I'm proud to announce a new facet to TDG today: Sub Rosa magazine. Sub Rosa is a complete magazine in PDF form, available as a free download from the Sub Rosa website. Check it out, and let us know what you think.

In this first issue, our cover story is on Robert Schoch, where he discusses the age of the Sphinx controversy, the Yonaguni 'monument', and our old friend Dr Zahi Hawass. We also have a profile on Terence McKenna, Stuart Hameroff's quantum consciousness, Donnie Darko, columns from notables and much more besides. The PDF layout has allowed us to utilise beautiful graphic layouts, and even insert videos - so it's a complete experience. Hope you enjoy it.

This is not the type of site that usually restricts discussion of topics. However, the Schapelle Corby threads have got out of hand - this is not a Schapelle Corby action site, if you would like one then please set it up yourself. There are more than enough Schapelle Corby blogs (14 of them) to discuss the topic in, we do not need anymore written. Therefore, I will delete any new blogs on that topic as soon as I see them.

I also recommend that if you want a cause, then head down to your local kids hospital - you'll probably find a number of terminally-ill children whose families could use your support more than Schapelle Corby does at this point.

Welcome to June - with the change of month I've swapped in a few new things to our 'Cool Things' sidebox (over to the right -->). This time, we're heading away from non-fiction books: we're featuring Unseen Forces by Ed Kovacs, a new fiction work which incorporates plenty of our favourite subjects, including remote viewing, maverick archaeology and secret societies. Our very own Rico will also be adding a review of the novel to TDG soon, along with an interview with Ed Kovacs, so stay tuned for that.

Along with Unseen Forces, we're featuring two new CDs this month. At the top we have the latest (and probably last) album from Shpongle, titled Nothing Lasts - great consciousness bending music...for a sample listen head over to Juno. It's music that grows on you more everytime you listen to it. Along with Shpongle, we're also featuring the new album from System of a Down, Mezmerize. Not much to align itself with TDG, apart from the fact that the band isn't a big fan of the status quo. But I had to include, it just rocks so damn hard.

As we bring together the first issue of the online magazine I mentioned earlier in the week, I thought it would be worth putting a call out to authors and researchers regarding Issue 2. If you feel you have an essay/interview that would make a worthwhile addition, please don't hesitate to email me and let me know (head to the Contact Us page). I can't promise inclusion as there are only a few spots, but I certainly do want to hear from you - thanks!

Sorry to everybody for doing this to TDG. But, this moment is just too good not to mention.

Cheers to the best football club in the world, oh, and EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm proud to announce that in another week or so, we're going to go public with a little project we've been working on. Tired of the restrictive context of web pages, we've put together a magazine version of TDG, which we'll be making available for free as a PDF download to all. This will allow us to build beautiful designs around the content we regularly serve up here, and perhaps make it easier for you to print out some of the articles for reading elsewhere. If there's enough interest, we may even progress to doing a print version. I'll get back with details in a few days, but until then, please feel free to leave any comments/requests.

I've been thinking lately of adding a 'library' of sorts to the site, in which we could hold topical books, audio and video. Obviously, these files would have to be either public domain, or have been donated (or at least had permission granted by the copyright holder). I'm sure we could pool together our resources and find much of interest - if you've got some suggestions for worthwhile additions, please either leave a comment here on the website or send me an email (preferably with a link, rather than being deluged with email attachments).

I've added a contact page for TDG, so now you can contact any of us via a web-based form (which stops spam-bots getting hold of our email addresses). For future reference, the link to the contact form is available at any time from the links directly beneath the site logo ('Contact Us'). We welcome your comments and feedback.

In breaking news all over local TV here, Australian scientists have announced that the 'Hobbit' species found on the Indonesian island of Flores may actually have been genetically mutated due to chronic use of nicotine. Head researcher at Newcastle University, April Dujour, said that excavations of the Flores lowlands had revealed that nicotine was the major crop on the island - but that no trace remained, suggesting that extreme use of the plant species, probably by smoking, meant that it had become extinct (much like the treeless Easter Island).

Working with a well-known genetic biologist, the Australian team has surmised that the endemic abuse of the nicotine crop led to stunted growth in the population. Dujour's former lecturer was stunned by the idea of nicotine in Indonesia: "This is a world first for April," he said. "It's a big day for her career." A peer-reviewed article is said to be imminent, in which the astounding claims are accompanied by another - that the bread baked by the primitive people lacked a crust, and as such caused the 'Hobbit' hair to be completely straight and free of curls.

Update: This story is of course our regular April Fools Day joke. We all know the real story about Flores - that they are the archaic super-race from which jockeys are descended. If you really want some interesting news, how about the fact that Dan Brown is now saying that Kashmir belongs to the U.S., or the apocalyptic revelation that Maynard James Keenan has left TOOL as he has recently found Jesus. Fascinating news stories over the weekend, that's for sure.

A quick note: Amazon.com has decided in its wisdom to offer a discount on my book Da Vinci in America: Unlocking the Secrets of Dan Brown's 'The Solomon Key'. So if you haven't picked up a copy yet, you can currently purchase it for less than $10 in the United States. Apologies to those who snapped it up straight away at the full price, but you retain my gracious thanks for your kind support.