Once again, politicians are warning of the incredible danger posed by “dirty” bombs. Even the name is carefully designed to engender fear and disapproval – but not too much. The problem is, there is rarely if ever any actual evidence that people are trying to build such a weapon – and there are much better things to do with radioactive material than disperse it with explosives.
Read the rest of this entry »

More details are slowly emerging about three men charged with disrupting telephone service to thousands of people in Saint Paul – and now believed to be involved in a whole lot more, as well. It’s not getting a whole lot of coverage, but that will likely increase – and it raises an interesting question.
Read the rest of this entry »

DVDs of Melody Gilbert’s award-winning Urban Exploration documentary Into the Darkness are now available for (pre-)order from the movies website. While theoretically not available until 08 December, you can at least place your order now. $35 a copy, shipped (apparently) worldwide seems high, but not unreasonable – but I should note that there’s no word on what, if any, region the disc is; if you’re outside North America, you might want to double-check that you can play it before ordering. Word is a “director’s edition” will be forthcoming in the new year, including a lot of bonus features and material not found on the “regular” DVD.

Shortly after getting interested in urban exploration, I began acquiring some of the essential “tools of the trade”. Given that urban exploration frequently happens at night, underground, or in otherwise dark surroundings, a good light source is just about essential. Technology has progressed impressively in recent years, and some of the best deals in man-portable photon projectors (i.e. flashlights) today would have been unthinkable five years ago.
Read the rest of this entry »

According to news reports, China wants to begin the aggressive exportation of cheap, “low quality” Geely and Maple automobiles into Russia over a five-year period. Seriously, does Russia need more cheap cars? Aren’t millions of Ladas and Zhigulis bad enough? (I hope, for the sake of law and order in the already lawless and disorderly Russia, that Geely doesn’t try to produce police cars, too…)

The report notes that they also want to enter the American market, among others. Let’s see; cheap, Chinese cars, broad global reach… Magic 8-Ball, is Wal-Mart going to become a car dealer, too? What’s that? “All signs point to yes?” Bugger.