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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Strange Sounds Heard Around the World - HOAX

You may have seen videos throughout the internet with recordings of weird noises and sounds that have been "heard around the world". Upon first seeing these videos, they seem very real as there are many of them and the sounds are quite strange and convincing. The reactions of the posters also lead to this effect.

There have been numerous claims on the origins of the sounds. People have claimed they are anything from a pole shift to aliens, to the 7 Trumpets of the Apocalypse.

 After watching a lot of them and some investigation, however, I am almost certain that they are a hoax.

I noticed that in the videos, the sound seemed to be almost identical (in all of them) as well as other small indications that it may be a hoax (no one actually reported hearing any sounds to police anywhere around the world, noises seemed similar to some from movies, etc.).

Today I found a video on Youtube from user "V00D00SIXXX" that gives strong evidence that the noises are indeed a hoax.

He was observant enough to notice that in the first strange noises video/recording, no one in the background seemed to notice the sound. In fact, he pointed out that the only person who noticed the sounds, which were supposedly coming from the sky some distance in front of the camera, was a woman who looked toward the camera rather than the supposed source of the sound whenever she heard it (indicating that the sound was coming from behind the camera - i.e. a speaker or other audio device set by the user who posted the video).

He also noticed that 2 sounds heard at different times in the video, a squeak and a bird call, are present in many of the other weird noises videos that were posted after this one as other posters (people continuing the hoax) simply put the original audio over their footage. He also noticed that sound effects from War of the Worlds are present in many of the videos. The video with this convincing evidence can be seen below.


Kudos to V00D00SIXXX for the video and for debunking this hoax.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

SOPA And E-Parasite Acts

Two US congress bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the E-Parasite Act, threaten the internet as 

you know it. 

Today, you may have noticed that numerous cites, even Wikipedia, have been "censored" for the day or that 

the Google logo was replaced/covered by a black bar (ie censored). This was/is their form of protesting these

2 acts. 

The SOPA and E-Parasite acts could ruin the internet as we know it. 

Currently, if a company makes a copyright claim against any content on a site like Youtube, the site has a 

period of time to remove the content. This allows the site to deal with the claim while remaining operative/not 

shutting down. 

Under the new acts (if they pass), as soon as a single company makes a claim against content on a website, 

THE ENTIRE WEBSITE IS BLOCKED. All it takes is one claim for an entire website to be shut down until 

the issue is resolved.

This would ruin numerous content sharing websites such as Youtube, Daily Motion, and countless others as 

one complaint, among the thousands of hours of video and other content (pictures, comments, links, etc.) 

added everyday, would shut the site down. 

In addition, the fines proposed in the bill are completely ridiculous. Depending on the situation, someone could

be fined thousands of dollars FOR EVERY PERSON THAT VIEWS THE CONTENT. 

For these reasons, it is no surprise there has been a lot of opposition to the bill. 

Companies due have the right to have their content protected from piracy and illegal sharing (they do need to

make money and illegal sharing hurts them in this regard), but these two acts go way too far in the ease in the

number of people it would affect (from one "pirated" piece of content among thousands of non piratedcontent 

pieces) and the degree of the punishment. 

SOPA and the E-parasite act must be stopped.


Monday, January 2, 2012

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protcol Review

This latest installment of the Mission Impossible series, "Ghost Protocol" is a fast paced, riveting action movie that does not disappoint. The exciting, heart-pounding experience is contributed to by the new IMAX screen/experience (which I will discuss further in a later post)which was recently added to my preferred theater.

Ghost Protocol takes you on a roller coaster ride as Ethan Hunt and 3 other IMF agents/members, who are now all that is left of the IMF (the reason for this is revealed early in the movie), must stop a Russian terrorist hell-bent on starting an all-out nuclear war between Russia and the United States.

Ethan's three "partners" include Jane Carter (Paula Patton), a fellow IMF agent whose friend (also an agent) is killed at the start of the movie, as well as Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), a computer/technology expert, and William Brandt(Jeremy Renner), an IMF analyst. These 3 actors, as well as Tom Cruise, all put in brilliant performances. Simon Pegg in particular is notable as adding a degree of comic relief to the film.

Ghost Protocol begins immediately with thrilling, exciting action and does not let up until the very end. Among the notable scenes are the opening scene (where Jane's friend/partner is killed), the prison break-out, the Kremlin, the Burj Khalifa, and a fight scene in a strange "parking lot" where cars are moved in every direction by automated elevators (moving platforms).

By far, the most thrilling scene in the movie is the scene on the Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building. I won't go into to much detail, but the scene involves Ethan Hunt climbing up over 10 stories of the building starting over half way up it - high enough to make other skyscrapers look tiny - using only gloves which stick to a surface when it makes contact with it (the strength of the suction is displayed by several green bars that fade off one by one as the suction decreases - which it does frequently - and eventually turn red, disabling the glove) and which are quite unreliable (Benji explains that if the light on the glove is green its good, but  means you are "dead"). The most astonishing thing about this heart-pounding scene (even more intense and exciting in IMAX), which was actually filmed where it is portrayed on the tower, is that Tom Cruise chose to do the stunt himself. Just look at this video and you will understand why this is so shocking. Note at just over 50 seconds in where he (Tom Cruise) jumps out a window and literally runs down the side of the building.


The almost constant action, punctuated by occasional bits of comic relief, keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat.The well-designed (albeit somewhat unrealistic) plot, with numerous twists and turns, further contributes to this effect.

The overall experience is also greatly contributed to by the excellent music as well as the masterful cinematography. It also benefits from the, previously noted, outstanding performances of the actors and actresses and the entertaining plot.

Ghost Protocol delivers an exciting, entertaining experience which is sure to entertain audiences and satisfy fans of the series. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to head out to your local theater and watch Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (in IMAX if possible - its worth the extra few bucks).

Ghost Protocol gets 9/10.

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