How to Steal a Book From the General Library

I had an idea a few days ago - should you desire a book for longer than the allowed time, or don't want to risk a recall, you could do the following: Select a book and take it with you to the lifts. Use one of the lifts furthest from the door and when you get in, instead of pressing 'G' for 'Ground' (where you issue the books), press 'B' for 'Basement' :). The rest is up to you. The catch is that you must get through a security door that is locked from the other side. As this is an unproven theory, I don't know if it will unlock from the inside. If it does, you have a library book for as long as you want. If it doesn't, well... pity.

For the record, I am NOT condoning such action. Stealing is wrong.

I found out tonight that a guy who (up until a few months ago) used to work at my dad's work has recently commited suicide :( [man, writing that I suddenly had really bad deja vu! I'm sure I've written this before!] It's really sad. He'd burnt out his mind on frugs when he was younger (he was in his 40's now), and that may have had something to do with it - mental instability. It's really sad. What compels someone to commit suicide? When things are so bad they can only get better, doesn't that imply they're going to get better? Maybe he felt trapped or tormented and just couldn't take the strain. Poor guy.

:(

Unsolved mysteries. They really fascinate me. Stuff like the yeti and the sasquatch and the bermuda triangle. And it's amazing the stuff you can dig up. For instance, reports of yeti-like creatures have been reported over at least the last few centuries all over the world. In North America it's called the Sasquatch and can be found particualarly in central and western North America. They are reputed to haunt Mt St Helens, and as a result you will never get an Indian guide taking you more than about 30km towards it. It's called the Sasquatch after a tribe of mythical Indians because it is so human-like that the original settlers thought it was a tribe of giant Indians. In the Himilayas it's called the yeti and is strongly feared by the natives. In Australia it's called the yowie and the aboriginines warned the white men about it when Australia was first colonised. They too were terrified of it. Sightings have also been reported in Japan, central and south Africa, Europe, particularly northern and eastern, as well as in Russia, Peru, and several other places. No sightings in New Zealand as far as I know, but if you're ever in the bush and you smell a really putrid smell and get the feeling you're being watched -- run.

Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about. What I wanted to talk about was just how little idea we have of our history. For instance. In 1936 while excavating a 2000 year old village near Baghdad, archaeologists found this:

It's a 200o year old battery! Like, electrical battery! With grape juice as an electrolyte, it would put out about 0.8 - 2V. 12 have been found, and the corroded state of the metal core indicates that they have been used to generate electricity. Electricity! 2000 years ago! Archaeologists reckon they used them either to power their idols and make them move, or to electroplate silver on to them. This idea is supported by the fact that electroplated statues have been found in Egypt and Mesopotamia!

The next one is just as amazing.


This is the Peri Reis map. Made in 1513 by a Turkish naval captain. Notice anything unusual about it? It was made 10 years after Columbus discovered the Carribean. However this map contains the entire east coast of the Americas right down to Antarctica! However there's something even more amazing. The coast of Antarctica is not right if you compare it with a current atlas, because this map shows the coast of Antarctica BEFORE it was covered in ice!! Furthermore, in 1513 they believed the world was flat, however, this map has lines of latitude and longitude! And they are correct as well! That means they already knew the radius of the Earth!

Here's how historians believe this works. Back in the Age of Sail, it was popular for navigators and captains to accumulate maps up to 2000 years old and compile their own maps from them. How did they get access to maps so old? Well ancient people made a lot of maps and stored them in places such as the Great Library of Alexandria. These maps circulated and were collected throughout the Mediteranean for a couple of thousand years. It was a matter of pride to have your own map collection. This Turkish captain actually states some of his sources on the Peri Reis map, and some of them he says date from the 4th century BC! But how did ancient people know about America and Antartica? Well historians are starting to accept the fact that they were far better sailors than we give them credit for. Also, they're starting to believe that many geographical events actually happened within the last few thousand years. For example, ancient (or medieeval complied from ancient) maps have been found showing a landbridge 1,600km wide between Siberia and Alaska, and another map has been found with a complete coastline of Antarctica - again, before the ice buried the coastline! Unfortunately I can't find any copies of these to show you. Oh that's another thing - maps like this have also been uncovered in the Far East as well. Maps have also been found showing Greenland as two islands. It has been confirmed that Greenland is, in fact, two separate islands connected by a massive, thick icesheet!

Check out some more information at http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_1.htm. That's where I got most of this from (but its not the only place). Check out the model of a plane that was found in an Egyptian tomb.

Time for bed.

Night~