DC highlights the curious case of David Tredinnick’s nonsense and ignorance of medical matters.
It seems clear to me that Tredinnick is a promoter of ignorance. A sane, rational and ethical person would not make the claims that he does. He is, after all, a corrupt politician and is regarded as a laughing-stock by many.
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013
So, Spanish Judge Julia Patricia Santamaria has ordered that the blood bags seized from convicted doctor Eufemiano Fuentes be destroyed following “Operacion Puerto”.
Doing so will deprive anti-doping agencies from determining which athletes have cheated. I do not understand Santamaria’s reasons to destroy the blood bags; does not the Spanish legal system want to know which athletes are cheats?
To me, and I’m sure to others, Santamaria’s decision has all the hallmarks of a cover-up, a clear sign of corruption in the Spanish legal system. It was clear in the USADA case against Armstrong that Spain was a haven for drugs cheats, and now Santamaria’s decision to destroy the blood bags plus the rather lame sentence passed to Eufemiano Fuentes reinforces that status.
I can only conclude that Santamaria is a corrupt judge and that this corruption is endemic in the Spanish legal system. Drugs cheats rejoice.
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013
I have a RockShox Reverb seatpost on my mountain bike and it is a great piece of technology for remotely adjusting the height of the saddle.
However, some people have expressed concern, as the seatpost is exposed to the elements, that there may be some risk of contamination of the inner mechanism of the Reverb. I think that the seals on the Reverb are good enough to keep the unit contamination-free but there is always that nagging doubt in the back of the mind.
When rides are going to be muddy, people normally attach a full rear mudguard to protect themselves and this would also keep the Reverb clear of mud. But there are some days where a ride just does not warrant a full rear mudguard, such as on hot sunny days, but there may still be a chance of coming across mud.
I decided to get one of those thin mini-mudguards such as the Ass Savers “SmartAss” or Mucky Nutz “Butt Fender” that attach to the saddle rails, with the intent to see if I could modify it to act as a permanent mudguard for the Reverb. So I bought a “SmartAss” http://ass-savers.com/ and re-shaped it with scissors such that I could still attached it to the saddle rails but also bend it through nearly 80 degrees to cover the Reverb. I also use a street-legal rear reflector (with red LED) that mounts on the saddle rails and this was essential to keep the SmartAss bent at that approximately 80 degree angle. I’m sure that there are other solutions to keeping that SmartAss held at that angle. The angle is such that it does not get in the way of attaching a full rear mudguard. The SmartAss is also just clear of the rear tyre when the Reverb is fully down and is still usable with a full rear mudguard and the Reverb all the way down; I still need to test this more fully on the trails.
Today was a nice spring day (finally!) and I wasn’t about to attach a rear mudguard. So I went riding and soon came across a number of muddy holes. No problem. See photo below straight after the ride (note that the white skull is a reflective sticker that I attached on the SmartAss).
As you can see, the modified SmartAss has done a very decent job of keeping the Reverb mud-free. I’m still not convinced at all that the Reverb needs this additional level of protection but the modification is cheap and gives that peace of mind. Result!
I hope to post a long-term review later this year.
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013
Over the last three years or so I’ve suffered from technology failures and feel rather betrayed. I’ve listed the Top 5.
I think that technology first betrayed me when I had one of the original Sky+ HD boxes. The power supply used cheap electrolytic capacitors that would go bad after a year or so. I resorted to replacing the 15 electrolytic capacitors in the power supply module; this fixed the problem but it showed me that high-tech companies were not averse to taking short-cuts. I always believe in using quality products so I felt much betrayed. Anyway, I’ve upgraded to the new Sky+ 1TB boxes and these have been bullet-proof so far.
I had the original SlingBox in the UK. This stopped working after a couple of years. I then bought the newer HD version of the SlingBox; this also stopped working after a couple of years. A quick research indicated that SlingBox had been using cheap electrolytic capacitors that went bad after a year or two. I’ve been burned twice now by SlingBoxes, and I now avoid SlingBox/SlingMedia products.
The first Logitech Harmony remote control I had was the Harmony 885. This was a great unit but after a couple of years the buttons became increasingly unresponsive to such an extent that it was frustrating to use. I took the chance with Logitech again and bought a Harmony 900 to replace the Harmony 885. The Harmony 900 has been great except that I noticed after about a year that it wasn’t really holding its charge anymore. I opened the unit and found that the Lithium Ion battery was swollen; a sure sign that the battery needed replacing! Researching online I discovered that the original batteries with the blue sticker had an unacceptably short lifetime and were no longer being used. The newer batteries with the white label appear to be far superior and do not seem to suffer with the same short lifetimes; I’ll soon find out as I have one on order. I just hope that the old battery doesn’t explode in the meantime!
This was a great unit and I really appreciated the ability to set the noise-margin for the ADSL downlink. The unit was about three years and I began experiencing constant ADSL connection failures, perhaps about three or four a day. Again, a quick research indicated that the unit used cheap components that would reach end-of-life quite quickly. I gave Billion another chance and bought the BiPAC 7800VDOX. It’s only been about a week, but the 7800VDOX has been stellar so far with not a single dropped connection.
I kept hearing a rattling noise on my GoPro recordings and originally thought that the noise originated from my mountain bike. But after much work to quieten the bike, I kep hearing the noise. I soon discovered that the rattle was being generated from within the GoPro unit. This internal rattle is well known and I found a fix that required opening the unit and installing some padding underneath a button to stop it rattling. That worked a treat, but I was very disappointed that GoPro was shipping this product with a known defect.
The other disappointment was that the curve lens on the GoPro housing resulted in a rubbish image when underwater. A flat lens is the answer and there were several Third Parties who offered flat-lens housings or conversion kits, but it was only last year that GoPro began offering housings with flat lenses but they do look like a kludge, an afterthought. The newer GoPro HERO3 comes with the flat lens as standard that looks more integrated so GoPro have apparently been listening.
My conclusion is that these companies have set low standards or have poor quality controls. I feel betrayed by them as they are certainly not the bottom-end of their markets but, instead, foster the perception that they make quality products. As a result, I no longer trust technology companies.
I think that these are all the cases I can talk about right now. I have a couple that are on-going and I need to see what the final outcome will be.
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013
Over the last few years I’d been watching video clips of Matt Dillahunty, mostly of him hosting The Atheist Experience. However, it’s to my shame that, until very recently, I hadn’t really paid much attention to Tracie Harris who is one of the co-hosts of The Atheist Experience.
My only excuse is that the video clips I had previously searched for were focused around Matt, and it was only when I started watching the full length episodes of The Atheist Experience that I appreciated the clarity, precision and coherence of Tracie’s arguments. She goes the extra mile to fully understand what the guests are trying to say but, being no fool, will quickly challenge the guests if they cannot construct a reasonable argument.
Do check out her work. Brilliant stuff. Here are her “dice in jars” videos demonstrating various fallacies:
If you have time, say 2 hours, here’s a discussion panel and an interview with special guest Tracie Harris:
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013
Eric MacDonald writes a powerful piece on why Easter is an enemy of humanity:
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013
This is excellent. A Venn diagram showing the various irrational nonsenses and the magisteria they inhabit; quite a few overlapping!
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013
A really good introduction to the use of Bayes’ Theorem on reasoning correctly and reaching conclusions:
Bayes Theorem: Key to the Universe, Richard Carrier Skepticon 4
Other introduction videos on Bayes’ Theorem:
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013
The potholer54 YouTube channel has a lot of easily understood videos on science and highlights some of the lies and misinformation in the media and on the Internet. He says:
The main purpose of this channel is to explain in simple terms the conclusions of scientific research, and correct some of the unsourced crap we get fed on the Internet. I am a former science journalist (see the "Who I am" video) with a degree in geology.
In particular, potholer54’s series on climate change is simply unsurpassed when it comes to detailing all the nonsense out there on both sides of the so-called “climate change debate”. He says:
There is a lot of inaccurate nonsense about climate science written in blogs and the media, whether exaggerating the effects of climate change or seeking to undermine the science behind it. This series checks the sources of these claims and shows how they have been misinterpreted or deliberately altered. I have no expertise in climatology, I am a former science journalist, so checking facts is what I do. And I always cite these sources so you can check them for yourselves. Along the way, I explain the real science as relayed by researchers in published papers, in a way that makes it easy to understand.
I highly recommend you view this series if you want to know what’s really going on. The series is several hours long but is available in a handy playlist here:
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013
The BBC reports that Nick Clegg, an atheist, raises his children as Catholics:
At face value, this means that Clegg is knowingly lying to his children. Instead, Clegg should be raising his children to think critically so that his children can make up their own minds and be armed to tackle the nonsense in this world.
Let’s be clear about this; I’m not condemning Clegg for sending his children to a Catholic school. I’m condemning him for raising his children as Catholics when he, himself, is a declared atheist. In particular, if the BBC report is true, what does this tell you of Clegg? That he is a hypocrite, a liar, and a coward, running away from making the hard choices.
Having just checked more online, it appears that Clegg’s hypocrisy and dishonesty on this subject is common knowledge. Not sure how I missed it all before. Perhaps Clegg misspoke or was misinterpreted about raising his children as Catholics?
Regardless, the injustices, brutality and immorality of religion are well known; Christianity/Catholicism, along with Islam, being particularly infamous:
Perhaps by exposure to these evils Clegg’s children will realise the true nature of religion. After all, his children will learn that the bible calls their father a liar, an antichrist, and that he will be damned to hell forever.
Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2013