Interesting Wikipedia articles?

[Ayahuasca]

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

Shame this went tits up.

[Blown2CV]

DocJock said:

Ask him why, if it's flat, can't you photograph all of the continents at once, from space?

sigh. Yes done all that... i personally enjoying picking holes in the things he comes up with - this is just one of them. His big thing at the moment is numerology. Google that.

[Blown2CV]

Ayahuasca said:

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

Shame this went tits up.

if kickstarters fail to kickstart, does everyone just get their pledge money back?

[MissChief]

Blown2CV said:

if kickstarters fail to kickstart, does everyone just get their pledge money back?

Unless the Kickstarter meets it's target no money is taken. At least that's what happened when I supported Starfighter. It never met it's target so I paid nothing. You're only 'pledging' your money. Designed that way to stop 'hit and run' type deals.

[Rostfritt]

Ayahuasca said:

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

Shame this went tits up.

Surprised that failed, it involved the two most important things on the internet, crowd funding and porn. I guess the problem is that nobody actually wants to pay for it. I do wonder how there is any money in it at all. Maybe it is all low budget, I mean all you need is a room and a number of people to rub their bits against each other in various combinations.

[mrtwisty]

Crazy US government idea #432559:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_A119

With the Space Race suddenly a matter of national importance in the Cold War, after the launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957, the Americans needed a boost to national morale.

The solution? Nuke the moon, obviously.....

[Blown2CV]

MissChief said:

Blown2CV said:

if kickstarters fail to kickstart, does everyone just get their pledge money back?

Unless the Kickstarter meets it's target no money is taken. At least that's what happened when I supported Starfighter. It never met it's target so I paid nothing. You're only 'pledging' your money. Designed that way to stop 'hit and run' type deals.

well i was more referring to ones that do hit their target but then never actually do anything after that. Do they just get the money and no comebacks?

[The Don of Croy]

The Scopes Monkey Trial ;

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

Prescient in today's times of fundementalists vs. others (back then it was Christians defending the 'Word of God'). Possibly the biggest trial (broadcast live) of the age. Only 90 years ago!

[Dan_1981]

Stakeknife - British undercover agent within the IRA.

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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-3957...

[The Don of Croy]

The John Hancock Tower in Boston, MA (tallest building in New England) -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/200_Clarendon_Street

- which I'd visited as a wee boy in 1972, except you didn't go near it (see paragraph 2 Engineering Flaws) and the sidewalks were caged...

I'm not sure the whole pane (at 237Kg) fell - just the outer leaf, so perhaps just 120+Kg falling >500ft towards unsuspecting passersby. Easy. When I was there the facade was a patchwork of missing panes, filled with plywood (perhaps just 5% missing - still enough to be a concern). We learn by our mistakes etc. No fatalities! Imagine the lawyers queuing up to fill their boots.

The stabilising mass sounds interesting too - worth another visit now.

[lufbramatt]

Not sure if we've had this yet...The most amazing/terrifying theme park ever

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

[FredClogs]

Immortal human cell line used for over half a decade of research all over the world originated from one women's cervical cancer, Henrietta Lacks... There are now over 20 tons of her cells all over the place, including being sent into space.

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

[ZOLLAR]

FredClogs said:

Immortal human cell line used for over half a decade of research all over the world originated from one women's cervical cancer, Henrietta Lacks... There are now over 20 tons of her cells all over the place, including being sent into space.

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

Weird to think that there are more HeLa cells in existence than existed in the human that created them.

[Usget]

May have been done before:

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

[Jimmy Recard]

[glazbagun]

Possibly done before, theres a piece on Al Jazeera right now:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incide...

US electronic spy ship attacked by Israel during the 6 day war. Israel claimed it an accident, others disagree, not least the crew who were waving to the israeli planes photographing them

Edited by glazbagun on Friday 21st April 21:15

[Veeayt]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulgasari North Korean Godzilla

[wombleh]

After listening to hardcore history podcast (well worth a listen if you like that sorta thing), I read up on the Battle of Verdun:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun

Which has left an area so contaminated and full of munitions that it's still off limits and likely to remain so for hundreds of years despite ongoing work:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_Rouge

[FredClogs]

^ Dan Carlin's wiki page.

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

Hardcore history is without doubt one of the greatest series of spoken word resources ever, and let's face it who can be arsed reading 1500 years of human history? Wrath of the Khans is particularly excellent.

[glazbagun]

Some Japanese monks would attempt to enter a form of mummification whilst still alive. First they would live on a strict diet which stripped all fat from their body, then they would slowly dehydrate themselves to death, leaving a dry, well preserved body in the mountain air.

Only 24 bodies have been found to have made succesful use of the technique. Makes the Atkins diet look decidedly softcore!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokushinbutsu