The Download Munkey : Tracking the Treasure Down …

Nope, it’s got nothing to do with this site, but more for me and thoo2. It’s our first wedding anniversary this week and I’m taking the next few days off to celebrate it (an excellent excuse to skive off on writing stuff for The Download Munkey this week hehe )

It was supposed to look like the number 1 but somehow it didn’t turn out the way I envisioned. Oh well … anyway, there’s a good Chinese vampire reference picture over at Matt Brooker’s blog.

Meanwhile since you’re already here, why not check out the other excellent sites listed in the blogroll to your right or proceed to the archives for more stuff about random cool … umm … stuff.

Enjoy and don’t forget to drop by next week

Reinaldo Quintero or ReiQ as he’s known at deviantART recently released the sixth pack of wallpapers made from a selection of his trademark illustrations of comic style pin-ups with some really dangerous curves. Definitely not for minors

© Reinaldo Quintero

A selection of other wallpapers from the previous five packs.

© Reinaldo Quintero

Download wallpaper packs 1 to 5 and 6, or visit his deviantART gallery.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
My Favourite Pepper Project Entries
Paolo Parente’s Dust Wallpapers
Rumble Roses Fan Art @ Ryu’s Form Site
Desktop Wallpapers and Artwork by Martin Abel – Illustrator
Ibara (鋳薔薇) Desktop Wallpaper

The Necronomicon :
1. A fictional book of evil by Abdul Alhazred in 730 AD.
2. A single player, virtual collectible card game ala Magic The Gathering steeped in H.P Lovecraft’s nightmarish Cthulhu mythos.

Since it’s Games Thursday today, we’ll be talking about Number 2 of course

Using one of the seven cards (from of a total of 36 different cards) in your hand, you’ll get to summon hellish creatures, taint and corrupt your opponent thus damaging him every turn or blast him with arcane magicks in an attempt to literally drive him bonkers and whittle his lifepoints to zero. Watch out though because summoning some of the more powerful spells and creatures may pose a bigger peril to your sanity than your opponent’s actions

Aiding you in your mission to dominate your opponent and turn him into a slobbering wrecks are cards like Arkham Asylum and indescribable horrors like the a Dark Young Charge.

A quick trip to the asylum does wonders for the mind

If you like card-based games, this beautifully illustrated Flash game should keep you busy for a while. (BTW, do words like beautiful apply to these visions of a twisted imagination?)

Deck management would be a cool strategic addition to the game though since trusting your deck to luck doesn’t exactly do wonders for your sanity

Read more at IndieGames where I found The Necronomicon or start playing immediately at Newgrounds.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Loot : Card-based Dungeoneering
Warhammer 40,000 Dark Millenium Card Database

Nope, none of that swashbuckling stuff but more of those illegal CD/DVD kind of pirates. Probably the coolest wallpapers that Microsoft has ever put out on their official site under th rather obscure anti-Piracy section in an effort to educate consumers on the the evils of software piracy.

© Microsoft

These illustrations look like stuff from a heist / corporate espionage flick, don’t they?

Download all 10 wallpapers from Microsoft’s Know The Facts.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Real Pirates – Photos by Eric Pasquier
Pirate Girl by Martin Abel

Demining machines have really come a long way since the ingenious idea of attaching flails to M4 Shermans in the form of the British Sherman “Crab” variant during WWII to thrash and detonate any mines buried in the ground before it. A plethora of modern machines are now being designed and manufactured specifically to combat the ever-present hazards of mines and unexploded ordnance which continue to maim and kill in various parts of the world long after conflicts have subsided or ended.

To protect the personnel operating these machines, most of these vehicles are heavily armoured, some to the extent of being fully operated via remotely control. Below’s a selection of these fascinating and little-known vehicles from the Mechanical Demining Equipment Catalogue 2008.

The remotely-controlled Croatian DOK-ING MV-4.

Kawasaki MINEBULL.

Rheinmetall Landsysteme RHINO.

This catalogue is compiled by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and as quoted from the official website :

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) strives for a world free of anti-personnel mines and from the threat of other landmines and explosive remnants of war, and where the suffering and concerns of populations living in affected areas are addressed.
The Centre is active in research,provides operational assistance and supports the implementation of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.

It’s a rather sad fact that information and news on wars and other conflicts are readily available in the mass media, yet these unsung efforts to demine and eradicate the horrors of past wars go unnoticed. Before I found this catalogue and the GICHD site, I always thought that active minefields were just marked and cordoned away without any substantial efforts to demine them.

View or download the Mechanical Demining Equipment Catalogue in PDF format or learn more about the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining at the official GICHD site.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Armour Photos at Israel’s Yad La’Shiryon Museum
Art for Peace – Retired Weapons
Tompei’s Museum of Machines
OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide