Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 1,069

My friend, who's a history professor, does a podcast that reminds me of this thread. It's called Interesting Things Explained Well—you can find it on iTunes. The last episode mentioned Thomas Carlyle's experience in 1834 while writing The French Revolution: A History:

Quote:

When he had completed the first volume, Carlyle sent his only complete manuscript to [his friend and editor] Mill. While in Mill's care the manuscript was destroyed, according to Mill by a careless household maid who mistook it for trash and used it as a firelighter. Carlyle then rewrote the entire manuscript...

(Wikipedia)

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06-19-2017 , 08:43 AM

#3442

JudgeHoldem

banned

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 8,197

Quote:

Originally Posted by somigosaden

Subbed, thanks

Good stuff he has good personality

Listened to Barbary wars

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06-19-2017 , 12:10 PM

#3443

W0X0F

sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight

Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5,830

Quote:

Originally Posted by somigosaden

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm always looking for good pods for in the car. Just downloaded the five episodes shown...

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06-21-2017 , 01:35 PM

#3444

W0X0F

sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight

Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5,830

Quote:

Originally Posted by somigosaden

Quote:

Originally Posted by W0X0F

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm always looking for good pods for in the car. Just downloaded the five episodes shown...

I listened to the first five episodes. Really good stuff and delivered in a very entertaining fashion. Subscribed.

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06-21-2017 , 03:01 PM

#3445

JudgeHoldem

banned

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 8,197

somigosaden, your buddy is one hell of a smart guy.

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06-21-2017 , 04:24 PM

#3446

thethethe

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 8,502

Just subscribed. Always up for a good history podcast.

Quote

06-22-2017 , 09:24 AM

#3447

W0X0F

sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight

Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5,830

Quote:

Originally Posted by thethethe

Just subscribed. Always up for a good history podcast.

It's not all history. He hits lots of subjects and makes them all interesting. In the first five episodes he discusses:

#1: Eruption of Krakatoa; the rabies virus

#2: Bernie Madoff; the limnic eruption at Lake Nyos

#3: Sir Francis Drake; meteorites

#4: Lost colony of Roanoke; Madagascar

#5: Barbary Wars; horses

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06-22-2017 , 05:52 PM

#3448

xxxxxkkkk

Guest

Posts: n/a

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimHammer

The movie Borderland is based on this case. It was very disturbing but very interesting as well.

Quote

06-23-2017 , 12:58 PM

#3449

Rapid_Fire

grinder

Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 469

Quote:

Originally Posted by somigosaden

I like the description for episode 3
".... Then learn about meteorites from inner space. This will increase your mate value."

Downloading for this afternoon's drive home.