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	<title>SeanBluestone.com</title>
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	<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com</link>
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		<title>5 Most Expensive Things in Their Class</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/5-most-expensive-things-in-their-class</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/5-most-expensive-things-in-their-class#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:09:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interesting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=205</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[1. The Most Expensive Car
The most expensive commercially available car is the Bugatti Veyron with the hefty price tag of $1.25 million USD. With all-wheel drive, a W-16 engine with 4 turbochargers, the Veyron clocks in at 1001 hp, hits 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and tops out at 253 mph in just 55 seconds. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>1. The Most Expensive Car</h3>
<p>The most expensive commercially available car is the Bugatti Veyron with the hefty price tag of $1.25 million USD. With all-wheel drive, a W-16 engine with 4 turbochargers, the Veyron clocks in at 1001 hp, hits 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and tops out at 253 mph in just 55 seconds. As such it’s not only the most expensive car in the world, but the fastest and most powerful too. Since it’s also 100% street legal you can also use it to go pick up your groceries. Though, due to the Veyrons excessive consumption of fuel, you’ll probably spend more on getting there than you will on anything else.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Bugatti Veyron" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/most-expensive-car.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="304" /></p>
<h3>2. The Most Expensive Pen</h3>
<p>It looks like something you’d buy your aunt Jemima for Christmas, from the “Everything Else” category of e-Bay. Despite its strange appearance, the “Limited Edition Mystery Masterpiece” is actually worth a staggering $730,000 USD.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Most Expensive Pen" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/most-expensive-pen.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="266" /></p>
<p>It was a joint creation between the Montblanc and Van Cleef &amp; Arpels companies to celebrate their credentials in 2006, designed to show their expertise and three version exist; one set with Rubies, one set with Sapphires and one set with Emeralds. Each pen contains 20 carats of the gemstone of choice as well as no less than 840 diamonds!</p>
<h3>3. The Most Expensive Watch</h3>
<p>The Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin marked its 250th anniversary in 2005 with the “Tour de l’Ile, Vacheron Constantin” which weighs in with a price tag of $1.5 mil USD.</p>
<p>A limited edition, only 7 were ever made, it’s complicated double face shows horological complications and astronomical indications composing a list of sixteen different points including a minute repeater, sunset time, perpetual calendar, second time zone, a tourbillon device, the equation of time and the representation of the night sky.</p>
<h3>4. The Most Expensive Chess Board</h3>
<p>The Royal Diamond Chess is an exsquisite chess board designed by Charles Hollander made in 14 carat white gold and set with an astounding 9900 black and white diamonds. It was crafted by 30 artisans who spent more than 4500 hours completing it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/most-expensive-chess.jpg"><img class="aligncenter" title="Expensive Chess" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/most-expensive-chess.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="433" /></a></p>
<p>Several more astounding pictures are available on the website (www.charleshollandercollection.com) and are worth checking out.</p>
<h3>5. The Most Expensive Domain Name</h3>
<p>Business.com was resold in 1999 for $7.5 million USD and had a place in the Guinness Book of World Records until it was dethroned on January 19, 2006. At that point the three letter domain Sex.com took its place when it sold to Boston based company Escom LLC for $12 million USD (other sources report it was as much as $16 million). The former owner stated that he wanted out of the adult entertainment business and as such decided to sell it.</p>
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		<title>The Developers and Programmers Passwords 101</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/the-developers-and-programmers-passwords-101</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/the-developers-and-programmers-passwords-101#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:09:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=1466</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;ve ever designed a user registration script, a membership site or any script that creates or stores user passwords, there are some practices which every good developer should be aware of. While most small scale applications are not in danger of being targeted by anyone with malicious intent (simply due to the fact that [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you&#8217;ve ever designed a user registration script, a membership site or any script that creates or stores user passwords, there are some practices which every good developer should be aware of. While most small scale applications are not in danger of being targeted by anyone with malicious intent (simply due to the fact that they don&#8217;t have enough user accounts to make a blip on the radar), there is a point in the life of any good script whereby it becomes large enough that people can and will target your password list and security will become an issue. By implementing a few simple measures and understanding how password security is compromised you can limit the possibility of your password list being compromised and minimize the potential damage caused.</p>
<h3>1. Hash &amp; Salt</h3>
<p>One of the most commonly committed cardinal sins of password storage is plain text- that is, storing passwords in plain text. This is frightfully common and I even remember one shocking instance of a fairly popular web application storing password and username combinations in a .txt file. Storing passwords in plain text is not only lazy, it&#8217;s a huge security risk. The most common method of storing usernames and passwords is within a MySQL table via PHP. This article explains <a title="Password Hashing" href="http://phpsec.org/articles/2005/password-hashing.html" target="_blank">the fundamentals of password hashing</a> in such a setup, how it works, why it works and how easy it is to implement.</p>
<p>But, in a nutshell, hashing is the process of performing a one way algorithm on a user-supplied password so you can store it as a value which is useless by itself. Any potential hacker would also need to know your local hashing algorithm before they stood even a chance of brute forcing their way in to that account. Furthermore, brute force and dictionary attacks can also overcome by the simple salting method whereby you generate a unique salt for each password locally and store this with the hashed password.</p>
<p>The article linked provides PHP code to hash, salt and store passwords in a secure manner and provides much more information than I could hope to.</p>
<h3>2. Passwords Will Be As Secure As You Require Them To Be</h3>
<p>People are like lightning; they take the path of least resistance. In the realm of passwords, this means people will magnetize towards the shortest and most easy to remember possibility. In short, what this means is that if you have no restriction on the number of characters or types of characters allowed in your passwords, you will end up with passwords like &#8216;abc&#8217;, &#8216;123&#8242;, &#8216;password&#8217; and &#8217;secret&#8217;. This is not an exaggeration for dramatic effect, people <span style="text-decoration: underline;">will</span> actually choose and use these types of passwords.</p>
<p>By enforcing some, if not all, of the restrictions below you can ensure the security of your password list will greatly increase:</p>
<p><strong>Minimum character length.</strong> Require at least 8 characters. It is generally accepted and confirmed that 8 characters is the minimum required to generate a secure password. You may be scared to enforce long passwords in the fear that people will simply not sign up, but this is a misguided fear. If someone wants to sign up for your site the password field requiring an extra 2 characters on top of their existing password is an unlikely deterrent.</p>
<p>Other password enforcement policies should include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Password must contain characters and numbers.</li>
<li>Password must contain uppercase and lowercase characters.</li>
<li>Password must contain at least 1 symbol (outwith a-Z 0-9).</li>
<li>Password must not be based on a dictionary word.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.passwordmeter.com/" target="_blank">The Password Meter</a> is an excellent resource to test the strength of a password while having a look at how it&#8217;s being analyzed. The script is free to download for use with your own applications. While there are pros and cons of making password strength a requirement, there is absolutely no reason not to show strength to the user in a system like this.</p>
<p>As a side note, never require passwords to be too strong. An 8 character password that someone remembers is much more secure than a 16 character password which has to be written down or saved on a desktop (and is therefor susceptible to being hijacked).</p>
<h3>3. Retrieval/Reset Mechanisms</h3>
<p>Password retrieval is part of password management which, in the field, commonly has vulnerabilities and programmer induced pitfalls. The most common mistake made, bar none, is to send out the users current password upon request. I.e. the user forgets password, clicks the &#8216;forgotten password&#8217; link and enters their email. The script sends out a copy of their password via email and they get access to their account again. The problem here lies in the fact that hashing is one way. If you store the users password as a hashed value there is no way to send out a plain text version.</p>
<p>Therefor, any site or service you are registered with which sends you a copy of your existing password upon request is <strong>not maintaining your password</strong> securely. This is a useful tip to know, especially if you are using the same password on more than one site.</p>
<p>Instead, when someone clicks &#8216;forgot password&#8217; and enters their email, the savvy programmer will have his script generate a new password, send it to the specified email, then store it in his database using <a href="http://www.seanbluestone.com/the-developers-and-programmers-passwords-101#hash">hash &amp; salt</a>. This means the user will need to take the extra step of changing their password to something memorable again, but vastly improves the security of your password system and keeps the user safe.</p>
<h3>4. Lockout Mechanism</h3>
<p>An importantly overlooked part of maintaining a secure password system is having a lockout mechanism. This is a system whereby someone can report their account as hijacked or compromised which, upon review, will be temporarily locked. This prevents compromised accounts being used for malicious purposes. For example if someone gets access to Mrs Bloggs account, logs in as her and sends a message to Mr Blogg asking for his email address password or bank account details so she can &#8220;make a payment to the Jones&#8217; next door&#8221; (better thought out rouges involving other personal info have been used successfully in the field). It&#8217;s uncommon, but it does happen and having a lockout mechanism limits damage caused and protects your users from each other.</p>
<p>An additional lockout mechanism which virtually negates the possibility of brute force attacks is password lockout. Include a simple script to count login attempts. If there are more than 3 failed login attempts, per minute for example, then lockout login attempts for that account for an hour. This makes it very unlikely for dictionary or brute force attacks to succeed and/or go unnoticed.</p>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="overflow: hidden; position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 271px; width: 1px; height: 1px;">Passwords are as secure as you require them to be.</div>
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		<item>
		<title>Bash.org Clone PHP Script for IRC Quotes</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/bash-org-clone-php-script-for-irc-quotes</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/bash-org-clone-php-script-for-irc-quotes#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:34:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[PHP]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=981</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Having had a few hours free last night and being part of a rather quirky IRC server I decided to code up a clone of Bash.org&#8217;s quote database system. My script replicates and clones bash.org almost entirely and has the following features:

Stores an almost infinite number of quotes or comments.
Allows users to rate comments up [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Having had a few hours free last night and being part of a rather quirky IRC server I decided to code up a clone of Bash.org&#8217;s quote database system. My script replicates and clones bash.org almost entirely and has the following features:</p>
<ul>
<li>Stores an almost infinite number of quotes or comments.</li>
<li>Allows users to rate comments up or down and has minimal duplicate voting protection.</li>
<li>Optional captcha system on &#8216;add a quote&#8217; page.</li>
<li>Search, Random, Browse &amp; Other Bash.org features.</li>
<li>Admin/moderation option to delete quotes.</li>
</ul>
<p>The script is also surprisingly simple and is all contained within one file. After running the SQL within that file you can drag and drop it into anywhere on your server and it will work immediately.</p>
<p>You can see a <a href="http://www.seanbluestone.com/bash.php">demo of it in action here</a> (be warned: this section of the site is NOT safe for work and contains offensive material).</p>
<p>You can <a href="http://www.seanbluestone.com/files/bashclone.rar">download the IRC quotes database script here</a>. To install simply run the SQL statements within the php file in MySQL, edit the settings and upload. It&#8217;s extremely simple to setup and use and you can customize the look, feel and layout all from the .php file.</p>
<p>If you use this script on your site please let me know and I&#8217;ll put up a link to you here or leave a comment with your URL. Feel free to remove the &#8216;powered by&#8217; but if you do, please consider <a href="http://www.seanbluestone.com/buy-sean-a-coffee">making a small donation</a> to make it worth my while.</p>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>PHP Jokes and Puns</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/php-jokes-and-puns</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/php-jokes-and-puns#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:58:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[PHP]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=962</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For no specific reason whatsoever, here are a collection of PHP Jokes and puns. Most of which are terrible.
Q: Why do PHP programmers dislike ASP programmers?
A: ASP programmers only write basic code.

Q: Why is PHP freddy krugers language of choice?
A: addslashes();
What did the PHP script say to the server?
Pass me a bottle of water, I&#8217;m [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For no specific reason whatsoever, here are a collection of PHP Jokes and puns. Most of which are terrible.</p>
<p>Q: Why do PHP programmers dislike ASP programmers?<br />
A: ASP programmers only write basic code.</p>
<p><?php</p>
<p>if($girl['looks'] == "hot"){<br />
if($beer == "cold"){<br />
$life = "Sorted!";<br />
}elseif(function_exists($girl_get_beer) == true){<br />
if(msg_send ($girl['job_que'], 1, 'Get me a beer out of the fridge!') === false){<br />
$life = "Get a new girl!";<br />
}<br />
}else{<br />
array_push($girl['functions'], 'get_beer');<br />
}<br />
}else{<br />
$life = "Get a new girl!";<br />
}<br />
echo $life;</p>
<p>?></p>
<p>Q: Why is PHP freddy krugers language of choice?<br />
A: addslashes();</p>
<p>What did the PHP script say to the server?<br />
Pass me a bottle of water, I&#8217;m parsed.</p>
<p><?php<br />
if(crack_check($woman, $dirty)) { ob_clean(); link("/home/me", "home/her"); }<br />
?></p>
<p>Yo mamma so easy, PHP developers confuse her with Ruby on Rails.<br />
Your momma so fat I called her and got a stack overflow.<br />
Your momma&#8217;s so fat, she needs preg_replace() just to make her fit in a page.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Selling Websites For a Living? Treble Your Income With This Rediculously Simple Business Plan</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/selling-websites-for-a-living-treble-your-income-with-this-rediculously-simple-business-plan</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/selling-websites-for-a-living-treble-your-income-with-this-rediculously-simple-business-plan#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:06:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Make Money Online]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=873</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the most common methods for making money online is in making and selling websites. Setting up a customized WordPress or static site is easy to do and costs almost nothing and selling it on after a few weeks of work is an excellent way to make some residual cash. However, there is an [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the most common methods for making money online is in making and selling websites. Setting up a customized WordPress or static site is easy to do and costs almost nothing and selling it on after a few weeks of work is an excellent way to make some residual cash. However, there is an equally easy method which takes exactly the same amount of time and effort to complete but is VASTLY more profitable. This article is a length look at a simple business model you can adopt immediately and start making three times as much income from making websites as everyone else does.</p>
<p>The basic overview and idea is to create a niche website with some content, build some incoming links and traffic flow just as you would with any regular site, then get in touch with and pitch to businesses offering different plans which they can rent and then use the influence and benefits of your site to help grow their existing business.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s take Massage as an example niche. First we spend a few weeks or a few months building a nice Massage site with WordPress or XSitePro or perhaps just HTML and PHP, however you create websites already, this method will slot in. Typically I will build a WordPress site, because it&#8217;s what I&#8217;m good at. So I install WordPress and style it with a nice Massage image header and add some colours that fit into this category. I&#8217;ll install all my standard plugins which help SEO, communication, link building and more. I&#8217;ll install a wordpress forum and create several massage related topics in there. All these steps take me a total of around 30 minutes to an hour.</p>
<p>I then find some common Massage questions people are asking in massage forums and on massage sites. I&#8217;ll use these questions to write 40 or 50 articles which people are genuinely interested in in this area and are searching for the answers to. Once I have close to 50 articles I use WordPress&#8217; built in future-scheduling feature to make it post one article every week, thus giving me a years worth of articles being posted to my site on autopilot. I can hire someone to write me 50 articles for around $200, depending on how important the quality is. If I&#8217;m short on cash I&#8217;ll write them myself in 3 or 4 days and gain the benefit of ensured high quality.</p>
<p>While my first few articles are publishing I&#8217;ll spend the first couple of weeks building incoming links for free from directories, forum signatures, commenting, article submission and Social Bookmarking. This takes a bit of time and effort but gets the site on the radar and usually to pagerank 3 for free. Next I&#8217;ll spend a few hundred dollars for some advanced SEO, buying links, a Yahoo! directory listing, some press releases and more.</p>
<p>In most circumstances I&#8217;ll spend a month and around $400 on the site and I&#8217;ll end up with a good massage site with pagerank 4 and a few hundred visitors per day. This is a pretty common strategy and at this stage most people would sell the site for shy of a thousand dollars and repeat the process. So next is the twist that earns me at least three times as much as everyone else.</p>
<p>I rent the site out. I spend a good chunk of my time getting in touch with massage businesses from around the world. These can be local massage parlors, a masseuse house in Germany, a site online that sells massage oils, or just about any business that is related to my niche. I tell them that I have an excellent and well positioned (in terms of SEO) website that revolves around their business and would be excellent at generating them leads, traffic or an advertising platform. Like most cold calling, I&#8217;ll get a response from around 10-20% of the people I contact and I&#8217;ll have to work pretty hard before someone will rent from me. But once they do I&#8217;m generating $50-$250 per month for virtually no extra work. If I can put together a PDF file as a report which details my growth details (in terms of traffic and SEO over the past month or two) and show examples of how I can use my site to generate them more business, they&#8217;ll be interested and buy in.</p>
<p>A good way to market this is offer different packages. Package A. at $50 per month offers them their own company logo or banner and a method for collecting customer details (a registration system you can export and give them contact details &#038; leads), Package B. is $100 per month and offers them the same with their company colours styling your site and various links pointing to their existing site. Package C. is $200 and allows them to edit the content of your site, put up their own info and company details, write up articles, etc.</p>
<p>One of the beauties of this model is that once you have the basics down pat and know what you&#8217;re doing you can duplicate it with a new niche within a few weeks and start making cash within a month. If one of your contacts decides they no longer want to rent your service (though typically once they start seeing the benefits this doesn&#8217;t happen) you can contact someone else and bump up your prices as your sites rankings and traffic increase.</p>
<p>Another very cool benefit is that while you&#8217;re setting up your site or while you&#8217;re transferring to a new client you can sell affiliate products, paste in your AdSense code or sell advertising space for some extra pocket change. If you run out of clients or get fed up with it, you can still earn cash.</p>
<p>Yet another awesome incentive for adopting this business model is that if at any time you need an extra cash boost you can sell a few of your sites. Since your sites will be earning you cash each month over a period of time they&#8217;ll grow as you add to them and build more incoming links. After a year you could have a majorly profitable website on your hands and since you have a huge list of business contacts in your niche you will have no shortage of businesses wanting to buy your website. Depending on how well you do you can easily earn $5,000 or more from selling a reasonably sized website.</p>
<p>The numerous side benefits and possibilities from this business model are truly staggering and at no stage will you be short of new ideas. Since you have the ability to kick your clients each month and offer it to new businesses for increasingly larger monthly sums you&#8217;ll soon have a very low maintenance, very high income, always growing business model with huge room for experimentation so you&#8217;ll never get bored.</p>
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		<title>20 Backmasked Songs &amp; A Few Others</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/20-backmasked-songs-a-few-others</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/20-backmasked-songs-a-few-others#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2009 09:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interesting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=173</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Backwards messages, known as Backmasking, in songs have been around since the Beatles (Tomorrow Never Knows is the first known song to contain a backwards message) and were at times surrounded by incredible media and public hysteria. In early 1982, the Praise the Lord Network’s Paul Crouch hosted a show William Yarroll, who argued that [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Backwards messages, known as Backmasking, in songs have been around since the Beatles (Tomorrow Never Knows is the first known song to contain a backwards message) and were at times surrounded by incredible media and public hysteria. In early 1982, the Praise the Lord Network’s Paul Crouch hosted a show William Yarroll, who argued that rock stars were cooperating with the Church of Satan to place hidden subliminal messages on records. Also in 1982, fundamentalist Christian pastor Gary Greenwald held public lectures on dangers of backmasking, along with at least one mass record-smashing. During the same year, thirty North Carolina teenagers, led by their pastor, claimed that singers had been possessed by Satan, who used their voices to create backward messages, and held a record-burning at their church.</p>
<p>Electric Light Orchestra singer and songwriter Jeff Lynne responded to allegations by calling this accusation (and the related charge of being “devil-worshippers”) “skcollob”.</p>
<p>Serial killer Richard Ramirez, on trial in 1988, stated that AC/DC’s music, and specifically the song “Night Prowler” on Highway to Hell, inspired him to commit murder. Reverse speech advocate David John Oates claimed that Highway to Hell, on the same album, contains backmasked messages including “I’m the law”, “my name is Lucifer”, and “she belongs in hell”. AC/DC’s Angus Young responded that “you didn’t need to play [the album] backwards, because we never hid [the messages]. We’d call an album Highway To Hell, there it was right in front of them.”</p>
<p>While the majority of famous backmasks have been imagined (a phenomena caused by the human brains need to explain everything, similar to how ink blot pictures work), there are several which have been acknowledged and confirmed by the artists who created them. Here are 20 of such backmasked messages.</p>
<p><strong>Evil Eye by Ash</strong><br />
Message: “She’s giving me the evil eye, suck Satan’s c*ck.”</p>
<p>Said at the beginning of the song. Lead singer Tim Wheeler remarked that “Yeah, we did hide a secret message in ‘Evil Eye’, but it’s not that bad…”</p>
<p><strong>Detour Through your Mind  by The B-52’s</strong><br />
Message: “I buried my parakeet in the backyard. Oh no, you’re playing the record backwards. Watch out, you might ruin your needle.”</p>
<p><strong>Rain by The Beatles</strong><br />
Message: “…the sun shines. Raaain. When the rain comes, they run and hide their heads”</p>
<p>Lennon stated that, while under the influence of marijuana, he accidentally played the tapes for “Rain” in reverse, and enjoyed the sound. The following day he shared the results with the other Beatles, and the effect was used first in the guitar solo for “Tomorrow Never Knows”, and later in the coda of “Rain”. Note that the last line is the reversed first verse of the song.</p>
<p><strong>Lift Your Head Up High (and blow your brains out) by The Bloodhound Gang</strong><br />
Message: “Devil child will wake up and eat Chef Boyardee Beefaroni”</p>
<p>Said in a deep, odd-sounding voice. Preceded by “I hope you take this the wrong way / And misinterpret what I say / Rewind and let me reverse it / Backwards like Judas Priest first did”</p>
<p><strong>Hate Yer State  byChoking Victim</strong><br />
Message: “You think you’re alive motherf*cker? You’re just the walking f*cking dead, you’re a f*cking sheep, stepping on my back to stay alive. West coast, East coast, you’re all just a bunch of f*cking fools, you and the rest of this greedy f*cking world. Kill yourself! So remember, stay in school, say no to drugs, oh yeah! Hail Satan! Good night boys and girls, pleasant dreams.”</p>
<p>Reversal of undecipherable gibberish at beginning of song.</p>
<p><strong>Rocket by Def Leppard</strong><br />
Message: “We are fighting with the gods of war”</p>
<p>A preview of another song, “Gods of War”, on the album Hysteria.</p>
<p><strong>Fire On High by Electric Light Orchestra</strong><br />
Message: “The music is reversible, but time… (violin note) is not. Turn back! Turn back! Turn back! Turn back!”</p>
<p>Electric Light Orchestra were taken to court over an alleged backmasking message on their 1974 album Eldorado. This was during the time when media hysteria surrounded backmasking and many bands were taken to court, often for nonsensicle reasons. In response Electric Light Orchestra included 2 backmasked messages in their next album Face The Music, the more coherent of which is above.</p>
<p><strong>Hot Poop by Frank Zappa</strong><br />
Message: “Better look around before you say you don’t care. Shut your f[censored]ing mouth about the length of my hair. How would you survive, If you were alive, Shitty little person?”</p>
<p>This profanity-laced verse, originally from the song “Mother People”, was censored by Verve Records, so Zappa edited the verse out, reversed it, and inserted it elsewhere in the album as “Hot Poop”.</p>
<p><strong>Michael by Franz Ferdinand</strong><br />
Message: “She’s worried about you, call your mother.”</p>
<p>Right before the second verse. A reference to bassist Bob Hardy’s homesickness during the recording of the album. The band “wanted to do the exact opposite [of Satanic backmasking], put the most positive thing we could think of as a backwards message.”</p>
<p><strong>Echo Side by Insane Clown Posse</strong><br />
Message: “Fuck the Devil! Fuck that shit! We believe in life legit. If you diggin’ what we say, why you throw your soul away?”</p>
<p><strong>Everybody Rise by Insane Clown Posse</strong><br />
Message: “Yeah, if you flip this message cuz you think there’s some secret message, there ain’t shit!”<br />
Reversal of gibberish at the end of the track. Said by Violent J.</p>
<p><strong>Boys in Black by L7</strong><br />
Message: “All beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Two all beef patties.”</p>
<p>The formula for a Big Mac.</p>
<p><strong>Nightmare/The Dreamtime by Motorhead</strong><br />
Message: “Now tell me, about your miserable little lives. I do not subscribe to your superstitious, narrow minded flights[incoherent] of paranoia. I and people like me, will always prevail! You will never stifle our free speech in any country in the world, ‘coz we will fight forever[incoherent].” “In a single stroke, you poor, stupid, running dogs. Why is it…”</p>
<p>Throughout various sections of the song. Reputedly a message to the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). The PMRC claimed that popular music, and especially rock and heavy metal music, was partially responsible for the contemporary increase in rape, teenage pregnancy, and teen suicide. The PMRC also advocated against supposed subliminal backmasking in records, and accused bands including Led Zeppelin, Rush, Pink Floyd and Queen of backmasking to promote Satanism and drug use.</p>
<p><strong>Bloodbath In Paradise by Ozzy Osbourne</strong><br />
Message: “Your mother sells whelks in Hull”</p>
<p>A parody of the most famous line from The Exorcist, in which the possessed child screams “Your mother sucks c*cks in hell.”</p>
<p><strong>Empty Spaces by Pink Floyd</strong><br />
Message: “Dear Punter. Congratulations. You’ve just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the funny farm, Chalfont.” (voice in background) “Roger! Carolyne is on the phone!”</p>
<p><strong>Coup d’Etat by Plasmatics</strong><br />
Message: “The brainwashed do not know they are being brainwashed”</p>
<p>After the Song “The Damned” (at the end of the album).</p>
<p><strong>Perfect Sense by Roger Waters</strong><br />
Message: “Julia, however, in the light and visions of the issues of Stanley, we changed our mind. We have decided to include a backward message. Stanley, for you, and for all the other book partners.”</p>
<p>Waters deliberately recorded a backward message critical of film director Stanley Kubrick, who had refused to let Waters sample breathing sounds from 2001: A Space Odyssey.</p>
<p><strong>665 by Soundgarden</strong><br />
Message: “Hail Santa. Santa, I love you baby. My Christmas king. Santa, you’re my king. I love you, Santa baby. Got what I need.”</p>
<p>Throughout the song. Obviously parodies the claimed Satanic messages.</p>
<p><strong>Which Describes How You’re Feeling (Demo ) &#8211; They Might Be Giants</strong><br />
Message: “They Might Be Giants wanted to include a verse about the suffering people of the world, but we couldn’t figure out where to put it into this song.”</p>
<p><strong>Towards Destiny by Tiger Army</strong><br />
Message: “Tiger Army Never Die, Tiger Army Never Die, Tiger Army Never Die. As the last tiger dies, the Ghost Tigers rise. Heed the call of the werecat Transylvania. We fight on the side of fate. Toward destiny, we ascend to it forever. Hail Satan.”</p>
<p>After the first verse, at around 0:36. Never Die was a song on the band’s first LP, and “Tiger Army Never Die” has since become the band’s motto. The title of Tiger Army’s third release, III: Ghost Tigers Rise was taken from this message as well.</p>
<h3>Other instances of backmasking</h3>
<p>In the computer game Doom II, a garbled message played at the start of Map 30, spoken by the “Icon of Sin”, can be played backwards to hear “To win the game, you must kill me, John Romero.” Romero was a programmer for the game; he put the backwards message (with distortions) in to get back at the artists who put the image of his head on the final level.</p>
<p>Blizzard Entertainment has released two games with known hidden audio messages. In Diablo, the message “Eat your vegetables and brush after every meal” is heard as the player enters the 16th level. In Warcraft III, clicking on the Demon Hunter hero a number of times produces the backwards message “I love green trees”, which sounds (forwards) like “siege niege avalya.”</p>
<p>In once scene of Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Beavis and Butt-Head hallucinate, and voices are heard in the background. The voices are the two characters speaking phrases such as “Everybody go to college, study hard, study hard.”</p>
<p>The Red Dwarf episode “Backwards” includes various backwards messages, including “Oi! Hey! Oi, you robbing bastards, that’s our tandem!” and “I’m addressing the one prat in the country who’s bothered to get hold of this recording, turn it round, and actually work out the rubbish that I’m saying. What a poor, sad life he’s got!” The episode revolves around a return to an Earth where time is running backwards, so most of the dialogue in the show is backward. Most of the backward messages in this episode agree with the subtitled captions explaining them, with a few exceptions.</p>
<p>At one point of the Spongebob Squarepants episode “Opposite Day”, Spongebob and Patrick were talking backwards. When played normally it is gibberish but when it is played in reverse it has a hidden message. The conversation played normally:</p>
<p>Spongebob: Kcirtap yeh.<br />
Patrick: Pu evig I.<br />
Spongebob: Edis etisoppo eht ot teg ot.</p>
<p>The conversation played in reverse:</p>
<p>Spongebob: To get to the opposite side.<br />
Patrick: I give up.<br />
Spongebob: Hey Patrick.</p>
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		<title>5 Most Violent Video Games</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/5-most-violent-video-games</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/5-most-violent-video-games#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:29:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interesting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=92</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[5. Mortal Kombat
The one that started it all. While it may seem pixelated and dated now, it was undoubtedly the most violent video game of its time. Spawning a huge fanbase, a movie, and a plethora of sequels, most of us have probably played Mortal Kombat in at least one form of another.
Who can forget [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>5. Mortal Kombat</strong></p>
<p>The one that started it all. While it may seem pixelated and dated now, it was undoubtedly the most violent video game of its time. Spawning a huge fanbase, a movie, and a plethora of sequels, most of us have probably played Mortal Kombat in at least one form of another.</p>
<p>Who can forget pulling in a victim with Scorpions snapping beak; “Get over here!” while following it up with a gruesome uppercut. The game used real life actors and mapped their faces onto sprites, creating a pretty strange yet realistic effect which made it all the more awesome when Sub Zero ripped someones head off, leaving their spine dangling below. Fatality!</p>
<p><img class="alignright" title="Carmageddon" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/games/violent-carmageddon.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="247" /></p>
<p>Originally released in 1997, this is an oldie but goldie. It’s still a thoroughly enjoyable game and was a breakthrough in its time with video scenes from inside the car and real world physics.<br />
Think Mad Max on steroids and you’ll start to get a feel for Carmageddon which is set in a post apocalyptic world where the car rules. The idea is to race against a handful of other modified death cars through various levels, including deserts, industrial areas and populated cities, all to the tune of Fear Factories Demanufacture album (hell yes!). However, if you don’t feel like racing you can hunt down and destroy your enemies one by one until you’re the only survivor. Amongst all this, not only can you run over pedestrians, but you’re actively encouraged to do so, gaining extra time and credits for combo bonuses and “artist impressions” (which you get by utterly mangling bodies).</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Carmageddon" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/games/violent-carmageddon2.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="338" /></p>
<p>Carmageddon caused media scandal when it first launched and in most countries a “safe” version was released with zombies, robots or aliens instead of people. In some countries the game was banned completely. None of this stops it from being an absolute classic and the first go-anywhere 3D driving game which spawned 2 successful sequels.</p>
<p><img class="alignright" title="Thrill Kill" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/games/violent-thrill-kill.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="240" /><strong>3. Thrill Kill</strong></p>
<p>Originally called S &amp; M for Slaughter and Mutilation, Thrill Kill for PlayStation was never released, it was axed 2 weeks before it was due to go out. EA said that they didn’t want to “publish such a senselessly violent game” and stated it was so offensive that they wouldn’t sell the game to another publisher either. Fortunately for us former employees of EA released it onto the internet which are still available. The pirated version was the one and only reason I bought a PlayStation.</p>
<p>Incredibly simple, Thrill Kill consisted of only a single room where up to 4 opponents fight to the death. The usual life bar is replaced with a kill meter, which grows as you do more damage to your opponent, eventually you’re able to activate Thrill Kills which were always awesomely brutal, sometimes sexual, moves like dismemberment, mutilation, cattle prods down the throat or crushing skulls with stilts. Oh yes. One of Cleetus’ lethal finishing moves was to tear the head off his opponent and drink the blood that leaked out of his victim’s severed neck.The story goes that the 8 characters all led devious lives and died in various ways, have gone to hell. A modern day hell which reflects todays real life. Marukka, the God of Secrets has pitted them against each other, promising to give rebirth to the one survivor. Each character is battling for self-preservation and the hope to be born again.</p>
<p><img class="alignright" title="Thrill Kill" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/games/violent-thrill-kill2.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="240" />Cleetus is a redneck cannibal. The only victim that he didn’t eat escaped minus a leg, which Cleetus carries around for good luck (and occasionally uses as a weapon).</p>
<p>Dr. Faustus, a master surgeon, died from an infection after installing his stainless steel jaws, made from a bear trap.</p>
<p>Oddball was a top FBI agent who hunted down serial killers. He began to admire them and slowly slipped into insanity. Oddball is extremely intelligent, cunning, and without remorse. Pity, sympathy, and compassion have no meaning to him. Although his arms are bound in his cozy little straight jacket, he has learned to adapt, as any good predator should.</p>
<p><strong>2. Postal 2</strong></p>
<p>One feature in Postal 2 is the ability to pick up cats as an inventory item. When used, the player shoves the barrel of the currently equipped firearm into the cat’s anus, as a ’silencer’. Every time a shot is fired, the cat meows in apparent agony, and the gunshot is muffled. After several shots the cat will be killed and will fly from the end of the weapon.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Postal 2" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/games/violent-postal2.jpg" alt="" width="368" height="276" /></p>
<p>Any game where you can use a cat as a silencer has to be worth a mention. Highly violent, both Postal and Postal 2 met with much protest from various activist groups. However, the Running With Scissors software company who created the series responded by saying that the amount of violence in the game is entirely dependent upon the player. In fact, it’s actually possible (though very difficult) to complete the entire game without harming anyone.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Postal 2" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/games/violent-postal2-2.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="338" /></p>
<p>The game is split from Monday to Friday and the tasks are simple things on a to-do list like ‘Cash Paycheck’, ‘Confess sins’, ‘Get milk’, etc. To accomplish these seemingly simple tasks, the player can chose to be peaceful or utterly, all out violent with unique gameplay changes for each choice.Some violent features include the ability to decapitate people with shovels, and then kick their heads around or play fetch with a dog, cops who beat innocent NPCs to death with batons, even if the NPC surrenders and begs for mercy and setting fire to people with gasoline, matches, napalm and moltov cocktails.Not content with just being violent, Postal 2 is also pretty disgusting. You have the ability to urinate on people, causing them to vomit in disgust. You can also urinate on food items which are then eaten and regurgitated by cops. Using an Antrhax-filled cow’s head as a weapon causes victims to vomit blood. Oh and you can also stun gun people til they cower in fear and urinate themselves..Featuring ATF, SWAT, the National Guard, psycho butchers, religious cults, the Taliban and Gary Coleman, Postal 2 has earned itself a violent and revolting reputation and is illegal in at least 3 countries.</p>
<p><strong>1. Manhunt</strong></p>
<p>Quite possibly the most violent game in the list, Manhunt revolves around James Earl Cash who has been sentenced to death by lethal injection. His injection is replaced with a sedative and Cash is abducted by a wealthy Hollywood director. The director has a thing for Snuff flicks and sets up Cash as his latest star, butchering local gangs on film in the most violent and horrific ways possible.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Manhunt" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/games/violent-manhunt.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="338" /></p>
<p>The director communicates with Cash via an earpiece and security cameras record his murders. For extra points the player must carry out more gruesome kills. These range from suffocation by plastic bag, decapitation, jamming a crowbar in the enemys skull, etc.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Manhunt" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/games/violent-manhunt2.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="338" /></p>
<p>Manhunt was banned outright in several countries when it was launched and later in the UK the game was linked to an actual murder case of a 14 year old, Stefan Pakeerah by a 17 year old, Warren Leblanc. Stefans mother claimed that Leblanc had been obsessed with Manhunt after he pleaded guilty in court and as such most vendors in the UK removed Manhunt from their stocks. This led to a significant increased demand from other retailers and internet auction sites. Police denied any link, but it still strikes a chilling cord. Especially when you consider that Leblanc murdered his friend by stabbing him with a claw hammer, identical to an execution shown in Manhunt.</p>
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		<title>How to Integrate WordPress with Forums: IPB, SMF, vBulletin, phpBB &amp; Vanilla</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/how-to-integrate-wordpress-with-forums-ipb-smf-vbulletin-phpbb-vanilla</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/how-to-integrate-wordpress-with-forums-ipb-smf-vbulletin-phpbb-vanilla#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:59:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=208</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Invision and WordPress
Invision has decreased in popularity in recent years, but is still one of the big contendors. Meshing it with WordPress is pretty simple and the best option I could find was InvisionBridge Wordpress-IPB Bridge (http://forums.invisionize.com/lofiversion/index.php/t125596.html) which combines the login system for each and also offers some extra options in the paid version (which [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>Invision and WordPress</h3>
<p>Invision has decreased in popularity in recent years, but is still one of the big contendors. Meshing it with WordPress is pretty simple and the best option I could find was InvisionBridge Wordpress-IPB Bridge (<a title="WordPress IPB Bridge" href="http://forums.invisionize.com/lofiversion/index.php/t125596.html">http://forums.invisionize.com/lofiversion/index.php/t125596.html</a>) which combines the login system for each and also offers some extra options in the paid version (which is $30), including posting topics and comments on WP as threads and replies in IPB and vice versa, avatars and PM integration and a few others.</p>
<h3>Integrate SMF and WordPress</h3>
<p>SMF is fast growing in popularity and is a personal favorite of mine. It&#8217;s fast, reliable and does everything that phpBB does but better. It also lends itself to other software very well and so hooking it up with WordPress is a sinch.</p>
<p>All you need to do is download the WordPress SMF Bridge plugin (available from <a title="WordPress SMF Bridge" href="http://www.earthorbit.com/opensource">http://www.earthorbit.com/opensource</a>). It installs like any other plugin and means that when users sign into your forums they&#8217;ll also sign into WordPress and vice versa. You can also set it to post treads on SMF as topics on WordPress, display your SMF stats and a few other things.</p>
<p>Alternatively you can try the original upon which the above version was based at <a href="http://www.dmry.net/wordpress-smf-bridge-plugin-10/">http://www.dmry.net/wordpress-smf-bridge-plugin-10/</a></p>
<h3>Integrate vBulletin and WordPress</h3>
<p>vBulletin is one of the more professional forum software packages and while phpBB is usually seen on sites which get 5 visitors per day, 4 of which are the web-masters friends and family, vBulletin is seen more on serious sites where SEO and design matter.</p>
<p>Since vBulletin costs money to buy and use, it has an excellent team behind it and support and great functionality. To bridge vBulletin with WordPress is an extremely simple process and can be done by downloading this vBulletin plugin (Complete Wordpress/Vbulletin Bridge &#8211; Share Users And Postings &#8211; <a title="Complete WordPress vBulletin Bridge" href="http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=134521">http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=134521</a>) and following the instructions.</p>
<h3>Integrate WordPress with phpBB</h3>
<p>phpBB is the big daddy, the long standing heavyweight of the forum packages. This is mainly due to the fact that it was the first major open source forum solution and was free from the get go. phpBB has more plugins, mods and extensions than just about any other piece of software, and so integrating it with WordPress is again, pretty straight forward.</p>
<p>The best options I could find are WP-PHPBB Wordpress plugin (<a title="WP-phpBB" href="http://www.avalon5.com/wordpress/themes-plugins/wp-phpbb-wordpress-plugin/">http://www.avalon5.com/wordpress/themes-plugins/wp-phpbb-wordpress-plugin/</a>) which installs just like any other WordPress plugin and works well. The only requirement is that your WordPress and phpBB installations are using the same database, though if you&#8217;re handly with PHP you could probably get around this.</p>
<p>Alternatively there&#8217;s the more up to date WP-United (<a title="WP-United" href="http://www.wp-united.com">http://www.wp-united.com</a>) which has a bigger ranger of options and attributes including login integration, giving blogs to your forum members, easy setup, theme integration and more. For all the forums, this is the best package I&#8217;ve seen out there and both the forum system and plugin are absolutely free.</p>
<p>While some of these options may take a little playing around with before they&#8217;re functional, most work out of the box. One problem though is that when you update WordPress to a new version, you may be left with forums that don&#8217;t work or don&#8217;t integrate. If this is a problem for you I recommend checking out <a title="Top 4 WordPress Forums Plugins" href="http://www.seanbluestone.com/uncategorized/top-4-wordpress-forums-plugins">The Top 4 WordPress Forums Plugins</a></p>
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		<title>7 Biggest Living Things On Earth</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/7-biggest-living-things-on-earth</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/7-biggest-living-things-on-earth#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:03:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interesting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=114</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What’s the biggest living thing on Earth? Some might say the Elephant, though the Giraffe is taller. Others will contest that it’s the Blue Whale. The smarter of you, with a smug, content look on your faces, might even suggest that the biggest living thing on Earth is, of course, the Great Barrier Reef. Well [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What’s the biggest living thing on Earth? Some might say the Elephant, though the Giraffe is taller. Others will contest that it’s the Blue Whale. The smarter of you, with a smug, content look on your faces, might even suggest that the biggest living thing on Earth is, of course, the Great Barrier Reef. Well you’re all wrong! The term “biggest living thing” is a bit ambiguous since you can measure by tallest, heaviest, longest or by taking up the most area. None-the-less I think I’ve narrowed down the top 7 contenders. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest living things on Earth, which are utterly monstrous by comparison.</p>
<h3>1. African Elephant</h3>
<p><strong>Record: Heaviest living land animal.<br />
10.6 metres (35 ft) and 12 tonnes.</strong></p>
<p>The African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana), of the order Proboscidea, is the largest living land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 100 kg (225 pounds). The largest elephant ever recorded was a male, shot in Angola in 1974. He weighed 12,272 kg or 13.5 tons (27,000 lb), with an overall length (trunk to tail) of 10.6 m (35 ft) and a shoulder height of 4.2 m (13.7 ft).</p>
<p><img class="alignright" title="Blue Whale" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/animals/biggest-living-things-blue-whale.jpg" alt="" width="357" height="85" /></p>
<h3>2. The Blue Whale</h3>
<p><strong>Record: Heaviest living animal.<br />
33 metres (110 ft) and 181 tonnes.</strong></p>
<p>The Blue Whale is currently the largest living animal by length and weight. It has been recorded to be as long as 33 metres (110 ft) and weigh as much as 181 tonnes. Hunting has made the Blue Whale almost extinct and in 2002 there were estimated to be between 5,000 and 12,000 left.</p>
<h3>3. Amphicoelias</h3>
<p><strong>Record: Tallest, Longest and Heaviest animal to have lived.<br />
40-60 metres (131-196 ft) and 122 tonnes.</strong></p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Amphicoelias" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/animals/biggest-living-things-amphicoelias-scale.png" alt="" width="450" height="90" /></p>
<p>Amphicoelias was a herbivorous dinosaur which is thought to have grown up to 40-60 metres (131-196 ft) in length, and weigh up to 122 tonnes. As such it would have been both longer and heavier than the blue whale as well as being the biggest dinosaur to have lived. Controversy surrounds this creature however, since only one fossil was ever found, and it was lost shortly after its discovery in the 1870’s. The field notes and drawings still exist. Other large dinosaurs include the estimated 45m long Seismosaurus, the 44m long Bruhathkayosaurus and the incredibly tall 18m high Sauroposeidon who would’ve easily been able to poke its head into the 4th or 5th story window of a building.</p>
<h3>4. Bootlace worm</h3>
<p><strong>Record: Longest living animal.<br />
55 metres (180 ft).</strong></p>
<p>The bootlace worm currently holds the record as the longest living animal and is found along the coasts of Britain. A specimen washed ashore in the aftermath of a severe storm near St Andrews, Scotland in 1864, and had a length of more than 55 metres (180 ft).</p>
<h3>5. Great Barrier Reef</h3>
<p><strong>Record: Largest superorganism (an organism made up of micro-organisms).<br />
Covers 2,600 km.</strong></p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Great Barrier Reef" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/animals/biggest-living-things-great-barrier-reef.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="387" /></p>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the world’s largest coral reef system, composed of roughly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 kilometres (1,616 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (132,974 sq mi). The CRC Reef Research Centre estimates the age of the present, living reef structure at 6,000 to 8,000 years old. The reefs cannot be considered a living organism, since it is built by billions of tiny organisms known as coral polyps.</p>
<h3>6. Armillaria ostoyae</h3>
<p><strong>Record: Largest living thing by area.<br />
Covers 8.9 sq. km.</strong></p>
<p>Armillaria ostoyae is a fungus commonly known as a Honey mushroom, and sometimes called Shoestring Rot. It attacks trees and is able to travel great distances under the bark or between trees in the form of black “shoestrings”.</p>
<p>One specimen, discovered in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon, U.S. was found to be the largest fungal colony in the world, spanning 8.9 km² (2200 acres) of area. This organism is estimated to be 2400 years old.</p>
<p>While an accurate estimate has not been made, the total mass of the colony may be as much as 605 tons. If this colony is considered a single organism, then it is the largest known organism in the world by area.</p>
<h3>7. Pando, The Aspen Colony</h3>
<p><strong>Record: Heaviest &amp; Oldest living organism.<br />
Covers 4.3 sq km and weighs approx 6,000 tonnes.</strong></p>
<p>The Aspen is a part of the willow family and may not seem very impressive at only 15-25 metres tall, but when you consider that all species of Aspens grow in large colonies derived from a single seedling they start to get a whole lot more interesting. They spread by means of root suckers and new stems (the Aspen itself) grows around 40 metres from the first, or parent tree. This enables the Aspen colony to survive forest fires, since the root system is buried underground below the heat source.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Pando The Aspen Colony" src="http://www.seanbluestone.com/images/animals/biggest-living-things-pando.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="300" /></p>
<p>While each tree lives around 40 to 150 years above ground, the root system of the colony sends up new stems as older ones die out, as such the Aspen colony is extremely long lived, often thousands of years. One colony in Utah, nicknamed Pando the Trembling Giant, is claimed to be 80,000 years old. This amazing fact makes it the oldest known living organism.</p>
<p>Pando was discovered in 1992 and is estimated to be 6,000 tonnes which would also make it the heaviest known living organism. Pando encompasses 43 hectares (that’s 107 acres or 430,000 square metres) and has roughly 47,000 stems. Pando is latin for “I spread”.</p>
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		<title>The Speed of 23 Things in Descending Order</title>
		<link>http://www.seanbluestone.com/the-speed-of-23-things-in-descending-order</link>
		<comments>http://www.seanbluestone.com/the-speed-of-23-things-in-descending-order#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:50:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sean</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interesting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.seanbluestone.com/?p=154</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


Speed
Note


670,616,629 mph or 1,079,252,848 km/h
The speed of light (in a vacuum).


2,188 mph or 3,529.56 km/h
Air speed record set by SR-71 “Blackbird”


1041 mph or 1675 km/h
The rotational speed of Earth.


769 mph or 1238 km/h
The speed of sound (through air).


763 mph or 1228 km/h
Land speed record in jet car, averaged over 1 mile.


363 mph or 581 km/h
Fastest [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Speed</th>
<th>Note</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>670,616,629 mph or 1,079,252,848 km/h</td>
<td>The speed of light (in a vacuum).</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2,188 mph or 3,529.56 km/h</td>
<td>Air speed record set by SR-71 “Blackbird”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1041 mph or 1675 km/h</td>
<td>The rotational speed of Earth.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>769 mph or 1238 km/h</td>
<td>The speed of sound (through air).</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>763 mph or 1228 km/h</td>
<td>Land speed record in jet car, averaged over 1 mile.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>363 mph or 581 km/h</td>
<td>Fastest Maglev train (Japan)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>357 mph or 574 km/h</td>
<td>Fastest conventional train (France)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>200 mph or 320 km/h</td>
<td>Fastest bird. The Peregrin Falcon which eats other birds and needs to be faster to hunt them. 200 mph is an approximate speed.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>70mph</td>
<td>Fastest land animal- The Cheetah.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>68 mph</td>
<td>Fastest aquatic animal- The Sailfish.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>60mph</td>
<td>Fastest running speed on 2 legs- Ostrich.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>45 mph</td>
<td>Fastest dog- The Greyhound</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>27.89 mph</td>
<td>Fastest human (during a sprint)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>21mph</td>
<td>Fastest reptile- Spiny-tailed Iguana</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3 mph 5km/h</td>
<td>Average walking speed of a human</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5 mph</td>
<td>Fastest insect tiger beetle</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>0.17 mph or 0.27 kmh</td>
<td>Average speed of the Giant Tortoise</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>0.03 mph or 0.48 kmh</td>
<td>Garden Snail</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>0.01 mph or 0.016 kmh</td>
<td>Seahorse</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3.81 cm or 1.5 inches per hour</td>
<td>Fastest growing plant- Bamboo. That’s 91.44 cm or just over 3 feet per day!</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>15 cm or 5.9 inches per year</td>
<td>Speed of hair growth. Roughly 1.25 centimeters or 0.5<br />
inches per month. With age the speed of hairgrowth might slow down to as little as 0.25 cm<br />
or 0.1 inch a month.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2.3 cm (or 0.9 inches) per year</td>
<td>Speed of fingernail growth (on average in adults) about 0.02 inches a week (or almost half a millimetre).</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1.9cm or 0.75 inches per year</td>
<td>Speed of continental drift.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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