Author Archives: Karl Smallwood

The Con Artist Who Managed a 13 Year Career as a Professional Football Player Despite Sucking at Football

The game of soccer (henceforth referred to as football to satisfy my English sensibilities, though to be fair, it was the English who originally named the sport Soccer in its earliest days under somewhat codified rules and only abandoned that original moniker about a half century ago in favor of the more generic “Football”) is full of players who have […]

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Did Oprah Really Give Away 300 Cars for Free on an Episode of Her Show?

On September 13th, 2004 media powerhouse Oprah, who by the way’s real name was originally Orpah after the sister of the biblical character of Ruth, made television history when she announced that she was flexing the fact that she is, by definition, “Oprah Rich”, via giving every single member of her audience that day a rather expensive free car. Considered […]

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The King of Hustlers

In the annals of gambling history, the name Titanic Thompson is one treated with reverence and awe. This almost mythical figure became a legend in his own time for his ability to perform seemingly superhuman feats to win outrageous bets, from driving golf balls 500 yards to hurling lemons clear over 5 story buildings. Along with being a well-known gambler. […]

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The Truth About Blockbuster Turning Down Purchasing Netflix and What Seemingly Everyone Gets Wrong

Considering the near total market-dominance and unparalleled level of brand recognition Netflix enjoys in today’s entertainment landscape, it’s hard to believe that at one point in time the company was considered a “niche” service. In fact, it is in part for this reason that in 2000 the then CEO of Blockbuster almost literally laughed in the face of Netflix’s co-founders […]

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How are Guide Dogs Trained?

Dignified, loyal and, above all, very fury, guide dogs are a vital tether to the outside world for many blind and visually impaired people that allow them to live more independent, if dog hair covered, lives. As you’d expect, training one of these wonder-dogs is no easy feat and requires teaching the canine in question to ignore many of its […]

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What’s the Deal with the $2 Bill?

Contrary to popular opinion the $2 bill is neither rare nor out of circulation, with millions of them being printed by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing each and every year. Despite this, you’ll occasionally get cashiers who refuse to accept them, thinking them fake, and even the occasional news report of the cops being called on someone who […]

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That Time Sony Secretly Installed Rootkit Software on Hundreds of Thousands of Computers

To echo the sentiment of 2006 nerdcore single, Download This Song, the rise of computers, the internet, and MP3 technology made music a far more customer-centric medium, and boy do company’s hate that. Enter Sony and a rather misguided attempt to limit how consumers consumed music via secretly installing malware on possibly even millions of customer’s computers. So what happened? […]

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