STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

[MIKA27]

Japan's First Ever Passenger Jet Just Took Its Maiden Flight

Japan doesn’t have a track record for manufacturing aeroplanes — but now its first ever domestic passenger jet has finally taken its maiden test flight.

The new Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) took off from Nagoya airport earlier today. A decade in the planning, design and manufacture, the two-engine aircraft has been developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The flight seems to have gone well, with the Guardian reporting that it “flew smoothly upward into clear skies in central Japan.” The aeroplane measures 35m in length and should be able to carry 80 passengers when it’s put to use.

Japan’s last commercial aeroplane — the YS-11 turboprop — was built in 1962. Japan was banned form making from developing jets aircraft by US officials after the Second World War, so today’s flight marks a big step forward for the country.

[MIKA27]

Spaceship Building Blocks For Budding Rocket Scientists

NASA might not have quite as large a budget as it once did for exploring the cosmos, but starting at just $US25 your kids can design and build their own spacefaring fleet with these gorgeous wooden building blocks from Huzi Design.

Made from solid Beech wood with varying finishes including clear varnish and glossy white or matte black paints, the Cosmos building blocks are held together with neodymium magnets so they’re easy for kids to assemble and dismantle as they perfect and improve their designs.

With a healthy imagination kids can really build anything they want, but the pieces are tailored towards constructing spacecraft like rockets, shuttles, satellites, and even planets and other celestial bodies.

Huzi Design is using Kickstarter as a way to sell pre-orders for its new Cosmos blocks, shipping sometime in June of next year, and a donation of $US25 gets you the most basic four-piece set that lets your kid build a simple Saturn-like planet.

But if you want to go all President Kennedy and fully-fund your child’s imaginary space agency, the $US150 Odyssey set is definitely the way to go. It comes with 28 building blocks, 58 magnetic connectors, and enough raw potential to kickstart an eventual career in rocket science.

[MIKA27]

The Unlikely Story Of One Of The Biggest Blackouts In US History

Fifty years ago yesterday evening, at roughly 5:15pm, every light connected to New York’s power grid flickered out — along with those of 30 million people throughout the Northeast. Chaos didn’t ensue, oddly enough.

Today, blackouts are scary, for the flashlight prices and cab fares if not the threat of crime. But the great Northeastern Blackout of 1965 was different. While many millions of people were left without power — with as many as 800,000 people trapped in subway cars alone, the New York Times reported — with no explanation of what had caused the outage, there was surprisingly little chaos or panic reported.

The AP — which made its 50-year-old archival report about the blackout available yesterday — wrote that it was the biggest blackout in history. Yet people seemed oddly calm: “The great luminous cities looked as if they had been struck by some awesome tragedy. But reports indicated most people took it all calmly. Restaurants did a thriving business by candlelight.”

In Grand Central, people slept on the floors. In the subways, ladders were deployed helped people climb out of the subway tracks. George Mason University’s Blackout Project, which collects accounts from survivors, includes many accounts of the festive and “serene” night. Like this one:

Manhattan was beautiful in the dark. I had to go the upper east side go get my friend. there were [garbage] cans afire along the street, not because of vandalism, but for light. People stood in groups and talked to each other. stores kept doors open and were candlelit. […] calm and serene, not menacing or dangerous.

Or this one:

On the other side of the bridge in Brooklyn, people were out in the streets directing traffic and helping in any way they could. It was incredible how everyone just pitched in; black, white, Hispanic, it didn’t matter. It made you proud to be human.

A “city’s glitter goes,” The New York Times’ front page read the next day, “but not its poise.” While some suspected a Soviet scheme, that idea was discounted after a root cause of the blackout was found at a generating station in Ontario. At worst, the Times recounted, people drank:

A young actress who lives in Greenwich Village was taking a bath when the lights went out. She said that her first thoughts were that ‘we were under attack,’ but that she quickly dismissed such an idea and poured herself a drink.

This all-around chill vibe of the 1965 blackout was hugely different from the infamous blackout of 1977 just 12 years later, which would see looting, arson, and crime reported all over the city.

There’s actually been a fair amount of academic study of blackouts. Besides projects like George Mason University’s Blackout Project, there are plenty of sociologists and writers who have wondered about what our reaction to a large-scale power outage say about us.

In an essay about blackouts published in Public Space and the Ideology of Place in American Culture, the historian David E. Nye says power outages are unique because they represent “unscripted breaks in social time” when all of the rules and systems that define how cities function fall by the wayside. What’s left depends on the economic and social realities of a city:

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The 1977 blackout did not unleash a spontaneous, liminal moment of unity but revealed a deeply fractured society. The prosperity of 1965 had evaporated, and many New Yorkers believed the energy crisis was a permanent condition… [T]he Blackout of 1977 appeared to be one more breakdown of civic order, as a divided society faced a grim and impoverished future.

So why was 1965’s blackout so calm? Was it just that nothing like this had ever happened before, and the idea of complete darkness didn’t seem so strange in a city that was still on the upswing of the post-War boom? Were people more naive? Could you even link it to the economic prosperity of New York in the 1960s, versus the blight-ridden city of 1977?

Mass blackouts cut us off from just about every technology that makes our world modern. Maybe that’s why sociologists are so interested in studying how we react to them. They seem to be perceived as either setting back the clock 100 years to a more pastoral time, or setting it forward 100 years to some imaginary apocalyptic future where modern civilisation has collapsed.

Whether a blackout ends up as a party, or a dress rehearsal for the apocalypse, seems to mainly depend on how inhabitants perceive it. The advice of that Greenwich Village actress from the front page of the New York Times in 1965 still rings true today: Relax. And pour yourself a drink.

[MIKA27]

The Latest Trend Among Biohackers Is Implanting LED Lights Beneath Your Skin

Inspired by bioluminescent organisms, the DIY biohackers at Grindhouse Wetware have unveiled their latest creation — a magnetically activated, LED-equipped silicone implant.

As Motherboard reports, the Pittsburgh-based biohacking collective performed three implantations in conjunction with a simultaneous operation in Dusseldorf last Saturday. The new light-up device, dubbed the Northstar V1, is about the size of a large coin, making it considerably smaller than an earlier version, the Circadia 1.0 computer chip. The procedure to implant the device required only 15 minutes, and was performed under strict conditions.

Once implanted and activated, the Northstar device can backlight existing tattoos or mimic bioluminescence. When a magnet is placed on the device, its five LED lights start to blink. After ten seconds, it goes back into sleep mode. The Grindhouse guys think it will light up about 10,000 times before the batteries die out and can no longer be recharged. Once this happens the device will have to be surgically removed. (Photo credit: Grindhouse Wetware/Ryan O’Shea)

When Motherboard‘s Anna Neifer asked why his team developed the device, Grindhouse Wetware cofounder Tim Cannon said: “You know, people from the biohacking community wanted it. They contacted us because they wanted to light up their tattoos. That’s how we generate our implants, we let the community inspire us.”

The group plans on making the device available next year. Ideally, Grindhouse would like to sell as many as 100 Northstar V1 devices through tattoo studios worldwide.

Looking to the future, Grindhouse has big plans. A future version of the chip could, in addition to its cosmetic functionality, deliver important biometric information to an external device like a phone. Another neat feature will be the ability of the chip to register a person’s hand movements, and wirelessly relay those signals to receiving device. It would serve as a customisable hands-free controller. You’ll never have to say, “Hey Siri” again.

[MIKA27]

This Rediscovered Leather Trunk Contains Thousands Of Letters From The 17th Century

The 300-year-old linen-lined trunk is filled with over 2600 letters that were mailed out — but never received — between the years 1680 and 1706. Historians are now taking a closer look.

The trunk, ignored for centuries, had been stored away by a Dutch postmaster in the Netherlands. The extraordinary collection contains letters from all manner of society, including aristocrats, merchants, lovers, actors, musicians, and even spies. At least 600 of the 2600 letters have never even been opened. The trunk had been given to a postal museum in the Hague back in 1926, but it only recently came to the attention of researchers. An international team from Leiden, Oxford, MIT, and Yale are taking part in this project, called Signed, Sealed, & Undelivered.

“The letters that were in the trunk were a sort of postal piggybank, noted Yale music professor Rebekah Ahrendt at Yale News. “It just blew my mind.”

Ahrendt accidentally came across the collection while tracking a theatre troupe that worked at The Hague in the 18th century.

The collection of letters was an effort by postmasters to profit from their business. Back then, recipients had to pay for received letters, so if the letters were undelivered, the postmasters were hoping to receive payment from anyone trying to find them.

“Somehow, these letters managed to survive all these years,” she says. “This collection challenges our notion of what an archive is because it was never intended to be one. It came together by accident.”

Some letter‐writers added enclosures, such as this coloured paper dove, which bears the French inscription don de piété (‘gift of piety’), symbolizing the Holy Spirit. (Image and caption credit: The Museum voor Communicatie, The Hague, The Netherlands)

The letters themselves contain amazing stories, including some very personal messages, like this one described in Yale News:

Ahrendt describes a letter written by a woman on behalf of a friend who is an opera singer. The letter is addressed to a wealthy merchant in The Hague and reads: “I am writing on behalf of your friend and mine and she realised as soon as she left the opera company in The Hague to go to Paris that she had made a terrible mistake. Now she needs your help to come back to The Hague. I could tell you the true cause of her pain, but I think you can guess.”

D’oh! No wonder the letter was marked “refused.”

Other letters express concerns we’re still familiar with today, including parents worried about children, and wives angry at delinquent husbands.

The collection also contains unique letters sent between Huguenot family members, pointing to the emotional toll that displacement and migration could take in the early modern period.

The researchers don’t want to perturb the collection by opening the sealed letters. To find out what’s inside, they’re planning on using various scanning techniques, such as X-ray technology.

[MIKA27]

The Pilot Watch Powered by the Movement of Your Arm

Vintage pilot watches have a certain appeal and aesthetic that will never go out style. Everyday Object took everything we love about those same vintage style watches (minimal design, clean face, durable materials) but made it their own with some different stylistic choices and a self-winding, Japanese quartz movement from Seiko.

Each 43mm watch uses 316L stainless and K-1 mineral glass for superior durability and popular NATO strap technology for easy strap switching (you get a leather, suede and nylon strap with each watch). Available in face/case combinations ranging from a more traditional silver with black, to a completely murdered out edition exclusively available on Kickstarter, the EO-2 Hybrid watch from Everyday Object might be the perfect addition to an ever-growing watch collection.

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LAMPSTER ROBOT LAMP

The Lampster is the coolest lamp ever! A Robo Lamp made out of old tractor and bike headlights. Designed by a young architect and an engineer, the desk lamp has an imposing superhero stance and has two light sources: a clear one, controlled by touch, and an RGB one controlled by an app on your mobile device that lets you change the color or intensity from anywhere in the room. You can even sync it to your music and it will flash to the beat! Measuring 18 inches, it is tall enough to provide light for the entire office, and large enough to be used as a headphone stand. The Lampster is also customizable, you can choose any color or style you want, even add your logo to it. Finally, a lamp with a personality and attitude!

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Russian TV 'Accidentally' Leaks Footage Of Classified Nuclear Torpedo Design

During a meeting of military officials in Sochi, Russian TV crews captured footage of a document not intended for public consumption. The supposedly “secret data,” which was subsequently shown on Russian television, revealed details of a “nuclear torpedo” designed to inflict “assured unacceptable damage” to enemy coastal installations.

As RT reports, a number of TV crews in attendance at the Tuesday meeting captured footage of a presentation slide titled “Ocean Multipurpose System: Status-6,” which allegedly showed details of a new nuclear submarine weapons system. The Kremlin has admitted that the footage, which appeared on TV, was “secret data” that should have never been broadcast.

“It is true some secret data got into the shot, and it was subsequently deleted,” confirmed presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. “We hope that this won’t happen again.”

Of course, it’s quite possible that this material was “accidentally” leaked on purpose — a veiled attempt at saber rattling. Indeed, it may have been deliberate; as the BBC reports, Russian government newspaperRossiiskaya Gazeta has reported details of the weapon without any visuals, while also speculating about a super-radioactive cobalt device.

Rossiiskaya Gazeta described the weapon as a “robotic mini-submarine” capable of travelling at 115 mph (185 km/h) and able to “avoid all acoustic tracking devices and other traps.”

Here’s how RT describes the “nuclear torpedo:”

The footnote to the slide stated that Status-6 is intended to cause “assured unacceptable damage” to an adversary force. Its detonation “in the area of the enemy coast” would result in “extensive zones of radioactive contamination” that would ensure that the region would not be used for “military, economic, business or other activity” for a “long time.”

According to the blurred information provided in the slide, the system represents a massive torpedo, designated as “self-propelled underwater vehicle,” with a range of up to 10 thousand kilometers and capable of operating at a depth of up to 1,000 meters.

It remains unclear if such a system is indeed being developed or the slide was presented as just one of the options the Russian military could hypothetically offer. However, according to the leaked paper, the weapons system could be developed by the Rubin design bureau for marine engineering, and may potentially be delivered using nuclear-powered “Project 09852” and “Project 09851” submarines.

During the Sochi meeting, where the future of Russia’s military capabilities were being discussed, Putin stated that Russia will counter NATO’s missile shield program via “strike systems capable of penetrating any missile defences,” while adding that the Western defence project was “an attempt to undermine the existing parity in strategic nuclear weapons and essentially to upset the whole system of global and regional stability.”

[MIKA27]

RETRO FREAK CONSOLE

If you’ve ever seen those ridiculous retro gamer setups on Reddit, you’ll notice that, although the person might own a ton of classic consoles, those consoles take up a ton of room. With the Retro Freak Console, you’ll be able to play classic games from many different consoles of the past with the same device.

The unit plays games from various retro cartridges, such as SNES, Famicon, Super Famicon, Game Boy, GBA, Sega Genesis and more. So if you want to play Super Mario World one minute, and then decide to switch to Mortal Kombat on the Sega Genesis the next, you’ll be able to do that without having to switch devices. Best of all, you won’t have to go digging up old wires or buy any adapters for your TV, since the device connects with HDMI. No, it won’t improve the graphical quality of any of the games, but it means that it’ll work with any modern television. It’s available now starting at $180. [Purchase]

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THE CHAPEL

Finally, a chance to sleep in church without getting in trouble. Set in the rolling hills of Northern England close to Middleton-in-Teesdale, The Chapel is a 19th century house of worship that's been converted into a modern four bedroom cottage. Two of the four bedrooms offer en suites while the other two share a family bath, and the structure also houses a roomy, fully-equipped kitchen that's open to the cozy living area with wood-burning fireplace. In an ideal location for walking, cycling, or just relaxing, with several shops, restaurants, and pubs just a short drive away.

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This 'Bubble Curtain' Will Protect San Francisco's Marine Life From The Bay Bridge Demolition

One of the largest remaining chunks of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge is coming down tomorrow, as engineers continue to dismantle the ageing piece of infrastructure. But how to protect the fish and other wildlife in the area as it gets taken down? By blowing bubbles.

The implosion of the large pier, named E3, has been delayed for months due to environmental concerns. After scientists were worried about the many birds which live in the old spans and piers, a November date was finally decided upon because it would be the least disruptive when it came to migration and mating. The blast will happen at slack tide so fewer creatures will be in the water. But there are a few other tech tricks in place to keep animals far away from the explosion.

The engineers opted to use hundreds of small controlled charges embedded within the pier to mitigate the impact. The pier itself, which is about as tall as a five-story building, has been outfitted with a wood and steel cage that will trap flying debris. Then, before the 9072kg of dynamite are detonated, a fleet of barges outfitted with air compressors will create a “bubble curtain” that will help disperse the impact of the underwater shockwave. The whole thing will only take six seconds.

Sadly, even the bubble curtain will not be able to stop the shockwave entirely, which is still expected to kill 1,775 endangered longfin smelt (an oddly specific number). But engineers claim that this is the better solution: The environmental impact from slowly dismantling the pier by hand during many months and potentially years would only drag out the process and kill more animals over time.

In addition to the bubble curtain, scientists will be out on boats in the bay to help scare away other birds and mammals from the blast site. However, if certain species are spotted to close to the area, it could delay the event:

Scientists will be on the lookout in particular for two diving birds, the endangered least tern and the protected brown pelican. If either is diving within 500 feet of the pier, the implosion could be put off while monitors use laser pointers and air horns to try to shoo it away. Caltrans hopes harbour seals and sea lions will be deterred by a ring of noise-emitting buoys.

Providing no brown pelicans want a spa bath, you’ll be able to watch the implosion live around 1:45am AEDT (6:45am PT) today at Caltrans’ YouTube channel.

[MIKA27]

We Are All Doomed To Live In Vertical Forests Now

Switzerland, a country not known for its lack of trees, has come up with a new solution to grow a few more: a ‘vertical forest’, or more accurately, a 116m skyscraper masquerading as a shrub.

Designed by Italian Stefano Boeri, the tower will consist of cantilevered concrete pods interspersed with cedar trees. It’s being built in Lausanne, and use will be split between luxury apartments, retail space, and a top-floor restaurant. Construction is due to begin in 2017.

This isn’t Boeri’s first ‘vertical forest’, and as with the others, there are some debates about the sustainability creds of a building made mostly from reinforced concrete.

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How The Salem Witch Trials Prevented Vaccinations

In 1721, the first known inoculation in America took place. It was conducted with the enthusiastic support of a man whose previous passion included finding, interrogating, and — if need be — hanging witches. And the backlash from the Salem Witch Trials made it difficult to convince people that inoculation worked.

Cotton Mather is a familiar figure to people who have an acquaintance with colonial American history. Born to the already-famous Increase Mather, he followed in his father’s footsteps as a minister and outspoken moralist. His faith never wavered, though he had his share of misfortunes. His wife and three youngest children all died of smallpox, a disease that broke out in Boston every ten to twenty years, taking bites out of the population and leaving many survivors blind and disfigured.

When the minister studied the disease, and talked about it with slaves and servants from Africa, he found that there was a way to lessen its severity. Piercing the skin of an uninfected person with a needle smeared with the pus from a smallpox sore gave patients a mild and survivable case of the disease. Mather and a Boston doctor, Dr. Zebediah Boylston, collaborated in studying the disease — a study that culminated in Boylston inoculating two slaves, a man and a young boy, and Boylston’s son. All survived. It was the first known inoculation conducted in the territory that would become the United States. Mather celebrated this new, divine discovery with a series of pamphlets and letters in local newspapers.

He soon learned there was a problem. Twenty-eight years before advocating a life-saving medical technique which had been properly tested, Mather had advocated something else: discovering, “testing,” and exposing suspected witches in Salem. The Salem witch trials were a riveting drama that became a disgrace nearly the moment they were over. During the trials, Mather had written to the Salem judges, urging them to uncover the work of Satan and giving them tips on how to test the witches. He’d written publicly about the multitude of devils flying around everyone’s heads.

The aftermath of the trials were quiet. Few accusers or judges heard any kind of reproach, probably because almost everyone was guilty of something — if only of enjoying the entertainment. People wanted to forget.

However, this new type of technique, which required parents to deliberately expose their precious children to contaminants, proved too much for Mather’s shaky reputation

A scathing pamphlet war ensued, during which the anti-inoculators talked about the inoculation’s foreign origin (it was practiced by “old Greek women on Turks”) and invoked Salem by declaring, “I do seriously believe that [inoculation] is a Delusion of the Devil; and that there was never the like Delusion in New-England since the Time of the Witchcraft at Salem, when so many innocent

Persons lost their Lives, and afterwards some of them that were instrumental in taking their Lives away made a Recantation.”

Mather had his supporters, but he also had a bomb thrown through his window. Inoculation did not make any headway, despite people being desperate for a way to save their families. It’s ironic that when he was confirming the work of the devil in Salem, Mather was for the most part applauded, while when he was confirming the success of a scientific innovation that would eventually eradicate smallpox he was condemned.

But the two weren’t unconnected. The scandal of witch trials left him vulnerable to backlash the moment he started saying things that the public didn’t want to hear. And that, for the most part, was exactly what happened to the victims of the witch trials.

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This 360-Degree View From A Blue Angel Cockpit Is Amazing And Terrifying

The Blue Angels are insanely talented — and, if this video is anything to go by, also more than a little nuts. The 360-degree view from a cockpit of one of their F18s is amazing, exhilarating and absolutely terrifying all at once.

The video is shot from Blue Angel 2, which assumes perhaps the most terrifying position in the fleet — right between all the other jets. Thanks to some smart video capture technology carried out by the guys at USA Today, you can pan around the video as it plays and see just how close the aeroplanes get.

BBC Future points out that, at times, they’re as close as 45cm as they rip through the sky at hundreds of kilometres per hour. Gulp.

[MIKA27]

Find Out If That Beer Is Crap Or Not Using This Augmented Reality App

It’s being called Shazam for beer.

Tech in Asia is reporting on Letsee, a startup in Korea, that just released a smartphone app of the same name that lets you learn more about any beer in front of you using augmented reality. Simply hold up your phone’s camera to a bottle or can label, and the on-screen AR display flashes all kind of useful information: the basics, like alcohol percentage and country of origin, plus user review hashtags like #fruity or #damntasty.

Using smartphone cameras to learn more about booze — or anything else readily available around you — is becoming more common. In terms of alcohol specifically, the Japanese government recently announced a new bilingual app that scans sake labels, written in Japanese, and translates them for non-Japanese-speaking tourists.

There’s also Blippar, a similar app that lets you scan stuff around you to get information about it in an AR display, or lets you interact with brands using crazy 3D graphics. While it doesn’t pull up beer flavour notes and user brewski reviews, it did partner with Heineken earlier this year: you use Blippar to scan a Heineken bottle and you’ll get a sustainability report from the company to learn more about how the beer was made.

Letsee also works with stuff other than beer, like books and cosmetics, so this is a slowly but increasingly crowded space. Right now, Letsee’s beer app looks like it’s only in Korean, but it just came out in South Korea a week ago, so hopefully we’ll be scanning and sipping beers in a more informed manner in Australia very soon.

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Skier Miraculously Survives A 500 Metre Fall Off The Side Of A Mountain

The slope is impossibly steep and the snow looks fresh and it looks like the craziest line a skier can run through but one misstep and things can go real bad, real fast. That’s what happened to skier Ian McIntosh, who fell into a trench on one of his turns and then plummeted 500m in a free fall against the snowy side of the mountain. It’s crazy. Somehow though, and thankfully, he survived.

Pro skiing veteran, Ian McIntosh, narrowly escapes with his life after what TGR Co Founder, Todd Jones, says “was the most terrifying crash I’ve ever seen.” While filming for Paradise Waits up in the Neacola range of AK, Mac dropped into a line he thought he had studied thoroughly enough, only to fall into an unseen five foot deep trench on one of his first turns. “From there, my slough took over and their was no way to stop, I pulled my airbag to help prevent against any possible trauma injuries as I tumbled to the bottom,” he said. While attempting to regain his footing, Mac lost a ski and cartwheeled over 1,600 feet in under a minute.

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Christian Bale: Idris Elba Should Be the Next James Bond

Oscar winner Christian Bale already did his time saving the world as the Caped Crusader of Christopher Nolan’s hit Dark Knight films, so it’s no wonder he’s alittle reluctant to play yet another larger-than-life hero.

“I’m good,” he laughed, contemplating a return to spandex during a chat aboutThe Big Short, Paramount’s based-on-a-true-story dramedy about the global nightmare that unfolded when the American financial system crashed in 2008. “My days of wearing capes are over.”

Bale and Nolan have been at the center of hypothetical James Bond rumors for years. In an interview with The Daily Beast last year, Nolan said producers for the Bond films had been in contact with him about helming one.

“I love James Bond and I’ve talked with the producers over the years, but nothing’s ever worked out,” Nolan said.

Rumors flew that Bale had even been offered the Bond role before the torch eventually passed on to Daniel Craig—speculation Bale flatly denied last year to Esquire while also squashing chatter that he’d been offered the Batsuit again for Batman v. Superman.

But 007 fatigue has seemingly sent Craig into early MI6 retirement, as evidenced by his downer of a Spectre press tour. “I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists,” Craig told Time Out. “That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.”

Although it’s notched $324 million and counting internationally, and despite the fact that he’s got one more flick on his contract, Craig has hinted heavily thatSpectre will be his final Bond.

Bale’s name has been a constant on fans’ wish lists alongside the likes of Damien Lewis and audience favorite Idris Elba, who’d make for a spectacularly groundbreaking black 007. Even former Sony head Amy Pascal—the studio that distributes Bond—was onboard with a double-0 Elba. The Daily Beast uncovered an email she wrote on January 4, 2014, that read, “Idris should be the next bond.”

Although the Welsh-born English star said he’d politely decline offers to don Bond’s tux, he cast an enthusiastic vote in the 007 debate.

“You know what?” he said, smiling. “Let’s have bloody Idris Elba as the next James Bond!”

[MIKA27]

DIY JERKY KIT

There are those who can just walk into a convenience store, grab a bag of jerky, and get on with their day, and then there are those who take their jerky seriously. If you fall into the latter category, the DIY Jerky Kit might be for you.

It’s a kit that will allow you to make your own jerky in your home oven with ease, and it includes virtually everything you’ll need to get the job done (excluding the meat, of course). The kit includes two non-stick drying screens, two spice blends (classic and Mexican), one cork oven door stopper, and one instruction pamphlet. There is even a list of recommended cuts to get from your butcher. The kit is available now for $30. [Purchase]

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ANGEL'S ENVY CASK STRENGTH BOURBON

By now, you're probably familiar with Angel's Envy, those beautiful bottles with the angel wings gracing the back of the glass. The port cask finish that gives it a unique, easy sipping taste. Now imagine all of that, but at 127.9 proof.

Angel's Envy Cask Strength Bourbon is just that, but it's only released once a year, and this year, the yield is only 7,500 bottles. So do whatever you can do locate and sample one of the best barrel proof bourbons available before it's long gone, until next year.

[MIKA27]

Check Out How Ridiculously Sharp This Knife Is

There’s something really satisfying in seeing a super sharp knife just slice through things without any effort whatsoever. Here’s one just sliding through a tomato and chopping it up into the thinnest slices imaginable. There’s no resistance! It ends up being like tomato silk.

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The Mysterious Secret Society of Assassins

Secret societies are mysterious enough, but sometimes they go beyond merely enigmatic, spooky organizations and gather a dark reputation as being a lethal force to be reckoned with, reaching out to deal death to those who oppose them. Such is the story of a shadowy secret order of assassins which was formed in ancient Persia and which kept the region under the grip of terror for over a century. Always lurking in the shadows, they could be anyone, and they were always ready to pounce, patiently waiting for word from their master to bloom outwards from the darkness and shadows to deliver death at a moment’s notice. Let us delve into some of the murky history of one of the most secretive and lethal secret orders of the ancient world and indeed history as a whole.

The road to the formation of one of the most terrifying secret societies the world would ever know began in Egypt in the first millennium AD, which was then under the control of the Ismaili sect of Shiite Islam, which had long been a small minority group within the religion, who followed Ismail bin Jafar, an iman who was not recognized by the larger Shiite group, and practiced a faith marked by radical egalitarianism and shunning of the luxury in which the ruling Sunni Abbasid caliphs enjoyed. At the time, the Ismaili sect had long been despised and persecuted by both the Sunnis and other Shiites alike, and they were considered to be revolutionary heretics. Mostly scattered and powerless, this sect had lived on the fringes of Islam for years, secretly preaching their ideology through missionaries known as da’is. It was one of these da’is by the name of Ubayd Allah who would launch a successful revolt to overthrow the local Sunni dynasty of what is now Tunisia and subsequently start the Fatimid caliphate in 910 AD, which quickly went on to conquer Egypt, Palestine, the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and parts of Syriainto, from which they spread their brand of theology.

Hassan-i Sabbah

It was in the base of Ismaili operations that Hassan-i Sabbah was born between 1040 and 1050, and converted to the Ismaili sect as a young man. Charismatic, intelligent, and intense, Hassan quickly rose in prominence within the Ismaili community and garnered a reputation in western Persia as being a firebrand missionary, known for his fierce intelligence, debating skills, fanatical fervor, hot temper, and toughness. It was these qualities that would land him in trouble at times, as he was known to have intense religious arguments with his instructors and he was even arrested at one point to spend a stint in a political prison after offending the local Chief of the Army, Badr al-Jamalī. He was subsequently kicked out of Cairo, where he had received advanced instruction in the ways of missionary work. Nevertheless, despite his exile from Cairo, Hassan went on to be one of Ismaili’s most valued missionaries, carrying out his work all over Persia.

At the time, the Ismailis were somewhat in decline, which was brought about by internal disputes among its leaders, a schism in ideologies, with the group gradually dividing into the Mustali Ismailis and the Nizari Ismailis due to conflict over who should be the heir to the caliphate, and an increasing loss of territory to the intruding Sunni Abbasid caliphs. In his zealous drive to spread the word of his Ismaili sect, Hassan went about trying to create a stronghold, a base of operations from which he and his followers could continue their dangerous work and raise the prominence of their doctrine throughout the region in safety. After traversing the land looking for a suitable location, Sabbah found it in the mountains of northern Persia near the Shah River in the form of an impressive citadel by the name of Alamut, which was perched atop soaring cliffs high above a valley floor, making it virtually inaccessible to enemies. Easily defendable, with a clear view for miles over the landscape below, it was seen as the perfect spot from which to launch their operation.

However, there was a problem. First of all, Alamut belonged to the the Seljuk Empire, who obviously were not just going to give it to them. Second, Hassan and his men were badly outnumbered, and considering that Alamut was well-defended and difficult to reach they had no chance at all of taking it by force. Most would have realized the futility of trying to gain the citadel, but for Hassan these were merely minor annoyances, and he went about an elaborate campaign to just go ahead and steal it anyway. The first step to this plan involved sending out missionaries into the surrounding areas in order to fan out and win over converts from the local populace, especially village leaders and other people of prominence. The next step was more daring, with Sabbah and his men actually secretly infiltrating the citadel and converting members of the defending garrison.

The commander of the fort began to suspect something suspicious was going on, but he was powerless to do anything about it because by that time most of the garrison and the local populace had already converted to the Ismaili cause and now followed Hassan. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the commander had no choice but to surrender the fort, and thus after nearly two years of patiently enacting his plan, Hassan had gained his prize without bloodshed or violence. The account of the taking of Alamut has often been romanticized. One popular legend concerning the acquisition of Alamut is that Hassan offered the owner of the fort 3,000 dinars for an amount of land that could fill a buffalo hide. The owner accepted, thinking that this would turn him over a tidy profit, after which Hassan cut a buffalo hide into long, thin strips which he then linked together around the perimeter of the fort before paying the promised money and sending the outsmarted owner on his way.

With Alamut secured, Hassan knew that it was only a matter of time before the Seljuks would come to take it back, and indeed an enraged Seljuk emir came rampaging through the valley in revenge, destroying towns, razing crops, and brutally slaughtering any Ismailis he could find, but Alamut proved to be just as impenetrable as Hassan had hoped, repelling the attack and sending the emir home in frustrated defeat. In the aftermath of this attack, with many of the crops and homes in the valley lying in smoking ruin, Hassan launched a campaign to increase his presence and capture other fortified positions within the region, sometimes through tact or propaganda and at other times through force, until he had created practically his own miniature state. As the Ismaili presence in the region spread, the Seljuks began to realize the threat they posed and decided on a more powerful response. Two armies were dispatched to the region to squash the Ismailis and Alamut was held under siege, yet Hassan in his impregnable fortress was able to ultimately thwart all such aggression. It was at around this time that he would turn to a new way to fight his enemies, and which would lead to the formation of his order of assassins.

It came to Hassan’s attention that one of his worst enemies, a Vizier Nizam al-Mulk, was traveling from the Seljuk capital of Isfahan to the Abbasid caliph’s residence in Baghdad along with the Sultan Malik Shah. Hassan then sent one of his most trusted assistants, a young man named Bu-Tahir, to infiltrate the entourage dressed as a Sufi mystic and armed with a concealed dagger. On the morning of October of 1092, when Nizam had just finished having breakfast with the Sultan and was on his way back to his tent, the disguised Bu-Tahir approached with a paper in his hand, claiming it was a petition that he wanted the vizier to look at. When Nizam reached out for it, Bu-Tahir grabbed him and fatally stabbed him through the heart before being promptly subdued and killed by the vizier’s men. Although this operation had left its agent dead, it had fulfilled its purpose and had a powerful psychological effect on the Seljuks, and indeed any others who would oppose Hassan. The Ismailis had shown that they had the ability and the determination and fearlessness to silently reach out and deal death as they pleased, despite their inferior numbers and relatively small territory.

Encouraged by the success of this first assassination, Hassan went about forging an elite group of individuals who could be called upon to undertake similar missions. Recruits for this new group were gathered from among Hassan’s own men, as well as the surrounding villages. The most prized traits in these potential recruits were resourcefulness, intelligence, ruthlessness, fearlessness, and religious zeal. In some cases, it is said that young boys were recruited, who could be more completely indoctrinated and trained in the ways of death. The recruits were trained in the use of various weapons, hand-to-hand combat, stealth, disguise, intelligence gathering, and psychological warfare, but the most important training they received was the the intense ideological commitment and fanaticism which was fostered within them through constant bombardment of propaganda and religiously fired up speeches. Hassan sought to make them totally obedient to him and the cause, going to great lengths to convince them that he was their one true savior, and that only by dying under his servitude would they achieve heavenly bliss.

At the end of all of this training, ideally the recruit would have been transformed into a stealthy, deadly killer who was disciplined, fanatical, totally committed to his cause, not afraid to die, and ready to follow any orders given without question. Such newly forged human weapons of war were called the fidaiyn, which roughly translates to “sacrifice,” or more to the point “those who risk their lives voluntarily,” and which is typically spelled today as fedayeen. This group of assassins would then go on to be called the Hashashin, which means “followers of Hassan,” and is the word from which the English word “assassin” likely originates.

Since much of the history of how this group was really trained is lost or has been tainted and clouded by the biased observations of the Crusaders, European explorers, and most notably the accounts of Marco Polo, which are probably mixed with some amount of fanciful fiction, there have been many legends that have sprung up about their training methods. For instance, it was said that the assassin recruit would be tricked into thinking they had died, only to wake up in a luxurious, opulent garden, which they would think was heaven. There Hassan would be waiting for them and the recruit would think he was some divine entity with the power to send them back to the land of the living, thus cementing their loyalty. Other stories explain that young boys spent all of their time in this garden, living in luxury until they were cast out and told that if they did not obey their master they would never return. In another tale, Hassan was said to have lowered a man into a hole in the ground with only his head showing, which was then surrounded with blood to make it seem as if he had been decapitated. The recruits were then shown the head and Hassan would appear to make the “head” speak and move, thereby proving in their minds that their master had great powers. To make it seem even more convincing, when the recruits left the room, Hassan supposedly had the cooperative person actually killed and decapitated, his head paraded about on a pole in order to show that he was really dead. It was also said that the assassins constantly smoked hashish, which you most likely know as marijuana, in order to take the edge off, make them more easily manipulated, and increase fearlessness. In fact, it is this tale that has given rise to the idea that the name Hashashin actually comes from the Arabic word hashishi, meaning “hashish users,” although this would have been very against the Muslim tradition of eschewing intoxicants. It is uncertain just how much truth any of these stories hold, but it shows how much power the Hashashin had to fire up the imagination.

When they were finally sent into the field, the Hashashin, or Assassins, were extremely bold, preferring to attack targets in very public areas with a lot of bystanders, such as mosques or city streets, in order to strengthen the psychological impact of their strikes, cultivate their sinister reputation, and sow terror, although they went through great lengths to ensure that no innocent person was harmed. In fact, it was very important to them that innocents be spared and that there be no killing of those not specifically targeted. This habit of killing where many could witness the act ensured that word of mouth spread quickly and further showed everyone that the Hashashin could be anywhere at anytime. Killings were meticulous and almost always carried out with a close quarter weapon such as a dagger, and they avoided any weapons which would allow the victim to possibly escape, such as bows or poisons. This was all done with complete lack of fear, and although the Assassin would try to escape if they could, they were not afraid to die at the hands of their enemy, although they would never commit suicide.

Assassinations were not always such straightforward affairs. Sometimes the Assassin would spend years learning the language and culture of the place they wished to infiltrate and getting close to their intended target, penetrating the inner circle and getting through the veil of security. To this end, they were masters of deceit and disguise, using whatever costume or cover they had to in order to patiently and inexorably get within striking distance. Blending in with their enemy, they could be peasants working the fields, soldiers, or loyal trusted servants. They could be anybody. The fact that the Hashashin were not afraid to die and that indeed, considering their high profile targets, were most certainly ensured of it, also added to the terror they invoked. It drove home the fact that there was no escape, and that anyone targeted for assassination was doomed no matter what they did.

On many occasions, the Hashashin did not kill at all, but rather relied on psychological warfare, with which they were well versed. One example of this was to infiltrate the quarters of a person of prominence and leave a dagger upon their pillow, usually with a message such as “You have been warned,” “You are in our grip,” or something menacing to that effect, leaving the potential victim terrified. These sorts of terror tactics were so effective that they allowed the Hashashin to exert influence on political figures or people of prominence without having to rely upon violence at all. In other cases, an assassination would be intentionally botched, with the victim being allowed to escape an attack with just a few injuries, making them very aware that they could be killed at any time and keeping them in the constant grip of fear, sometimes with them resorting to wearing armor under their clothes or keeping bodyguards to watch over them 24 hours a day. Even then, it was never apparent where an attack might come from, and since no one knew who could be an Assassin, since even a bodyguard or trusted advisor or servant could be one, there was a good amount of paranoia. For even the most well-protected and powerful rulers, no one ever knew just which one their faithful entourage might be an Assassin waiting for word to strike.

Assassination attempt on Edward I of England

These terror tactics were remarkably effective, and often just a mere mention of the Hashashin was enough to keep many in line, to keep them submissive without these shadowy assassins having to do anything at all. In many cases, it became easier to just bend to their demands or forms truces with Hassan rather than face the possibility of an attack at any time. This constant threat of assassination and never-ending state of fear instilled in his enemies had a potent deterrent effect, and became a powerful bargaining chip for Hassan, allowing him to wield far more clout against far larger, more formidable enemies than his inferior numbers and relative low military might would suggest. It also ensured that far fewer lives were risked or lost than conventional military action.

The list of victims targeted by the Hashashin included religious leaders, emirs, sharifs, caliphs, high ranking political or military leaders, and just about anyone else who was a potential threat to Hassan or his Ismaili faith, but this list was always changing depending on his agenda. Even the the great Muslim general Saladin faced several attempts on his life by the Hashashin. During the Crusades, the Hashashin had a tenuous relationship with the Crusaders, sometimes working for them and sometimes targeting them, whatever best aided them in maintaining the balance of power or suited their interests. In fact, some of the most famous Hashashin targets came about at this time. One well-known assassination by the Hashashin at this time was that of the Crusader military commander from northern Italy, Conrad of Montferrat, who had been elected King of Jerusalem in April of 1192. Two Hashashin disguised as monks spent 6 months getting close to him, going so far as to convert to Christianity in order to allay any suspicions, before cutting him down as he walked home from a friend’s house escorted by two knights. It has often been speculated that these Assassins had been working for one of his many Christian enemies, such as Richard the Lionheart and Henry of Champagne. Another famous assassination attempt by the Hashashin was that of Edward I of England, who was wounded by a dagger in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to end his life in 1271.

The Hashashin would operate in the region and keep all of the Middle East in the grip of fear for over 125 years, under the guidance of a total of 8 grand masters. Their reign of fear was all encompassing, but all things must come to an end. Towards the beginning of the 13th century, a terrifying new power was sweeping across the land, the armies of the Mongols, under their ferocious leader Genghis Kahn, against whom the Hashashin would ultimately prove to be powerless. At first, the Hashashin had little to worry about. Although the Mongol armies were laying waste to vast swaths of central Asia between 1219 and 1223, the Hashashin remained relatively unaffected, with the Mongols’ attention focused elsewhere. However, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Mongke Khan, began to set his sights on invading Islamic territory and hoped to eventually conquer Baghdad. When the Hashashin learned of this new threat, they made an attempt to assassinate Mongke by sending a team of assassins to pose as citizens offering submission and surrender to the warlord before killing him. Things did not go according to plan. The team was turned away by the suspicious guards and the assassination was a failure. It was with this close call, in addition to word spreading to the Mongols of the deadly threat posed by the Hashashin, that they became more interested in wiping this shadowy, lethal group out. Mongke ordered his brother, Hülegü Khan, to go to Alamut and decisively destroy the Hashashin sect once and for all. In early 1256, the Mongols came at the Hashashin in their Alamut fortress with all of their might, and they were smashed under such a relentless force. The Hashashin grandmaster at the time, a Khur-Shah, who was considered to be rather weak willed compared to his predecessors, desperately tried to negotiate with the invading Mongols, offering his surrender in exchange for mercy, but the enemy did not honor this bargain and slaughtered the grandmaster in the wilds. They then went about hunting down and killing any Assassins or indeed any Ismailis they could find in a ruthless orgy of blood. The remaining Hashashin were scattered all over Asia, including India, Afghanistan, and the Himalayas, and their age ended.

In the ensuing madness, the stronghold of the Hashashin, Alamut, was razed to the ground and its vast libraries and records totally destroyed, leaving us with an incomplete picture of their history and practices. Indeed when looking at the saga of the Hashashin order of assassins, its history is murky, muddied by the accounts of the Crusaders, who were largely ignorant of Muslim culture and prone to exaggeration and romanticization of the order, as well as unreliable accounts by explorers such as Marco Polo, which were exaggerated and colored to the point where it is difficult to disentangle fact from fiction. Their history remains shadowy, cloaked in legend, myths, misinformation, and misunderstanding. The dramatic notion of an outnumbered secret society of assassins causing their more powerful enemies to cower before their might with the threat of stealthy agents of death certainly lends itself to exaggeration and legend, and when looking at their history, the lack of any solid information certainly makes it difficult to get a clear picture of the reality of this shadowy group. It is easy to get caught up in the swashbuckling cinematic quality of it all. In modern times, this romantic, dramatized view of the Hashashinin can still be seen in popular culture, such as in the popular video game Assassin’s Creed.

Yet for all of the misinformation and gaps in our knowledge of the Hashashin and their ways, they most certainly did exist. Perhaps the Hashashin’s legacy in the modern world can best be seen in the turmoil it faces. After all, they were the first pioneers of using terror tactics, insidious psychological warfare, the use of cells embedded within their enemies ready to strike, and suicide attacks, which can all still be seen in terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda, although the Hashashin would have no doubt frowned upon the blatant imperiling of innocent bystanders that seems to be common practice today. The Hashashin have also proved to be the potential inspiration behind various other secret cults and societies, having a pronounced impact on how we see these secretive groups and how they operate. Author West Moore said of this in his book Disinformation:

During the Crusades, the Hashshashins fought both for and against the Crusaders, whichever suited their agenda. As a result, the Crusaders brought back to Europe the Assassins’ system, which would be passed down and mimicked by numerous secret societies in the West. The Templars, the Society of Jesus, Priory de Sion, the Freemasons, the Rosicrucians, etc. all owe their organizational efficiency to Hasan.

We may never have a full, clear picture of this mysterious order of assassins. The Hashashin remain just as shadowy in death as they were in life, with their myth and legend overshadowing any truths that we are able to glean from them. Now they are just a dark, romanticized footnote in history, but in their day the Hashashin were one of the most secretive, ingenious, and deadly secret orders in the world, their mere presence enough to shift the balance of power and change history, the potential for death to come for anyone at any time enough to influence politics and mold ancient Persia. They remain a fascinating account of a secret society that not only thrived, but was a powerful transforming force of history.

[MIKA27]

John Oliver Curses Off Paris Attackers: ‘F*ck These Assholes’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glxh9ZgP7kc

In the wake of Friday’s series of brutal attacks on Paris, a coordinated assault against Western culture—music, sports, and fine dining—carried out by a group of ISIS-affiliated gunmen and suicide bombers that left at least 127 people dead and scores more injured, people reacted in different ways.

Some, like emotionally stunted trolls Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, and GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, exploited the tragic event in service of their own political goals. Hollywood filmmaker Guillermo del Toro chose to share his own harrowing tale of his father’s kidnapping, preaching against violence begetting more violence. The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert delivered a heartfelt message that had the funnyman on the verge of tears. And, on the late-night program Real Time with Bill Maher, the political satirist Bill Maher placed part of the blame for the attacks on the West, claiming that Western coalition forces bombing ISIS overseas is what caused the Paris massacre.

On Sunday night, Maher’s HBO colleague John Oliver—of Last Week Tonight fame—laid into the terrorists in a passionate, expletive-laden rant.

Sadly, we must begin with a few words about France which, on Friday, suffered the deadliest attack on its soil since World War II,” said Oliver at the start of his program. “Look, it’s hardly been 48 hours and much is still unknown, but there are a few things we can say for certain. And this is when it actually helps to be on HBO, where those things can be said without restraint, because after the many necessary and appropriate moments of silence, I’d like to offer you a moment of premium cable profanity.”

Then Oliver let rip.

“So here is where things stand: First, as of now, we know this attack was carried out by gigantic ******* assholes—unconscionable flaming assholes—possibly working with other ******* assholes, definitely working in service of an ideology of pure assholery,” Oliver said. “Second, and this goes almost without saying, **** THESE ASSHOLES! **** ’em, if I may say, sideways.”

“And third,” he continued, “it is important to remember nothing about what these assholes are trying to do is going to work. France is going to endure. And I’ll tell you why: If you’re in a war of culture and lifestyle with France, good ******* luck! Because go ahead, bring your bankrupt ideology; they’ll bring Jean-Paul Sartre, Edith Piaf, fine wine, Gauloises cigarettes, Camus, Camembert, madeleines, macarons, Marcel Proust, and the ******* croque-en-bouche. The croque-en-bouche! You’ve just brought a philosophy of rigorous self-abnegation to a pastry fight, my friends! You are ****ed! That [croque-en-bouche] is a French freedom tower!”

“So, to the people of France, our thoughts are truly with you and I do not doubt that there will be more to say about this as events unspool, but for now, we are going to continue with the rest of our show…”

[MIKA27]

WHISKEY SOAKED CAMPFIRE JERKY

If you’re like us, you take both your whiskey and your jerky seriously. So, when we learned that a company was making Whiskey Soaked Campfire Jerky, we took notice.

This smoked jerky is made with beef that has been soaked in Bulleit Bourbon whiskey overnight. Afterwards, the beef was smoked in a vintage smokehouse with Texas pecan wood for an incredible smoked flavor. Each piece of beef is hand cut, hand measured, and inspected by hand to ensure it is of the highest quality. Once the jerky is made, it is individually sealed, so each piece is fresh. The result is a peppery, salty, slightly sweet and tangy piece of jerky that has the best smoked flavor around. They’re then stuffed into a burlap bag, with tags that are inked with handmade stamps. An 8oz bag is available now for $30. [Purchase]

[MIKA27]

LUMINOX RECON LEADER

To celebrate their 25th anniversary, Swiss watch company Luminox have launched a series of high performance watches, including the good looking Luminox Recon Leader chronograph. Ideal for adventurers, the rugged timepiece features a second color countdown zone on the dial, multiple timezones, a dive timing unidirectional ratcheting bezel, highly scratch resistant sapphire crystal with antireflective coatings, a walking speed scale, and a bezel compass. The watchstrap contains three common map scales and an inch/centimeter measurement chart.

[MIKA27]

FIRESTONE WALKER HELLDORADO BEER

It's amazing what happens when a beer spends time in a bourbon barrel. AndHelldorado from Firestone Walker is yet another testament to that. This Blonde Barley Wine was named after an inspirational trip to Tombstone, Arizona, and keeps the line of fantastic barrel aged beers in the Firestone Walker barrel program going strong. At 13.2% ABV, it's made with just one malt and El Dorado hops before aging in the barrels. The results are rich and sweet, with honey and vanilla flavors up front, and toasted malt on the back end.