Archive for the ‘crime’ Category

Another Industrial Book Piracy Site

Monday, April 6th, 2020

It looks like we have another massive book piracy site, https://full-english-books.net.

Here’s the WhoIs information:

Domain Name: FULL-ENGLISH-BOOKS.NET
Registry Domain ID: 2298584626_DOMAIN_NET-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.namesilo.com
Registrar URL: http://www.namesilo.com
Updated Date: 2019-06-10T04:26:19Z
Creation Date: 2018-08-17T17:40:19Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2021-08-17T17:40:19Z
Registrar: NameSilo, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 1479
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@namesilo.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4805240066
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Name Server: ARNOLD.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
Name Server: ZITA.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned

Among the writers they appear to have ripped off are:

  • Neil Gaiman
  • William Gibson
  • Joe Haldeman
  • Elizabeth Hand
  • Stephen Jones
  • Stephen King
  • Joe R. Lansdale
  • George R. R. Martin
  • J. K. Rowling
  • Charles Stross
  • Bruce Sterling
  • Lisa Tuttle
  • Among many, many others.

    I’m no longer a member of SFWA, but those who are may want to pass this on to the legal committee…

    Lyle Steed Jeffs Wanted by the FBI

    Thursday, January 19th, 2017

    This is not exactly breaking news, but I stumbled across it looking for something else, and it ties into previous posts on Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints head Warren Jeffs.

    Last year, his son, Lyle Steed Jeffs, skipped town before trial for food stamp fraud. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for him.

    So if you see this guy around:

    Contacting the FBI would be very much worth your time.

    Today’s WTF Crime: Attempted Murder for Slenderman

    Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014

    From the annals of inexplicable crimes, here’s news that two 12-year old girls tried to murder a friend as a sacrifice for Slenderman.

    You know, the entirely made-up CreepyPasta horror character.

    It’s bad enough to be offered up as a human sacrifice to a real dark god, much less an Internet meme. It’s like a deranged bassist attempting to murder Harry Shearer so he can take Derek Smalls’ place in Spinal Tap…

    (First video yanked, replacement inserted.)

    A Random Collection of Post-Dinner Links

    Monday, May 26th, 2014

    After dinner Saturday night, we finally watched the typeface geek movie Helvetica.

    Chances are pretty good that if Helvetica is the type of movie you enjoy seeing, you’ve already seen it. But if not, and you’re interested in fonts, it is indeed worth watching.

    A few random topics that came up during conversation at dinner and during the movie:

  • A primer on bad logo design in comic form. “Nazi Jim’s Panzerotti” cracks me up every time… (NSFW language.)
  • Crazy LARP-er high on acid attacks car with a sword. Quick thoughts: 1. Sadly, the article doesn’t specify just what type of sword was used. 2. The linked interview is pretty much a checklist of everything a defense attorney would tell you not to say when you’ve been arrested for a potential felony. 3. Silly high elf! You can’t possibly joust with Morgoth, since he’s still safely imprisoned beyond the Door of Night…
  • Once Patrick McGoohan (of The Prisoner fame) directed a movie called Catch My Soul, described as a hippie rock opera version of Othello starring Richie Havens in the title roll. It already sounded like an epic train wreck, but between completion and release, the producer got religion and added 18 minutes worth of religious material before release. It was not well received, and a version called Santa Fe Satan was also re-released to zero acclaim. For a while it was thought to be a lost film, but recently a copy showed up (under the Santa Fe Satan title) and evidently screened at a North Carolina film festival in April.
  • Want an example of something even I find thermonuclear-grade cute? Pet rats hugging tiny teddy bears. I’m even willing to extract the word “adorable” from its lead-lined vault for these…

  • Not quite in the same league, but still weapons-grade cute:

    (I saw it on Gail Carriger’s Facebook feed; not sure of the original source.)

  • Reality TV Show Ideas: Daddy Was A Serial Killer Division

    Thursday, May 15th, 2014

    Someone needs to do a reality TV show featuring all the people claiming their father was the Zodiac killer living together in the same house. It would be like The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, except, you know, sleazy.

    For the season finale they could battle the people who claim their fathers were the Black Dahlia killer in some sort of trash sports obstacle course…

    Trailer for Cold in July

    Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

    Here’s the official trailer for Cold in July, the film based on the Joe R. Lansdale novel starring Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnston.

    I hear Joe himself is pleased with it, and his daughter Kasey has a song on the soundtrack.

    Pretty promising.

    PSA: “Citizens Commission on Human Rights” is Scientology

    Monday, February 3rd, 2014

    I recently got a packet on my doorstop that included a small square flyer that read “If you or someone you love has been damaged by psychiatric treatment…Please call the CITIZENS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS”. Plus a number to call.

    For the edification of those who received such a flyer and who were previously unaware of “Citizens Commission on Human Rights,” you should know that they are a font group for the Church of Scientology.

    Personally I think most psychiatric theory (as opposed to neurochemistry) is little better than pseudoscience, but if you have been damaged by psychiatric treatment, you’d probably be a lot better off contacting the state Attorney General than inviting Scientology into your lives…

    Woman Stabs Roommate for Listening To The Eagles

    Wednesday, September 18th, 2013

    It takes a certain kind of fool to act like a desperado and stab a roommate for listening to The Eagles. She just said “I don’t want to hear any more” and went all stabby.

    They’d been roommates and lovers before, so it’s not like he was the new kid in town. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had threatened to do it one of these nights before, but no, he had to take it to the limit. Stabbing him was probably the last resort, and now he’s suffering a heartache tonight, spending a lot of wasted time as a victim of love.

    That’s life in the fast lane for you.

    (Hat tip: Bill Crider.)

    Brief Follow-Up to the “Lori Ruff” Mystery

    Saturday, June 29th, 2013

    The Seattle Times has various documents up about her life, to see if anyone out there can figure out who she actually was.

    (Previously.)

    Nowhere Woman

    Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

    Here’s the fascinating mystery behind Lori Ruff’s life. For starters, Lori Ruff wasn’t Lori Ruff: she had changed her name from Becky Sue Turner.

    The problem is, she wasn’t Becky Sue Turner either, since the real Becky Sue died in 1971.

    Her story “traces a path through California and Nevada, Idaho and Arizona and finally Texas.”

    As of now, they still don’t know her real name.