Useful Research Links

Drachen Jager

Professor of applied misanthropy
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Writing post-apocalyptic? Watch this.

This is what a city looks like after it's been abandoned.

Drone flyovers of Pripyat (city near Chernobyl).

Beautiful, creepy, and very atmospheric.

http://vimeo.com/112681885
 

Trebor1415

practical experience, FTW
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Good article on issues with forensic evidence

Here's a very good article on some of the problems of forensic evidence. The basic gist is that the field was developed by law enforcement to help get convictions, not scientists, and how this has caused problems.

This is a must read for anyone writing crime fiction or some thrillers. Make sure to follow the links in the article for more info on specific things like arson investigations, the problems with "shaken baby syndrome" and other issues.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/04/21/a-brief-history-of-forensics/
 

WeaselFire

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Basic AR-15 Operation Video

There have been a number of questions by writers unfamiliar with firearms about operating an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. A decent entry-level video on the basic operation and disassembly/cleaning can be found at:

https://youtu.be/PFFN_j3WD80

Jeff
 

borogove

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Google recently launched a new fashion archive, We Wear Culture, which looks fantastic for those of us who nerd out over outfit details and historical authenticity:

"More than 180 museums, fashion institutions, schools, archives and other organizations from the fashion hubs of New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, São Paulo and elsewhere came together to put three millennia of fashion at your fingertips. You can browse 30,000 fashion pieces: try searching for hats and sort them by color or shoes by time. In 450+ exhibits, you can find stories from the ancient Silk Road to the ferocious fashion of the British punk. Or meet icons and trendsetters like Coco Chanel, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent or Vivienne Westwood."
 

Girlsgottawrite

I write at work...
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As someone writing a historical fantasy, I've found it hard to find information concerning simply day to day life for my time period. I recently stumbled over these links and wanted to share them with all of you.

The first one gives information on wages and costs across various periods, but what I found to be most helpful were the mail order catalogs that showed period products and fashions!
http://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/home

This second one is a Library of Congress database of newspapers! So cool!
https://www.loc.gov/newspapers/?dates=1890/1899&dl=allhttps://www.loc.gov/newspapers/?dates=1890/1899&dl=all
 

Jammurdo

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New glossary generation tool (checks your manuscript v quickly and outputs terms that you might want to include)!

Nothing, to my knowledge, exists similar to this, and I made it for myself before realising it'd be useful for others too (it's free btw, hope it helps).
 
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