Content tagged with “real-life”

Cryptome was always an odd thing. It was (is?) an online archive and document repository which published things that it hinted should not have been published.

I remember Cryptome from back in the 1990s, when I was first getting on the web. It published all sorts of random combintations of government documents, often rolled up into zip file downloads.

All the while, it gave off a very spy-ish vibe. There were various news articles on topics, but also some odd things like fighter jet operating manuals and official reports on how to store nuclear waste.

I never could figure it out, but I was fascinated by it. To me, this was an example of how the internet was a greater leveling system that gave people access to things they would never see otherwise. I always felt like a bit of a secret agent while I was browsing through it.

The Wikipedia page discussed how they were involved in WikiLeaks and other scandals, which fits. One of the founders died last year.

Did you know you can get an advanced degree in actual intelligence? Here are some options:

• Master's in Global Security Studies at Johns Hopkins
• Master of Arts in Counterintelligence Studies at the Institute of World Politics
• Master of Arts in Intelligence Studies at American Military University
• Master’s in National Security and Intelligence at Northeastern University
• Master's in Applied Intelligence at Georgetown

This NY Times article about how Trump was spirited out of Turkey reads like a real-life spy novel in places:

President Trump hid in an airport catering container and was taken to a military jet for a secret flight out of country after the NATO summit last month.

Reminds me a bit of Georgi Koskov leaving Czechoslovakia in the oil pipeline in The Living Daylights (…which was one of the few plot points of that movie which I clearly understood).

Seen in downtown Montreal.

Found this short Reddit video of a “briefcase gun” from the 1970s.