Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Man 'buys' $3billion CD-ROM on Amazon
A US man who discovered a mispriced item on Amazon decided to purchase the $3 billion CD and see what happened. Brian Klug was charged $3.99 postage for a copy of a Discovery Channel CD priced at $2,904,980,000.
"A man in the U.S. has 'bought' an item on Amazon with a price tag of nearly three billion dollars - just to see what would happen. Brian Klug spotted the copy of the Discovery Channel's 'Cells' CD-ROM for sale at $2,904,980,000 (£1,800,979,540)."
A man in the U.S. has 'bought' an item on Amazon with a price tag of nearly three billion dollars - just to see what would happen.
Brian Klug spotted the copy of the Discovery Channel's 'Cells' CD-ROM for sale at $2,904,980,000 (£1,800,979,540).
Out of sheer curiosity, convinced the price tag was a mistake, he put in his credit card details to buy it and stepped back to see what would happen next.
First off, Mr Klug from San Mateo, California, was charged $3.99 for posting and handling.
Mr Klug has posted on the Reddit website links to the Amazon site and confirmation of his purchase.
One Reddit commentatator posted: 'This is going to end poorly, I can feel it.'
'Might be a good morning to buy Amazon stock,' wrote another, while a third pointed out that had Mr Klug had Amazon's Visa three per cent rewards card, thus entitling him to roughly $87million in rewards.
Some suggested Mr Klug pay in Zimbabwean dollars, while one left a note saying: 'Dear Sir: I hereby award you a gold star for your gallant efforts in propping up the US economy.'
'Geez, at least they could pick up the postal charges,' was the sentiment of many, while others voiced hopes that Mr Klug actually has Win98 - the only operating system the CD-ROM can run on.
Luckily for Mr Klug, however, Amazon does not charge user's credit cards until after their order has entered the packaging process.
In possible anticipation of such instances the Amazon website does state: 'Despite our best efforts, a small number of the items in our catalogue may be mispriced.
'If an item's correct price is higher than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation.'
However, the problem for Mr Klug is that the CD-ROM is not being sold by Amazon, but by a third party named suburbanbooks. And Amazon's policy on third party's is: 'This policy applies only to products sold and shipped by Amazon.com.
'Your purchases from third-party sellers are charged at the time you place your order, and third-party sellers may follow different policies in the event of a mispriced item.'
Fortunately, suburbanbooks has received a 99 per cent positive feedback rating from 4,302 users - presumably having never charged any of them billions of dollars for computer software.
Another Amazon seller appears to be trying to take advantage of the mis-pricing by offering their version of the same CD-ROM for a mere $250,000.
It is not clear if anyone has taken the second seller up on their offer though 16 customers have tagged the items as 'a little pricey'.
The CD-ROM is due to be shipped by January 4 or 5, arriving at Mr Klug's house any time between January 8 to January 26.
It was described as 'new in shrinkwrap' (presumably there would have been a discount had it been used), and is being shipped from Berkeley, California.
Whether it will actually turn up remains to be seen.
Viewing video: The crop circle makers
Video demonstrating the techniques used to produce a crop circle in a field.
Viewing video: UFOs a fleet of them over Mexico
On June 10, 2004, the city of Guadalajara witnessed undoubtely the most spectacular UFO fleet sighting in known history.
Viewing video: New Sylvanic Bigfoot video
New Bigfoot video footage from Todd Standing, is this evidence for the existence of sasquatch ?
Eerie outpost unnerves US Marines
Posted on Saturday, 2 January, 2010
Marines stationed at eerie Observation Point Rock in Afghanistan have reported that the place could be haunted. Locals believe it to be 'cursed' and men stationed there have reported strange lights and sounds for some time.
"Groups of Marines are posted to guard it, usually for a couple of months at a time, and “the Rock” has acquired a peculiar reputation. American troops widely refer to it as “the haunted Observation Point”."
The Marines found the bone as they scraped a shallow trench. Long, dry and unmistakably once part of a human leg, it was followed by others. They reburied most of them but also found bodies. Three of the graves were close together; in another was a skeleton still wearing a pair of glasses. The Marines covered the grave and told their successors to stay away from it.
Observation Point Rock sits a few hundred metres south east of Patrol Base Hassan Abad, where a company from 2/8 Marines has been stationed for the past seven months. It is a lonely and exposed outpost 20 metres (65ft) above the surrounding landscape, which has been in Nato hands since it was captured from the Taleban in 2008.
Groups of Marines are posted to guard it, usually for a couple of months at a time, and “the Rock” has acquired a peculiar reputation. American troops widely refer to it as “the haunted Observation Point”.
It is hard to say how much the 100F (38C) heat, round-the-clock guard shifts and months spent living in trenches and peering out of sandbagged firing points have gilded the legend of OP Rock. The only break from the tedium, apart from dog-eared magazines and an improvised gym, has been small-arms or rocket-propelled grenade attacks from the Taleban, usually on a Sunday morning.
But as Sergeant Josh Brown, 22, briefed his successor when a detachment of men from Golf Company was swapped for an incoming contingent from Fox Company, he warned of the strange atmosphere and inexplicable phenomena that plagued OP Rock. “The local people say this is a cursed place,” he said. “You will definitely see weird-ass lights up here at night.”
Others in the outgoing unit had reported odd sounds. “It is weird what you hear and don’t hear around here,” he added.
Each successive detachment that guards the Rock appears to add its own layer to the legend, which has spread through the Marine units pushing into southern Helmand.
There is talk of members of the Taleban entombed in caves below; the bodies buried on the summit are identified confidently as dead Russian soldiers from the ill-fated Soviet invasion.
Corporal Jacob Lima’s story is the latest addition. One night he was woken by the sound of screaming. It was Corporal Zolik, a Marine who has since been moved to a unit farther south. “He was yelling and begging me to go up to the firing point he was guarding,” Corporal Lima, 22, told the men taking over from him. “When I got there he said that he was sitting there when he heard a voice whisper something in his ear. He said it sounded like Russian. He begged me to stay in there with him till he was relieved from guard duty. After that he really didn’t like standing post up there.”
The Marines’ predecessors, a unit of Welsh Guards, also produced tales of the unexpected. “The Brits claimed to see weird things, hear noises,” Corporal Lima said. “Lots of them said it’s creepy at night, especially from midnight till 4am. You see a lot of unexplained lights through night-vision goggles.”
Its elevation has clearly made the Rock a natural defensive position for centuries. It is not a rock, though it resembles one. Medieval arrow slits and the remains of fortified turrets on its eastern flank show that this was once a large mud fort that collapsed in on itself and was probably built upon in turn. The locals say that it dates back to Alexander the Great, and another similar structure is visible in the distance to the south, part of a supposed line of such forts built at some point in Afghanistan’s history of invasion and war.
When US Marines seized the post last summer they dropped a 2,000lb (900kg) bomb on one side, collapsing part of the structure on to what its current occupants claim was a cave where Taleban fighters were sheltering.
“This place really sucks,” said Lance Corporal Austin Hoyt, 20, putting his pack on to return to the main base. “The Afghans say it’s haunted. Stick a shovel in anywhere and you’ll find bones and bits of pottery. This place should be in National Geographic — in the front there are weird-looking windows for shooting arrows. You know, they say the Russians up here were executed by the Mujahidin.”
He looked meaningfully at his successors and prepared to leave.
Christmas UFO sighting in Canada
A couple in Canada reported witnessing four unidentified flying objects over Mount Benson on Christmas Day. The four orange lights were seen to zoom across the sky in different directions, converging over the mountain.
"Nanaimo's Chris Ansell and Kathleen Kirby have crossed Santa Claus off their list as they search for answers after they reported seeing four unidentified flying objects over Mount Benson on Christmas Day."
Nanaimo's Chris Ansell and Kathleen Kirby have crossed Santa Claus off their list as they search for answers after they reported seeing four unidentified flying objects over Mount Benson on Christmas Day.
At 8:29 p.m., while on the deck of Ansell's parents' home on King John Way, the couple saw four orange lights the size of stars zip through the sky from four different directions and come together above the mountain.
Ansell, 35, whipped out his Blackberry to catch the action, while Kirby, 23, grabbed a nearby camera.
The four "starlike lights did this weird zig-zag thing and then turned into green glowing spheres and then, poof, they disappeared upwards," Ansell said, gesturing frantically with his hands.
In less than 40 seconds it was all over, but Ansell and Kathleen captured three images they hope will eventually lead to an explanation of their mysterious sighting.
"We know it wasn't Santa. He had already come and gone," said Ansell with a laugh, pointing to his mother.
Paul Greenhalgh, president of the Fraser Valley Astronomers Society, has a few suspicions about what could have caused the extraordinary light show, though he discounts the possibility they were UFOs.
After examining Ansell's and Kirby's photos, Greenhalgh believes the "stars" are part of the Big Dipper constellation.
The low horizon of the Earth and thicker density of the atmosphere from the angle the stars were seen caused them to change colour from orange to red to blue and green. Greenhalgh also said the satellite Chandra (an X-ray space observatory) was also moving across the sky at the same time as the couple's sighting, as were two iridium satellites.
"If they flared, otherwise known as an iridium flare, this could also add to the equation," added Greenhalgh.
As far as the description of the erratic movements, Greenhalgh has no explanation.
"I have a philosophy about UFO sightings," he said. "The galaxy is 100,000 light years across. If we were able to send a message from our solar system to another solar system on the other side of the galaxy through the galactic core, without it being disrupted with all the radiation there, it would take 65,000 years for us to say hello and an additional 65,000 years for them to reply. It's going to be a very boring conversation."
Greenhalgh has studied and stared into the sky for more than four decades without ever seeing an UFO. Only once in 43 years did he see a flying object he couldn't explain.
But he uncovered the mystery two years later when he discovered the v-shape formation and central bright light he saw had been U.S. Navy satellites that had been tethered together.
Greenhalgh also point out that any aircraft that enters the Earth's atmosphere would definitely be detected by the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
"NORAD can track anything from the size of a ping pong ball and larger," he said.
Ansell and Kirby continue to keep a close eye on the night sky above Mount Benson with the hopes of another sighting.
"I just need an explanation. I don't believe in extraterrestrials or anything like that, but anything is possible," said Ansell.
"We do live in a huge universe and there could be things out there that just want to observe us.
"All we can hope is someone else saw it, too."
KBryce@nanaimodailynews.com
