Interesting Stuff Thread

Sulla Felix

James74 wrote: »

This was the first audiobook I ever listened to. William Roberts does a brilliant job narrating, I was so disappointed when I actually heard Bill Bryson read one of his other books. Has to be the dullest voice ever.

I was about to agree, but after checking, mine was narrated by Richard Matthews... Tracked down a sample of Roberts' version and not sure I care for it! :P
I think my first was Rubicon by Tom Holland and read by Stephen Crossley but which I now discover is also read by Andrew Sachs.
I love audio books, but the narrator really makes or breaks the experience. Must see if there's a better version of GoT than the one which I've never made past the prologue...

pauldla

Rubicon is a good read. Did you read his Millennium? It's an account of the state of Christendom at the turn of the last, er, millennium.

Sulla Felix

pauldla wrote: »

Rubicon is a good read. Did you read his Millennium? It's an account of the state of Christendom at the turn of the last, er, millennium.

Yep, have that too though not on audio. Try In The Shadow of the Sword too, very good read on the origins of Islam, arab hegemony in the east etc etc.

Brian Shanahan

Sulla Felix wrote: »

Yep, have that too though not on audio. Try In The Shadow of the Sword too, very good read on the origins of Islam, arab hegemony in the east etc etc.

To be honest it really does teach you a lot about the origins of any religion, using Islam as an example. I actually own all his books, as he's a very interesting read.

keane2097

Sulla Felix wrote: »

Yep, have that too though not on audio. Try In The Shadow of the Sword too, very good read on the origins of Islam, arab hegemony in the east etc etc.

Nice one, just discovered my audible account was maxed out the other day and was looking for some good history books to use the credits on!

pauldla

Sulla Felix wrote: »

Yep, have that too though not on audio. Try In The Shadow of the Sword too, very good read on the origins of Islam, arab hegemony in the east etc etc.

It was out in hardback the last time I was home; I'll try to pick up a copy this summer when I'm on my travels.

keane2097 wrote: »

Nice one, just discovered my audible account was maxed out the other day and was looking for some good history books to use the credits on!

If you've any interest in Chinese history, I can recommend Julia Lovell's The Opium War. 'Tis very good.

smacl

pauldla wrote: »

If you've any interest in Chinese history, I can recommend Julia Lovell's The Opium War. 'Tis very good.

Similarly Diana Preston's The box rebellion, very entertaining stuff, though only read it on paper.

For audiobooks, John Cleese reading Dante's inferno is worth a punt, and still remarkably entertaining even if like myself you don't get all the subtle in-jokes and jibes relating to the society from which it emerged.

robindch

Anybody come across a readable account of the Taiping Rebellion?

pauldla

smacl wrote: »

Similarly Diana Preston's The box rebellion, very entertaining stuff, though only read it on paper.

...

You mean her The Boxer Rebellion, I presume? (Sorry, terribly bad form to point out typos etc). I agree, an excellent and fascinating read.

robindch wrote: »

Anybody come across a readable account of the Taiping Rebellion?

Gods Chinese Son by Jonathan Spence is worth reading, though I'm sure there are others. Oh, I miss book shops...

Turtwig

Carter I can see my house.

robindch

They don't just defecate in the woods:

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/brown-bears-enjoy-oral-sex

robindch

From the topic and timestamps of a few posts which have appeared in my fb feed over the last week or so, I gather that there's some kind of footie tournament happening in the southern hemisphere.

Here's the New Yorker looking briefly into cheating in the beautiful game:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/sportingscene/2014/06/world-cup-soccer-cheating-study.html

Otherwise, well, what these good folks said:

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

Turtwig

Isn't that video kind of sexist?

robindch

Turtwig wrote: »

Isn't that video kind of sexist?

Yep, at least middlingly -- was waiting to see who might point it out I'd have gone with "hairdressers" instead of "girls".

Still, the sentiment's hard to beat.

Brian Shanahan

robindch wrote: »

From the topic and timestamps of a few posts which have appeared in my fb feed over the last week or so, I gather that there's some kind of footie tournament happening in the southern hemisphere.

Here's the New Yorker looking briefly into cheating in the beautiful game:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/sportingscene/2014/06/world-cup-soccer-cheating-study.html

Otherwise, well, what these good folks said:

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

Just like Sisko winning every Kirk vs. Picard debate, hurling wins every soccer vs rugby bun fight.

ShooterSF

Brian Shanahan wrote: »

Just like Sisko winning every Kirk vs. Picard debate, hurling wins every soccer vs rugby bun fight.

Nope Nope Nope. If all you are looking for is a violent physical ball sport then it has to be:

Personally I still prefer soccer as it offers more protection to skillful players even if they misuse it at times.

Knex*

The following gif shows metaphase as it happens in normal cells obtained from pig kidney epithelium. The microtubules use mEmerald fluorescent protein as a marker, while the chromatids are labeled in bright red from mCherry.
Read more at http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/mesmerizing-gif-shows-cell-division-real-time#RJUrF125t6tP58Aj.99

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/mesmerizing-gif-shows-cell-division-real-time

CramCycle

Brian Shanahan wrote: »

Just like Sisko winning every Kirk vs. Picard debate, hurling wins every soccer vs rugby bun fight.

DS9 was my favourite but Sisko does not win that fight, hurling does though.

Cabaal

Turtwig

VAR!

RoiSoleil

Cabaal wrote: »

known universe pic

Where are the pillars holding it all up?

Absolam

RoiSoleil wrote: »

Where are the pillars holding it all up?

Turn it sideways.

RoiSoleil

Absolam wrote: »

Turn it sideways.

Silly me.

robindch

Four World Cup national teams banned sex. And all of them have been eliminated.

http://qz.com/229113/all-of-the-teams-that-banned-sex-at-the-world-cup-have-been-eliminated/

Is there enough data to conclude anything? Probably not

Cabaal

Interesting stats about America....in the form of the Captain America song/cartoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPekmA9tcvg

sponsoredwalk

This is actually amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAJkLh76QnM

keane2097

RoiSoleil wrote: »

Where are the pillars holding it all up?

It's turtles all the way down.

Turtwig

Turtwigs all the way down.

PopePalpatine

Turtwig wrote: »

Turtwigs all the way down.

I think Torterra would be a more solid base. Or Blastoise. :pac:

Hotblack Desiato

Two sentences you wouldn't read every day.

The "sexting" case took a surreal twist when police obtained a warrant to photograph the boy's penis to prove that it was the same one that appeared in the text videos.

On Thursday, as publicity about the case grew in the Washington area, they said they would not serve the warrant, which would have involved a drug-induced erection at a local hospital.

:eek:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0719/631791-us-selfie-porn/