February 2012
January 2012
15 Fraud and Investigation Blogs You Need to... →
If you’re not a voracious reader of blogs, you’re not only missing out on funny cat videos and rumoured deaths (did you hear that Jon Bon Jovi died a few weeks ago?), but also, some…
Down and Out →
Three robbers, Babylas, Hilary, and Sosthenes, are stealing a treasure chest from the top of an old tower. Unfortunately, they’ve had to destroy their ladder to avoid pursuit, so they’ll…
Black and White →
By Alain White. White to mate in two moves.
Click for solution …
China seeks to combat hi-tech crimewave →
December 2011
Cold Shoulder →
In 1944 a children’s book club sent a volume about penguins to a 10-year-old girl, enclosing a card seeking her opinion.
She wrote, “This book gives me more information about penguins than…
Court Revives NSA Dragnet Surveillance Case →
In a Word →
apricity
n. the warmth of the sun in winter
“A strange and lovely word.” — Ammon Shea, Reading the OED, 2009
Odd technology job interview questions revealed →
Two Simple Ways to Protect Your Email →
After an 11-month FBI probe dubbed “Operation Hackerazzi,” a Florida man was indicted for accessing the email accounts of more than 50 celebrities. The hacker reportedly used public…
Coming Through →
As railroads were claiming the American West in the 1880s, they ran into a problem — stray cattle and horses kept wandering onto the tracks. What to do?
In 1883 La Fayette Willson Page of Tennessee…
Using and Managing Subcontract Private... →
There will be a time in your investigative career that you will need to hire another private investigator to help you with an assignment; he or she may work along side of you or may be…
Late →
Alexander Woollcott asked that his ashes be scattered at his alma mater, Hamilton College in Utica, N.Y.
Somehow they were misdirected to Colgate University, and they arrived at Hamilton…
InformationWeek: Top 10 government IT flops of... →
Black and White →
By Sam Loyd. White to mate in two moves.
Click for solution …
High Places →
An admirer once asked Winston Churchill, “Doesn’t it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech the hall is packed to overflowing?”
Churchill replied, “It is quite flattering,…
The Top Ten: 2011′s Most Popular Posts From... →
We have rounded up the most popular posts of 2011 so you can catch up on anything you missed from the past year. We didn’t quite get the 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) videos…
Chinese hackers infiltrated U.S. Chamber of... →
The World’s Littlest Skyscraper →
During the oil boom of 1919, Wichita Falls, Texas, was desperate for office space, so investors jumped at developer J.D. McMahon’s offer to build a 480″ highrise downtown.
When the…
Marines' robot cargo-copter takes flight in... →
Growing Pains →
A problem from the Soviet Mathematical Olympiad:
Two hundred students are arranged in 10 rows of 20 children. The shortest student in each column is identified, and the tallest of these is marked…
Some Mirror Puzzles →
Hold a match horizontally before a mirror. If the match’s head is to the right, then so is that of its reflection — the match is not reversed left to right. But now hold up the matchbox….
It Begins →
Moscow’s stray dogs have begun using the city’s subway system. Zoologist Andrey Poyarkov of the Moscow Ecology and Evolution Institute, who has been studying the city’s 35,000 strays for 30…
Drones and nuke spying: a match made in the... →
Private Investigator is Instrumental in Landmark... →
U.S Supreme Court Considers Death-Sentenced Inmate’s Request for Replacing Habeas Counsel
The Supreme Court will consider Clair’s previous counsel’s failure to analyze and submit newly…
Look Ma, no hands! Google lands patent for robot... →
Nine Lives Left →
I don’t know what to make of this — on Sept. 7, 1950, the London Times reported that a 10-month-old kitten had climbed the Matterhorn.
The story, “from our correspondent,” claims that the…
[Video] A Season’s Greeting to You from... →
From the entire staff of Pursuit Magazine, we wanted to say thank you for your support this year and to wish all of you and your loved ones a very Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and a…
DNS filtering is an American innovation →
The Case of the Self-Stealing Store →
In 1983, Jacob Henderson was convicted of burglarizing a Maaco paint shop in Jackson, Miss. He appealed on the ground that the indictment was illiterate:
The Grand Jurors for the State of…
10 Places Private Investigators Go to Find... →
“We are only investigative superheroes; we’re not demigods.” ~VP
As private investigators, we wish we had superhero powers; sadly, we don’t. We rely on some tools, certain databases,…
Navy's undersea robots get smarter →
Uh-Oh →
Can a fraction whose numerator is less than its denominator be equal to a fraction whose numerator is greater than its denominator? If not, how can
In the proportion
+6 : -3 :: -10 : +5
Amazon bests Microsoft, all other contenders in... →
The Montauk Monster →
In July 2008 an unrecognizable creature washed up on a beach on Long Island. Local resident Jenna Hewitt took this photo, which appeared in the local newspaper The Independent. What is it?…
Attenuated Language →
What’s the longest “narrow” word — the longest word whose handwritten letters keep tidily to the middle of the line?
Dmitri Borgmann considered this question in 1965 and came up with …
Guns & Tactics Magazine to Produce High-Definition... →
Seattle, WA December 12, 2011 – Guns & Tactics Magazine has announced a strategic alliance with Rubio Films, an online content producer that specializes in HD video productions.
Rubio…
Rick Perry fails YouTube 101 →
Seat of Knowledge →
John VI of Portugal was hard of hearing, so he had a throne built whose leonine arms captured sound and directed it to a listening tube.
“Requiring anyone who wishes to speak with you to…